Battery tray

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a battery separator assembly that includes a first member having a first interface surface and a first battery retaining surface.
The first retaining surface retains a top surface of a first battery.
A second member having a second interface surface and a second battery retaining surface retains a bottom surface of the second battery.
A means for securing the first interface surface to the second interface surface joins the two batteries in a fixed position.
The securing means may include a series of projections on one or both separator members and corresponding slots.
A greater number of slots than projections enables a plurality of orientations between the first and second members.
The separator members are made from an injection molded thermoplastic material and are low cost and light weight.
The modular construction allows the first and second members to be positioned in a wide variety of orientations to enable the use of standard batteries sizes.
The invention is particularly useful in battery packs for electric vehicles having a large number of separate interconnected batteries.
The batteries are generally positioned in a number of stacked rows; each row carrying the weight of the batteries placed atop it.
The first retaining surface generally engages a shoulder area on the batteries which is reinforced to carry the weight of other batteries.
This construction allows for the batteries to be fabricated with terminal posts and exhaust vents on the top surface.
Placing the terminal posts and exhaust vents on the top surface greatly simplifies manufacturing for batteries having liquid electrolyte because the terminal post and exhaust vents do not require extensive waterproof sealing.
The batteries are assembled into packs and retained within a housing in an electric vehicle.