AN IMPROVED APPLIANCE OR BAND FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FOR THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
I ARTHUR HERVEY BYNG of Rugby House, Lennox Road Southsea in the
County of Hants Esquire do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED APPLIANCE OR BAND FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FOR THERAPEUTIC
PURPOSES to be as follows:-
My invention consists of an improved appliance or band to be worn or applied
on any desired part of the body, either separately or as part of an article of
clothing or wearing apparel, for the purpose of generating electricity for therapeutic
purposes.
My improved appliance is composed of two metallic bands made as hereinafter
described and placed on opposite sides of a piece or strip of flannel or other like
suitable material. Each band is formed of plates of platinum and plates of zinc
placed alternately and united together by soldering or otherwise. The plates are
made with a number of holes or perforations in order to allow the moisture or
vapor given off by the body to pass through them to the flannel. The two bands
are so placed relatively to each other on the respective sides of the flannel that the
platinum plates of the one band come opposite the zinc plates of the other and
vice versa. The two bands with the interposed flannel thus constitute a battery so
soon as the flannel becomes damp from the vapor of the body or is otherwise
moistened. The two bands and flannel may be held together by means of india
rubber bands or in any other convenient manner. When applied to the body a
thin piece of perforated or porous leather is placed at one side of the appliance and
a thin sheet of ebonite at the other.

page_text: I, ARTHUR HERVEY BYNG, of „Rugby House, Lennox Road, Southsea, in the
´ County of Hants, Esquire do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPLIANCE OR BAND FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY FOR THERAPEUTIC
PURPOSES " and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention consists of an improved appliance or band to be worn or applied
on any desired part of the body, either separately or as part of an article of
clothing or wearing apparel, for the purpose of generating electricity for therapeutic
purposes.
My improved appliance is composed of two metallic bands made as hereinafter
described and placed on opposite sides of a piece or strip of flannel or other like
suitable material. Each band is formed of plates of platinum (by preference
platinized silver) and plates of zinc placed alternately and united together by
soldering or otherwise. The plates are made with a number of holes or perforations
in order to allow the moisture or vapor given off by the body to pass through them
to the flannel. The two bands are so placed relatively to each other on the
respective sides of the flannel that the platinum (or platinized silver) plates of the
one band come opposite the zinc plates of the other and vice versa. The two bands
with the interposed flannel thus constitute a battery so soon as the flannel becomes
damp from the vapor of the body or is otherwise moistened. The two bands and
flannel may be held together by means of india rubber bands or in any other
convenient manner, such as by glue or other like substance. When applied to the
body or to any portion of the wearing apparel a thin piece of perforated or porous
leather is placed at the side of the appliance that comes next to the body and a thin
sheet of ebonite may be placed at the other.
The annexed drawings represent one of my appliances made as before described
and applied to a belt suitable to be worn around the body. Figure 1 is a view of
the outside of the belt, that is to say, of that side which does not come against the
body, only so much of the non-active part of the belt being shown as is necessary
to illustrate the invention. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section Figure 3 is a view
of the inside of the belt, part of the perforated leather which comes between the
body and the platinum and zinc plates being broken away to allow some of these
plates to be more clearly seen. a is a strip of flannel or other like suitable
material. p, p, p are plates of platinum and 2, 2, 2 are plates of zinc all formed
with a number of holes or perforations for the purpose of allowing the moisture or
vapor given off by the body to pass through them to the flannel a.
Those plates
of platinum and zinc are placed alternately against the one side of the flannel a
and are united together by soldering or, otherwise at b, b. p¹, p¹, p¹are other
similar plates of platinum and 1,, are other similar plates of zinc placed
alternately against the other side of the flannel a and likewise soldered together
at b¹, b¹ and the plates on the respective sides of the flannel a are so placed, as is
seen in the figures, that the platinum plates on the one side come opposite the zinc
plates on the other and vice versa. c, c are the usual electrodes or pole pieces
connected respectively to the two ends of the battery formed of the platinum and
zinc plates and interposed flannel as above described. These pole pieces are passed
through the leather or other material d of which the belt is made in auch manner
as to present a bare surface c¹ to the body when worn. The leather d is continued
as seen at d¹ behind the battery so as to keep the platinum and zinc plates from
contact with the body and this part of the leather is perforated as is clearly seen in

page_text: Figure 3. e is a thin sheet of ebonite at the other side of the battery. f, f are
india rubber rings passed round the platinum and zinc plates, flannel and ebonite,
so as to hold them together and some of these rings also pass round the part d³ of
the belt so as to attach it to the battery.
My improved battery or appliance may be made up in or form part of an
article of wearing apparel, if desired. In applying it to a hat, for example, it
should be fitted at the front part of the hat under the inside leather or lining and
this should be perforated (like the part d' of the belt, Figure 3) and a portion of
each of the pole pieces c, c should be led through the said inside leather so as to
come in contact with the forehead when the hat is worn.
In my improved battery the receptacle, that is to say, the flannel which holds
the exciting agency or fluid is in one entire length throughout between the plates
and not in parts as is usual in batteries of this nature; thus the exciting fluid is
evenly and continuously obtained and contained and the defect of unequal
dampness and working which is inherent in other batteries is avoided. The
platinum and zinc plates being perforated the moisture or vapor of the body has
free excess to all parts of the flannel and thus sustains the battery in action so long
as it is worn or applied to the body. The usual method adopted in electric belts
or chains of joining up the plates, that is to say, by coupling each individual pole
of one pair of plates to the reverse pole of the next (on the opposite side) is done
away with by the soldering together of the positive and negative plates of adjoining
elements of the battery and so placing the pairs of plates soldered together (which
plates would constitute, if separated, a portion of the cell of a battery) relatively
to each other on the respective sides of the flannel that they shall form cells in an
electrical series of any number. The negative plate of one soldered pair being
exactly opposite the positive plate of another soldered pair (as is seen in the
drawings) these two plates, together with the intervening flannel, constitute a cell
of a galvanic battery. The portion of the next cell being soldered to the positive
or negative plate of the last completed cell obviates the necessity of wires or
other connectors as it becomes its own connector while it also forms a cell as soon
as the positive or negative plate of the soldered pair on the opposite side of the
flannel is placed electrically in its position.
Although I prefer that the platinum and zinc plates should be simple perforated
plates, it will be evident that they might be formed of wire twisted up into a
zigzag, flat spiral or other suitable form, but plates thus formed of twisted wire.
would be more liable to get out of repair.
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:-
The improved appliance or band made substantially as hereinbefore described
and shewn in the annexed drawings for generating electricity for therapeutic
purposes.
1
11 1
11001
J. C. MEWBURN,
169, Fleet Street, London,
Agent.