Abstract: A tubelet panel of fabric face sheets and parallel, continuous film, partition strips normal to the face sheets and having their longitudinal edges fused into the fabric of the face sheets is formed by thermal fusion by applying heat and pressure to the outer surfaces of the face sheets in the regions in registry with the partition edges. The partition material is chosen to have a lower melting temperature than the face sheet material and the applied heat is at a temperature above the melting temperature of the partition material and below the melting temperature of the face sheet material.

Abstract: A tubelet panel of fabric face sheets and parallel, continuous film, partition strips normal to the face sheets and having their longitudinal edges fused into the fabric of the face sheets is formed by thermal fusion by applying heat and pressure to the outer surfaces of the face sheets in the regions in registry with the partition edges. The partition material is chosen to have a lower melting temperature than the face sheet material and the applied heat is at a temperature above the melting temperature of the partition material and below the melting temperature of the face sheet material.

Abstract: A battery plate wrapper blank comprising a sheet of plate wrapper material is provided with attached longitudinal edge protective strips positioned to overlay the longitudinal sides of a battery plate which it is adapted to envelope and with a bottom edge protective strip attached along the bottom transverse margin of the sheet to overlay the bottom edge of the battery plate. The unitary plate wrapper blank is formed into a plate pouch without need of additional elements. Varients of the plate wrapper blank provide inner, outer or inner and outer longitudinal edge protective strips for the pouch, and a seal strip for the longitudinal seam of the pouch.

Abstract: A primary cell separator basket is formed from sheet material folded upon itself to form a basket bottom at the fold and bonded along margins in face to face contact extending from the fold. One or both sheet faces between the bonded margins are crowned outwardly to preform the basket and open its top. Basket preforms can be made in strips by longitudinally folding strip sheet material, crowning the material at intervals along the strip length and bonding the material in face to face relationship transverse of the strip length along the strip length in regions which fall between the crowns.

Abstract: A battery plate wrapper blank comprising a sheet of plate wrapper material is provided with attached longitudinal edge protective strips positioned to overlay the longitudinal sides of a battery plate which it is adapted to envelope and with a bottom edge protective strip attached along the bottom transverse margin of the sheet to overlay the bottom edge of the battery plate. The unitary plate wrapper blank is formed into a plate pouch without need of additional elements. Varients of the plate wrapper blank provide inner, outer or inner and outer longitudinal edge protective strips for the pouch, and a seal strip for the longitudinal seam of the pouch.

Abstract: A primary cell separator basket is formed from sheet material folded upon itself to form a basket bottom at the fold and bonded along margins in face to face contact extending from the fold. One or both sheet faces between the bonded margins are crowned outwardly to preform the basket and open its top. Basket preforms can be made in strips by longitudinally folding strip sheet material, crowning the material at intervals along the strip length and bonding the material in face to face relationship transverse of the strip length along the strip length in regions which fall between the crowns.

Abstract: A battery construction for primary cells of the type comprising a sealed flexible plastic envelope containing electrolyte and the active cell elements wherein an external electrical connection comprises a connector plate within the envelope and that connector pierces the envelope. A seal against the loss of electrolyte from the envelope through the connector aperture is achieved by locating the extension of the connector on the collector plate with portions of the face thereof surrounding it, by forming an adhesive bond between the adjacent inner face of the envelope and the collector plate surrounding the connector extenion, and by imposing external pressure on the adhesive bond by means of a pad which conforms to the envelope and imposes pressure over the bond. The pad is shown as a resilient, elastomeric, sponge sheet positioned between the cell envelope and battery casing.

Abstract: A flat galvanic cell having a plastic envelope surrounding and sealing its active elements is disclosed with a connector extending from a metal plate and piercing the envelope wall. A seal against electrolyte leakage is provided as a subassembly comprising the connector secured to the metal plate which is coated with a resin, a graphite dispersion in polyvinyl chloride, and bonded to the interior face of an envelope wall by an adhesive, a butadiene based elastomeric hot melt adhesive. The subassembly is sealed to the other elements of the envelope at the wall portion margins extending beyond the metal plate.

Abstract: There is disclosed a primary cell for batteries having a sealed, flexible, non-conductive envelope for the active elements of a cell. A subassembly of a combination of the active elements comprises a pouch containing a fluid electrode mass and having a separator sheet included in one wall thereof adapted to be positioned in the envelope with the separator sheet between the enclosed electrode mass and the opposite polarity electrode. The electrode mass-separator subassembly is made up of sheets of flexible material positioned on opposite faces of the electrode mass and bonded together as by face-to-face fusion of the materials of the sheets around their superimposed perimeters to enclose the electrode mass.

