Improvements in Secondary or Storage Batteries.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification Left. 6th Aug.. 1892-Accepted. 1st Oct. 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by PATRIOK KENNEDY, of No. 105, Johnson Street,
and CHARLES JOSEPH DISS, of No. 334, Pearl Street, both of Brooklyn,
New York, United States of America, Machinists.]
Improvements in Secondary or Storage Batteries.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to secondary or storage batteries.
According to the said invention I provide a structure for holding the active
material of a storage battery which is composed of material that is practically a
non-conductor of electricity and I place the said structure in due relation with a
conductor of electricity arranged in contact with the said active material. The
active material may be red lead or any other suitable material. The aforesaid
structure or structures may be made of any suitable non-conductor of electricity
and made to any desired shape or mechanical construction in any appropriate
or suitable manner. The said structure or structures may be of glass, or of bitumen
having sufficient rigidity when cold to retain its shape, or of resins, gums, gum
resins, or the like. Preferably, however, a compound of pulverized or floured glass
with a cohesive cementing material, such for example as shellac, is to be employed
as the material for the said non-conducting structure or structures. The conductor
may be of any suitable conducting material but ordinarily metallic lead in a plate or
sheet-like form is to be preferred.
Each non-conducting structure may have a plate-like form and has cavities or
openings in or through it to receive the active material. When only one such
structure is used with the conductor of electricity that side of the said conductor
remote from the structure_should be provided with an electrically non-conducting
plate or covering, arranged to protect it from the action of the liquid in the battery
cell. The greater advantage however, is obtained by employing two structures in
connection with each electrical conductor, the conductor being placed between the
two structures and in contact with the active material in the cavities or openings of
both of said structures.
In such case I make the conductor in the form of a slotted plate or sheet. The
structures bave projecting ribs which meet through the slots in the conductor.
When the structures are made of a material which softens and becomes adhesive
by the action of heat, the two structures are integrally connected by warming their
inner surfaces to a-softened or adhesive condition and pressing them snugly in place,
the contiguous ribs of the two structures meeting through the aforesaid slots and.
adhering so that on cooling the said two structures are strongly united, so as to be
practically integral, along the lines of the said ribs, the conductor being snugly
imbedded between the structures. The cavities or openings in the structures, which
contain and hold the active material as aforesaid, are made larger at their inner,
than at their outer ends so that the active material being, so to speak, dovetailed
therein, is prevented from getting out of place. The contents of each cavity or
opening is thus kept in proper contact and relation with the contiguous surface of
the electrical conductor. Those parts of the conductor which are situated between
the slots thereof lie across the inner ends of the cavities or openings of the structures
and are thereby in position-for the contact aforesaid of the active material. The
conductor has at any desired portion of its circumference an extension or shank to
which the circuit wires.of the battery are attached. From the structures extend a

page_text: sleeve which surrounds said shank to protect it from the action of the liquid in the
battery cell.
Any desired number of apparatuses constructed substantially as set forth are
placed side by side in a battery cell and the several conductors are connected by circuit
wires corresponding to those which, in an ordinary storage battery, connect the
common leaden plates which carry the active material. To provide for the
retention in due relation with each other of the desired number of apparatuses, I
provide at different places along the circumference of the non-conducting structures,
pairs of lugs with spaces between the lugs of each pair. The lugs on one structure
being coincident with those on the other; bolts are introduced laterally into the
spaces provided between the lugs of each structure and said bolts having suitable
heads and being tightened by suitable nuts, draw and retain the series of
apparatuses snugly together and hold them in due relation with each other when
placed in the battery cell.
Dated this 6th day of October 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Secondary or Storage Batteries.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide a storage battery which will be much
lighter than those heretofore commonly in use, which will be more efficient in
proportion to the quantity of active material employed, which will retain the
respective parts of the apparatus in their due position with regard to each
other, with greater certainty and security, and which will be capable of production
and use at less expense than has heretofore been generally obtained in the art. The
said invention depends for its operation upon the support of the active material in
due connection with a conductor of electricity by means of a structure or structures
or devices composed of a substance or substances which are substantially or
practically in such relation, non-conductors of electricity in the manner hereinafter
fully described, thereby dispensing with electrically conducting metallic plates
constructed with cavities for holding the active material. The said invention
contains novel combinations of parts whereby the aforesaid principle of construction
and operation is very effectively carried into effect and whereby is obtained the
practical advantages just hereinbefore set forth.
