Elastic and Permeable Electrodes for Storage Batteries.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1899-Accepted, 16th Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Elastic and Permeable Electrodes for Storage Batteries.
I, LEOPOLD TOBIANSKY, of Boulevard Charlemagne No. 70, Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, 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 :-
-
Electrodes of ordinary construction present certain disadvantages which may
be principally attributed to the rigidity of the lead support or grate, which on
account of its small capacity of expansion opposes a mechanical resistance to the
alternate dilatation and contraction of the active mass provoked during the process
of charging and discharging the battery.
The consequence of this is, that the active mass will burst out of its support
and become loose increasing thereby the electrical resistance in the electrode
often to a point of heating the same. Finally the loosened active particles will
fall out of their cells and by accumulating at the bottom of the battery will form
a short circuit between the positive and negative plates. If on the contrary, the
lead support is so shaped as to prevent the bursting out of the active matter, the
force of expansion of the latter will warp the electrode which by remaining in
its twisted position will form again short circuits and occasion the crumbling
of the active mass.
To these drawbacks may be added that the active mass which consists of lead
oxides of relatively bad conducting power loses by its compression in the lead
grates almost all its porosity and renders the penetration of the electrolyte into
the interior of the electrode very difficult and consequently lessens in the same
proportion the electro-chemical action.
Now my present electrode for storage batteries or accumulators is free from
these objections and possesses other important advantages.
It consists substantially of a support inade from an elastic or extensible tissue,
web or texture, which is not attacked by the electrolyte in combination with an
active mass of great permeability as I shall now describe more particularly
with reference to the accompanying drawing which shews a front and side view
of several specimens of electrodes embodying my invention, portions of the tissue
and of the active mass being broken away for the better understanding of their
construction.
The elastic support consists of a light tissue web or texture made out of threads,
strips or bands E, Fig. 1, of caoutchouc, guttapercha, leather or similar materials
which are not destroyed by the electrolyte and which are crossed by or interwoven
with gilded or platinated metal threads For even with pure gold or platinum
threads the terminals of which are twisted together and form the pole P. The
elastic tissue obtained is sliaped into a bag, by suitably bending it over a suitable
form or mandrel, wherein is placed the active miass M composed of lead oxides
and moistened with a suitable liquid so as to form a pap. Or the bag, may
be made of two pieces of the said tissue, one somewhat larger than the other.

page_text: After having placed the pap between them, the projecting sides of the larger piece
are bent over the smaller one and the electrode obtained is finished and submitted
to drying. Fig. 2 shows the same electrode with the difference that the elastic
bag is surrounded by a metal frame R provided with a terminal pole P. This
frame may be cast round' the bag or the ends of the metal threads may be soldered
to the same.
The elastic support may also be made from a tissue composed exclusively of
gilded or platinated metal threads B, Fig. 3, the elasticity of which is increased
by winding them spirally or in any other suitable shape. The spirals or coils
may be circular, oval, or angular and may be replaced by any other elastic_or
extensible not work or texture composed of gilded or platinated metal threads;
the ends thereof being united and forming the pole P. The plate or bag
obtained is stiffened by a strong wire C and is then filled with the active mass
as indicated in Fig. 4, in which a portion of the said mass is removed and shows
the spirals B.
The permeability of the active mass is obtained by mixing with the lead oxides
certain materials or bodies which have the property of being completely destroyed
by the electrolyte and leave numerous pores in the mass, or which are converted
into a spongy cellulose or which are carbonized by the electric current. In this
latter case they have moreover the advantage of diminishing at the same time
the inner resistance of the mass. The said materials. or bodies are all of vegetable
origin, such as, wood, straw, cork and other barks, plants, seaweeds, grasses, seeds
and grains of any kind. These productions are incorporated in the active sub-
stance in convenient proportions, either in their natural state, if of a granular or
fibrous condition, or after having been reduced or pulverized. The pap obtained
is placed in the elastic support or tissue and after its formation by electrolysis
becomes a porous and homogeneous cake which facilitates the penetration of the
electrolyte in the whole mass and renders the charging and discharging of the
battery more rapid. .
The advantages of the present electrode are therefore the following:
1. Reduction of the dead weight, which by ordinary lead, supports is about
rds. of the whole mass, whereas in the present case, it is. reduced to th. of
the same. Therefore the present electrode will, weight for weight, contain about
thrice as much active matter and have a treble capacity.
2. Indestructibility of the electrode on account of its support being made of
material or materials which are not attacked by the acidulated electrolyte and also
on account of its elasticity which prevents warping of the plates and crumbling
and falling out of the active mass."
3. Permeability of the active mass and consequently rapidity of charging and
discharging the battery.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In an electrode or plate for storage batteries or accumulators, the formation
of the support by an elastic or extensible tissue, web or texture made of gilded or
platinated metal threads or of threads of pure gold or platinum, so as to form a
bag, the sides of which are stiffened by a wire or a frame whereas the terminals
of said threads are united and form one of the poles of the battery, all substantially
as described.
2. The modification of the claimed support in which the conducting threads
are combined with or crossed by non-conducting threads, strips. or bands possessed
of a certain degree of elasticity such as caoutchouc, guttapercha, leather and the
like, all substantially as set forth.
3. In an electrode having an elastic-support as claimed, the use of an active mass
rendered permeable by admixing with the pap of lead oxides certain materials
or productions of vegetable origin which are washed out of the mass by the

page_text: electro-chemical action, or which are converted into spongy cellulose or into
charcoal substantially as specified!
4. The special construction of the electrodes represented in the annexed
drawing.
Dated this 441 Jon T..1..
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON,
Chartered Patent Agents,
19, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Filing Agents.