EP0702619A1 - Fiber reinforced thermoplastic battery tray and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Fiber reinforced thermoplastic battery tray and manufacturing method therefor

Info

Publication number
EP0702619A1
EP0702619A1 EP93911876A EP93911876A EP0702619A1 EP 0702619 A1 EP0702619 A1 EP 0702619A1 EP 93911876 A EP93911876 A EP 93911876A EP 93911876 A EP93911876 A EP 93911876A EP 0702619 A1 EP0702619 A1 EP 0702619A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
glass fibre
battery tray
plastics
article
battery
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP93911876A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Michael Joseph Casey
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Clearplas Ltd
Original Assignee
Clearplas Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Clearplas Ltd filed Critical Clearplas Ltd
Publication of EP0702619A1 publication Critical patent/EP0702619A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R16/00—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for
    • B60R16/02—Electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for; Arrangement of elements of electric or fluid circuits specially adapted for vehicles and not otherwise provided for electric constitutive elements
    • B60R16/04—Arrangement of batteries
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
    • H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
    • H01M50/218—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material
    • H01M50/22—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material of the casings or racks
    • H01M50/227—Organic material
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C45/00—Injection moulding, i.e. forcing the required volume of moulding material through a nozzle into a closed mould; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C45/0005—Injection moulding, i.e. forcing the required volume of moulding material through a nozzle into a closed mould; Apparatus therefor using fibre reinforcements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
    • H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
    • H01M50/218—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material
    • H01M50/22—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material of the casings or racks
    • H01M50/222—Inorganic material
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
    • H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
    • H01M50/218—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material
    • H01M50/22—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by the material of the casings or racks
    • H01M50/229—Composite material consisting of a mixture of organic and inorganic materials
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
    • H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
    • H01M50/233—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by physical properties of casings or racks, e.g. dimensions
    • H01M50/24—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders characterised by physical properties of casings or racks, e.g. dimensions adapted for protecting batteries from their environment, e.g. from corrosion
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a moulded article such as a battery tray for a vehicle battery.
  • battery trays are usually made as sheet metal fabrications. They are protected by paintwork.
  • a lead accumulator battery of the type currently provided in a motor vehicle is very heavy because of the weight of the lead plates.
  • the battery tray therefore needs to be strong. Additionally, since the battery is provided within the environment of a moving car, the mounting and tray need to be capable of withstanding shocks and displacements in all directions.
  • a battery tray also needs to resist corrosion by battery acid which may splash out of the battery at some stage.
  • the currently used metal trays are strong but they are also heavy, not very corrosion resistant and costly to manufacture and paint.
  • plastics trays It has been proposed to make plastics trays to support vehicle batteries. However, it is clearly necessary to use a reinforced plastics.material in order to achieve the necessary strength.
  • the currently proposed plastics trays are made using glass fibre reinforced plastics sheet which is softened by heat and is formed by pressing into a mould.
  • Such trays are lighter than those made of metal, and have better corrosion resistance but are expensive, particularly when holes for cable attachment are required as these require additional manufacturing operations.
  • Such plastics battery trays made from glass fibre reinforced plastics sheet are also somewhat unsatisfactory in some ways because of the nature of the manufacturing technique.
  • the glass fibre in the plastics material tends to be damaged by the stretching of the heated plastics sheet into the die. Where complex shapes are required, the glass fibre breaks as the sheet is stretched and it will be appreciated that the breakages tend to occur mostly on the bends.
  • the battery tray needs most structural strength, to withstand flexure and impact.
  • any deep wells or ribs provided in the moulding tend to be deprived of glass fibre reinforcement. This is because the glass fibre does not stretch down into these parts of the press forming die.
  • an article such as a battery tray comprising an injection moulding in a glass fibre reinforced plastics material characterised by the use of a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics.
  • the invention provides a method of making an article such as a battery tray comprising injection moulding a plastics material comprising a highly chemically coupled.glass fibre reinforced plastics.
  • the plastics material may be polypropylene.
  • the glass fibre may be chemically coupled to the plastics by means of a wetting or bonding agent.
  • the bonding agent may comprise an acid coupling system which chemically bonds the glass fibre to the polymer.
  • Figure 1 is a perspective view of a-battery tray embodying the invention.
  • a battery tray for a lead accumulator battery of a vehicle is generally indicated at 10. It comprises a deep tray having a base 11 and two pairs of upright walls 12, 13. The walls 13 have outwardly turned rims 14, each of which carries a boss 15 in which a threaded insert 16 is provided during the formation of the battery tray 10 as an injection moulding.
  • the walls 12 are provided externally with elongate ribs 17 which also extend at 18 underneath the base 11.
  • the base 11 also has a deeply projecting portion 19 having an opening 20.
  • the battery tray 10 is made by injection moulding in a manner which is generally conventional except for the material used.
  • the material is a homopolymer polypropylene which is reinforced with chopped glass fibre strand, of either standard or long strand type, which has been treated with a wetting or bonding agent compatible with polypropylene, to provide it with certain desirable properties.
  • the wetting or bonding agent is used initially to treat the glass fibre and has a high affinity to the polymer.
  • the glass fibre bonded to the polymer is uniformly distributed even in reinforcing ribs 17, 18 and deep
  • the bonding of the glass fibre to the polymer ensures that the abrasiveness of the glass fibre is greatly reduced and this prevents or reduces damage to the mould or to the injection moulding machine which would normally take place with a conventional abrasive glass fibre.
  • the glass fibre may be chemically bonded to the polymer .using an acid coupling system. This greatly enhances the fibre-to-matrix adhesion and imparts the necessary impact resistance to the composite for this application.
  • the battery tray 10 can be moulded by the injection moulding process in whatever manner is required. Fixing points for attachment of cables and fittings can be made by various means, conventional in the injection moulding field. It is possible to mould pegs onto parts of the tray which can be passed through openings in metal fixings and heat swaged to attach the metal fixings for example. Holes and slots can be provided where required. Inserts such as the threaded inserts 16 can be moulded into the plastics in generally known manner.
  • a suitable plastics material for use in the manufacture of a battery tray is a homopolymer polypropylene which is highly chemically coupled to either standard or long stranded glass fillers.

