Multicell recombining lead-acid battery

Claim 2

In combination, a sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of discharge and charge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, comprising: a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in a sealed monobloc container, the cells individually comprising porous positive and porous negative plates sandwiching a porous compressible separator under firm mutual stacking pressure, and an acid electrolyte in liquid form and of limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator having a relatively greater electrolyte absorptive power than the adjoining plates with the bulk of the electrolyte of each cell being retained in the pores of the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remaining voided thereby facilitating gas transport during the gas recombination reaction upon charging; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery.

Claim 3

The battery of claim 1 wherein the partition members are free from attachment with the monobloc container so that the stacking pressure between the plates and separator of each cell is maintained substantially uniform.

Claim 4

The battery of claim 2 wherein the partition members are formed of flexible polymeric bags each of which contains the components of one cell, the bags being open at one or both ends.

Claim 5

The battery of claim 1 wherein the cells are electrically interconnected by intercell connectors fully housed within the sealed container and bridging across the partition members within the common gas space.

Claim 6

A sealed multicell lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of discharge and charge in any attitude without electrolyte loss or intercell migration, comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a safety valve adapted to vent at superatmospheric pressure; a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in the container, each cell including a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under firm stacking pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator having a relatively greater electrolyte absorptive power than the adjoining plates so that the bulk of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided thereby facilitating gas transport during the gas recombination reaction during charging; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery, whereby during charge (including overcharge) of the battery cell(s) having relatively greater electrolyte amounts will release gas which will migrate and be recombined at the negative plates of cell(s) having relatively lesser electrolyte amounts, thereby tending to balance the electrolyte amounts of all of such cells.

Claim 7

A sealed multicell lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of discharge and charge in any attitude without electrolyte loss or intercell migration, comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a safety valve adapted to vent at superatmospheric pressure; a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in the container, each cell including a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under firm stacking pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator having a relatively greater electrolyte absorptive power than the adjoining plates so that the bulk of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided thereby facilitating gas transport during the gas recombination reaction during charging; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery, whereby during charge (including overcharge) of the battery cell(s) having relatively greater electrolyte amounts will release gas which will migrate and be recombined at the negative plates of cell(s) having relatively lesser electrolyte amounts, thereby tending to balance the electrolyte amounts of all of such cells.

Claim 8

The battery of claim 5 wherein the partition members are free from attachment with the monobloc container so that the stacking pressure between the plates and separators of each cell is maintained substantially uniform.

Claim 9

The battery of claim 6 wherein the partition members are formed of flexible polymeric bags each of which contains the components of one cell, the bags being open at one or both ends.

Claim 10

The battery of claim 5 wherein the cells are electrically interconnected by intercell connectors fully housed within the sealed container and bridging across the partition members within the common gas space.

Claim 11

A sealed multicell lead-acid battery, comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a resealable safety valve adapted to vent at a pressure of at least about one psig; a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in the container, each cell including a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under firm stacking pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator formed of a compressible mat comprising ultrafine glass fibers the major portion of which (by weight) have fiber diameters of less than about 3 micron, and the mat having an uncompressed porosity of from about 70 to about 98 percent, the separator thereby having a relatively greater electrolyte absorption power than the adjoining plates; said electrolyte having a minimum density of about 1.3 and being present in such an amount that at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery.

Claim 12

A sealed multicell lead-acid battery, comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a resealable safety valve adapted to vent at a pressure of at least about one psig; a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in the container, each cell including a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under firm stacking pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator formed of a compressible mat comprising ultrafine glass fibers the major portion of which (by weight) have fiber diameters of less than about 3 micron, and the mat having an uncompressed porosity of from about 70 to about 98 percent, the separator thereby having a relatively greater electrolyte absorption power than the adjoining plates; said electrolyte having a minimum density of about 1.3 and being present in such an amount that at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery.

Claim 13

The battery of claim 9 wherein the plates are substantially flat and stacked in parallel fashion to form a prismatic block, and said partition members are spaced from one surface of the container to define said gas space.

