Improvements in Electric Accumulators or Storage Batteries.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 17th July, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 27th Aug., 1889-Accepted, 28th Sept., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Accumulators or Storage Batteries.
I, EMILE NICOLAS REYNIER of No. 3, Rue Benouville, Paris, France, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows
My Invention relates to electric accumulators or storage batteries in which the two
electrodes, or at least one of them, is or are formed of active material consisting of
permeable substances insoluble in the liquid. By the charging and discharging of
the battery these active materials react chemically upon the liquid, being thereby
altered in weight, density and volume.
An increase of volume, which I term "swelling" is produced at the discharge in
the electrodes of certain accumulators, such as the positive and negative electrodes
of the couples lead-sulphuric acid (system Planté) and the positive electrodes of
the couples lead-sulphate of zinc, and lead-sulphate of copper; a tendency to diminish
in volume occurs during the charging of these couples.
In other electro-chemical systems such as copper-alkaline zincate, the "swelling
takes place in charging, and the tendency to diminish in volume at the discharge.
22
The result of the swelling is, that the superficial layers of active matter being
presssed by their dilation against their supports, which do not expand in a corre-
sponding manner, tend to crack and detach themselves, so that on receding again
they do not resume their original volume on account of the want of continuity and
elasticity of the materials; by a succession of such actions the electrodes are soon
rendered unserviceable.
My Invention relates to a method of elastic construction which affords to the
insoluble active materials an artificial elasticity, in order that they may, without
detriment, be subjected to the above described alternate swelling and contracting: it
is applicable to the four descriptions of accumulators above referred to: lead-
sulphuric acid, lead-sulphate of zinc, lead-sulphate of copper, copper-alkaline zincate,
as also to other forms in which the one electrode, or both, is or are formed of active
material consisting of substances insoluble in the liquid, such as metals in a state of
subdivision, oxides of manganese, iron &c.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the Planté system (lead-sulphuric acid)
but it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to all other constructions as
above stated.
According to one construction the accumulator consists of four electrodes, of which
two are positive and two negative, the lead plate forming the one positive electrode
being situated on the one outer side, while the plate forming the one negative e'ectrode
is on the other outer side, with the second positive and negative electrodes placed
between these. Against the layers of active matter that cover these supporting plates
are placed porous partitions, which are not attacked, or only slightly so, by the liquid
and which are made as thin as practicable, rigid, and offering but little resistance to
the passage of the current. Between the two partitions of the contiguous electrodes,
which are of different sign, I interpose an insulating plate, with parallel faces, having
spaces and which may be formed like a comb, or a series of bands, or a grating of
wood, caoutchouc, ebonite, gutta percha, celluloid, glass, porcelain &c. The spaces
must be narrow, the more so, when the partitions are not very rigid. The two outer
plates are only coated on their inner faces, while the intermediate plates are coated
on both faces. In the case of accumulators of the Planté kind, the partitions can
consist of thin slabs of wood which possess a certain rigidity and will last several
years.
The recipient enclosing the electrodes, and which fits against the outer surfaces of
the two outer plates, is made of flexible material, such for instance as caoutchouc,

page_text: gutta percha, celluloid, tissue rendered imipermeable &c., or of thin lead. If the
recipient is made of material which is not in itself sufficiently flexible, it must be
made with pleats or corrugations like bellows, so as to enable it to give way sufficiently
when subject to a pressure at right angles to the plane of the electrodes.
recipient is made of metal its inner surface is suitably protected against any chemical
action of the substances' employed:
If the
To the outer faces of the recipient that are parallel with the electrodes are applied
rigid supporting bars or plates; extending across the recipient which bars or plates
may be of bronze, brass, iron, steel, or other suitable strong material or combination
of materials, such as thick glass or wood supported by metal or other coverings that
prevent flexure or warping these supports may be conveniently made of metal plates
having strengthening ribs on their backs. The two plates or supports arò tied
together at the ends by strong springs, of helical or other shape, either of metal
caoutchouc or other material, so as to press the recipient firmly between them in a
direction at right angles to the electrodes, so that the coatings of active matter on
the plates are continuously pressed between the supporting plates and the porous
partitions.
