A New or Improved Method of Regulating the Pressure of Electric Circuits connected with Primary or Secondary Batteries, and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 31st Jan., 1898-Accepted, 29th Mar.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Method of Regulating the Pressure of Electric
Circuits connected with Primary or Secondary Batteries, and
Apparatus therefor.
We, LEOPOLD WILLIAM HEATH, of 21, Brunswick Street, Manchester, Electrical
Engineer, and JAMES HERMANN FIELD, of 14, Victoria Street, Westminster,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
1
a whole
Our invention relates to a new or improved method of regulating the pressure
of electric circuits connected with primary or secondary batteries and may be used
in conjunction with these wherever such are employed and regulation is required.
We will describe our method as applied to the regulation of the pressure with an
electric battery. By our method we are able to regulate the pressure in gradations
equal to the voltage of one cell or more, within limits of voltage far greater than the
For the sake of
total voltage of the actual regulating portion of our battery.
clearness we will call this regulating portion the "supplementary battery." Our
switch contacts and gear are so arranged that by turning a handle, or by some such
suitable action, the feeder for the supply circuit is successively connected to the
poles of consecutive cells of our supplementary battery (which is as
connected, by suitable contacts in the switch apparatus, in series with all or part
of the main battery.) and that, when the supply connection has in this way reached
the contact corresponding to the last cell of the supplementary battery a continuation
of the mechanical operation (turning the handle or whatever it may be) in the same
direction, connects the supply feeder directly to one cell of the main battery, at the
same time automatically transferring the connection of the negative pole of the
supplementary battery to the kathode of a cell in such a position in the series of
main cells as to cause a difference of voltage equal to that of one unit of regulation
to exist between the other extreme of the supplementary battery and the contact
to which the supply connection is at the moment joined. A further continuation
of the same mechanical operation as before will carry the supply connection over
the range of the supplementary battery as at first and when the limit of this range
is again attained the above process of shifting the connection between the
supplementary and main battery will be repeated, and so on, giving as large a
range of regulation as is required with uniform gradation. Such a system has the
evident advantages of reducing the number of switch contacts and cable connections
almost to the bare number of supplementary cells, the range of regulation
(expressed in terms of the voltage of one cell). being any multiple desired of this
number. Our form of switch gear may also be used in conjunction with regulating,
or other, resistances, its actions in this case being of a precisely similar nature to
that explained above. In conjunction with above switch, which we principally
use only for discharging purposes, we propose to employ for charging a switch like
an ordinary battery switch, only between each pair of contacts connected to the
main battery we employ a number of other contacts having resistances interposed

page_text: between them capable of taking the full working current for a short period, so
that the pressure of supply may be independently altered by small steps during the
operation of changing the position of the supply main from one part of the battery
to another. By properly proportioning the resistance between these contacts any
desired unit of graduation may be obtained. There would be only one end of each
series of such resistances connected to the adjacent battery contact, joined to that
of highest potential in each case or to that of lowest potential in each case.
The supplementary cells may either be charged from a portion of the main battery
or directly from the supply main, in series with a portion or the whole of the main
battery.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1897
LEOPOLD WILLIAM HEATH.
JAMES HERMANN FIELD.
A New or Improved Method of Regulating the Pressure of Electric
Circuits connected with Primary or Secondary Batteries, and
Apparatus therefor.
We, LEOPOLD WILLIAM HEATH, of 345, Albert Road, Aston, Birmingham
(formerly of 21, Brunswick Street, Manchester), Electrical Engineer, and JAMES
HERMANN FIELD, of 14, Victoria Street, Westminster, Electrical Engineer, 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 a new or improved method of regulating the pressure of
electric circuits connected with primary or secondary batteries, and may be used
in conjunction with these wherever such are employed, and regulation is required.
By our method we are able, preferably by means of a special regulating switch,
hereinafter to be described and termned the "regulator," to regulate the pressure of
one or more such circuits by gradations equal to the voltage of one cell or more,
within limits of voltage greater than would be obtained by means of an ordinary
battery regulating switch and the same number of connections between it and the
battery as are needed when our method is employed. Our method will best be
described by reference to the action of one construction of our regulator. In this
construction, the contacts and gear are so arranged that by turning a handle, or by
some such suitable action, one wire of a circuit, of which the pressure is to be
regulated, may be successively connected to consecutive poles, or junctions of poles,
of a number of cells joined together in series, which series of cells though forming
a part of the battery in use we will, for the sake of clearness, term the "supplementary
battery." This supplementary battery is, at such times, as a whole connected, by
suitable contacts in the regulator, in series with the whole or part of the remainder
of the battery in use, which remainder we call the "main battery"; thus the total
pressure of the circuit is then that due to a part or the whole of the supplementary
battery, together with a part or the whole of the main battery. At other times,
and by a continuation of the mechanical operation in the same direction, and for
the purposes of our method, the circuit-wire that was joined to the supplementary
battery becomes joined direct with the main battery, so that at such times the
pressure of the circuit is that due to the portion of the main battery that is
connected between its wires, and is independent of the supplementary battery.
Between the operation of connecting the circuit-wire direct to the main battery

page_text: contact and the time when, by the continuation of the mechanical operation, it
leaves that contact for that of the top cell of the supplementary battery for a
second cycle of operations, the whole of the supplementary battery has had its
former connection to the main battery broken, and has been connected automatically
to another part of the main battery. In one construction of our regulator it is
arranged that by thus adding to the pressure of the circuit that due to the number
of cells contained in the supplementary battery, while at the same time deducting
that due to the number of cells connected between any two consecutive contacts
connected with the main battery, a difference of one unit of pressure is produced
(the "unit of pressure" being the difference of potential between one contact and the
next of the supplementary battery). It will thus be seen that the operations are:-
First starting with the regulator connecting one end of the circuit with the top
cell of the supplementary battery (this battery being connected in series with the
whole of the main battery, to the bottom of which the other circuit-wire is
connected), the operation of working the regulator in one direction will decrease
the pressure of the circuit units of pressure" at a time until the whole range of the
supplementary battery has been traversed, then it will reduce it by another "unit of
pressure" by the connection direct to the main battery contact, and then continue
to reduce it by "units of pressure" as the range of the supplementary battery is again
traversed, with the position of the connection of the latter with the main battery
readjusted automatically, as hereinbefore explained. Next follows a second
connection of the circuit to the main battery at that part to which the
supplementary battery was just before joined, and then a third traversing of the
supplementary battery, and so on. Such a method has the advantage over an
ordinary battery regulating switch of reducing the number of switch contacts, and
of cable connections between the switch and the battery; the range of regulation
being any desired multiple of the number of cells in the supplementary battery,
and such regulation being effected in gradations of pressure equal to that of one
cell or more. Our form of regulator gear may also be used for the regulating of
resistances, its actions in this case being of a precisely similar nature to that
hereinbefore explained. In conjunction with the above-described regulator, which
we principally use only for discharging purposes, we propose to employ, for
charging, a switch like an ordinary battery regulating switch, by means of which
connection may be made between the charging wire and either any one of the
hereinbefore mentioned connections to the main battery, or the connection to the
top cell of the supplementary battery. This switch may have inserted between
each pair of these contacts, one or more other contacts having resistances suitably
interposed, (as is commonly done, say, in motor switches), capable of taking the
full working current for a short period, so that the pressure of the charging supply
may be independently altered during the operation of changing the connection of
the charging wire from one to another of those contacts which are connected to the
battery, and to the supplementary battery. By properly proportioning the
resistances between the contacts on this switch, any desired unit of gradation may
be obtained. The supplementary battery may be charged either in series with a
portion or the whole of the main battery, directly from the charging wire by means
of the already described charging switch, or from a portion of the main battery,
as hereinafter described in reference to the diagram in Figure 7, in which case the
charging switch does not require a contact connected with the top cell of the
supplementary battery.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of one construction
of our regulator according to this invention:
Figure 2 is an end elevation, partly in section, and Figure 3 is a back elevation.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are diagrams illustrating the principle of our method by its
application to a particular case, the numbers of contacts and of cells between the
contacts being so chosen and lettered as at the same time to serve to explain the
action of the regulator shown in Figs. 1, 2 & 3. Figure 7 is a diagram
illustrating one arrangement of the contacts and circuits shown in Fig. 6 with the

page_text: and
A
necessary additions for charging the main and supplementary batteries;
Figure 8 shews in diagram an alternative arrangement for the same purpose as that
shown in Fig. 7. Like letters refer to like parts throughout the drawings. With
reference first to Figures 1, 2, and 3, the handle H is operated by the switchboard
attendant, and the front face shewn in Figure 1 is that containing the contacts
connected with the cells of the supplementary battery. (This face corresponds with
the circular dial in the diagrams 4 to 8, and its contact arm L is geared to and
drives, by pinion and wheel, the arm L¹ of the back face (Figure 3) the contacts of
which are represented by the straight contacts in the diagrams 4 to 8).
continuous clockwise motion of the handle H, starting with front contact arm L on
contact A, will diminish the electric pressure between the circuit wires a and b by
one "unit of pressure" as the handle causes the arm L to pass from that bar to the
next one, B, and so on, and when the arm L leaves the bar C and reaches the
contact D, connection is thereby made between the circuit-wire a and the main
battery, to which the bar D is at all such times directly joined through contact
arm on the back face. During the motion of arm L across bar D, the army,
which now carries no current, passes from the contact on the back face, as in
Figure 3 C3, (to which it has been connected) to the next contact as C³, thus
connecting the supplementary battery, and its front face contacts, with a point of
the main battery four " units of pressure" lower down than the point it has just left,
and to which the arm is still joined. The arm L, therefore, in passing from
contact bar D to contact A for a second cycle of operations, diminishes the pressure
of the circuit by one unit of pressure" and this action is kept up continuously
during the range for which the regulator is constructed.
Turning the handle in a counter clockwise direction will evidently have a reverse
effect, and will raise the pressure by one "unit of pressure" each time a new bar is
reached by the arm L. The arm R in Figure 1 is a "sparker," having a resistance,
not shewn in the accompanying drawings, inserted between it and the arm L in the
ordinary way, or this may be replaced, as is sometimes done, by résistances suitably
connected between the distance pieces dd and the contacts A B G and D. C
and Care contact rings with which arms x and y respectively make electrical
connection. C7 in Figure 3 is a bearer ring for the roller m which balances the
mechanical pressure of arms and y on their contacts. As seen in Figure 2, the
spindle of arm L is geared with spindle of arm L' so as to give the desired change
of contacts of arms and y per revolution of arm L. Stops may be provided on
back face to check the further movement of arm L¹ beyond the range required,
and a dial or other indicating device may be arranged to show at any time the
position of the contact arms with reference to any desired standard. Figures 4, 5,
and 6 shew in diagram three positions of the front arm L with corresponding
positions of the arms and y, that is to say with reference to the construction of
regulator shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3; the arrows r and r¹ in Figures 1, 3, and 4,
indicate the direction of mechanical motion of the arm L, and the arms and y,
respectively, when the electrical pressure of the circuit a b is being reduced.
Figure 7 shows one method of charging the supplementary battery, by adding a
contact ring C on the back face, and a contact arin, which is placed so that it is
always four units of pressure" higher up the main battery than is arm y,, during
their connection with it. Contact C and arm are not shown in Figures 1, 2,
and 3. By closing switch S, the three units of the supplementary battery are then
put in parallel with four units of the main battery, and thus become charged.
Switch S may be so interlocked with arm L or with other movable part of regulator
that it will be impossible for the arm L to touch or traverse contact D without the
switch S having been first opened thus preventing the breakage of the charging
current by the arms y and z at the back face, which might otherwise occur. In
Figure 7 S is a switch for charging the main battery at any one of those points
in it which are connected with the regulator. Figure 8 shows an alternative
method of charging the supplementary battery. in which S2 is a switch similar
to S of Figure 7, but which has an extra contact k connected with the top cell of

page_text: the supplementary battery, so that when the arm of switch S3 is on that contact k,
the supplementary battery is being charged in series with that part of the main
battery to which it is joined at the time. This switch may also be interlocked as
explained in reference to Figure 7 in the case of switch S, so that it will not be
possible for the arm L to touch or traverse contact D without the arm of switch S
having been first moved off contact k, thus preventing the possibility of breaking
the charging current at arm y on the back face. Volt meter contacts and switch
may be provided as at $3 in Figure 8.
The switches S*S* in Figures and 8 are for either switching the charging
current on to the charging switch in each case, or connecting those parts of the
main and supplementary batteries, in use in series at any time, across the
circuit a b, when the battery is being used, as is commonly done, in parallel with a
dynamo or other source of electrical power Q. The arrows indicate the direction
of charging current, that of discharging current. It is to be understood that
Figs 1, 2 & 3 of the accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, one
construction only of our regulator, but the details may manifestly be varied
without departing from the spirit of this invention. We do not, for instance,
confine ourselves to a continuous motion of arms a and y over the faces of their
contacts, but sometimes cause them to move only at such parts of the revolution of
the arm L as they are actually required to change their connections with their
contacts. Either or all of arms x, y, and z may have a quick break action. Nor do
we confine ourselves to a regulator constructed with two faces, but may employ one,
two, or more faces; nor to one supplementary battery, but may use two or more
such, the first being supplementary to the main battery, the second being
supplementary to the first, and so on. The arms, y, and z need not be
automatically operated, but may, for the purposes of our method, be independently
adjusted manually or otherwise, although automatic operation is usually
advantageous. The battery in use, composed of single cells in series, as indicated
in the accompanying drawings, may obviously be replaced by any arrangement
of cells which would constitute a battery suitable for similar purposes. It is
further to be understood that although it is usually advantageous that the number
of cells between any two consecutive points on the main battery to which the
supplementary battery may be connected, should give one more of the "units of
pressure" in use in the supplementary battery than the total pressure given by the
latter, that relation may be varied as desired, as may also be the number of
cells in the supplementary battery.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is: -
1. The method of regulating the pressure of an electric circuit by which the
connection of a "supplementary battery," (being part of the battery or batteries in
use), with the "main battery," (that is, the remainder of the battery or batteries in
use), is transferred from one point to another of the "main battery," substantially as
described.
2. The method of regulating the pressure of an electric circuit whereby that
circuit is connected to successive points of a supplementary battery, the connection
of which with the "main" battery is successively transferred to consecutive points
on the "main" battery, substantially as described.
3. The method of regulating the pressure of an electric circuit whereby the
connection with the "main battery" of a "supplementary battery" is transferred from
point to point of said "main battery," the number of cells between two such
consecutive points giving a pressure differing by one or more than one of the "units
of pressure" in use in the "supplementary battery" from that given by the entire
supplementary battery," or giving a pressure equal to that of the entire
"supplementary battery.'
"
"

page_text: 4. The method of regulating the pressure of an electric circuit by two or more
"supplementary batteries" and a "main battery," substantially as described.
5. The combination of two switches, one of which is constructed to adjust in an
electric circuit the pressure due to a "supplementary battery," the other being
constructed to make connection between the "supplementary battery" and the "main
battery," and to successively change the said connection from point to point of the
consecutive points of the "main battery."
6. The combination in one instrument of two switches such as are described in
Claim 5, each of which is operated independently of the other, or one of which
operates the other, when itself is operated.
7. In a switch of the kind described the combination of two or more arms such
as x and y, substantially as, and for the purpose described.
8. In a switch of the kind described the combination with two or more arms
such as x and y of one or more arms such as z operating substantially as and for
the purpose described.
9. The complete method of regulating the pressure of an electric circuit
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
10. The complete "regulator" constructed and operating substantially as described
or illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
11. The combination with a discharge switch of the kind described of a charging
switch of the kind described substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of January 1898
LEOPOLD WILLIAM HEATH.
JAMES HERMANN FIELD.