IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PRIMARY VOLTAIC BATTERIES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Guillaume André of Dorking in the County
of Surrey for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH
PRIMARY VOLTAIC BATTERIES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Guillaume André
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th January 1883.
GEORGE GUILLAUME ANDRÉ of Dorking in the County of Surrey "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PRIMARY VOLTAIC BATTERIES
"
In the provisional Specification of my previous patent application dated
28th November 1882 N° 5645 I have described primary voltaic batteries acting
on or constructed according to a new principle whereby powerful and constant
currents are produced suitable for electric lighting and other purposes while
polarization is avoided and no consumption of metal takes place as long as the
circuit remains open, a valuable product also resulting from the action of the
battery; the hydrogen liberated is allowed to escape freely the negative carbon
electrode is not in bodily contact with the liquid but the latter has partial access
to it through the intervention of an absorbent diaphragm or partition and the
carbon is free to condense oxygen in its pores.
Now according to this present invention I further develope the aforesaid
principle by introducing air or a suitable gas under pressure sufficient to depress
the level of the exciting liquid in the cell so that the negative electrode (except
that small part of it which is in contact with the porous diaphragm or partition)
is in air under pressure and the hydrogen liberated is free to escape or combine
with its oxygen. One mode of constructing such batteries consists in connecting
a number of porous cells with a gasholder-like reservoir, the bell of which is
weighted to the desired pressure. Each cell may be made of vegetable parchment,
felt or other suitable porous material offering little or no electrical internal
resistanco; the cell is filled with coke or other suitable material and closed air-
tight at the top and has a hole at the bottom; a carbon rod or plato is placed in
the coke for collecting the current and is held by a metallic tube which is inserted
through a hole in the lid and has a small hole for admitting the air to the interior
of the cell; the tube is connected to a main pipe (from all the cells) leading to the
air reservoir. The porous cell is placed in a box or jar containing the exciting
liquid and also the zinc or other positive electrodo which surrounds the porous cell.
L Price Ch

page_text: Instead of the form just described I may put two carbon plates face to face
gluing their sides and upper edges together and driving the air down between
them. I may use this battery as a gas battery with hydrogen in the holder; the
pieces of coke or the carbon plates would be platinized or nickelled on their outer
and inner surfaces respectively.
I may also apply the condensing property of porous carbon in another way:
I have by experiments found that the aëration from the atmosphere of the exciting
liquid used in batteries proceeds downwards in a peculiar manner or ratio, and I
take advantage of this to construct batterics acting in a novel manner.
The
hydrogen liberated in the liquid combining with the oxygen of the air contained
in solution in the upper stratum of it, a constant fresh quantity of air is supplied
to the liquid and it might naturally be supposed that the supply would be
gradually less and less according to the distance from the surface level. But this
is not so, and I find that there is rather a sharply defined line below which the
air penetrates only very slowly at least while the battery is in action, and that
this line under ordinary conditions is about 3/8 of an inch below the surface. In
order then to avoid or to greatly diminish polarization I use a negative electrodo
which shall be immersed in the liquid to just about that depth and which moreover
is of such a form, condition material, nature or construction as to allow the
hydrogen freely to ascend and combine with the oxygen in solution in this thin
layer of water or to escape into the air. The positive electrode is also in this
construction of battery separated from the negative electrode by a porous
diaphragm or partition. The negative electrode may be a perforated, honey-
combed, or ribbed plate of copper or other suitable metal or superposed layers of
copper gauze or any combination of wires, tubes, bars, strips, gauze or pieces as
shall have the required extent of surface and suitable depth or thickness. To
increase the aëration of this upper stratum of liquid I place upon the metal
electrode and in contact with the surface of the liquid, pieces of low burned wood
charcoal which acts by condensing the air within its pores. Or the electrode may
be of porous conducting carbon in the form of a ribbed or perforated plate from
which the current can then directly be taken. In this construction of battery the
positive electrode would generally be disposed in the lower part of a dish or tray
and the porous diaphragm placed on the top of it.
According to another part of this invention I place between the porous diaphragm
and the negative metal or carbon plate a layer of sulphate of lead for the purpose
of keeping the negative electrode depolarized, the hydrogen liberated combining
in this case with the sulphur and throwing down metallic lead, which is a
marketable product.
