TODAY’S PATENT – METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A BIPOLAR BATTERY AND BIPOLAR BATTERY

The Method of Assembling a bipolar battery and Bipolar Battery was David L. Lund (Minneapolis, MN), William H. Kump (West St. Paul, MN), Donald W. Groff (Eagan, MN) on the 4^th of November, 1997, bearing patent number US5682671A.

This invention relates to batteries and, more particularly, to a method of assembling a bipolar battery, such as a lead-acid bipolar battery, and the resulting battery. In general, the present invention is predicated upon the use of modular electrochemical components configured to give the necessary voltage and capacity requirements that are assembled in a unique fashion to provide the bipolar battery. The desired configuration of electrochemical components is then sealed as a unit using assembly components to provide the necessary hermetic and electrolyte-tight seals, thereby obviating the substantial problems that result when an individual component is sealed to an adjacent component, thereby sequentially assembling the necessary electrochemical components. The design of the assembly components allows a commercially practical electrolyte filling operation to be carried out during assembly and satisfactory venting of the resulting battery during service. The electrochemical and assembly components are designed to allow bipolar batteries to be made in an automated fashion while providing a reliable battery from the standpoint of quality and performance. Considerable versatility is achieved due to the modular configuration.