IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC BATTERIES
Year: 1885

page_text: COMPLEIE
SPECIFICATION.
I PETER JENSEN Fel. Inst. P.A. of 33 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELECTRIC BATTERIES, a communication to me from abroad by Wilhelm Louis
Frederik Hellesen of Copenhagen, Denmark, Merchant 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 batteries the object of which
is to increase the power and at the same time decrease the expense of such said
batteries.
As the Volta element with simple fluid and an insoluble depolarisator has proved
to possess very great advantages the communicator determined to take this as his
basis and he has now succeeded in producing an element which is much more
constant and very much more powerful than the Volta element and is at the same
time much cheaper than the existing elements when in practical use.
He has confined himself to the oxides and superoxides of the heavier metals and
prefers to employ superoxide of lead where great intensity is required, oxide of
iron (Fe O³) where economy is the chief point, or superoxide of manganese Mn O⁹
which is about the medium between the two first named oxides.
The process consists in employing these materials in the form of a fine powder
which said powder when subjected to a powerful elastic pressure will remain in
constant conducting connection with the cathode. until the oxygen at hand is
consumed.
This is attained by surrounding the cathode with the said powder by means of a
suitable fabric which is bound around the cathode or by attaching a strong porous
cell or casing for instance of cellulose treated with sulphuric acid to the cathode
and filling out the space between the casing and the cathode with one of the said
powders which is then hardly compressed or the said cathode can be surrounded
with powder in other suitable manner.

page_text: It has been found advantageous to employ in combination therewith other
elastic conductors which are not affected by the fluid during the process for
instance such as sufficiently hard burnt animal or vegetable charcoal, graphite,
copper filings (for instance with oxide of manganese and soda lye) and such like.
When employing neutral saline solutions it has been found that an acetate, free
ammonia or simple sal ammoniac will suffice to hinder the crystallisation of the zino
compounds.
A proof of the utility of this element is that carbon with super oxide of lead
and zinc in a solution of ammonia will give 10 Amperes per square decimeter
carbon surface and the element will remain active for months when used
intermittently.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim as communicated to me is
1. The application and employment of oxides or superoxides of the heavy
metals in primary and secondary galvanic elements in the form of a fine powder
with or without an admixture of other conducting material which said powder is
firmly pressed onto the cathode by binding, screwing, ramming compressing or in
other appropriate manner so as to ensure a constant pressure on the particles of the
depolarising material and so that the said particles will in spite of their reduction
during the process remain in constant connection with the cathode substantially as
described.
2. The employment of saline solutions in primary galvanic elements with solid
materials as depolarisators and zinc as anodes which said solutions consist partly
or entirely of dissolved acetate or hyposulphate carbonic acid and caustic ammonia
which latter is formed by the action of the element in the battery fluid hitherto
employed substantially as described.