Thus the springs that tie the outer plates together, in yielding to the swelling of
the active material, will allow the whole battery to expand, while on the material
shrinking again, they will maintain its contact with the supporting surfaces by bringing
the whole back to its original position, and will thus prevent any separation of portions
of the active material during the charging and discharging.
If the invention is applied to accumulators in which there is a permanent initial
swelling on their formation, the elastic supports will first expand permanently to a
corresponding extent and will then further expand and contract during charging
and discharging as above described.
I am aware that primary and secondary batteries have been made in which the
insoluble active material have been compressed in a more or less effective manner, but
actually elastic accumulators such as are above described, the electrodes of which are
all permanently maintained in a normally compressed condition have not been before
proposed.
The essence of my invention consists in the use of flexible or expansible recipients
that are subject to external elastic compression.
By my invention I am also enabled to combine several accumulators in a single
system of compressing agents to form an elastic battery, that is to say, the recipients
of the accumulators are placed close together side by side and the compressing bars or
plates are placed against the outer faces of the two outer accumulators and are
connected by the springs.
The compressing plates may have projecting eyes at the top through which passes
a connecting bolt or bar, the heads of which are somewhat farther apart than the
distance of the end plates, so as to leave these perfectly free to be moved by the
expansion and contraction.
It will be seen that with my invention the cost and weight of the compressing
devices is not increased with the number of couples included in one battery, as
would be the case if the compressing devices were applied internally in the
accumulators.
The number of accumulators, or rather the thickness thereof which can be com-
pressed by a single pair of compressing plates has however its limits in practice, as, if
the distance between the rigid supports were too great, the middle portion would
tend to sink down by the action of gravity. This may to some extent be counter-
acted by making the supporting plates with feet projecting to a certain extent
inwards under the accumulators, so as to diminish the extent to which these are
unsupported, and such feet may also be employed with a single accumulator, when
this is of excessive size and weight.
For batteries of greater length, auxiliary supporting plates are introduced at
intermediate points between the accumulator couples, those plates being, if necessary,
also provided with fect projecting on each side; they require to be quito flat on both

page_text: sites and of a slightly less width than the outer plates, in order to allow the compressing
springs to pass them.
They may also be formed with projecting eyes through which the before mentioned
connecting bolt or bar of the outer plates passes. In addition to supporting the
accumulators at intermediate points, these intermediate plates have the further
advantage of preserving the parallelism of the electrodes, as these would otherwise
tend to deviate from such parallelism, owing to their yielding nature, when situated
at a distance from the outer supports.
The intermediate plates will also support the accumulators against sinking
without the before mentioned feet, as the frictional contact against the plates, which
are supported at top by the connecting bolt or bar, will be sufficient for the
purpose.
With the use of such intermediate plates the length to which the combined
accumulators can extend will only depend upon the rigidity of the connecting bolt
or bar from which they are suspended; if necessary, two or more of these may be
employed instead of only one, and they may be placed either at the top, or at the sides
or at bottom, or in two or more of these positions combined, and in these cases they
may be connected with each other so as to form a framing, but so arranged that the
several supporting plates are free to slide with their eyes upon them; one of the
plates, preferably a middle one, may however be fixed rigidly to the bar or bars.
According to another modification, the accumulators rest at bottom upon a base of
wood or metal, at the middle of which is a vertical plate passing up between the
accumulators to some distance above the same, and connected at top to the ends of
the base by sloping tie bars. The compression is effected as before by the two outer
supporting plates connected by springs.
If the apparatus is of considerable length, there would be two or more such
intermediate auxiliary supporting plates.
Lastly, the supporting bolts or bars may be replaced by a box-shaped or rigid
tubular framing within which the battery with its compressing plates and springs is
placed.
These last described arrangements have the disadvantage of increasing the weight
and volume of the entire apparatus and of obliging the bottom thereof to slide upon
the floor or base in expanding and contracting. In order to obviate this as much as
possible, there may be stretched upon the floor or base one or more elastic bands fixed
to the bottoms of the supporting plates, which bands in partaking of the motion of
the recipients, would avoid the sliding action.
With the arrangements without a base, one part of the battery is suspended without
support the other portions next the supporting plates only have a slight motion on
the feet thereof.
