Improvements relating to Storage Batteries.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Nov., 1893-Accepted, 30th Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Storage Batteries.
I, EDWARD PRESTON USHER, of South Street, Grafton, Worcester County,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Lawyer, 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 the plates of storage batteries, and especially to the
metallic frames of such plates, which are peculiar in mechanical construction and
effect. These frames have upright bars or arms connected horizontally at one end,
vertically grooved on their outer faces and formed on their edges with projecting
fins or flanges and bevelled edges in the plane midway between said faces. Thin
wooden or other porous separators are placed in contact with each face of the
frame, said grooves forming open vertical wells from top to bottom of the frame
between the upright bar and the separator, and leaving space between the bars of
each plate to receive the active material in powdered form such material being
controlled laterally by the separators, and being penetrated by the fins or flanges
on the edges of the upright bars. The several plates and separators are, at bottom,
embedded in a shallow body of quick-hardening gum, and may rest upon wooden
or other non-conducting supports holding the plates, out of contact with the pan.
The vertical wells allow the liquid to rise and circulate. The edge-wise fins or
flanges, projecting into the body of active material and preferably bevelled, give
it internal support when the plates are formed and in use.
In the drawing,
Figure 1 is an elevation of one of my improved plate-frames, showing the
uprights grooved, flanged and bevelled, and showing at base, in vertical section, a
pan with a gum setting or cement and wooden rests therein for the support of the
plate.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of said frame, and
Figure 3 a like section through the frame and separators, showing the filling of
active material.
Figures 4 and 5 are elevations showing modified forms of the frame.
A represents the marginal frame of the plate, and B upright bars therein.
These bars, and the vertical end-pieces of the frame, are widely grooved in their
outer faces, from top to bottom, thus forming open vertical wells C for the free
circulation of the acid.
DD are porous separators, preferably of kiln-dried wood through which the
acid passes with sufficient freedom while the active material E, in powdered form,
filled into the spaces between the bars or uprights A B, is prevented from passing
through and hence short-circuiting is avoided. The separators lie in close contact
with the grooved uprights, and form lateral retaining walls for the lead oxide E
which is packed between them. Rubber bands or other fastenings may encircle
each plate with its two separators, or the alternating plates may be packed in solid,
with a single separator only between each one and the next.
The uprights A and B, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 are peculiar in having a
central fin or
flange F projecting into the spaces designed for the body of active
material, and serving, when the plate is formed, to support this body of material,
which it penetrates edge-wise. By preference the base of this fin or flange is
bevelled, as shewn in the sectional views Figures 2 and 3.
G represents a shallow body of cement or quick-hardening gum in which the
lower edges of the several plates and separators are set, as indicated in Figure 1.
Wooden or other non-conducting rests H are shown in this gum body, interposed
between the base of the plate and the bottom of the pan I, to support the plate

page_text: free from contact with the body of the pan. The gum in which it is embedded is
applied while hot to the assembled plates and separators, and when cold, it holds
them all firmly. A bottom layer of gum may first be allowed to harden. This
will furnish a suitable insulation and support for the plates while the embedding
layer is applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. In a battery plate, the frame having upright bars or arms vertically grooved
in their outer faces and formed with edgewise fins or flanges extending into the
space between the said bars as described, in combination with non-conducting
separators in contact with the opposite faces of said frame, and with a filling of
material adapted to become active in the spaces between said upright bars
substantially as set forth.
2. In a storage battery, a series of plates and of interposed separators set in a
shallow body of cement or gum, the several plates being supported at a slight
distance above the bottom of the vessel containing the gum, substantially as set
forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.