Patent US3660168A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3660168A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Leak-proof primary cell
Assignee: Duracell Inc USA
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Filing: 1970-04-09
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Granted: 1972-05-02
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Expires: 1990-04-09
Abstract
Abstract A leak-proof electrochemical cell having a cylindrical can closed on its bottom end, and open at its top end, with an internal peripheral bead as a seat for a plastic disc to be seated on the bead to cover the elements within the cell, and to receive the crimped end of the can for closure, and constructed to have a central co-axial bore and co-axial hub around the bore to hold a rivet to support an anode collector from the bottom side of the plastic disc and to support one of the terminals of the cell, here specifically the negative cap or terminal, from the top of the rivet, and to perform the additional function of closing the usual separator, with no intervening structure between it and the separator, to assure greater confining control of he electrolyte by said separator. The plastic disc top also constructed unitarily of full can diameter, and has an annular border disposed to provide a tight seating fit in the can at the bead as a seat, and is held in place by crimped edge rim of the can to assure a substantially hermetic seal between the disc border and the can. An external metal jacket surrounds and is insulated from the can, and serves as an additional element for impressing an additional pressure force on the metal crimped onto the plastic disc, to assure a hermetic seal under continuous pressure between those engaging surfaces of said disc border and of the crimped metal. The anode collector is constructed of two hollow semicylindrical parts held to resist radial relative displacement, and to thereby maintain uniform ionic spacing between cathode and anode collector facing surfaces.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert E Ralston
- 👤 Yung Ling Ko
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 14:37
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01M; H01M6/00; H01M6/04; H01M6/06; H01M6/08; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E60/00; Y02E60/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
248 words
A primary battery cell, comprising a cylindrical metal cup, closed at its bottom end and originally fully open at its top end to receive cell elements, and having a top end rim edge border for subsequent crimping; said cup having an internal peripheral bead on its inner wall, in position adjacent to and below said rim edge border of said cup at said top end, where said bead serves as a seat; a unitarily formed plastic disc to serve as a closure for said cell and extending across the full transverse diameter within said cup and seating directly on said internal peripheral bead as a supporting seat; said plastic disc having an enlarged annular border portion engaging the inner wall of said cup above said bead, with the top end rim border of said cup crimped over onto said enlarged annular border of said plastic disc, said plastic disc is also having a central axial bore; cathode material adjacent the metal cup and anode material concentrically within said cup; an elongated metal anode collector extending into said cell to engage said anode material in said cell; an electrical anode conductor extending through said central axial bore in said plastic disc and supported thereby, and electrically connected to and physically supporting said metal anode collector from the under side of said plastic disc; and an external electrode terminal for said cell electrically connected to said electrical anode conductor at a region above the top surface of said plastic disc.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
248 words
A primary battery cell, comprising a cylindrical metal cup, closed at its bottom end and originally fully open at its top end to receive cell elements, and having a top end rim edge border for subsequent crimping; said cup having an internal peripheral bead on its inner wall, in position adjacent to and below said rim edge border of said cup at said top end, where said bead serves as a seat; a unitarily formed plastic disc to serve as a closure for said cell and extending across the full transverse diameter within said cup and seating directly on said internal peripheral bead as a supporting seat; said plastic disc having an enlarged annular border portion engaging the inner wall of said cup above said bead, with the top end rim border of said cup crimped over onto said enlarged annular border of said plastic disc, said plastic disc is also having a central axial bore; cathode material adjacent the metal cup and anode material concentrically within said cup; an elongated metal anode collector extending into said cell to engage said anode material in said cell; an electrical anode conductor extending through said central axial bore in said plastic disc and supported thereby, and electrically connected to and physically supporting said metal anode collector from the under side of said plastic disc; and an external electrode terminal for said cell electrically connected to said electrical anode conductor at a region above the top surface of said plastic disc.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
81 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, in which said circular plastic disc has a circular co-axial boss or hub encircling said central axial bore and said co-axial boss or hub has an axial length greater than the thickness of said plastic disc to provide a relatively long axial surface-to-surface contact between said electrical anode conductor and the wall surface of said hub around said central oPening, to establish a long leakage path to any chemical from within the cell.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
59 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 2, in which said electrical anode conductor and said central bore are so relatively dimensioned in diameter along their length of engagement, that the plastic material in the wall surrounding said central bore is placed and kept under compression by said anode conductor when inserted, to serve to establish a tight seal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
66 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, in which said enlarged annular border portion of said plastic disc has an annular raised vertical border edge portion to receive the crimped rim edge of the top end of said metal cup above said bead, and to thereby provide a tight surface-to-surface hermetic seal between the plastic disc and the crimped rim edge metal of said cup.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
