Improvements in Secondary Voltaic Batteries.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 10th Oct., 1893—Accepted, 11th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Secondary Voltaic Batteries.
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY both of 13,
Great James Street, Bedford Row, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The electrodes of secondary batteries as at present constructed are apt to be
very speedily destroyed by what may for convenience be termed electrical ill-usage
or in other words the too-rapid charging and discharging of the battery.
It is the object of our invention to provide a battery which shall be unaffected,
or at all events not detrimentally affected, by such ill-usage and one which shall be
free from local action on an open circuit.
According to our invention the negative element consists of a pasty mass of
peroxide of lead resting on the bottom of a cell or container of dish or tray form, the
said electrode being provided with a conducting plate of lead or an alloy of this metal
coated with gold or platinum to prevent oxidation and embedded in, and wholly
covered by, the pasty mass except a narrow strip which serves as a contact piece
and is bent so as to pass out of the cell.
The tray is of a depth to receive the pasty mass and the positive element,
consisting of a plate of spongy lead, is supported horizontally above the positive
electrode on suitable insulating supports and also provided with a similar contact
piece.
In practice several of these cells may be superposed within an outer case.
d this 1st day of June 1893.
E. J. CLUBBE,
A. W. SOUTHEY,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Secondary Voltaic Batteries.
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY, both of 13,
Great James Street, Bedford Row, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical
Engineers, 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 :-
The negative elements of secondary batteries as at present constructed are liable
to be speedily destroyed by what may be termed electrical ill-usage or in other
words the too-rapid charging and discharging of the battery. The object of our
invention is to so construct the negative element of a battery that it shall not be
detrimentally affected by such ill-usage and shall be free from local action in open
circuit. To accomplish this twofold result we dispense with the usual grid-like or
other solid metal support from which the active material is liable to become
detached and which being exposed to the electrolyte is liable to cause the setting
up of local action, and in lieu thereof the negative element is contained in an open
tray of non-conductive material placed in a horizontal position, and a conductive
tang is wholly embedded in the active material of which the element is
composed.

page_text: Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification wherein
Figure 1 is a vertical section and Figure 2 a plan of a cell containing a single
pair of elements.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a cell containing a number of superposed pairs
of elements.
The same letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.
According to our invention the negative element consists of a mass of peroxide
of lead A contained in a tray E and having a conductor B of lead or, preferably,
an alloy of lead and antimony embedded in the mass and provided with a tang
which is bent up to form a contact piece and may be covered with a protective tube
of insulating material. The tray E is made of ebonite or any other suitable
insulating material not affected by the electrolyte, and is of sufficient depth to
receive both the mass A and the positive element C consisting of a plate of spongy
lead which is supported horizontally at a short distance above the negative element
by an open frame or separator D made of ebonite. The element C is also provided
with a conductor F of lead embedded in it and passing up out of the cell for the
purpose of a contact piece.
The negative element A is made up in the form of a pasty mass, preferably of
minium, mixed with dilute sulphuric acid in the ordinary way and whilst in the
pasty condition is filled into the tray E, the conductor B being at same time
embedded therein. The positive element is preferably made of litharge mixed
with dilute acid and moulded in any suitable mould, holes being made in it before
or after the element is "formed" to allow of the escape of gas generated in the
battery. The operation of forming the positive and negative elements is conducted
in the usual way.
In practice, several cells thus constructed may be superposed within an outer
case E as shewn in Figure 3 and held in position by corner blocks E³ which leave
space for the electrolyte between the four sides of trays and the outer case, the
edges of the trays E¹ being notched to give access for the electrolyte to the
elements and the bottoms of the trays being perforated with narrow slits, in order
to reduce the internal resistance of the battery.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is―
1. A secondary voltaic battery wherein the negative element is contained in a
horizontal tray of insulating material and has a conductor embedded in it whilst
the positive element is supported within the tray at a short distance above the
negative element, substantially as specified.
2. A secondary voltaic battery formed by the superposition within an outer
casing of a series of horizontal trays each containing a negative element having
a positive element arranged above it, the trays being apertured to permit the
circulation of the electrolyte and diminish the internal resistance of the battery,
substantially as specified.
Dated this 10th day of October 1893.