PORTABLE SUSTAINING VOLTAIC BATTERIES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald, of 6, Wycliffe
Grove, Lavender Hill, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention
of "PORTABLE SUSTAINING VOLTAIC BATTERIES."
Sealed the 13th June 1871, and dated the 19th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-
Gerald at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th December 1870.
I, DESMOND GERALD FITZ-GERALD, of 6, Wycliffe Grove, Lavender
Hill, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "PORTABLE SUSTAINING VOLTAIC BATTERIES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in the construction of improved portable
batteries excited and sustained by means of fluids in combination with
insoluble or partially soluble metallic oxides or salts (or substances
capable of oxidising nascent hydrogen), the latter being in contact with
the negative elements of the couples. Such batteries adapted for
telegraphic, medical, or experimental purposes may be arranged in the

page_text: form of a chain, of which each link preferably formed of a hollow
cylinder of one metal enclosing a solid cylinder or wire of the other
metal. Such hollow cylinder being closed at the extremities so as to
contain the charging or sustaining materials constitutes a permanently
charged voltaic couple. Or the elements may be disposed upon two or
more surfaces in such manner that when these surfaces are brought into
apposition a complete voltaic series is formed.
The improved forms of battery are also adapted, but less advantageously,
to be used as heretofore simply with (acid) fluids, held by an absorbent
substance. They differ from all other portable batteries hitherto devised
in the fact of their not requiring to be charged or excited each time
they are used, in retaining their power unimpaired without being so
charged for periods of time varying from several months to several
years (according to the purpose for which they are used), in the con-
stancy of their "tension" or electro-motive force, and in being free from
the inconvenience of external moisture whilst in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DESMOND
GERALD FITZ-GERALD, of 6, Wycliffe Grove, Lavender Hill, in the
County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald,
Her special licence, that I, the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for " PORTABLE SUSTAINING VOLTAIC BATTERIES," upon the

page_text: ,
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-
Gerald, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under 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 Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention consists in the construction of improved portable
batteries excited and sustained by means of fluids in combination with
insoluble or partially soluble metallic oxides or salts (or substances
capable of oxidising nascent hydrogen), the latter being in contact with
the negative elements of the couples. Such batteries adapted for tele-
graphic, medical, or philosophical purposes may be arranged in the form
of a chain of which each link preferably formed of a hollow cylinder of
one metal enclosing a solid cylinder or wire of the other metal. Such
hollow cylinder being closed at the extremities so as to contain the
charging or sustaining materials constitutes a permanently charged
voltaic couple. Or the elements may be disposed upon two or more
surfaces in such manner that when the surfaces are brought into
apposition a complete voltaic series is formed. The improved forms of
battery are also adapted, but less advantageously, to be used as heretofore
simply with (acid) fluids held by an absorbent substance. They differ
from all other portable batteries hitherto constructed in the fact of their
not requiring to be charged or excited each time they are used, in
retaining their power unimpaired without being so charged for periods
of time varying from several months to several years (according to the
purpose for which they are used), in the constancy of their "tension "
or electro-motive force, and in being free from the inconvenience of
external moisture whilst in use.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention I now proceed
to particularly describe and ascertain the manner in which the same is
to be performed or put in practice.
The following is an example of the mode in which I construct a
portable sustaining voltaic battery in the form of a chain which is free

page_text: from the inconvenience and disadvantage of external moisture:--I take
a hollow cylinder of metal, which may advantageously be of silver or
of brass coated with silver on both its surfaces, and to this I solder
longitudinally a wire somewhat longer than the tube and having at each
extremity a loop by means of which the tube which constitutes in this
case the negative element of a voltaic couple may be connected to the
positive element of the next couple in the direction of the positive pole
of the battery. In order to allow of this connection the wire, which
may be of brass coated with silver, is bent twice at right angles to the
extremities of the cylinder. Or the cylinder may be formed of a rect-
angular piece of metal, with two arms or projections on the opposite
sides of the rectangle which are intended to form the ends of the cylinder
cut or punched out of a sheet of metal such as silver or silvered copper
or brass. These two arms or projections being bent at right angles near
to the ends of the cylinder and having a hole punched at their extremities
answer the same purpose as the aforesaid wire, which may be soldered
longitudinally to the cylinder. I then drill or punch one or more small
apertures in the cylinder in a line parallel to the length and preferably
at a distance of one quadrant of the circle (terminating the cylinder)
from the line upon which the connection wire is soldered or from which
the connecting arms project. These apertures are next stopped or closed,
preferably by running a small quantity of fine plaster in admixture with
water (or with a solution of potassic sulphate, alum, or borax) into the
interior of the tube at that part of it where the apertures are made.
The positive element of the couple is formed of a piece of zinc wire
somewhat greater in length than the above-mentioned cylinder. It may
advantageously be amalgamated with mercury and subsequently covered.
with a thin layer of fibrous material, unsized paper, or plaster. The
amalgamation may be rapidly and perfectly effected by taking a con-
siderable number of the elements in question, immersing them for a few
moments in dilute sulphuric acid, transferring them to a cloth, throwing
upon them a few drops of metallic mercury, and shaking them together
within the cloth until the mercury is uniformly distributed over their