Various other arrangements for supporting the batteries may be adopted, all how-
over having the feature of flexible recipients compresed externally between rigid
supporting plates connected by springs.
It will be evident that in those accumulators having a soluble electrode, such as
hose of the lead-sulphate of zinc kind, the porous partitions are only necessary for the
nsoluble electrodes.
If the invention is applied to accumulators with two liquids, porous pots would
ave to be arranged so as not to prevent the compression of the insoluble electrodes
s above described.
The liquid employed in batteries constructed according to my invention may be
onverted into jelly or paste by chemical processes or be thickened by the addition of
ulverised, filamentous or spongy inert matter such as powdered glass, silica asbestos,
awdust, cellulose &c. as practised with ordinary batteries.
Dated this 17th day of Júl♥ 1389
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Accumulators or Storage Batteries.
I, EMILE NICOLAS REYNIER, of 3 Rue Benouville, Paris, France, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
My invention relates to electric accumulators or storage batteries in which the two
electrodes, or at least one of them, is or are formed of activo material consisting of
permeable substances insoluble in the liquid. By the charging and discharging of the
battery these active materials react chemically upon the liquid, being thereby altered
in weight, density and volume.
An increase of volume, which I term "swelling" is produced at the discharge in
the electrodes of certain accumulators, such as the positive and negative electrodes of
the couples: lead-sulphuric acid (system Planté) and the positive electrodes of the
couples lead-sulphate of zinc, and lead-sulphate of copper; a tendency to diminish
in volume occurs during the charging of these couples.
:
In other electro chemical systems such as copper-alkaline zincate, the "swelling"
takes place in charging, and the tendency to diminish in volume at the discharge.
The result of the swelling is that the superficial layers of active matter, being
pressed by their dilation against their supports, which do not expand in a corre-
sponding manner, tend to crack and detach themselves, so that on receding again
they do not resume their original volume, on account of the want of continuity and
elasticity of the materials; by a succession of such actions the electrodes are soon
rendered unserviceable.
My invention relates to a method of elastic construction which affords to the
insoluble active materials an artificial elasticity in order that they may, without
detriment, be subjected to the above described alternate "swelling" and contracting;
it is applicable to the four descriptions of accumulators above referred to: lead-
sulphuric acid, lead-sulphate of zinc, lead-sulphate of copper, copper-alkaline zincate,
as also to other forms in which the one electrode, or both, is or are formed of active
material consisting of substances insoluble in the liquid, such as metals in a state of
subdivision, oxides of manganese, iron, &c.
I will describe my invention as applied to the Planté system (lead-sulphuric acid)
but it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to all other constructions as
above stated.
On the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 shews an end view and Fig. 2 a longitudinal
section of an accumulator of the Planté kind constructed according to my invention.
Fig. 1ª shews a detached detail, Fig. 3 shews a side view and Fig. 4 a plan, the
electrodes being removed. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 shew in side view, end view, and plan a
battery composed of a limited number of accumulators mounted according to my
elastic systemu.
Fig. 8 shows a side view of a battery composed of a greater number of accumulators
Fig. 9 shews a side view of a battery composed of a considerable number o
accumulators and provided with intermediate supporting plates which are shew
detached in front and side view, at Figures 10 and 11.
Figs. 12, 13, 14 and 15 show front views of batteries with various arrangements
the supporting and guiding bare for guiding the supporting pressure plates, and f
enabling the battery to be suspended.
Figs. 16 and 17 shew side and end views of a wood framework for supporting th
battery and enabling it to be moved about. Figs. 18 and 19 are similar views shewin
a metal framework for the same purpose.
The accumulator shewn at Figs.
and 2 consists of four electrodes, of which t
are positive and two negative, the plates Nos. 1 and 3 being positive and tho
Nos. 2 and 4 negative.
To the layers n of active material covering the lead plate or support m is applied

page_text: porous partition e which is not at all or only slightly attacked by the liquid, and is
made as thin and rigid as possible, while it offers little resistance to the passage of the
electric current.
Between the two porous partitions of the two electrodes of opposite sign I interpose
an insulating plate with openings, shewn separately at Fig. 1. This insulating
plate may be of comb form as shewn, or it may be a series of bars, or a grid of wood,
caoutchouc, ebonite, gutta percha, celluloid, glass, porcelain, &c.
