IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY " BATTERIES FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF ELECTRICITY AND IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Léon Henri Mathieu Somzée of Brussels in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Engineer for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY
"
BATTERIES FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF ELECTRICITY AND IN THE MODE OF
CONSTRUCTING THE SAME,
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Léon Henri Mathieu
Somzée at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th August
1882.
LÉON HENRI MATHIEU SOMZEE of Brussels in the Kingdom of Belgium Engineer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY BATTERIES FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF ELECTRICITY
AND IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME
"
In the First place my improvements consist in forming the elements of the
battery by coating very thin lead sheets perforated or not, on both sides with a
slight thickness of minium rendered adherent by mixing it with starch gelatine or
any other agglutinative substance, by then connecting and maintaining at
convenient distances any number of these sheets by means of insulated cross pieces
and by surrounding the whole with a lead sheet of greater thickness and provided
with larger openings whereby a box open on all its sides will be formed. Several
of these elements may be placed in acidulated water and united with each other so
as to form a battery in which the accumulation is produced both by the reduction
or transformation of the minium and by that of the lead sheets. In order to
permit the application of a greater thickness of active matter and to facilitate at
the same time the thorough penetration of the acid as well as that of the
decomposing current the two faces of ordinary lead sheets are coated with a paste
consisting substantially of a mixture of pulverised minium or other oxidised or
sulphuretted metal with pulverised pumice stone which latter once saturated with
acidulated water will retain it and render the battery dry. This coating of
minium et cetera is secured to the electrode by a very thin and perforated lead
sheet or tissue forming at the same time a conductor or by means of a canvas or a
light and porous cloth; the lead sheets or electrodes being preferably corrugated or
ramified.
In the Second place my said improvements consist in the use instead of pumice
stone of a light and porous coke charcoal or asbestos into which the minium is so
to speak cast. To this end the particles of coal or carbon-which may be previously

page_text: impregnated with lead by introducing them into a solution of acetate of lead and
by reviving the metal by electrolysis or by heat, these particles metalised or not
are placed in a receptacle and covered with a thickness of minium or lead powder
or any other suitable oxidised or sulphuretted metal which is stamped or pressed
into the consecutive interstices of the spongy coal fragments and into the fragments
themselves. By using organic substances in a pulverised state and by metalising
the same a granular compound may be obtained in which every particle is
surrounded with a fine skin of an oxide or a salt of lead or other oxide. By then
heating the whole in a closed vessel at a determined temperature the organic
matter will be carbonised and the skin of oxide or salt will be reduced forming
thereby an indefinite number of atomic elements which offer an enormous surface
of reaction and require nothing but to be placed (in any quantity) in a receptacle
containing acidulated water and to be crossed by filaments or ramifications of
platinum or other suitable metal in order to constitute a battery. By furthur
mixing the said metalised coal particles with pumice stone or other suitable porous
matter reduced to a coarsely powdered condition the whole may be easily
penetrated by the liquid and by absorbing it render the battery more or less dry.
If it is not intended to use a carbonised core but only the hollow atomic metal
spheres, the organic substance may be replaced for instance by lime powder or
other dissolvable substance, which is dissolved after having been metalised. In
both cases the operation of the battery may be rendered continuous in its charge
and discharge as it will suffice to feed the receptacle with new granular matter
during the charging operation and to draw off, during the discharge of the battery,
the matter exhausted which may be charged again and so forth thus permitting
the use of only a very small quantity of active matter with regard to the
accumulating capacity of the battery and consequently the reduction of the weight
of the latter indefinitely.
In the Third and last place the improvements consist in rendering the elements
compact and porous at the same time by mixing pulverised charcoal and minium
together with sugar syrup or any other agglutinative matter so as to form a tough
paste which is carried to a suitable heat, then cooled down under pressure and if
necessary slowly reheated again in order to rid the block of any volatile products
and augment its porosity. Here also, the carbon may be replaced by any
carbonizable matter as for instance organic or textile fibres fibrine paper sawdust
cotton or cellulose and mixed with a pulverised oxide of salt of lead for instance
carbonate or acetate of lead, or any other suitable oxide or salt or sulphuret of metal.
