asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether in view of the fact that a grant has been given for the past three years in respect of electrical battery development he is now in a position to make a statement as to the possibilities of this invention.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral—Answers. - Electrical Battery Development.
The two-coach trains, each capable of seating 140 passengers, have been operating successfully and economically on the Dublin-Bray section of the Great Southern Railways, one since February, 1932, and the other since August, 1932. The mileage covered to date is approximately 156,000 miles. The former train is at present out of action temporarily as a result of colliding with a landslide at Dun Laoghaire a couple of weeks ago, when mechanical damage to one of the bogie trucks and to some of the cells in the battery was sustained. Expert examination of cells, which have been in service on the railway, under the most arduous conditions, justifies the directors in guaranteeing ten years' life in traction service.
The question of the extension of battery traction on the railway is at present under discussion with the Great Southern Railways Company. A number of road vehicles have been equipped with the battery and put into service, but they have not been operating sufficiently long to report with any degree of finality on their performance. The total mileage run by these vehicles to date is approximately 25,600 miles. The Drumm Battery Company has very many inquiries from prospective users, both in Saorstát Eireann and abroad, but the directors consider it advisable to test out each application of the battery thoroughly under their immediate observation before proceeding to do anything in the nature of commercial exploitation on a large scale. The Company has recently installed a stationary battery for the authorities of University College, Dublin, for supplying current for their purposes.
The invention has been adequately protected at home and in all the principal countries of the world. Of the 26 countries in which application was made for the Main Patent, in only one case was the application abandoned, viz., in U.S.S.R. It was felt, having regard to the course adopted by the authorities there, that it would be useless to pursue the matter. In the U.S.A., and all other principal manufacturing countries, other than Germany and Czecho-Slovakia, the Main Patent has been granted; in the two last-mentioned countries the claims have been allowed, and are at present lying open for inspection, the course normally preceding the issue of the Patent.
Negotiation for the commercial exploitation of the Patents and the manufacture of the battery on a royalty basis abroad, where the Patent laws require this course to be adopted, are in progress, but it would not be in the interest of the proprietors at this stage to give any further details.