Claim 14

The battery of claim 9 wherein said plates and separators are wound spirally and contained within cylindrical bores formed in the monobloc container and positioned adjacently.

Claim 15

The battery of claim 9 wherein said plates and separators are flat wound and each cell housed in a flexible polymeric bag of general parallelepipedic shape, the cells being held together by mutual compression to produce a substantially uniform stacking pressure of the plates and separators throughout the battery.

Claim 16

The battery of claim 9 wherein the container includes a lid having a plurality of recessed protuberances in substantial contact with a portion of said cells, for enhanced resistance to vibrational forces.

Claim 17

In combination, a sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of discharge and charge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, comprising: a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in a sealed monobloc container, the cells individually comprising porous positive and porous negative plates sandwiching a porous compressible separator under firm mutual stacking pressure, and an acid electrolyte in liquid form and of limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator having a relatively greater electrolyte absorptive power than the adjoining plates with the bulk of the electrolyte of each cell being retained in the pores of the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remaining voided thereby facilitating gas transport during the gas recombination reaction upon charging; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact and being free from attachment with the monobloc container so that the stacking pressure between the plates and separators in the battery is maintained substantially uniform.

Claim 18

In combination, a sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of discharge and charge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, comprising: a plurality of electrochemical cells housed in a sealed monobloc container, the cells individually comprising porous positive and porous negative plates sandwiching a porous compressible separator under firm mutual stacking pressure, and an acid electrolyte in liquid form and of limited amount tightly absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator having a relatively greater electrolyte absorptive power than the adjoining plates with the bulk of the electrolyte of each cell being retained in the pores of the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remaining voided thereby facilitating gas transport during the gas recombination reaction upon charging; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact and being free from attachment with the monobloc container so that the stacking pressure between the plates and separators in the battery is maintained substantially uniform.

Claim 19

The battery of claim 14 wherein the partition members are formed of flexible polymeric material.

Claim 20

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining electric storage battery having a container and two or more cells each including a cell pack comprising one or more positive electrodes and one or more negative electrodes interleaved with compressible fibrous absorbent separator material, characterized in that each cell pack is substantially enclosed by a non sealed bag of flexible polymeric material open to a common gas space formed in the battery, and at least the opposed surfaces of adjacent cell packs enclosed by the bags are in face-to-face contact substantially along the full entirety of such opposed surfaces, the cells containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte, and the cell packs are spaced apart solely by the walls of the said bags which are not sealed to the battery container.

Claim 21

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining electric storage battery having a container and two or more cells each including a cell pack comprising one or more positive electrodes and one or more negative electrodes interleaved with compressible fibrous absorbent separator material, characterized in that each cell pack is substantially enclosed by a non sealed bag of flexible polymeric material open to a common gas space formed in the battery, and at least the opposed surfaces of adjacent cell packs enclosed by the bags are in face-to-face contact substantially along the full entirety of such opposed surfaces, the cells containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte, and the cell packs are spaced apart solely by the walls of the said bags which are not sealed to the battery container.

Claim 22

The battery of claim 16 in which the amount of electrolyte is not sufficient to saturate the pores in the electrodes and in the separator material.

Claim 23

The battery of claim 16 in which the separator material comprises microfine glass fibers the major weight proportion of which have an average diameter of less than about 3 microns.

Claim 24

The battery of claim 16 in which a single resealable safety valve is in communication with a gas space which is common to all of the cells of the battery and thus vents all the cells as a unit.

Claim 25

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of charge or discharge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, including a container having a compartment containing two or more cells, each cell containing at least one positive plate and at least one negative plate, adjacent plates being separated by separators of compressible acid-absorbent fibrous material, adjacent cells being spaced apart by intercell partitions of electrolyte impermeable material whose edges are not sealed to the sidewalls or the bottom of the compartment, the cells containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte.

