IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BETON AND ARTIFICIAL STONE, PUGGING CLAY, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONE, AND ARTISTIC, ORNAMENTAL, AND DECORATIVE ARTICLES, WORKS, AND SURFACES
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the,
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th,
April 1863.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BETON AND ARTIFICIAL STONE, PUGGING CLAY,
AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONE, AND
ARTISTIC, ORNAMENTAL, AND DECORATIVE ARTICLES, WORKS, AND SURFACES," com-
municated to me. from abroad by François. Coignet, of 33, Boulevard'
Saint Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:
This Invention first relates to improvements in machinery for manu-
facturing Coignet's and other betons and artificial stones,- mixing material for
concretes, pugging clay, and other similar purposes...
"
According to one improvement, arrangements are provided for obtaining a
-continuous-and-free-discharge of the materials from the machine after being-
kneaded, pugged, or otherwise acted upon therein. For this purpose a con.*
tinuous-or-r.early continuous or undivided-ejection-openingtor-spacious or
071

page_text: numerous ejection openings, are provided. This ejection opening may extend
continuously or nearly continuously round the bottom or exit end of the
machine, or large or numerous ejection openings may be distributed all round
that part, so that the materials, after having been acted on, shall be discharged
freely and continuously with little or no obstruction or resistance. Appliances
may be provided for guiding, compressing, or forcing and expelling the mate
rials. In a machine in which the various improvements are combined an axis
carrying arms or blades revolves in a chamber or casing, such casing is con-
structed in three parts connected together, of which one is fixed below the
other two; of the two upper (which are preferably seini-cylindrical) one carries
the frame of the shaft, and the other is removeable to allow of the interior
being examined and cleansed; in the third or underneath part are the
ejection openings. The axis is generally straight-sided, with arms disposed at
intervals and presented in various directions. On the sides of the casing are
fixed arms or stops projecting between the revolving arms; on the axis below
the arms is a wheel, or set of radiating or diverging spiral arms or vanes,
which press the materials towards the ejection orifices, and below this is an
appliance for driving the materials through those orifices consisting of a wheel
or set of radiating or diverging cycloidal, curved, or segmental cams or vanes,
dished or not, and having at their extremities hard removeable tips, which
may be replaced by fresh ones when worn. These cams are so disposed that
they may be said to overlap or break joint with the spiral vanes.
of passage through the ejection openings may be regulated by a circular valve
or disc adjusted by screws, graduated hooks, or other means. The exit ways
may be divided by partitions, rods, or not. Below the ejection openings the
axis carries a plate which, as it revolves, receives the materials discharged and
throws thein (by the aid of guide plates) in separate heaps, or into any desired
receiver. Rotary motion is communicated to the axis, and thence transmitted
to a feed screw and elevator herein-after mentioned. The machine is moved
from place to place on a carriage, from which it is readily removeable when
to be set at work; it is then supported on A-shaped feet, which, when the
machine is on its carriage, are taken off and reversed and fixed on again in
that wise. The carriage axle is under the centre of gravity of the apparatus.
Water for damping the materials may be admitted through a perforated pipe
bent round the inside at top. The materials, after having been treated in one
machine, may be ejected into the trough of a second to repeat the treatment.
The materials are taken (from a hopper or feed box) and conveyed into and
mixed in a trough or receiver by means of a double-threaded endless screw
with interrupted threads, that is to say, threads composed of a series of blades
The area

page_text: ..
arranged like the sails or wings of a windmill; this screw and casing may be
set at any desired angle to regulate the feed. This may be done without
interfering with the driving appliances, which are fitted in a frame. The
materials are raised from the trough into the machine by an elevator con-
structed like a dredger, and having concave shoots at its upper end. This
elevator is jointed, so that it can be folded for convenience of transport, the
chain being fastened by pins to prevent it from swinging.
The Invention also relates to the production of artificial stone and artistic
and ornamental articles, surfaces, and works in Coignet's beton or composition.
For these purposes the best materials should be used in the beton, such as
theil or blue lias limeand Portland cement or other superior ingredients. The
powdered lime and cement should first be mixed in a dry state and combined
with sand, broken or powdered marble, glass, granite, flint, or other hard
natural stone or substance, and mineral color if required. When mixed they
are introduced into the machine described with a little water, and after having
been treated therein are left at rest a little while and subjected to a second
treatment in the same or another like machine; this may be repeated or
protracted. The whole is then subjected to sustained and forcible agglomera-
tion, and a product will be obtained capable of being polished by friction.
For this purpose it is first indurated by drying, exposure to air, or coating
with biphosphate or bicarbonate of lime, or silicates, or other saline matter,
and is then rubbed with sandstone grit, emery, trip, rouge, or other such'
matters, employed consecutively or otherwise. If this should rub off the outer
or indurated surface the block or piece of beton or composition is washed and
again dried and indurated by coating with saline matters. This may
bo
repeated after each polish.
"
Varied effects may be obtained by mixing with the beton or composition
sands of different colors or qualities, also variously-colored granite, sandstone
grit, marble, flints, glass, or other substances. The outer surfaces or portions,
or those intended to be polished, need only be so prepared or mixed with the
colored or variegating matters, the rest of the block being left in a state of
plain beton
Artistic works, imitative of sculpture, relievos, and the like, may be pro-
duced by forcing, pressing, ramming, or agglomerating the plastic beton in
moulds or matrices, preferably composed of well-tempered plaster coated with
oil or treated with alum, or of beton, Portland current, or other plastic
absorbent anbetance

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th October 1863.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in, the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and. grant unto
me, the said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael
Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BETON AND ARTIFICIAL STONE, PUGGING CLAY,
AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONE, AND
ARTISTIC, ORNAMENTAL, AND DECORATIVE ARTICLES, WORKS, AND SURFACES,"
communicated to me from abroad by François Coignet, of 33, Boulevard
Saint Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,. the
said Michael Henry, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one oftheir hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention mainly refers to the manufacture aud application of a
certain beton, composition, or artificial stone, for which François Coignet
obtained British Letters Patent respectively numbered 2659 and 2757, and
dated 26th November 1855 and 6th December 1859.
The Invention first relates to improved machinery for manufacturing

page_text: Coignet's patent beton or artificial stone, such machinery being also appli-
cable for mixing concrete, pugging clay, working 'mortar, and other similar
purposes. Machines hitherto constructed for these objects have been provided
with one or two small ejection orifices, through which the materials were
forced out or discharged. Now, according to this Invention, the machine is
formed with an ejection opening extending continuously or nearlycontinuously,
or without or nearly without division or break,round the discharge end of the
machine; or large or numerous, or both large and numerous, ejection open-
ings are distributed all round that end of the machine. By these means the
materials, after having been mixed, pugged, or treated in the machine, are
discharged therefrom freely and continuously with little or no obstruction or
resistance. The chamber or casing of the machine is constructed of three
parts, one of which, wherein are the ejection openings, being below the two
others, and one of these latter is removeable, so that the chamber may be
easily cleansed. In this chamber a shaft revolves, carrying appliances for
mixing, kneading, or otherwise acting on the materials, and others for pressing,
drawing, or heaping them towards the ejection orifices and for discharging
them therefrom. The passage through the ejection orifices may be regulated
by an annular valve..
T
The accompanying Drawings represent a machine constructed according to
this Invention.
i
Figure 1 is a side élévation thereof, partly in section; Figurë 2, plan;
Figure 3, end-view; and Figure 4 is a horizontal section on a larger scale
through the lower part, showing the discharging arrangements.
A is the framework; His a casing or chamber composed of three pieces, a
cast-iron bottom portion p and two upper semi-cylindrical sheet-iron portions
cande; 9,9, are bolts for securing the part p to the frame A; q are knee
pieces, and q¹ braces for securing the portion to the frame A; the back
portion c¹ is secured or bolted to the portion c, so that it may be removed
therefrom by its handles o", in order to get at the interior of the chamber to
clean it; m is a cast-iron frame, which is fixed within the part c, and supports
a collar in which an axis a turns; g, g, are ejection orifices formed in the
portion p. Instead of there being only one or two small ejection orifices as
usual, these orifices are distributed around the entire circumference of the
lower part of the casing; they may be separated by slender columns or rods
instead of by partitions, as shown, or the separations or partitions may be
wholly dispensed with, and the ejection opening may extend continuously or
without-break-for-nearly-so) round the portion p, so that the materials, after
being mixed, will be discharged in a continuous sheet from every or nearly

page_text: every point of the circumference of the part p. a is a square axis fitted in the
casing H; this axis carries arms b, b, b, which project from it in various direc-
tions; d, d, are blades or abutments which are fixed to the sides of the
casing H, and project between the arms b; they assist to divide the materials
and prevent them from turning in a mass or lump; e is a fan or wheel which
is fixed to the axis a below the arms b, and consists of three or more spiral
arms or blades, which draw and press or heap the materials towards the
bottom of the chamber H;,f, is another fan or wheel, which is fixed to the
axis a immediately under the fan e, and consists of three or four cycloidal or
segmental blades or arms, so set as to break joint with the blades e, or extend
beyond them, as shown in Figure 4; this wheel f, f, drives the materials
through the orifices g. The ends f¹of the arms f,being exposed to much wear,
are removeable, each end f¹ being a tip of hardened cast iron screwed to the
shankf,so that it may be readily detached therefrom when worn or broken and
replaced by a fresh one. The form of blade f shown is suitable when the
casing has thick sides, but for one with thin sides dished cams are preferred.
Around the lower part of the casing is a ring or annular valve g¹¹¹, which
extends round the openings 9,and is so supported on graduated hooks g',or by
set screws, that it may be adjusted to regulate the area of passage through the
openings gas required. a¹ is a short axis, which is secured to and revolves
with the axis a, and passes through the bottom p of the casing H. To this
axis a¹ is fixed an annular plate h, which receives the products discharged
through the orifices g, and projects them towards guide plates or deflectors j;
by which they are thrown into separate heaps,or into trucks or other ordinary
receivers. Rotary motion is communicated to the axis a, a, and thence to a
feed screw and elevator, herein-after described; this may be done as shown,
by a pulley n and bevel pinton x, actuated by a stationary steam engine or by
a portable engine fixed on the carriage of the machine. K¹, K, are cross frame
bars secured to the frame A; to the ends of these bars are screwed four legs L,
which are constructed of H or girder iron, and support the machine when it is
at work; but when it is to be moved from place to place it is mounted on a
carriage or truck, shown in red lines, Figure 1, the legs L being unfastened
and reversed, and screwed on the bars K', K', in such reversed position..
1, 2, are the carriage shafts; 4, its wheel; 5, axle ; 6, axle box. When the
machine is on its carriage the axle 5 lies under the centre of gravity of the
machine, and thereby keeps it in equilibrium. The machine is taken off its
carriage when at work. The frame m supports the pulley n and its gearing;
u is a trough into which the materials to be treated are first fed, and in which
they undergo a preliminary mixture, being taken from a hopper or other

page_text: holder, and conveyed into aud mixed in this trough u by means of an endless
feed screw not shewn in the Drawings; this screw has an interrupted double
thread, that is to say, a set of blades disposed like the sails of.a windmill; it
works in a casing, and is driven by the pulley n; the screw with its casing
may be set at any required angle of inclination (so as to regulate the feed and
amount of mixture) without interfering with its rotation. For this purpose
the screw is driven by a bevil wheel on one end of its axis, which extends out-
side the casing, and on the axis of this wheel is a pulley driven by the pulley n
(through a wire or other band); the whole is mounted in a frame, so that the
screw axis may be set at various angles without interfering with the driving
gear. Materials, after being mixed in the chamber H of one machine, may be
transferred directly into the trough u of another, and so on. The materials are
raised from the trough into the chamber H by an elevator S, S¹, which is con-
structed like a dredger, and provided with bucketst, f, and with concave shoots
,, which guide the materials from the buckets into the chamber H. This
elevator is jointed, so that it can be folded for convenience of transport. For
this purpose the lower chain is first secured by pins p", passed through lugsin
the frame S, so as to prevent the chain from swinging. The elevator is theu
folded at the cone joints o, o', and the frame bar Pbrought on to the hooks P¹.
The shafts 1, 2, may then be fitted to the machine, and the horse harnessed
thereto. are the rollers of the elevator; R, R, are two uprights fastened to
the frame A, and also secured to the frame m by struts r, to support the
elevator with its shoots, and a wheel V. which works the buckets t, and is
keyed on the upper shaft s; it is driven by au endless chain passing over a
wheel v on the axis of the pulley n. The machine may be thus used for the
manufacture of beton. For this purpose the axis a, a, may have an ordinary
speed of, say, 6 revolutions per minute, the pulley " working at about 36 revo-
lutions, and the elevator axis 12 revolutions per minute.
The materials having first been pulverized are partially mixed in the trough
u by the endless screw. The feet of the elevator are submerged in this trough,
and the materials are raised thence by the buckets into the casing H; water
is gradually poured therein in quantities proportionate to the charge, either by
hand or by a perforated pipe round the inner sides of the neck of the chamber.
As the materials begin to fall into the chamber, the valve gill is partly closed;
but it is raised when the machine is charged, so as to keep the chamber about
three parts full. By the use of the above machine for mixing the beton a
superior product is obtained..

page_text: orcomposition. The best ingredients should be used in the process; as, for
example, theil, or blue lias lime, and Portland cement. The lime, reduced to
powder, and the cement are first mixed in a dry state, and combined either
separately or together with sand, broken or powdered marble, glass, granite,
silex, or flint, or fragments of other hard natural stone (or two or more of
these), and mineral color is added according to the tint requisite; the
ingredients are then placed in the machine above described,. with a little
water, in quantities varying according to the dampness of the sand (or material
used instead of it), and acted on by the arms or blades therein, and after the
materials have been mixed or treated in one machine, say, for 15 to 20
minutes, they are subjected to a second similar treatment in the same or
another like machine, and then to a third similar treatment, or the second
treatraent may be protracted. The materials are then subjected to sustained
and forcible agglomeration or ramming. The product obtained will be capable
of taking a polish by friction, being so hard, compact, and uniform, that
instead of being surfaced as hitherto by adding an artificial polish or face, it
can be polished by rubbing with agents (grit, emery, rouge, and the like,)
hitherto employed for polishing glass, crystal, and stones. For this purpose
the beton is first indurated by drying, exposure to air, or coating it with
biphosphate or bicarbonate of lime or soda, or with phosphates or silicates, or
other like saline matter, and it is then rubbed with sandstone grit, emery,
trip, rouge, or other such hard agents, employed consecutively, or otherwise.
If this polish should rub away the outer or indurated surface of the block or
piece of beton, and expose the softer or interior part, the surface so exposed
is washed, dried, and again coated with saline matters till a fresh indurated
face is obtained. The coating may be repeated after each polish. Beton
intended for being thus polished should be brought toa hardness equal to that
of natural hard stones, to resist disruption, and sustain considerable pressure
or weight.
A suitable formula for many cases is as follows;
Sand, or crushed marble or granite
Powdered, theil lime
Portland cement.
Or, sand, marble, hard powdered stone
Theil lime
Portland cement
3.
5 parts.
-
1
"
.75 33
4 parts.
1
"
.50
"
The latter mixture should undergo a longer damping or exposure to air
before polishing than the former.

page_text: and bottle green.
be obtained.
When white cement is used, blue and light green may
Imitations of agate, porphyry, jasper, granite, and other varied effects may
be produced bymixing with the beton or composition sands of different colors
or qualities, also variously colored granite, sandstone, red, pink, or othergrit,
marble, colored flint, and glass, fragments of natural or artificial stone, or
other substances.
To save expense the outer portions of the blocks or pieces of beton only
require to be so prepared or mixed with these colored or variegating matters;
that is to say, the colored or variegating agents need only be mixed with the
beton to a small depth from the surface, say, about or an inch, the rest of
the block being left plain.
The various products may be moulded into various shapes and sizes, and
applied for producing various useful and ornamental articles, such as vases,
basins, pedestals, balusters, columns, tablets, panels, and many others.
When Coignet's Patent beton or artificial stone,produced according to his
former Patents, or according to these improvements, is to be of considerable
strength and tenacity, the ingredients composing it should be mixed with
textile materials, or with metallic web or wire cloth, or with nails, hooks,
wires, or other fragments or particles of metal, which act as binding agents,
and render the composition especially suitable for facing or forming parts or
buildings, such as jambs and styles of doors and windows, (whereby joists,
transoms, and beams maybe dispensed with,)andfor constructingfortifications,
arches, aqueducts, and other works in a monolyth form.
Artistic works imitative of sculpture, statues, busts, relievos, and carvings,
and cornices, mouldings, and the like, maybe produced byforcing or pressing,
and ramming or agglomerating Coignet's plastic beton or composition in
moulds or matrices composed of well-tempered plaster coated with oil, or
treated with alum,or in moulds composed of Coignet's patent or agglomerated
beton, or of Portland cement, or other like plastic absorbent substance. The
beton may be deposited in layers in such moulds till these be suitably filled,
and is then to be rammed or agglomerated by repeated blows of a hard and
heavy instrument. Moulds formed of the above substances will sustain the
repeated blowsof thepestle, stamper,orotherinstrumentused foragglomerating
or ramming the beton without being broken or cracked, provided a sufficient
layer of beton be left between the sides of the mould and the parts where the
working end of the stamper or ramming instrument shall fall, the beton or
composition acting as a pad to break the force of the blow, and as it penetrates__

page_text: readily into the hollows of the mould, the nicest and finest details of form will
be reproduced. The beton used for these artistic works or imitations may be
plain, or mixed with colored or variegating agents.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim, in respect of
machines for manufacturing beton, mixing concrete, pugging clay, and other
similar purposes,―
First, I claim the constructionof such machinewith an injection or discharge
opening extending continuously or nearly continuously, or without or nearly
without break or division,round,at, or about the discharge end of the machine,
so that the materials, after being acted on therein, may be discharged thence
freely and continuously without resistance or obstruction.
Second, I claim the construction of such machine with large and numerous
ejection or discharge openings distributed allround or about the dischargeend
of the machine, so that the materials acted on may be discharged freely and
continuously, as described.
Third, I claim the employment of a casing or chamber formed of three
portions; whereof one is removeable,andanother contains an opening extending
all round or nearly all round the discharge end, or numerous openings dis-
tributed all round such end, such openings being opened or closed by an
annular valve,and such casing or chamber containing revolving appliances for
pugging, mixing,kneading, or reducing, and for drawing, pressing, or heaping
and expelling the materials, substantially as described.
Fourth, I claim the mode of combining the machine with a carriage, as
herein-before described.
Fifth, I claim the arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
improved machine, herein-before described.
And in respect of the production of artificial stone, and artistic, ornamental,
and decorative articles, works, and surfaces, I claim,-
First, the employment in the production thereof of machinery having a
continuous,or nearlycontinuous ejection opening; or having ejection openings
distributed all round the discharge end, so as to obtain a free or continuous
discharge of the materials acted on, as described.
Second, the employment of machinery arranged and combined as herein
described.
Third, theproduction of Coignet's beton,or polished andunpolishedartificial
stone in the improved manner described.
Fourth, the production of imitations of agate, porphyry, jasper,and granite,

page_text: and other decorative,artistic,and ornamental articles, works and surfaces, and
artificial stone byemploying colored and variegated agents in the manufacture
of the Coignet's patent beton or composition, as described.
Fifth, the production of ornamental works, blocks, or articles by mixing
colored or variegating agents with the beton at or near the surface or outer
portion of the block or piece, leaving the rest thereof unmixed, as described.
And in respect of works and articles imitative of statuary, sculpture,
carvings, relievos, and the like, I do not claim the use of plaster moulds
generally, apart from the employment thereof in the manner and for the
purpose herein described; but what I do claim is, the production of works
and articles imitative of statuary,sculpture,relievos, carvings,and the like, by
moulding and ramming, or agglomerating Coignet's beton or composition in
moulds composed of plaster, beton,cement,and similar materials,as described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
S. E. A. NEWSOME,
84, Fleet Street.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)