Improvements in Primary Batteries.
Year: 1899

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Primary Batteries.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES CALLMANN, Manufacturer, of No. 594, Broadway, in the
City of New York, in the County and State of New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement: —
The invention relates to improvements in the gravity type of primary electric
generating batteries, and the object of the invention is to produce a battery which
is simple and durable in construction, perfectly clean, proper in action, and in
which the exciting material used to keep the battery in action is acted upon
and decomposed by the electric current, so as to leave the electrodes, especially
the negative electrode, at all times in a perfectly clean solution of the exciting
liquid.
The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the
same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.
A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying
drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of refer-
ence indicate corresponding parts in both the views.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement, on the line 1-1
in Figure 2; and
Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of the same, on the line 2-2 in Figure 1.
In the jar A is placed the negative electrode B, of copper or other electro-
negative material, and preferably of the star, perpendicular or other deep pat-
tern. In the upper part of the jar A is placed the positive electrode C, of zinc,
preferably in the shape of a crow's foot. The negative electrode is contained in
a clear solution of copper sulphate, and the positive electrode C is in a solution
of zinc sulphate.
Between the electrodes B and C is placed a grid or perforated plate D, and
upon the upper side of this plate are placed the crystals of copper sulphate or
other exciting material used to keep the battery in action.
From the foregoing it is evident that the negative electrode B is in a clear
solution of copper sulphate and is kept out of contact with the exciting material
(crystals of copper sulphate) by the employment of the plate D, and consequently
the whole of its surface is always in action. The sulphate of zinc cannot pass
through the exciting material E and consequently is not liable to depolarize the
battery. Furthermore resistance is reduced to a minimum as no porous envelopes,
cups or the like are used.
The supporting plate D, when desired, may be made of electro-negative material
and form an integral part of the negative electrode B.
It is understood that by supporting the exciting material in the exciting fluid
between the negative and positive electrodes the said material is acted upon and
decomposed by the electric current, and the copper sulphate in the lower portion
of the jar is kept completely separate from the zinc sulphate solution in the
upper part of the jar.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A primary battery in which the exciting material for the exciting solution
is supported between the superposed electrodes and out of contact therewith to
be acted on and decomposed by the electric current, as set forth.
2. A primary battery in which a supporting plate is placed on the top of the
lower or negative electrode and carries the exciting material for the exciting
solution, said material being out of contact with the superposed electrodes and
being acted upon and decomposed by the electric current, as set forth.
Dated this 11th day of July 1899.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.