Dry-cell patentIn 1886, German scientist, Dr. Carl Gassner, was issued a German patent (No. 37,758) for the first "dry" cell, which used zinc as its primary ingredient. He encased the cell chemicals in a sealed zinc container. Gassner's battery was much like the carbon-zinc, general-purpose batteries on the market today. Gassner also patented his invention in Austria, Belgium, England, France and Hungary in the same year. A U.S. patent was issued to Gassner in 1887 (No. 373,064) on 15 Nov 1887. In America, by 1896, the Nation Carbide Company, later Union Carbide and Eveready, produced the first consumer dry cell battery. Two years later, the company made the first D cell. Combined with the invention of incandescent light bulbs, portable electric lights became common.«[Image: The six-inch, 1.5 volt Columbia Dry Cell marketed by NCC in 1896.] |