In order to utilize any polarizable batteries for lighting or other purposes where
powerful and constant currents are required I make use of a self-acting appliance
which as soon as the circuit is closed puts the battery on short circuit until it is
polarized to the extent that it can be polarized by the working circuit. One micans
of effecting this consists in a glass tube with a mercury cup at each end the part
between them being contracted. The tube is pivotted and a wire from cach
terminal of the battery is made to dip in one of the cups forming a short circuit
as long as they are immersed in the mercury and the lamp circuit is closed; the
other end of the tabe is connected to the armature of an electro-magnet in the
main circuit; when this armaturo is attracted the opposite end of the tube is
raised and the mercury passing slowly through the contracted part or passage will
in a previously defined space of time such as 10 or 20 seconds run into the cup at
the other end, thereby breaking the short circuit, the battery meanwhile polarizing
to its full extent, after which the current will be constant.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Guillaume André in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th July 1883.
GEORGE GUILLAUME ANDRÉ of Dorking in the County of Surrey " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PRIMARY VOLTAIC BATTERIES."
In the Specification of my previous Patent application dated 28th November
1882 N° 5645 I have described primary voltaic batteries acting on or constructed
according to a new principle whereby powerful and constant currents are produced
suitable for electric lighting and other purposes while polarization is avoided and
'no consumption of metal takes place as long as the circuits remain open a valuable
product also resulting from the action of the battery; the hydrogen liberated is
allowed to escape freely, the negative carbon electrode is not in bodily contact
with the liquid, but the latter has partial access to it through the intervention of
an absorbent diaphragm or partition and the carbon is free to condense oxygen in
its pores.
Now according to this present invention I further develope the aforesaid
principle of construction by introducing air or a suitable gas under pressure
sufficient to depress the level of the exciting liquid in the cell so that the negative
electrode (except that small part of it which is in contact with the porous
diaphragm or partition) or so that the interior part of the electrode (in cases where
no porous diaphragın is used) is in air under pressure and the bydrogen liberated
is free to escapo or combine with its oxygen. One mode of constructing such
batteries consists in connecting a number of porous cells with reservoir like a
gasholder the bell of which is weighted to the desired pressure. Each cell may be
made of vegetable parchment and felt or other suitable porous materials offering
little or no electrical internal resistance, the cell is filled with coke or suitable
material und closed airtight at the top and has a holo at the bottom; a carbon rod
or plate is placed in the coke for collecting the current and is held by a metallic
tube which is inserted through a hole in the lid and has a small hole for admitting
the air to the interior of the cell; the tube is connected to a main pipe (from all
the cells) leading to the air reservoir. The porous cell is placed in a box or jar
containing the exciting liquid and also the zinc or other positive electrode which
surrounds the porous cell.
Figure 1 is a vertical section and Figure 2 a part plan of such an arrangement
where a number of cells are connected to a gasholder-like reservoir L containing
air under a low pressure by means of pipes M and N. The negative or carbon
electrode A is contained in a tubular or rectangular diaphragm B which is provided
with an airtight lid through which passes a socket O forming the connection
between the pipe M and the carbon current collector or contact rod G' which is
inserted air tight in the negative electrode A. The tubular diaphragm C stands in
the liquid receptacle E which also contains the cylindrical or other positive
electrode B. The objects of the air pressure in the bell L are firstly to keep the
liquid down to near the bottom of the carbon electrode A and secondly, to
increase the quantity of condensed air in the pores of the carbon A. The pressure
of the air can be regulated by the balancing of the bell L as required as in a
gusholder.
Instead of the form just described I may in some cases put two carbon plates
face to face gluing their sides and upper edges together and driving the air down
between them. Figure 3 is a prospective view and Figure 4 a detail view of a
battery composed of a number of carbon electrodes A composed of two flat halves

page_text: or parts joined together with marine glue along the sides and the top in which
latter a socket O is inserted; all the sockets O are by flexible tubing M connected
to a main pipe N leading to the air pressure reservoir. All the carbon electrodes
may as shown be suspended from a common conductor rod A' and similarly all the
positive or zinc electrodes B from a common conductor rod B'. Although the internal
space between the two flat halves of A may be only one thirty second of an inch
namely the thickness of the glue along the top and sides such a narrow chamber
suffices for the air to penetrate and to keep the liquid out of the narrow chamber.
