Improvements in Secondary or Storage Batteries.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 18th May. 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Secondary or Storage Batteries.
We, WILLIAM MORE MCDOUGALL, of No. 43 Sussex Avenue, East Orange
in the County of Essex, State of New Jersey, Machinist, HENRY BURR ADAMS
of Grand Union Hotel, Forty-second Street, in the City, County and State of
New York, Merchant, and GEORGE PUTNAM SMITH, of No. 115 Broadway, in'
the City, County and State of New York, Lawyer, all in the United States of
America, 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:-
Our invention relates to secondary or storage batteries, and has special reference
to the construction of the electrode and of the box or casing for the latter. One
of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a means whereby a number
of electrodes may be assembled in a battery, spaced apart, and free access of the
liquid solution permitted to them. Further objects of invention are to prevent the
detaching of the active material from the electrode and to provide a battery of
long life and of great efficiency.
Such being the general nature of the invention it consists in the parts and
combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed.
For the better understanding of the invention we have illustrated in the
accompanying drawings means for carrying it into practical effect, without limiting
our improvements, in their useful applications, to the particular construction which,
for the sake of illustration, we have delineated. In said drawings:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an electrode and casing therefor embodying our
invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of an electrode adapted to be combined in
our invention as a part thereof.
Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view illustrating another form of casing and of
electrode, several of such parts being shown assembled together.
Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the electrode and the two portions of
its casing slightly separated from each other.
Referring to the drawings by letter, A represents a box of hard rubber, celluloid
or any other non-conducting or insulating material, preferably of such character
that it can be moulded; it is open or partly open at the top and of sufficient
capacity to receive one electrode, as will be described. The side walls of this box
are provided with a large number of small perforations a, through which the liquid
solution of the cells may pass to act upon the oxide and lead contained within the
box. One side of the box is provided with a number of vertical ridges or ribs a¹,
which, when a cell is assembled, rest against a plain wall of the next adjacent box
and thereby separate the boxes and permitting of a circulation of the liquid in a
vertical direction between the boxes. Some of these ribs may also extend across
the bottom of the box to form passages for the liquid under it. If desired, the ribs
may be notched or discontinuous to allow of a lateral movement of the liquid.
The electrode proper may consist of a plain sheet of lead B, having triangular
shaped lugs b, in each face, which are formed by making a V-shaped cut and
forcing the metal outward. These lugs are bent outward or projected laterally on
each side of the electrode, and preferably to such a distance that their tips will
rest against the walls of the box A, when the plate is inserted, and thereby hold

page_text: the plate in a central position within the box. This is an important feature of my
invention, for by reason of it, the distribution of the active material on the surface
of the plate is made and maintained even. The active material may be applied to
the plate simply by forcing it into the spaces in the box on each side of the lead
sheet. It is forced in until the spaces or chambers are full. The lugs b, prevent
the active material from settling to the lower portions of the box and also serve to
make a more intimate connection between the active material and the plate.
We prefer sometimes to make the box A of several pieces, or of one piece folded
up, and when this is done, the quantity of active material used, may be varied by
forcing the lugs b outward to a greater or less extent. In assembling the battery,
any desired number of the boxes may be clamped rigidly together, forming a
stable structure.
A box or casing of separable parts is shown in Figures 4 and 5. These parts C
and D are preferably divided on a plane parallel with the flat face of the electrode,
and are formed respectively with rims or flanges c d the former of which surrounds
the electrode and enters within the flange d. These flanges may cover the top of
the box except at a point where an aperture is left for electric connection with the
electrode. The spacing ribs on one part of the box are arranged to alternate with
those on the other so that in a series of the boxes the parts will very firmly and
efficiently support each other and the electrodes, while they are at the same time
readily separable. The electrode shown in Figures 4 and 5 is cast in form with its
lateral lugs in the form of horizontal transverse ridges e having between them
grooves for the reception of the active material. The ridges e bear against the
inner faces of the parts C and D.
In the case of the electrode shown in Fig. 5 the active material may be supplied
by electric disintegration in a manner now well known.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manuer the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. An electrode for a storage battery, combined with a perforated box containing
the electrode and provided with spacing ribs on the exterior of its wall, for the
purpose set forth.
2. An electrode for a storage or secondary battery, combined with a box
containing the electrode and provided with vertical spacing ribs on the exterior of
its wall and with ribs across its bottom, for the purpose set forth.
3. A flat electrode for a secondary battery, combined with a box or envelope of
non-conducting material which is perforated or partly open and contains the
electrode, said electrode being provided for its entire length with a plurality of
laterally projecting lugs bearing against the interior of the box or envelope, for the
purpose described.
4. An electrode for a secondary battery provided throughout its entire extent
with a plurality of laterally projecting lugs, combined with a perforated or partly
open box which contains the electrode and is engaged by said lugs, and active
material filling the spaces between the electrode and box, as described.
5. An electrode for a secondary battery, combined with a perforated or partly
open box containing the electrode, formed in separable parts and provided with
exterior spacing ribs.
6. An electrode for a secondary battery combined with a perforated or partly
open box containing the electrode, formed in separable parts with exterior spacing
ribs, the ribs of one part being arranged to alternate with those of the other.
7. An electrode for a storage battery, combined with a partly open box of
non-conducting material, said parts being formed with flanges surrounding the
electrode and entering one within the other.
8. A non-conducting, perforated or partly open box for containing the electrode
of a secondary or storage battery provided with external spacing ribs, as described.
9. A non-conducting, perforated or partly open box for containing the electrode

page_text: of a secondary or storage battery composed of separable parts having spacing ribs,
and with flanges which enter one within the other, as described.
Dated this 16th day of April 1895.
W. M. MCDOUGALL,
H. B. ADAMS,
G. P. SMITH,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.