Improvements in the Construction of Secondary Batteries for Electrical Storage Purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1892-Accepted. 6th Aug., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Secondary Batteries for
Electrical Storage Purposes.
I, JOHN BRIDGES LEE M.A. Barrister-at-Law of No. 2 Brick Court Temple
London 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 improvements in the construction of secondary batteries
for clectrical storage purposes.
:
Instead of using lead plates constructed upon any of the patterns now in
ordinary use I employ for the construction of my battery elements composite
structures built up of cored rods of lead.
Each cored rod consists of an outer tubular portion of lead with an axis of
enamelled iron or steel or of any other suitable material metallic or non-metallic
which may be employed for the purpose of giving internal support and strength
to the leaden tubes.
The core should ordinarily be completely ensheathed within the lead, at least
as regards those portions of the structure, which are destined to be exposed to the
battery acid.
The outer leaden portion of these cored rods may be cut or grooved either
longitudinally or spirally or at right angles to the axis that is circularly. The
grooves or cuts may be carried nearly but not quite through the whole thickness of
the lead.
"
These grooved structures may then be brought into good electrical working
condition or "formed
by any of the ordinary known methods now used for
bringing lead plates into condition.
For very great capacity it is best to use rods with deep annular grooves
separated from each other by only thin lamella of lead. Rods so constructed
and deeply cut with annular grooves close together may be "formed" without any
preliminary charging with paste or the grooves may be filled in with lead oxide
paste such as is now commonly used in the construction of plates for storage
batteries and the rods may thereafter if desired be rolled or compressed or the
outer edges of the lead lamine may be turned up by passing the composite rods
through circular apertures in steel plates of slightly smaller diameter than the
rods. The object of such treatment by rolling, pressure or otherwise being to
give the outer edges of the lead lamella a grip upon the annular layers of paste
which rest between them.
It will be seen that a completed rod constructed as above described will
consist of a central non-active core which strengthens & supports the whole
structure. Around this core there will be a sheath of metallic lead and
projecting from this leaden sheath there will be a series of thin parallel lamella
of lead in contact on both sides with a series of rings of consolidated paste not one
of which rings can possibly fall out unless it breaks in at least two places. The
rolling or compressing or turning up of the edges of the lamella may help to give
extra firmness to the outermost exposed portions of the rod and diminish risk of
small particles of consolidated paste becoming detached from near the surface.
The ring form given to the paste is peculiarly well adapted to allow of expansion
and contraction without fracture and the whole structure will be exceptionally
free from the most common defects of storage battery plates. The structure will
also have large and uniform conducting capacity and possess great mechanical
strength in proportion to its size and weight.
I build un my elements of rods constructed as above described. The rods may

page_text: be arranged parallel to each other and side by side in single or double-or treble
layers, or blocks or cylinders of great thickness may be built up of these rods and
such conglomerate blocks or cylinders may be either left with all the interstices
between the rods open for the free circulation of the battery fluid or if desired
the whole of the inner portions between the rods which make up the blocks or
cylinders may be filled in with lead paste.
The
In this way clements of extraordinary storage capacity can be built up.
rods of the outermost layers can be brought, so close together that they will
effectually prevent the paste from escaping past them into the containing vessel
while there will be good conductivity considerable permeability and great strength
throughout and the general arrangement of all the parts will be such as to admit
of free expansion and contraction when charging and discharging without buckling
or disintegration of the structure.
The ends of the rods used for building up such structures will ordinarily be best
united by autogenous lead soldering and the outside connections can be made by
any ordinary approved method.
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) The construction and use of cored rods of lead for the construction of the
elements of secondary batteries as described in the body of this Specification.
(2) The grooving of such cored rods with annular grooves.
(3) The charging of such grooved cored rods with rings of lead oxide paste
or other material to increase the capacity.
(4) The construction of layers or blocks or cylinders built up of such cored
rods with or without paste in the enclosed interspaces between the rods..
+1
Dated this Second day of July 1892.
J. BRIDGES LEE.