Patent ID: 7361427

Claim:
A manifold plate for a battery, the battery having stackable cells each with top and bottom ends, each cell having anode and cathode electrodes separated by spacer tabs, the top and bottom ends each attached to a manifold plate, comprising: first and second side portions, having a center axis, each comprising: a fluid port to introduce fluid into the battery and remove fluid from the battery; a fluid feed duct, having a first width, to direct fluid away from the center axis; a header section, having a non-linear taper wherein a header inlet comprises a second width greater than the first width and greater than a third width of a header termination, receiving fluid from the fluid feed duct and directing the fluid back toward the center axis; and a plurality of lateral branches extending from the header section to feed fluid from the header section to a battery cell body and across anode and cathode battery electrodes.