Or piles-similar to iron piles-may be formed of alternate layers of lead powder
and organic fibres for instance, which are saturated with any acid containing a
great portion of oxygen and then carried to a suitable temperature so as to carbonise
the fibres and to oxidise the metal through the decomposition of the acid thus
combining in one commercial operation both the formation of the elements of the.
battery and the production of the component active matter and electrodes (minium
and charcoal). By using saw dust in combination with lead powder or an oxide
of lead it will not be required to have it saturated with an acid as the wood
contains already a certain quantity of acetic acid and by mixing saw dust with
carbonate of lead and a small quantity of syrup and by heating this mixture at a
convenient temperature a compound element will be obtained containing the oxide
in a very favourable condition, since the carbonate of lead when carried to a red
heat produces the best minium. In the upper story of the same furnace in which
these operations would have to take place lead may be calcined in contact with
the air. When using paper or card board the same may be rolled round a main
insulated conducting wire provided with platinum or other ramifications after the
said paper or card board has been coated or covered with any of the above
mentioned oxides or sulphurets and after having distributed; the said ramifications
in the mass.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Léon Henri Mathieu Somzée in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd February 1883.
LÉON HENRI MATHIEU SOMZEE of Brussels in the Kingdom of Belgium Engineer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SECONDARY BATTERIES FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF ELECTRICITY
AND IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME
"
My said Invention relates to improvements in secondary Batteries for the
accumulation of electricity and consists in the first place, in forming the elements
of the battery by coating very thin lead sheets A fig. 1, perforated or not, on
both sides with a slight thickness of minium rendered adherent by mixing it
with starch, gelatine, a varnish or any other agglutinative substance, by then
connecting and maintaining at convenient distances any number of these sheets by
means of insulating cross pieces B and by surrounding the whole with a lead
sheet C, fig. 2 of greater thickness and provided with larger openings. In this
manner, a box or casing fig. 3 is obtained which is open on all its sides so as to
permit of the circulation of the liquid portion of the battery and constitutes a light
element wherein the matter to be decomposed or the active matter, is in multiple
contact with the electrodes, without requiring the interposition of resisting
diaphragms. Several of these elements are placed in acidulated water and united
with each other so as to form a battery, fig. 4, in which the accumulation is
produced both by the reduction or transformation of the minium and by that of
the lead sheets.
In order to permit the application of a greater thickness of active matter and to
facilitate at the same time the thorough penetration of the acid as well as that of
the decomposing current, the two faces of ordinary lead sheets are coated with a
paste consisting substantially of a mixture of pulverized minium or other oxidised
or sulphuretted metal with pulverized pumice stone, which latter once saturated
with acidulated water will retain it and render the battery dry. This coating of
minium et cetera is secured to the electrodes by a very thin perforated lead sheet
or tissue D and by a number of pins E fig. 5 forming at the same time con-
ductors, or by means of a canvas or a light and porous cloth; the lead sheets or
electrodes being preferably corrugated or ramified. Fig. 6 shows the aspect of
a mixture of minium particles surrounded by the saturated mordant.
Instead of the foregoing arrangement, I may in some cases replace the lead sheets
by small fragments of lead coated with the active substance or by light and porous
coke fragments, charcoal or asbestos which have been previously impregnated with
lead by introducing them into a solution of acetate of lead and by reviving the
metal by electrolysis or by heat. These fragments, metallised or not, are then
placed in a receptacle and covered with a thickness of minium or lead powder or
any other suitable oxidised or sulphuretted metal, which is stamped or pressed into
the consecutive interstices of the spongy coal fragments and into the fragments
tliemselves. Fig. 7 shows two such coal fragments and fig. 8 a complete
battery of the same.-By using organic substances in a pulverized state and by
impregnating the same a compound may be obtained in which every particle is
surrounded with a fine skin of an oxide or a salt of lead or other oxide. By then
heating the whole in a closed vessel at a determined temperature, the organic
matter will be carbonized and the skin of oxide or salt will be reduced forming
thereby an indefinite number of atomic elements, which offer an enormous surface
of reaction and simply require to be placed in any quantity in a receptacle con-
taining acidulated water and to be crossed by filaments or ramifications of platinum

page_text: or other suitable metal in order to constitute a battery. By further mixing the
said metallised coal particles with pumice stone or other suitable porous matter
