CA1081321A - Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition - Google Patents

Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition

Info

Publication number
CA1081321A
CA1081321A CA297,413A CA297413A CA1081321A CA 1081321 A CA1081321 A CA 1081321A CA 297413 A CA297413 A CA 297413A CA 1081321 A CA1081321 A CA 1081321A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
container
window
cell
lands
interface
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA297,413A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Henry E. Jensen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Eltra Corp
Original Assignee
Eltra Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Eltra Corp filed Critical Eltra Corp
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1081321A publication Critical patent/CA1081321A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/48Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte
    • H01M10/488Cells or batteries combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light density
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M6/00Primary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M6/50Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance, e.g. for maintaining operating temperature
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M6/00Primary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M6/50Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance, e.g. for maintaining operating temperature
    • H01M6/5044Cells or batteries structurally combined with cell condition indicating means
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02EREDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A battery cell characterized by a plurality of cell plates housed in a container that includes a window adjacent to the edges of several plates. A triangular member of resilient material is attached at its base to the edge of at least one of the plates. The sides of the member contain two lands and the tip of the member contacts the window. The interface between the tip and the window is visible through the window as a single line. As the plate increases in size, the edges of the lands contact the window producing additional lines; the number of lines representing the gradual diminution in the cell life.

Description

l -~ ~

.... .
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to lead-acid storage batteries, and specifically provides for a novel apparatus by which the con-dition of the battery cells can be readily ascertained from out- ;
side the cell container to facilitate cell maintenance.
A lead-acid storage battery cell is comprised of a plurality of plates (anodes and cathodes~ immersed in an acid electrolyte. ~he plates are constructed of a suitable lead alloy, such as lead-calcium. The particblar lead alloy employed depends upon the specific battery application, since different alloys of~er different battery characteristics: for example, cycling time and discharge rate. m e plates are constructed as a grid ~ so as to optimlze the active surface area, and the grids are i -2 . .

\. , . , .,................. - : . : .

. , ' : , ~, ; , ! . :

`~ `. 108~3~1 filled with the active battery material in a paste form.
There are numerous factors contributing to the gradual diminution in usable battery life. The most notable of these being anode grid enlargement. As noted in the article titled, Positive Grid Desiqn Principles, The Bell System Technical Jour-nal, 1279 (1970), by minimizing the anode enlargement the usable battery life can be extended. miS is particularly true of those batteries employed under float charge conditions, for example, as emergency standby power sources in the telephone industry. As noted in that article, grid enlargement results from the slow growth of a lead-oxide deposit within the anode grid structure, which having a specific volume that is 21% greater than that of the lead alloy, thus requires greater space in the grid structure than the lead consumed in producing the oxide. m e consequential grid enlargement can produce among other things plate shorting and post and jar cracking. More importantly, this can result in cracks in the grid which thereby subject the balance of the grid to higher than normal electrical currents. The higher electrical currents can generate local hot spots in the grid which can pro-duce further grid fragmentation or cracking. This fragmentation process is thus best defined as being regenerative once it starts and is a particular problem in those cells that are float charged by maintaining a constant voltage across the battery cells of
2.17 volts, this being 110 mv. above the open circuit cell voltage of 2.060 volts.
Accordingly, the slow enlargement of the cell anodes
-3-.1 ~

- ~ . -. : :, :

.

108~3Z~
represents the slow but continuous decrease in cell life, even if the cell is not in use.
m us it is an object of th~ present invention to util-ize the relative change in anode size over time to produce an indication of remaining cell life which is both quick and reli-able. m is is particularly beneficial in standby power situatîons under which conditions the cells must be maintained in an optimum condition at all times without the benefit of operational test-ing. By utilizing the indicator of the present invention, those batteries having substantially enlarged anodes are easily deter-mined and can be routinely removed from service and replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIO~
In accordance with the present invention, a resilient i indicator is placed between the anode edge and the cell container , The indicator contacts either the container wall, which is trans-¦ parent, or a wlndow in the wall so that the resulting contact I interface can be seen. As the anode enlarges, the indicator is ¦ squeezed between the anode edge and the wall, causing the inter-face to undergo a noticeable change in size and shape. Means are included on the indicator to produce a change in noticeably dis-¦ crete steps, each of which steps represents a preselected portion of the total cell life.
Further adaptations, features and modifications of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the followiny detailed description and claims, wherein:

.:

.

. . .. .. - ' , . . . , : . , . : : '. :

. : . . . ' ' ~ ~.:: : : ' , .

- -: . . . :

10813Z~
Y ~ , .

