Electric storage batteries typically employ one or the other of two general types of terminals. One type has an internal, typically threaded, opening for receiving a fastener (e.g., bolt) which holds the battery cable in place. One such terminal is disclosed in Rowls et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,730, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The other type employs an external post projecting outwardly from the battery. The external connector post may comprise a threaded stud for mating with an eyelet on a battery cable or may comprise a tapered post often referred to as an SAE terminal post and described in SAE Standard J-537. Some replacement SLI batteries have both types of terminals.
Rowls et al-type terminals are protected from damage by virtue of their being recessed within the container wall. External-post type terminals, however, are susceptible to impact damage which can interfere with their ability to properly receive an appropriate cable connector. Moreover, external terminals, being more exposed, can result in the inadvertent discharge of the battery incident to short circuiting of the terminals. Accordingly, battery manufacturers commonly provide such posts with protective caps during the shipping and display phases of the batteries' lives (i.e., before sale to the consumer), when the terminals are most susceptible to such problems.
Moreover, a number of batteries have their external connector terminal posts axially offset from the internal cell element post which connects the external post to the battery's internal cell elements through a wall of the container. Batteries having such offset terminals are additionally susceptible to damage resulting from either lifting of the distal end of the terminal remote from the cell element post or twisting of the cell element post resulting from the additional torque applied thereto by the lever, arm provided by the offset terminal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a unique shipping and display cap for an electric storage battery terminal which includes a base permanently secured about a root of the terminal and a separable tower adapted for ready separation from the base when the battery is put in service. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an electric storage battery with such a cap for a battery terminal whose external terminal post is axially offset from the battery's internal cell element post including common means for both securing the cap's base about the terminal root and preventing accidental lifting or rotation of the terminal with respect to the cell element post.