IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN THE FITTINGS, MOUNTINGS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Sandy, of No. 19, Salisbury Street,
Strand, W. C., Electrician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN THE FITTINGS, MOUNTINGS, AND APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Sandy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th June 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY SANDY, of No. 19, Salisbury Street, Strand, W. C.,
Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN THE FITTINGS, MOUNTINGS, AND
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
These improvements are applicable to galvanic batteries generally,
but more particularly to batteries that are required for occasional use
or to be used frequently for a short time only upon cach occasion, and
such as have to be carried about or removed for use or application from
time to time.

page_text: The improvements consist in applying the exciting fluid or agent
through the interposition of or by means of pads of porous or absorbing
material or materials mounted or carried in a frame or frames free to
move up and down in the battery case, so as to bring them between
the galvanic combinations or the plates of the battery when it is to
be put in action upon raising them, and when the battery is to be
put out of action the pads are lowered from between (and clear of)
the plates into a chamber containing a supply of acid, from whence,
and by capillary attraction, the pads draw their supply, and are kept
in a moist state suitable for immediately producing excitation or galvanic
action.
The movement up and down of the frame or frames containing or
having mounted thereon the pads for bringing them into or putting
them out of action upon the plates may be conveniently effected in
cases, for instance, where the battery is contained within a box or
case having a hinged cover by means of a toothed rack and pinion
or quadrant rack, or by a lever arm, or other suitable or convenient
mechanical connections, so that the raising or lowering of the lid raises
or lowers the pads.
The lower or lowest part of the battery box or case (whether with
a hinged cover or otherwise fitted) should be so constructed as to
form an acid reservoir below and entirely clear of the plates, and
such reservoir may be filled with sponge or other suitable absorbing
material against which the pads are pressed or forced down, and from
which, by capillary attraction they draw the requisite supply of acid
or exciting solution.
I prefer to use the pads of galvanic batteries (when certain acid
are used) an article known in the trade as "Cow's Patent Sponge India-
rubber," or "India-rubber Sponge."
"
For the purpose of regulating the number of elements or pairs of
plates in the battery to be brought into action or employed, I mount
a "coupler on a longitudinal bar or traverser, and I may change
its position either by means of a screwed rod extending along the
top of the battery, or by a carriage (having a spring contact maker)
taking into a rack, thus enabling the power of the battery to be very
readily reduced from its maximum without soiling the hands of the
operator.

page_text: By this improved arrangement and construction of battery all the
advantages of a dry battery are secured without its disadvantages and
inconveniences, whilst the power of a "fluid acid battery" are retained
during the time it is in use without involving its inconveniences and
disadvantages as a portable battery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Sandy in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY SANDY, of No. 19, Salisbury Street, Strand, W. C., Electrician,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Sandy, Her special licence, that
I, the said John Henry Sandy, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Henry Sandy, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC
BATTERIES, AND IN
THE FITTINGS, MOUNTINGS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Sandy, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Sandy, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: in and by the following statement:—
These improvements are applicable to galvanic batteries generally,
but more particularly to batteries that are required for occasional use,
or to be used frequently for a short time only upon each occasion, and
such as have to be carried about or removed for use or application from
time to time.
The improvements consist in applying the exciting fluid or agent
through the interposition of or by means of pads of porous or absorbing
material or materials mounted or carried in a frame or frames free to
move up and down in the battery case so as to bring them between
the galvanic combinations or the plates of the battery when it is to
be put in action upon raising them, and when the battery is to be
put out of action the pads are lowered or forced down from between
(and clear of) the plates into a chamber containing a supply of acid,
from whence, and by capillary attraction the pads draw their supply,
and are kept in a moist state suitable for immediately producing
excitation for galvanic action.
The movement up and down of the frame or frames containing or
having mounted thereupon the pads for bringing them into or putting
them out of action upon the plates may be conveniently effected in
cases, for instance, where the battery is contained within a box or
case having a hinged cover, by means of a toothed rack and pinion
or quadrant rack, or by a lever arm or other suitable or convenient
mechanical connections, so that the raising or lowering of the lid raises
or lowers the pads.
The lower or lowest part of the battery box or case (whether with
a hinged cover or otherwise fitted) should be so constructed as to
form an acid reservoir below and entirely clear of the plates, and
such reservoir may be filled with sponge or other suitable absorbing
material against which the pads are pressed or forced down, and from
which by capillary attraction they draw the requisite supply of acid
or exciting solution.
I prefer to use for the pads of galvanic batteries (when certain acids
are used) an article known in the trade as "Cow's Patent Sponge India-
rubber or "India-rubber Sponge."
"