Claim 26

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of charge or discharge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, including a container having a compartment containing two or more cells, each cell containing at least one positive plate and at least one negative plate, adjacent plates being separated by separators of compressible acid-absorbent fibrous material, adjacent cells being spaced apart by intercell partitions of electrolyte impermeable material whose edges are not sealed to the sidewalls or the bottom of the compartment, the cells containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte.

Claim 27

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of charge or discharge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, including a container having a compartment provided with a safety valve venting means adapted to vent at superatmospheric pressure, and containing two or more cells each comprising at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode separated from each other by separators of compressible acid-absorbent fibrous material, adjacent cells being spaced apart by an intercell partition whose edges are juxtaposed to the sidewalls and bottom of the compartment and are not sealed thereto and are free from attachment therewith, the electrolyte within each cell being substantially fully absorbed within the plates and separators of the cell, and the bulk of the electrolyte in the cells being contained within the separator.

Claim 28

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery capable of charge or discharge in any attitude without electrolyte loss, including a container having a compartment provided with a safety valve venting means adapted to vent at superatmospheric pressure, and containing two or more cells each comprising at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode separated from each other by separators of compressible acid-absorbent fibrous material, adjacent cells being spaced apart by an intercell partition whose edges are juxtaposed to the sidewalls and bottom of the compartment and are not sealed thereto and are free from attachment therewith, the electrolyte within each cell being substantially fully absorbed within the plates and separators of the cell, and the bulk of the electrolyte in the cells being contained within the separator.

Claim 29

The battery of claim 20 or 21 in which the intercell partitions are substantially planar and are free from attachment to the container so as to be "floating."

Claim 30

The battery of claim 20 or 21 in which the individual cells are enclosed by a bag of flexible polymeric material open to a common gas space formed in the battery.

Claim 31

The battery of claim 20 or 21 in which the amount of electrolyte present is insufficient to saturate the pores in the electrodes and in the separators.

Claim 32

The battery of claim 20 or 21 in which the separators are formed of a matting of microfine glass fibers.

Claim 33

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery having a compartment containing a plurality of cells separated respectively from one another by an intercell partition whose edges are not sealed to the compartment thereby defining a gas space common to the cells, each cell comprising at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode separated from each other by separators of absorbent fibrous material and containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte, the positive plates of one cell being connected to the negative plates of an adjacent cell by an intercell connector which passes over the intercell partition and is contained within the common gas space, and in which the intercell connector is provided with an electrolyte creepage barrier.

Claim 34

A sealed lead-acid gas recombining battery having a compartment containing a plurality of cells separated respectively from one another by an intercell partition whose edges are not sealed to the compartment thereby defining a gas space common to the cells, each cell comprising at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode separated from each other by separators of absorbent fibrous material and containing substantially no free unabsorbed electrolyte, the positive plates of one cell being connected to the negative plates of an adjacent cell by an intercell connector which passes over the intercell partition and is contained within the common gas space, and in which the intercell connector is provided with an electrolyte creepage barrier.

Claim 35

The battery of claim 26 in which the electrolyte creepage barrier is formed of a sleeve of plastic, tar or epoxy resistant to acid electrolyte.

Claim 36

The battery of claim 26 in which the electrodes and separators of each cell are contained within a polymeric bag, the material of the polymeric bag serving as the intercell partition.

Claim 37

The battery of claim 26 in which the amount of electrolyte in each cell is insufficient to saturate the pores in the electrodes and in the separators.

Claim 38

The battery of claim 26 in which the separator material comprises microfine glass fibers.

Claim 39

A sealed multicell lead-acid gas recombining battery which may be discharged or charged in any attitude without electrolyte loss, comprising a container, a plurality of cell packs housed in the container, each cell pack having at least one porous positive plate and at least one porous negative plate separated by and pressed against an acid-absorbent compressible porous separator material, adjacent cell packs being spaced apart by intercell partitions whose edges are free from attachment with the container thereby defining cell-to-cell mutual compression and a gas space common to the cells, the acid electrolyte being in liquid form and being substantially fully absorbed in the porous plates and separators with at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte contained within a cell pack being retained by the separator.

