Patent ID: 6733917
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: H01M,Y02E

Abstract:
A pressurized container comprising a gas and having a wall defining a circular opening through the wall and a vent assembly secured to the container's wall and sealing closed said opening, said assembly comprising:a) a rigid cover, defining at least one hole therethrough thereby providing access through said cover, said cover located within the opening of said wall; and b) a flexible, disc-shaped, rupturable seal member secured to the container and overlaying the opening in said container, said seal member having an annularly shaped, rupturable diaphragm region concentrically aligned with the opening in said container's wall, said diaphragm located beneath the cover and between the seal member's perimeter, which contacts the container, and a centrally located tubularly shaped extension that projects from the seal member toward the cover and abuts the diaphragm region thereby forming a 360Â° interface where the extension and diaphragm contact one another, said rupturable diaphragm region having a top surface, located on the side of the seal member closest to the cover, and at least two protrusions located on the diaphragm's top surface, said protrusions located at a distance from the interface of the diaphragm and extension thereby insuring that an annular portion of the rupturable diaphragm located adjacent the extension remains unobstructed by the protrusions, said protrusions positioned to contact said cover in response to a pressure build up within the container causing the separation of said diaphragm from said extension about the 360Â° interface, said protrusions defining and maintaining a gap, after the seal member has ruptured, between the diaphragm and the cover thereby enabling the pressure within the container to be reduced as gas within the container escapes through the ruptured seal member, then through the gap between the seal member and cover, and then through said hole in said cover.