Show MAKE BETTER BATTERY Nd NOW I Change in Insulation Re- Re Re Result suit sult of Constant Experiments As with every other In ind dAily lly u use e and engineers are continual experimenting III attempts to de del clop nl new and bet bet- better bet better ter features in storage batteries Seven years ago ngo go all battery man man- manufacturers manufacturers were using wood for In- In Insulating insulating In and nd separating the plates platen of storage batteries But wood Insulator com corn comprised II a a weal weak link k In the battery because o It could not be made mado to last the lh life or of o the th plates Ire Fre Frequent quent and costly repairs were the common result All AU the th engineering and experimental mental departments of the larger battery companies were continual continua continually ly Iy wrestling with this problem namely to find a separator that last t at least as aa long Ions 11 ts th the plates and that have uni- uni uniform uniform uni uniform form porous qualities Rubbo- Rubbo Is I the best bo t insulating material m known and It is la acid re- re re atsUng as well But the th great problem was to make It ery porous Ler Lery method conceivable concel was tried to pierce rubber with a large larce num num- number num- num number number ber of o tiny holes hole but It seemed impossible to pierce a sufficient number of them small enough enouch to obtain porosity and still keep the Insulation Quality It remained for T A Willard president of the Willard VillanI Storage Battery company of to toolie sol e olie the problem Ho He k-b k hit upon a way to vulcanize Into rubber blocks thousands of or cotton threads running running horizontally the length or of orthe the block The block was Wn cut into slices so o that each slice was pierced from face to face wIth threads I It was Willards Willard's first fir supposition tion tion that these threads when Im- Im Immersed immersed Im Immersed I ImI mersed In the acid of or the th bat bat- tTy y would dissolve out and leae the thousands ot of o tins holes lie he hewan wan wanted led But Dut here he failed to to take In- In Into into In Into to consideration the th fact that acid eats and destroys destros destro q only when ox- ox exposed ex exposed posed to air The thread t Im- Im Immersed Im Immersed mersed In the acid add did not dissolve out but served cd as tiny wicks to conduct the electrolyte from one on plate to th the other and besides helped to maintain the ho ho natural strength In the Insulator a part or of which would have hate been lot lost I had the threads been as ash ashe h he supposed they on would |