An Improved Plate for Storage Batteries.
Year: 1896

page_text: An Improved Plate for Storage Batteries.
I, FRANZ GRUNWALD of No. 14 Kaiser-Friedrichstrasse, Schoeneberg, near
Berlin in the Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of Germany, Electrician, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved plate or electrode for storage batteries, and
the object of my invention is to provide a plate of not only superior capacity, but
also of greater durability compared with the plates generally employed.
The storage plates now preferably and generally employed consist of a grid or
grids, the apertures or interstices of which are filled with the active mass which,
while being held or retained by the said grid, offers ready access to the electrolyte
of the battery. In plates of this kind, however, the well known increase of volume of
the mass, as the battery is being charged, frequently works strong deformations.
of the grid, and such deformations not only are the cause of breakage, but also act
to loosen the coherence between the grid and the adhering mass, and cause the
active mass to fall from the grid. When the battery is being discharged, the
active mass contracts, as is well known, and by diminishing its volume, it equally
loses its coherence with the supporting grid and the necessary tight contact
between the metal grid and the active mass supported thereby is lost.
To provide against the deficiencies of electrode-plates of the kind described,.
I construct the plate of three separate plates, one central plate of lead or other
suitable conductive metal, and two side plates forming grids or trellis. The two
side plates are filled with the active mass in the usual manner and placed in close
contact with the central plate. The said central plate is preferably perforated and
the portions of the metal stamped or pressed out of the apertures are bent to
project from the sides or surfaces of the plate, thus entering into the meshes or
interstices of the grids juxtaposed. By means of the perforations of the central
plate and of the strips or tongues of metal projecting therefrom, the active mass is
brought into firm connection with the said main or central plate of lead. The said
adhesion of the active mass to the said central plate, however, may as well be
obtained by forming the surface of the said central plate with suitable ribs or webs,
or indentations, grooves or recesses, to cause the active mass to firmly adhere to
without traversing the plate.
When the battery is being charged, the active mass, applied to both sides of the
central plate and firmly adhering to or traversing the same, may readily expand
to either side without losing its contact with the said central plate, and the same
effect is obtained when the mass contracts as the battery is being discharged. The
side- or grid-plates principally serve to retain and hold the active mass, allowing
its volume to increase and decrease without being separated from the main or
central plate. And to further facilitate such increase and decrease of volume of
the active mass, the said side plates or grids may be so connected or secured to the
main or central plate, that sufficient play is allowed for lifting the said side plates,
when the active mass expands. The means for securing or connecting the said
side plates to the main or central plate preferably consist of strips of lead formed to
the upper or lower, or lateral sides of the central plate, said strips overlapping the
sides of the side plates and leaving the required play. The said side plates, being

page_text: lifted under the expanding bulk of the active mass up to a limited extent, will give
the electrolyte a ready access to the space between the main plate and the side
plates, whereby the working effect of the battery is increased. The said side
plates may consist of lead or other suitable conductive metal, as the central plate,
or they may be formed of some other non-conductive material not influenced by
the electrolyte. The principal object of the said side plates is to keep the active
mass against falling from the main plate, while the said main or central plate is
the electrode proper, receiving and discharging the current. The said side plates
also serve to protect the main plate against being too rapidly worn out by the
electrolyte, and by covering the main plate on both sides, the said side plates secure
to the main plate a comparatively great durability.
Dated this 28th day of Mar 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Plate for Storage Batteries.
I, FRANZ GRUNWALD of No. 14 Kaiser-Friedrichstrasse, Schoeneberg, near
Berlin in the Kingdon of Prussia, Empire of Germany, Electrician, 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:
My invention relates to an improved plate or electrode for storage batteries, and
the object of my invention is to provide a plate not only of superior capacity, but
also of greater durability compared with the plates generally employed."
The storage plates now preferably and generally employed consist of a grid or
grids, the apertures or interstices of which are filled up with the active material,
which, while being held or retained by the said grid, offers ready access to the
electrolyte of the battery. In plates of this kind, however, the well known increase
of volume of the active material, when the battery is being charged, frequently
works strong deformations of the grid, and such deformations are not only the
cause of breakage, but also act to loosen the coherence between the grid and the
adhering active mass thereby causing the said mass to fall from the grid. When
the battery is being discharged, the active mass contracts, as is well known, and by
diminishing its volume, it equally loses its coherence with the supporting grid, and
the necessary intimate contact between the metal of the grid and the active
material thereby supported becomes lost.
To provide against the deficiencies of electrode-plates of the kind described,
I construct the plates of three separate plates, one central plate of lead or other
suitable conductive metal, and two side-plates forming grids or trellis, as illustrated
by the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a storage battery plate constructed according to
my invention;
Figure 2, a central vertical cross section of the same; and
Figure 3, a side elevation of the central plate shown separately.
The two side-plates B of lead or any other suitable conducting or non-conducting
material, are provided with apertures preferably tapering from the inside to the
outside, as clearly shown in Figure 2, but this known and generally employed
construction of the grid is not essential to the purpose of my invention. The said
apertures of the side-plates B are filled up with the active material usually
employed in storage batteries and the said side-plates are placed at each side of