page_text: For the purpose of regulating the number of elements or pairs of
plates in the battery to be brought into action or employed I mount
a "coupler" or a longitudinal bar or traverser, and I may change
its position either by means of a screwed rod extending along the
top of the battery, or by a carriage (having a spring contact maker)
taking into a rack, thus enabling the power of the battery to be very
readily reduced from its maximum without soiling the hands of the
operator.
"
By this improved arrangement and construction of battery all the
advantages of a dry battery are secured without its disadvantages and
inconveniences, whilst the powers of a fluid acid battery" are retained
during the time it is in use without involving its inconveniences and
disadvantages as a portable battery.
In the 2 Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown 15
views illustrative of my Invention, and although there are other
mechanical arrangements and means of connecting the lid or cover
of the battery box or case with the movable frame within which the
pads are mounted or supported, I have only thought it desirable to
show some of the mechanical arrangements which in practice I find
to answer for the purpose of raising up and lowering down or with-
drawing the pads from between the metal plates of the battery, or
for inserting between and withdrawing the pads from between the
plates when the pads are not mounted in a frame sliding vertically
up and down within the box, but instead thereof they are mounted
on a spindle or shaft (or shafts) traversing the box.
In Sheet 1 I have shown in each modification of the mechanical
arrangements the series of pads mounted within and carried by a
square or parallelogram shaped frame fitted and made to rise and fall
vertically within the battery box or case, the pads being so spaced or
distanced apart as to enter between the pairs of metal plates when the
battery is to be put into action.
In some of those views the upward movement of the sliding pad
frame is effected by the mechanical means shewn upon or by means
of the lid or cover of the battery being raised through the later portion
of its movement (as when approaching the vertical line), or after it has
been opened to, say, 45 degrees, and from that position until it has
reached an angle of 90 degrees or more.

page_text: In other views (Figs. 6, 7, and 8) the vertical movement of the
frame and pads is shown as being intended to be effected by hand,
through 2 pins or studs (having knobs on their outer ends) projecting
from the ends of the pad frame through slots in the ends or sides of
the battery case.
In other cases instead of having a slot at each end or side of the
box the pad frame may be lifted by hand without any mechanical
arrangement or gear being employed for that purpose, as by a rod
hinged, jointed, or otherwise attached to the pad frame, in which rods
may be guided through fixed eyes at or near the top of the battery
box or case; and one side of each rod may be toothed or rack-like so
as to hold or retain the frame in the required position.
In Sheet 2 I have shown the pads of porous or absorbing material
each mounted or carried in a separate frame (like a single eye glass),
and mounted upon a shaft or spindle extending from end to end of
the box, and each spindle or shaft is connected with or to the other,
so that by raising the lid or cover the whole of the frames (with their
pads) mounted upon each spindle or shaft are raised from their lower
position of rest in contact with the saturated bed or reservoir into
contact with the battery plates, which in the illustrations on Sheet 2
are shown as circular plates, whilst the pads and their frames are also
circular, and are moved up and down in the arc of a circle.
The several batteries shown consist of a series of galvanic com-
binations, say, of zinc and copper, of zinc and silver, or of zinc and
carbon, and they may be combined together in any required number,
form, or size of plates.
The
copper in the
copper and zinc arrangement may be electrotyped
upon the zinc, so that whilst the bodies of the whole of the plates
employed in a battery may be of zinc the alternate plates may be coated
with copper electrotyped thereon.
The exciting fluid may be dilute sulphuric acid, acetic acid, a solution
of bi-sulphate of mercury, bi-chromate of potass, or any other exciting
agent that may be preferred. The exciting fluid whatever it may be
should be poured into a vessel forming a reservoir at the bottom of
the box, or a drawer sliding thereinto, and the vessel or reservoir
being filled with felt, cloth, flannel, spongeo-piline, sponge india-
rubber, or other suitable absorbing material, so that when the pads

