Batteries for Bus Lighting
Page 61
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yliTTE safety of road travel at night, I particularly in the case of vehicles operating on country roads, is largely hound up with the adequacy and efficiency of the lighting system, another and important aspect of the problem of lighting on public service vehicles being concerned with the comfort and convenience of passengers. The various aspects of the subject have received close attention from the D.P. Battery Ca., Ltd., Bakewell, Derbyshire, the lighting batteries of which are popular amongst many bus operators.
Kathanode bus-lighting batteries are of the fiat-plate type and embody the company's patent separators. These consist of finely spun glass filaments formed into sheets and wrapped around the positive plates in such a way that they protect, not only the faces, but the edges of the plates. These sheets are used in conjunction with ribbed wood, or perforated and ribbed ebonite separators and, when assembled, the whole element forms a compact unit.
The filter-like nature of the glasswool sheets permits free access of acid to the working surfaces of the positives, but prevents the fine particles of active material leaving the plates and falling to the bottom of the container and forming deposit. In actual practice it has been fonnd, we are told, that the deposit does not exceed about i in. in batteries which have been. in constant use for 36years on heavily worked buses.
The positive plates are of substantial construction, being 4.25 mm. in thickness, the design being such as to ensure mechanical strength and long life. The hard nature of the active material, combined with the patent separators, enable a simple but robust grid to be used.
The negative plates are pasted with a special form of active material, which results in the plates retaining their full capacity throughout the life of the positives.
Kathanode cells are fitted with moulded ebonite lids and the actual sealing consists of a combination of a rubber gland and a plastic compound.
The standard practice is for cells to be made up into 6-volt units, three 2-volt cells being carried in a hard wooden crate having suitable lifting handles. In order to avoid the risk of any corrodible metal being embodied in the construction of the batteries, inter-cell connections are of solid lead, unless otherwise specified, and cone-type end terminals are provided with detachable clamp connectors.