Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Backqround of the Invention
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The present invention relates to the electric storage
battery art, and more particularly, to a new and improved
battery package and method of making same, for shipping
and storing an electric storage battery which has been
charged and dumped and which contains a residual amount of
electrolyte in the battery plates and cells. More
particularly, the present invention is an improvement over
the invention disclosed in my prior United States Patent
No. 3,9~1,617 issued March 2, 1976.
Charged and dumped batteries have been well known and
used for decades. Such batteries are produced for many
purposes, including without limitation, the prevention of
spillage of electrolyte during transit and the increased
storage life while the battery is being stored. In the
prior art, numerous venting mechanisms have been provided
so that the storage battery in a fully charged condition
may be stored after removal of the electrolyte for many
months without material loss of capacity and without
developing excessive pressure. See for example, the IJ.S.
patent to ~.L. Woodbridge No. 1,816,035, issued July 28,
1931, and the U.S. patents to C.C. Wallace, Nos. 1,758,545
and 1,907,911. These patents show vent caps with holes
therein having a very small cross-section. For example,
the Wal]ace patent shows a device which has a horizontal
openiny Oe very small diameter with respect to its
length. The Woodbridge patent provides a duct which has a
cross-section of a diameter not over fi~e percent of its
length. Both patents refer to a capillary duct of minute
cross-section. More recently, the Sabatino U.S. Patent
No~ 3,253,963 issued May 31, 1966 deals generally with the
same problems.
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Summary _f the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
simple venting device for use in combination with a
charged and dumped battery, so that the battery ma~ be
shipped and stored inexpensively and with maximum
effectiveness i.n terms of shelf life. In furtherance of
this object, the invention provides a charged and dumped
battery package, comprising: (a) a battery case having a
plurality of venting ports therein; (b) battery sealing
strip means disposed over at least the top surface of said
ports for at least partially sealing said ports, compris-
ing thin sheet material having a plurality of indentations
thereon forming protrusions extending from one side thereof
into each of said ports, each of said protrusions having a
minute vent hole therein; and (c) a plurality of dispos-
able inserts, at least one for each port, for at least
sealing said strip means with respect to said top surface
of said ports, each of said inserts further comprising a
top portion for compressing portions of said strip means
against at least said top surfaces of said ports, said top
portion having a vent aperture therethrough.
In the preferred embodiment of the inventionl each of
the disposable inserts comprise a top portion having a
vent aperture therethrough and raised indicia on a top
surface thereoE. At l.east a portion of the raised indicia
surrounds at least a portion of the vent aperture and
extends across the top surface to a peripheral edge of the
top portion.
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An overlying tape strip spans the vent openings,
sandwiches the disposable inserts between the tape and the
sealing strip. A relatively long, circuitous venting
passage of small cross-section(s) is thus created between
the top surface of the insert and the undersurface of the
tape strip. The indicia are preferably slightly spaced
apart with and formed to create numerous voids, pockets or
--~ partial obstructions to maximize the fluid Erictional
resistance of the venting channel. In the preferred
embodiment these indicia may be alpha-numeric characters.
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The tape strip also attaches the assembly at either end to
- the battery itself, so that, when activation is desired,
the entire package may be peeled away from the battery and
~; disposed of in a single motion.
The above and other features will become apparent from
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the following description with reference to the
accompanying drawi~ngs.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a charged and
dumped battery from which the preferred embodiment battery
package is being peeled away, the original position of
.:
that package being shown in phantom;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the battery and
battery package illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the sealing
strip disposable inserts and tape are shown exploded away
from khe top of the battery and arrows indicating the
; assembly sequence of the package;
Fig. 3 is a greatly engaged planar view generally
showing the top surface and indicia of the referred
embodiment disposable insert of the present invention;
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Fig. 4 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale taken
as indicated by the lines and arrows 4-4 in Fig. l; and
Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken as indicated by the
lines and arrows 5-5 in Fig. 4.
Descri tion of the Preferred Embodiment
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Although specific forms of the invention have been
selected for illustration in the drawings, and the
following description is drawn in specific terms for the
purpose of describing these forms of the invention, this
description is not intended to limit the scope of the
invention which is defined in the appended claims.
Referring to the figures, in Figs. 1 and 2/ there is
shown a perspective view of an assembled battery package
wherein the battery case 10 comprises a structure housing
six battery cells for a lead-acid storage battery which
has a cover 12, having six vent openings 14 formed
integrally with the cover. A venting strip 16 is
illustrated which is described in greater detail in
connection with my prior U.S. Patent No. 3,941,617.
Basically, this cover
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strip 16 is composed of a thin plastic material having a
generally planar top surface in which i.s formed a plurali.ty
of indentations forming protrusions designated generally
18 which are generally bag-shaped but which diameters, at
their intersection with the aforementioned planar surface,
approximately equals the interior diameter of each of the
vent wells 14. A small hole 20 is ~ormed in approximately
the center of the bottom of each bag~shaped protrusion 18.
As seen particularly in Fig. l, the strip 16 is generally
l.0 rectangular having a width which substantially exceeds the
width of the fill holes; as opposed to the width o the
adhesive strip 30 which is applled thereover which has a
width approximately equal to the outside diameter o fill
holes 14.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the
present invention, a plurality of disposable inserts
designated generally 22 are provided which are constructed
and function as follows: referring in particular to Figs.
3 and 4, each disposable insert is molded of a propylene-
ethylene copolymer or other similar material and comprises
- a disk-shaped top portion designated yenerally 50 having
a vent aperture 52 therethrough. In the preferred embodi-
ment, as seen particularly in Fig. 4, the outside diameter
o the top portion 50 o each insert is approximately equal
to the outside diameter o the fill hole into wh.ich it is
to be inserted. Protruding down and away rom the top
portion 50 of each insert and connected thereto is an
annular projection 54. In the preerred embodiment, the
vent aperture 52 in the top portion 50 is located generally
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in the center of the top portion and allows communication
of the at~osphere surrounded by the annular projection
with the atmosphere on the opposite side of the top portion.
