Patent ID: 7332244

Claim:
A battery module comprising: a battery case having chamber interior walls defining a plurality of electrode plate group housing chambers, said battery case having opposing side faces each defining opposing chamber end openings of said electrode plate group chambers; an unsealed electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate group housed in each of the electrode plate group housing chambers, for constituting a cell, walls of the electrode plate group housing chambers acting to form a sealed environment sealing each of the unsealed electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate groups and an electrolyte of the electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate groups; said electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate groups each having a sealing member disposed at a first end of the electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate group in each of the electrode plate group housing chambers, said sealing member having a sealing material formed at an outer periphery of a circumference of said sealing member and securing a seal on an interior surface of the chamber interior wall of the electrode plate group housing chamber in which the sealing member is disposed; the sealing member being provided with an explosion-proof valve formed of a thin-walled portion; and a side plate arranged in abutment with each of the side faces or the battery case closing the openings of the electrode plate group housing chambers to retain the electrolyte-impregnated electrode plate groups and the sealing members thereof in the electrode plate group housing chambers.