Battery plate grid strip pasting assembly

A battery plate grid strip pasting assembly, the assembly comprising:

• an orifice plate having an opening through which battery paste material is dispensed during use of the battery plate grid strip pasting assembly;
• a support structure located at least partly underneath said orifice plate and having a trailing free edge proximate a leading edge of said opening, and supporting a battery plate grid strip at least upstream of said opening of said orifice plate, said support structure having a top surface that comes into contact with the battery plate grid strip when said support structure is supporting the battery plate grid strip;
• and
• a belt located at least partly underneath said orifice plate;
• wherein said top surface presents a slope that declines toward at least a portion of a top surface of said belt underlying said opening at an included angle of approximately ten degrees (10°) to fifteen degrees (15°) and with respect to said belt, said top surface and its declining slope leading the battery plate grid strip to said belt and underneath said opening of said orifice plate, and wherein a gap is provided between a bottom surface of the battery plate grid strip and a top surface of said belt at a free edge of said support structure, battery paste material is dispensed into said gap during use of the battery plate grid strip pasting assembly.

A battery plate grid strip pasting assembly, the assembly comprising:

• a hopper having adjacent its bottom an orifice with a leading edge and a trailing edge and through which battery paste material is dispensed out of the hopper during use of the battery plate grid strip pasting assembly, a paste delivery roller having an axis of rotation and overlying and in proximity to the orifice for delivering battery paste material out of the hopper;
• a support structure having a leading edge and a trailing free edge and underlying a battery plate grid strip and supporting the battery plate grid strip at least upstream of said orifice;
• a mechanism moving the battery grid strip longitudinally over and downstream of said support structure and under and downstream of said orifice;
• the support structure having a surface underlying and supporting the battery grid strip at least upstream of the orifice and inclined to a portion of the grid strip downstream of the orifice at an acute included angle of between approximately 5° and 15°, and the support structure is disposed longitudinally between proximate to the leading edge of the orifice and midway between the leading and trailing edges of the orifice, said support structure supports the battery plate grid strip to provide a gap below a bottom surface of the battery plate grid strip, said gap is located beneath said orifice and has a dimension below said bottom surface proximate said trailing free edge that is approximately equal to or greater than a thickness dimension of the battery plate grid strip, and battery paste material is dispensed through the battery plate grid strip and into said gap and overpastes the bottom surface of the battery plate grid strip during use of the battery plate grid strip pasting assembly.