Cell pressure-sensing battery case

Claim 1

A pressure-sensing battery case structure for use with a multi-cell gas-tightly sealed battery, said battery case comprising an inverted rigid body forming the upper portion thereof, said rigid body including end plates, longitudinal bars connecting said end plates and corner brackets attached between the longitudinal bars and the end plates, strain gauge means attached to the surface of said longitudinal bars at the central portion thereof, a base plate forming the lower portion of said battery case, upstanding end members on the outer ends of said base plate for effectively contacting the lower portion of said end plates of said rigid body operating as pivot points therefor, a plurality of cell walls between each of the cells to form a fluid-tight seal therebetween, the lower ends of said cell walls being attached to said base plate effectively producing a hinge arrangement, rigid top and bottom members in each of the cells to make the cells substantially incompressible, said end plates and said top and bottom members being operatively positioned to maintain the cells in a gas-tight condition, and electronic circuit means for detecting the strain in at least one of said longitudinal bars produced by the forces in the battery case acting on the strain gauge means, the strain in said longitudinal bars being proportional to the pressure developed in the multicell battery case by the cell with the highest operating pressure.