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Composite Materials (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Injection Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
  • Sealing Battery Cases Or Jackets (AREA)

Abstract

An article such as a battery tray for a vehicle battery is made as an injection moulding in a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics.

Description

FIBER REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC BATTERY TRAY AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFOR
This invention relates to a moulded article such as a battery tray for a vehicle battery.
Currently, battery trays are usually made as sheet metal fabrications. They are protected by paintwork.
A lead accumulator battery of the type currently provided in a motor vehicle is very heavy because of the weight of the lead plates. The battery tray therefore needs to be strong. Additionally, since the battery is provided within the environment of a moving car, the mounting and tray need to be capable of withstanding shocks and displacements in all directions.
A battery tray also needs to resist corrosion by battery acid which may splash out of the battery at some stage. The currently used metal trays are strong but they are also heavy, not very corrosion resistant and costly to manufacture and paint.
It has been proposed to make plastics trays to support vehicle batteries. However, it is clearly necessary to use a reinforced plastics.material in order to achieve the necessary strength. The currently proposed plastics trays are made using glass fibre reinforced plastics sheet which is softened by heat and is formed by pressing into a mould.
Such trays are lighter than those made of metal, and have better corrosion resistance but are expensive, particularly when holes for cable attachment are required as these require additional manufacturing operations.
Such plastics battery trays made from glass fibre reinforced plastics sheet are also somewhat unsatisfactory in some ways because of the nature of the manufacturing technique. The glass fibre in the plastics material tends to be damaged by the stretching of the heated plastics sheet into the die. Where complex shapes are required, the glass fibre breaks as the sheet is stretched and it will be appreciated that the breakages tend to occur mostly on the bends. Unfortunately, this is where the battery tray needs most structural strength, to withstand flexure and impact. Further, any deep wells or ribs provided in the moulding tend to be deprived of glass fibre reinforcement. This is because the glass fibre does not stretch down into these parts of the press forming die.
Thus, some of the advantages of the glass fibre reinforcement are lost at the positions where it is most needed. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new or improved plastics battery tray and a method of manufacturing such a tray.
According to the invention there is provided an article such as a battery tray comprising an injection moulding in a glass fibre reinforced plastics material characterised by the use of a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics.
Viewed from a further aspect, the invention provides a method of making an article such as a battery tray comprising injection moulding a plastics material comprising a highly chemically coupled.glass fibre reinforced plastics.
The plastics material may be polypropylene.
The glass fibre may be chemically coupled to the plastics by means of a wetting or bonding agent.
The bonding agent may comprise an acid coupling system which chemically bonds the glass fibre to the polymer.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing, Figure 1, which is a perspective view of a-battery tray embodying the invention.
A battery tray for a lead accumulator battery of a vehicle is generally indicated at 10. It comprises a deep tray having a base 11 and two pairs of upright walls 12, 13. The walls 13 have outwardly turned rims 14, each of which carries a boss 15 in which a threaded insert 16 is provided during the formation of the battery tray 10 as an injection moulding.
The walls 12 are provided externally with elongate ribs 17 which also extend at 18 underneath the base 11. The base 11 also has a deeply projecting portion 19 having an opening 20.
Further internal features 21 are provided on the walls.
The battery tray 10 is made by injection moulding in a manner which is generally conventional except for the material used.
The material is a homopolymer polypropylene which is reinforced with chopped glass fibre strand, of either standard or long strand type, which has been treated with a wetting or bonding agent compatible with polypropylene, to provide it with certain desirable properties.
The wetting or bonding agent is used initially to treat the glass fibre and has a high affinity to the polymer. Thus, when the glass fibre is chopped and mixed in the plastics material it becomes uniformly dispersed throughout the plastics and can be injection moulded in a relatively conventional manner. The glass fibre bonded to the polymer is uniformly distributed even in reinforcing ribs 17, 18 and deep
*+ wells 19 formed in the moulding. Additionally, the bonding of the glass fibre to the polymer ensures that the abrasiveness of the glass fibre is greatly reduced and this prevents or reduces damage to the mould or to the injection moulding machine which would normally take place with a conventional abrasive glass fibre.
As an example, the glass fibre may be chemically bonded to the polymer .using an acid coupling system. This greatly enhances the fibre-to-matrix adhesion and imparts the necessary impact resistance to the composite for this application.
It will be appreciated that current design of battery trays made of glass fibre, reinforced plastics tends to be a compromise between the most favourable design shape and the potential problems with the plastics reinforcement. By the use of a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics material, the plastics material can be treated as a homogeneous material and the battery tray design can therefore be made on the basis of structural considerations only. This enables sufficient strength to be obtained to support the battery weight with minimum use of materials. These considerations are likely to increase in importance since engine bonnet levels are tending to be lowered and hence the "packaging space" available for the engine is decreasing whereas battery size is tending to increase because of the requirements for increased power supply, for example over¬ running engine fans, alarm systems and the like.
The battery tray 10 can be moulded by the injection moulding process in whatever manner is required. Fixing points for attachment of cables and fittings can be made by various means, conventional in the injection moulding field. It is possible to mould pegs onto parts of the tray which can be passed through openings in metal fixings and heat swaged to attach the metal fixings for example. Holes and slots can be provided where required. Inserts such as the threaded inserts 16 can be moulded into the plastics in generally known manner.
A suitable plastics material for use in the manufacture of a battery tray is a homopolymer polypropylene which is highly chemically coupled to either standard or long stranded glass fillers.

