Improvements in Electric Accumulators or Storage Batteries.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Aug., 1894-Accepted, 6th Oct., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE HESS STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY, of
Springfield, Ohio, United States of America.]
Improvements in Electric Accumulators or Storage Batteries.
I, DAVID YOUNG, Patent Agent, of the Firm of D. Young & Co., 11 and 12
Southampton Buildings, in the County of London, 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:―
This invention relates to improvements in electric accumulators or storage
batteries, and has for its object the production of a simple, practical, durable, and
effective construction, in which the active material is supplied with an abundance
of the electrolyte, and is firmly and positively held in position without liability of
escape; and to this end it consists, essentially, in electrodes arranged within a
cell and having their active surfaces separated by a layer of quartz-sand or
other suitable non-electric-conducting material composed of separate grains or
particles held together by non-electric-conducting adhesive material. It also
consists in electrodes composed of cores of active material and electric conductors
having their inner surfaces electrically connected to the said cores, and their central
portions formed with a series of perforations filled with the said non-electric-
conducting material which supports the active material and conducts the electrolyte
thereto.
The invention furthermore consists in the detail construction and arrangement
of the parts, all as hereinafter more particularly described and pointed out in the
claims.
In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings,
forming a part of this Specification, in which like letters indicate corresponding
parts in all the views.
Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a plan and a horizontal section of the improved
battery, the cell being shown in plan in Figure 2.
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 3-3, Figure 2, drawn to a
reduced scale.
Figures 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views, taken, respectively, on the
lines 4-4 and 5-5, Figure 3, the outer casing or cell being unillustrated.
Figure 6 is an elevation of the inner face of a detached section of an electrode
having a portion of its perforations filled with non-electric-conducting material.
Figure 7 is an elevation of the outer face of a detached section of an electrode
of opposite polarity to that illustrated in Figure 6, having all of its perforations
filled with non-electric-conducting material.
Figure 8 is a horizontal section of corresponding portions of a series of electrodes
of slightly modified form.
Figure 9 is a face view of a portion of the conducting body of one of the
electrodes seen in Figure 8.
Figures 10 and 11 are face views of corresponding portions of modified electrode-
plates or conductors; and
Figure 12 is an isometric perspective view, partly broken away, of a detached
electrode of the preferable form.
It is well known that in storage batteries, as at present constructed, the
confining plate or other device for confining the active material in position is
more or less liable to become so affected or destroyed by the action of the oxygen
evolved during the charging of the battery, the acid in the electrolyte, and the

page_text: jarring incidental to the use of the battery on street cars and similar conveyances,
that its efficiency is greatly impaired, the active material is permitted to fall
downwardly from the electrodes to the base of the battery, and thus finally short-
circuit the same, and the electrolyte is conducted to and from the active material
with less certainty and positiveness than is required in a practical and efficient
battery. Moreover, in storage batteries as usually constructed, the active material
is supported in operative position, by means of a comparatively thin electric
conductor or grid provided with apertures or cut-outs into which the active
material is pressed or forcibly inserted. In the practical use of a battery of this
construction the active material expands more or less, and the conductor buckles
or bends; and consequently the active material soon escapes from the apertures or
cut-outs of the electric conductor, and falls downwardly, thus short-circuiting the
battery as previously stated.
In the preferable form of this invention the electrodes are made with a central
core or body of active material and with an electric conducting body encasing the
active material and formed with perforations within which quartz-sand or
similar non-electric-conducting material is arranged. The separate grains of the
quartz-sand or other material are held together by suitable non-electric-conducting
adhesive material such for instance, as india-rubber, or shellac, which does not
entirely fill the interstices between the grains, and it will be evident to those
skilled in the art that the active material is thus supplied with an abundance of the
electrolyte, and is firmly and positively held in position without liability of escape.
Moreover the improved battery is economically constructed, and is durable and
effective in use.
A represents an outer casing of hard india-rubber, glass, or other suitable non-
electric-conducting material containing y desirable electrolyte and the positive
and negative electrodes B B'. The electrolyte preferably consists of water mixed
with a suitable quantity of sulphuric acid, and the electrodes B B' are each
formed of a central core or body b of active material or materials adapted to
become active (consisting preferably of red lead and litharge) and of an encasing
electric conducting body 6' composed preferably of lead and having a central or
inner chamber 62 for receiving the active material.
The electrodes B B' are provided with shoulders or lugs B2 projecting from
their contiguous faces for separating the same, and with the usual terminals B³,
which may be connected either to wires or other electric conductors, or to
conducting straps or bars B. Suitable straps or other fastening devices S may be
utilized to hold the electrodes B B' together.
As the electrodes B B₁ are preferably comparatively thin, the electric conducting
body b¹ of each preferably consists of sections 63 for facilitating the ready entrance
of the active material to its operative position within the chamber 62. The body b
of active material may be economically and easily moulded to the required size or
shape, and the conducting body b' may also be moulded or otherwise formed at
slight expense.
The electric conducting body 6' is formed with a series of shoulders 6 for
engaging the edges of the body b of active material and, as clearly shown in
Figures 4 and 5, these shoulders are preferably formed upon the sections 63 of
the said electric conducting body.
It is thus evident that the inner faces of the sections 63 are in electrical
contact with the active material b, and, as clearly seen in the drawings, the outer
sides of the said sections are protected from the action of the oxygen by a coating
of non-electric-conducting material such as hard india-rubber indestructible by
the said oxygen and the electrolyte. The shoulders or lugs B³, previously
mentioned, are also coated with this non-electric-conducting material 6, and
consequently the electrodes are insulated one from the other. It is evident,
however, that they may be insulated in any other well known manner.
This is a particularly practical and effective construction of electrode, as it
possesses a great amount of conducting surface in contact with the active material,

