Patent ID: 7776468

Claim:
In a wafer alkaline cell comprising a negative and a positive terminal, and a pair of opposing sides comprising at least the majority of the boundary surface of said cell, said opposing sides defining a short cell dimension there-between, said cell comprising an anode assembly and a cathode assembly secured together forming a laminate structure, said anode assembly comprising an anode material therein and said cathode assembly comprising a cathode material therein, wherein said anode assembly comprises a housing for said anode material, and said cathode assembly comprises a housing for said cathode material, said anode and cathode housings comprising an organic polymeric material, said anode and cathode housings being adhesively bonded together with a separator there-between to form a laminate structure, wherein said anode assembly further comprises an anode current collector sheet in electrical contact with the anode material, wherein said cathode assembly further comprises a cathode current collector sheet in electrical contact with the cathode material, the improvement comprising: a sheet of metal mesh having openings therethrough bonded to a side of said cathode current collector sheet, and wherein at least a portion of said cathode material is at least partially embedded within said mesh.