Manufacture of Vitreous Artificial Stone.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Manufacture of Vitreous Artificial Stone.
I, ARMIN HIRSCH, of 30 Avenue de l'Opera, Paris, France, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of vitreous artificial stone which may
be made to imitate marble, slate, coloured glass, granite and other coloured stones,
and may be applied in large or small pieces to any purpose to which the above
mentioned materials are applicable. For the purpose of this manufacture I pack
fragments of glass, porcelain or pottery ware, natural vitrifiable stones or minerals
such as basalts or trachytes into moulds of iron or other refractory material
provided with refractory linings, and I heat the whole in a furnace to effect the
fusion or partial fusion of the materials. When the fusion is partial, the product
is variegated consisting of fragments of the more refractory materials cemented
together by the more fusible materials. By complete fusion the product may be
made more or less homogeneous in its constitution. Alkaline or other fluxes may
be added to promote fusion. When the product is desired to have a smooth
surface, the mass is quite fused and a roller or rabble is passed over its surface.
When it is to have a rough or rocky surface the mould with its contents is
withdrawn from the furnace before the fusion is complete, the more refractory
materials standing up above the general level of the fused ingredients.
Mosaic and other designs, veins and variegated patterns may be produced by
suitable arrangement of pieces of variously coloured glass or other material in the
mould before fusion. Slabs of the material may have their sides made with
projections to bond into masonry, the moulds for this purpose having their bottoms
formed with suitable hollows. In all cases the product after being removed from
the melting furnace is annealed by slow cooling in an annealing furnace.
Dated this 25th day of July 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
Manufacture of vitreous Artincial Stone.
J, ARMIN HIRSCH, of 30 Avenue de l'Opera, Paris, France, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of vitreous stone, which may be made
to imitate marble, slate, coloured glass, granite, and other coloured stones, and
may be applied in large or small pieces to any structural or decorative purpose to
which materials such as above mentioned are applicable.
For this purpose, fragments of glass, crystal, porcelain or other ceramic

page_text: materials, volcanic rocks such as basalt, trachyte and others of various constitutions
and colours, are bioken up to pieces of suitable size and are packed in an iron
mould lined with refractory material such as sand, talc or other substance not
readily fusible.
The mould thus charged and open is placed in a furnace, such as that for glass
working and left until fusion or partial fusion of the vitrifiable contents takes
place, soldering the pieces together.
If the bottom of the mould be charged with fragments of common glass with
pieces of coloured glass over them the fusion produces a homogeneous mass of a
highly decorative character at a very little expense.
A smooth surface is obtained when the materials at the top are fused, and the
stone may be made to have a polished appearance by passing a roller or wooden
rabble over the fused sub-tances. Or a rough, rocky or granulated surface is
obtained by withdrawing the mould from the furnace as soon as there is sufficient
softening and soldering together of the materials, as may be judged by practice.
After the first fusion, the mould with its contents is placed in an annealing
furnace, and very slowly cooled. The block can then be taken from the mould,
and if desired, cut, polished or enamelled.
Imitations of granite or variously coloured stones, are obtained by using vitrifiable
fragments of various colours, and mosaics can be obtained by arranging the
coloured fragments according to designs.
For imitating marbles, veins are traced in the material at the bottom of the
mould, and are filled with material of the desired colour.
The mould may be divided into compartments by thin metal partitions which,
after the compartments are charged with the fragments of variously coloured
glass, are removed, and then fusion is effected producing a mosaic of design
determined by the arrangement of the partitions. Rods of lead may be arranged
to separate the tesseræ, and these rods may be left to fuse in the mass.
When the mould is withdrawn from the furnace the material is in a pasty
condition, and can be stamped or embossed, or can be moulded into desired forms.
By using fragments of some size in the lower part of the mould, the lower surface
is made to present projections and hollows which serve to key the blocks to cement,
concrete, or plaster for structural purposes.
The material may be prepared in the form of thin slabs or plates for facing or
lining purposes, these plates or elabs being strengthened, if required, by layers of
cement. Such linings are especially applicable for all sanitary structures.
When it is desired to obtain blocks or slabs polished on their under surfaces,
fluxes such as fluor spar, or fluo-silicates, having the effect of promoting fusion of
the fragments, may be placed in the bottom of the mould, so that the vitreous
materials there become fused at a comparatively low temperature, and the mould
being then withdrawn from the furnace the block or slab is smooth below and
rough or granulated above.
By leaving the mould in the furnace until the upper portion of its contents are
fused, a block or slab is obtained with both its surfaces smooth.
The mould may be made with projections or hollows according to pattern for
figuring the surface of the block or slab.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described manufacture of vitreous artificial stone by the fusion or
partial fusion of fragments of vitrifiable material placed in a mould with or
without fragments of more refractory character.
2. The manufacture of mosaic blocks or slabs by charging compartments of the
mould with fragments of different colours, and subjecting the whole to fusion or
partial fusion.

page_text: 3. The manufacture of a block or slab with a smooth under surface by placing
suitable flux in the bottom of the mould.
Dated this 4th day of Anril 1906
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.