Year: 1886

page_text: I, PHILIMOND BAILLY, Civil Engineer, of Ermont (Seine & Oise) France, do
hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in the construction of the lead and zinc
electrodes of primary and secondary batteries and especially to the batteries which
I have described in my Specification dated 6th November 1885 and to the Vessels
for containing the same. The object of my invention so far as relates to lead
electrodes is to arrange my conductors so that they permeate the whole active parts
of the electrodes, and unite them without the necessity of the numerous soldered
joints which are commonly used to connect the plates of secondary batteries.
My lead electrodes are composed of sheets of lead divided into filaments of
suitable dimensions which are interlaced with lead wool and formed into cakes
of any desired form or size. I am aware that a mass of fine lead wool or spongy
lead has been previously used. But it has been found extremely difficult to collect
the currents from all parts of the mass without considerable loss, owing to the
electrical resistance of the connections between the particles of the lead wool and
the conductors. With a view of keeping the resistance as low as possible I cut
my sheets of lead which also act as the conductor into coarse filaments or tapes in
the manner of a fringe which I weave or interlace with the smaller filaments of the
lead wool which compose the electrode. These fringes and conductors thus dis-
tribute the electricity throughout the innumerable ramifications of the filaments and
likewise also collect it during discharge, and reunite it in the common conductor;
The action may be compared to the arteries and veins which permeate the human
body.
.
With this arrangement of conductor I am able to do away with the numerous
joints necessary where the electrodes consist of a number of plates, also minimise
the action which takes place at the surface of the liquids, and which causes
the rods or conductors to wear out or break off at the level of the liquid. This
danger is in proportion to the number of electrodes and as in my system of
accumulators there is only one single conductor per electrode, this danger is reduced
to a minimum.

page_text: + Positive.
E porous partition of paper or other suitable material. This arrangement is
especially applicable to large industrial and stationary installations and has the
advantages of cheapness and simplicity of working and construction and per- 2
manence of the active material or the positive electrode. If desired the electrodes
can be inclined so as to facilitate the easy release of the gases which are formed
during the working, and the horizontal arrangement can be modified in different
ways,
Where it is desirable to employ an electrode of zinc, instead of using ordinary
zinc which would be attacked by the exciting fluid of the battery I make a special
amalgam of zinc and mercury combined which can be run, moulded or pressed into
cylinders plates, or any other form which it may be desirable to use. It is most
important to have the zinc thoroughly amalgamated I therefore use the following
method of making the zinc electrodes.
I take powder, filings or fragments of zinc which I triturate or grind and mix
with mercury in proper proportions in the presence of a pickling agent if necessary
and thus form a zinc amalgam to which any shape can be given either by casting
or moulding, and pressing, and thereby squeezing out the excess of mercury.
The zinc electrode can be employed in various ways it can be placed in a vertical
porous pot which is surrounded by one of my lead electrodes, the manufacture of
which I bave already described. The arrangement is shewn by Fig. 3. In some
instances I make holes in the porous partitions at the places and in the number
most suitable so as to allow the issue of the liquid most saturated with the salts of
the electrode and thus prevent the increase of the resistance and the diminution
of the chemical action.
If desired the zinc electrode can be placed below the lead as shewn by Fig. 4 in
which the negative electrode consists of a perforated plate of zinc, as shewn
in Fig. 4a on a larger scale, prepared in the manner above described and held at
a certain distance from the bottom of the receptacle in which is the more or less
saturated liquid and is separated from the positive electrode by a porous partition.
Fig. 5 and 6 are the arrangements in which the zinc electrode rests above the
inclined porous partition and is either single or double or multiple and inclined so
as to allow the release of the gases, and so arranged as to have a lower part
in which mercury can be placed to insure the constant amalgamation of the
electrode and receive the liquid most strongly saturated with the salts so as not to

page_text: increase the resistance on the whole surface. These arrangements can be modified
in several ways.
Great difficulty has been experienced in making the receivers of primary and
secondary batteries water-tight I therefore form them of two vessels of wood, slate
or any other suitable material, and place one inside the other in such a manner
that there is a space between the two which I fill up with a material not attacked
by the liquid contained in the inner vessel, and sufficiently resisting and plastic for
it not to disintegrate if jarred. Fig. 7 shews a receiver constructed according to
my arrangement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The special arrangement of a single conductor formed out of the lead plate of
the electrode for the purpose of making the connection with the external circuit as
described so as to dispense with joints.
2. The manufacture of electrodes from zinc by the amalgamation of fine particles
and subsequently moulding the amalgam otherwise than by fusion.
3. The manufacture of receptacles for batteries by placing one vessel inside
another and separating them by some material insensible to the action of the acids
employed.