An Improvement in Galvanic Batteries.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 9th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 9th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 9th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
An Improvement in Galvanic Batteries.
1, WILLIAM JOHN ENGLEDUE, of Petersham Place, Byfleet, in the County of
Surrey, Colonel in the Corps of Royal Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said invention to be as follows:
This invention relates to an improvement in galvanic batteries employed for the
production of electric light in miners' lamps, or for other purposes where it is
required to maintain the current more generally constant than can be insured by
any other means heretofore in use. For this purpose I employ certain novel means
for increasing the immersion of the elements or electrodes of the battery into the
electrolytic fluid, when the current has fallen below what is requisite for producing
the desired efficient result. The novel means I employ are of the following
character:-
I provide the battery with a top or cover which can be clamped liquid-tight
thereto by means of an india rubber or other suitable elastic ring or jointing washer,
so that the battery may be inverted without escape of the electrolytic fluid, and I
fill the battery with the electrolytic fluid to such a height only as will cause a part.
but not the whole, of the elements or electrodes to be immersed therein. After use
of the battery in its normal position until the current has fallen below what is
requisite for producing the desired efficient result, whether for producing an electric
light in a miner's lamp or other purpose, the battery is inverted, and a larger
portion of the elements or electrodes then becomes immersed, exposing a larger
surface of such elements or electrodes to the action of the weakened electrolytic
fluid thereby restoring the current more or less nearly to what it was at first. By
these means a more constant current can be produced than has been heretofore
practicable without restoring the strength of the electrolytic fluid as it becomes
weaker.
Dated this 9th day of June 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Galvanic Batteries.
I, WILLIAM JOHN ENGLEDUE, of Petersham Place, Byfleet, in the County of
Surrey, lately a Colonel in the Corps of Royal Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is
to say:
Ι
This invention relates to an improvement in galvanic batteries employed for the
production of electric light in miners' lamps, or for other purposes where it is
required to maintain the current more generally constant than can be insured by
any other means heretofore in use. For this purpose I employ certain novel means
for increasing the immersion of the elements or electrodes of the battery into the
electrolytic fluid when the current has fallen below what is requisite for producing
the desired efficient result. The novel means I employ are of the following
character:-
I provide the battery with a top or cover which can be clamped liquid tight
thereto by means of an indiarubber or other suitable elastic ring or jointing washer

page_text: so that the battery may be inverted without escape of the electrolytic fluid, and I
fill the battery with the electrolytic fluid to such a height only, as will cause a part,
but not the whole, of the elements or electrodes to be immersed therein. After use
of the battery in its normal position until the current has fallen below what is
requisite for producing the desired efficient result, whether for producing an electric
light in a miner's lamp or other purpose, the battery is inverted, and a larger or a
different portion of the elements or electrodes then becomes immersed, exposing a
larger surface of such elements or electrodes, or of one of such elements or electrodes,
to the action of the weakened electrolytic fluid, thereby restoring the current more
or less nearly to what it was at first. By these meaus a more constant current can
be produced than has been heretofore practicable, without restoring the strength of
the electrolytic fluid às it becomes weaker
1
And in order that my said invention may be fully understood I will now proceed
to describe the same with the aid of the accompanying two sheets of drawings
in which
Figure is a side elevation partly in section, Figure 2 a front elevation,
Figure 3 a plan and Figure 4 a vertical sectional elevation, taken on line 1-i
of Figures 1 and 3, of a two cell galvanic battery constructed in accordance with
my invention and adapted to the purpose of producing an electric light in a miner's
or other lamp or lantern.
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are detail views of certain parts, and
Figures 11 and 12 show modified forms and arrangements of the apparatus.
A is the case or body of the battery divided into two separate compartments or
cells, by a partition A; this case or body may be made of wood lined with cement
in the usual well-known way, or of ebonite, or other suitable material. B is a top
or cover plate of ebonite, vulcanized fibre, woodite, or other suitable material,
secured to the top of the case A. by screws or otherwise, and jointed liquid-tight
thereto and to the partition A' by means of the indiarubber or other suitable clastic
ring or jointing washer C, so that when the battery is inverted the electrolytic
Huid cannot escape therefrom or form a communication from one cell to another.
This top or cover B has a hole formed through it above the centre, or thereabouts
of each cell. Each of these holes is tapped with a screw thread, and has screwed
into it a screwed bush D of ebonite, for example, forming a holder for the zine or
other positive electrode or element E. An indiarubber washer F is interposed
between the flange of the holder D and the top or cover B in order to make a
perfectly liquid tight joint between the two. The zinc or other positive element E
is formed with a screwed stem E¹ which passes through a hole in the holder D, and
with a shoulder E2 which bears against an indiarubber or other suitable elastic
washer E³, forming a liquid tight joint with the underside of the holder D when the
zine E is tightened up in place by the nut E. By these means the battery is
hermetically closed so that it can be inverted without any of the electrolytic fluid
escaping therefrom. The nuts E are for securing the connecting slips F F in.
place so as to make metallic contact with the positive elements E when the battery
-is to be set to work. When it is required to renew the positive electrodes E it is
only necessary to unscrew the bushes or holders D from the cover plate B, to
remove the old or worn out electrodes from the said bushes or holders, to insert
new ones, and then to screw the bushes or holders with the new clectrodes into
place again in the cover plate B.
G is a movable cover to protect the parts above the cover plate B; it is normally
held in position by the bolt H and nut H
I are the carbon or other negative elements; they may be arranged and held in
position in any suitable or convenient way, but I prefer to mount them in a kind of
case or frame J of sheet lead, the upper part of which has secured thereto by
burning or soldering, the lead clips or rebates J₁ for holding in place the upper
ends of the carbon or other negative plates I. These plates are preferably secured
to the lead case or frame or to the clips or rebates J' thereof by soldering, or by
casting the said rebates, or the frame, or both, on the said plates.