Or the electrodes may be suspended or supported in any other suitable or well
known manner. I in some cases use this battery as a gas battery with hydrogen
in the holder the pieces of coke or the carbon plates may with advantage be coated
with platinum or nickel on their outer and inner surface respectively.
I in some cases apply the condensing property of porous carbon in another way.
I have by experiments found that the aëration from the atmosphere of the
exciting liquid used in batteries proceeds downwards in a peculiar manner or
ratio and I take advantage of this to construct.batteries acting in a novel manner.
The hydrogen liberated in the liquid combining with the oxygen of the air con-
tained in solution in the upper stratum of it, a constant fresh quantity of air is
supplied to the liquid and it might naturally be supposed that. the supply would
bo gradually less and less according to the distance from the surface level. But
this is not so and I find that there is a line below which the air penetrates only
very slowly and that this line under ordinary conditions is about threo eighths of
an inch below the surface at least while the battery is in action. In order then
to avoid or to greatly diminish polarization. I use a negative electrode which
shall be immersed in the liquid to just about that depth and which moreover is
of such a form condition material nature or construction as to allow the hydrogen
freely to ascend and combine with the oxygen in solution in this thin layer of
water or to escape into the air. The positive electrode is also in this construction
of battery generally separated from the negative electrode by a porous diaphragm
or partition. The negative electrode may be a perforated honey combed or ribbed
plate of copper or other suitable metal or superposed layer of copper gauze or
any combination of wires, tubes, bars, strips, gauze or pieces as shall have the
required extent of surface and suitable depth or thickness. To increase the
aeration of this upper stratum of liquid I place upon the metal electrode and in
contact with the surface of the liquid pieces of low burned charcoal which has a
very high electrical resistance and which acts by condensing the air within its
pores. Or the electrode may be of porous conducting carbon in the form of a
ribbed or perforated plato from which the current can then directly be taken.
In this construction of battery the positive electrode would generally be disposed
in the lower part of a dish or tray and the porous diaphragm placed on the top
of it.
In Figure 5 I have shown one form of battery made according to this part of my
invention. The negative electrode A is in this case as an example made of a grated
or honey combed copper plate which is covered with a layer of low burned
charcoal A¹ which condenses the air within its pores and thus increases the aëration
of the thin upper stratum of the liquid the level of which is such as only just to
cover the electrode A. The positive zinc electrode B is separated from the negative
electrode A by a porous diaphragm C or by strips of wood and may, as shown here,
rest on a layer F of gravel or it might be on three strips of wood the whole is
contained in an iron or other suitable tray E. Figure 6 shows another such con-
struction of battery in which the negative electrode consists of a carbon plate A
formed with ribs A' underneath which are partly immersed in the liquid to the
depth of the easily aërated stratum so that the hydrogen can readily combine with
the air dissolved in the said stratum or escape into the air. The electrode A is
separated from the positive electrode B by means of strips of wood C or by other
suitable means
According to another part of this invention I place between the porous diaphragm

page_text: and the negative metal or carbon plate a layer of sulphate of lead mixed with
pieces of carbon for the purpose of keeping the negative electrode depolarized the
hydrogen liberated combining in this case with the sulphur and throwing down
metallic lead which is a marketable product. Or instead of sulphate of lead
chloride of lime may be used with advantage in some cases as it gives a higher
electro-motive forco.
Figure 7 shows such a construction of battery A being the negative electrode of
carbon or corrugated lead Ga layer of sulphate of lead mixed with pieces of carbon.
C the porous diaphragm, B the positive zinc electrode and F a layer of gravel all
contained in a tray E.
:.
In order to utilize any polarizable batteries for lighting or other purposes where
powerful and constant currents are required I make use of a self acting appliance
which as soon as the circuit is closed puts the battery on short circuit until it is
polarized to the extent that it can be polarized by the working circuit. One means
of effecting this consists in a glass tube with a mercury cup at each end the part.
between them being contracted. The tube is pivotted and a wire from each
terminal of the battery is made to dip in one of the cups forming a short circuit as
long as they are immersed in the mercury and the lamp circuit is closed, the other
end of the tube is connected to the armature of an electro magnet in the main
circuit when this armature is attracted the opposite end of the tube is raised and
the mercury passing slowly through the contracted part or passage will in a
previously defined space of time such as 10 or 20 seconds run into the cup at the
other end, thereby breaking the short circuit, the battery meanwhile polarizing to
its full extent after which the current will be constant.
