A PRIMARY VOLTAIC BATTERY
Year: 1884

page_text: I, EDWARD TYER of Ashwin Street, Dalston in the County of Middlesex,
Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "A PRIMARY
VOLTAIC BATTERY "to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a construction and arrangement of primary voltaic
battery, the chief objects which I have in view being simplicity of construction
and management, and accessibility of all its parts for cleansing, repair or renewal.
The battery consists of a number of compartments each in the form of a rectangular
vessel of insulating material, these compartments being superposed in a framing
in which cach compartment is arranged like a drawer in a chest of drawers, so that
it can be drawn forward to give access to it when required. I will describe one of
these compartments. At the bottom there is a grating of wood, ceramic or other
imperfectly conducting material supported on low feet so that there is a little free
space under it. Each of the bars of this grating has a groove sunk in it, and all
these grooves communicate with each other by a groove at each end of the grating.
These grooves I charge with mercury and, in ench I lay a rod of zinc or other
suitable positive metal. I bolt together side by side a number of slabs of carbon
having between them distance pieces of lead, so that they are kept apart .at
distances preferably corresponding with those of the bars of the grating. I suspend
this pile of carbon slabs in the compartment, supporting it on the heads of the
bolts which bind the slabs together, theso bolts passing through the slabs near the
upper edges. At an angle of the compartment I fix a pipe extending up to nearly
the height of the compartment so as to act as an overflow pipe. Having arranged
a number of the compartments above one another, I. supply the uppermost com-
partment from an elevated cistern containing the exciting liquid, and this overflows
from each compartment to supply the next lower and so on throughout the series.
The liquid that overflows from the lowest compartment may be raised again to the
cistern by pumping or otherwise. The electrical connection from compartment to
compartment is made by attaching to one of the bolts of the carbons of the one
an insulated wire which terminates in a knob that dips into the mercury of the
next lower compartment. And in order to diminish resistance there may be
several such connecting wires to each pair of compartments.

page_text: In cases where the battery is used for several hours at a time and then is for
several hours inactive, as when it is used for electric lighting, I prefer to make in
each overflow pipe a small lateral hole near the bottom of the compartment and
to keep the supply of the exciting liquid flowing so that there is a constant
circulation of the liquid through all the compartments while the battery is in
action. The circulation can at once be stopped by closing a cock or valve in the
supply pipe, and thereupon the compartments will all become empty. Water can
then be run through them to wash them out.

page_text: COMEDIE SPECIFICATION.
I, EDWARD TYER of Ashwin Street, Dalston in the County of Middlesex,
Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "A PRIMARY
VOLTAIC BATTERY 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 a construction and arrangement of primary voltaic
battery, the chief objects which I have in view being simplicity of construction
and management and accessibility of all its parts for cleansing, repair or renewal
and which I will now describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
The battery shewn in vertical section at fig. 1 consists of a number of com-
partments A each in the form of a rectangular vessel of insulating material, these
compartments being superposed in a framing B in which each compartment is
arranged like a drawer in a chest of drawers, so that it can be drawn forward to
give access to it when required. Fig. 2 is a plan of one of these compartments
looking from above, fig. 3 being a cross section and fig. 4 a plan with the suspended
carbons removed. At the bottom of each compartment there is a grating C of
wood, ceramic or other imperfectly conducting material supported on low feet d
so that there is a little free space under it. Each of the bars of this grating bas
a groove E sunk in it, and all these grooves communicate with cach other by a
groove F at each end of the grating. These grooves I charge with mercury and in
each I lay a rod of zinc K or other suitable positivo metal. I bolt together side
by side a number of slabs of carbon H having between them distanco pieces of
lead L, so that they are kept apart at distances preferably corresponding with
those of the bars of the grating. I suspend this pile of carbon slabs in the com-
partment supporting it on the bolts N, which bind the slabs together, these bolts
passing through the slabs near the upper edges. At an angle of the compartment,
1 fix a pipe P extending up to nearly the height of the compartiment, so as to act
as an overflow pipe. Having arranged a number of the compartments above one
another I supply the uppermost compartment from an elevated cistern M containing
the exciting liquid, and this overflows from each compartment to supply the next
lower and so on throughout the series. The liquid that overflows from the
lowest compartment may be collected in a receptacle R and may be raised again
to the cistern M by pumping or otherwise. The electrical connection from com-
partment to compartment is made by attaching to one of the bolts of the carbons
of the one an insulated wire which terminates in a knob that dips into the
mercury of the next lower compartment. And in order to diminish resistance, there
may be several such connecting wires to each pair of compartments.
In cases where the battery is used for several hours at a time and then is for
several hours inactive as when it is used for electric lighting. I prefer to make in
each overflow pipe a small lateral hole o near the bottom of the compartment and
to keep the supply of the exciting liquid through all the compartments while the
battery is in action. The circulation can at once be stopped by closing a cock or
valvo in the supply pipe, and thereupon the compartments will all become empty
Water can then be run through them to wash them out from a cistern M¹ to a sink
or discharge S.

page_text: 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
1, The construction of a compartment of a voltaic battery substantially as herein
described with reference to figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings.
2, Arranging a number of compartments, such as are referred to in the preceding
claim with pipes and receptacles, substantially as herein described with reference
to fig. 1 of the drawings.