The spaces between the bars are made the narrower; the less rigidity the partition
possesses.
The two outer electrodes Nos. 1 and 4 are coated upon the inner face only as
indicated at Fig. 2; the intermediate electrodes are coated on both sides.
With accumulators of the Planté kind, the partitions may be of thin wood, which
possesses a certain rigidity and can last several years.
The partitions may also be made of thin porous ceramic material, or of porous
agglomerated mineral materials, such as silica, silicates &c., which are both porous
and insulating, and which in that case allow the special insulating plates i to be
dispensed with, so that a single porous partition can be interposed between two
electrodes.
The recipient A containing the electrodes and the exciting liquid is of flexible
material, such as for example caoutchouc, gutta percha, celluloid, tissue rendered
impermeable, and the like, or it may be of thin lead. If the recipient is made of a
not very flexible or elastic material, it must be constructed with corrugations like a
bellows in order to be able to expand or contract under pressure in a direction at
right angles to the plane of the electrodes.
When metallic recipients are used, the inner surfaces are suitably protected against
contacts and chemical action that might injure them.
To the two outer faces of the receptacle parallel to the electrodes are applied
rigid metal pressure plates S S of bronze, brass, iron, &c. or of any other strong
material.
They might also be made of thick glass or porcelain, or of wood strengthened by
ribs against flexure or warping. In the arrangements shewn the pressure plates are
supposed to be of metal provided with external strengthening ribs.
The two pressure plates shewn at Figs. 3 and 4 are strongly drawn towards each
other by means of springs rr which may be helical or other springs of metal,
caoutchouc &c.
The pressure plates are thus made to compress between them the recipient in a
direction at right angles to the electrodes, whereby these are compressed so that the
active matter thereon is always supported between the plates of the electrodes and the
porous partitions.
As the active matter swells, the springs yield, allowing the pressure plates to move
apart to a corresponding extent, while when the active matter shrinks again, the
springs draw the plates back to their original position.
Thus the active matter is always supported and prevented from crumbling away
both during the charging and the discharging.
If the accumulator is of the kind in which a permanent expansion of the active
matter takes place in the first instance, the receptacle expands permanently to a
corresponding extent, and then further expands and contracts on charging and
discharging.
I am aware that primary and secondary batteries have been made in which insoluble
active matters have been more or less compressed, but the above described method of
applying elastic pressure at right angles to the electrodes has not been employed
before. The essential feature of my invention consists in the construction of
accumulators with flexible and expansible recipients combined with external elastic
compressing devices.
This method of external compression permits of the combination of several
accumulators in one battery in which the compression of the whole is effected .by
means of a single compressing mechanism.

page_text: Thus for example four accumulators, of which only the flexible recipients A¹ A2 A³ A'
are shewn at Figs. 5 to 7, are placed side by side so that the electrodes are all arranged
parallel to each other, and are compressed by a single pair of external rigid pressure
plates SS, which are connected together by springs r. Each plate S
may be
formed with a projection Pat top having a hole through which is passed a bar M
which is made rather longer than the distance between the plates, in order to allow of
the free movement of these.
P
Thus it will be seen that with my system the weight, bulk, and price of the
compressing mechanism are not increased by the number of elements of the battery,
as they would necessarily be if the compressing mechanism were arranged internally.
The number, or rather thickness of the accumulators that can be treated by a single
set of compressing mechanism has however a practical limit. If the space between
the plates were extended indefinitely the central portion would tend to sagg down by
the action of gravity.
By constructing the pressure plates S with projecting flanges S₁ of a certain width
as at Fig. S the extent of the part without support would be diminished accordingly,
and consequently the total length could be correspondingly increased. It will be
evident that this construction of flanged pressure plates can also be used with a
single accumulator, if this is of such dimensions and weight as to require support at
bottom.
For batteries of still greater length there may be interposed at suitable distances
between the elements, auxiliary pressure plates S provided with flanges S³ on each
side as at Figs. 9, 10 11. The auxiliary pressure plates must be perfectly plane and
rigid and somewhat narrower than the main pressure plates so as to allow the com-
pressing springs to pass them. The auxiliary plates, like the principal ones, have
fugs with holes through which passes the supporting bar as at Fig. 9. The compressing
springs are in this case connected directly to the outer pressure plates as in the
previous cases.
