IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MEANS FOR PRODUCING, APPLYING. AND ASCERTAINING THE POWER OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT 10 Isac Louis Pulvermacher, of Regent Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MEANS FOR PRODUCING, APPLYING.
AND ASCERTAINING THE POWER OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS."
Sealed the 5th September 1868, and dated the 6th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isac Louis
Pulvermacher at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 6th March 1868.
I, ISAC LOUIS PULVERMACHER, of Regent Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MEANS FOR PRODUCING,
APPLYING, AND ASCERTAINING THE POWER OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists first of a single liquid battery for constant
currents; secondly, of an automatic current breaker; and thirdly, of an
instrument for ascertaining the power of electric currents.
In carrying out the first part of my Invention I stamp a copper
plate in such manner as to produce on one side thereof a series of

page_text: projecting plates, tongues, or fillets with slots or openings between
them. I also stamp a zinc plate with a corresponding series of plates,
tongues, or fillets, and slots or openings.
I then bring the copper
plate and zinc plate together so that the projecting parts of the one
may take between the projecting parts of the other, and I prevent
metallic contact of the copper and zinc by interposing one or more
thin strips or threads of india-rubber across the fillets.
The copper
and zinc are kept as close together as the india-rubber will permit,
and the pair of plates constitutes one element of my battery; I suspend
a number of these elements so as to form a voltaic pile, or I connect
a number of them together into a chain or band. In applying the
clements I place them on the edges of troughs of corresponding size
and depth in such manner that the zinc is below the level of the
battery liquid in the troughs, while the copper is above the level, thus
allowing access of the air to produce the depolarizing effect on the
hydrogen gases.
Although I have mentioned copper and zinc as the metals I employ,
any other electro-negative or electro-positive metal may be used.
My automatic current breaker is constructed as follows:-At one
end of a metal plate I secure by a screw or otherwise one end of a
thin strip or spring of steel or other suitable metal which extends.
lengthwise of the plate and is weighted near its other end.
The plate
is secured upon a piece of insulating material which is of slightly
larger dimensions superficially in order to insulate it from a metallic
case in which it is held. At the end of the Ilate opposite the con-
nection of the spring an insulated handle is pivoted; the pivoted or
inner end of this handle has a semicircular or curved opening which
embraces a corresponding projection of the plate. A wire which is
put in connection with one pole of the battery is carried through the
handle and is connected to an arm pivoted to a pin on the metal
plate; this arm when the handle is moved to one side or the other
comes against the free end of the spring, presses the spring sideways,
and then releases it, and the impulse thus given to the spring causes
it to vibrate. In its vibrations it strikes alternately against an insulated
block and against a wire or pin placed opposite the spring at a point
twice the distance from the weight that it is from the fixed end of
the spring; the wire or pin is in metallic connection with the case.
The spring thus alternately breaks the electric current and reunites

page_text: the circuit.
The portion of the spring opposite the wire or pin is
coated or covered with platinum. All of the parts except the handle
are enclosed in the case which may be held in the hand or applied to
any desired part of the body.
My instrument for ascertaining the power of electric currents
consists of a vessel of glass or other insulating material surrounded by
a metallic case to be held in the hand; the end of the platina wire
or conductor from one pole of the battery is led and soldered into the
bottom of the vessel without coming in contact with the case; another
platina wire communicates between the inside of the vessel and the
case; the vessel contains colored water and I lead up from the inside
thereof a capillary tube which is open and bent upwards at the lower
end, while its upper end passes through the top of the vessel and
When the
enters a graduated glass tube like that of a thermometer.
electric currents are conducted into the vessel by the platina wire
the water therein is decomposed, and the gases thus produced force a
portion of the liquid up the capillary tube; the height to which the
liquid rises depends upon the quantity of gas produced by decomposition
and therefore upon the power of the currents. By noting the height
on the graduated tube and calculating it with the number of seconds
the currents have been passing, the amount of electricity which has
entered the body of a person to whom the case has been applied can
be ascertained. The instrument applies however to ascertaining the
power of electric currents for other than medical purposes. To cause
the water to return from the capillary tube into the vessel I open a
valve which covers a hole through the side of the upper part of the
vessel;
the valve preferably consists simply of an india-rubber collar
passed over the upper part of the vessel and secured at its lower end
between the vessel and a metallic piece through which the platina wire
is led and which is insulated from the case; the hole is opened by moving
with the finger the part of the collar which covers it, and on removing
the finger the hole is again closed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th September 1868.
TO ALL ΤΟ WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAC
LOUIS PULVERMACHER, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Electrical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher, Her special
licence that I, the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isac Louis
Pulvermacher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MEANS FOR PRODUCING APPLYING
AND
ASCERTAINING THE POWER OF ELECTRIC CURRENTY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher,. do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say;-
My Invention relates, first, to a single liquid battery for constant
currents; secondly, to an automatic current breaker or interrupter;
and thirdly, to an instrument for ascertaining the power of electric
currents.

page_text: In carrying out the first part of my Invention I stamp a copper
plate in such manner as to produce on one side thereof a series of pro-
jecting plates, tongues, or fillets with slots or openings between them.
I also stamp a zinc plate with a corresponding series of plates, tongues,
or fillets, and slots or openings. I thus obtain without loss of metal
open worked plates having comparatively large acting surfaces. I then
bring the copper plate and zinc plate together so that the projecting
parts of the one may take between the projecting parts of the other,
and I prevent metallic contact of the copper and zinc by interposing
one or more thin strips or threads of india-rubber across the fillets.
The copper and zinc are kept as close together as the india-rubber will
permit, and the pair of plates constitutes one element of my battery.
I suspend a number of these elements so as to form a voltaic pile,
or I connect a number of them together into a chain or band. The
copper and zinc being openworked the exciting liquid, the gases,
and the oxygen of the atmospheric air can circulate freely and thereby
contribute to the constancy of the current. Although I have 1. entioned
copper and zinc as the metals I employ any other electro-negative
or electro-positive metal may be used.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents in face view and
Figure 2 in vertical section a copper plate a stamped as herein-before
described in such manner as to produce on one side thereof a series
of plates, tongues, or fillets b with slots or openings between them.
The plate a is also stamped with slits c at its ends. After being
stamped with the projecting fillets 6 and slits c the two sides of the
plate a are rolled into the form of tubes d, d, as seen in Figures 3 and
4 which represent a finished copper plate, Figure 3 being a face view
and Figure 4 an end view. Threads of india-rubber are next placed
in the slits c of the plate a as shown at e, e, Figure 5, being secured
therein by knots formed on their ends. Figure 6 represents in face
view a zinc plate f which has been stamped like the copper plate a
with projecting fillets h having openings between them.
The copper
plate a and zinc plate f are then brought together as seen in section
in Figure 7, the two plates are thus in close proximity but metallic
contact is prevented by the interposed rubber threads e, e. The zinc
plate is held in place by other rubber threads g, g, which are passed
into the slits c and secured by knots e¹, e¹. The copper and zinc
plates so connected constitute one element of the battery, any desired
number of these elements are connected together to form a pile, or

page_text: a chain or band. The manner in which I connect the elements is
shown in Figure 8, the elements are placed side by side, and bent
copper pins or wires h¹, h³, are inserted as shown into the adjoining
tubes d, d, of the elements, one leg of each of these pins is covered
with an insulating material so as to insulate the element into which
it enters from that next adjoining; i, i, are wires establishing connection
between the non-insulated portion of each pin ' and the zinc plate
f of the adjoining element as shown. This mode of constructing or
connecting the chains or piles is important, for if a chain be placed
flat with the zinc on the under side in a trough containing the exciting
liquid, the zinc and the lower face of the copper will be wetted, but
the upper face of the copper will remain dry, and its contact with the
atmospheric air will permit of the copper producing a constancy of
the maximum of its action by the depolarization of the air. It is
hardly necessary to draw attention to the facility with which the zinc
can be renewed and on the certainty of its constant insulation from
the copper by the interposed rubber threads e, e, while the holding
threads g, g, by their elasticity always tend to force the zinc plate f
towards the copper plate a.
Figures 9 and 10 represent a modified manner of forming the elements
of my single liquid battery. The zinc plate f is the same as before,
and rubber threads g serve to hold the zinc plate in place as in the
previous case, but instead of the openwork copper plate before described,
I form the copper portion of the element, as follows:-I take two copper
tubes, k, grooved or fluted externally and longitudinally so as to
cause the adherence of insulating varnish with which they are covered.
A cotton thread is then wound on the tubes from end to end, and
they next receive a second coating of varnish. The two tubes are
then held parallel to and at a suitable distance from each other by a
copper wire which is wound over them, passing from one tube to the
other in the form of an open spiral or flat helix as shown. The wire
has wound round it previously or at the same time a cotton thread
to prevent its contact with the surface of the zinc which is placed
against the copper part of the element and held by the threads g, as
shown. The thread on this wire is wound on in an open manner so
as to leave a space between each spiral or turn for the exciting liquid
to find access to the copper. The clements thus formed are then con-
nected together by the bent copper pins or wires h¹, h¹, it is unnecessary

page_text: to insulate one leg of these pins because the required insulation is
on the tubes k, k. The top of these pins h¹ is bent at right angles
so as to allow the elements to dip into the trough containing the
battery liquid, while the tops of the pins rest on the partitions between
the cells.
Figures 11 to 15 represent another modified manner of forming the
elements of my single liquid battery. I stamp a copper plate a, Figure
11, with slots or openings as shown, and roll the two sides into tubes
as and for the same purpose as the tubes d, d, in Figure 4. I then
roll the plate a as shown in Figures 12 and 13, having previously
provided it with a number of cotton threads m, m, Figure 11; I then
introduce into the rolled plates a solid or hollow zinc rods n, n, which
are of sufficient length to extend beyond both ends of the rolled plates
a; metallic contact of the copper and zinc is prevented by the cotton
threads m.
I then connect the elements thus formed by bent copper
wires h¹, h', as in Figure 8. The chain or pile thus made is more
particularly intended to act in a box, the links or elements occupying
a vertical position, and in order to supply them with the exciting liquid
and at the same time keep dry the outer surface of the copper, I
prefer to adopt the contrivance shown in Figure 14; o is a caoutchouc
tube carrying small T shaped pipes p which are placed on the top
of the zinc rods n but do not touch each other, the tube o is formed
with a hole corresponding with each pipe p, so that by passing the liquid
into the tube o and exerting a pressure on the liquid in any convenient
manner the liquid runs down between each zinc rod n and the sur-
rounding copper a. Each rod n is provided near its lower end with
a projecting hook q, which when it is put in contact with the wire h¹
establishes the voltaic contact when as in Figure 13 the copper plates
a do not touch. By this means electricity of high tension is obtained.
If it be desired to obtain quantity electricity I roll the chain so that
all the copper parts a of the elements touch as shown in Figure 15,
and I turn the zinc rod n of each element on its axis to bring the
projecting hook q in contact with the bent copper wire h¹ of the
adjoining element.
Figures 16 and 17 represent the box I employ to excite my chain
or piles. This box is intended to receive the liquid; it is made as
well as its covers of hardened rubber. The cover s carries on its
under side small cylinders u of hardened rubber, provided with a foot

page_text: to prevent the chain falling off when placed thereon; these cylinders
turn loosely on their axes; round these cylinders I stretch my chains
as indicated by the lines t, Figure 17. After having caused the cover s
which carries the chain to descend into the box I raise the whole and
retain the cover on the box by the arms or plates v. The arms or plates
are provided with vertical slots having an enlargement at their ends;
through these slots screws are passed which take into the sides of
the box; a portion of the screws is flattened, so that when turned in
one direction they allow the cover to fall freely, and when turned a
quarter round the broad part of the flat portion of the screw lies across
the vertical slot and holds the cover up. These screws may be acted
upon simultaneously by means of bars and levers, or otherwise.
My automatic current breaker or interruptor is represented in Figure
18, it can be used at the same time as an electrode or physiological or
therapeutic conductor or reophore. It is constructed as follows:-
At one end of a metal plate a I secure by a screw or otherwise one
end 6 of a thin strip or spring c of steel or other suitable metal, which
extends lengthwise of the plate a, and is weighted near its other end
at d. The plate a is secured upon a piece of insulating material e,
which is of slightly larger dimensions superficially, in order to insulate
it from a metallic case f, in which it is held. One side of this case
is removed in the Figure in order to show the internal parts of the
apparatus.. At the end of the plate a, opposite the connection of
the spring c, an insulating handle g is pivoted at g'; the pivoted or
inner end of this handle has a semicircular or curved opening h, which
embraces a corresponding projection of the plate a. A wire, which
is put in connection with one pole of the battery, is carried through
the handle g and is connected to an arm 1, pivoted to a pin m on the
metal plate a; the pivot m of this arm is at about a sixth of the length
of the arm from the wire k. This arm, when the handle g is moved to
one side or the other comes against the free end of the spring c, presses
the spring sideways and then releases it, and the impulse thus given
to the spring causes it to vibrate. As the arm is pivoted near the end
further from the spring c, the course or travel of the longer portion of the
arm is increased, and a free space is thereby left for the spring to vibrate.
In its vibrations it strikes alternately against an insulated block n
and against an adjustable wire or pin o, placed opposite the spring at
a point twice the distance from the weight d that it is from the fixed
end b of the spring, the wire or pin o is in metallic connection with the

page_text: case f. The spring c thus alternately breaks the electric current and
reunites the circuit. The portion of the spring opposite the wire or
pin o is coated or covered with platinum. All of the parts except the
handle g are enclosed in the case, which may be held in the hand or
applied to any desired part of the body.
When
My instrument for ascertaining the power of electric currents is
represented in Figure 19. I call it a chemical electro-dynamometer;
it is intended to measure by fixed units currents even very weak in
electrical quantities. It consists of a vessel a of glass or other insulating
material, surrounded by a metallic case 6 to be held in the hand or
to be applied to the body. Inside and at the bottom of the glass
vessel I fit the two platina electrodes c, d, which pass through the bottom
and are connected to conducting wires e and f, one of which e leads
to the upper part of the case, where it is held in an insulated state by
means of a piece of ebonite fixed in the case b, and communication is
established by means of a hooked wire with one pole of the battery,
the other wire f leads to the outer case to which it is soldered; the
vessel a contains colored water, and I lead up from the inside thereof
a capillary tube g, which is open and bent upwards at the lower end,
as shown, while its upper end passes through the top of the vessel a
and enters a graduated glass tube h like that of a thermometer.
the electric currents are conducted into the vessel a by the wire e the
water therein is decomposed, and the gases thus produced force a portion
of the liquid up the capillary tube g; the height to which the liquid
rises depends upon the quantity of gas produced by decomposition,
and therefore the power of the currents. By noting the height on
the graduated tube h, and calculating it with the number of seconds
the currents have been passing, the amount of electricity which has
entered the body of a person to whom the case has been applied can
be ascertained. The instrument applies however to ascertaining the
power of electric currents for other than medical purposes.
the water to return from the capillary tube g into the vessel a I open
a valve which covers a hole i through the side of the upper part of the
vessel. The valve preferably consists simply of an india-rubber collar
passed over the upper part of the vessel and secured at its lower end
between the vessel and a metallic piece through which the conducting
wire is led, and which is insulated from the case; the hole is opened
by moving with the finger the part of the collar which covers it, and
on removing the finger the hole is again closed.
To cause

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as
the "Improvements in Apparatus for Producing, Applying, and Ascer-
taining the Power of Electric Currents,"
First. Constructing elements for batteries, the metals or one of the
metals composing such elements being openworked, substantially as
herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
so that the exciting liquid, the gases, and the oxygen of the atmosphere
can circulate freely, and thereby contribute to the constancy of the
current.
Second. Constructing electro-motoric metal plates by stamping them
with projecting tongues or fillets, substantially as herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawings, whereby without loss
of material openworked plates are obtained, having comparatively large
acting surfaces.
Third. The construction of automatic current breakers or interrupters,
substantially as herein-before described and represented in Figure 18
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The construction of instruments, substantially as herein-before
described and represented in Figure 19 of the accompanying Drawings
for ascertaining the power of electric currents.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isac Louis Pulvermacher, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
I. L. PULVERMACHER. (I.S.)