Abstract A battery preferably for use as a power source in an electrical vehicle in which the batteries can be disposed across the bottom of the car to form a structural part of the vehicle. Each cell is preferably divided into three chambers - an upper chamber, a middle chamber containing the horizontally mounted battery plates and a lower chamber - so that the electrolyte flows by gravity from the upper chamber through the plates flushing waste products such as water which result from the production of electricity by the battery and which eventually insulate the electrolyte from the plates and prevent further electricity from being produced. After all of the electrolyte has flowed from the upper chamber into the lower two chambers, it can be pumped back to the upper chamber to repeat the journey, either while the vehicle is stopped, by applying a source of compressed air to the lower chamber, or continuously while the vehicle is moving, for example, by pumping the liquid during regenerative braking. The plates can be of any shape or size including circular, and preferably the horizontal plates are disposed at a slight angle to prevent gas produced during charging from building up between the plates. In another embodiment the plates are formed as cones and disposed in a stack in the battery so that the electrolyte flows downward through the cones.
A BATTERY COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OF PLATES MOUNTED SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY WITHIN SAID BATTERY EACH COMPRISED OF A METALLIC GRID WITH A PASTE APPLIED THERETO AND WHEREIN THE THICKENESS OF SAID GRID IS 20 THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH $ 2 THOUSANDTHS AND THE THICKNESS OF SAID PLATE IS 23 TO 27 THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH, A CASE FOR CONTAINING SAID PLATES AND AN ELECTROLYTE AND HAVING A REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES AND A REGION BELOW SAID PLATES SO THAT ELECTROLYTE IN SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES FLOWS THROUGH SAID PLATES TO SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES MEANS DEFINING A PASSAGE BEING SEPARATED FROM THE REGION REGIONS, AND PASSAGE BEING SEPARAGED FROM THE REGION OCCUPIED BY SAID PLATES INCLUDING A TUBE AND ONE WAY VALVE MEANS IN SAID TUBE PREVENTING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID ELECTROLYTE, MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING ELECTROLYTE IN SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES TO SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES VIA SAID TUBE INCLUDING MEANS FOR INTRODUCING AIR, AT LEAST INTERMITTENDLY, INTO SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES SO THAT SAID ELECTROLYTE MOVES UP SAID PASSAGE INTO SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES, AND MEANS FOR COOLING SAID AIR BEFORE INTODUCTION INTO SAID REGION BELOW THE PLATES.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
194 words
A BATTERY COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OF PLATES MOUNTED SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY WITHIN SAID BATTERY EACH COMPRISED OF A METALLIC GRID WITH A PASTE APPLIED THERETO AND WHEREIN THE THICKENESS OF SAID GRID IS 20 THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH $ 2 THOUSANDTHS AND THE THICKNESS OF SAID PLATE IS 23 TO 27 THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH, A CASE FOR CONTAINING SAID PLATES AND AN ELECTROLYTE AND HAVING A REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES AND A REGION BELOW SAID PLATES SO THAT ELECTROLYTE IN SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES FLOWS THROUGH SAID PLATES TO SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES MEANS DEFINING A PASSAGE BEING SEPARATED FROM THE REGION REGIONS, AND PASSAGE BEING SEPARAGED FROM THE REGION OCCUPIED BY SAID PLATES INCLUDING A TUBE AND ONE WAY VALVE MEANS IN SAID TUBE PREVENTING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID ELECTROLYTE, MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING ELECTROLYTE IN SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES TO SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES VIA SAID TUBE INCLUDING MEANS FOR INTRODUCING AIR, AT LEAST INTERMITTENDLY, INTO SAID REGION BELOW SAID PLATES SO THAT SAID ELECTROLYTE MOVES UP SAID PASSAGE INTO SAID REGION ABOVE SAID PLATES, AND MEANS FOR COOLING SAID AIR BEFORE INTODUCTION INTO SAID REGION BELOW THE PLATES.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A battery as in claim 1 including a membrane separating said plates from said region below said plates which is permeable to said electrolyte but impermeable to air.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
A battery as in claim 1 wherein said case Is made in a one-piece molded construction of polyethylene.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
A battery as in claim 1 including means to introduce water into said region above said plates.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
A battery as in claim 1 including means for venting gases from said region above said plates whenever the pressure in said region above said plates exceeds a predetermined value.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
70 words
A battery as in claim 5 wherein said venting means includes a tank for containing water, tube means connecting said tank to said region above said plates and valve means disposed in said tube means for permitting said gases in said region above said plates to be vented to the atmosphere via the water in said tank when said pressure in said region above said plates exceeds said predetermined value.