Claim 40

A sealed multicell lead-acid gas recombining battery which may be discharged or charged in any attitude without electrolyte loss, comprising a container, a plurality of cell packs housed in the container, each cell pack having at least one porous positive plate and at least one porous negative plate separated by and pressed against an acid-absorbent compressible porous separator material, adjacent cell packs being spaced apart by intercell partitions whose edges are free from attachment with the container thereby defining cell-to-cell mutual compression and a gas space common to the cells, the acid electrolyte being in liquid form and being substantially fully absorbed in the porous plates and separators with at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte contained within a cell pack being retained by the separator.

Claim 41

The battery of claim 31 wherein opposed surfaces of adjacent cell packs are mutually pressed against the intercell partition substantially uniformly along the full entirety of such surfaces.

Claim 42

The battery of claim 31 wherein the separator is formed of a mat of glass fibers the major portion of which (by weight) have fiber diameters of less than about 3 microns.

Claim 43

In a sealed lead-acid recombining multicell battery of the limited electrolyte type in which pore surfaces of the plates are unsaturated and carry a thin film of electrolyte thereon, and in which the separator carries the bulk of the electrolyte yet is gas permeable to permit oxygen to permeate therethrough to recombine upon overcharge with the negative plate materials, an improved construction adapted to promote equalization of the electrolye film thickness on corresponding pore surfaces of the respective plates throughout the battery comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a resealable safety valve adapted to vent at a pressure of at least about one psig; a plurality of cells housed in the container, each cell containing a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator formed of a compressible mat comprising ultrafine fibers the major portion of which (by weight) have fiber diameters of less than about 3 microns, and the mat having an uncompressed porosity of from about 70 to 98 percent, a portion of the pore volume of the separator remaining voided for transmission of gas in the gaseous phase; said electrolyte having a minimum density of about 1.3 and being present in such an amount that at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery.

Claim 44

In a sealed lead-acid recombining multicell battery of the limited electrolyte type in which pore surfaces of the plates are unsaturated and carry a thin film of electrolyte thereon, and in which the separator carries the bulk of the electrolyte yet is gas permeable to permit oxygen to permeate therethrough to recombine upon overcharge with the negative plate materials, an improved construction adapted to promote equalization of the electrolye film thickness on corresponding pore surfaces of the respective plates throughout the battery comprising: a sealed monobloc container provided with a resealable safety valve adapted to vent at a pressure of at least about one psig; a plurality of cells housed in the container, each cell containing a porous lead dioxide positive plate, a porous lead negative plate, an absorbent separator sandwiched between the plates under pressure, and a liquid acid electrolyte in limited amount absorbed within the plates and separator; said separator formed of a compressible mat comprising ultrafine fibers the major portion of which (by weight) have fiber diameters of less than about 3 microns, and the mat having an uncompressed porosity of from about 70 to 98 percent, a portion of the pore volume of the separator remaining voided for transmission of gas in the gaseous phase; said electrolyte having a minimum density of about 1.3 and being present in such an amount that at least about 60 percent of the electrolyte of each cell is retained by the separator, and a substantial portion of the pore volume of the plates remains voided; and partition members segregating the cells from direct physical contact yet constructed to define a gas space common to all the cells of the battery.

Claim 45

The battery of claim 34 wherein at least about 65 percent of the electrolyte is retained by the separator.

Claim 46

The battery of claim 34 wherein the separator is formed of ultrafine glass fibers, the separator having a greater electrolyte absorption power than the adjoining plates.

Claim 47

The battery of claim 1 wherein at least about 70 percent of the electrolyte of each cell is retained in the pores of the separator, the separator having a porosity of from about 70 to about 98 percent which is greater than the porosity of the plates, and the separator containing some residual pore volume unfilled with electrolyte for enhanced gas transport therethrough.