US1582567A - Electrode - Google Patents

Description

Patented Apr. 27, 1926,

UNITED STATE PAraur Fries.

VICTOR YNGVE, 0F LONG BRANCH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 MANHATTAN ELEC- TRICAL SUPPLY COMPANY,.INC., OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF CHUSETTS.

No Drawing.

1 '0 all whom it may 0012 0am:

Be it known that I, VIo'roR YNGVE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Branch, New Jersey, in the county of Monmouth andState of New Jersey, United States of America, having invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrodes, do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in electrodes for batteries and more particularly to metallic electrodes for dry cells.-

It is the object of the present invention to provide a metallic electrode which will not be corroded locally before being placed in actual service, the shelf life. of whichis long, and which is nevertheless inexpensive.

to manufacture and assemble.

It is well known in this art that local corrosion of the metallic electrode is one of the chief reasons for short shelf life. This corrosion is caused by an uneven electrolytic potential on the surface of the electrode, the Zinc dissolving in one area being deposited in another, thus pitting the surface, with the result that when the cell is placed in service it isperforated at the thin areas, with resultant loss of electrolyte and ruin' ofthe cell. The uneven electrolytic potential is caused by impurities in the electrode or physical unevenness or strain in the elec-, trode. In zinc cups for dry cells, for instance, it has been found that the zinc is more quickly consumed along seams and at points subjected to excessive strain during the rolling, drawing or other similar operatrons Most of this local corroslon 1s due to local action before the battery is actually.

MASSA- ELECTRODE.

Application filed July 30, 1923. Serial No. 654,783.

or depositing by electrolysis or precipitation. These suggestions were found impractical because too expensive or ineffective materially to improve the efficiency and particularly the shelf life of dry cells. Similarly, dry cells which remain inactive while in stock, the so-called reserve cells, are too expensive or are in other ways objectionable inucomparison with the usual type of dry ce In accordance with the present invention, these disadvantages are avoided by forming the metallic electrodes, e. zinc cans of dry cells in the usual manner and then electrolytically depositing thereon a thin film of the same metal, e. g. zinc. This film of 7 metal will be of great purity and will possess a uniform electrical potential and will be free from physical strain. It will therefore resist for a relatively long time the local action to which such electrodes are subjected during the shelf life of a dry cell. The application of such a thin film of electrolytically deposited metal is inexpensive and may entirely replace the now generally practiced amalgamation of the inside surface of zinc cans although, obviously, the present inventionmay be practiced in combination with the usual amalgamating. While it is desirable that the film of electrolytically deposited metal be as heavyas is permissible from a cost standpoint, any film which covers the surface will give improved results.

What I claim is:

1. The method of protecting zinc containor electrodes for dry cells against local corrosion, which consists in entirely covering the inside surface thereof with a'thin film of zinc electrolytically deposited thereon.

2. The method of making dry cells which consists in'firs't forming the Zinc container electrode, then electrolytically depositing on the inside surface thereof a thin film of zinc, and finally completing the dry cell.

' In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 23d dayof July 1923.

VICTOR YNGVE.