Year: 1886

page_text: I, WILLIAM WILLOTT POPPLEWELL, of the firm of Popplewell, Colton & Co,
of 17 and 18, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent
do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me from
abroad by Frank La Otis Lathrop, John Wendell Carter and Carl Faber, all of
Stewart Building, in the City, County and State of New York, United States of
America, Electricians) to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to an improved primary galvanic battery, which can
be easily and conveniently handled and which has the advantage that its power is
greatly augmented and its durability increased.
The invention consists of a metallic jar or cell, that is lined at the interior with
rubber or other acid resisting material, said rubber lining being extended over the
edge of the jar, of a porous cup provided with enlarged rounded ends and parallel
sides that approach closely to each other, a zinc made in the form of a screw with
one or more threads, and provided with a depression or pocket at its top part that
communicates by a hole with the screw thread, so as to supply the mercury for
amalgamating the zinc while in use and without removing it from the jar, and of
carbons made in the form of plates and provided with conical or diamond-shaped
projections or teats at both sides.
A metallic cap is attached to the top of the carbon by anchors and transverse
rivets that are cast integral with the caps into channels and holes formed in the
carbon while being compressed, so that the cap is held rigidly in position on the
carbon.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan of our improved galvanic
battery.
Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same on line x-x Fig. 1.
Fig. 8 and 4 are detail side-views respectively, of one of the carbons and of the
zinc used in our improved battery.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parta

page_text: Referring to the drawings A represents a jar or cell which is made of metal and
coated on its inside with rubber or other suitable material capable of resisting acids,
Baid rubber-lining being extended over the rim of the jar so as to protect the edge
of the metal. A metallic rubber-lined jar of this construction is stronger and more
durable than the glass jars heretofore in use and can be made up in larger sizes
than glass jars. It is provided with ears and a bail for convenience in handling.
Within the jar is arranged a porous cup B, that takes up the middle part of the
jar A, the jar being preferably made of oval shape. The cup B is provided with
enlarged rounded ends and parallel side walls that approach each other so as
to provide between said walls a space just large enough for the zinc and between
side walls of the cup B and the side walls of the jar A spaces for the carbons D.
The zinc C is cast or otherwise formed in the shape of a screw with one or more
deeply cut threads. The top of the zinc C is made flat and has a depression
or pocket 6 formed therein and a perforation 61, which passes from the depression
or pocket to the screw-thread or threads formed beneath the same. In use the zinc
is first amalgamed in the usual manner. When it is desired to renew the amalgam,
mercury is poured into the depression or pocket b and then passed down along the
spiral screw so as to coat the surface of the same, while the surplus mercury is
collected at the bottom and poured off from time to time.
An extension C" at the top of the zinc C is perforated to receive the link
by which the same can be readily removed from or replaced in the porous cup,
while a binding screw on the extension C serves for attaching the conducting wire.
The carbons D, D are pressed in suitable moulds and provided with rows of conical
or diamond-shaped projections or teats d, d which add greatly to the area of the
surface exposed to the action of the acid. The projections or teats d, d have the
further advantage that they are not polarised, as the hydrogen bubbles generated
by the action of the acid, pass along the projections to the tips of the same and are
then passed off instead of covering the surface of the carbons.
The acid is thereby free to act continually upon the uncovered parts of the
carbon, so as to extend thereby the life of the battery and require the less frequent
charging of the same. The carbons D are, in pressing, provided with V-shaped
channels and one or more transverse holes near the upper part, which channels and
holes are filled with cast metal when casting the cap D¹ on the carbon, said cap
being integral with the anchors and rivets and forming a rigid connection with the
carbon, owing to the V-shaped anchors D' and transverse rivets d¹ formed by the
cast metal. The anchors described extend below the surface of the solution in
the battery and have the advantage of conducting the electric current at once
through the same to the top of the carbon, and not through the body of the
carbon.
The large contact formed between the cap and its anchors and the body of the
carbon produces a more effective connection of these parts, so as to overcome the
resistance of that part of the carbon located between the cap and above the surface
of the solution which resistance accumulates when a large number of jars are
connected and decreases to that extent the power of the battery. By the peculiar
shape of the carbons all the parts of the battery are brought within the smallest
possible compass, while the internal resistance of the battery is decreased, owing to
the close proximity of the carbons and zinc. The enlarged and rounded off ends
of the porous cup B store up a large quantity of solution so that the battery can
be kept running for a considerable length of time without requiring recharging.
The zinc by being lifted out of the battery and lowered again stirs up the
solution and allows it to mix well and settle from end to end, so as to prepare it
for the next immersion of the zinc.
A galvanic battery, provided with spiral zincs, a porous cup of the improved
shape, and carbon's having projections or teats, furnishes a powerful battery of
long duration for closed circuits, gives out no fumes and requires less frequent
charging, besides being more lasting, cheaper and more conveniently handled than
the batteries heretofore in use,
..I I

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is
1st A galvanic battery, consisting of a jar, a porous cup having parallel sides and
enlarged ends, and screw-threaded zinc within the porous cup, and carbons inter-
posed between the sides of the porous cup and the jars, said carbons being provided
with projections or teats, substantially as set forth.
2nd A jar for galvanic batteries, made of a metallic body and an interior lining
of rubber or other acid-resisting substance extending over the rims of the body,
substantially as set forth.
3rd In a galvanic battery, a zinc made in the form of a screw and provided at its
top part with a depression or pocket for the mercury, and a perforation for com-
municating with the screw-thread below the top part, substantially as set forth.
4th A zinc for galvanic batteries, made in the form of a screw and provided
with means for amalgamating the surface thereof while in position in the battery,
substantially as set forth.
5th A zinc for galvanic batteries, formed in the shape of a spiral screw, and
having a mercury-receptacle located at its top, said receptacle having a communi-
cation with the thread, substantially as set forth.
6th A zinc for galvanic batteries, having a spiral thread leading from the upper
extremity to the bottom thereof, an annular pocket or depression formed in the top,
a perforation leading from said pocket to the screw-thread below the top, and
a projection at the top part of the screw provided with a binding screw for the
conducting wire, substantially as set forth.
7th In a galvanic battery, a porous cup provided with parallel sides and enlarged
rounded off ends, substantially as set forth.
8th In a galvanic battery, a carbon provided with a flat body and conical or
diamond-shaped projections or teats at both sides, substantially as set forth.
9th In a galvanic battery, a carbon provided with a cap for the binding screw,
said cap having anchors and transverse rivets cast integral therewith into the body
of the carbon, substantially as set forth.
nated this w0th 1-t Tn 1000