Claims

1. An article comprising an injection moulding in a glass fibre reinforced plastics material characterised by the use of a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics.
2. An article according to Claim 1 wherein the plastics material is polypropylene.
3. An article according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the glass fibre is chemically coupled to the plastics by means of a wetting or bonding agent.
4. An article according to any preceding claim wherein the wetting or bonding agent comprises an acid coupling system.
5. An article according to any preceding claim comprising a battery tray.
6. A method of making an article comprising injection moulding a plastics material comprising a highly chemically coupled glass fibre reinforced plastics.
7. A method according to Claim 6 wherein the plastics material is polypropylene.
8. A method according to Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein the glass fibre is chemically coupled to the plastics by means of a wetting or bonding agent.
9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the wetting or bonding agent comprises an acid coupling system.
10. A method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the article is a battery tray.
11. An article comprising a battery tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.
12. A method of making a battery tray according to claim 6 and substantially as hereinbefore described.
EP93911876A 1992-04-28 1993-04-27 Fiber reinforced thermoplastic battery tray and manufacturing method therefor Withdrawn EP0702619A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9209116 1992-04-28
GB929209116A GB9209116D0 (en) 1992-04-28 1992-04-28 Battery tray
PCT/GB1993/000878 WO1993022124A1 (en) 1992-04-28 1993-04-27 Fiber reinforced thermoplastic battery tray and manufacturing method therefor

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0702619A1 true EP0702619A1 (en) 1996-03-27

Family

ID=10714651

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93911876A Withdrawn EP0702619A1 (en) 1992-04-28 1993-04-27 Fiber reinforced thermoplastic battery tray and manufacturing method therefor

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0702619A1 (en)
GB (1) GB9209116D0 (en)
WO (1) WO1993022124A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2778884B1 (en) * 1998-05-19 2000-08-04 Coutier Moulage Gen Ind TRAY FOR SUPPORTING COMPONENTS OF THE MOTORIZATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE
CN100429806C (en) * 2005-06-20 2008-10-29 比亚迪股份有限公司 Battery pack of electric vehicle
EP2033849A1 (en) * 2007-08-30 2009-03-11 Peguform Gmbh Plastic moulded part for retaining a vehicle battery
DE102009048250A1 (en) 2009-10-05 2011-04-07 Li-Tec Battery Gmbh battery assembly

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1550358A (en) * 1975-07-23 1979-08-15 Tba Industrial Products Ltd Manufacture of reinforced polyolefine compositions
FR2409282A1 (en) * 1977-11-18 1979-06-15 Rhone Poulenc Ind COMPOSITIONS BASED ON POLYPROPYLENE AND FIBERGLASS
FR2432033A1 (en) * 1978-07-27 1980-02-22 Rhone Poulenc Ind Glass fibre reinforced polypropylene compsn. - contg. specified coupling agent and having improved mechanical properties
US4529053A (en) * 1983-03-07 1985-07-16 Tucker Walter R Universal battery tray
US4997875A (en) * 1988-06-13 1991-03-05 Himont Incorporated High-melt-flow fiber-reinforced propylene polymer compositions
US4936409A (en) * 1989-08-14 1990-06-26 Nix Charles D Battery hold down device

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9322124A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO1993022124A1 (en) 1993-11-11
GB9209116D0 (en) 1992-06-10

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