Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug., 1886.
Complete Left, 30th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 2nd Aug., 1887.
We THOMAS JOHN JONES of 11 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London,
Electrician and WILLIAM HOWARD TASKER of 9 Princeton Street in the County of
Middlesex, Electrician do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Our Invention relates to the positive elements of secondary voltaic batteries in which
the support for the active material is of a composite character that is to say-in which
the support is in part only conductive; and the object of our Invention is to construct
a support which shall possess all the advantages of, while of considerably less weight
than, one composed wholly of metal.
In the support of our Invention, the conductive portion is distributed throughout
the mass of active material so that the two are in intimate contact, and the active
material is held in contact with the conductor without liability of becoming detached,
and without any external means for maintaining it in position, and the conductive
support is comparatively inexpensive.
The Invention consists in constructing the support of a combination of thin lead or
lead foil, lead wire or lead ribbon and of a non-conducting foundation preferably
of celluloid.
Owing to the fact that thin lead such as lead foil has not sufficient stability to bear
the weight of the active material it has not been heretofore used in the construction of
such supports as are above referred to; but by our Invention we overcome this
difficulty, as we so combine the foundation or non-conducting portion of the support,
the lead foil, and the active material as to produce a structure sufficiently rigid to
withstand shocks and permit of being handled without damage and to constitute an
effective positive element in a secondary battery.
According to our Invention, we build up the support by partially embedding strips
or lengths of lead foil in the foundation as hereinafter described, and we pack the
active material into spaces left between the surfaces of the strips or lengths of foil.
The strips may be arranged horizontally, and be supported by their ends only in the
foundation which would ordinarily take the form of an open frame having vertical
bars to which the lead foil is secured, or the foil may be of spiral form supported in

page_text: apertures in the frame; but in all cases the foil would be in electrical connection with
a conductor which serves to couple up the elements and which is embedded in the
upper part of the foundation or frame by which the elements are supported in
the cell. In order to secure the strips of foil in the foundation in contact with the
embedded conductor the conductive support is built up by superposing a pair of frames
with the ends the lead strips or lengths between them and submitting the whole to
heat and pressure so as to unite the two halves constituting the foundation.
The method which we prefer however is as follows;- We take a thin rectangular
sheet of lead or lead foil and stamp the metal out so as to produce a kind of grid or
grating that is to say-We remove the metal so as to produce a number of regularly
interspaced apertures surrounded by transverse and longitudinal bars. We then place
the perforated or apertured sheet between a pair of frames of non-conducting material
(preferably celluloid) of a form corresponding to the perforated sheet of lead minus
the cross-bars, and we submit the whole to heat and pressure so as to cause the frames
to adhere. We then, by means of a suitable apparatus, corrugate or crimp the bars
of the frame, the effect of which is to bring the transverse bars into a position at right
angles to the plane of the frame, and we consolidate the corrugations and bring the
flanks of the corrugations together and unite them. The lead sheet is perforated with
a number of small holes so that the two frames may lock together.
Dated this 31st day of August 1886
T. J. JONES.
W. H. TASKER.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.

page_text: improvements in Secondary Batteries.
We, THOMAS JOHN JONES of 11 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London
Electrician, and WILLIAM HOWARD TASKER of 9 Princeton Street in the County of
Middlesex Electrician, 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 :-
Our Invention relates to the positive or spongy lead elements of secondary voltaic
batteries and it has for its object to provide a support for the active material which
shall possess all the advantages of, whilst it is of considerably less weight than, one
composed wholly of lead. This improved support is made partly of conductive and
partly of non-conductive material in such a way that the mass of active material is in
electrical contact with the conductive portion of the support over a very large area of
surface without liability of becoming detached, the whole forming a coherent structure
having sufficient rigidity and strength to permit of its being handled freely without
damage.
The Invention consists in constructing the conductive portion of the supporting
frame of the element, of lead in the form of very thin sheet, foil, ribbon, or wire, so
disposed as to afford a very large area of contact surface with the active material and
so strengthened by a supporting frame of a non conducting material (preferably
celluloid) that the lead (which would not alone possess sufficient strength or rigidity
to support the active material) will be held in position and efficient contact of the
active material therewith will be at all times maintained, and the whole structure will
possess sufficient strength and rigidity to bear handling. The lead is supported in
position by being partially embedded in the non conductive material, and in order to
obtain the desired extent of surface contact in the case of sheet, foil, or ribbon, the
exposed portion thereof is in the form of strips disposed at small intervals apart, the
strips in the direction of their width being about at right angles to the plane of
the element or plate to be formed, and the active material is packed in the intervening
spaces. By this arrangement, a great number of strips are comprised within a small
compass and are distributed throughout the mass of the active material, a corre-
spondingly large surface of contact and low internal resistance being thereby obtained
without appreciably diminishing the effective area of the active material exposed to
the electrolyte.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specifica-
tion; Figure 1 represents the support (wherein a single sheet of perforated sheet lead
or lead foil is used) before the same is corrugated as hereafter described and figure 2
is a section of same on line 1-1. Figure 3 represents the same after it has been
corrugated, and Figure 4 shows a section of same on line 2-2. Figure 5 is a face
view, and Figure 6 a vertical section on line 44 of a support in which separate strips of
lead ribbon are combined with the non conductive support. Figure 7 shews the support.

page_text: formed of lead wire or ribbon interwoven with the non-conductive material, figure 8
being a horizontal section on line 3-3 figure 7. Figure 9 shews a modification
wherein lead wire or ribbon is also combined with the non-conductive material.
Referring to figures 1 to 4 which represent the preferred construction, the con-
ductive part of the support for the element is a single piece of thin sheet lead such as
is commonly used for lining tea-chests. This sheet of lead is of a width corresponding
to the intended width of the element, and of a length to allow for the corrugating
operation hereafter described. In this sheet are stamped or cut several series of
parallel oblong holes a extending transversely of the sheet, as represented at the lower
right hand corner of figure 1 where part of the celluloid is broken away, so as to
leave intervening strips b of a width corresponding to the intended thickness of the
element; the width of the apertures a depending on the dimensions of the corruga-
tions which regulate the ultimate width of the spaces between the strips into which the
active material is to be packed, as hereafter described. The strips 6 are united by
cross-strips c extending the length of the sheet and about two inches apart, it being
understood that the whole of the strips b and c are in one sheet of metal so that there
are no soldered or other joints. At the upper end the sheet is formed with tangs d
for connection with the conducting wire e, the tangs and strips e being perforated
with holes f, to ensure the adhesion of the non-conductive covering. The lead sheet
is then enclosed between two thin sheets of celluloid (about 1-32nd of an inch thick)
corresponding in form to the upper part, and bars c of the lead sheet, the celluloid
slightly exceeding in dimensions those portions of the lead so that it will overlap the
edges thereof, but leave the strips b uncovered. By applying a solvent with the aid
of heat and pressure, the two sheets of celluloid are caused to adhere to and enclose
those portions of the lead between them, the sheets of celluloid being pressed together
through the holes f, and at the edges, into adhesive contact with one another. It
should be observed, that the ends of the tangs d are left uncovered in order that they
may be lapped round and soldered to the wire e, after which they and the wire are
wrapped in a strip of celluloid.
The partially covered sheet is then corrugated or crimped by suitable means, the
bends or corrugations being in directions parallel to the strips 6 and alternating
therewith, so that the strips are brought into a position at right angles to the plane
of the frame, forming a grid-like structure. This operation is performed whilst the
celluloid is in a heated and softened condition and the flanks of the corrugations
thereof are pressed together so as to become united by pressure as shewn in figure 4, the
strips of lead being thus separated by intervals corresponding to the double thickness
of celluloid. These intervals are filled with a pasty mass composed preferably, of
monoxide of lead and a solution of sulphate of ammonia, which dries and sets and is
then reduced by electrolytical action to spongy lead.
Referring to figures 5 and 6, the lead is in the form of separate strips or ribbons,
each coiled into an open volute or equivalent form and contained in apertures in the
non-conductive frame, so as to present their edges at the opposite faces of the element;
the pasty mass to be converted into active material, being filled in the spaces between
the convolutions. The non-conductive frame is made of two sheets of celluloid having
apertures for the reception of the openly coiled lead strips, the two sheets being united
by heat and pressure, with the outer ends of the lead strips which have previously
been lapped round and soldered to a wire e embedded between them.
Referring to figures 7 and 8, the support of which the conductive portion is, in this
case, composed of lead wire or ribbon, is in the form of an open work or wattled
structure formed of strips of celluloid g with which a continuous wire or ribbon h, of
lead is interwoven. At the side edges of the fabric, the wire or ribbon is lapped round
lead wires by which the various portions of the wire or ribbon h are put in electrical
connection with the conductor e, the ends of the wire or ribbon h being preferably, also
lapped around and soldered to the conductor e. The wires and conductor e and the
end portions of the ribbon or wire h are embedded in a frame of celluloid formed of a
double sheet united, as before described, to the top and bottom cross bars of which
the ends of the strips are united. The pasty mass, as before described, is applied
to the opposite sides of the structure and pressed into the interstices thereof.

page_text: Referring to figure 9, the non-conducting frame is similar in form to that shewn in
fig re 1 (without the lead foil) and across each of the apertures thereof, a lead wire or
ribbon his stretched the wire or ribbon passing across to and fro a great number of
times from side to side of the aperture, the one end of the wire or ribbon being made
fast, and the other embedded in the celluloid and connected to the main conductor e
which is afterwards covered with the celluloid as before. The several wires or ribbons h
are held in position by being lapped around pegs or studs k moulded on the face of
one of the pair of celluloid sheets of which the frame is made, as shewn at the left
hand half of the figure, from which the covering sheet of celluloid is supposed to be
removed. This second sheet is applied upon the first after the wires have been placed
in position and united thereto as above described, so that the bends of the wires or
ribbons become embedded between the two sheets of celluloid. The apertures of the
frame across which the wires or ribbons are stretched, as shewn at the right hand part
of the figure, are then filled with the pasty mass.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is ;—
1. The herein described construction of the positive element of a secondary battery
wherein the support for the active material is composed of thin strips of lead partly
embedded in and supported by a frame of non conductive material, the exposed
portions of the lead strips being so arranged as to present their edges to the opposite
faces of the element and the active material being contained in the intervening spaces,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. The construction of the support for the active material of the positive element
of a secondary battery, of a thin sheet of lead cut out in the form of connected strips
and partly encased in celluloid and the whole corrugated or crimped, so as to bring
the strips to the position described and form a grid like structure, to receive the active
material substantially as described.
3. The construction of the support for the active material of the positive element of
a secondary battery of an open work structure formed of lead wire or ribbon inter-
woven with strips of celluloid and connected to conductors embedded in celluloid,
substantially as specified.
4. The construction of the support for the active material of the positive element of
a secondary battery of an open frame of celluloid with lead wires or ribbons stretched
to and fro across the apertures of the frame and partly embedded in the celluloid,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.