IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC PILES AND APPARATUS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th March`
1865. A communication from abroad by Pierre Etienne Lequesne,
Professor, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC PILES AND APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
It is well known that in order to obtain the full effect from an electric pile
the several elements require to be suitably grouped, which manipulation, as
ordinarily effected, is difficult, tedious, and very liable to error.
This Invention relates to an improved means for obtaining the above result
in a prompt and easy manner by an improved arrangement of commutator.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawing represents a simplified commutator to be.
used with a pile having two couples; Fig. 2 represents the arrangement of
the commutator cylinder; Fig. 3, a side view of the apparatus; and Fig. 4, a
modified arrangement of the springs. For greater simplicity I will suppose
a pile to have two couples, which can only be connected in two ways, 1st, in a
series, and 2ndly, in a battery. The couples are arranged as usual..
In the Drawing, Fig. 1, I have only represented the upper ends of the carbons
or coppers c, c', and zinc plates, 1. The copper strips p,.p', connected to the
carbons, and n, n¹, connected to the zinc, serve to establish communication
between the couples and commutating apparatus. Under these are applied
three small copper plates b, d, e, which are suitably insulated, and may be

page_text: fixed to a plate. The electrodes +r-unite the two poles, the figures on
the right indicating the divisions of the commutator No. 1, associating the
couples in a series, and No. 2 in a battery; the ends of the four strips n, n',
P, p', being arranged as shown in the Drawing. If it is wished to use the
pile as a battery it is sufficient to advance the plates b, d, e, in such manner
that the strips n, n', touch the copper b, while the strips p, p', touch the
copper d. If, on the contrary, the pile is to be used in a series, the plates b, d, e,
should be still further advanced, so that the copper plates b, d, being no longer
in communication with the strips n, n, p, p, the plate e only is in communi-
cation with the strips p, n', the latter touching said plate. The strips n, p,
being also united by the electrodes r+r, the pile is thus arranged in a
series. Instead of the plate, as above mentioned, the copper plates b, d, e,
may be supported by an insulating cylinder, while the strips n, n', p, p, may
consist of copper springs, which effect contact with the upper surface of the
cylinder on its being turned. The above principle is applicable to any arrange-
ment of pile, whatever may be the number of the couples, whether 12, 60, 300,
or otherwise.
I will now show the application of these improvements to a pile having a
certain number of couples. Let A, B, C, D, Fig. 2, show the arrangement of
the commutating cylinder for a pile having six couples, the copper strip being
insulated in the manner shown 'at Fig. 1. Above these are placed spring
plates of copper, also insulated and fixed to a rod. The first to the left, marked
with a letter z, communicates with the first zinc plate of a pile of six couples,
the next one c communicates with the carbon or copper of the same couple.
The plate next in order communicates with the zinc of the third couple, and
so on for the remainder. The brackets connecting the plates two and two
indicate the couples to which they belong. The electrodes + connected
the one to the first plate zon the left, and the other to the second plate con
tho right, uniting the two poles of the pile. The letters 1, c, to the left of
the arrangement A, B, C, D, indicate the position of the copper strips, where
are placed the springs z, c, when the apparatus is in action. As there are four
different methods of grouping the elements of a pile of six couples, there are
also four figures on the right-hand cylinder of the system, marking four different
divisions of the commutator. No. 1 shows the pile as arranged in a series,
that is, with the pole c of the first couple connected to the pole z of the second
couple, the pole c of the second to the pole z of the third, and so on, whence it
may be seen that No. 1 does not change its surface, while No. 2 presents
double surfaces, forming a pile of three couples with double surfaces out of
one of six couples; lastly, No. 6 forms a single couple of the whole pile, the

page_text: surfaces of which are however six times greater than those of No. 1. Hence
by advancing the system A, B, C, D, so that springs may fall on the first
strip z', and spring c on the following c¹, it is evident that the pile will then
be arranged as a battery; the same remark applies to the other numbers. The
cylinder supporting the arrangement A, B, C, D, is of wood or hardened
india-rubber, and set in motion by the ordinary means, either by a fly wheel,
crank, or pinions mounted at each end. The following is a simple means,
among others, which may be employed for connecting the springs z, c, to the
couples of the pile.. Fig. 3 represents a copper binding screw 9 fixed to
the last spring c, and receiving the wire + from the last couple of the pile.
The same Figure shows the rod E carrying the spring, and also fixed to
support F. If it is wished to shorten the cylinder it is simply necessary to
place the springs one on the other, two and two, instead of one beside the other,
as in Fig. 4. In this manner there will be no room lost, besides which this
improved arrangement may be of great advantage when using a pile having a
number of elements, and so obviate the use of a cylinder of unlimited length.
The cylinders may however in all cases be divided when too long into a
certain number of shorter ones, and consequently be more readily placed in
position.
This improved commutator is applicable to all kinds of electric poles and
other apparatus for the production or employment of electricity in all cases
where the effect may be modified by grouping the parts in manner analogous
to an electric pile.