SINGLE-PURPOSE MACHINE FOR PROCESSING LEAD ARMATURES FOR MANUFACTURING ACCUMULATORS

Abstract: The invention relates to a centrifugal casting appliance with axial intake and radial arrangement for the performance of formation for preparing lead armatures for the manufacture of accumulators; armatures can be made of alloyed or unalloyed lead, with optional geometry of grids and thickness, an extreme high speed of production can be achieved. The die is made of thin aluminium sheets or ceramics in form of a packet of sheets which are enclosed on both sides by a thicker covering plate. Dividing plane is the tangential plane of the sheets. On both sides of the sheets a halved cavity is formed, and so, insofar as halved cavities facing each other form the profile cavity of the cast product. At the covering plates only the inner surface is hollow. From the N-1 pcs of thin sheets having been pressed between the two covering plates N pieces of cast products are obtained. On the appliance M pieces of profile packets can be arranged, accordingly, within one cycle M.N pieces can be produced. Owing to the mould system for thin sheets energy consumption can be kept on a low level, at the same time high productivity can be achieved by casting lead free of sublimation, having been heated to a high temperature.

Description: SINGLE-PURPQSE MACHINE FOR PROCESSING LEAD ARMATURES FOR MANUFACTURING ACCUMULATORS The invention relates to a single-purpose machine for processing lead armatures for manufacturing accumulators. As it is well-known from the present practice of manufacturing accumulators, lead armatures (grids, connecting means) needed for production involve serious technical problems in course of processing, endangering simultaneously health. From the point of view of mechanics we are con- fronted with the main problem, in so far as presently used laddie pouring appliances based on gravity are able to process lead alloyed with antimony (Sb) only with defined parameters (thickness, geometry of grids), involving considerable disadvantages in the field of application, namely with accumulators; accumulators having been prepared with the aforementioned grids tend considerably to self-discharge; a further problem lies in the fact that in order to achieve proper speed of production, in course of processing lead alloy is used to be processed at a high temperature, immediately in the environment of eutectic, resulting in considerable problems in respect to health protection due to the sublimating characteristic of the lead. In such a manner presently used laddie pouring appliances and technology of production - resulting from Physico- technical laws - are unable to meet optimally re¬ quirements of accumulator production. SUBSTITUTE SHEET The aim of present invention is to develop a machine (according to figure 1) with axial intake and radial arrangement, with which lead armatures needed for manufacturing accumulators can be made with any option - an alloy or unalloyed lead, with optional thickness and optional geometry of grids (as it becomes abvious from figs. 3a and 3b), including grids with Ca-alloy and grids of the Coorens-type. Owing to the utmost high productiπg velocity of the equipment it is well suitable for high-speed casting - further on HSC - , simultaneously, in comparison to presently applied casting methods based on gravity energy consumed is lower by an order of magnitude. Accordingly, the high-speed quick-casting process is a complex centrifugal casting method having been realized with a rotary motion, by the aid of which "single-dimensional" aπd"double-dimensioπal" castings with proper division can be produced simultaneously and in a high number (mass-production). Under single- dimensioned casts bars are meant, while as "double- dimensional" products sheets and "planar grids" made of bars are produced. In course of the HSC-process special moulds are used for casting lead grids. These moulds resp. dies are made of thin aluminium sheets or ceramics forming a packet of sheets, which are covered on both sides with a thicker cover-sheet each. Tangential plane of the sheets is formed by the dividing plane.- On both sides of the sheets a halved profiled cavity is formed and so, that the cavity-halves facing each other form the profiled cavity of the casts. A halved cavity each is to be found on the inner surface of the covering sheets. Profiled sheets having been assembled into a packet form a profile packet. In case, if we intend to cas N-1 pieces of casts, we need for this action N-1 pcs of intermediate profile sheets and 2 pcs of covering sheets having a half- cavity on one side, as it becomes obvious from Figure 2. Output of casting process will be fundamentally defined by the number of the profiled cavities within one packet i.e. N pcs; in the centrifugal machine number of the profiled packets to be cast simultaneously amounts to M pieces, wherein cycle-time of casting equals to T/s/: N.M "1 T pcs/a/ (1) In order to be able to perform casting repeatedly and cyclically, the following operative steps are needed with the profile-packets: - pre-heating, - compression - centrifugal casting - centrifugal cooling (slightly below temperature of solidification), - holding according to necessity - disassembly (emptying the profile-packet) - manipulation of the profile-packet, as required by the process. It is necessary that profile-packets should be emptied at a high temperature, while lead grids are to be cooled possibly quickly (hardening), at last, in dependence of the alloy used, natural or artificial ageing is required. SUBSTITUTE SH ' £Ϊ Interpretation of the denominations, as used in the specification of the process: Normal grid = lead grid built-in into the accumulator twin-grid = a pair of grids cast in one profile-cavity (2 pcs normal grids) intermediate profile sheet = an aluminium sheet, wherein on one sheet- surface one cavity- half of the twin-grid is formed, while on the other sheet surface the other cavity-half for the twin-grid is to be found covering profiled sheet = thicker aluminium sheet covering the packet consisting of the intermediate profiled sheets (2pcs are needed for one packet; on the surface facing inwards of one of the sheets there is one cavity-half of the