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a bettery cell in a perspective view which employs the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a frontal view of the cell in FIG. 1, as seen from the container side including the viewing window. The indicator member of the present invention can be seen through the window.
FIG. 3 shows the cell in a cross-sectional view along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2 and shows the indicator member of the pre-sent invention in a contact relation with the container window.
FIG. 4 shows the indicator member of the present in- j~
vention as seen from the side thereof.
FIG. 5 is a frontal view of the indicator member shown in FIG. 4.
FIGS. 6 & 7 respectively show the indicator member from the side and also as it appears through the container window when '!
there is substantially full remaining cell life. ~' FIGS. 8 & 9 respectively show the indicator from the ,, side and also as it appears through the container when there is L
at least two-thirds remaining cell life. i FIGS. 10 & 11 respectively show the indicator member from the side and also as it appears through the container when ¦
there is at least one-third remaining cell life.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
; In FIGS. 1 & 2 there is shown a battery cell 10, which ' , ' ' , ~:
-5- ' ! ~

. . ~ . . .. , 1 . . . . . .
.
' is housed in a container 12 having a window 14 in the container wall adjacent the edges of several cell plates 16. Attached to one plate (an anode) is a resilient triangular member 18, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. Member 18 is attached at its base to the plate edge 19 with the tip 20 con-tacting the inner surface of window 14. Plate 16, as shown in FIG. 3, is assumed to be in a new condition; this being charac-terized by a plate grid structure which is not enlarged substan-tially.
Referring to FIG. 4, member 18 can be seen to include two lands 22 and 24 on each of the two side sections 25. Each side section 25 is a mirror image of the other so that there are two sets of lands, each set containing the lands 22 and the ~`
other lands 24. As set forth below, the lands produce an indi-cation of cell life in preselected finite steps.
Operation of the indicator is as follows: As the dis-tance between the edge of plate 16 and window 14 decreases due to plate enlargement, member 18 is compressed therebetween. As a result, tip 20 is pressed ~owards lands 22, and as the distance decreases still further, the outer edges 22a of lands 22 contact window 14. In FIG. 6, plate 16 is shown in unexpanded confi-guration and the interface between the edge tip 20 and window 14 is visible through the window as a small line 27. (FIG. 7) ~he ~¦
appearance of line 27 through the window provides an indication of a substantially new cell.
Referring now to PIG. 8, plate 16 is shown to be somewhat ~0813Z~

expanded configuration compared to its configuration in FIG. 6.
The distance between the plate and window 14 accordingly has decreased somewhat and the edges 22a of land 22 and tip 22 are now visible through window 14 as the three lines 27, 28, 29 and serves to indicate to the observer that there is at least two-thirds remaining cell life. Lines 28, 29 are the interface between edges 22a and window 16.
It is important to note that because of the lands the three lines appear suddenly. This is of course a result of the fact that there is one maximum distance between the edge of plate 16 and window 14 at which tip 20 and edges 22a can simultan-eously contact window 14. In the present embodiment this dis-tance has been arbitrarily assumed to be indicative of a rela-tive change in plate size reflecting a relative change in cell life of at least one-third.
With the foregoing in mind, plate 16 as shown in FIG.
10 is to be observed as being substantially larger than its con-figuration in the preceding FIGS. 8 and 6 and serves to represent a plate of substantial age. In this particular configuration, tip 20, edges 22a and the edges 24a of lands 24 all contact window 16 to produce the five lines 29-31, visible through the window 16 and indicating a reduction in cell life of at least two-thirds.
m e position of lands 22 and 24 is of course determined by the original distance between the plate edge and window and the gradual reduction in this distance over the life of the cell.

' -,'... . ,. ' ' ' ', ' ' ' : . . .

.
.

10813Zl A correlation, by way of experimentation between selected fractions of cell life and the plate to window distance is first determined. After this relatLonship is known, the lands 22, 24 are positioned on the member 18 wlth reference to window 16 so that the edges 22a, 24a will contact window 16 when the plate to window distance is approximately at the experimentally obtained values.
It should be clear that additional lands can be pro-vided for more increments of cell life, if so desired. And although the member 18, shown herein, is simply a triangular piece of material containing the suggested lands, any other mem-ber having a generally triangular cross-section, such as a cone, could also produce the same results,-if similarly positioned in the cell. In the latter case, circular lands would be included around the cone circumference to produce an interface that is circular - rather than a linear which increases in finite steps of prescribed cell life fractions, determined in the above manner. ¦~
In still another embodiment of the invention, tip 20 of member 18 is oriented to contact plate edge 19 instead of the cell container or window. The interface between the edge 19 and , tip 20 is visible through the container or window, which are transparent for this purpose. As the plate enlarges, the inter- I
face changes size and shape in the manner stated above, and is -observed through the window to indicate a relative change in cell life.
- While a window has been shown in this preferred embodi~
... .. , - .- 1:
-8- ~

., : . . : : . . . :
.. . . .. . ..... . .

- . .. .
. ~ . ~ . . . . . :
i: ,: .. . , . . . . . : .. :. , ~

.

