US271732A

US271732A - Zeratjx

Info

Publication number: US271732A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-02-06
Anticipated expiration: 1900-02-06

Description

(No Model.) f

C. P. NEZERAUX.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

Patentedfeb. 6,1883.

FIG'- 5 F16.- fr

Ven (a n. Pneus. Pmuumnmpw. wa-hingm. D. c

. Ytorride are bad conductors) ci 'UNTTsD STATns PATENT Trice,

CHARLES PLAOIDE NZERAUX, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

SECONDARY-BATTERY.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent'No. 271,732, dated February 6, 1883.

Application filed September 26, 1882. (No modeLl Patented in France June 23, 188:2, in Belgium September il. 1.882, and in England June 2s, lese, No. 3,030.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES PLACIDE N13`- ZERAUX, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Paris, France, have invented an Improved Secondary Battery, (For which I have obtained Letters Patent in France, June 23,1882; Belgium, September2,1882; England, June28, 1882, No. 3,030;) and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, which will enable othersv skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying; drawings, and to the letters or figures ot' reference marked thereon, which form a part ot' this specification.

According to Monsieur Gaston Plante, the learned French chemist, when two plates ot' lead, plunged into abath acidulated with about one-tenth of sulphnric acid, are submitted to the action of a galvanic current of suieie'nt strength, oxygen appears almost immediately on one of the plates, which becomes covered with a thin layer ot' peroxide, while, on the other band, hydrogen quickly appears on the other plate after having reduced the thin layer of oxide with which the same has been covered by its exposure to the air, and it' at the end ot' a l'ew instants the secondary current produced by the apparatus is tried it is found that this current is already very strong, but of short duration. If the primary current is again passed a certain number ot' times, the poles being reversed, the layers of oxide alternately formed or reduced become thicker and the secondary effects which result are ol' longer duration and greater intensity. In any case, however, only a very limited thickness can be given to the said layers, so that in order to store up any considerable quantity of electromotive force it is necessary to give a very large extent of surface to the'polar plates, which renders the apparatuses heavy and cumbersome. ln order to reduce or obviate this inconvenience, Monsieur Faure deposits upon the polar plates of an analogous'couple a thicker layer of oxide, which he afterward submits to the primary current. In this way he accumulates a largerqnantity of force; but the resistance of the current increasing` with the thickness of the layers ot' oxitle loss ot' uset'ul effect, making it necessary to keep the thickness of these layers tolerably small. The Faure battery, therefore, like that of Plante, is heavy and oun'ibersome.

The two above-nain ed batteries have, besides these, the following inconveniences, which are still lnore serious: first., they only receive the charge slowly by reason ofthe feeble relative development of the polar plates, which, as is the case with condensation-surl'aces,-cannot receive more than suits their extent; second, the number ol' piles composing a battery cannot be increased or decreased easily and at pleasure without destroying the galvanic current; third, the putting to work is difticult to manipulate, because each pile carries screw terininals, which serve to connect them togetherby means of conductors, and as the parts in contact easily oxidize it is necessary to clean or revive them often with care, which necessitates long and minute work, for a single badlyconducting contact is suiticient to reduce or even to prevent completely the action ot' the current; fourth, a fresh supply of electro-motive force cannot be accumulated af'ter discharge without having recourse, as in the iirst instance, to a snfcient source of electricity acting upon the apparatuses themselves, which renders it .absolutely necessary, it' the requisite material is not at hand, to transport the batteries to the place where there is a special and suitable apparatus for effecting the charge, unless, indeed, the charging is effected in place by means of conductors-aftrrangements which give rise to serious complications and produce inferior results.

It is chiefly to remedy the inconveniences above pointed out that I have invented the system ot which the following is a description:

Figures l and2of the annexed drawings represent a couple, in which A and B are two plates the ebonite, being merely framed therein, suchframes projecting beyond the working-surfaces, as shown.

The perfect adhesion ot' the caoutchouc to the lead plates is easily obtained by ba king the plastic material on the metal at a suitable heat win32 purpose. Theplatesofleadthusinclosedeverywherein a rigid adherent frame require a solid- Aity they would not otherwisehave, and are perfectly insulated at all the parts thus covered. Each element of thc couplecarries at its head the projections s s', which rest on thesmall metallic strips b 1),xed to the vessel It, which is lined with ,frutta-porcina or lead V and contains the exciting-liquid. These small conductingstrips serve as collectors of the electricity, and are provided for this purpose with conducting terminals Y. The, polar plate of each element carries a lugo, inclosed in the thickness ot' the fra me which contains it, except at the line i t, where it comes in contact with the strip b. 'Ihis lng is thickened up with a small plat.c,k, of metal soldered thereto. This plate k ispre'- erablv made of metal which is not easily oxidized, and which is more resisting than the lead, in order to avoid the too rapid wear ot the contact part 'i t. The two elements of the couple being exactly similar and placed parallel to each other in the vessel It, the cavities formed by the frames beine` opposite one another, it will be understood that by the contact ot' the lugs o they will be in communication,"'the one with the collector 7) and theother with the collector b. It results from this arrangement that without touching,r the terminals Y and without destroying the galvanic current one may with the greatest case put in, take ont, or change at pleasure the couples of a battery in order to reduce or increase the electro-motive force, and that by means of independent commutators the couples may be connected in tension or in quantity.