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of an apparatus embodying certain features
of the said invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional view corresponding to Figure 1, but including additional
features of the invention.
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the linea of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line y y of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Figures 2 to 4 inclusive.
Figure 6 is a cross-section of one of the plates having ribs d, as hereinafter
explained.
Figure 7 is an end view showing the collocation of a number of said apparatuses
us assembled and connected for use in a cell of a storage battery.
A, is a conductor of electricity. The shape and proportions of this conductor
may be varied within wide limits, it being sufficient if it be adapted to the place,
function and use hereinafter set forth. It may also be of any suitable material
but ordinarily metallic lead by reason of its cheapness and general efficiency

page_text: for the purpose is to be preferred.
As represented in the drawings, this
conductor A is in the form of a flat sheet slotted as shown at a, so that the
conductor is composed of a series of flat strips or multiple plates b, connected
together. Said conductor as shown in the drawing is provided with an extension or
shank c', to which the usual battery wires are attached.
The structure or structures for holding the active material are shown at B, and
are made of a suitable non-conducting material such as those hereinafter mentioned.
They may be of glass, vulcanized india rubber, bituminous material of suitable
strength, stiffness and cohesion, or of any other material which is substantially a
non-conductor of electricity, and susceptible of being brought to the requisite form
and shape and capable of resisting to the required or desired degree the chemical
action of the liquid in the cell of the battery. The inventors prefer, however, to
use for the purpose, a material composed of one part by weight of shellac
incorporated with five parts, by weight, of finely pulverized or floured glass, which
so far as they are, at present aware, provides, all things considered, the best
material for the structure or structures aforesaid. The above substances which may
be used with special advantage are described and claimed in the Specification of
the Letters Patent 16938 dated October 6th 1891. Each of said structures as
represented in the drawings, is in the form of a flat plate of any requisite thickness,
with, formed transversely therein, any desired number of cavities or openings, c.
These cavities are larger at the inner side of the structure, that is to say, at their
ends nearest the conductor, A, than at their outer ends. Said outer ends are open
to afford access of the exciting liquid or electrolyte to the active material.
The conductor A, is placed upon the side of the structure B. When desired,
only one structure may be used the side of the conductor opposite that at which the
structure is situated being covered by a non-conducting plate a', of any suitable
material, as shown in Figure 1. This however is not ordinarily to be preferred in
practice, the best results being obtained by placing the conductor A, between two.
of the structures B, as shown in Figure 2. The active material of any ordinary
or suitable kind, as for example, red lead, is placed in the cavities or openings o
preferably through the open outer ends of said cavities or openings, after the
conductor has been secured in place in any suitable manner, as for instance, by the
use of a spatula. The active material when in the cavities must come in contact
with the conductor A. The structures B, are, of course, to be duly held in place.
To secure this, and also to strengthen the structures, when the said structures are
of a material which assumes a soft and adhesive character when subjected to the
action of heat, the inner faces of the structures are provided with ribs d, the ribs on
the one structure being coincident with those of the other, and those at the inner
parts of the structures being arranged to meet through the slots in the conductor A.
The inner surfaces of the structures being warmed until they become soft and
adhesive, the structures are placed in the described relation with each other and
with the conductor A. The heated and softened surfaces of the ribs of the two
structures meet and unite, thus connecting the structures by joints which are
practically integral with the structures themselves. Upon each structure is an
extension e, which, coincident with the like extension on the contiguous structure
operates with it to protect the shank or extension c of the conductor from the action
of the liquid in the storage battery cell. In the latter, any desired number of the
apparatuses are placed side by side and are connected by the wires, f, g, corre
sponding to the wires of an ordinary storage battery constructed with the usual
leaden plates for holding the active material. Any desired number of the apparatuses
may be placed in the described relation with each other in the battery. Lugs h
may be provided to the outermost of said apparatuses placed side by side and
transverse bolts &, having suitable heads a" and nuts 6" are so connected with said
lugs as to properly hold the apparatuses together.