I

ment, i~ should be clear that a completely transparent cell container would prove equally effective and hence consti~utes a practical alternative embodiment. The indicator member 14, of course, should be made of an acid resistant material and should be sufficiently flexible to sustain the transformations shown in FIGS. 6-11, without applying undesirable pressure to L
the plate edge and also to remain responsive to the gradual change in plate to window distance. At- the same time, member 18 should be resilient enough so as to maintain its shape over a period of time. A particularly suitable material in light of these para-meters is polypropylene, which is often used to construct the container.
While I have attempted in the foregoing description to describe what is at present the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that there are numerous possible modifications and variations which can be made to the embodiment shown, but which nevertheless embrace the true scope and spirit of my invention. Therefore the following claims are intended to cover all such modifications, varlations and equivalents.

' , ~, t .
_9_ .

Claims (5)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A cell condition indicator for battery cells having a plurality of cell plates, comprising:
a cell container, and a resilient member extending from at least one of the cell plates to contact the container, the contact interface between said container and said member being visible through the container and changing as the distance between the plate edge and said container changes thereby constituting indicator means visible through said container responsive to a change in plate size.
2. The indicator according to claim 1, wherein:
said member includes means for producing a discontinuous change in said interface corresponding to preselected portions of the cell life.
3. The indicator according to claim 2, wherein:
said member is characterized by a generally triangular cross-section with the tip of said member in contact with said container to produce said interface.
4. The indicator according to claim 3, wherein:
said member includes a plurality of lands which contact said container at selected distances between said container and the plate corresponding to said preselected portions of the cell life.
5. The indicator according to claim 4, wherein:
said container includes a window in the wall thereof adjacent said member, said tip of said member contacts the said window to produce said interface which is visible through said window.
CA297,413A 1977-06-29 1978-02-21 Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition Expired CA1081321A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/811,004 US4076906A (en) 1977-06-29 1977-06-29 Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1081321A true CA1081321A (en) 1980-07-08

Family

ID=25205269

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA297,413A Expired CA1081321A (en) 1977-06-29 1978-02-21 Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition

Country Status (2)

Country Link
US (1) US4076906A (en)
CA (1) CA1081321A (en)

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4497881A (en) * 1983-01-31 1985-02-05 Bertolino Renee Z Battery charge indicator
US5206097A (en) * 1991-06-05 1993-04-27 Motorola, Inc. Battery package having a communication window
US5851695A (en) * 1992-02-10 1998-12-22 C & D Technologies, Inc. Recombinant lead-acid cell and long life battery
US5298346A (en) * 1992-07-27 1994-03-29 Motorola, Inc. Battery identification system
US5718987A (en) * 1994-01-11 1998-02-17 C & D Charter Power Systems, Inc. Lead-acid battery with inactive cell
US6177799B1 (en) 2000-01-21 2001-01-23 Her Majesty The Queen In Right Of Canada, As Represented By The Minister Of Natural Resources Rechargeable battery electrode testing device
EP1406340B1 (en) * 2001-06-05 2008-07-23 GS Yuasa Corporation Storage battery device and power source apparatus comprising it
JP2003077425A (en) * 2001-08-31 2003-03-14 Miyagawa Kasei Ind Co Ltd Storage battery

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1530699A (en) * 1922-03-10 1925-03-24 James G Ross Primary battery
US3563806A (en) * 1967-12-11 1971-02-16 Wayne R Hruden Battery capacity and activation indicating structure
FR2290047A1 (en) * 1974-10-31 1976-05-28 Accumulateurs Fixes ELECTRIC BATTERY CONTAINING A VISUAL INDICATOR OF ITS STATE OF CHARGE

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US4076906A (en) 1978-02-28

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3639173A (en) Method of controlling zinc dendrite growth
US4637970A (en) Lead-titanium, bipolar electrode in a lead-acid battery
US4057675A (en) Electrochemical cell
CA1081321A (en) Apparatus for indicating battery cell condition
CA2419248A1 (en) Lead-acid batteries and positive plate and alloys therefor
EP0091238B1 (en) Secondary zinc electrode for a secondary electro-chemical cell and a method of manufacturing such an electrode
US2903497A (en) Electrochemical cell
US4169920A (en) Hermetically sealed electrochemical battery
Biegler et al. Accelerated testing of additives in zinc plates of nickel zinc cells
US5229228A (en) Current collector/support for a lead/lead oxide battery
US4683648A (en) Lead-titanium, bipolar electrode in a lead-acid battery
US1639280A (en) Storage cell and electrode therefor
US2845470A (en) Storage battery
US3037066A (en) Sealed storage cell and charging circuits therefor
US3463673A (en) Electrochemical coulometer and method of forming same
Koontz et al. Lead‐Acid Battery: Reserve Batteries for Bell System Use: Design of the New Cell
US3043899A (en) Magnesium battery
US2653179A (en) Primary battery and method of making the same
US2042840A (en) Storage battery
Milner Lead-acid battery: Float behavior of the lead-acid battery system
Hills Beneficial effect of lithiated electrolyte on iron battery electrodes
EP0122281B1 (en) Titanium wire reinforced lead composite electrode structure
JPS63308867A (en) Nonaqueous secondary cell
Green The Characterization of Nickel Cadmium Batteries for Telecommunications Applications-Part 1
US3296028A (en) Lead storage battery electrode alloy composition

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry