Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1887
Complete Left, 1st Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 6th Jan., 1888
I, JOHN SCUDAMORE SELLON of Hatton Garden in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows :-
My Invention has for its object the manufacture and arrangement of the plates or
elements of secondary batteries in such a manner that they may if desired be free
from connections clamps or screws which are liable to cause trouble and inconvenience
and so that such plates or elements need not be attached or fixed together in heavy
and cumbersome sections as is now usually done and may be separately and readily
removed from the cells for examination repair and replacement. By my Invention the
great advantage is also secured that if a short circuit occurs between any two plates
or elements the remaining ones in the same cell are not affected or thrown out of work
and also packing for transport is facilitated and the plates or elements can be much
more readily and quickly handled and installed in place, also plates or elements of
much larger dimensions than are now ordinarily made may be conveniently employed.
I attain these results according to my Invention by constructing the plates or elements
of a double or compound form one part of each plate or element being suitable for a
positive and the other part for a negative electrode and so shaped or arranged that
each compound plate or element can have its one part immersed in one cell and its
other part in the adjoining cell alternating with plates or elements of corresponding
construction from cell to cell to form the required battery.
The plates or elements may rest upon wooden or other supports at the bottom of
the cell or they may be otherwise supported in the cell for example by suitable lugs
projections or holders cast upon or fixed to them. The plates or clements may be kept
apart by plugs buttons bands strips or separators of any suitable material such for
instance as india-rubber insulite celluloid wood glass earthenware or compressed
asbestos care being taken that a sufficient space is left between them to avoid short
circuiting in the event of any of the packed active material dropping out.
The compound plates or elements may be placed in the cells without connection or

page_text: attachments of any kind except that in the two terminal cells of each complete battery
or stage of cells the negative and positive electrodes respectively must be joined up or
have metallic strips or wires leading from each plate or element and converging to a
clamp or other suitable attachment in or to which the circuit wire or conductor can
be fixed.
בד
33
1037
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.,
Agents.
Improvements in Secondary Batteries or Electrical Accumulators.
I, JOHN SCUDAMORE SELLON of Hatton Garden in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman 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 :-
My Invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the plates or elements
of Secondary batteries or electrical accumulators in such a manner that any individual
member or couple of a series may be removed without disturbing the remaining
elements or interrupting the continuity of the circuit in which the battery is placed
and so also that connections clamps or screws (which are liable to cause trouble and
inconvenience) can be dispensed with and also so that the attachment or fixing
together of the plates or elements in heavy and cumbersome sections as is now usually
done may be avoided and the examination repair and replacement of any individual
plate may be quickly and conveniently effected. By my Invention the great advantage
is also secured that if a short circuit occurs between any two elements those remaining
in the same cell are not thereby injured or thrown out of work. Also packing for
transport is facilitated and the plates or elements can be handled or installed in place
with greater facility and dispatch and plates or elements of much larger dimensions
than are now ordinarily manufactured may be conveniently employed. I obtain
these results according to my Invention by constructing the plates of a double or
compound form each pair of elements or couple being made from one integral sheet
plate or casting of metal or by attachment together of two or more suitable parts into
one plate, the two divisions of which plate (positive and negative) being in one and
the same plane or approximately so, that is, with their sides in line with each other or
approximately so as distinguished from the divisions positive and negative being in

page_text: planes parallel to each other. The said divisions positive and negative form couples
so shaped or arranged that the positive element or division of each such couple can
be placed in one enclosing cell and the negative element or division in an adjoining
cell, a second couple being then placed in position in a plane parallel with the first
couple and with its negative element or division in the first named cell and its positive
element or division in the next cell of the series thus alternating the elements of the
compound plates from cell to cell and adding couples until the desired cell capacity is
obtained and the required battery made up, each couple being independent both
mechanically and electrically so that should any element of a cell become impaired in
any way it may be removed and replaced without disturbing the other elements or
interrupting the action of the battery. The plates or elements may be supported in
the cells by any convenient means, for example, they may rest upon wooden or other
ridges at the bottom of the cells or they may be suspended above the bottom of the
cell by means of lugs projections loops or holders cast upon or fixed to them and
resting on supports in the cells. The plates or elements may be kept apart by plugs
buttons bands strips forks or separators of any suitable insulating material care being
taken that sufficient space is left between the plates or elements to avoid short-
circuiting in the event of any of the packed active material becoming detached and
dropping out. The said compound plates may be placed in the cells without con-
nections or attachment of any kind except that in the two terminal cells of each
battery or stage of cells the negative and positive electrodes respectively are joined
up with metallic connections strips or wires leading from each element and converging
to a clamp or suitable attachment or wire in or to which the circuit wire or conductor
is connected. The accompanying drawing illustrates a manner in which my Inven-
tion may be carried into effect but I do not limit myself to the precise details
illustrated. E are pairs or couples of elements formed from one integral plate sheet
or casting of metal (such as lead) which may have holes cavities perforations grooves
interstices or receptacles within which the active material is placed, thus the portion M
furnishes a support for peroxide of lead and the portion N furnishes a support for
spongy metallic lead being respectively electro-negative and electro-positive.
elements or couples E here shown are shaped with shoulders or projections S S
preferably near their upper edges and projections Pare placed in or upon the
enclosing cells, in position to afford a rest for the said shoulders or projections S the
height of the projections P being sufficient to hold the couples E out of contact with
the bottom of the cell affording a free circulation for the electrolytic liquid and
preventing an electrical connection between two adjacent elements being formed by
any possible accumulation of conducting material in the bottom of the cell. Although
I may use plugs or forks of insulating material to separate and keep the elements in
position, I here for the purpose show grooves g g in the supports P into or upon which
the shoulders S of the plates fit and rest so that the supports P themselves act as
separators and keep the plates in position and equi-distant as well as serving to suspend
them clear of the bottom of the cell.
The
A series of couples E are placed in the cells C and C the divisions M being in the
cell C and the divisions N being in the cell C. The members of each couple are
shown as being in the same longitudinal plane or in line and the couples are arranged
in planes parallel to each other, each couple being independent of the others. A
second series of couples E is placed in the cells C and the divisions M thereof in
the cell Calternating with the divisions N of the first series. A third series of
couples is similarly arranged in the cells C and C³ and so on until the desired number
of cells in series is obtained. The terminal cells have of course single elements e
and alternating with the clements of that cell; these are electrically connected
together to a common terminal T by wires or connections t. Couples E may be added
or subtracted from the series of cells at pleasure either for the purpose of substituting
new elements for imperfect or damaged ones or to vary the capacity of a cell, or to
charge the couples in an independent tank or vat should circumstances render such
action economical or desirable and such changes or substitutions may be made without
disturbing the electrical continuity.

page_text: 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. A compound plate forming a pair of elements or couple for use in a secondary
battery or electric accumulator the said couple being formed from one integral sheet
plate or casting or from parts so attached as to form one plate the members or
elements of the said couple being in the same line or plane with each other or
approximately so substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
2. In secondary batteries or electrical accumulators the combination of two or
more enclosing cells and two or more plates in each cell, each positive element in one
cell being in the same line or plane or approximately so to a corresponding negative
element forming part of the same plate or sheet in the adjacent cell but each such
compound plate not being mechanically connected in any way to the other plates or
clements, whereby any pair of plates or elements may be removed without disturbing
the other plates or elements substantially as herein before described.
3. A secondary battery or electric accumulator consisting of the combination of
parts constructed and arranged as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
Dated this Wiftoonth day of Navamhar 1887