IMPROVE MENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.".
-A communication from Messieurs Grenet, junior, and De Fonvielle.
9
Sealed the 7th July 1857, and dated the 10th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th January 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THERE WITH," (communicated to me by Messieurs Grenet, junior, and De
Fonvielle, foreigners residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing a battery, the positive and negative
elements of which are made to move or are put into motion in the exciting
fluid, or the fluid is itself agitated or disturbed while the positive and negative
elements are stationary.
The Invention further consists in the arrangement of the battery, and the
apparatus employed therein or in connection therewith. The exciting fluid

page_text: is water acidulated with sulphuric acid, holding in more or less concentrated
solution some strongly oxygenated substance (such as bichromate of potassa),
or any other exciting fluid which would liberate during the action of the battery
and at a low temperature a gas capable of ready combination with hydrogen,
and this fluid is supplied continuously or at intermittent periods. The elements
are preferably metallic, and to obtain intensity or quantity they may be amal-
gamated; the positive may be so formed as to present a number of edges or
angles to the action of the fluid, while the negative elements may be formed
serrated, or with a number of points on their edges. When the elements are
made moveable in the fluid the battery may be arranged thus:-A number of
positive and negative plates in the shape of discs, circular, or of other convenient
form, with washers or blocks of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other like
material placed between every two plates, are fitted in alternate order on or
round a wooden drum or frame, the positive plates being connected together
by a threaded metal rod, and the negative by another and similar rod.
Metallic connection is conveyed from all the positive or all the negative
elements from one of these rods through a driving pulley, fitted at one end
of the wooden drum through the axis of the pulley, which forms one of the
arms or axes on which the drum is supported and is free to rotate, and through
the bearing in which the said arm or axis is supported to the positive or nega-
tive pole, as the case may be. All the opposite elements are united at the
opposite end of the wooden drum through the other rod, which is connected
to a plate on that end of the drum. The plate has a stud in the centre,
which forms the axis for the drum at that end, and through which the current
passes, and thence through the bearing in which the axis revolves to the
negative or positive pole, as the case may be. Rotary motion is communi-
cated to the drum through a driving belt passed over the pulley on the drum,
which carries with it all the positive and negative elements. The drum and
plates are enclosed in a case or trough, into which the exciting fluid is
admitted, its flow being properly regulated. An overflow pipe and discharge
tap are also fitted to the case. When the drum is placed vertically the
deposits are driven off by centrifugal action. When the plates are to be
stationary and the exciting fluid disturbed, an instrument is employed for the
purpose of agitating the fluid, or working it round or to and fro, consisting of
a comb or reed, or contrivance composed of a back piece, fornied or fitted
with teeth, corresponding to the spaces between the plates, made of india-
rubber or other flexible material, which teeth rub against the surfaces of
the plates and remove deposits formed therein. A similar instrument made

page_text: stationary may be employed to clean the plates when. the latter are made to
revolve.
The plates may be so contrived that the negative and positive may revolve
in contrary directions.
The motion or disturbance imparted to the negative plates prevents polari-
zation, while that of the positive elements prevents formation of deposits on
their surfaces. The rate of speed should be regulated according to the energy
desired.
An "intensity" battery is formed in one trough, and in an exciting liquid
common to all the elements, by connecting several positive and negative
elements upon the drum in pairs. The end elements on opposite ends of the
drum form the positive and negative poles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 GALVANIC BATTERIES, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," (communicated to me by Messieurs Grenet, junior, and
De Fonvielle, foreigners residing abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that 1, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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