page_text: cylinder, and are perforated centrally with a circular aperture of the
same diameter as the wire of which the zinc elements are formed.
The charging compound for filling the cylinder (which in order to be
effective must be in direct contact with the surface of the negative
element) may be manganic oxide (binoxide of manganese) prepared by
mixing with it about one-sixth of its weight of potassic disulphate in
solution, partially drying the mixture, and reducing it to a powder by
trituration. If not thus prepared by admixture with a soluble salt the
peroxide can be made to absorb moisture only with great difficulty.
Ammonic chloride (salammoniac) may be substituted for potassic di-
sulphate, and in certain cases when low internal resistance is required
an addition to the mixture of about one-third its weight of a conducting
body strongly electro-negative to zinc and in a state of coarse division
(such as silver filings or powdered graphite) will be found advantageous.
As examples of other charging compounds sustaining the voltaic action
of the elements I may mention the following: Plumbic binoxide
or plumbic sulphate in admixture with potassic disulphate, hydrated
oxycarbonate of copper (chessylite), hydrated dibassic, carbonate of
copper (malachite or "mineral green,) cupric oxide or argentic chloride
in admixture with chloride of ammonium, or with the chlorides of
ammonium and of calcium.
-
To charge the cell one of the perforated gutta percha stoppers is
adjusted upon the zinc element near to one of its extremities; this
element is placed within the cylinder, and the stopper is inserted tightly
into the latter. The zinc element should project equally at each end
of the cylinder. A funnel of thin metal is now inserted into the open
extremity of the cylinder, and through it a measured quantity of the
charging compound, sufficient to nearly fill up the cylinder, is intro-
duced into the latter. A second stopper is now adjusted to the free
extremity of the zinc element and inserted tightly into the cylinder,
which is thus completely closed with the zinc element firmly fixed in
its axis, and the charging or depolarising compound in direct contact.
with its interior surface.
Although it is preferred to construct the outer cylinder of that metal
which constitutes the negative element of the battery, and to place the
positive element within this cylinder, the relative position of the elements
may be varied.

page_text: To connect the charged cells so as to form a voltaic series in the form
of a chain the extremities of the zinc element of cach cell (with the
exception of that clement constituting the negative pole) are inserted
into the loops at cach extremity of the connecting wire, or into the
perforations in the connecting arms, and the latter are adjusted so as
to hold the links or cells securely together. The loops or perforations
should fit somewhat tightly; the extremities of the zinc element and the
connecting wires or arms should be of sufficient strength to retain
whilst the chain is in use the position in which they are adjusted. The
closed perforations in the cylinders should all be on the same side of
the chain, in order that they may readily fulfil their function of allowing
the absorption of an exciting fluid or of moisture when the charging
compounds within the cells has become dry. A metallic hook or
terminals of various forms may be attached to cach pole of the
battery.
In certain cases, as when the battery is required merely to com-
municate or to maintain a static charge, no further excitation of the
chain is required, provided the charging compound contain a certain
proportion of moisture and a hygroscopic salt, such as potassic disulphate
(hydropotassic sulphate) or chloride of calcium. In other cases it is
necessary to excite the chain battery at certain intervals by laying it
with the perforations downwards in a shallow trough, the bottom
of which is flooded with an acid or saline fluid, such as a solution of
acetic acid, ammonic chloride, potassic disulphate, or sulphuric acid,
according to the nature of the charging compound and the strength
of the current required. A small spirit level may be attached to this
trough in order to allow of its being readily adjusted in a horizontal
position so as to ensure an equal depth of fluid at every part. The
chain may readily be disconnected into two or more portions in order
to avoid the use of a very long charging trough or dish. When a
sufficient quantity of the fluid has become absorbed the chain may be
washed in tepid water and dried externally with a cloth. Previously
to its being re-excited it is advisable to immerse it for a short time in
tepid water, in order to dissolve out the zinc salt which has become
formed. Dilute sulphuric acid forms an exciting fluid far more powerful
than the other solutions above mentioned; this or potassic disulphate
solution may be used with the manganic peroxide; whilst with oxide
of copper or the insoluble compounds of this metal a solution of

