IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF ELECTRIC BATTERIES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ELECTRIC BATTERIES."-A communication from abroad by
George Lionel Leclanché, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th July 1874.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC BATTERIES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the agglomeration by hydraulic or other
pressure of solid depolarising mixtures now used in electric batteries so as
to obtain agglomerated solids, having sufficient conductivity and to render

page_text: the use of porous diaphragms or vessels unnecessary, and also if necd
be of the metallic or carbon plates ordinarily used as collectors of
electricty at the positive pole. To this end a mixture is prepared of an
oxide of manganese and carbon (both being good electrical conductors)
in a state of powder, more or less fine, and in equal volumes, or in such
other proportions as may be thought most suitable for getting the greatest
useful result of electricity. To this mixture may be added a small
quantity of some substance such as tar, bitumen, pitch, albumen,
gelatine, paper pulp, silicates, cements, gums, or resins, in a word,
anything that will bind together, either hot or cold, the particles of the
mixture. If the added substance is a non-conductor, such as resins in
general, care must be taken not to weaken too much the conducting
power. Speaking generally, if a gum-like resin is used 5 or 10 per
cent. will suffice to obtain a satisfactory result..
The mixture intended for the depolarising mass, which in this
instance is composed of three substances (oxide of manganese, carbon,
and resin) being well made, it is put into an ordinary mould suitably
heated and provided with a compressing piston, which is worked by a
hydraulic or other press so as to change the mixture from a powdery to
a compact and solid mass of the form of the mould. The electricity of
this solid mass may be collected by a conical wire, pincers of metal, or
by a carbon point.
The only thing now necessary in order to get an efficient battery is to
join this new positive agglomerated pole with a zinc rod for instance,
and to plunge this system of two poles into a solution of some exciting
salt, such as salammoniac.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
I
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED 30
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors;
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, admis
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, niy executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC BATTERIES," being
a communication to me from abroad by George Lionel Leclanché, of
Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
This Invention relates to the agglomeration, by hydraulic or other
pressure, of solid depolarizing mixtures used in electric batteries so as to
obtain agglomerated solids having sufficient conductivity to render the
use of porous vessels or diaphragms unnecessary, and also of the metallic.
or carbon plates ordinarily used as collectors of electricity at the positive
pole. To this end a mixture is prepared of an oxide of manganese and
carbon (both being good electrical conductors) in a state of powder,
more or less fine and in equal volumes, or in such other proportions as
may be thought most suitable for getting the greatest useful result of,
electricity. To this mixture may be added a small quantity of some
substance such as tar, bitumen, pitch, albumen, gelatine, paper pulp,
silicates, cements, gums, or resins, in a word, anything that will assist

page_text: in binding together, with or without the application of heat, the particles
of the mixture. If the added substance is a non-conductor such as
resins in general care must be taken not to weaken too much the
conducting power of the compound. Speaking generally, if a gum-like
resin is used, five or ten per cent. will suffice to obtain a satisfactory.
result, but it is believed that where a great pressure is available no
binding material will be needed.
The mixture intended for the depolarizing mass, which in this instance
is composed of three substances (oxide of manganese, carbon, and resin):
having been well combined is put into a cast-iron mould suitably heated
and provided with a compressing piston or plunger; hydraulic or other
adequate pressure is then applied to the plunger and maintained until
the mixture is converted from a powdery into a compact and solid mass
of the form of the mould. The electricity of this solid mass may be
collected by a copper wire, pincers of metal, or by a carbon point.
The only thing now necessary in order to get an efficient battery is to
join this new positive agglomerated pole with a zinc rod or its equivalent,
and to plunge this system of two poles into a solution of some exciting
salt, such as salammoniac.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shows an electric battery of one.
cell constructed according to this Invention, the vessel for containing
the exciting liquor being in section.
Fig. 2 shews in vertical section the positive pole of the battery made
according to the above-described process.
A is the vessel, or it may be one cell of a large battery containing a
solution of salammoniac or other exciting salt; B is the positive pole
of the battery composed of powdered oxide of manganese and carbon
combined with some suitable adhesive substance to ensure the better
cohesion of the particles, the same being compressed by preference in a
cylindrical mould to produce therefrom a solid block. In the top of this
compressed block is inserted a plug of graphite C for collecting, the
electricity from the block B. Fitted to the upper end of the graphite C
is a metal cap piece D tapped to receive a binding screw, by which the
conducting wire E is secured to the pole. To strengthen the con-
nection between the metal cap piece and the compressed block a metal
binding tube F filled with resin is interposed between them. This will
prevent the breakage of the graphite and maintain the connection of the

page_text: cap piece with the block B. G is a zinc rod connected by bands H to
the block A, a filling piece of wood being interposed to keep the poles
apart, and I is the conducting wire for the zinc rod.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Electric Batteries," as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the manufacture from good electrical
conducting materials in a state of powder of solidified blocks, in the
manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.