page_text: 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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:-
This Invention consists in constructing a battery, the positive and negative
clements of which are made to move or are put into motion in the exciting
fluid, or the fluid is itself agitated or disturbed while the positive and negative
elements are stationary..
The Invention further consists in the arrangement of the battery, and the
apparatus employed therein or in connection therewith. The exciting fluid is
water acidulated with sulphuric acid, holding in more or less concentrated
solution some strongly oxygenated substance (such as bichromate of potassa),
or any other exciting fluid which would liberate during the action of the
battery and at a low temperature a gas capable of ready combination with
hydrogen, and this fluid is supplied continuously or at intermittent periods.
The elements are preferably metallic, and to obtain intensity or quantity they
may be amalgamated; the positive may be so formed as to present a number
of edges or angles to the action of the fluid, while the negative elements may
be formed serrated, or with a number of points on their edges. When the
elements are made moveable in the fluid the battery may be arranged thus:-
A number of positive and negative plates in the shape of discs, circular, or of
other convenient form, with washers or blocks of india-rubber, gutta percha,
or other like material placed between every two plates, are fitted in alternate
order in or round a wooden drum or frame, the positive plates being connected
together by a threaded metal rod, and the negative by another and similar rod.
Metallic connection is conveyed from all the positive or all the negative
elements from one of these rods through a driving pulley, fitted at one end of
the wooden drum through the axis of the pulley, which forms three of the arms
or axes on which the drum is supported and is free to rotate, through the
bearing in which the said arm or axis is supported to the positive or negative
pole, as the case may be. All the opposite elements are united at the opposite
end of the wooden drum through the other rod, which is connected to a plate
on that end of the drum. The plate has a stud in the centre, which forms
the axis for the drum at that end, and through which the current passes, and

page_text: thence through the bearing in which the axis revolves to the negative or
positive pole, as the case may be. Rotary motion is communicated to the
drum through a driving belt passed over the pulley in the drum, which carries
with it all the positive and negative elements. The drum and plates are
enclosed in a case or trough, into which the exiting fluid is admitted, its flow
being properly regulated.. An overflow pipe and discharge tap are also fitted
to the case. When the drum is placed vertically the deposits are driven off
by centrifugal action. When the plates are to be stationary and the exciting
fluid disturbed, an instrument is employed for the purpose of agitating the
fluid, or working it round or to and fro, consisting of a comb or reed, or con-
trivance composed of a back piece, formed or fitted with teeth, corresponding
to the spaces between the plates, made of india-rubber or other flexible
material, which teeth rub against the surfaces of the plates and remove deposits
formed thereon. A similar instrument made stationary may be employed to
clean the plates when the latter are made to revolve. The plates may be so
contrived that the negative and positive may revolve in contrary directions.
The motion or disturbance imparted to the negative plates prevents polari-
zation, while that of the positive elements prevents formation of deposits on
their surfaces. The rate of speed should be regulated according to the energy
desired.
An intensity battery is formed in one trough, and in an exciting liquid
common to all the elements, by connecting several positive and negative
elements upon the drum in pairs. The end elements in opposite ends of the
drum form the positive and negative poles.
For stirring, or giving motion to the exciting fluids of batteries, the Inventor
sometimes substitutes for the apparatus, before described, an apparatus which
forces air into the said fluids.
The following is a description of an improved battery constructed according
to this Invention, and in which air is employed for the purpose before-men-
tioned. Each cell of the battery is composed of plates of zinc, and of carbon
arranged alternately in a cell completely closed on all sides. The surface of
the zinc plates may be a half, third, or fourth of the surface of the carbon. The
whole of the plates of the same material are connected by a common con-
ductor which passes to the exterior of the cell without coming in contact with
the plates or conductor of the other set. These conductors are completely
coated with some isolating or non-conducting material.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a cell. In the bottom of the cell
is placed a tube A, which communicates with the interior of the cell by means