In order to place the couples above described in a condition to furnish a certain electro-inotive torce, I proceed either in a direct orin an indirect manner, according to circumstances. 1 shall irst explain the indirect case, because it is the most interesting from an industrial point of view, and because the direct process will come out as a consequence in the course of thedescription. Assuming, iirst of all, that a special manufactory, operating on a large scale and eronomically, supplies to industrial or other persons who employ my couples powders of lead peroxidized and reduced a certa-in number ot' times by a galvanic currentone part iinally reduced or metallized and the other part finally peroXidized-I then operate as follows: I lill thepcavities U and l) in the plates AB, one with reduced or metallized powders mixed with water containing an alkaline saltsuch as potassio cyanide, for example-and the other with the peroxidized powders mixed simply with water. I level the pulverulent layers to the frames with astraightedge, and I place the elements on an inclined plane to facilitate the draining away of the excess of liquid. After an hour or more of draining the layers have acquired aconsistence which allows of turning them over. I then put over each layer ot' powder a woolen cloth, a piece ot' felt, or other spongy and unattackahlc material, d, and over al1 a rigid plate,c e,

perforated with a multitude of small holes, which plate I connect to each element with india-rubber bands ff. A couple thus prepared and plungedinto abath acidulated with about one-tenth of sulphuric acid is capable ot' furnishing during several days a supply ot' electricity powerful in tension and in intensity. It' it is desired to reconstitute this couple when exhausted more or less completely of chemical work, it is sufficient to remove the pulverulent layers from the lead plates with ascraper or other means and to replace them by fresh powders kept carefully in reserve, operating with them as l havejnst described. The exhausted powders removed as above from the lead plates are taken to the special manufactory, where they are revivified and put into a condition to serve again, and so on indefinitely. lt will be understood that this manner ot' operating removes certain diiicnlties in practi-- cal working.

. In order to obtain the powders which are to serve in the formation of my couples, [employ chietiy the three following means:

The first consists in melting the required quantity of lead in an irouvessel, and in adding; thereto, alter fusion, one or two equivalents of mercury/,so that the amalgam remains in a pasty condition after cooling. After having carefully amalgamated the surface of the polar plates ot' the elements of one or more couples analogous to that already described, l fill the cavities C and D with this amalgam, which I level to the frames with the straightedge.v After the supcrabundant mercury has drained away, the metallic layers thus 0btained are very solid and adhere strongly to the polar plates, whereby any porous devices whatever for holding such layers in place are dispensed with. rFliese couples, being plunged into an acidulated bath and submitted to the action ot' a galvanic current ol' sufficient strength, will act as follows: The positive layers will soon become covered with peroxide, beginning on the visible surface, and afterward penetrating the mass in proportion to the galvanic action and driving,r ont the inercnry, which falls to the bottom of the vessel. This goes on until the polar plaies are reached. At that moment the -mercury will have disappeared completely from the peroxidized lay! ers, which will then form a spongy net-work solidly agglomerated. Itthe electric current is reversed, the amalgamated layers oftheother elementswill be peroxidized in tlieirturn,\vhile those already peroxidized will be reduced to the metallic state. By reversing the direction ofthe current a number of times the peroxidized and reduced powders will acquire the maximum of their electro-motive force, which is very great if the discharge is etlected with IOO ITO

the same couples which have served for storing up the primary work. In order to utilize these agglomerated powders inthe couples, the action of which is indirect, they are carefully removed from the frames and lightly ground separately in water to render them aristas a more uniform, and they are afterward delivered for industrial consumption. In order to preserve the reduced powders from oxidation, it' they are not used immediately,-they areimniersed in water containing an alkaline saltsuch as potassic cyanide, for example. The peroxidized powders may be simply dried.

The second means consist in melting therequired quantity of lead and adding` thereto only a third ot' its weight of mercury. This amalgam, after cooling, is dry and t'riable, and is ground and sit'ted. The powder thus obtained is dry to the touch, very permeable, and a good conductor of electricity. Placed in the cavities of the above-mentioned couples, it peroXidizes well, driving oft' the mercury c ontained in it. and renders .an excellent useful effect, whether the discharge is effected directlyorthe powders are used in other couples.

The third means consist in rasping pure lead, either by milling in water or by means of a circular rasp having tolerably tine teeth acting on plates of from oneto two millimeters thickness, to facilitate the workl and -to prevent the clicking oft-he teeth ot1 the rasp. rlhe powders thus obtained` placed in my couples, also give good results, but inferior to those of the amalgamated powders.

In order to revivify the powders which have been used, the same process is employed as for the other powders. Theyare putinto special couplcs and are submitted to the primary current, whereby onepart is peroxidized and the other part metallized, after which theyare removed and delivered for fresh use. It may be observed that if the work ot' revivitication is eiected in heated baths a more economical result is obtained.

From what precedes it will be seenthat the more economical the primary source of power is the less will be the cost of' the electro-motivet'orce furnished by my couples. Hydraulic machines and steam-engines of great power,

working eXp-ansively and with condensation, driving dynamo-electric machines, are, l believe, the best adapted for practically resolvingin many cases, and in an economical manner, the important problem ot' power and light by electricity.

Fig. 3 of the drawings represents a double element, the cavities E F ot' which are filled with powders held in place by the t'elts d d, the perforated plates c e, and the indiarubber bands ff. g g' are plates of porous earthenware, placed between the velements of the couples to prevent polarization by hydrogen.

Fig. 4 represents also a double element, but without fcltsand perforated plates. Its cavi. ties are furnished with lead powders amalgamated to saturation.

Figs. 5 and G represent a couple for direct discharge, in which the vessel which usually contains the exciting liquid is suppressed. The two elements in this case are connected to another frame, with which they make a tight joint. rlhe -object otl this other frame is to leave between the porous layers a free space,

which is filled with tine sand or other substance. H I are small tubes, each closed with a screw-plug. They serve i'or filling the hollow space and for saturating the powders with acidulated water. Apparatuses thus arranged are easily handled and occupy little space.

Fig. 7 represents a battery formed ot' two series of piles, each composed ofthe same number ot' couples, p q and p q', separated by the partitions a a a a ot' the vessels A and B. The couples p q ot' the series A are connected in tension by means ofthe conductors r r r, and those ot' the series B are connected in quantity by means of the conductors s s s, the two series being in communication by the conductor T. If the circuit is closed with a dynamo-electric machine, {'or example, by the conductors h h', a very energetic galvanic current will be produced, which will set the machine in motion, and in proportion as the couplesp q, connected in tension, accomplish their discharge, the couples p q', connected in quantity,will receive in return and by accumulation a certain remunerative work.' It by means of'lcommutators, an d after m ore orless complete disch arge of the couples p q, these latter couples, p q, are connected in quantity and the couplcsp g in tension, an inverse current will be produced in the battery, and the dynamoelectric machine will continue its motion. TheA result of this combination is that the smaller the loss of useful effect in each discharge the more frequently the galvanic current can be reversed. After exhaustion ot' these couples they may be reconstituted, either by means of a galvanic current acting directly on the couples themselves or by changing the powders. There may also be added to the piles in tension any number of other piles capable of restoring as it is prod nced the loss ot' useful elt'ect ot' the electro-motive force. The maintenance in this case will only amount to that ot' the additional piles.

1n order to charge my couples by means of a galvanic current, it 1s not indispensable to soak them in water containing sulphuric acid, as a good result can also be obtained with a solution'ot' sulphate ot' copper, potash, and certain other acid oralkaline baths.

The form ofthe apparatuses may be varied according to the purposes for which they are intended. The natureot' the materials employed in making the frames may also be varied, according tQ whether the baths in which the .couples are to work are acid, alkaline, heated,

or not heated.

The reduced and peroxidized powders employed in my couples l'or indirect discharge can also be obtained by means ot' an oxide of lead submitted to the action ot' the primary current in the reviviiying apparatuses, but with TOC I-IO

less advantage than with the powders in the metallic state.

The small metallic strips serving as collectors may be replaced by mercury-cups, which complete the contact ot' the couples by means of lugs arranged to dip therein l'or that purpose.

The arrangements above described are applicable wherever electricity is susceptible of being usefully employed, espeeiullyfor the production of power or light, or for chemical de- 5 composicion, &o.

I claimi 1. The combination of thel vessel R aud its lining V and metal strips b b with the plate A, havingr lug,r 0, projections s s', and with the o plate K and terminal X,substantially as herein shown und described.

2. rlhe hollow pluto A, having a filling of metallized lead powder and alkaline Salty, and tho porous covering d e, in combination with hollow plate B, having u filling of peroxidized 15 lend, und u porous covering, (l e, substantially us herein shown und described.

GH. P. NZERAUX.

iitnessesz A. BLTRY,

oBfr. M. Hooruu.