Air-cooled battery

Claim 2

Storage battery apparatus comprising: an outer housing; a plurality of electrically interconnected contiguous battery cell units within said housing; a container forming part of each of said cell units and having substantially parallel external faces, each of said containers having a plurality of substantially transverse channels formed in predetermined ones of said faces and extending substantially from one face edge to another, channels formed in one container face being parallel to and adapted partially to overlap corresponding ones of the channels formed in a contiguous container face to form a plurality of substantially asymmetric cooling passages between said contiguous cell units.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of said channels is substantially parallel to adjacent ones of said channels.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said channels are formed in the side wall faces of said containers.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein each of said channels is formed by spaced apart vertical rib members forming an integral part of said container.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each of said channels in one side wall face of one container is laterally offset relative to a corresponding channel in a parallel side wall face of said one container.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein eacH of said channels in one side wall face of one of said contiguous containers is laterally offset from but overlaps at least approximately 40% of a corresponding channel formed in an abutting parallel side wall face of another of said contiguous containers to form an air passage between said abutting side wall faces having an internal surface area greater than the sum of the internal surface areas of each of said overlapping channels.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the internal surface area of each of said channels is substantially the same.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said housing is provided with inlet and outlet apertures for air conducted through said passages, each of said passages having one end in fluid flow communication with said inlet and the other end in fluid flow communication with said outlet.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 1 comprising in addition means connected to said outer housing for conducting air through said passages to cool the battery when the battery is charging and discharging.

Claim 11

A battery cell unit for interconnection with a plurality of substantially identical electrically interconnected battery cells within a charge storage device, said cell unit comprising at least a pair of substantially parallel external faces adapted for contiguous assembly with corresponding faces of an adjacent battery cell within the device, each of said faces having a plurality of spaced apart rib members formed therein and extending transversely thereof substantially from one face edge to another, said ribs defining in each of said faces a plurality of channels therebetween, the perimetric arrangement of ribs and channels being such that the lateral edges of each of said ribs on one face of said cell unit are positioned respectively in the planes of the longitudinal bisectors of a corresponding rib and adjacent channel formed on a parallel face of said cell unit.

Claim 12

A battery cell unit for interconnection with a plurality of substantially identical electrically interconnected battery cells within a charge storage device, said cell unit comprising at least a pair of substantially parallel external faces adapted for contiguous assembly with corresponding faces of an adjacent battery cell within the device, each of said faces having a plurality of spaced apart rib members formed therein and extending transversely thereof substantially from one face edge to another, said ribs defining in each of said faces a plurality of channels therebetween, the perimetric arrangement of ribs and channels being such that the lateral edges of each of said ribs on one face of said cell unit are positioned respectively in the planes of the longitudinal bisectors of a corresponding rib and adjacent channel formed on a parallel face of said cell unit.