IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING BLOCKS FOR STREETS, BUILDINGS, OR ANY PLACE WHERE PAVING IS APPLICABLE
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ely Dyson, Builder and Timber Merchant, of Halifax,
in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING
BLOCKS FOR STREETS, BUILDINGS, OR ANY PLACE WHERE PAVING IS
APPLICABLE."
Sealed the 4th July 1876, and dated the 7th January 1876.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ely Dyson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 7th January 1876.
ELY DYSON, Builder and Timber Merchant, of Halifax, in the County of York.
IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING BLOCKS FOR STREETS, BUILDINGS, OR ANY PLACE WHERE
PAVING IS APPLICABLE."
My improvements consist,―
Firstly. In forming and arranging blocks of wood of suitable form and in such
manner that blocks or pieces of stone, concrete, rubble, shingle, bricks, asphalt, or
other material may be placed alternately or otherwise with and rest on portions of
the said wood blocks, such wood blocks alone resting on the bottom or surface of
the ground or floor, which may be of concrete or other material, the whole being
made secure and firm together by means of pitch, tar, or other cementatory sub-
stances.
Secondly. My improvements consist in joining or fastening two or any other
suitable number of the wood blocks together by means of pins formed of wood,
iron, or other metals or material. It will be readily observed that by this means
they can be conveyed to the place where they have to be laid in a complete form in
any suitable or desired quantities.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ely Dyson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th July 1876.
ELY DYSON, of Halifax, in the County of York, Builder and Timber Merchant.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING BLOCKS FOR STREETS, BUILDINGS, OR ANY PLACE WHERE
PAVING. IS APPLICABLE"
My improvements consist,-
Firstly. In forming and arranging blocks of wood of suitable form and in such
manner that blocks or pieces of stone, concrete, rubble, shingle, bricks, asphalt, or
other material may be placed alternately or otherwise with and rest on portions of
Prine Adı

page_text: i
the said wood blocks, such wood blocks alone resting on the bottom or surface of
the ground or floor, which may be of concrete or other material, the whole being
made secure and firm together by means of pitch, tar, or other cementatory sub-
stances.
Secondly. My improvements consist in joining or fastening two or any other
suitable number of the wood blocks together by means of pins formed of wood,
iron, or other metals or materials. It will be readily observed that by this means
they can be conveyed to the place where they have to be laid in a complete form in
any suitable or desired quantities.
-
In order that my Invention may be more clearly understood I have hereunto
annexed one Sheet of Drawings shewing my improvements as applied in a variety
of ways; other modifications may be made, but those I have shewn will be suffi
cient to illustrate them.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a number of blocks of wood A arranged and keyed
or pinned together by the pins B in such manner that they form a firm and com-
pact mass when laid on the road or floor where required; C are pieces of stone, or
they may be merely broken shingle, bricks, or other hard substance, which may be
placed and rest on the wood blocks, as shewn, and cemented by concrete, asphalt,
tar, or other binding material.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
Fig. 3 shews the method in which I place the pins B, so as to securely tie or bind
them together.
Fig. 4 shews another modification of my improvements, D being the wood blocks,
and E the stone or concrete.
I employ another form of pin or key F, the arrangement of which will be readily
seen by the practical observer to be as practical and serviceable as the form and
arrangement of pin B, in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, with this additional advantage that it
affords greater facility in lifting the blocks for repairs. The said pins or keys I
make by preference to fit loosely, and one pin to be about the length of two blocks.
By this means they allow the blocks to fit the curvature and gradient of the road,
and are readily put in as the work proceeds.
Fig. 5 is a plan view, and Fig. 6 an end view of Fig. 4.
I have shewn at Figs. 7 and 8 another form, which I think will be most advan-
tageous, because the wood can for this form be économically cut, the taper or bevil
being such that two pieces can be cut out of one single piece without waste. G are
the blocks, and the spaces H may be filled, as in the other cases, with stone or other
hard substances or material, or merely shingle, but I prefer proper concrete; J may
be any kind of asphalt or pitchy material, or may be dispensed with, and filled
instead with concrete to the top; K is the pin or key, which in this form I place in
the ends of the blocks. The blocks in this form may be reversed, and placed nearer
to or farther apart, as found convenient.
At Fig. 9 I have shewn an arrangement where two blocks L, M, may be placed
and pinned or keyed close together, as shewn.
Fig. 10 shews that the same blocks may be placed in line with each other, which
may be found necessary sometimes where a narrow piece or length of stone or wood
is required to complete the paving of a street, yard, or other place.
Fig. 11 is a plan view of Fig. 10.
By any of the above-described arrangements, or any mere modifications of the
same, a good firm pavement is obtained, and the dangers arising from pavements
.composed entirely of wood, asphalt, or concrete by the horses slipping and falling
are reduced to a minimum, the noise and other disadvantages of a pavement con-
sisting of stone alone, being also very largely decreased.
A more even surface will also result from my improvements, and the time and
manual labour employed in putting the paveing down will also be less than
. heretofore.
Any pattern or design may be cut and used on the surface of the blocks if
“required to be placed and keyed in close proximity to each other.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and shewn by Drawings
how the same may be put into practice, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details as herein set forth, nor to any mere modifi-
cations of the same, nor do I claim the combination of wood and stone, or wood
and granite, shingle, bricks, or other material; but what I claim as my Invention,
and believe to be new is, the method of constructing and arranging the wood
blocks so that stone, concrete, shingle, bricks, asphalt, or other material may be
employed therewith, and the pinning or keying of the wood blocks together, sub-
stantially as herein shewn and described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ely Dyson, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
ELY DYSON. (L.S.)