IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR PAVING, BUILDING, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Edmund Greatorex, of Southsea, in the Borough of
Portsmouth, in the County of Southampton, Civil Engineer, and Thomas Parson
Hall, of Eastney, in the said Borough of Portsmouth, and County of South-
ampton, Inspector of Public Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR PAVING, BUILDING, AND OTHER
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 19th January 1877, and dated the 25th October 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Edward Greatorex
and Thomas Parson Hall at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
25th October 1876.
JOSEPH EDMUND GREATOREX, of Southsea, in the Borough of Portsmouth, in the
County of Southampton, Civil Engineer, and THOMAS PARSON HALL, of Eastney,
in the said Borough of Portsmouth, and County of Southampton, Inspector of
Public Works. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR
PAVING, BUILDING, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
According to our Invention we cast slabs, paving quarries or tiles, landings, steps,
cills, arch stones, coping caps, sewer blocks, kerbing, channelling, troughs, and any
other article where stone can be brought into use, for which purpose we use the
best Portland cement ground extremely fine (tested and proved as follows:-It
must be capable of bearing a tensile strain of 300 lbs. per square inch of section after
being made seven days, and being immersed in water during the whole period of
those seven days) in combination with sharp sand, broken clinkers, stone, flints,
shingle, gravel or any other hard material, to form the inside of the blocks. We
then coat the blocks, slabs, paving quarries or tiles with a composition made in the
following manner:-We use Portland cement, iron turnings, borings or filings (either
wrought or cast) disintegrated into very small particles, the iron and cement are
gauged or mixed together and most thoroughly incorporated. The mixture is then
slightly but thoroughly wetted and placed into the moulds before the body of the
material is set, or instead of wetting the materials before placing them in moulds
with water in the usual manner, the materials may be at once mixed with a solution
of sulphate of iron made by dissolving iron in sulphuric acid. It is then, while in
n. '
71

page_text: the moulds, submitted to great pressure by hydraulic or other means. In passing
through this operation the material is consolidated into a perfect homogeneous mass,
and all pores therein are entirely filled up.
After the article is taken out of the mould, it is placed in a bath of dilute
sulphuric acid, which dissolving the iron impregnates the body of the material with
the solution, and renders it harder and more durable than any natural stone.
Our Invention also refers to the application of the particles of iron turnings,
borings or filings, and more particularly with reference to paving which, without
roughing the surface, has the effect of preventing the slipperyness so generally
complained of in most paving materials. In the case of paving material we face
the slabs, quarries, and tiles on both sides alike, so that any time the upper surface
may become worn they may be reversed and relaid, and the pavement become equal
to new.
Artificial stone produced according to this Invention is known as "ferrumite."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Edmund Greatorex and Thomas Parson Hall in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th April 1877.
JOSEPH EDMUND GREATOREX, of Southsea, in the Borough of Portsmouth, in the
County of Southampton, Civil Engineer, and THOMAS PARSON Hall, of Eastney, in
the said Borough of Portsmouth, and County of Southampton, Inspector of Public
Works. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR PAVING,
BUILDING, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
According to our Invention we cast slabs, paving quarries or tiles, landings, steps,
cills, arch stones, coping caps, sewer blocks, kerbing, channelling, troughs and any
other articles for which stone can be employed, and for this purpose we use the best
Portland cement (or it may be other good hydraulic cement or lime) ground to an
extremely fine powder in combination with more or less (according to the required
quality) of sharp sand, broken clinkers, stone flints, shingle, gravel, or other hard
materials such as furnace slag. These materials are incorporated with the slaked
To this we add the
cement in the usual and generally well understood manner.
following preparation to form an outer coating or to be incorporated therewith, viz.,
Portland cement or other good hydraulic cement or lime is mixed with iron or steel
turnings, borings or filings (either wrought or cast), or with oxide of iron provided it
be tolerably free from earthy matter. The iron or steel or oxide of iron is disinte-
grated into very small particles and thoroughly incorporated with the cement.
mixture is then slightly but thoroughly wetted and placed in the mould before any
of the cement is set. It is then, while still in the mould, submitted to great
pressure by hydraulic or other means, and in undergoing this process the material
is consolidated into one very dense mass much less porous than ordinary cement.
The
After the material has been removed from the mould and exposed for some time
to the air, it is immersed in a bath of dilute sulphuric acid, which dissolves a
portion of the iron and impregnates the body of the material with the solution, filling
its pores with insoluble sulphates and rendering it harder and more durable than
any natural stone.
In constructing sea walls, docks, barn or other floors, platforms, piers, wharves; or
any other walls or pavements which do not require to be frequently removed, we
either lay the slabs of artificial stone prepared as above described, and joint them
with a mixture of hydraulic cement or lime and finely disintegrated iron or oxide
of iron, and then wash the joints with dilute sulphuric acid, thus producing a
uniform surface throughout, or we cover the wall, floor, or platform with the
mixture of cement or lime and iron or steel or oxide of iron in the wet or damp
state, and when the cement has partially hardened we wash the whole with dilute

page_text: sulphuric acid, thus covering the entire surface with a perfectly homogeneous stone
entirely free from joints.
According to this Invention then we combine any required quantity of finely
ground hydraulic cement or lime more or less incorporated with other material or
materials if required with a coating or admixture of particles of iron, steel, or iron
compound, or of a solution of a salt of iron. In the latter case, the hydraulic
cement or lime may be slaked in the solution in the first instance.
The introduction of finely disintegrated iron or iron solution in the metallic form
has the advantage of preventing the slipperiness so often complained of in most
paving materials, especially when wetted, while it does not sensibly roughen the
surface. Moreover, by this Invention we are enabled to harden both sides of the
paving stones, quarries, and tiles, so that when one side has been worn, they may
be turned up and relaid. Artificial stone produced according to this Invention is
known as "ferrumite."
We are aware that sulphuric acid and metallic salts have been used for the
purpose of colouring stones made by other methods, but in our Invention the
sulphuric acid and salts of iron are used for the purpose of hardening stones made
with cement or hydraulic lime with or without other materials.
We are also aware that sulphuric acid has been employed for the purpose of
decomposing a soluble silicate introduced into the natural or artificial stone, and we
do not claim as any part of our Invention its employment in conjunction with such
silicate, and solely for the purpose of decomposing or removing it.
But what we do claim as our Invention is,-
Firstly. The artificial admixture and consolidation of particles of iron or steel
compounds of iron or solutions of salts of iron with hydraulic cement or lime or
compositions thereof, whether the iron or iron compounds be therewith in the solid
form or the cement or lime or composition be immersed in a solution of a salt of
iron or slaked therein, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Secondly. The immersion of a hydraulic cement or lime or composition in
sulphuric acid for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Edmund Greatorex and Thomas
Parson Hall, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day of
April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-