IMPROVEMENTS IN VOLTAIC BATTERIES to be as follows:- و
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON Fel. Inst. P. A. of the Agency for Foreign Patent
Solicitors, 6, Lord Street Liverpool in the County of Lancaster do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VOLTAIC BATTERIES
to be as follows:-
و"
The following is a translation of the communication as sent to me through my
Paris correspondent.
My system of battery for which I make the present application, is characterized
essentially by the composition of the liquid exciter into which enters a product that
has never been applied to this end and under the same conditions.
My liquid, by the combination of the parts composing it and by the chemical
action which results therefrom, permits me to reunite the properties of constancy
of current, length of duration, economy, and innocuousness, which are essential to
constitute a perfect battery.
The elements constituting my battery, the number of which will evidently vary
according to the quantity of electricity required to be furnished, can have any forin,
dimensions or convenient arrangement, but I prefer to mount each element in the
following manner:
1st. An earthenware or other jar, for containing the water, acidulated in the
proportion of by weight.
2nd. A piece of zinc formed into a cylinder placed in the jar just mentioned and
immersed in the acidulated water.
3rd. A porous jar placed inside the zinc cylinder or on one side of a piece of
zinc of other form, and consequently also immersed in the acidulated water. This
jar contains the liquid exciter, which is composed of the following substances, given
for a quantity of about 1 litre :-
Saturated solution of sulphate of iron and potash
(product known in commerce as "iron àlum ")
Sulphuric acid
Nitric acid
-
500 grammes
500
40

page_text: to about 3 centimetres from the top, then pour in enough sulphuric acid to cover
them, and add 20 to 30 grammes of nitric acid.
In certain cases and for further increasing the constancy of the battery,
40 to 50 grammes of crystals of soda per litre of water acidulated in the proportion
of by weight might be added. One might also add 10 grammes of hydrochloric
acid for the same volume of acidulated water for absorbing the gases arising froin
the chemical decomposition in the battery; this addition is likewise optional.
The results obtained by my system of battery are superior to those given by the
economic batteries at present known. For instance without renewal or attention,
two small elements of my system will work a bell without interruption for from
50 to 72 hours, and this duration may be increased by increasing the strength of
the dose of sulphate of iron and potash.
Further, I have found when the battery has been working for this length of
time, that by adding 30 grammes of nitric acid to the porous jar and 30 grammes
of sulphuric acid to the acidulated water, I increase the duration of my battery by
at least 10 hours.
Ten of my elements suffice to supply a constant current for a relatively
considerable number of hours, to an incandescent lamp of an illuminating power of
six candles. Lastly with a sufficient number of elements I can obtain a motive
force applicable for domestic or other uses.
30

page_text: Ten of my elements suffice to supply a constant current for a relatively
considerable number of hours, to an incandescent lamp of an illuminating power of
six candles. Lastly with a sufficient number of elements, I can obtain a motive
force applicable for domestic or other uses.
By the term "iron alums "I designate all the double salts of iron which belong
by their chemical composition to the category of bodies known generically as
"iron alums." I may thus make use for instance of double sulphate of alumina
and iron, or of iron and ammonia, or of any other double salts of iron, known
as "iron alums," instead of the double sulphate of iron and potash.
Lastly, I wish to point out that the exciting liquid, the composition of which
forms the main part of my Invention, is applicable to all descriptions of voltaic
batteries, both for such as make use of two liquids, as also for those which
employ one.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention as communicated to me, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. The use in the exciting liquid, of any voltaic battery, of double sulphato
of iron and potash known as "iron alumn" in any proportion, substantially as
described.
2ud. In a voltaic battery containing double sulphate of potash and iron or "iron
alum," the composition of the exciting liquid with the aforesaid salt together with
sulphuric and nitric acid in suitable proportions, and its combination with
acidulated water in the proportion of one in ten by weight, all substantially as
described, and for the purpose specified.