; In the preferred embodiment, the annular projection is
generally perpendicular to the planar undersurface of the
top portion 50.
The annular projection 54 is dimensioned so that
a press fit is established between the disposable inserts
22 and the interior of fill holes 14 which ha~e been fitted
with the sealing strip 16 in the manner shown in the draw-
ings. The diameter of the annular projection 54 is under-
sized with respect to the fill hole diameter. However,
~ with the projections in place when the insert is positioned
-- in the fill hole, a seal is created between the outer sur-
face of the projections 18 of the strip 16 and the interior
surface of the fill hole 14. The annular projection thus
behaves as an insert retaining means for retaining the
inserts in the ports relative to the interior surfaces of
the ports by engaging the surfaces in a press fit through
the projections.
- The annular projection 54 has a tapered cross-
section. In Fig. 4, the outer surface 53 of the wall is
substantially perpendicular to the top portion 50 while
the inner surface 55 is tapered from ma~imum thic]~ness
where the projection 54 engages the top portion 50 to a
thin edge 57 at the end oE the projection remote from the
top portion 50. This results in a relatively thin and
flexible projection which aids in accommodating variations
in the strip projections or fill hole walls thereby
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preventing distortion of the fill holes. The annular pro-
jection 54 slides into the Eill hole until the underside of
the top portion 50 of each insert sandwiches or compresses
portions of strip 16 against the top surface of each fill
hole.
Figure 3 shows a planar view o~ the planar top
surface 56 of the top portion 50, The planar top surface
56 comprises raised indicia designated generally 58 thereon
which raised indicia is spaced at intervals across the top
portion 50 of the insert. In the preferred embodiment, the
raised indicia 58 comprises the capital letters DISCARD
aligned across the diameter of the top portion 50 with the
vent aperture 52 partially surrounded by the capital letter
C, Figure 3 also shows a dash 60 and 62 connected to each
letter D and extending to the periphery 64 or edge of the
top portion 50 on opposite sides of the insert, It is not
, necessary that the raised indicia 58 take the exact form of
a series of capital letters spelling a word such as DISCARD,
but it is desirable that the raised indicia 58 extend in
at least one direction from the vent aperture 52 across the
top planar surface 56 to the edye 64 of the top portion 50.
The indicia may be discontinuous, as in the word discard,
however, ik is preferred that at least a portion of the
indicia terminate at the e,dge of the insert to insure that
the vent passac3e will remain open. The use of discontinuous
indicia, and particularly, alpha-numberic characters,
increases the fluid frictional resistance of the ventiny
passages thereby minimizing the amount of air which will
diffuse into the battery through khis passage.
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Figure 4 shows how the battery package appears in crosssection when assembled. The par-ts 14 of the battery are
shown with the sealing strip 15 in place. ~he bag~like
projections 18 are shown held in place against the interior
walls of the parts 1~ by the annular projection 54 of the
disposable inserts 22. The disposable inserts 22 are shown
inserted into the ports with the underside of the top por-
tion 50 compressing portions of the sealing strip 16 against
the top surface of the ports 14. Also shown, is adhesive
strip 30 which is applied generally over the inserts 22 to
engage at least a portion of the raised indicia 58. The
adhesive strip 30 is also seen to contact sealing strip
16 in the region between the ports designated generally 68.
Because of the presence of the top portion 50 of the insert
22 and the raised indicia thereon, the adhesi.ve strip 30
and sealing strip 16 do not engage each other over the
entire distance separating the ports 14. For example, Fig.
4 shows the presence of small or minute channels 70 and 72
ormed between the strips 30 and 16 running transverse to
the length of the strips.
In Figure 5, the adhesive strip 30 i.s seen to
contact a portion of the top portion 50 of the insert on
either side of the raised indicia at regions 76 and 78.
Because o the indicia, the adhesive strip 30 is rai.sed
from the top surface adjacent the indicia on either side
thereo~ :Eorming mi.nute venting channels 80 and 82. Gas
escapes from the battery through aperture 20, vent aperture
52 and vent channels 80 and 82 formed by the raised indicia,
adhesive strip 30 and sealing strip 16. The ~as flows along
or adjacent to, in and around the indicia such as indicia
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DISCARD in Figure 3 until channels 80 and 82 open into
transverse channels such as channels 70 and 72 in Figure
4 where the gas eventually escapes into -the ambient atmo-
sphere.
When is desired to remove the battery package in
order to activate the battery~ it is only necessary to peal
one end of the venting strip 30 away from the battery case
as shown in Fig. 1 and to pull on the adhesive strip in
a generally upward direction across the top of the case, at
which time the sealing strip and disposable inserts will
naturally separate from the battery and the entire package
may be discarded in favor of conventional operating vent
caps. Accordingly, it may be seen that the case of removal
of -this package is far greater than with those prior art
; charged and dumped batteries where individual vents
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were wedged into each fill hole in order to create a seal
with the interiors of those fill holes.
Finally, it may be seen that for display and sales
purposes the top of the batter~ which is in its stored
condition with the package applied presents a relatively
"Elush look" appearance, which may be further highlighted
by altering the battery cover design so that the top
surfaces of the fill holes are at or below the top surface
of the cover.
It will be understood that various changes in the
details, materials and arrangement of parts which have
been herein described and illustrated in order to explain
the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled
in the art within the principle and scope of the invention
as expressed in the following claims.
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