IMPROVEMENTS IN BLASTING ROCKS ALSO IN WORKING MARBLE AND STONE, AND IN PREPARING PRODUCTS THEREFROM
Year: 1850

page_text: LIEBHABER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
CONRAD Baron LIEBHABER, of Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Conrad Baron Leibhaber, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Joseph Conrad Baron Liebhaber, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Conrad Baron Liebhaber, my exors, adñors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLASTING ROCKS
ALSO IN WORKING MARBLE AND STONE, AND IN PREPARING PRODUCTS THEREFROM;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Joseph
Conrad Baron Liebhaber, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Conrad Baron Liebhaber, do hereby declare that the nature of my

page_text: said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention relates, first, to improvements in my former Patent, dated
March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-five, for blasting rocks, con-
sisting of certain modifications and improvements of the apparatus employed
by me for carrying out the Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING."
Figure 1 shows an arrangement of apparatus for introducing the acid and
withdrawing the products. The Drawing shows a portion of a rock in which
a hole has been made, and which-has-been enlarged to some extent at its
inner end by a solvent, according to the means described under my former
Patent; but it will be seen that the inner tube 6 is not entirely enclosed by
the tube a, but the end of it enters the vessel c; as shewn in. the Drawing, by
which arrangement the inner tube is more readily introduced into the outer one.,
Figure 2 shows another modification, in which the syphon is not employed,
but the acid is allowed to pass through a small passage c¹, formed in vessel!
containing the acid, by which the acid may be introduced in-small quantities;*
which is desirable when operating upon rocks in which there may be leakages.
The acid, as it passes from the passage c¹, is received into the cup-formed
vessel 61, at the top of the tube b.
Figure 3 shows another modification', in which the acid passes from the
vessel c, through small opening in the outer tube, and the products are forced
up through the inner one. The withdrawing of the products may be facilitated
by connecting with the vessel (which in such case would be closed) containing
the acid another chamber, having therein a solution of quicklime or other
absorbing liquid therein, by which a partial vacuum may be produced in the
whole of the system, or in place of the chamber with lime an air pump may
be employed.
The Drawing, Figure 4, shows the application when combined with exhaust-
ing apparatus. The apparatus Figure 4 may be applied for boring cylindrical
holes, and also for making deep grooves, as well as enlarging the, chambers at
the end of cylindrical holes.
Another improvement is the employment of tubes and vessels made of gutta
percha to the purpose of blasting rocks, they not being so readily acted upon
by the acid as the metal ones, and being more readily applied.
Another improvement in blasting rocks according to my system is being
able to ascertain the exact size and form of the cavity, the hole made made by

page_text: the acid, which has heretofore been a subject of difficulty, and often caused a
waste of powder by the cavity being too small, and waste of acid when too large.
The present improvement consists in filling the cavity with a mixture of powder
and sawdust, using about ten per cent. of powder to ninety per cent. of sawdust,
or less, depending on the quality of the powder, using just sufficient powder to
ignite the sawdust, and to blow it out. Then by knowing how much of this
mixture has been introduced into a cavity made by the acid the workman will
at once know the quantity of powder required to fill the hole, and if the hole
or cavity be too large he will put in the proper quantity of powder for pro-
ducing the effect desired, and he will fill the other part with sand or otherwise.
When it is desired to cleanse surfaces of stone, by removing a very thin portion
of the outer or inner surfaces, I employ instruments or apparatus adapted to
the particular form of the article of stone, or the part thereof to be cleansed,
in order to bring acid to act on such surfaces, by causing the acid to pass
quickly in contact with such surfaces or parts thereof; for which purpose
I enclose such surfaces, or part thereof, so as to prevent the acid getting beyond
the exact part to be operated on, and I cause the apparatus described in my
former Patent, or that described in this Specification, or similar apparatus, to
be used for causing a constant flow of acid; and when making articles in stone,
and a cavity or cavities are desired, I employ like means to those herein and
before described by me when making cavities for blasting.
.
My next improvement is in working marble and stone by the employment of
acids, which I will now particularly describe. I take a block of stone or
marble, which is required to be planed. The rougher portions of the surface having
been removed by hand with hammer or otherwise, I then commence to operate
as follows:-I employ a vessel, having therein a quantity of acid; I prefer to use
muriatic acid diluted with water, although other acids may be used; the piece
of marble or other calcarious stone to be operated upon is suspended from a
crane or by other suitable means, care being observed to have the surface of
stone which is to be operated upon level, and it should be so suspended or
supported that the surface of the acid does not come into actual contact with
the surface of the marble or stone to be acted, but very nearly so, and so as
to allow it to act upon the stone by capillary attraction. The acid commences
to act upon those portions of the stone which project from the surface, and in
acting upon such portion generates a gas, which is indicated by the ebullition
of the acid which runs along such parts, thereby removing projections or
irregularities, and when such portions are removed it will be shewn by the
ebullition ceasing. I then weaken the strength of the acid by adding water,
and obtain the desired level, and so as to bring the surface of the acid more

