Vented-type leak resistant motor cycle battery

#This invention relates to an improvement on a vented-type leak resistant motor cycle battery.

#The prior art vented type motor cycle batteries with free electrolyte are usually provided with a single vent tube that is fitted with a flexible, polymeric exhaust pipe for the safe exit of acidic mist and exhaust gases. Under the actual service condition, however, this arrangement is not entirely reliable because many a time the flexible exhaust pipe gets detached from the batteries. Thus, there exists some possibility of hazard due to leakage of the acidic mist together with the exhaust gases within the battery housing under the actual service conditions.

#In view of the above, there is a trend in the industry to switch over to sealed type valve regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries for motor cycle applications, which are essentially leak-proof as they do not contain any free electrolyte. However, the sealed type batteries are significantly more expensive and also involve relatively complex manufacturing processes. Besides, the sealed type VRLA batteries can only be fitted on modern 2-wheelers equipped with an improved charging system suitable for the sealed type batteries.

#The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, which is described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

#FIG. 1 is a front view of a vented-type leak-resistant motor cycle battery according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a plane view of the vented-type leak-resistant motor cycle battery of FIG. 1;

#The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show a preferred embodiment of the invention. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a vented-type leak-resistant motor cycle battery 10 constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

#It can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 that the vented-type leak-resistant motor cycle battery 10 according to the present invention comprises a housing 12 and a battery cover 14 thermally sealed to the top of the housing 12. The battery cover 14 has a vent chamber cover 14B, which is thermally sealed to a cover body 14A (see FIGS. 5, 7 and 8). Cells C1 through C6 are provided within the housing 12. Each cell has a filling plug 16 extending to the top of the battery cover 14 as shown in FIG. 10. Terminals T1 and T2 extending out of the battery cover 14 are connected to the cells C1 and C6 (see FIG. 9). In FIG. 11, reference numerals W1 through W5 designate partition walls to separate the cells from each other and reference numerals M1 through M5 designate saddles on which battery plates are mounted within the respective cells.

#As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 12, the battery cover 14 is provided with a side vent line (a vent line extending in a longitudinal direction of the battery) 18 in communication with the spaces above the cells C1 through C6. As shown in FIG. 12, the vent line 18 is sealed at one end 18a by the wall of the battery cover 14. The other end 18b of the side vent line 18 is tilted to slope downwardly towards the end 18a thereof that is to slope upwardly towards the outside, which is shown in details in FIG. 6. At this end 18b of the vent line 18, a vent cap assembly 24 is fitted. By this arrangement, when any acid flows from the cells to the vent cap assembly through the side vent line 18, it is forced to flow back into the vent line 18 due to the slope provided along the vent line 18 from the tilted exit end 18b towards the end 18a of the vent line 18.