Abstract: A programmable control mechanism for positioning a tool head relative to a battery. The programmable mechanism includes a conveyor means for moving the battery along a first dimensional axis into a work station of the mechanism, a sensing means detects the leading and trailing edges of the battery and means responsive to the sensing means and the conveyor means generates a signal representing the dimensional length of the battery. The signal is utilized by a minicomputer to select a work program suited for that length of battery from a memory bank containing a plurality of such programs. The minicomputer utilizes a selected program to position the tool head relative to the battery so that various successive operations may be performed on the battery by any one of a variety of tools.

Abstract: The invention relates to improvements in machines employed for enclosing battery plates within a pouch of sheet material. The sheet is positioned so that the center of its length is disposed between the side of a fixture adapted to receive adjacent thereto the bottom edge of a battery plate and a slot and the sheet is enfolded around the battery plate by moving the fixture plate combination horizontally into and through the slot. As the wrapped bottom edge of the plate emerges from the slot, grasping means are engaged with the wrapped end of the battery plate and hold the plastic sheet tightly so as to prevent any displacement relative to the enclosed battery plate. The fixture is then withdrawn from the enfolding sheet. The overlapping lateral edges of the sheet are then sealed and the battery plate is dropped into an inclined position on an intermittently moving horizontal conveyor to produce a horizontal stack of wrapped plates.

Abstract: An apparatus for alternately stacking finite numbers of n positive battery plates and n+1 negative battery plates wherein a negative battery plate is provided at both the top and bottom ends of the stack. The apparatus includes a moving conveyor belt on which the positive plates are deposited having a spacing interval greater than the length of two negative plates. A negative plate is dropped onto the conveyor belt in the space between the positive plates and, in order to provide a negative plate at both the top and bottom ends of a resulting stack, two negative plates are dropped into the space between the positive plates whenever the required number of positive plates for a stack have been deposited on the conveyor belt. The negative and positive plates are then sequentially removed from the conveyor belt and dropped on top of each other thus producing a stack of alternating negative and positive plates, with a negative plate at both the bottom and top of the stack.

Abstract: An extruder and electrode assemblage for interconnecting the upstanding lugs of plate straps connected to the positive and negative grids of battery cell units through apertures provided in partitions, separating the cell units of a battery from each other. The electrode assemblage not only clamps the lugs against the partition but defines apertures for the extruding plungers to engage the lugs and extrude same into the partition aperture. Once the extruded lug portions contact each other, welding current is supplied thereto in a semi-annular path by the electrodes.

Abstract: This invention relates to a mechanism for effecting the synchronized rotation of a rotary anvil employed in a heat sealing operation on thermoplastic sheet material with the linear movement of the thermoplastic sheet moving under the rotating anvil. One specific application of the invention is the heat sealing of the lateral edges of a thermoplastic sheet wrapped around a battery plate. The linear movement of the mechanism carrying the wrapped battery plate is utilized to rotate the rotary heat sealing anvil in exact synchronism with the movement of the wrapped battery plate beneath the anvil.

Abstract: There is disclosed a mold assembly for casting posts and plate connector straps onto stacks of plates of lead acid type batteries wherein molten metal is circulated through one or more channels in the assembly and selectively damned to overflow into adjacent mold cavities. Cycle time and properties of the posts and connector straps are improved by constructions which impart a large thermal mass to the channel walls and a small thermal mass to the mold cavity walls. Thermal isolation of the mold cavity walls from the channel walls further enhances these conditions whereby the molds can be elevated in temperature prior to the casting operation and rapidly cooled during that operation. Cooling of the post mold cavities earlier and at a faster rate than the strap mold cavities increases post strength. A mold frame construction containing the molten metal flow channel and one or more inserts for the frame provide the desirable thermal properties while lending flexibility to the apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for assembling a sheet of storage battery separator material about a lead battery plate is disclosed. A battery plate is fed against the center of a flat sheet of battery separator material. The sheet is retained by guides above and below the line against which the battery plate is fed, so that as the plate is fed past the guides, the sheet is folded and enveloped about the somewhat narrower battery plate. As the enveloped plate continues to advance forward, it is engaged between pairs of opposed belt conveyors which take the battery and separator through a heating station. The adjacent inner edge surfaces of the folded separator are heat-sensitive, so that when the hot air and combustion gases at the heating station strike the adjacent inner edge surfaces, they become tacky.