page_text: the central perforated plate A in close contact to the same, as clearly shown in
Figure 2. The said central plate A, Figure 3, is preferably provided with.
apertures a', and the metal stamped or pressed from said apertures, is bent to
project alternately at each side of the plate A, thus entering into the apertures or
interstices of the side-plates B, juxtaposed. The bent portions a of the metal,
projecting into the active mass of the side-plates B, partly serve to increase the
surface of contact between the active material and the metal of the central plate A,.
partly to give a strong hold to the totality of the active material, and partly also
to form a reliable joint between the central plate A and side-plates B. The active-
material, by this means, is effectively prevented from falling from the grid.
containing the same. Instead of providing the central plate A with apertures a¹
and bending the strips or tongues a of the metal to the sides, other suitable means
may be employed to obtain a strong holding or cohesion between the central plate
and the active material, for instance by forming ribs, webs, lugs or other projec-
tions on the surface of the central plate A, or by providing indentations, recesses.
or grooves within the surface of the said plate.
.
When the battery is being charged, the active material retained within the
apertures of the side-plates B, and firmly adhering to the sides of the central plate,
or extending through the apertures a' in the same, may readily expand to either
side without losing its contact with the said central plate, nor will the said intimate
contact of the active mass and the metal of the central plate A, be loosened when
the said mass contracts as the battery is being discharged. To facilitate the
increase and decrease of volume of the active mass, the side plates or grids B are
preferably so connected to the main or central plate A that a sufficient limited play
is allowed to the said side plates for being lifted from the central plate A when
the mass expands. The means of securing or connecting the said side-plates B to
the central plate A preferably consist of strips or lugs 6 formed on the upper and
lower or lateral edges of the central plate, said strips or lugs 6 being bent to over-
lap the edge of the side-plates and leaving sufficient play. The said side plates B,
on being lifted from the main or central plate A by the expanding bulk of the.
active mass up to a limited extent, will give to the electrolyte a ready access into
the space between the central plate and the side plates, whereby the working effect:
of the battery is increased.
The principal object of the two side-plates B is to keep the active mass against.
falling from the central plate A, which latter is the electrode proper, receiving and.
discharging the current. The said side-plates B, besides, serve to protect the main.
plate against being too rapidly worn out by the electrolyte, as, by covering the
main plate on both sides, the said side-plates secure to the main plate a comparatively-
long durability.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said.
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
An electrode-plate for storage batteries consisting of three separate plates,
namely, two side plates having apertures or interstices to receive the active mass,..
and a main or central plate provided either with apertures or strips, tongues, ribs,
webs, lugs, indentations or recesses of any kind and shape, adapted to provide a
hold for the active mass, the said central plate being so connected to the side plates.
as to allow of their being lifted to a limited extent by the expansion of the active
mass, substantially as herein before set forth.
Dated this 25th day of February 1897.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant..