Abstract: The device for application of paste to the internal surface of a cylindrical electrode comprises a cylindrical body, a hydraulic cylinder with a rod, a spring, a cylindrical arbor with a central channel and a mandrel with an internal channel for compressed air. The mandrel is installed in the central channel of said arbor with a provision for being reciprocated by the hydraulic cylinder rod and has its lower part in the form of a truncated cone whose larger base serves as the face of the mandrel and whose generatrix is inclined to the larger base at an angle varying from 10.degree. to 60.degree. and where the ratio of the diameter of the larger base to the diameter of the external surface of the arbor varies from 0.77 to 0.98. Installed in the upper part of the body is the hydraulic cylinder with the rod while in the lower part of the body, separated from the upper part by a partition with a hole, the upper part of the arbor is fixed rigidly.

Abstract: A method of producing a thickened electrolyte for a primary cell, which involves mixing, at about room temperature, aqueous solutions of calcium chloride, zinc chloride, and ammonium chloride with a tanning agent, such as chromium sulphate, and starch as a thickening agent, aging the resulting mixture until a thickened electrolyte with a compressive strength of 0.05-0.85 kg/cm.sup.2 is obtained and pressing said electrolyte through at least one drawhole at a rate of at least 0.05 m/sec, the resulting viscosity of the electrolyte being sufficient to apply a layer of the thickened electrolyte to the negative electrode of a primary cell.