Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Robert C Matter

Larry D Spangler

James R Bish

A work hardenable Pb-Ca-Sr-Sn alloy having anti-recrystallization stability at temperatures below about 66.degree. C. The alloy comprises by weight: 0.03 % to 0.04% calcium; 0.15% to 0.4% strontium; 0.15% to 0.9% tin; 0% to 0.1% barium; and the balance principally lead. The alloy is useful in the manufacture of cold-worked Pb-acid storage battery components and particularly grids made by the expanded, wrought lead strip process.

Wrought lead-calcium-strontium-tin (.+-.barium) alloy for battery

Wrought, recrystallized, lead-calcium-tin, battery grid alloy consisting essentially of about 0.07% to about 0.11% by weight calcium no more than about 0.35% by weight tin and the balance principally lead.

Lead-calcium-tin battery grid

A laminated alkaline battery grid has two thermoplastic outer gridwire network layers and a thermoplastic inner gridwise network layer sandwiched between the outer layers. A plurality of elongated intersecting welds extend as narrow channels in criss-cross fashion across the faces of the grid and bond the networks together. The channels are defined by walls formed by the fusion and exudation of the thermoplastic from the networks during welding and serve to divide the networks into a plurality of substantially symmetrical gridwire pockets. A metal coating on the gridwires and walls renders the thermoplastic grid conductive.

Pocket grid for alkaline battery plates

Process for making wrought, recrystallized, leadcalcium, battery grid alloy having high temperature tensile strength stability and excellent corrosion resistance involving rapidly, unidirectionally, cold rolling a cast lead alloy strip containing about 0.07% to about 0.11% by weight calcium and up to about 1.5% by weight tin. The rolling of the alloys is done such as to strain harden them before any significant strain aging thereof can occur during rolling and such that the strip recrystallizes at room temperature to a fine grained microstructure within about 30 days after rolling; has both room and high temperature (i.e., 150.degree. F.) tensile strength stability greater than 5000 psi; and has small islands of a structureless phase distributed throughout the microstructure for reducing intergranular corrosion. Alloys containing up to about 0.35% tin may be rolled by a variety of schedules to produce this result. Alloys containing over 0.35% tin are rolled by a reduction schedule having at least six (6) reductions of about equal thickness.

Process for making wrought, lead-calcium battery grid alloy having high

Apparatus for continuously casting metal strips at various rates wherein and whereby a non-turbulent, constant-head, constant-temperature source of dross-free melt is provided to the casting nozzle by pumping the melt from a reservoir upwardly through a standpipe open midway to the nozzle and overflowing it from the standpipe back to the reservoir. An adjustable wire atop the standpipe controls the metalostatic head above the casting nozzle, and a reversible pump permits ready aborting of a casting run.

Continuous horizontal caster

A method of forming a through-the-partition intercell connection between adjacent cell groups in a battery. Plate strap lugs are positioned on either side of an aperture in a partition between adjacent cells. The lugs are pressed tightly against the partition walls by opposing hold-down sleeves. Opposing extruder-electrodes move axially through the hold-down sleeves and extrude portions of each lug into the aperture. The aperture acts as an extrusion die. When extrusions contact one another inside the aperture, current is caused to flow through the extruder-electrode. The tips of the extrusions fuse and the balance softens. Extrusion of the soft material continues until the aperture is filled.

Method of forming through the partition cell connectors formed by an

Improved extrusion-fusion-type intercell connectors and process involving: casting the plate strap lugs to be welded from a hypoeutectic lead-antimony alloy containing at least about 2 percent by weight antimony; initially extruding the lugs into contact through an aperture in a battery intercell partition, the contact area being between 15 and 75 percent of the area of the aperture; and gradually heating the lug extrusions through a softening stage, an antimony-rich-phase melting stage, and an antimony-lean-phase melting stage. Force applied by rapid-response, declining-force welding electrodes causes (1) the softened extrusions to reshape somewhat prior to melting, and (2) the antimony-rich-phase of the alloy to exude out of the welding zone filling voids in the aperture before any substantial melting of the antimony-lean-phase occurs. The resulting weld is dense (void-free), has an antimony-rich ring adjacent the aperture wall, and after rupturing, displays an indicator core useful for evaluating the welds made and monitoring the stability of the manufacturing process/equipment for making them.

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Anderson, IN, United States of America

Robert C Matter