twin-grid, while on the other surface facing inward the other cavity half for the twin-grid is formed) profile packet = a packet consisting of the intermediate and covering sheets SUBSTITUTE: SH; a set = number of pieces of the profile packets which can be simultaneously cast charge for casting = the quantity of lead needed for casting one set, i.e. the product of the number of twin-grids having been cast in one set and of the piece-weight of the twin-grids, cycle time = average interval between two casting processes following one another. Figure 4 illustrates the version of the apparatus being suitable for mass production. The apparatus comprises all structural elements needed for production, arranged in the mechanized line, as follows: 1) melting furnace 2) pump for the lead 3) feeding shaft 4) preheater 5) rotary table with rotary units for four operative steps 6) holding means 7) diesasse bly unit 8) grid cooler 9) transporting, sorting and stacking means for the grids. Preheater Preheater is formed as a tunnel, while intake and outtake openings of the tunnel are closed by the "profile packets" Formation of working area complies SUBSTITUTE SHEET wuth heat transfer by air-circulation. Profile packets are pushing each other forwards owing to the force exerted by the pushing cylinder arranged at the force part of the tunnel. In the furnace profile packets are lead and supported by sliding plates provided with graphite insert. Packets are pushed one by one by the pushing cylinder, as a consequence, at the other end profile packets are leaving one by one. As a thermal source for the preheater the traditional electric resistor is used, or one can use a gas- or oil heated radiating tube (Technical University, Budapest was commissioned to test applicability of high-frequency heating in industry. Experiments will be evaluated at the end of 1989). Rotary table It is a rotary table performing discontinuous revolutions, receiving four rotary units; the table can be fixed in four positions. Operations to be performed in four positions are as follows: - charging the profile packets into the rotary unit, - casting while performing the rotary motion (centri¬ fugal casting) - cooling (according to necessity while performing rotary motion) - removal of the rotating packets from the rotary unit. Putting into rotation (shifting) of the rotary table is realized by friction. drive. Positioning with required accuracy is performed by a separate mechanism.? - Principle of driving, fixing and braking is shown in the kynematic diagramme. Rotary unit There are four identical rotary units provided SUBSTITUTE SI ~ IZET for. Every one carries four profile packets each, in the middle the distributing shaft is arranged, therefrom melt is flowing radially into the profile packets arranged along the periphery. In position of casting - in case of necessity in cooling position too - continuous rotary motion is performed, while in the position of charging and removal the rotary motion is ciscoπtiπuous . Profile packets are charged resp. removed from below, by means of a lifting cylinder. The rotary unit is covered resp. enclosed by a casing, which serves for the purposes of health protection, thermal insulation and aesthetics. Said casing is provided with a melt-feeding opening in the axis of rotation. On the bottom of the casing there is bent-back flange, which receives eventually scattering melt drops. Profile packets are to be compressed with a force of lOkN to assure that melt could not escape in course of casting on the dividing plane at a number of re¬ volutions of 200/miπ. The mechanism exerting compressive force is actuated by the pushing force of the lifting cylinder . Holding means Formation is identical with that of the preheater, as described in the relating chapter, however it works et a lower temperature and smaller output. Holding is most important from two points of view: partly heating energy may be saved, partly quick cooling of lead grids having been cast from tempered lead alloys, from a high temperature, can be achieved. Disassembly means The task of said means lies in to unfold the SUBSTITUTE SHEET profile packets to such an extent and for a period, which are needed for allowing the lead grid to fall out from the profile sheets. Several versions of pneumatic and mechanic dis¬ assembly means have been elaborated. Grid cooler Essentially it is a tank filled with water; keeping at the required temperature is achieved by feeding fresh water controlled with a thermostat(cooling water system with recirculation) . Tempering of grids It is intended to perform ageing (tempering) of lead grids formed into unit-packets in an artificial way in a separate chamber kiln. Determination of the technology of heat treatment of lead grids alloyed with calcium is in progress. sv B sriTur *- - *-—.* * _ ϊ

Claims: What we claim is: 1. Single-purpose machine for processing lead aramtures needed for the production of accumulators characteri zed in that the melt (lead or alloyed lead) to be processed is fed axially in course of the rotary motion, while in the forming stroing caskets having been shifted radially from the centre of the rotary disc, work pieces i.e. lead armatures are formed in N-number. 2. Machine as claimed in claim 1, characteri zed i π that forming storing caskets are made preferably of aluminium or ceramics. 3. Machine as claimed in claim 1 characterized that storing caskets made of aluminium or ceramics are well sutiable for making grids of the Coorrens type. 4. Machine as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 3 characteri zed in that the equipment is well suitable for processing lead, optionally alloyed or unalloyed. 5. Machine as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 4 characteri zed that speed of production can be increased by two orders of magnitude, simultane¬ ously energy consumption can be reduced by one order of magnitude. 6 . Machine as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, characteri zed in that it is well suitable for processing lead free of sublimation with optional geometry and thickness.

Inventors: TOTH LASZLO, TOTH, LASZLO
Applicants: TOTH LASZLO, TOTH, LASZLO
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H01M4
IPC codes: B22D25, H01M4