102 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 4, in which said vertical border edge portion of said disc is resilient and self-restoring toward original position from which it has been compressed; and said metal crimped and formed onto said raised vertical border edge portion is slightly over-formed beyond the final desired crimping position but still within the elastic limit of said metal, so the small amount of spring-back of said crimped metal will be followed by the resilient border edge portion of said plastic disc, to maintain the surface-to-surface seal between said crimped metal and the resilient plastic disc material engaged thereby.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
153 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, in which said electrical anode conductor is a metallic rivet having a central shank body, a hollow shank extension to provide an easily peenable portion, and a flat top head, said central shank body being slightly tapered to permit insertion of said shank body with a tight press-fit into said central bore of said plastic disc; and said anode collector consists of a cylindrical shell having one end closed and with a hole therein to receive said hollow shank extension of said rivet shank body, with said hollow shank extension of said rivet peened over the metal bordering said hole in said anode collector to tightly secure said anode collector body to said plastic disc as a support for said anode collector body, and said flat top head of said rivet is welded to said external electrode terminal above the top of said plastic disc.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
49 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 6, in which said rivet consists of a ''''Nickel Silver'''' alloy, to be compatible with the anode material in said cell, and to have good resistance welding characteristics, said alloy having a nickel content in the range from 8 to 18 percent.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
53 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, including means for holding the crimped top edge of said cup in tight surface-to-surface engagement with said top annular border portion of said plastic disc, to maintain a substantially hermetic seal pressure between said engaging surfaces to deter chemical creepage along and between those surfaces.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
81 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, in which said plastic disc has a peripheral annular shoulder stepped radially inward to seat on said peripheral bead on said cup, and said plastic disc embodies a shank that extends axially downwardly beyond said radially stepped shoulder and fits snugly within said circular bead on the inside of said metal cup, while the body portion of said plastic disc above the stepped shoulder fits snugly in said metal cup above said bead.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
56 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 9, in which said portion of said plastic disc above said stepped shoulder is formed to constitute means for serving as a bracing portion between the upper uncrimped portion of the metal cup above said bead and the hub portion of said plastic disc which surrounds the central bore.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 8, in which said holding means for holding the crimped metal and the cell top closure in pressed relation are in part supported by saId terminal cap.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, comprising, further an external jacket for the cell; and means insulating the jacket in operating position from the first-mentioned cylindrical metal cup.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
A primary cell, as in claim 12, in which means including said external jacket is formed and disposed to impress an additional pressure force on said crimped cup metal against said annular border portion of said plastic disc.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
69 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 13, in which said external jacket surrounds the cell as a body; means are disposed for insulating said jacket from said first-mentioned cylindrical metal cup; and means constituting a crimped end of said external jacket are disposed for pressing against said crimped cylindrical metal cup to generate said additional holding pressure force added onto said crimped cup edge on said plastic disc.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
80 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 14, in which there is embodied a crimped rim at the upper end of said external jacket; a negative cap terminal in place at said upper end of the cell for electrical connection to an external circuit; and said crimped rim at said end of said jacket serves to hold said negative cap terminal in place and to generate said added holding pressure on the crimp of said cup against said plastic disc.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
105 words
In a battery cell, as in claim 1, a cup, to serve as a container, closed at the bottom and open at the top to receive the chemical elements for the cell with said plastic disc to fit snugly within the open end of the cup, and the open rim edge of the cup crimped over the top border area of said plastic disc; an outer jacket surrounding and insulated from said cell cup; and means on said jacket to impress a compression force on the crimped edge material of the cup to add to the self-pressure of the crimped material against the plastic disc.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
50 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, comprising, further, an external jacket for the cell; means insulating the jacket in operating position from the first-mentioned cylindrical metal cup; and means controlled by said jacket for further pressing the crimped border rim in position on the plastic cell top closure.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
64 words
A primary battery cell, as in claim 1, in which said metal anode collector has two semi-cylindrical portions, each with a transverse tab and with the facing edges of said tabs touching in non-co-planar relation to act as stops against each other to hold their two semi-cylindrical portions from being radially compressed out of desired and intended cylindrical disposition after assembly in the cell.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-05-02 | 1975-11-01 | 1976-05-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-05-02 | 1979-11-01 | 1980-05-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-05-02 | 1983-11-01 | 1984-05-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |