Patents by Inventor Kenneth Orville MacFadden

Kenneth Orville MacFadden has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5772934
    Abstract: A polymer bonded sheet product suitable for use as an electrode in a non-aqueous battery system. A porous electrode sheet is impregnated with a solid polymer electrolyte, so as to diffuse into the pores of the electrode. The composite is allowed to cool, and the electrolyte is entrapped in the porous electrode. The sheet products composed have the solid polymer electrolyte composition diffused into the active electrode material by melt-application of the solid polymer electrolyte composition into the porous electrode material sheet. The solid polymer electrolyte is maintained at a temperature that allows for rapid diffusion into the pores of the electrode. The composite electrolyte-electrode sheets are formed on current collectors and can be coated with solid polymer electrolyte prior to battery assembly. The interface between the solid polymer electrolyte composite electrodes and the solid polymer electrolyte coating has low resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1998
    Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn.
    Inventor: Kenneth Orville MacFadden
  • Patent number: 5749927
    Abstract: Solid polymer electrolytes are extruded with active electrode material in a continuous, one-step process to form composite electrolyte-electrodes ready for assembly into battery cells. The composite electrolyte-electrode sheets are extruded onto current collectors to form electrodes. The composite electrodes, as extruded, are electronically and ionically conductive. The composite electrodes can be overcoated with a solid polymer electrolyte, which acts as a separator upon battery assembly. The interface between the solid polymer electrolyte composite electrodes and the solid polymer electrolyte separator has low resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1998
    Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co. -Conn.
    Inventors: Terry Song-Hsing Chern, David Gerard Keller, Kenneth Orville MacFadden
  • Patent number: 5725822
    Abstract: An electrode sheet product is formed using an extruder having a feed throat and a downstream section by separately mixing an active electrode material and a solid polymer electrolyte composition that contains lithium salt. The active electrode material is fed into the feed throat of the extruder, while a portion of at least one fluid component of the solid polymer electrolyte composition is introduced to the downstream section. The active electrode material and the solid polymer electrolyte composition are compounded in a downstream end of the extruder. The extruded sheets, adhered to current collectors, can be formed into battery cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 10, 1998
    Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn.
    Inventors: David Gerard Keller, Richard Thomas Giovannoni, Kenneth Orville MacFadden
  • Patent number: 5698147
    Abstract: A process for fabricating an electrolyte-electrode composite suitable for high energy alkali metal battery that includes mixing composite electrode materials with excess liquid, such as ethylene carbonate or propylene carbonate, to produce an initial formulation, and forming a shaped electrode therefrom. The excess liquid is then removed from the electrode to compact the electrode composite which can be further compacted by compression. The resulting electrode exhibits at least a 75% lower resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 16, 1997
    Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn.
    Inventors: Terry Song-Hsing Chern, Kenneth Orville MacFadden, Steven Lloyd Johnson