Lithium battery

• US 4,399,202 A
• Filed: 06/08/1981
• Issued: 08/16/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Narukawa, Satoshi, Ikeda, Hironosuke, Nakaido, Shigehiro
• Primary Examiner(s): LeFevour, Charles F.
• Application Number:
  US06/271,236
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 429/91, 429/60, 429/194, 429/197, 429/218, 429/224
• US Class Current: 429/91
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2006/5094 Aspects relating to capacity ratio of electrolyte/electrodes or anode/cathode
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/16 with organic electrolyte H01M6/18 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/50 Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance, e.g. for maintaining operating temperature constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569

Abstract

In a lithium battery having a negative electrode formed with lithium as active material and the positive electrode formed with manganese dioxide, carbon fluoride or the like as the active material, the discharge capacity of the negative electrode is made smaller than the discharge capacity of the positive electrode, whereby a drop in the battery voltage during the final discharge stage is steepened, and prevents a device using such a lithium battery as a power supply from operating in an unstable manner, thereby improving the reliability of such device.

Claims

1. A battery comprising:

a positive electrode consisting essentially of manganese dioxide as an active material;

a negative electrode consisting essentially of lithium as an active material, said negative electrode having a much larger electrode potential and a smaller discharge capacity than said positive electrode; and

an electrolyte comprising of an organic material which is a solution of a salt of lithium in an organic solvent.

2. The battery of claim 1 further including a separator layer located between the positive and negative electrodes, said separator layer being formed of polypropylene non-woven fabric.

3. The battery of claim 1 wherein the salt of lithium includes lithium perchlorate and the organic solvent includes propylene carbonate.

4. The battery of claim 3, wherein said negative electrode has a discharge capacity of about 50 mAH.

5. The battery of claim 1 wherein the organic solvent is propylene carbonate mixed with 1.2 dimethoxyethane at an equivalent ratio by volume.