Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Stone, and in Apparatus to be used therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Stone, and in
Apparatus to be used therefor.
I, JOHN HOYES MCLEAN, of 10, Stonor Road, West Kensington, in the County.
of London, Manufacturer's Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce an artificial stone, especially suitable
for paving purposes, in a simple and economical manner, by pressure, and also
to produce apparatus which is to be used in the manufacture of the stone.
In carrying out this invention, I take burnt clay, or what is known as “burnt,
ballast," and I grind it up to the fineness of sea-sand.
I next mix it with Portland cement in any desired proportions, and well wet
it, so as to produce a thick slurry.
This mixture I then place in suitable moulds, and submit it to considerable
pressure in the apparatus to be hereafter described, whereby the excess of moisture
is driven out, and the material is consolidated into slabs or bricks for paving or
other purposes.
The apparatus I employ. consists of a well press in which a ram works.
Above the well is a head or cover, which will be raised to such a height above
the well as to give clear headway by means of two or more smaller rams by which
the head will be carried.
When the well is filled with the material to be pressed, the head is brought
down, and is locked by suitable means acting on the rams or the head, or in any
other suitable manner, preparatory to the pressure being applied by the main
ram.
When the material is consolidated, the head is raised, the slab or block is
pushed out of the well by the main ram, and is carried away to be stacked to
Iry.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Stone, and in
Apparatus to be used therefor.
I, Jons HoYES MCLEAN, of 10, Stonor Road, West Kensington, in the County
f London, Manufacturer's Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement —
The object of this invention is to produce an artificial stone, especially suitable
for paving purposes, in a simple and economical manner, by pressure, and also
to produce apparatus which is to be used in the manufacture of the stone. In
carrying out this invention, I take burnt clay, or what is known as
"burnt
ballast," and I grind it up to the fineness of sea sand.
I next mix it with Portland cement in any desired proportions, and well wet
it, so to produce a thick slurry. This mixture I then place in suitable moulds,
and submit it to considerable pressure, in the apparatus to be hereafter described,
whereby the excess of moisture is driven out, and the material is consolidated
into slabs or bricks, for paving or other purposes..
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a plan view; and
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, at right angles to Fig. 1.
A A represents a foundation of masonry, and B B are wells in which certain
parts of the apparatus are contained.
This foundation must be of an exceedingly solid character, and may be made
of concrete or blocks of artificial stone, or of bricks, or any other suitable and
conveniently obtained material, firmly bonded together.
Upon this foundation is built up the apparatus, which consists essentially of a
hydraulic press of special construction.
This press is composed of a heavy casting C, which is set on the foundation A,
and contains two wells, D D¹.
One of these wells (D) serves as a mould to receive the material to be compressed,
and also to receive the follower E of a hydraulic ram, while the well DI serves
as the cylinder for the plunger F of the ram.
The size of the well D may be made to vary, by inserting metal blocks or strips,
according to the size of the block or slab it is desired to produce, a follower of
the required size replacing a larger or smaller follower of the ram, as the case
may be.
G is the cover of the mould, and this cover is secured to columns H, carried by
a base plate J mounted on the plunger of another hydraulic ram, K, contained
in the foundation well B. The columns H pass through holes in the casting C,
which serve to guide them, as they rise and fall under the action of the ram K,
and they are slotted at L to receive locking bars M, which are mounted in the
casting C, and are operated by a hand lever N, or other device, when the cover is
let down on the top of the mould, as shewn in Fig. 3, to lock the cover in position
against the pressure of the main ram E, F.
When it is desired to fill the mould D, or to get the compressed slab out of
the press, the cover G is raised by the action of the ram K, as shewn in Fig. 1,
by drawn lines, the closed position being shewn in dotted lines in the same figure.
The underside of the cover is provided with a series of fine grooves leading to
an outlet passage suitably provided in the cover, to allow for the passing away of
the water pressed out of the agglomerate mass (say concrete), from which the slab
or block is being formed.
The follower of the main ram E, F, may also have fine grooves in its upper face,
for a similar purpose.
0 is a hopper provided with a suitable spout, and mounted on a carriage P,
which runs on rails Q, suitably arranged in convenient proximity to the mould.
R is a platform on which the concrete is mixed by hand, or on to which it is
delivered by a mixer, and S is a tipping measuring vessel, in which the material
is measured, before it is tipped into the hopper, to be conveyed to the mould D.
Between the rails Q is mounted a pushing ram T, provided with a suitable head,
of a length equal to the width of the mould, the duty of which is to push the

page_text: finished slab or block out of the press, onto. the rollers U; from which it is removed
in any convenient manner, to be stacked or otherwise placed for drying or harden-.
ing in the open air.
I will now describe the method of procedure in making a block of artificial stone.
The water is let out of the ram F so that the follower E will rest on the bottom
of the mould D), and the cover G is raised off the mould.
A perforated metal plate W, of about one inch thick, is first placed on the
follower. Next a sheet of perforated zinc, of the exact size of the mould to which
is sewn a sheet of felt, with a sheet of some fine woven fabric above it, is placed
on the plate W.
The hopper O is then run into position below the tipping vessel S, and so as to
discharge into the centre of the mould.
The material, say concrete, the composition of which is well known, is mixed
on the platform R, and the desired quantity is measured in the vessel S, and the
vessel is tipped so that the material falls into the hopper, and is guided thereby
into the mould, where it falls in a heap, more or less.
An attendant on either side of the mould will spread the concrete evenly in
the mould, and clean off any material that may have fallen onto the edges of
the mould.
The attendants will then take a sheet of fine woven fabric, and stretch it over
the mould and the material therein, and then spread a sheet of felt over the
woven fabric. The felt will extend beyond the edges of the mould, so as to
make a joint, when the cover is let down, which, while allowing liquid to pass,
will keep back the solid matter, however fine. The use of this felt will also ensure
the proper formation of the arrises or edges of the face of the block.
The hopper O is then run back clear of the press, and the cover G is lowered
by letting the water out of the ram K. The cover is locked in position by
pushing over the lever N, which will cause the locking bars M to engage in the
slots L of the columns H.
The pressure is then applied by the ram E, F; the liquid is squeezed out, and
the agglomerate mass consolidated. The pressure is then slightly reduced, to
permit of the locking bars M being withdrawn, and the cover G is raised. The
fabric and felt are then removed, and the ram E, F, is again operated, to raise
the block with the perforated plate W clear of the top of the mould.
The ram T is brought now into play, to push the plate W, with its load, out
of the press, and onto the rollers U, from which the plate and block may be
removed onto a trolley, or otherwise, to be taken away to dry and harden.
The operation is then repeated until the required number of blocks or slabs
is produced.
It will be obvious that, in place of the ram K, I may employ other mechanical
devices for raising the cover; for example, I may attach chains and weights to
the base plate J, passing the chains over pulleys suitably arranged and supported.
Or I may fix the base plate J to the casting C, the columns H being also fixed.
The cover G may be carried by chains and counter-weights, the chains passing over
pulleys carried by the columns, which will of course be braced together at top.
In both cases, the columns will be slotted, as before, to receive the locking
bars M, which, in the last modification, will come over lugs or other devices on the
cover, in order to hold it down against the pressure of the ram E, F.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The manufacture of slabs and blocks from "burnt ballast," for paving and
other purposes, as described.
2. A well hydraulic press in which the well serves as a mould to receive material
to be consolidated; a cover forming part of, or moving in, a frame spanning the
press, and operated by an auxiliary ram, or other well-known mechanical device

page_text: and locking bars operated by the side of the press, and taking into slots in the
columns or uprights of the cover frame, for locking either the columns with cover
to the main casting, or the cover to the columns, all combined, arranged, and
operating as shewn and described.
3. A well hydraulic press of the character specified, in combination with a
travelling hopper mounted on rails in close proximity to the press, and a mixing
platform provided with a tipping measuring device, as herein shewn and described.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1900
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.