It will be observed that in this invention the electrical conductivity necessary to
the operation of a storage battery is obtained by means of the conductor, A, which
is so constructed that substantially its whole conducting portion is kept properly in

page_text: contact with the active material in the cavities c, of the non-conducting structure
or structures, while the openings therein provide for the junction and for the con-
nection of the opposing non-conducting structures at those places which are between
the cavities thereof. In the invention the weight of metal is limited to that
requisite for purposes of conductivity alone, while the support and retention of the
active material is provided for by a structure which is very much lighter than the
metal plate of the common storage battery, and for any given rate of power or
efficiency proportionately diminishes the weight of the storage battery. A further
advantage inherent in the said invention is that the structure or structures which
hold the active material may be of such composition or substance as will not warp,
as is often experienced with the metallic plates of ordinary storage batteries. A
further advantage is that the ripening, as it is termed, of the active material when
red lead is used for that purpose, under the initial action of the electrical current,
and which is essential to the advantageous operation of
storage battery, is much
more complete than is obtained with the usual lead plates of an ordinary storage
battery. In the latter the ripening action is from the circumference inward of each
separate mass of active material and it is found in practice that a central core
thereof is for a long time, and often even permanently left entirely unaffected, of
course, impairing the working efficiency in a like proportion. In storage batteries
embracing this invention the ripening action extends across the entire diameter
of each mass of active material and proceeding from the inner to the outer end
thereof affects all parts thereof alike.
The requisite separation of the apparatuses in the battery cell may be provided
for in any suitable manner as for example, by means of ridges formed upon the
outer-side of each of the structures in such manner as not to interfere with the open
ends of the cavities or openings of said structures; the ridges of one structure
abutting against those of the next adjoining and thus keeping the apparatuses apart
to the extent required for the proper working of the batteries.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a storage battery, the combination, with a structure or structures made of
a substance or substances that are non-conducting and used for holding the active
material, of an electrical conductor placed between them, and a joint integrally
connecting the said structures, substantially as herein set forth.
2. In a storage battery, the combination of non-conducting structures provided
with ribs d, and constructed to hold the active material, with a slotted electrical
conductor placed between said structures, substantially as herein set forth.
3. In a storage battery the combination of the following parts miz., a conductor
constructed and arranged for connection with electric wires and having openings
therethrough, active material arranged at opposite surfaces of said conductor,
non-conducting structures for containing the active material and for holding the
same against the opposite sides of said conductor and constructed to meet at
intervals through the openings therein, all substantially as, and for the purpose,
herein set forth.
4. In a storage battery, a conductor constructed and arranged for connection with
electric wires, and having openings therethrough, active material arranged at
opposite sides thereof, and non-conducting structures composed of active material
which becomes adhesive when warmed and joined through the openings in the
conductor by adhesion, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
5. The combination, with the active material of a storage battery, of a conductor A,
composed of multiple flat strips or plates & connected together with slots a between
them, and constructed and arranged for connection with suitable electric wires, and
Don-conducting structures which hold the active material in contact with the strips
or plates b, and which meet through the slots a, all substantially as, and for the
purpose, herein set forth.

page_text: 6. The combination, with the active material of a storage battery, of a
conductor A, composed of multiple flat strips or plates b, connected together, with
slots a between them, and constructed and arranged for connection with suitable
electric wires, and non-conducting structures which hold the active material in
contact with the strips 6 and are united through the slots a, by adhesion along their
length and that of the said slots, substantially as, and for the purpose, herein set
forth.
7. In a storage battery, the combination of non-conducting structures having a
series or system of cavities with an interposed conductor constructed for connection
with suitable electric wires, and having a series or system of openings coincident
with the spaces between the cavities of each of the said structures, whereby provision
is made for bringing the conductor in contact with the contents of the cavities
and for connecting the structures by their contact through the said openings,
substantially as, and for the purpose, herein set forth.
8. In a storage battery, the combination of non-conducting structures having
cavities which are larger at their inner than at their outer ends, with a slotted
conductor A, the bars 6 of which lie across the said inner ends of said cavities
while the structures meet and are connected through the slots a of said conductor,
substantially as, and for the purpose, herein set forth.
Dated this 6th day of August 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.