Abstract:
A battery assembly is designed to include a plurality of cells positioned parallel to each other. A frame including end supports position the cells appropriately. Each of the cells includes a first terminal and a second terminal. Two buses are positioned over all of the first terminals and all of the second terminals. Each of the buses includes slots allowing the terminals to extend therethrough. Once through, the terminals are bent over the bus bar. A slide is then positioned over the terminals protecting the terminals and maintaining the terminals in electrical contact with each other. This battery assembly allows more than three cells to be connected to each other and is versatile enough to allow the removal of certain cells to enhance the airflow through the battery assembly.

Description:
BACKGROUND ART  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a battery. More particularly, the invention relates to a battery being fabricated of component parts and a method for assembling same.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Batteries are fabricated by combining a number of individual cells together. Batteries are a collection of cells connected in parallel and/or series. When the battery is to be used with a stationary device, merely connecting the terminals and allowing the cells to sit side by side in a simple structure is adequate.  
         [0005]     Simple structures for batteries are inadequate, however, when the environment in which a battery is placed is hostile. Examples of hostile environments include elements of extreme temperature changes, humidity, and vibration, all of which are typically found in automobiles, aircraft, watercraft and the like. These batteries require a structure to support the cells in relation to each other. In addition, these batteries require permanent connections between the cell terminals to eliminate disconnections due to vibrations and jarring motions.  
         [0006]     Currently, batteries fabricated using plate-like cells include gluing the sides of the cells together. The terminals are welded together using an ultrasonic welding process and then bent at 90 degrees. This method of fabrication limits the number of cells that can be connected in parallel to three cells. The bending of the terminals at 90 degrees increases the stress levels in some of the terminals more than others. Increasing the stress levels in the terminals makes the terminals more prone to failure due to vibration and corrosion. In addition, the ability to form a battery using more than three cells is greatly inhibited due to the limitation of the ultrasonic welding process.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A battery assembly stores electrical energy. The battery assembly includes a frame defining a plurality of channels. A plurality of cells having first and second terminals extending out therefrom are received and positioned by one of the plurality of channels such that the first terminals are aligned and the second terminals are aligned. A bus is positioned over the first and second terminals such that the bus bends each of the first terminals into electrical contact with each of the other terminals. In addition, the bus bends each of the second terminals into electrical contact with each other. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     Advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of a frame for the battery assembly;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a partially exploded, perspective view of a battery assembly including a first cell being positioned within the frame of the battery assembly;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a battery assembly after a plurality of cells have been positioned inside the frame;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a partially exploded, perspective view of a battery assembly having the bus supports placed over the frame of the battery assembly;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a partially exploded, perspective view of a battery assembly with slides being placed into the bus supports;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of a complete battery assembly;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a side view, partially cut away, of a slide being moved into a final position; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a side view, partially cut away of the slide in its final position with respect to the frame and bus support. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a battery assembly is generally indicated at  10 . The battery assembly  10  stores electrical energy and releases this energy through an electrical current to a circuit that is connected to each of the two battery posts  12 ,  14  that act as terminals for the battery. The battery posts  12 ,  14  are shown as bolts that provide an electrical path to an electrical conductor, discussed subsequently, wherein the bolts are threadingly secured to the electrical contact so that an electrical circuit may be secured thereto by tightening the bolts of the battery posts  12 ,  14  forcing a physical, electrical connection therebetween.  
         [0019]     The battery assembly  10  includes a frame, generally shown at  16 . The frame  16  includes a pair of end supports  18 ,  20  and a pair of side supports  22 ,  24 . In particular, a front side support  22  extends across a front of the battery assembly  10  between the two end supports  18 ,  20  at one end thereof and a back side support  24  extends across the battery assembly  10  between the end supports  18 ,  20  on a side opposite the front side support  22 . The end supports  18 ,  20  and the side supports  22 ,  24  are snap fit together. More specifically, the front side support  22  and the back side support  24  position the end supports  18 ,  20  whereafter the front  22  and back  24  side supports are forced into the end supports  18 ,  20  to secure the end supports  18 ,  20  in position. The resulting structure resembles four sides of a box.  
         [0020]     With the frame  16  snapped together, the frame  16  defines a plurality of channels  26 . Each of the plurality of channels  26  is defined by a matching pair of grooves  27 , each found in a respective end support  18 ,  20 . Opposite each of the plurality of channels  26  are flexure ribs  28 . The flexure ribs  28  allow the end supports  18 ,  20  to flex in a limited accordion-style movement due to the changes in cell size when operating in extreme conditions.  
         [0021]     The frame  16  also includes a pair of bottom corner supports  30 . The bottom corner supports  30  snap into place over the front  22  and back  24  side supports. In the embodiment shown in the Figures, the bottom corner supports  30  cover the ends of the end supports  18 ,  20 . More specifically, the bottom corner supports  30  include extensions  32  that extend across the bottom sides of the end supports  18 ,  20 . The extensions  32  will be discussed in greater detail subsequently.  
