IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY BATTERIES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, ALEXANDER HENRY REED, of 90 Cannon Street, in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
SECONDARY BATTERIES to be as follows:-
The invention relates to a new or improved apparatus for accumulating electricity,
in which lead is no longer made use of, zinc being employed instead, but in alkaline
solution, not in acid solution as heretofore. Consequently the oxide of zinc in dis-
solution in the potash or soda, or any other metallic oxide soluble in alkalis, is
employed in the construction of the pile, whose positive pole is constituted by
hydrates of oxides or anhydrous oxides insoluble in potash or soda, as depolarizers.
The new or improved apparatus consists as follows:
1st Of a vessel of rectangular or other suitable form in wood, cork or other
material, lined with Gutta-percha or other material proof against alkalis; the said
vessel being divided into three liquid-proof compartments.
2nd Of three very thin carbon plates, each separately covered with a layer of a
mixture consisting of pulverized metallurgic or gas coke or retort coal, or plum-
bagine, and hydrate of oxide of copper, or anhydrous oxide of copper, or hydrate of
oxide of nickel, or anhydrous oxide of nickel, or other metallic oxides which are
insoluble in a solution of potash or of soda; the said layer being protected by a
hempen cloth, this constituting the positive pole, and each carbon plate being placed
in the centre of each compartment.
3rd Of six copper thin plates wrapped with copper wire gauze and folded in the
form of a very shallow box, or of six perforated copper plates constituting the
negative pole, two of these plates or boxes being placed in each compartment, one
on each side of the carbon.
4th Of a concentrated solution of zincate of potash or soda containing a sulphate
of soda or notash, with an excess of potash or soda.

page_text: The dimensions of the vessels and compartments, and the quantity of zincate of
soda or potash, and of the metallic oxide varie according to the application for
which the accumulator is destined, and the time in which the apparatus is to be
used. However, the quantity of zinc in the solution must be almost equivalent to
the quantity of metal of the oxide employed at the positive pole.
The accumulator being thus arranged, the poles are connected either in tension
or in quantity so as to charge them by machines or by piles in one case or the
other, according to the effects to be obtained. The discharge is effected either by
tension or quantity according to the end in view.
This double arrangement is obtained by means of one of the commutators 1
employed in such cases,

page_text: I ALEXANDER HENRY REED of 90 Cannon Street in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
SECONDARY BATTERIES (a communication from Edmond Commelin, Gabriel Bailhache,
Alexandre Lebrun de Vilroy, and Leopold de Bousignac, Paris) and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The invention relates to a new or improved apparatus for accumulating electricity
in which lead is no longer made use of, zinc being employed instead, but in alkaline
solution, not in acid solution as heretofore. Consequently the oxide of zinc in dis-
solution in the potash or soda, or any other metallic oxide soluble in alkalis is
employed in the construction of the pile, whose positive pole is constituted by
hydrates of oxides or anhydrous oxides insoluble in potash or soda as depolarizers.
The new or improved apparatus consists as follows:
1st Of a vessel of rectangular or other suitable form in wood, cork, or other
material, lined with gutta-percha or other material proof against alkalis, the said
vessel being divided into 3 liquid-proof compartments.
2nd Of three very thin carbon plates each separately covered with a layer of a
mixture of metallurgic or gas coke or retort coal pulverized, or plumbagine, with
hydrate of oxide of copper, or anhydrous oxide of copper, or hydrate of oxide of
nickel, or anhydrous oxide of nickel or other metallic oxides which are insoluble in
a solution of potash or of soda; the said layer being protected by a hempen cloth,
this constituting the positive pole, and each carbon plate being placed in the centre
of each compartment.
3rd Of six thin copper plates wrapped with copper wire gauze, and folded in the
form of a very shallow box, or of six perforated copper plates, two of these plates
or boxes constituting the negative pole being placed in each compartment, one on
each side of the carbon.
4th Of a concentrated solution of zincate of potash or soda containing a sulphate
of soda or potash, with an excess of potash or soda. The dimensions of the vessels
and compartments, and the quantity of zincate of soda or potash and of the metallic
oxide vary according to the application for which the accumulator is destined, and
the time in which the apparatus is to be used. However, the quantity of zinc in
the solution must be almost equivalent to the quantity of metal of the oxide
employed at the positive pole. The accumulator being thus arranged, the poles are
connected either in tension or in quantity so as to charge them by machines or by
piles in one or the other case, according to the effects to be obtained. The dis-
charge is effected either by tension or quantity according to the end in view. This
double arrangement is obtained by means of one of the commutators employed in
such cases.
When the positive pole of the accumulator is connected with the
positive pole of a magnet or dynamo-electric machine, and its negative pole with
the negative pole of such machine, the following takes place: At the first charge no
effect is produced on the positive pole, unless it is that the oxide employed may be
susceptible of peroxydation; but on the negative, metallic zinc, resulting from the
| decomposition of alkaline zincate is deposited.

page_text: This zinc in a spongy or porous state will be deposited on the plate or gauze of
copper, and this will go on until the solution is exhausted (a point to which there
is no need practically to attain).
The accumulator is thus charged to the maximum degree, which may be ascer
tained by the difference of degree registered by Baume's areometer, the solution
having lost density in proportion to the zinc deposited. In employing the stored
electricity to produce a certain result, to work for instance one of Siemen's
machines, the following result is obtained: the potash or the soda set at liberty
eats into the zinc, and re-forms alkaline zincate; the hydrogen resulting from this
reaction acts upon the hydrate of oxide of copper or other metal, and reduces it to
a diminished degree of oxidation, or even to a metallic state as is the case with
copper; so that if care be taken to employ a quantity of oxide equivalent to the
zinc contained in the solution of the alkaline zincate, the accumulator will be
depolarized to the last atom of zinc. In the following operations, the copper or the
other metal or the inferior oxide will be re-oxidized again whilst the zinc in the
reconstituted zincate of potash or soda will be redeposited at the negative pole.
And these alternations of oxidations and reductions will be repeated almost
indefinitely without its being necessary to touch the accumulators.
It will now be easy to understand that this new accumulator gives a continuous
and uniform discharge, since complete depolarization is obtained; what proves it
moreover, is that during the discharge no gas is seen to escape (except however, the
first time it is used, with an oxide incapable of absorbing more oxygen, at the
positive pole). The entire force obtained is thus utilized, which is not the case
with the secondary piles in which lead is used, as the latter set at liberty a
considerable quantity of gas when they are charged. The accumulators of 25 centi-
metres long, by 30 centimetres high which can work with a closed current for
24 hours, weigh about fifteen kilogrammes; 40 of this size would therefore be
amply sufficient for the traction of a tramway; this would give a total weight of
about 600 kilogrammes, instead of 2,400 kilogrammes when Faure's accumulators
are used.
All oxides soluble in potash or soda may be employed instead of zincate of soda
or potash.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is
1. In secondary batteries, the employment of the oxide of zinc, dissolved in
potash or soda, or any other oxide of metal soluble in these alkalis.
2. The employment, at the positive pole, of any hydrate of oxide or anhydrous
oxide insoluble in potash and soda as depolarizers.