page_text: and is protected from disintegration to a maximum degree, siuce the only surface
of the electrode unprotected by the coating 6' is in contact with the active
material.
The electric conducting body 61 is formed with a series of perforations 66,
which preferably open outwardly from the chamber 62, and are formed with their
inner ends of greater area than their outer ends. The perforations 6° may be
square, as illustrated, or of other suitable shape. In Figures 10 and 11, are
shown slightly modified forms of electrodes B10, B" provided with round and
diagonal perforations 60, 61. The perforations 6 of the electric conducting
bodies bare filled with a non-electric-conducting material C for aiding in the
support of the active material and supplying the electrolyte thereto, and, as their
inner ends are preferably of greater capacity than their outer ends, the material C
is practically and effectively held in position.
The material C preferably consists of quartz-sand having its separate grains
or particles held together by suitable adhesive non-electric-conducting material,
such as india-rubber, shellac, &c., which coats the separate grains or particles
without materially filling the interstices between the same, and consequently the
said material is more or less elastic, and is highly porons and indestructible by
the electrolyte. The adhesive material for holding the separate grains or particles
of the sand together also secures the sand to the adjacent walls of the
perforation 66.
Quartz-sand is obviously very cheap, and particularly suitable for use within
the perforations of the electrodes above described, but this invention is not
restricted to the use of quartz-sand within the said perforations, as any other
suitable non-electric-conducting material may be used.
A layer of non-electric-conducting material consisting of quartz-sand having
its separate grains or particles held together by adhesive non-electric-conducting
material may also be used for supporting the active material of electrodes of
different construction than the preferable form of electrode, previously described,
and for conducting the electrolyte thereto. In Figure 8 a very simple form of
electrode B is illustrated consisting of a conducting body 620 provided with
perforations 62, Figure 9, and a body of active material " filled within the
perforations of the body 620 and secured to the opposite faces of the said body.
A layer of non-electric-conducting material C consisting of quartz-sand or
similar material having its separate grains or particles held together by adhesive
non-electric-conducting material is interposed between the adjacent faces of the
electrodes, which are thus insulated from each other, and are supplied with an
abundance of the electrolyte.
This improved battery will be readily understood upon reference to the fore-
going description and the accompanying drawings, and it is evident that it is
readily and cheaply manufactured, possesses a great amount of conducting surface,
facilitates the ready entrance of the active material to operative position, insures
the supply of an abundance of the electrolyte to the active material, and positively
and effectively holds the said material in its operative position without liability
of its displacement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. In a storage battery, the combination of a body of active material, a
perforated electric conductor enclosing or supporting the body of active material
and electrically connected thereto, and a non-electric-conducting material, arranged
in the perforations of the electric conductor for supporting the active material
and conducting the electrolyte thereto, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
2nd. In a storage battery, the combination of a body of active material, an
electric conductor enclosing or supporting the said body of active material and

page_text: consisting of opposite separable sections, each section being perforated and having
its inner face in electrical contact with the active material, and a non-electric-
conducting material arranged in the perforations of the sections of the electric
conductor for supporting the active material and conducting the electrolyte thereto,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3rd. In a battery, the combination of the active material, and a layer of
quartz-sand or similar non-electric-conducting material imposed against the face
of the active material, and having its separate grains or particles held together
by non-electric-conducting adhesive material, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
4th. In a storage battery, the combination of a pair of electrodes insulated
from each other and each composed of a body of active material, and electric
conductors enclosing or supporting the said body of active material and having
their inner faces in electrical contact with the active material, and quartz-sand
arranged within the perforations of the sections of the electric conductors for
supporting the active material and conducting the electrolyte thereto, the said
sand having its separate particles or grains held together by non-electric-conducting
adhesive material, substantially as and for the purpose described.
DL 1
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.