IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Camille Faure, of the Patent Office, 67, Strand,
in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES."
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated 18th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Camille Faure at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th November 1869.
I, CAMILLE FAURE, of the Patent Office, 67, Strand, in the City of
Westminster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANIC BATTERIES," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist in making the porous cells or jars of
batteries known as "two liquid batteries," and also electro-positive
poles, plates, bars, or rods of a mixture of clay, plaster, or other like
material capable of binding, und of powdered plumbago, coke, carbon,
or other like material capable of conducting electricity. Also in making
[Prise 8d.j

page_text: said porous cells or jars as above described and porous cells and jars
generally when intended for use in nitric acid batteries so formed that
they (the cells and jars) may be kept stoppered or otherwise closed
whilst the batteries are in action, and thus prevent the escape of gasses
and fumes into the atmosphere.
The improvements may be carried into effect by making the cells or
jars and the positive poles or plates of the material as above described,
in such proportions as regards the component materials (binding and
electrical) as may be found convenient, and of any size or shape required,
the cells or jars may conveniently be formed in the shape of a common
earthenware ginger beer bottle, having the neck ground or otherwise
formed to receive a stopper or plug made of any suitable material. The
cells or jars and the positive plates or poles may be fixed or suspended
and worked in the ordinary manner now in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Camille Faure in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CAMILLE
FAURE, of the Patent Office, 67,- Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto
the said Camille Faure, Her special licence that I, the
said Camille Faure, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Camille Faure, 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," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Camille Faure, my executors or admi.
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of

page_text: 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 Camille Faure, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The improvements consist in making the porous cells or jars of
batteries known as "two liquid batteries," and also electro-positive pole
plates, bars, or rods, of a mixture of clay, plaster, or other like material
capable of binding, and of powdered plumbago, coke, carbon, or other
like material capable of conducting electricity. Also in making said
porous cells or jars as above described and porous cells and jars generally
when intended for use in nitric acid batteries so formed that they (the
cells or jars) may be kept stoppered or otherwise closed whilst the batteries
are in action, and thus prevent the escape of gasses and fumes into
the atmosphere.
The improvements may be carried into effect by making the cells or
jars and the positive pole plates of the material above described in such
proportions as regards the component materials (binding and electrical)
as may be found convenient and of any size or shape required; the cells
or jars may conveniently be formed in the shape of a common earthen-
ware "ginger beer bottle" having the neck ground or otherwise formed
to receive a stopper or plug made of any suitable material, the cells or.
jars and the positive pole plates may be fixed or suspended and worked
in the ordinary manner now in use.
•
In order to make my Invention better understood I have appended
a Drawing which represents the mode in which my improved batteries
are constructed.
Fig. 1 shews a nitric acid battery, it consists of a porous bottle (A)
made of a mixture of plumbago and clay, or of different kinds of plumbago
or graphite; this bottle forms one element and it is closed at the top by
a stopper (B) to which the conducting wire is attached by the biuding
screw (C), the other element is formed of a ziuc cylinder (D) placed into a
jur which contains a solution of chloride of sodium. The bottle (A) is filled

page_text: with nitric acid, or it may be filled partly with clean silicious sand, so as to
reduce the space to be occupied by the nitric acid. The gases generated
from the nitric acid by the galvanic action are prevented from escaping
into the atmosphere, and by their pressure force the nitric acid through
the pores of the bottle (A) to its outer surface, thereby maintaining the
continuity of the action and the constancy of the battery.
Fig. 2 shews my improvements as applied to a battery which employs
salamonia and peroxide of manganese, The bottle (A) is filled with the
solution of salamonia and closed by a stopper of gutta percha (B)
which carries the zinc bar (D). The bottle is surrounded by powdered
peroxide of manganese which fills the space between the bottle (A)
and the outer jar. The conducting wire is attached at the neck of the
bottle (C).
In cases where a strong battery is required for a very short time only,
such as for instance for blasting operations, &c., the porous elements
need not be filled with nitric acid, but it will suffice to make them
sufficiently porous so as to hold a quantity of such acid in their pores
when they have been dipped into it shortly before being employed, in
such cases the hollow elements can be replaced by solid pieces of the
porous material above described.
In cases where the action is required to be continuous for a very great
length of time an arrangement for continuously feeding the bottle with
nitric acid may be provided so as to keep up the supply in liquid in each
bottle for any required length of time,
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the mai.ner in
which the same may be put into operation, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I do not claim the application of carbon, graphite, or a
mixture of these substances with clay as a material for the elements of
galvanic batteries, but what I claim is,-
1st. The construction of elements of galvanic batteries from the
materials herein-before named or from other suitable materials in the
particular form of a vessel capable of holding liquid in its interior, and
of being closed by a stopper so as to prevent the exit of gases into the
atmosphere.
2nd. The construction of stoppers for such elements of a galvanic
battery in the manner substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: 3rd. The application of elements made from porous materials to the
construction of batteries by collecting small quantities of liquids in their
pores, essentially as described, so as to form "two liquid
without the use of diaphrams.
batteries "
In witness whereof, I, the said Camille Faure, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord 1870.
.