Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1 This invent1on relates to a device for the auto-
matic filling of battery-cells with wa-ter comprising a
filling cup or plug to be inserted into the filling orifice
of the battery cell, a cup~housing heing provided with
fixing means for mounting in the filling orifice, a con-
nection for the water supplyr and a valve actuated by a
float, the valve body being connected by means of a pivot-
ably mounted lever to the float disposed centrally in the
cup-housing, characterized in that fitted to the lower end
1~ of the cup-housing is a sleeve exhibiting the fixing means.
The water in the diluted sulphuric acid in the
battery cells evaporates due to the current density, i.e.
the cyclic load of batteries driving vehicles, forklift
trucks etc. To prevent the electrolytic level in the
-'; 15 cells sinking below the minimum level, the batteries have
to be checked at regular intervals and the cells refilled
; with chemically clean water.
}~utomatic devices as described above are already
known to help save time and work in refilling. For this, the
inlet of the filling cup or plug of each battery cell is con-
nected by a common pipe with a central tank from which the
water is pumped by means of a pressure generator and fed
into the cells. When the required electrolytic level is
reached, the float closes the valve of the particular
battery cell.
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1 It is the purpose of the invention to pro~ide a
filling cup or plug designed in such a manner that it may
be used universally for widely difering ~attery-cells~
with no need to provide a diferen-t filling cup or plug for
each type of battery-cell.
It is also the purpose of the invention to provide
a device for automatically filling battery-cells with water,
the float of which comprises a smoothly operating, reliable
guide which cannot tilt or become blocked. E~en if the
float guide ceases to move freely, the force applied by
the float will be enough to ensure proper operation of the
val~e and to prevent valve-flutter.
This and other purposes are accomplished, in the
case of a filling cup or plug, in that a sleeve comprising
fixing means is fitted to the lower end of the cup-housing.
This ma~es it possible to produce a standard filling
cup or plug for all filler orifices in battery cells, it
being necessary to fit to the lower end only the rele~ant
sleeve, the fixing means on which match the dimensions of
23 the filler-orifice. This eliminates the need for adapters,
the use of which has the disadvantages of making the filling
cup or plug too high for many applications~ Furthermore,
the use of an adaptor greatly reduces the structurally
possible diameter of the float and thus the buoyancy thereof.
Rapid assembly is possible if the sleeve is held
to the cup-housing by a snap-fastener.
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1 According to ~ particularly advant~geous develop-
ment of the invention, the cup-housing is rotatable in
relation to the sleeve. This allows the connections for
the water-supply ~nd connecting hoses to be ~ligned with
each other, with no s~arp curves or kinks in the said hoses
or the like. In additîon to this, batteries having their
terminals extremely close together may also be equipped
with the device according to this invention.
The fixing means on the sleeve may be in the
form of a thread or a bayoner-fastener.
According to another characteristic of the
invention, the float is secured to a central guide-rod
which, solely for guiding the sliding of the float~ runs,
with a certain amount of play, through an opening provided
`I 15 centrally in the bottom of the cup-housing, the upper end
of the said guide-rod beiny hinged to the lever, designed
as an amplifying lever, for transmitting the float-move-
ment to the valve body.
Since the float, with its guide-rod, is held
centrally in a sliding guide in the bottom of the cup-
housing, the danger of the float tilting as it moves vert
; ically is eliminated. This sliding guide may be kept so
small that adhesion, or blocking by particles suspended
in the electrolyte, is largely prevented.
According to a further development of the inven-
tion, the transmission-ratio between the guide-rod and the
amplifying leve- is in excess of 1:1 and is preferably ol
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1 the order of 1:16~ This means that, with ~ float ~eighing
about 15g, the buoyancy of the said float, which îs required
to close the valve, is amplifed to more than 2QOg~
According to another characteristic of the inven~
tion, for the purpose of transmitting force from the
amplifying lever to the valve-body, a shaft, mounted in
the cup-housing, is secured to the said amplifying lever,
the said shaft engaging~ with a toothed segment, in a
notch in the valve~body-shaft.
This also contributes to an easy running trans-
mission of power so that an ass~red opening and closurè
of the valve without jamming, is guaranteed.
A further feature of the invention is that the
valve body is arranged in a cylindrical inlet pipe of the
i 15 cup housing which contains a conical seat for the valve
head against which it rests, sealing it in the closed
position with the help of a gasket. Preferably, the con-
ical seat should have an angle of 120.
During the realization of the invention, these
measures have shown that optimal sealing is obtained when
- a closing force of about 200g is applied to the valve-
body; this sealing effect is also promoted by the water-
pressure, usually between 1.5 and 2.0 bars, acting upon
the valve-head.
