Improvements in Electrical Storage Batteries.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 17th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 30th Nov., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrical Storage Batteries.
We THOMAS BALLARD MARCHANT of Verney, Wharf, Verney Road, Rotherhithe
New Road London S.E. in the County of Surrey, Mechanical Engineer, and
JOHN WOOLLEY of 57 Barkworth Road Rotherhithe New Road London S.E. in
the County of Surrey Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
"
By our improved means & method of constructing electrical accumulators or
storage batteries, commonly called "secondary batteries we have in view the
elimination of "buckling" through the employment of rods or strips of metallic
lead in batteries as now generally made.
By our improvements we simplyfy manufacture and repairs, reduce first cost and
time in "forming."
We make use of a great number of comparatively small pellicles, spheres, or
other easily made pieces of metal of simple form, which said pellicles, spheres &c.
can if desired be perforated or made hollow to reduce weight and to increase
surface.
The said pellicles, spheres &c. being made of metallic lead or other suitable
metals or their alloys, but for batteries for ordinary purpose we perfer to make
use of common commercial leaden shot.
In conjunction with the said portion of our invention we have a containing
vessel or vessels constructed perferably of metallic lead or other suitable metals
or their alloys and so constructed as to be able to hold within them the necessary
quantity of the above mentioned pellicles, spheres, shot &c.
The said casings or retaining vessels may be perforated with holes of any
practical degree of fineness so long as the size or shape of the perforations do
not coincide with the size and shape of the pellicles, spheres, shot &c. but must
be of course kept smaller to prevent their protrusion or escape.
Further, the above mentioned retaining vessels may be of non metallic substances
if desired.
Again, in some cases the retaining vessels either metallic or non-metallic may be
used without the perforations mentioned above, or have only a comparitively few
number of holes made in them, as for instance, when the retaining vessels are
wholly submerged beneath the surface of the liquid acid.
The whole of the above described vessels with their charges of pellicles, spheres,
shot &c. are placed in groups of course in the ordinary way in outer containing
cells of non-conducting materials.
We do not claim to have invented any new elements or chemical combinations
with which to store electrical energy but a combination of existing and well known
materials designed & manufactured in such a form as to produce a new combination
and internal arrangement of secondary batteries for the storage of electricity.
Further details of the precise form of the parts of our invention will be given in
our final Specification.
Dated this 23rd day of January 1895.
THOMAS BALLARD MARCHANT.
JOHN WOOLLEY.

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Improvements in Electrical Storage Batteries.
We THOMAS BALLARD MARCHANT of Verney Wharf, Verney Road, Rotherhithe
New Road in the County of Surrey, Mechanical Engineer and JOHN WOOLLEY
of 57 Barkworth Road Rotherhithe New Road also in the County of Surrey,
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 :-
In this our Complete Specification we can sufficiently describe our method of
constructing secondary batteries without drawings as we base our application for a
Patent upon the peculiar shape and relatively small size of the metallic particles
or individual portions with which we charge our containing vessels or cells, and
not upon the particular size, shape, or internal arrangement of the vessels or cells
themselves.
As stated in our Provisional Specification and since verified by experiment we
make use of a great number of comparatively small pellicles spheres, or other
easily manufactured pieces of metal of simple form which said pieces of metal can
if desired be indented, perforated or made hollow to increase the area of surface
and decrease weight.
1
The said spheres pellicles, or other shaped piece being made of metallic lead or
other suitable metal or their alloys. But as stated in our Provisional Specification
we perfer in most cases to make use of the ordinary leaden gun shot of commerce.
We take the above mentioned spheres, pellicles, commercial shot or other shaped
particles of metal of definite shape and subject them to the "forming" process
in any quantity independantly of and previous to their insertion into the actual
cells or retaining vessels within which they are ultimately intended to work,
and therefore batteries can be re-charged with their elements without loss of
time, besides which advantage, by this our invention we entirely obviate the
use of plates, strips, and rods or other and similar methods of using metallic
lead in a rigid form which methods cause such trouble and loss by buckling.
In creating this our new method of using metallic lead or other suitable metals.
or other alloys for secondary batteries we do by using a great number of small
particles of similar size and shape each to each cause them to mutually touch
each other, leaving uniform spaces between each piece, consequently the cells
can be charged much more rapidly than is possible with the older methods, our
mass of small spheres or other shaped pieces act with the same laws as do
liquids that is adjust themselves to any internal dissarangement instead of dis-
torting themselves (called "buckling") or "short circuiting" as do plates, rods
strips and other similir methods of using lead in a rigid form.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1st. The use of ordinary commercial leaden "shot" for the purpose specified.
2nd. The use of spheres, or separate pellicles of any uniform shape and size
with which to fill up the vessels or cells of secondary batteries.
3rd. The use of perforations through, or indentations into the substance of the
shot, spheres or other shaped particles or the making of the said pieces hollow for
the purpose of increasing their area of surface and reducing their weight.
4th. The use of the above mentioned filling materials in conjunction with their
previous preparation (called forming) apart from the actual cell or retaining
vessels to which they may be ultimately intended, so that the said spheres

page_text: or other individual pieces may be formed and kept in readiness in any
quantity and for any length of time previously to their introduction in to the
batteries.
THOMAS BALLARD MARCHANT.
JOHN WOOLLEY.