IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY OR POLARIZATION BATTERIES " FOR THE STORAGE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Grout, of 6, Haringey Grove, Hornsey, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, and William Henry Jones, of No. 3,
Campsbourne, Hornsey, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for au
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY OR POLARIZATION BATTERIES
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Grout and William
Henry Jones at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
17th December 1881.
GEORGE GROUT of 6 Haringey Grove Hornsey in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, and WILLIAM HENRY JONES of No. 3 Campsbourne Hornsey in
the County of Middlesex Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY OR
POLARIZATION BATTERIES FOR THE STORAGE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY."
The first part of this Invention relates to a preparation or combination of lead or
other metal with carbon prepared as hereafter described to construct the elements
of secondary or polarization batteries for the storage of electric energy.
The second part relates to the application of metallic lead dust to be used to
cover, to heap around, or compress upon, the blades or plates of whatever nature
used as the core or conductor of the elements of these batteries.
For the preparation of these elements according to the first part of this Invention
we take flour, starch or meal of any kind and with or without other vegetable or
carbonaceous substances reduce to a powder and intimately mix it or them with
the oxide or a salt of lead, or the oxide or a salt of any other suitable metal and
add a sufficient quantity of water, syrup, oil or other liquid to make it into a
plastic mass capable of being moulded into any desired form; the moulded material
then can be dried or not before placing into a suitable closed vessel surrounded
with powdered carbon, sand or any other substance capable of preventing direct
contact with the atmosphere. We then expose the whole to a gentle red heat for
sufficient time to carbonize the organic matter with which the oxide or salt of the
metal is combined and reduce the oxide or salt to the metallic state within the
pores of the carbon or charcoal and thus obtain a very large and efficient surface
for chemical action.

page_text: In constructing some of the elements, and when lead is used, it is sometimes
advantageous to take minium or red oxide of lead and combine it with a
suitable proportion of flour and water or syrup to make a comparatively thick
paste and with a brush or spreader apply it to the surface of paper, canvas or other
inaterial capable of being carbonized and rolling or folding it into any desired
shape before burning.
When the moulded blocks or plates of whatever shape are prepared and before
burning they can have rods or slips of lead or other suitable metal inserted into
the plastic material these rods or slips being very convenient to solder the
terminals or connecting wires to. If a rod or slip of lead be used, the moulded
carbon must be kept upright while being burned and remain so until cold. It will
then become firmly attached to the metalized carbon. If the moulded block or
plate is required to be of a very porous nature, the combined meal and oxide may
be mixed with barm or yeast and fermented after the manner of bread and then
baked and carbonized. By these means the metalized carbon becomes of a very
porous and spongey nature.
For some purposes we find it advantageous in the construction of these elements
to employ the metalized carbon in the powdered state to surround the metal blade
or other conductor. The powder for this purpose can be very conveniently prepared
by adding the salt or oxide of the desired metal to powdered charcoal and exposing
it in a suitably closed vessel to a reducing heat; or the oxide or salt may be added
to sawdust, starch, meal, paper-pulp or any analogous substance capable of being
carbonized and of reducing the oxide or salt.of.the.metal-operated-upon.-
The metalized carbon has such great power to rapidly absorb many times its own
bulk of oxygen or other gas or gases that in certain proportions of carbon and
reduced metal when freshly burned and dry, it will spontaneously ignite if exposed
to the atmosphere.
For the construction of the elements according to the second part of this
Invention we take lead in the sheet or other form, or a block or plate of carbon
suitable for a conductor and heap or pile round it, or compress upon it, lead
mechanically reduced to a dusty or granular state, whereby there is an enormous
surface exposed to action and the lead dust also much more easily oxidised or
' formed than any other arrangement of the Planté secondary battery, taking
only a comparatively few charges to bring it up to an efficient or working state.
In the preparation of the lead dust we find it very convenient to proceed as
follows: We take lead while in the molten state and add to it a proportion of
any powdered substance such as charcoal, then keep stirring or triturating it while
cooling. It first becomes pasty and afterwards, as it cools, it passes by continual
stirring into a fine metallic dust suitable for the purpose described. If necessary
the charcoal can be separated from the lead dust by washing.
In the application of the first improvement to the construction of secondary
batteries we are aware that Dr. Siemens and others have experimented on
the combination of carbon and metals (notably lead) by immersing blocks of
charcoal or carbon in acetate or other salts of lead and reducing them to the
metallic state in the pores of the carbon by exposing them to a red heat in a
covered vessel, but the amount of metal that the carbon could by this method
combine with was limited and that principally on the surface.
Our improvement consists, first, in combining a metallic oxide or salt equally
within the mass of the carbonaceous substance before burning and in any
prearranged proportion and secondly in enabling us to make it plastic for moulding
into any suitable form required, substantially as herein before described.
In the application of the second improvement we claim the employment of
lead dust prepared direct from the molten metal substantially as hereinbefore
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Grout and William Henry Jones in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th June 1882.
GEORGE GROUT of 6 Haringey Grove, Hornsey in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, and WILLIAM HENRY JONES of 3 Campsbourne, Hornsey, in
the County of Middlesex Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY OR
POLARIZATION BATTERIES FOR THE STORAGE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY."
