Composite battery container with integral flexible ribs
US6376126B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 13, 1999 |
| Grant date | Apr 23, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 13, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P70/50
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A composite battery container for housing one or more cell elements comprising positive and negative plates alternately interleaved with separator material includes a battery housing defining one or more cell compartments. The cell compartments have resilient, flexible spacer and plate-rest ribs integrally formed in the sides and bottom of the cell compartments, but having different material properties than the battery housing. The battery housing is made of a rigid, low cost plastic material, while the ribs are a flexible thermoplastic elastomer. The flexible ribs elastically deform when a cell element is disposed within the cell compartment and return to a substantially non-deformed, originally molded position when the cell element is removed. The ribs are formed in any suitable orientation and at any suitable acute or obtuse angle from the cell compartment walls.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.