page_text: Lis the incandescent electric lamp placed in a chamber M, secured to the front
of the battery case A and provided with a reflector N and glass front O. The
latter may be of any desired shape such as flat as shown in full lines, or as a plano-.
convex lens or bullseye as shown by the dotted line at O. P is a conductor con-
neeting one end of the carbon filament of the lamp L through the contact plate P¹
with the negative element I of one cell, and Q is a conductor connecting the other
end of the said filament through the contact plate Q' with the positive element E of
the other cell; the slip F is provided to complete the connection between the
positive element of the first cell and the contact plate F' of the negative element of
the second, and the slip F to complete the connection between tlie positive.
element of the second cell and the contact plate Q1 of the conductor Q. These
slips can be turned on their respective pivots F** F** so as to make, or break, these.
connections at pleasure.
It will now be understood that with the battery arranged as shown in the drawing.
and the electrolytic fluid having been previously introduced into the two cells
through the openings in the cover plate B (the bushes D having been removed for
that purpose and replaced after the fluid has been introduced) so as to stand at
about the level shown in Figure 4, the electrodes E and I are only partly immersed.
in such liquid, but to a sufficient extent to produce incandescence in the lamp L for
a certain time, at the end of which the electrolyte will have become so weakened
When this.
that the illuminating power of the lamp will have become reduced.
occurs the battery is to be inverted and the electrolytic fluid will then come into.
contact with a fresh, larger and more effective surface of the electrodes than before,
and such increased effective surface will compensate more or less for the weakening
of the electrolyte, and the illuminating power of the lamp will be restored more or
less, until the fluid has become still weaker and again insufficient to maintain the
illuminating power to the proper extent, when a fresh supply of fluid must be-
provided.
In order to lock the handle R in position when the battery is carried by it either.
in its normal or in its inverted position, the following arrangements, shown more-
especially in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, may be employed. S are metallic
plates secured one at each side of the battery; each plate is furnished with a slot T
and a recess U, the latter provided with projecting parts V V W is a pin of
square or other suitable section which takes into a correspondingly shaped hole in
the end of the handle R so that the said pin is caused to turn along with the said
handle. This pin is provided, firstly, with a head W₁ to prevent the handle R.
from coming off, secondly, with a cylindrical part W2 which passes through the
slot T and is free to turn and to be moved up or down therein, thirdly, of a square
part W and fourthly, of a washer or disc W passed on to the said square part W3
and rivetted thereon. The washer or disc W takes into the recess U of the
plate S and has a notch W formed in it and adapted to engage with the pro-
jection V or V of the plate S. When the battery is being carried by the handle R.
in the normal position, as shown in the figures, the pin W is at the top of the
slot T with the notch W in the disc W engaged with the upper projection V.
This brings the centre of gravity of the battery and lamp below the points of
suspension V, so that there is no tendency for the battery and lamp to turn over,.
and they are locked to the handle R so that they cannot oscillate on the pins W.
When the battery is being carried by the handle in the reversed position, the pin W
passes to the other end of the slot T, and the notch W takes over the projection V₁
aud the handle R and battery and lamp assume relative positions and conditions.
similar to those above described and shown, but with the battery upside down, the
fluid being prevented from escaping by the liquid tight joints of the cover B,.
bush D and electrode E.
In Figure 4, the positive elements E are of cylindrical form. Figure 10 shows.
such an element of prismatic form, but it is obvious that they may be made of any
suitable form according to circumstances.
It will be obvious that this reversible battery may be arranged so as to consist of"

page_text: a single cell, or of any required number of cells according to circumstances, and
that instead of being oblong in plan as shown by Figure 3 it may be circular as
shown in Figures 11 and 12, or of any other suitable shape. Figure 11 shows how
a circular case may be arranged with two cells, and Figure 12 how it may be
arranged with three cells, the letters of reference in those figures indicating parts
corresponding with those marked with similar letters in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
"
First. Constructing a galvanic battery with a top or cover plate having an india-
rubber or other suitable elastic ring or jointing washer interposed between it and
the upper edges of the case or body of the battery and of the partitions thereof so
as to make a liquid-tight joint between the said cover and the said edges, to enable
the battery to be inverted without escape of the electrolytic fluid, as hereinbefore
described, and illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings and for the purpose specified.
Second. In a galvanic battery closed hermetically by a liquid-tight cover, the
arrangement for making a liquid-tight metallic connection through the said cover
with the electrode and for facilitating the renewal of such electrode, which consists
of a bush or holder screwed into such cover and making by means of an elastic
washer, a liquid-tight joint therewith, the electrode being secured in the said bush
or holder by a screwed stem and nut and having a shoulder which makes, by means
of an elastic washer, a liquid-tight joint with the underside of the said bush or
holder as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the
drawings.
Third. The improvement in a galvanic battery which consists in hermetically
closing the same with a liquid-tight cover, and in means for making a liquid tight
metallic connection through the said cover with the electrode and for facilitating
the renewal of such electrode substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings.
Fourth. The mechanism for locking the handle in position whether the battery
is being carried thereby in its normal or in its inverted position, as hereiubefore
described, and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings.
Dated this 9th dav FML 1000
W. J. ENGLEDUE,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.