reduced to a coarsely powdered condition, the whole may be easily penetrated by
the liquid and by absorbing it render the battery more or less dry. If it is not
intended to use a carbonized core, but only the hollow atomic metal spheres, the
organic substance may be replaced for instance by lime powder or other soluble
substance, which is dissolved after having been metallised. In both cases the
operation of the battery may be rendered continuous in its charge and discharge,
as it will suffice to feed the receptacle with new granular matter during the
charging operation and to draw off during the discharge of the battery the
exhausted matter, which may be charged again and so forth, thus necessitating the
use of only a very small quantity of active matter in proportion to the accumulating
power of the battery and consequently reducing the weight of the latter indefi-
nitely. It will be preferable however, in many instances to render these elements
compact and porous at the same time, which I do by mixing pulverized charcoal
and minium together with sugar, syrup or any other agglutinative matter so as to
form a tough paste which is raised to a suitable temperature, then cooled down
under pressure and if necessary slowly reheated again in order to rid the
block of any volatile products and augment its porosity. In this case, the
carbon may be advantageously replaced by any carbonizable matter as for
instance organic or textile fibres, fibrine, paper, sawdust, cotton or cellulose
and mixed with a pulverized oxide or salt of lead such for example as
carbonate or acetate of lead, or any other suitable oxide or salt or even
a sulphuretted metal, see fig. 9.-Or piles similar to iron piles may be formed of
alternate layers of lead powder and organic fibres for instance as shown at fig. 10,
which are saturated with any acid containing a large proportion of oxygen and then
raised to a sufficient temperature to carbonise the fibres and to oxidise the metal
through the decomposition of the acid, thus combining in one commercial operation
both the formation of the elements of the battery and the production of the
component active matter and the electrodes (minium and charcoal).-By using saw
dust in combination with lead powder or an oxide of lead, it will not be required
to have it saturated with an acid, as the wood contains already a certain quantity
of acetic acid and by mixing saw-dust with carbonate of lead and a small quantity
of syrup and by heating this mixture at a convenient temperature, a compound
element will be obtained containing the oxide in a favorable condition since the
carbonate of lead when raised to a red heat produces the best minium. In the
upper storey of the same furnace in which these operations would have to take
place, lead may be calcined in contact with the air. When using paper or card
board the same may be rolled round a main insulating conducting wire provided
with platinum or other ramifications after the said paper or cardboard has been
coated or covered with any of the above mentioned oxides or sulphurets and after
having distributed the said ramifications in the mass as represented at figº 11 in
front view and section.-The conductibility of similar carbonaceous supports is
quite sufficient and permits of a complete utilisation of the active matter combined
therewith.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
invention I claim as novel and original:
1, The mode of producing compact and porous elements, presenting multiple
contact-surfaces and enabling all porous partitions to be dispensed with, by first
impregnating, if necessary with sugar, syrup or any other suitable agglutinative
matter, a mixture of pulverised coke, charcoal, or preferably a carbonisable organic
substance and a first oxide or salt of lead, to which may be added an acid, and by
then heating the whole or the mixture so as to produce at one commercial operation,
the carbonisation of the organic matter and the superoxidation of the oxide or salt
employed, also the manner of obtaining similar elements by coating thin lead sheets
perforated or not with the active matter rendered adherent and by uniting and
maintaining them apart from each other by means of insulating cross pieces so as

page_text: to form a box or case open on all sides, substantially as set forth with reference to
the accompanying drawing.
2, The mode of producing granular elements by dispensing with the agglutinative
matter and by using only a light and porous coke, charcoal, asbestos or any organic
substance, metallised or not by previously impregnating the same with a salt of
lead and by reviving the same by electrolysis or heat, also the mode of forming the
battery by placing the said substances in a receptacle and by covering them with a
thickness of minium or other oxide or salt or sulphuret pressed moreover into the
interstices of the porous fragments substantially as set forth.
3, The use, instead of coke, charcoal and the like, of a soluble substance which is
dissolved after metallisation so as to obtain an indefinite number of hollow atomic
metal spheres for the purpose set forth, also the use of pumice stone for the purpose
of rendering the battery dry.
In witness whereof, I the said Leon, Henri, Mathieu Somzée, have to this my
specification set my hand and seal, this seventeenth day of February One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
LEON HENRI MATHIEU SOMZEE (I..s.)