Improvements in and Connected with Secondary Batteries or Electrical Accumulators..
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 28th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 4th May, 1889
Improvements in and Connected with Secondary Batteries or
Electrical Accumulators..
I LARS BRISTOL, of Acacia Villa, Park End, Bromley, in the county of Kent,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the preparation of the plates and
the arrangement of same for use, and to the construction of secondary batteries or
electrical accumulators, and has for its objects firstly, to prepare and constitute the
said plates with such a degree of self-cohesiveness and rigidity that no additional
metallic support is required, thus greatly increasing the storage capacity of the
battery; secondly to permanently arrange the said plates when prepared in ultimate
position for working; and thirdly to provide a gas escape plug specially adapted to
portable batteries.
To effect the first object I intimately mix and incorporate with the red lead or
equivalent active material employed to form the plates a suitable proportion of animal
hair, preferably human, or feathers or parts of feathers, or thin shearings or shavings
of horn, or vulcanised fibre, or asbestos fibre, or any other suitable fibrous substance
cut to proper and suitable dimensions.
•
I first mix the active material and the hair or fibrous substance into a paste of
suitable consistency: I then make the plates in moulds and insert as a conductor
a flattened lead wire or platinum strip having lateral branches to convey the
current from the plate with the least possible resistance: I then subject the plates
to a gentle pressure and allow them to dry. I may cover' the plates with fine
muslin or other fabric; this is however not required for permanent protection and
may be removed at once or allowed to be decomposed by the action of the acid.
To effect the second object I arrange the plates in a bottomless case or box
having strips across its base transversely to the plates and supporting same vertically,

page_text: the plates being kept at the proper distance apart by distance, pieces. of wood or
suitable material preferably saturated with paraffin or other suitable agent to resist
the action of the acid.
In constructing the battery I place the said case or box within another box or
receptacle containing the usual active solution which is thus enabled to come
thoroughly in contact with the plates. The plates are then formed and reduced by
passing an electric current through them as usual.
For portable batteries the box or case-containing the plates is covered with a sealed
lid, and in combination therewith I use a gas escape plug or tube of wood, ebonite,
glass or suitable material having a vertical hole, traversed transversely near its base
below the lid by a horizontal hole and preferably terminating in a coned base, so that
the liquid cannot be splashed through it should the battery be shaken.
Ted L: C: L JT. LOOO
J. C. CHAPMAN
Agent for Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in and Connected with Secondary Batteries or
'Electrical Accumulators.
1 LARS BRISTOL, of Acacia Villa, Park End, Bromley in the, county of Kent,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the preparation of the plates and
the arrangement of same for use, and, to the construction of secondary batteries or
electrical accumulators, and has for its object firstly, to prepare and constitute the said
plates with such a degree of self cohesiveness and rigidity that no additional metallic
support is required, thus greatly increasing the storage capacity, of the battery;
secondly, to permanently arrange, the said plates when prepared in ultimate position
for working; and thirdly, to provide a gas escape plug specially adapted to portable
batteries.
To effect the first object I intimately mix and incorporate with the red lead or
equivalent active material employed to form the plates a suitable proportion of animal
hair, preferably human, or feathers or parts of feathers, or thin shearings or shavings
of horn, or vulcanised fibre, or asbestos, or any other suitable fibrous substance
cut to proper and suitable dimensions. The proportions I prefer to employ may vary
between one and three per cent. in. weight.
"I first mix, the active material and the hair or fibrous substance into a paste of suit-
able consistency, I then make the plates in moulds and insert as a conductor a
flattened lead wire or platinum strip having lateral branches to convey the current
from the plate with the least possible resistance: 1 then subject the plates to a gentle
pressure and allow them to dry. I may cover the plates with fine muslin or other
fabric; this is however not required for permanent protection and may be removed
at once or allowed to be decomposed by the action of the acid.
In the accompanying drawings a represents the active material and 6 the conductor
with lateral branches 6' 6' arranged extending for a suitable distance into the width
of the plate a as in figures 1, 2 and 6. In order to maintain the conductor b in a
central position in the active material I employ the transverse points or studs 6² 62
figure 3, which rest on the mould during formation. For small batteries and for
plates destined to lie next the casing of the cell as in figure 2 I bevel off the
outer edges of the conductor 6 so as to key or dovetail it into the material a as
in figure 4. I find that plates so made are sufficiently hard and rigid without
the aid of any metallic support whatever.
To effect the second object 1 proceed as illustrated in the plan figure 5 and
cross section thereof figure 6. I arrange the plates a in a bottomless case or box c
having strips s across its base transversely to the plates and supporting same vertically
the plates being kept at the proper distance apart by distance pieces of wood or
suitable material preferably saturated with paraffin or other suitable agent to resist
the action of the electrolyte.

page_text: In constructing the battery I place the said bottomless case c within another box
or receptacle d containing the usual active solution which is thus enabled to come
thoroughly in contact with the plates. The plates are then formed and reduced by
passing an electric current through them as usual.
In order to prevent the liquid splashing through the aperture in the sealed lid
of the batteries and especially in portable batteries which may be shaken the box
or receptacle d containing the plates is covered with a sealed lid figures 1 and 2
and in combination therewith I use a special gas escape plug p or tube of ebonite,
glass, or suitable material having a vertical hole p' traversed transversely near its
base below the lid by a horizontal hole p² and preferably terminating in a coned base
as shown.
When the battery is charged I may remove the gas escape plug p or tube and
use a simple screw plug p³ and washer of rubber or other elastic material not liable
to injury by the acid, as in figure 7. The battery is thus hermetically sealed and can
be kept in any position without escape of the liquid.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In the preparation of plates for secondary batteries or electrical accumulators
intimately mixing and incorporating with red lead or equivalent active material,
animal hair, feathers, horn shavings, asbestos or other suitable fibrous material,
substantially as and for the purposes setforth.
2. The combination with plates prepared as above described of conductors with
lateral branches 61 62 as and for the purposes set forth..
3. Arranging supporting and spacing plates for secondary batteries or electrical
accumulators permanently in an open bottomed box fitting within an outer box con-
taining the active solution substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth
in reference to figures 5 and 6.
4. The herein before described construction of gas escape plug for use in combination
with the sealed lids of secondary batteries or electrical accumulators as and for the
purpose setforth in reference to figures 1 and 2.
נית
0011 1
רי
1 1000
Dated this 28th day
1880.
J. C. CHAPMAN, Fel. Inst. Patent Agents,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.