Back to results
US 6,446,681 B1Granted
Filler unit for topping up a container with liquid
OwnerJohan Christiaan Fitterinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
OwnerJohan Christiaan Fitterinventor
Estimating the term…
A battery watering unit is mounted atop a battery cell, and includes an open-topped vessel having a bottom wall. A side wall arrangement having an opening at the bottom forms a first divider to partition the vessel into a vented portion and an air entrapping portion. A further side wall arrangement having an opening at the top forms a second divider weir and imposes a significant restriction on the flow of electrolyte from the chamber into a pressure-communicating duct within a downpipe via a restricted orifice. The battery cell is topped up via the vessel with electrolyte following a flowpath over the second divider weir and into the downpipe. As the level of electrolyte rises, the lowermost opening in the downpipe is blocked. A further increase in the level of electrolyte forms, via the air-entrapping portion of the vessel, a pressurized air column in the downpipe which is sufficient to prevent further inflow of electrolyte over the second divider weir. In order to prevent overtopping of the battery cell, an aperture is fanned in a side or base wall of the vessel below the level of the first divider. This allows the venting of the pressurized air column between topping up operations so that the pressurized air column can re-establish itself on topping up of the vessel, thereby preventing overtopping of the battery cell.
A filler unit for dispensing a liquid into a container to top up the container to a predetermined desired level, the unit including a vessel for containing the liquid to be dispensed, means for establishing a first predetermined substantially constant head of liquid in the vessel, means defining at least one flow passage communicating between the vessel and the container, the flow passage defining means including a downpipe extending downwardly into the container, means for establishing a second head of liquid within the container responsive to the first head, the first and second head establishing means being arranged to co-operate to form therebetween a pressurized air column in the downpipe which is sufficient to prevent an inflow of liquid from the vessel to the container in response to filling of the vessel whilst a pre-existing level of liquid in the container is equal to or higher than the predetermined desired level, and evacuating means comprising a liquid evacuating passage along which liquid can leave the vessel thereby to reduce the level of the first predetermined substantially constant head of liquid to a venting level at which the pressurized air column is vented to allow the pressurized air column to re-establish itself on topping up of the vessel, so as to prevent overtopping of the container.
A battery watering unit for dispensing electrolyte into a battery cell to top up the battery cell to a predetermined desired level, the unit including a vessel for containing the electrolyte to be dispensed, means for establishing a first predetermined substantially constant head of electrolyte, means defining at least one flow passage communicating between the vessel and the cell, the flow passage defining means including a downpipe extending downwardly into a replenishment aperture in the cell, means for establishing a second head of electrolyte within the cell responsive to the first head, the first and second head establishing means being arranged to co-operate to form therebetween a pressurized air column in the downpipe which is sufficient to prevent an inflow of electrolyte from the vessel to the battery cell in response to filling of the vessel whilst a pre-existing level of electrolyte in the battery cell is equal to or higher than the predetermined desired level, and evacuating means comprising a liquid evacuating passage along which liquid can leave the vessel thereby to reduce the level of the first head of electrolyte to a venting level at which the pressurized air column is vented to allow the pressurized air column to re-establish itself on topping up of the vessel, so as to prevent overtopping of the battery cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.