page_text: ammonic chloride gives the best result. In many cases the excitation
of the chain by these solutions will be required only at distant intervals
I am aware that "insoluble metallic salts" capable of depolarising the
negative element of a voltaic couple have heretofore been claimed in
their application to certain portable or "chain" batteries, but not
in actual contact with the negative element; and without such contact
these "metallic salts," as well as the metallic oxides herein-before more
particularly referred to would be completely ineffective as is well known
to electricians.
When used for medical purposes the chain may advantageously be
laid with the closed apertures downwards upon a strip of leather cloth
or other suitable material of about the same width as the chain and
fastened to it by means of loops or strings; or a casing may be so
constructed as to leave only the poles of the battery exposed.
Another mode in which I construct a portable sustaining voltaic
battery is by arranging alternately the positive and negative elements in
the form of flat plates upon two or more surfaces in such manner that
when these surfaces are superposed a continuous valtaic series is formed.
The positive and negative elements on each surface, with the exception
of the terminal plates, are connected together in pairs in such manner
that when the surfaces are superposed the positive element of each
pair constitutes a couple with the negative element on the opposing
surface, and the negative element of each pair constitutes a couple
with a positive element on the opposing surface, care being taken
that the couples are all connected in series. The surfaces upon which
the elements are thus distributed may be of ebonite, dry wood saturated
with paraffin, wax, or any other non-conducting material unaffected
by moisture. The negative elements are sunk into hollows formed in
these surfaces of sufficient depth to allow of a layer of one of the above-
mentioned charging compounds or of any other suitable depolarising
substance being placed in contact with cach negative element and
interposed between the plates constituting each couple. These layers
of the depolarising compound are covered with a porous and absorbent
material such as plaster, paper pulp, or woollen cloth, which may be
maintained in position by means of an open frame of any suitable
material fitting tightly into the hollows formed in the insulating
surfaces upon which the plates are fixed. To give an example of this
form of battery I may take the case of a series of nine couples arranged

page_text: on two surfaces.
Two sheets of ebonite are obtained of such size as to
allow of nine plates (positive and negative) being cemented to one of
the surfaces of each sheet at a sufficient distance apart to secure the
necessary insulation. Calling these ebonite sheets respectively number
one and number two, I will, beginning at the left hand upper angle of
each sheet, specify the arrangement of the elements (supposing these to
be of zinc and copper) and indicate by means of a hyphen the contacts
between the elements. In the case of sheet number one we may have
in the first row of three plates-copper-zinc, copper (terminal plate or
positive pole); in the second row-zinc-copper and zinc connected to
copper immediately below; and in the third row-copper-zinc and copper
connected to zinc above). In the case of sheet number two we shall
then have in the first row-zinc-copper and zinc connected to copper
immediately below; in the second row-copper-zinc and copper (con-
nected to zinc above); and in the third row-zinc-copper and zinc
(terminal plate or negative pole). If the ebonite sheets with the plates
thus arranged upon their surfaces be now simply superposed (so that the
free terminal plates may be at opposite angles, the elements will form
a continuous series of nine couples connected for tension effects.
When more than two of the insulating sheets (or plates) are employed
their intermediate insulating plate or plates have the elements disposed
upon
both their surfaces. The connections in this case are continued from
one surface to the other of these intermediate plates in a manner which
will be understood from what has been herein-before stated. A shallow
trough, which can be flooded with any suitable exciting fluid into
which the elements arranged upon each surface can be simultaneously
immersed, is by preference employed for the purpose of exciting this
battery. The insulating plates when superposed may be contained in a
case which can be carried upon the person, and the poles of the battery,
when this is used for medical purposes, may then be connected by flexible
conductors to conducting terminals adjusted to any portion of the body.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by
which the same may be carried into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to any of the precise details or arrange-
ments herein-before described, as the same may be varied without
altering the principle or the nature of my Invention; but I claim,-
Firstly. The construction of portable batteries free from the incon-
venience of external moisture substantially as above described, viz., by

page_text: means of closed cylinders of the negative metal surrounding the positive
metal and capable of admitting moisture or an exciting fluid through
one or more apertures stopped with a porous material such as plaster.
Secondly. The employment in direct contact with the inner surface
of the herein-before mentioned cylinders or with the negative elements
of compound batteries disposed upon two or more surfaces as described
of metallic oxides or other bodies capable of depolarising the negative
element.
Thirdly. The method of disposing the elements of a battery connected
in series for the production of tension effects upon two or more surfaces
which are superposed or brought into apposition when the battery is to
be used.
In witness whereof, I, the said Desmond Gerald Fitz-Gerald, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
DESMOND GERALD FITZ-GERALD. (L.S.)
Witness,
JNO. M. MACINTOSH,
10, Strand, W.C.