page_text: are forced down upon the contents of the reservoir or vessel they by
capillary attraction absorb the exciting fluid, and are ready for action.
when the pads are raised or drawn up between the plates of the battery,
whether such motion be communicated by hand or through mechanical
means, through the opening of the box or the raising of its lid or
cover.
I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not limit myself to the
use or employment of mechanism interposed between the battery cover
or lid and the pad frame or frames, or the pads themselves, as such
movement may be communicated by hand irrespective of the movement
of the cover or lid of the battery, or the opening or closing thercof,
as my Invention being for the use or employment of movable pads, in
combination with metallic battery plates and a reservoir containing
the exciting fluid from which the supply is drawn by the pads when
the battery is not in action, and from contact with which reservoir
the pads are withdrawn when the battery is required to be put into
action.
I have also shown in the 2 Sheets of Drawings several modifications
in the arrangements for coupling up and calling into play the number
of pairs of plates to be used or brought into action, as in one view
the arrangement consists of a bar along which the coupler slides freely
until secured by a set screw; in another, the coupler is formed by a
nut worked back and forth on a screwed spindle having a milled head
or wheel at the end or at each end of the spindle, but other arrange-
ments may be employed, as this forms no part of my present Invention.
In Sheet 1 Figure 1 is a sectional end view of a battery, constructed
according to my Invention, the lid or cover of which is shown as being
closed, the pads depressed into contact with the saturated absorbing
material in the drawer or reservoir at the bottom of the battery box,
and which drawer is shown as capable of being withdrawn from the front
of the box.
Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1, and shews the 2 rows of plates
with the pads and the mechanical arrangement for raising and
depressing them, and also the traversing coupler mounted on a sliding
bar. The mechanical fittings for raising and lowering the pad frame
upon the opening or closing of the lid or cover are so distinctly shown
as not to need any description.

page_text: Figure 3 is a back view in section of Figure 1, the battery box
or case being nearly square in plan, the arrangement and disposition
of the pads and frame in which they are mounted, and the edge view
of the mechanical connection between the lid or cover and the pad frame,
as also the sliding coupler is there shown.
Figure 4 is an end view in section of a battery, and shows a modifi-
cation of the mechanical arrangement for raising and lowering the pad
frame, Figure 5 being a part sectional view in plan showing one end
of the battery box.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal vertical section of a battery according
to my Invention, in which the pads are raised and lowered by hand
by means of knobs outside the box fitted upon studs connected to the
pad frame within, and sliding up and down in grooves or slots in the
ends of the box.
Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view of Figure 6, and shows
the pads lowered out of use and in contact with the reservoir, and
it also shows the coupler; Figure 8 is a part plan view of Figure 6.
Figures 9, 9, and 10 show another modification of mechanical means
for raising and lowering the pad frame by the opening or closing of
the lid or cover, and shows a quadrant having a rack with teeth at
one end taking into a pinion when the lid or cover has been nearly
fully opened, and by means of another pinion fitted on the same arbour
or spindle (taking into a rack at the upper end of a rod or bar fitted
at each end of the pad frame) the pad frame and pads are raised or
lowered.
Figures 11, 12, and 13 are views of another modification, and in
which the battery plates are circular instead of square or parallelogram
shape, and the pads are also circular and mounted in frames like single
eye glasses; and these latter are keyed or fitted on to rods or shafts
running along the battery at the back and front thereof within the
case; these rods or shafts are connected together at one or both of
their ends through lever arms or spanners fitted thereon, the outer
end of each taking into an inverted T piece sliding up and down the
end of the box in a guide, the lower end of the T having at each end
a slot into which pins projecting from the spanners enter and slide, 3
the upper end of the piece has a stud or pin taking into a slotted link
attached to the cover or lid of the battery box.

page_text: Figures 14 and 15 illustrate another modification in the mechanism
for utilizing the opening and closing the lid or cover of the box for
the raising and lowering or putting into and out of action of the battery
by the movement of the pads into or between and out of or from
between the battery plates.
Having now described my Invention, and illustrated some of the
modes or methods by which I prefer to carry the same out in practice,
I wish it to be understood that what I claim is,―
First. The improvements in galvanic batteries, and in the fittings,
mountings, and apparatus connected therewith, as herein set forth.
Secondly. The improvements in galvanic batteries, as herein described
and set forth.
Thirdly. The use or employment of movable pads, as herein described,
in combination with a reservoir of exciting fluid, arranged and employed
as herein described.
Fourthly. The use or employment of movable pads of porous material,
as herein described, kept moist by capillary attraction, in manner set
forth, and whether such pads be raised by hand or by mechanical means,
or by either of the modes or methods illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, or by any mechanically equivalent means.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Sandy, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of December, in
the vear of our Lord 1873.
25 Witness,
WILLIAM HENRY SMITH,
19, Salisbury Street,
Strand, W. C.,
London.
JOHN HENRY SANDY. (L.S.)