According to the invention, a throttle tube is
built into the water inlet pipe. Preferably, a baffle
plate is placed between the throttle tube exit and the
valve head to direct the water flow to the wall of the
inlet pipe.
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l Thus, unrequi.red pressure forces acting in the
closing direction of the valve are avoided as the w~ter
jet does not hit the valve head with full force~
This advantageous effect is fortified by the
trumpet-shaped exit of the throttle tube which. reduces
the inlet speed of the feeding jet still further.
If a labyrinth. water-supply is provided after
the tube-exit, the entry into which is lower than the
said tube-exit, this provides protection against fixe-damp
and a hydraulic seal is formed which, in the event of a
vacuum arising in the hose-system, prevents water from
being drawn out of the cup-housing.
Longitudi.nal grooves are cut into the guide rod
: of the float to provide an unobstructed flow of the water
from the cup housing into the battery cells and to avoid
a settling of foreign particles in the sliding guide of
the yuide rod of the float
It is particularly desirable for an indicator
. disc to be formed o~ the upper end of the float-guide-rod,
the said disc being visible, when the valve is closed,
through a window in the cup-housing. This provided for
rapid checking of the electrolyte-level in the battery-cell.
It is an advantage for the window to be located
in the lateral wall of the cup-housing. As compared with
; 25 fitting the said window in the cover of the cup-housing,
this has the advanta~e that the inner wall of the window
always remains clear since condensate-water easily runs
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1 down the verti.cal surface thereof without settling and thus
affecting the transparency of the window.
Another characteristic of the invention is the
provision of very fine slots, preferably star~shaped, in
the bottom of the cup houslng, which at least partlyj run
into dirt collecting chambers on the upper bottom surface
and are all sharp-edged on the loWer bottom surface.
The remaining water, which did not flow along
the longitudinal grooves of the guide rod, reaches the
battery cells via these slots. The free slots thereby
hold back possible foreign particles which will settle in
the dirt collecti.ng chambers without reaching the guide
channel between the guide rod of the float and the bottom
of the cup housing. The sharp edging of the slots on the
~ 15 lower side has the advantage of acting as fender and pre
~ venting a feed back of dirt particles from the battery
cells into the cup housing through these slots. In addition
to this, these very fine slots a~e an escape route for gas
or acid fumes without the attachment of liquid particles
so that the dried gas can rise through vent holes in the
cup housing and escape without spilling onto the outside
of the device or the battery.
The invention is explained hereinafter in con-
junction with the examples of embodimen-t illustrated in
the drawings attached hereto, wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective, partly sectional, open
view of the invented device.
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l Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the device
shown in figure l~
Figure 3 is a sc~ematic enlarged representation
of the connection between the shaft of the amplifying lever
and the valve body~
Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of
the baffle plate.
Figure 5 is a side view of the guide rod of the
float.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section through an
inlet duct to an enlarged scale.
Figure 7 is a perspeckive view of a variant of
a filling cup or plug according to the inventlon.
- Figure 8 is a longitudinal section through a
filling cup or plug similar to that in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a part-sectional view of a modîfied
example of embodiment.
Figure lO is a sectlonal representation of a
filling cup or plug wi-th an openiny for removal.
As shown by figures l and 2, the device for the
automatic filling of battery cells with water consists of
a filling cup or plug lO, of which the cylindrical cup
housing 12 is placed into the filling opening of the battery
cell, which is not shown. The lower edge of the cup housing
12 is made of sprung tongues 14 of which the lower edges
16 are enlarged and which after insertion of the cup housing
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1 12, elas-tically grip the lower edge of the filling opening
of the battery cell~ For sealing the gap between the
filling opening and the casing of the cup housing 12 a
gasket 18 is provided which is placed in a groo~e of the
cup housing -i2. ~bove the gasket .18 the cup housing 12 is
enlargened and rests with this part on the cell surface.
It is to be seen in figure 1 that the pressurized
water intake from the water suppl~ ~not shownl is through
a T-formed connection 20 on the outside of the cup housing
12 which has two pipe connections 22 and 24 to which. water
hoses can be fitted in the known manner. The connection
22 serves to feed chemically clean water to the filling
cup or plug while the connection 24 passes the water not
fed into the filling cup or plug 10 to the next filling
cup or plug ~not shown~.
Figure 2 shows that the internal end 26 of the
T-formed connection 20 is inserted into an inlet pi.pe 28.
Inside the end 26 is a throttle tube 30 which, in the
shown example, has a length of 14 mm and adiameter of 1~2
mm. The tube exit 32 is trumpet shaped. Around the
throttle tuhe 30 wi-thin the internal end 26 is a circular
: dirt collecting chamber 34.