page_text: of a series of small vertical holes B, corresponding to the intervals between
the plates. This tube A communicates with another and outer flexible tulie C,
which in its turn communicates with a wind or blowing apparatus G. The
upper part of the outer cell or box is pierced by two holes, one D for the
escape of air, the other E, which extends to the bottom of the cell, for the
introduction of the exciting fluid. The lower part is pierced by a hole F,
which extends to the top of the cell. This hole is for the escape of the
exciting fluid. All these holes are wrought within the thickness of the side of
the cell, so as not to take up any room in the inside of the cell. In order
that the fluid may be renovated by a uniform influx of fresh fluid, it is neces-
sary that the holes for the entrance and escape of the fluid should be placed
at the opposite extremities of the cell. The exciting fluid, composed of water
acidulated to a convenient degree, and holding in solution or suspension
bichromate of potassa, &c., or binoxide of manganese, or other similar sub-
stance, enters the cell by the tube E, and escapes by overflowing through the
tube F. When the fluid has entered the cell, the wind or blowing apparatus
is set going, and the air forced in through the tube A and the small vertical
holes B, sets the fluid in violent agitation, which, as well as the flow of the
fluid itself, must be maintained as long as the battery is kept in action. The
fluid which escapes from the battery is collected in a vessel prepared for the
purpose, and is allowed to cool; it may, however, be used again if not saturated
with soluble salts; but when its powers of solution are exhausted, it is sub-
jected to evaporation, in order that its contents may be obtained. When the
battery is put out of action, the tubo G, and, by consequence, the flexible tube
C, is lowered, and the whole of the fluid is allowed to escape through the air
holes. To wash the apparatus the same process is adopted, but with water
only. To examine the state of the plates, the piece K, which is a fluid-tight
piece of leather, or india-rubber, or other suitable material, is removed, and the
whole of the plates may be withdrawn, as they are all connected on a rack
for that purpose. To compose a battery of a number of cells, the cells are
placed one upon the other, but in such a way that the escape orifice F
(Figure 1) of each cell which is added shall correspond exactly with the
entrance orifice E of the cell next below it. A tension battery may also
be made by placing the cells side by side on the same horizontal plane, as in
Figures 2, 3, and 4.
In either of these last arrangements the flexible air tubes C of the several
cells all unite in a general air tube G, so that one apparatus serves to force
the air into the whole of the cells, and the whole battery is emptied at one

page_text: orifice H. In this description the same letters distinguish the same parts in
the Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. The two operations, of the forced introduction of
air and the constant renovation of the exciting fluid, are equally necessary to
the preservation of the uniform energy of the galvanic current. If one of
the two processes be adopted without the other the result is incomplete, and
the apparatus is not capable of uniform or lasting service. If the flow of the
fluid be stopped there results a considerable increase of temperature, a rapid.
decomposition, a plentiful deposition on the surface of the plates, a useless
corrosion of the zinc, and a decrease in the power of the current. Again, if
the air process be arrested the current is weakened. Of this the experimenter
may assure himself, by introducing into the circuit a small piece of platinum
wire, which assumes successively a red and a white heat while the blast is
kept up, but when the blast is discontinued the incandescence of the platinum*
disappears. The incandescence is, however, resumed by the wire directly the
air apparatus is again set in motion. It is also indispensible to employ a
fluid composed as already described, for with water simply acidulated with
sulphuric acid no advantage is obtained from the air process. But using all
the means and precautions herein-before described there is no limit, says the
Inventor, to the power of the battery except its dimensions. The manipula-
tion of this battery is very simple, and the number of cells may be increased
to any extent without rendering the battery at all complicated. It exhales no
noxious odour; it is put into or out of operation in an instant, and with equal
surface it gives more "quantity" than the battery of Bunsen.
The Inventor reserves to himself the right to employ the air process for
agitating the exciting fluid in contact with the carbon when the carbon is
separated from the zinc plates by porous diaphragms or by porous cells, and
when acidulated water is used to act upon the zinc, and when an oxygenous
solution is used instead of nitric acid.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction of galvanic batteries in which the metallic or other
elements are put into motion in the exciting fluids, or in which the exciting
fluids themselves are put in motion, both for the purpose of facilitating the
action of the fluids upon the elements.
Secondly, the application for the said purpose of jets or currents of air to
the fluids of galvanic batteries, as herein-before described.
Thirdly, the method of preserving the constancy of galvanic batteries by
causing fresh supplies of the exciting fluid to flow continuously into the cells,
as herein-before described.

page_text: Fourthly, combining with the improvements comprised in the three
preceding claims, the employment, as an exciting fluid, of acidulated water
containing bicromate of patassa, or binoxide of manganese, or other similar
substance, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Fifthly, the construction of galvanic batteries and apparatus connected
therewith, as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand seal, this Second day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
K. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)