IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC ACCUMULATORS OR SECONDARY BATTERIES Communicat
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Harris Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd May, 1882. Communicated to
bim from abroad by Henry Lory, of Paris, France.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC ACCUMULATORS
OR SECONDARY BATTERIES Communicated to him from abroad by Henry Lory,
of Paris, France.
"
This invention relates to accumulators or secondary batteries, and has for its
object to considerably augment the electrical capacity of the well known accumu-
lators invented by Gaston Planté without increasing their weight or volume and
so as to render practical their employment, for lighting purposes, for motive power,
and for other purposes requiring an electric current of great intensity for a
considerable period of time.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a Planté secondary
battery or accumulator having lead plates as electrodes and I divide the space
between the said plates into two equal parts by a porous partition and fill the two
compartments thus formed with lead turnings, shavings, or the like, the vessel
being then filled with acidulated water; a new accumulator is thus constituted
the accumulative capacity of which will be much greater than with the said plates
alone. In fact all these small pieces of lead forming part of the electrodes, by the
great surface which they present to the action of the current, greatly augment the
storage power of the accumulator. It will thus be seen that the said invention
consists essentially in the application of small pieces of lead to the electrodes of
Planté accumulators
In place of the turnings or shavings of lead I inay employ filings or granulated
lead. The turnings or shavings are more suitable because, being in the form of
flat strips, thin, and rather long, they may be lightly pressed in moulds, and brought
to the form of plates of a suitable consistency, which greatly simplifies the
construction of the accumulators. Plates constructed in this manner; have a great
many spaces or cavities between the small pieces composing them and therefore
present a large surface to the action of the current; moreover, being pressed before
oxidation has commenced these small pieces remain good conductors.

page_text: The form of electrodes which I prefer to adopt is that of parallel plates which is
better than the spiral form. Each electrode is composed of one solid plate and
two porous plates made of turnings or shavings of lead pressed in a mould as
herein before described. These porous plates are placed one at each side of the
solid plate except in the case of the plates at each end of the accumulator which
have only one porous plate. Porous partitions of parchment, paper, felt, or the
like separate these electrodes; bands of india rubber are employed to ensure the
contact of the three plates composing each electrode and to hold the porous
partitions in place.
The porous plates are of the same width as the solid plates, but the porous
partitions project on each side and at the bottom in such a manner that the india-
rubber bands force them down upon the electrodes so as to cover the latter
altogether, and thus retain the turnings or shavings of lead and prevent the
accidental contact between two adjacent electrodes. One of the india-rubber
bands is held by the end plates which are provided with hooks at the lower part.
The porous partitions are not essential, and I may use in place of them,
partitions of impermeable material such as porcelain or india-rubber perforated
with holes.
The apparatus above described is fixed to a cover of wood by the solid plates of
the electrodes. Every alternate electrode is connected by a lead plate fixed to the
cover and the other electrodes are connected by a similar plate also fixed to
the cover. These two plates are in. contact with two terminals representing the
poles.
The number and amount of surface of the electrodes, as well as the thickness of
the porous plates and other details, may be varied according to the power which
it is desired to afford to the apparatus.