         [0022]     The battery assembly  10  includes a plurality of cells  34 . Each of the cells  34  is generally planar and extends between a first side  36  and a second side  38 . As is typical with cell construction, each of the plurality of cells  34  is fabricated from a plurality of bi-cells that are connected together in a manner known in the art. Potential is transferred from one plate to another through the intermediate material to allow current to pass therethrough. Each of the cells  32  includes a first terminal  40  and a second terminal  42 . The first terminal  40  is disposed adjacent and extending out and away from the first side  36  of the cell  34 , whereas the second terminal  42  is disposed adjacent to and extending out from the second side  38  of the cell  34 . The first  40  and second  42  terminals are oriented such that they may be considered extensions of the first  36  and second  38  sides. As is typical with cell construction, the first terminal  40  is physically connected the positively charged plates within the cell  34  and the second terminal  42  is physically connected to the negatively charged plates of the cell  34 . This allows current to flow through the cell  34  between the first  40  and second  42  terminals, depending on which of the terminals  40 ,  42  is connected to which of the plates disposed therein.  
         [0023]     The battery assembly  10  is constructed such that each of the plurality of cells  34  are slid into one of the plurality of channels  26 . Therefore, the battery assembly  10  is constructed such that a plurality of cells  34  are positioned in the plurality of channels  26  parallel to each other and secured within the battery assembly  10  side by side. This construction is represented in  FIGS. 7 through 9 .  
         [0024]     In  FIGS. 4 through 6 , the battery assembly  10  is constructed without having every channel  26  filled with a cell  34 . In this embodiment, the output of the battery assembly  10  is allowed to be less than would be otherwise should all of the channels  26  be filled with a cell  34 . The empty cells  26  are spaced throughout the battery assembly  10  allowing empty space to exist periodically through the battery assembly  10 . This empty space enhances the ability of the battery assembly  10  to be cooled by allowing larger volumes of air to flow through the battery assembly  10  between specific cells  34  that are adjacent but not positioned in adjacent channels  26 .  
         [0025]     Regardless of the number of cells  34  used in the battery assembly  10 , the cells  34  are positioned by the extensions  32  of the bottom corner supports  30 . The cells  34  are slid into each of the channels  26  until they abut the extensions  32  of the bottom corner supports  30 . This ensures each of the cells  34  is positioned uniformly with respect to each other and the frame  16 .  
         [0026]     The battery assembly  10  also includes top corner supports  44  that snap into place over the end supports  18 ,  20 , the side supports  22 ,  24  and each of the cells  34 . Each of the top corner supports  44  includes a bus bar  46 , best seen in  FIG. 7 . The top corner supports  44  are bus supports that will be described in greater detail subsequently. The bus bar  46  is supported by the bus supports  44 . The bus bar  46  is received within the bus supports  44 . The bus bar  46  is fabricated from a conductive material and is designed to physically contact each of the first  40  and second  42  terminals. The battery assembly  10  includes two buses  46  such that one of the buses  46  contacts only the first terminals  40  and the other of the buses  46  contacts only the second terminals  42 . While one embodiment of the battery assembly  10  could have just one bus support  44  of unitary structure extending across the battery assembly  10  should the bus supports  44  are fabricated of a nonconductive material, the preferred embodiment shown in the Figures shows that the battery assembly  10  incorporates the use of two bus supports  44 , one for each of the two buses  46 .  
         [0027]     Each of the buses  46  includes a plurality of slots  48 . The plurality of slots  48  correspond to each of the terminals  40 ,  42  of each of the cells  34 . This allows each of the buses  46  to extend down over the terminals  40 ,  42  to be positioned adjacent a top surface  50  of each of the cells  34 . Once each of the buses  46  are positioned over the top surface  50  of the cells  34  with the terminals  40 ,  42  extending through each of the slots  48 , the terminals  40 ,  42  are bent over each other so that each of the terminals  40 ,  42  contact each other and the bus bar  46 . More specifically, with reference to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the first terminals  40  are bent over each other allowing them to contact each other and the second terminals  42  are bent over each other allowing contact therebetween. Therefore, the first terminals  40  create a single terminal for the battery assembly  10  and the second terminals  42  create a single terminal for the battery assembly  10 . Thus, by connecting an electrical circuit to the battery posts  12 ,  14  effectively connects the electrical circuit to first  40  and second  42  terminals, respectively.  
         [0028]     The bus supports  44  include a guide  52  extends across the entire length of the buses  46 . The guides  52  are defined by two guide channels  54 ,  56  on either side of the buses  46 .  
         [0029]     A slide  54  is received by the bus supports  44 . The slides  54  extend through the guides  52  and cover the first  40  and second  42  terminals. Stops  56  prevent the slides  54  from being removed from the guides  52 . To tighten the contact between the first terminals  40  and second terminals  42 , respectively, the guide  52  extends along the bus supports  44  at an angle with respect to the frame  16  and the top surface  50  of the cells  34 . The angle, best seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , is an acute angle such that a first end  56  of each of the slides  54  is positioned closer to the top surface  50  of the cells  34  than a second end  58  of the slides  54 . In addition, the second end  58  of the slide  54  is greater in depth than the first end  56  of the slide  54 . In the embodiment shown in the Figures, the slide  54  is used to force the terminals  40 ,  42  to bend over each other resulting in the electrical connection between all of the cells  34 . In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the terminals  40 ,  42  are bent over each other prior to the insertion of the slide  54  into the guide  52 . In this alternative embodiment, a mask may be placed over the terminals  40 ,  42 . In addition, a kinetic spray may be applied to the terminals before the sliders  54  are placed in position over the terminals  40 ,  42 . The addition of the mask and the kinetic spray enhance the connection between the terminals  40 ,  42  and, at the same time, inhibits corrosion due to the harsh environment in which the battery assembly  10  may be placed.  
         [0030]     The invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology, which has been used, is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.  
         [0031]     Many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.