A NEW METHOD OF GLUEING OR CEMENTING CERTAIN MATERIALS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
AUSTIN, of No. 87, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty hath granted unto me
Her Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of June, in
the sixth year of Her reign, for making, using, exercising, and vending, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW
METHOD OF GLUEING OR CEMENTING CERTAIN MATERIALS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER
PURPOSES," subject to the usual proviso, obliging me to particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
to cause the same to be inrolled in the High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Austin, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows (that
is to say):-
I glue or cement together, that is, each to each, slate, tile, stone, and plates
of metal for roofing and other building purposes, and glass for such sashes
and frames, and other things, as herein-after mentioned, in the following

page_text: manner (that is to say):-I melt, by applying heat thereto, a quantity of the
cement, glue, or composition, hereafter described, in a shallow vessel, which
I call my dish, in which is placed a narrow trough, of iron or other material,
to hold therein a small quantity of the melted cement, glue, or composition,
which I call the stamper, and is fixed into the dish by grooves at the ends,
and is shallower than and slides up and down the dish, and each time that
it is made to rise from the dish brings up in this trough a body of the liquid
cement, glue, or composition. The slate, tile, stone, or metal plates, or the
glass, must be previously heated to about one hundred and fifty degrees of
Fahrenheit, by any convenient means, and be so placed over this stamper,
that, in the act of rising, it stanps or lays on a margin of the cement, glue, or
composition to the slate, tile, stone, or metal plate or glass to be glued or
cemented; but it is desirable, for the appearance and beauty of the work, that
the cement, glue, or composition should not shew out at the edges. This
margin, as to slate, tile, stone, or metal plates, is to be about one inch wide,
and as to glass, varying from one quarter of an inch to an inch, according to
the object desired, and the margin in each case is to be so stamped or laid on
to the slate, tile, stone, or metal plate, or glass, as that, when laid into its
position, for which it is intended, they will overlap each other; as to the slate,
tile, stone, or metal plate, about two inches; and as to the glass, varying from
one-half an inch to two inches; as many margins of the slate, tile, stone, or
metal plate, or glass are stamped or laid with the cement, glue, or composition,
as there are joints or overlaps required, and they are to be so arranged or
laid on to the slate, tile, stone, or metal plate, or glass to be cemented or
glued together, as that, when the slates, tiles, stone, or metal plates, or the
glass, are laid together in their required portions, the cement, glue, or com-
position on the overlapping slate, tile, stone, or metal plate, or glass, will be
in actual contact with and exactly cover the cement, glue, or composition on
the underneath slate, tile, stone, or metal plate, or the underneath glass. The
slates, tiles, stone, or metal plates, or glass, thus prepared or dressed, are ready
for use, and may be laid on the roof, or laid together, as above described, in
their required positions, and otherwise secured in the usual manner, at any
time, in a variety of forms; I also sometimes secure with the said cement,
glue, or composition the materials above described, when thus prepared and
dressed, to the roof or framing. According to this mode of preparation of the
slates, tiles, stone, or metal plates, or of the glass, nothing further is required
to be done to form the joints and cement the whole mass together, as the
glued or cemented portions or margins of the separate slabs or pieces of slate,
tile, or stone, or of the separate metal plates, or of the separate pieces or

page_text: panes of glass, when thus laid in actual contact with each other, will shortly
afterwards unite, and give water-tight surfaces. And in order to expedite
these operations, I sometimes apply to the stamped margins a coating of
pyroligneous naptha, or other spirit that will act upon the cement, glue, or
composition; or a solution of the cement, glue, or composition dissolved in
pyroligneous naptha or other spirit, as aforesaid, and the stamped margins
being acted upon by this they sooner unite. The great advantages, in a
variety of ways, of this over the ordinary method of covering roofs, and the
other operations which I effect, will be readily perceived; and one of the
greatest will be, that a vast saving, perhaps nearly half of the material, is
effected; and the covering of the roof and the other operations being so much
lighter, the framings or supports may be of considerable less substance and
strength than in ordinary cases; and the great advantage as to the operations
with glass over the ordinary method of laying and fixing the glass is, that the
whole mass of glass being so glued and cemented together, greater strength
as well as water-tight surfaces are obtained. My operations with glass apply
to the building and making of conservatories, greenhouses, frames for horti-
cultural purposes, skylights, and other operations; I also glue and cement
slate, stone, metal, and manufactured clays and cements together, or to each
other, or to wood, or to woven or other fabrics, and also woven and other
fabrics to wood, for building and other purposes; and I also glue and cement
leather together, for making hose or pipes of an inferior leather to that at
present used for fire-engines, and also for the manufacturing of boots and
shoes; and I also glue or cement leather and cork together, or to each other,
or to wood, metal, woven or other fabrics, and also woven and other fabrics
to wood, for the manufacture of trunks, portmanteaus, packing cases, and
other purposes; and for all these purposes the said cement, glue, or con-
position is to be used and applied in the manner herein-after described.
I shall now proceed to describe the manner in which I make this cement,
glue, or composition, and the materials and proportions that I prefer for most
purposes: Observe, first, that it is always to be used heated. I mix caout-
chouc in cold naptha, in the proportion of eight ounces of caoutchouc, cut into
small pieces, to one gallon of naptha, letting it remain until the caoutchouc is
quite dissolved, stirring it from time to time; to one part of this mixture
I put two parts by weight of lac in any convenient vessel, and I apply
sufficient heat thereto until the whole is thoroughly amalgamated, stirring the
mixture occasionally during the operation. This is the composition I generally
make use of in the operations herein described, and it may be applied at once,
whilst in a heated state, to the intended work; or put by to cool, and heated

page_text: again when wanted for use. When greater elasticity is required in the
composition, I use a larger proportion of the caoutchouc solution; when
greater hardness is necessary I use a larger proportion of lac.
In those cases
where the caoutchouc might be liable to injury from great exposure and
pressure, I use a much less proportion of this ingredient, and sometimes omit
it altogether. In works where a body of the composition is required rather
than a thin adhesive joint, as for instance, in slating, where the slates have
uneven surfaces, I fill up the uneven surfaces with the cement, glue, or
composition; I sometimes substitute asphalte, pitch, or rosin, or other
material of that nature for the lac, and proceed in other respects as before
pointed out.
I have before described the manner of using and applying the cement,
glue, or composition for roofing purposes, and for glass operations; and
I now proceed to describe the manner of using and applying it to join
the other materials above described, for the purposes before mentioned. I
take care that the parts to be joined together are dry and free from dust,
and having warmed them, so that the cement, gluc, or composition will not
be chilled at the moment of application, I cover or dress therewith the parts
to be joined by any convenient means. If the joint is to be made at once,
the parts must be put together and pressed in any suitable manner expe-
ditiously, as the cement, glue, or composition rapidly loses its heat and
becomes solidified. The operation may be effected, however, at any subsequent
period by applying heat to the parts coated or dressed with the cement, glue,
or composition until it is sufficiently. melted, so that when pressed together
they would unite, or by the application thereto of the spirit or solution before
described in respect to the margins or coated parts of the slates, tiles, stone,
or metal plates or glass. I am aware that the materials of which the said
cement, glue, or composition is formed, made into or forming parts of other
or similar compositions, have been used and applied for defending the
sheathing of ships and protecting their sides and bottoms; and also for pre-
paring masts and spars and other wood for ship-building, and other purposes;
and also for the joining of wood and leather together for the backs of brushes;
and also for joining leather together for gloves; and also for glueing or
cementing wood, cut at angles to the fibre, on to other wood and other
materials, and I do not claim these; but I do claim as my Invention,―
First, the application of caoutchouc in combination with other materials
for the purposes of cementing or glueing together, as above described, slate,
tile, stone, and metal plates for roofing and other building purposes, and
glass for such building and other operations, as herein described.

page_text: Secondly, the use or application of such cement, glue, or composition, as
above described, for the purposes of glueing or cementing together such
materials, as above described, for such building and other purposes, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-three.