Improvements in Secondary Batteries.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Secondary Batteries.
1, VICTOR HUGO ERNST, of 705, Summit Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County,
New Jersey, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
gas
One object of my invention is to so construct a storage battery plate that the
dilute acid will penetrate the active material more thoroughly than in batteries as
heretofore made, a further object being to permit the free expansion and contraction
of the active material without risk of loosening it from the plate, and a still further
of
object being to so construct the plate as to allow for the free escape bubbles.
These objects I attain as fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1. is a perspective view of a number of
battery plates constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2. is an enlarged
transverse section of a portion of the plate. Fig. 3. is a plan view showing a different
form of plate embodying the invention. Fig. 4. is a section on the line, 1-2, Fig. 3.
Fig. 5. is a perspective view of a portion of the plate shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 6,
and, 7, are plan views of still other forms of my improved plate. Fig. 8. is a section
on the line, 3-4, Fig. 6: and Fig. 9. is a section on the line, 5-6, Fig. 7.
As shown in Fig. 1. the plate A has a series of longitudinal openings, a, the outside
of the plate being rounded, as shown, so as to form a series of grooves, b, and
extending from each of the longitudinal openings, a, to the outside of the plate are
transverse openings, a¹. The active material, B, is placed in the plate in the usual
manner, either in a plastic or fusible form, this active material being exposed at the
openings, a', thus forming rows of active material, and between each row and
extending from one grooved face of the plate to the other are openings, c, the
openings in the respective plates being directly above each other, so that when the
plates are placed one above another the openings provide for the escape of gas
bubbles, which naturally form on the under sides of the plates. The grooves on the
under sides of each plate form tapered or funnel-shaped mouths for the openings.
The openings, c, may be of any desired form, either oblong, as shown in Figs. 1. 3.
and, 6. or round, as shown in Fig. 7. this being immaterial.
The plates, as shown in Fig. 1. are piled one above another, and are separated by
the usual washers or blocks, d, Fig. 1. bolts, e, passing through the different plates
and washers and securing said plates together. Each plate has a portion, f,
extending in which is a slot for the reception of the terminal, F, or, F¹, and in
the opposite edge of each plate is a recess, f¹.
In assembling the plates in horizontal alignment the portions, j, of the negative
plates are arranged directly one under another and the portions, f, of the positive
plates are likewise arranged on the opposite side.
The negative plates, being notched, as above described, at the points, f', permit
the free passage of the positive terminal, F, while the notches or recesses, f, of
the positive plates permit the free passage of the negative terminal, as shown

page_text: clearly in Fig. 1. These terminals, F, F¹, are forced into and through the terminal
orifices or slots in the plates, and are secured in their places by the heat of a
hydrogen flame, thus forming a perfect electrical union and securely holding the
plates in proper position without the use of solder.
The plates may be of any form which is most desirable. For instance, the plate
may be of the form shown in Figs. 3. and, 4. having V-grooves, b, in the surface, for
the same purpose as the grooves in Fig. 1 the plate having hexagonal openings for
active material.
In Figs. 6. and, S, I have shown the plate having V-grooves b, and rectangular
longitudinal openings with conical or transverse openings for the active material, and
in Figs. 7. and, 9, I have shown a concavo-convex plate shaped externally as in
Fig. 1. and having circular longitudinal openings and quadrangular transverse
openings for the active material.
The plates shown in Figs. 3, 4, and, 5, are made in sections secured together by
burning or otherwise, the plate being cut away at the central portion, g, leaving end
portions, g, the object of which construction is to make a perfect joint between the
two sections, and at the same time provide an opening, g, which forms a suitable
outlet for the escape of the gas-bubbles above mentioned. I have shown only two
sections fastened together in these views; but it will be understood that a series of
sections may be joined, the number depending altogether upon the desired size of the
plate.
The object of the concavo-convex or arched form of plate shown in Fig. 9. is to
prevent the plate from sagging when the material is exposed to the action of the
acids, for it frequently happens, especially in large battery plates, that the plates warp
and buckle and tend to sag at the centre, owing to expansion. I overcome this
difficulty by arching the plates, as shown in Fig. 9. so that if the plates should warp
or buckle they cannot sag, and therefore cannot interfere with each other, thus making
a much stronger battery plate than usual.
Some of the most important features of my invention are the plans of providing
for the access of the acid to all parts of the active material of the plate and of permitting
free expansion and contraction of the active material without loosening it from the
plate. Those I will now proceed to describe.
Inserted in each opening of the plate shown in the drawings is a core or wick, s,
projecting from which are a number of fibrous ends or strands, as clearly shown in
Fig. 2. these ends extending to or nearly to the surface of the plate. These cores or
wicks are preferably inserted in the openings of the plate prior to the filling of the
same with the active material, and when the cores are in position the active material
is formed around the same in the usual way, that is, either by smearing or casting
said material into the plate in a plastic or fusible form, the material being exposed on
the surface of the plate; as usual. The core may be of asbestos or other absorbent
material indestructible by the acids. The dilute acid penetrates the active material
through the medium of the absorbent fibre and reaches all portions of said active
material.
Instead of the round cores shown in Fig. 2. a flat core or tape, as shown in
Figs. 3. 4. and 5, may be used, this tape baving leaders or ends projecting therefrom
which penetrate all portions of the active material.
The core not only acts as an absorbent for the dilute acids, but also allows for the
free contraction and expansion of the active material, and for this purpose the core or
material combined with the active agent may be simply a yielding substance and not
an absorbent, so that if the active material expands, said material being bound by the
supporting plate, will compress the core, and thus prevent the breaking loose of the
active material from the plate. As the active material expands under the action of
the electric current the material closes upon the yielding or compressible material
with which it is combined, and when the active material shrinks the compressed material
expands; hence under all conditions the active material is rigidly confined by the
metallic casing of the plate.

page_text: of my said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. The combination, in a storage battery plate, of a body of active material with
a yielding core of material indestructible by the acid of the battery, substantially as
described.
2. The combination, in a storage battery plate, of a body of active material with an
absorbent core of material indestructible by the acid of the battery, substantially as
described.
3. The combination, in a storage battery plate, of a body of active material with a
core of material indestructible by the acid of the battery and having a yielding and
absorbent nature, substantially as described.
4. A storage battery plate having a body of active material with a yielding or
absorbent core of material indestructible by the acid of the battery, and having a series
of fibrous ends or leaders projecting from the core into the active material of the plate,
substantially as described."
5. A storage battery plate having transverse openings or vents in portions of the
plate, said openings or vents having tapered mouths, whereby the bubbles are carried
from the under side of the plate through the openings, substantially as described.
6. A storage battery plate having longitudinal grooves in one or both faces, with
transverse openings or vents in said grooved portions of the plate, substantially as and
for the purpose described.
7. The combination of a series of battery plates, each having a terminal orifice at
one side and a notch at the opposite side, the notches of the negative plates being
above the orifices of the positive plates, with a single positive terminal adapted to be
passed through and be secured to the positive plates and a single negative terminal
adapted to be passed through and be secured to the negative plates, substantially as
described.
8. A battery plate arched or convex in cross-section, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.