IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Walton, of Staines, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLE,"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Frederick Walton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 21st January 1860, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1952.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRIDERICK
WALTON, of Staines, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARTIFICIAL MARBLE," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is the mufacture of artificial marble.
On the 17th of May 1862 n Patent (No. 1505) was granted to Edmund
John Bridell for "Improvements in the Manufacture of Substances
......1

page_text: Artificially Colored, Veined, or Mottled like Marbles or other Sub-
stances," and in the Specification of the said Patent there is described
the production of slabs or sheets formed on sheets of glass or other
materials with cement or other cementive materials in a semi-fluid
state or paste and the imitation of marbles by placing threads of floss
silk previously saturated in colouring matters on the sheets of glass, and
then removing the same after they have imparted their coloring matter
to the paste overlaid, also the placing a coarse canvas over this paste,
and afterwards backing the same with a layer of coarser cement to give
strength and substance. These processes have been performed by hand,
and a part of my Invention is for the production of the same by means
of the following mechanical appliances: -I make a framework or
carriage running on wheels, which are covered with india-rubber or
other soft material; these wheels run upon the extreme edge of the
sheet of glass or other material on which the artificial marble is
moulded. On this frame I fix a metal gauge which can be lowered to
the face of the glass at pleasure by means of screws or levers. I also fix
on the frame a metal or glass roller which can be lowered by the same
means, and attached to this roller 1 fix a ductor of steel to keep the
same clean. I also place on this framework a hopper to contain a
quantity of dry cement. This hopper is provided with a slot in the
bottom of it, and above this slot I fix a roller, and against this roller I
adjust by means of screws a gauge to regulate the quantity of cement to
be supplied, the roller being made to revolve by being geared into the
wheels which travel on the face of the glass and from which the roller
derives its motion.
The mcdus operandi is as follows:-After the artistic work is
produced (as described in the Specification of the Patent previously
mentioned by placing the threads of silk on the glass and then covering
them with liquid cements and afterwards removing the threads) I run
the frame with its hopper across the slab, and so distribute equally a
layer of dry cement. Keen's cement is that which is usually employed
with the object of setting the underlying paste by the absorption of its
superabundant moisture. I then close the aperture of this trough by
means of a slide, and lower the roller so far as to pass lightly over the
surface, care being taken not to disturb the pattern previously formed.
If this is not sufficient to distribute the moisture equally through the
mass of cement I lower the roller still more and pass it again over

page_text: •
the surface and repeat it until the necessary solidity is attained. I
then take a piece of coarse canvas and I fix it to one end of the slab
and pass it under the roller and again traverse the roller so as to
embed it into the cement. It is now necessary to strengthen or back
the blab with a coarser and less expensive cement which has been
previously prepared by mixing it along with water to the con-
sistency of mortar in a small horizontal pug mill. I now lower tho
gauge, raise the roller, and place in front of the gauge a sufficient
quantity of the said cement to form a layer of about of an inch in
thickness and pass the carriage over the table to spread the same
equally. I repeat this operation until the desired thickness is obtained.
To protect the canvas from the effect of moisture I saturate it in some
waterproof composition, preferring linoleum varnish, and in some cases
instead of canvas I use wire gauze or perforated metals. Where I want a
light substance, as for the decoration of walls, &c., instead of putting a
coarse backing of cement I place a thick layer of pasteboard previously
roughened to make the cement adhere to it. In some cases I remove
the thin slab so prepared whilst there is yet sufficient moisture in it to
render it pliable, and I use the same for the veneering of pillars or other
irregular surfaces, removing the pasteboard when the cement is dry.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the method or process
of manufacturing artificial marble by means of a carriago passed over
the slab or surface on which the artificial marble is moulded and
distributing and equalizing the material thereon, substantially as herein
described.
the sur
I also produco a marbled or other ornamental effect on
face of slabs by the following mechanical means: -On such a frame
running on wheels as previously described I fix a roller of about
18 inches diameter, the bottom side of which approaches the glass slab
within about inch, and under this roller I fix a thin adjustable steel
ductor which is made to fill almost the intervening space between the
roller and the glass surface. Above or on the top side of this roller
1 place a striping trough which has compartments to receive various
colored fluid cements, the object being to produce on the roller
coloured stripes, the method of which is well known. This trough works
laterally by means of slidos or bars, and lateral motion is given by
meuns of a suitable crank or other notion derived from the carriage
wheels.

page_text: The modus operandi is as follows:-I fill the trough compartments
with the coloured cement paste which desire to produce certain effects
from. I then adjust the bottom of the trough to the face of the roller
to admit a sufficient body of colour to pass through. I then pass the
machine over the slab, and the stripes are produced on the roller
according as the motion of the trough is more or less in waved lines
of various widths, and when the ductor takes off these colours they run
therefrom by their own gravity on to the slab. The effect is very agree-
able, and it will be easily understood that by altering the width and
arrangement of the lines in relation to each other, and by varying the
length of the traverse of the trough, that a great variety of effects may
be produced, and by means of irregular cams adjusted to move the
trough at irregular intervals that other effects can be obtained. In
some cases 1 work the trough direct on the glass slab without the
interposition of the roller and produce straight or irregular stripes, and
I place small points of metal or wood and cause them to rotate or
oscillate by means of a crank or other suitable contrivance geared into
the carriage wheels, and by this means the colours are evenly mixed
together or marbled, and pleasing effects may thereby be produced.
After producing the [foregoing effects I make slab of the necessary
thickness as previously described, and when dry I take it off and polish
it in the usual way.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the method or process
of manufacturing artificial marble by distributing cement of various
colours on a roller or surface, from which it is then scraped by a ductor or
scraper and allowed to fall upon a slab or glass or other moulding surface.
I also claim the method or process of manufacturing artificial stone
by distributing cement of various colours in stripes on a slab or glass
or other moulding surface by passing over it a trough containing and
discharging the various colours and then intermixing the colours by
passing over the slab or surface a carriage having stirring points dipping
into the cement and stirring it as above described.
To produce sharply defined patterns in colour I take a plate of glass
or other suitable material on which is a raised pattern varying from
to of an inch in depth. I mould a slab of cement upon this
surface, marbling it or not as may be desired. When it is set I remove
it from the surface, and I print the pattern orrecosses with blocks as in

page_text: the manner of floorcloth printing, using an elastic or soft block made of
gutta percha or linoleum. To make the blocks retain colour I use felt,
plush, or other absorbing material to fill in those parts of the design where
it is necessary to feed large bodies of colour. The colour employed is
prepared by mixing the cements with water and colouring matters and
thickened as in the manufacture of paperhangings, so as to work freely
from the blocks. I prefer to use a pad for distributing the colours on
provided with a blanket working in a trough and which is supplied ovenly
by means of a ductor. Should it be necessary to get body of colour as in
the manufacture of encaustic pavements I lay the blocks more than once.
I prefer to make the design on the blocks where practicable a little
larger than that on the slab. When I have filled or printed in the
colours I scrape or wipe off any colour which may extend on to the
higher parts of the slab. The object of moulding the design previous
to printing it is to ensure a clearly defined ontline, which cannot bo
attained by printing alone.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the method or process of
manufacturing artificial marble by moulding cement on a slab having a
raised pattern upon it, then removing the moulded cement from the
surface and printing colour into the bollows of the pattern by means of
a corresponding block of elastic material.
In some cases after preparing a slab with a recessed pattern thereon I
proceed as follows:-I take a piece of finely perforated metal on which I
draw a counterpart of the design on the slab. I then raise vertical metal
walls following the tracery of the pattern, each colour forming its own
separate cell, the chambers are then filled with their own respective
colours. I then float the slab with water so that the recesses may be
filled, and I place the colour box over the slab by means of adjusting
pins, and I tap the box with a piece of metal or any mechanical con-
trivance so as to cause it to sieve the coloured cements into the various
recessed forms, when the recesses are filled and the cement set. I then
apply over this a plain or marbled surface, and when this is dry enough
I remove it from the slab and fill in the recesses and polish off. In
some cases I place a stencil plate direct on the glass slab or plane
surface and fill it with liquid coment, and then having removed the
stencil plate back up the cement left on the slab to the required thickness
and fill in the recesses on the face as before.

page_text: I claim as respects this part of my Invention the method or process of
manufacturing artificial marble by sifting powdered cement into the
hollows of a slab with a depressed pattern upon it, then applying a
backing of cement to the colored cements in the hollows, and sub-
sequently removing the sheet of cement from the slab and filling in
with cement the hollows produced by the pattern on the slab. I also
claim the method or process of manufacturing artificial marble by
placing a stencil plate on a slab and filling the recesses with colored
cements, then removing the plate and applying a backing of cement, and
subsequently filling in with coment the hollows left by the stencil plate.
By another method of producing figured design in colour I spread a
tum layer of fine liquid cements, say to of an inch in thickness, and
when dry I print with blocks or stencil plates the parts which I wish
afterwards to appear as the groundwork of the pattern with a waterproof
varnish. When this is dry I take blocks figured according to the design
1 desire to produce, and I print the pattern in dye colours suitably
thickened, but not so much that the dye shall not saturate the body of
the cement whereafter the resist varnish has not been applied, I then
back the pattern up in the usual way.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention tho method or process of
producing artificial marble, spreading on suitable slab or surface a thin
layer of cement, then printing thereon, first with a waterproof cement
and then with dye colors, so that such colors may penetrate except where
stopped by the varnish, then backing the cement to the thickness required,
and removing it from the slab.
In some cases I take an engraved plate and I produce a reverse of
this by means of electro deposit or electrotyping or stereotyping, and
so I produce a plate with raised lines thereon; this I cover with a layer
of liquid cement, white or tinted. I then back it up, and after being
dry and removed from the plate a thin liquid cement of any colour may
be floated into the lines, and the whole afterwards carefully polished.
By such means all the beauty of engraved works of art may be produced
In a durable material.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the method or process
of producing artificial marble by the use of electrotype or stereotype
pattern plates in the manner above described.

page_text: It will be understood that these methods of ornamentation can be
applied in some cases to irregular surfaces, as the interior of moulds for
pillars, chimney pieces, &c., but for the sake of simplicity I have con-
fined my description to flat surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Walton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
FRED. WALTON. (L.B.)