Figure 2 also shows that at the exit of the
throttle tube 32, looking at in the flow direction, is a
~affle plate 36 ~shown in figure a~ which is force ~itted
into a notch at the internal end 26 of the tube. The
: baffle plate 36 has on its circumference, four outlet
slot~ 38.
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1 The inlet pipe 28 has on its end, approximately
central, a conical seat 42 for a valve head ~4 of a valve
46 whose shaft 48 is movable in a horizontal direction as
shown by the double arro~s in a narrow bore 50 of the inlet
tube 28. The valve head 44 has a circular groove for a
gasket 52 which in the closed position of the valve 46
forms a seal with the conical seat 42 at an angle of 120.
The valve sha~t ~8 is connected through an
amplifying lever 54 to a guide rod 56 which is centrically
seated in the cup housing 12 and protrudes through a
circular opening 58 in the bottom 60 of the cup housing 12
A float 62 îs placed onto the lower end of th~ guide rod
56.
~elatively large-volume float 62 is a hollow body
made of welded synthetic material. In the example of
embodiment illustrated, the volume is such that the buoy-
ancy acting upon guide-rod 56 amounts to about 15 g~
The centre part of the guide rod 56 which slides
through a nearly linear guide formed by the circular open-
ing 58 in the bottom 60, has four longitudinal quadranted
shaped grooves 66. These longitudinal grooves 66 have
; the two functions of feeding water ~rom the cup housing 12
into the battery cell and to keep the guide of the opening
58 free so that no foreign particles can settle. The
water film formed on the guide rod 56 insures easy movement
~ of the guide.
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1 Figure 5 shows that the thickened upper end of
the guide rod 56 passes into an arm 68 of which, with the
help of a bolt 70, rests the amplifying lever 54. To
transmit the vertical float movement to the horizontally
slidable valve body 46, the upper end of the amplifying
lever 54 is connected to a horizontal shaft 72 which rests
in the cup housing 12. This shaft 72 has at least ~n the
area of the valve shaft 48, a toothed segment 74 which gears
into a notch. 76 of the valve shaft 48. Figure 3 shows
that the notch 76 has -two vertical walls 78 onto which
rests a corner edge 8Q and 82 of the toothed segment which
widens as from the shaft middle to the outside. The
corner edge 80 of the toothed segment 74 moves the valve
body 4B into a closed position when the shaft 72 turns
,. 15 anti-clockwise and lies in a radial plane 84 which stands
vertically in thè opening position of the valve 46 while
it, as shown in figure 3, forms an angle ~ of 71 to the
horizontal plane passing through the shaft centre point in
; its closed position. This means that the shaft 72 turns
itself 19 from the open to the closed position and ~ice
versa.
Figure 3 shows further that the edge 82 of the
toothed segment 74 moves the valve 46 into an open position
' when the shaft 72 turns clockwise and lies on a radi,al
plane of the shaft 72 which forms an angle ~ of 59 to
2S the hori~ontal plane passing through. the shaft centre in
the closed position of the valve 46. Therefore, it follows
that by the above-mentioned ~urning of the shaft 72 by
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1 19 the angle B i.n the opening positi.on of the valve body
46 will be 40.
~he width of the toothed segment 74 and the
notch 76 amount in the cited example 1.3 mm while the
height of the notch 76 is 1~25 mm and that of the toothed
segment is 1.5 mm.
The bottom 60 of the cup housing 12 has fine
star-shaped slots 86 which. are rounded on their upper
edges and radiate inwards to end in the circular dirt
collecting chamber 88~ The lower edge of those slots 86
~on the underside of the bottom 60~ are sharp-edged and
therefore prevent the return flow of foreign particles.
On the upper end of the guide rod 56 or to be
more precise, on the upper end of the arm 68, an indication
disk 90 is fixed which in the uppermost position of the
float 62, that means closed valve, is visible through a
window 92 in the lid 94 of the housing 12.
The device works as follows:
When the float 62 sinks because of a low electro-
lytic level, ~its lowest position is indicated in figure 2
with hmin and its highest position with hmaX, whereby the
lift of the float 624h is very high and in the cited
. example amount to 11 mm~ the amplifying lever 54 having in
the cited example, an effective length of 24 mm, turns
clockwise on the easy going swivel joint 96 so that it
:~ turns the shaft 72 clockwise and the edge 82 of the toothed
segment 74 moves the valve body 46 to the right into its
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1 opening position. ~ transmission ratio of 1:16 is obtained
by the mentloned transmission from the guide rod 56 thxough
the amplifying lever 54 to the valve body 46.