The auxiliary plates thus arranged support the whole at suitable intervals..
They are also useful in maintaining the surfaces of the couples plane and parallel, as
these, being much less rigid than the said plates, they tend to become irregular by the
action of gravity when at a distance from the end supports.
Even without the bottom supporting flanges, the auxiliary plates support the
accumulators by their simple frictional contact due to the pressure to which they are
subjected, as these plates themselves receive support from the bars M.
With the use of such auxiliary plates the total length of the batteries can be increased
the more, the greater is the rigidity of the supporting bar. Instead of using only one
such supporting bar, two or more may be used, being either all placed at top as at
Fig. 12 or at the sides as at Fig. 13 or at bottom as at Fig. 14, or in two or more of
these positions, as at Fig. 15.
The supporting bars may also be connected together so as to form a rigid frame,
but so arranged that the end and auxiliary pressure plates can slide freely upon them.
One of the end pressure plates or preferably the middle one, might be fixed rigidly to
the supporting bars. According to another modification shewn at Figs. 16 and 17,
the accumulators rest at bottom upon a wooden or metal base to which is attached at
the middle a rigid upright plate, from the top of which bars extend to the ends of the
base as shewn.
The pressure is exerted between the two end pressure plates as before, the middle
one acting as auxiliary supporting and pressure plate.
If the apparatus is very long there would be interposed at suitable distances other
auxiliary plates without bottom flanges. Lastly the supporting bars may be replaced
by a regular cage or rigid hollow frame in the interior of which is placed the battery,
as shewn by way of example at Figs. 18 and 19.
These last described arrangements have the inconvenience of increasing the weight
and volume of the whole, and of causing the bottoms of the accumulators to slide upon
the base or floor of the cage in expanding and contracting, which movement is
appreciable for the couples situated near the ends.

page_text: For reducing this effect there may be stretched upon the floor one or more elastic
bands attached to the bottoms of the pressure plates, so that they partake of the same
motion as the bottoms of the recipients and thus obviate their sliding contact.
With the arrangements without a base, one part of the battery is suspended, while
the other parts have only a very slight motion upon the flanges supporting them next
the pressure plates.
Various other modifications of the arrangements might be described, all however
embodying the main feature of flexible recipients compressed by rigid pressure plates
acted upon by springs, and, as before stated, those arrangements are applicable not
only to accumulators of the Planté class, but also to all accumulators having at the
one or the other pole or at both poles permeable insoluble active material. .
It will be evident that in accumulators having one electrode soluble, such as those
of the lead-sulphate of zine class, the porous partitions are only required for the
electrodes of insoluble active matter.
If the accumulators have two liquids, porous pots must be suitably arranged so as
not to interfere with the compression of the insoluble active matter according to my
above described invention.
In my above described elastic accumulators, the liquid can be converted into a
gelatinous or pasty consistency as in the ordinary accumulators either chemically or
by the addition of pulverulent or spongy inert matter, such as glass, silica, or asbestos
in powder or in filaments, saw dust, cellulose &c.
In suitably selecting the absorbant materials and agglomerating then more or less,
they may be made to serve as the insulating porous partitions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Constructing accumulators in which the electrodes, suitably insulated from each
other, are contained in flexible receptacles to the outer end surfaces of which are
applied rigid pressure plates parallel to the electrodes, and connected together by
springs of metal, caoutchouc. or other material, so as to exert an elastic pressure upon
the electrodes substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
2. Combining two or more accumulators with flexible receptacles such as are
referred to in the preceding claim into a single battery to the ends of which are applied
rigid pressure plates acted upon by springs, with or without supporting flanges and
auxiliary intermediate pressure plates, substantially as herein described.
3. In batteries constructed as set forth in the preceding claims, the use in com-
bination with the pressure and supporting plates of one or more supporting bars M or
of a combination of such bars forming a cage or framing for supporting the battery
and either provided or not with a base upon which the battery rests, by preference
with the interposition of elastic bands, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
Dated this 24th day of August 1889.
ABEL & INKAI,
Agents for the Applicant.