AN IMPROVED GALVANIC BATTERY AND LIQUID TO BE USED IN SUCH BATTERIES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED GALVANIC BATTERY AND LIQUID TO BE
USED IN SUCH BATTERIES."—A communication from abroad by Emile
Prevost and Victor Barjon, both of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 23rd August 1871, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS, I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
GALVANIC BATTERY AND LIQUID TO BE USED IN SUCH BATTERIES," and have
O petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,

page_text: galvanic batteries. On the carbon cup at or near its top is placed a
collar a of india-rubber or gutta percha, which serves to insulate the
carbon cup from the zinc element, and which also forms a protection
preventing the carbon cup from being injured if it should be thrown or
thrust against the edge of the zinc element. If the zinc element was
made cylindrical it would be difficult to keep the carbon cup free from
contact with the zinc, for the slightest displacement of the said cup
would throw its unprotected bottom edge in contact with the zinc and
the effect of the battery would be impaired. Moreover by giving to the
zino element the shape of a truncated cone the effect of the battery
is increased.
In the vase A. I use by preference sulphuric acid diluted with water to
about 2 or 3 degrees Beaumé, and in the carbon cup I use by preference
a new galvanic fluid, principally composed of chromic acid or chromate
of potash, with a small quantity of sulphuric acid and lime, and which
supersedes the nitric acid generally used in the porous cup of ordinary
galvanic batteries. The galvanic fluid which I use in the carbon cup
rises in the carbon by capillary attraction, and a deposit of crystals is
formed on the outer surface of the cup above the level of the fluid;
but by the application of the collar a this deposit is avoided, since the
said collar prevents the evaporation of the liquid raised in the carbon
cup by capillary attraction. It is obvious that the said carbon cup
may be made with a square, oval, or polygonal cross section, but I
prefer to make the same with a circular cross section, as shown in
Figure 2.
The aforesaid liquid is made as follows:-I take a gallon of water and
heat it to the boiling point, then I introduce therein 2 pounds of
bichromate of potash, and allow the same to dissolve; when the solution
is perfect I allow the temperature to go down to about 68 degrees and
then add thereto two ounces of lime; the liquid is then stirred for
some minutes and mixed with sulphuric acid, until its gravity reaches
35 degrees Beaumé; the mixture is then again stirred for a few minutes,
and then left standing for 24 hours, when it is ready for use. This
liquid when poured into the porous cup of a Bunsen battery, or in the
carbon cup of the above described battery, replaces with advantage
the nitric acid and also all other liquids which have been used in such
batteries, and by its use the energy, durability, and constant operation
of the battery is materially improved, and the battery is made to work

page_text: without odour. By the addition of lime to the liquid the carbonic acid
of the air is absorbed during the operation of the battery and the action
of the battery is rendered constant.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and shown how the same may be t
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. The carbon cup C serving the double purpose of the porous
cup and the ordinary solid carbon element substantially as described.
Second. In a galvanic battery the combination of a carbon cup with
a conical zinc element substantially as set forth.
Third. The collar a of india-rubber or gutta percha embracing the
carbon cup at or near its top substantially as described.
Fourth. A liquid for galvanic batteries prepared substantially in the
manner herein set forth.
1
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here- 1
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Witness,
E. C. JacksON.
W™. ROB³. LAKE. (L.S.)