The water fed by a pressure tank through a pipe
(not shown) to the T~formed connection 20, has a pressure
of approximately 0.15 to 2.0 bar and is reduced in the
thro-ttle tube 30. The trumpe-t-shaped tube exit 32 ensures
a velocity reduction. The baffle plate 36 guides the
water to the four outlet slots 38 wherefrom it passes
along the inside wall of the inlet pipe 28 and therefore
no direct pressure is brought to bear against the surface
of the valve head 44. The water is then fed through a
large opening 98 in the upper part of the inlet pipe 28
behind the valve seat 42 underneath the lid 94, where it
reaches tangentially under the window 92.
From here the water in the cup housing 12 flows
down whereby a part of it flows along the guide rod 56
through the opening 58 while the remaining water flows
through the fine slots 86 which cleanses the water by pre-
venting the possibility of floating particles. The water
flow is indicated in figure 1 by arrows.
When the flQat has reached the required electro-
lytic level as indicated hmaX, the amplifying lever 54 has
meanwhile been moved anti-clockwise so that the edge 8Q of
the toothed segment 74 has moved the valve shaft 48 to t~e
left and thereby closing the valve.
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l The above described and shown form of the taothed
segment 74 and its interaction with the vertlcal walls 78
of the notch 76 in the valve shaft 48 ensures that the
valve in the opening position is kept open if the inflowing
water rushes in, in an abrupt manner. Due to the limited,
very small horizontal movement of the toothed segment 74
in the notch 76, a secure closure o~ the valve is possible
without jarmming.
During the filling operation, the indication disk
90 has moved towards the window 92 so that the filling
state as well as a too low electrolytic level at which the
indication disk is not visible can be checked. The water
flow at each filling keeps the window 92 clean.
The battery, when used e.g. during driving of
lS the vehicles, fork lift truck or similar, moves constantly
and with the electroly-tic level and therefore provides a
"trimming" of the system. It prevents a settlement of
floating particles on the swivel ~oint 96, on the toothed
segment 74 and the guide near the opening 58 whereby the
long lift of the float 62 is very advantageous.
For ventilation, slots I00 are provided in the
cup housing 12.
Figure 6 shows a preferred example of the inlet
duct in longitudinal section. Provided after exit-tube
32, as seen in the direction of flow, is a labyrinth water-
-~ supply in the form of a labyrinth--duct-insert 124~ i~let
126 thereof being lower than tube-exit 32 whereas outlet
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1 128 is higher. This forms a hyd~aulic seal marked 130
which cannot be exhausted if a vacuum arises in the hose-
system fitted to adaptor 20.
In the filling cup or plug shown in figures 7 and
8, a cylindrical sleeve 108 made of a synthetic material
is pressed onto lower end 102 of cup-housing 12 which is
smaller in diameter than upper part 104. Attachment is
effected by means of a bead 110 on the innerwall of sleeve
108 engaging, after the unit has been assembledt in a
peripheral groove 112 in lower end 102 of cup-housing 12
in the manner of a snap-fastener. Sealing is effected ~y
means of a sealing ring 16 inserted into another peripheral
groove 114 in lower end 102 of cup-housing 12. The attach-
ment described and illustrated not only permits rapid fitting
of sleeve 108 to cup-housing 12, but also allows the said
cup-housing to be rotated in the said sleeve. Grips 18 on
the exterior of sleeve 108 make it possible to rotate the
said sleeve when filllng cup or plug 10 is being dismantled.
In the example of embodiment illustrated in
figures7 and 8, two flange-like, diametrically opposed,
bayonet-fastener elements 122 are arranged at lower,
tapered end 102 of sleeve 108. With the aid of these
~- elements the whole filling cup or plug can be inserted into
a bore, containing a corresponding element~ in the filler-
orifice of the batter~-cell.
The variant in figure 9 comprises a sleeve 108,
lower end 120 of which carries a complete external thread
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1 122 which can be screwed into a threaded hole in the
filler-orifice of the battery-cell. When filling cup or
plug 10 is in the screwed-in condition, annular area 106
of sleeve 108, tapered end 120 of which adjoins the upper
part thereof, is seated upon the surface of the cell
Furthermore, in this example of embodiment, window 92~
through which indi.cator-dïsc 9~ can be checked, is located
in the lateral wall of upper part 104 o cup-housing 12.
The example in Figure 10 shows a cup-housing 12
with a removal opening 134 whicn is adapted to closed by
a plug 132 and is in the form of a through-passage 136.
This makesit possible to use a siphon, or the like, to
remove water in order to check the acid conten:t thereof.
Figure 10 also shows that float 22 is secured to
guide-rod 56 by means of a snap-seat 138, allowing the
sai.d float to be removed from the said guide-rod.
- Polycarbonates have been found to be particularly
advantageous materlals for sleeve 108 and cup-housing 12.
Although the disclosure describes and illustrates
embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that
the invention is not restricted to these particular
embodiments.
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