Figure 8 shows one such arrangement of apparatus for polarizing. The glass
tube A is formed with a contracted part at a and is fixed in a wood or other
suitable block K pivoted at H it has at each end a cup B and C respectively for
containing mercury. D is a soft iron armature attached to a brass bar L which is
fixed to the wood block K and E is its electro-magnet which is in the main lamp
circuit: g and fare branches therefrom which when dipping in mercury in the
cup C and when the armature is attracted form a short circuit from F to a through
the core of the magnet the armature D, the bar L and the wire f, H' is a stop and I
a helical spring for pulling down the cup C. When the armature D is attracted by
the electro-magnet E, the mercury in the cup C will slowly in a predetermined
time according to the size of the aperture at a run down to B and when the
mercury leaves the wires f and g, the short circuit will be broken: during this
interval the battery will polarize to its full extent, but after that the lamps will be
lighted and the current will be constant. The brass bar L which carries the soft
iron armature D is at the other end connected to the spring I which tends to pull
the cup C down; the branch wire f is also connected to this bar L. The core of
the magnet is connected with the main as shown.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed I declare that I claim :—
First The application substantially as described of air under pressure for
depolarizing in primary voltaic batteries having a carbon electrode placed in the
exciting liquid but separated from direct or bodily external contact therewith by a
porous diaphragm or partition, the said air under pressure entering the interior of
the said electrode and preventing contact with the liquid as and for the purposes
set forth.
Second-The application of air under pressure for depolarizing in primary
voltaic batteries having a carbon electrode immersed in the exciting liquid, the
said air under pressure entering the interior of the said electrode and preventing
contact with the liquid substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.
Third The combined primary battery described with reference to Figures 1
and 2 consisting of the inner negative carbon electrode A with carbon rods G¹ for
forming contact and collecting the current, the outer positive zinc or iron
electrodes B, and the intermediate liquid-absorbing diaphragm C, all contained in

page_text: receptacles E containing the exciting liquid which is in bodily contact with the
positive electrodes B, and in contact with the negative electrode A only through
the medium of the diaphragms C, means being provided for keeping the carbon
electrodes in air under pressure, all substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Fourth The combined primary battery described with reference to Figures 3
and 4 consisting of the negative internally chambered or porous carbon electrodes A
and the positive zinc or iron electrodes B, all contained in a receptacle E containing
the exciting liquid means being provided for keeping the interior part of the
carbon electrodes A in air under pressure substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Fifth The application in primary voltaic batteries of a negative carbon or
other electrode of such a thickness and such amount of immersion in the exciting
liquid as to be contained only in its upper easily aërated stratum the said electrodo
being moreover of such a form, condition, material, nature or construction as to
allow the hydrogen freely to ascend and combine with the air dissolved in the said
thin stratum or to escape into the air substantially in the manner, and for the
purposes, set forth.
Sixth The primary battery described with reference to Figure 5 consisting of
the honeycombed negative copper or other metal electrode A covered with a
layer A' of charcoal and just immersed in theo thin easily aërated upper stratum of
the liquid and of the positive electrode B and of the intermediate porous
diaphragm C or other separating means, all contained in a tray E substantially as,
and for the purposes, set forth.
Seventh The primary voltaic battery described with reference to Figure 6
consisting of the negative ribbed or corrugated carbon or metal electrode A, the
ribbed or corrugated part being partly immersed to the depth of the thin easily
aërated upper stratum of the liquid of the positive zinc or iron electrode B and of
the intermediate separating strips or pieces C all contained in a receptacle E
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Eighth The primary voltaic battery described with reference to Figure 7:
consisting of the negative lead or carbon plate A, the positive electrode B and the
intermediate layer G of sulphate of lead and carbon and the porous diaphragm C,
all contained in a receptacle E substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Ninth The mode described of polarizing a primary voltaic battery before use,
also the special apparatus described with reference to Figure 8.
In witness whereof I the said George Guillaume André have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Fifth day of July in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
ARA