The first part of this Invention relates to a preparation or combination of lead
or other metal with carbon, prepared as hercafter described, to construct the
elements of secondary or polarization batteries for the storage of electric energy.
The second part relates to the application of metallic lead-dust to be used to
cover to heap around, or compress upon the blades or plates of whatever naturo
used as the core or conductor of the elements of these batteries.
For the preparation of these elements according to the first part of this Invention
we take flour, starch; or meal of any kind, and with or without other vegetable or
carbonaceous substances reduced to a powder and intimately mix it or them, with
the oxide or a salt of lead, or the oxide or a salt of any other suitable metal, and
add a sufficient quantity of water, syrup, oil, or other liquid to make it into a
plastic mass capable of being moulded into any desired form; the moulded material
can be dried or not before placing into a suitable closed vessel surrounded with
powdered carbon, sand or any other substance capable of preventing direct contact
with the atmosphere. We then expose the whole to a gentle red heat for sufficient
time to carbonize the organic matter with which the oxide or salt of the metal
is combined, and reduce the oxide or salt to the metallic state within the pores of
the carbon or charcoal and thus obtain a very large and efficient surface for.
chemical action.
In constructing some of the elements and when lead is used, it is sometimes
advantageous to take minium or red oxide of lead and combine it with a suitable
proportion of flour and water or syrup to make a comparatively thick paste and
with a brush or spreader, apply it to the surface of paper, canvas or other material
capable of being carbonized and rolling or folding it into any desired shape before
burning. When the moulded blocks or plates of whatever shape are prepared and
before burning, they can have rods or slips of lead, or other suitable metal inserted
into the plastic material, these rods or slips being very convenient to solder the
terminals or connecting wires to. If a rod or slip of lead be used the moulded
carbon must be kept upright while being burned, and remain so until cold.
It will then become firmly attached to the metallized carbon.
If the moulded block or plate is required to be of a very porous nature, the
combined meal and oxide may be mixed with barm or yeast and fermented after
the manner of bread and then baked and carbonized. By these means the
metallized carbon becomes of a very porous and spongy nature.
For some purposes we find it advantageous in the construction of these elements
to employ the metallized carbon in the powdered state to surround the metal
or other conductor. The powder for this purpose can be very conveniently prepared
by adding the salt or oxide of the desired metal to powdered charcoal and exposing
it in a suitably closed vessel to a reducing heat; or the oxide or salt may be
added to sawdust, starch, meal, paper pulp, or any analogous substance capable
of being carbonised and of reducing the oxide or salt of the metal operated upon.
The metallized carbon has such great power to rapidly absorb many times its
own bulk of oxygen or other gas or gases that in certain proportions of carbon and

page_text: reduced metal when freshly burned and dry it will spontaneously ignite if
exposed to the atmosphere.
For the construction of the elements according to the second part of this
Invention, we take lead or a combination of lead or alloy of lead in sheet or other
form, or a block, or a plate of carbon suitable for a conductor and heap or pile
round it, or compress upon it, lead mechanically reduced to a dusty or granular
state whereby there is an enormous surface exposed to action, and the lead dust is
also much more easily oxidised or "formed" than any other arrangement of the
Planté secondary battery, taking only a comparatively few charges to bring it
up to an efficient or working state.
In the preparation of the lead dust we find it very convenient to proceed as
follows; we take lead while in the molten state and add to it a proportion of
any powdered substance such as charcoal, then keep stirring and triturating it
while cooling. It first becomes pasty and afterwards as it cools it passes by
continual stirring into a fine metallic dust suitable for the purpose described,
if necessary the charcoal can be separated from the lead dust by washing or blast
of air.
In the application of the first improvement to the construction of secondary
batteries, we are aware that Dr. Siemens and others, have experimented upon
the combination of carbon and metals (notably lead) by immersing blocks of
charcoal or carbon in acetate or other salts of lead and reducing them to the
metallic state in the pores of the carbon by exposing them to a red heat in a
-covered-vessel, but-the-amount-of-metal, that the carbon could by this method
combine with was limited and that principally on the surface. Our improvement
consists first in combining a metallic oxide or salt, equally within the mass of the
carbonaceous substance before burning and in any prearranged proportion and
secondly in enabling us to make it plastic for moulding into any suitable form
required.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our Invention and in what
manner the same is or may be performed we would have it understood that what
we claim is :-
First. The combining of a metallic oxide or salt equally within the mass of the
carbonaceous substance before burning and in any pre-arranged proportion, also in
enabling us to make it plastic for moulding into any suitable form as may be
required substantially as herein before described.
Second. In the application of the second part of our improvements the
employment of lead dust prepared direct from the molten metal substantially as
bereinbefore described.
In witness whereof we the said George Grout and William Henry Jones
have hereunto set our hands and seals this Fifteenth day of June in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty tw
Witness,
JAMES FREDERICK PHILLIPS,
Of the Firm of Phillips & Leigh,
Engineers & Patent Agents,
7 Southampton Buildings,
London, W.C.
GEORGE GROUT. (L.S.)
W. H. JONES. (L.S.)