page_text: nearly in contact with the under surface of the stone, and thus again act upon
it, but with less force than before, care being observed in regulating the
strength of the acid that the ebullition should not proceed beyond the depth
of surfaces to be removed, and this process may be continued by reducing the
strength of the acid at every fresh operation. When it is required to operate
on a portion only of the surface of a stone, it may be done by covering those
portions of the stone as may not be required smoothed with any suitable
material not acted upon by the acid. Convex surfaces may also be produced by
this system; but in such cases the stone, instead of being fixed, will have to be
subjected to a movement according to the form required, so that each portion
of the stone may be brought into position to be operated on by the acid.
Another improvement is in producing ornamental surfaces on stone, by
combining with the stone on which the ornament is to be produced cement
equally soluble in the acid as is the stone to be operated on. On the surface
of the stone I cast or form the desired moulding or ornament in the cement,
then I bring the uncovered and covered portions of the stone into contact with
the acid, by which means the uncovered parts of the stone will be removed
simultaneously with the cement, and the result will be that the same moulding
or devise will be produced on to the surface of the stone as was produced
thereon by the cement.
The next part of my Invention relates to means of preparing products from
the materials used by me in the operation of treating marble and stone and
blasting rocks as above described. The products I obtain are muriatic acid,
in a state to be again employed, and sulphate of lime, and I proceed as follows:-
I take a quantity of the refuse acid, and the matters combined therewith, the
dissolving properties of which have been destroyed, and placed the same into
a cylindrical vessel, a section, plan, and side view of which is shewn in the
Drawing No. 2. This vessel is marked C, and is lined with lead; the lower
part of this vessel is conical, and at the bottom is placed a filter, having sand
or other suitable filtering material placed therein; there are two plates, h, h,
which are perforated with holes, to confine the filtering material. D is an
opening to allow of the filter being repaired when out of order. G is the
cover, or upper part of the cylinder. d is a safety valve applied thereto. E
is a self-acting valve, for the introduction of the material. e is a vessel which
contains muriatic acid. f is a basket with perforated holes; into which is placed
carbonate of lime. This basket is suspended by a rod 9, which passes through a
stuffing box. The quantity of gas to be generated may be regulated by
plunging more or less the basket finto the vessel e, so as to obtain sufficient
pressure to effect the filtration. is a manometer, by which the pressure may

page_text: be ascertained. The working of the apparatus is as follows:-The waste
material, which is muriate of lime, is introduced into the vessel (the opening
D being first closed); a quantity of sulphuric acid sufficient to decompose the
muriate of lime, the quantity of acid depending upon the quantity of lime in
the liquid (as is well known by chemists), is then introduced; the basket f is
then to be immersed in the muriatic, and gas will be generated, which will
pass into the vessel, and act upon the surface of the sulphuric acid and muriate
of lime, and forces through the filter pure liquid muriatic acid. When the
acid ceases to flow through the filter, the basket fis to be removed from the
vessel e, and the safety-valve opened. Water should then be introduced into
the vessel, and a fresh quantity of carbonic acid gas generated as before, which
will then act upon the water, forcing it through the filter, and carrying with it
any remaining quantities of acid, and the residue in the cylindrical vessel will
then be sulphate of lime, which may be removed and dried, and will then be
fit for sale.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Conrad Baron Liebhaber, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.