IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING OR COVERING ROADS AND OTHER SURFACES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING THE MATERIALS TO BE USED FOR THOSE PURPOSES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
HARLOW, of Rotherhithe, in the County of Surrey, Carpenter.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-:
minster, the Ninth day of February, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
Frederick Harlow, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Frederick Harlow, my exors, admors, and assigns,.
or such others as I, the said Frederick Harlow, my exors, admors, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING
OR COVERING ROADS AND OTHER SURFACES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING THE
MATERIALS TO BE USED FOR THOSE PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said Frederick Harlow, shall cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said 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 moro fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick Harlow, do hereby declaro that the nature of my 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):-
My Invention relates, first, to a mode of combining and sustaining the
various blocks of wood of which a pavement of a road or a footpath is formed
by the application of grooves and tongues, in the manner hereafter explained.
And, secondly, my Invention relates to a machine for forming grooves in
blocks of wood used for paving roads and other surfaces, in order to receivo
tongues, according to the first part of my Invention; and also for forming
grooves, in order to give horses or other animals a better foot-hold.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceod to describe the Drawings herounto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represent the section of a roadway, with footpaths; Figure 2 is a
plan of the parts shown in Figure 1. a, a, a, are the blocks of wood of which
the roadway is composed, the grain of the wood being vertical; c, c, being
tongues, which are received in grooves formed in the blocks of wood a, a, a;
and the ends of these tongues c, c, enter into grooves formed in the gutter
blocks d, d; the two gutter blocks d, d', on each sido of the roadway being
combined together by tongues e, e, in a direction longitudinally of the road, as
is clearly shown; by these arrangements,-combinations of grooves or tongues,
-the roadway will be retained very equal on the surface, as no single block
can descend, each block. being sustained by other blocks by means of the
tongues, as shown and explained. I would hero remark that Figure 1 shows
the blocks in a vertical or nearly vertical position, but this is not a necessary
position, as the blocks may be caused to incline, and have my Invention applied
thereto. Figure 3 shows the section of a roadway having tho blocks inclining;
one row of blocks across the road inclining in one direction, and the next row
inclining in an opposite direction, as will readily be traced in the Drawings.
And it should be stated that my Invention does not consist in any peculiar
form of block, but of a mode of combining and sustaining blocks of wood by
means of grooves and tongues, as herein explained. f, f, are the curb stones;
g, g, show the blocks of wood covering the footpaths, the grain being up-
wards, and such blocks are combined together by means of tongues and
grooves h, h, as is shown; and such tongues h may be of metal or wood;

page_text: they are shown to be of hoop iron let into saw cuts or narrow grooves.
The tongues for the roadway I make of oak, or it may be of other wood.
Figure 4 show various views of the blocks of wood employed in constructing
the roadway Figure 1; Figuro 5 shows part of a longitudinal section of the
roadway; Figure 6 shows three views of a block of wood having the means
of fastening a singlo block, which may become necessary in the event of
having to remove one from the roadway in order to mend a water or other
pipe. This block has a hole formed through it, into which two plugs i, i,
and when the block is introduced into its place a wedged plug j is driven in a
vertical hole in the block, by which means the ends of the plugs i, i, will be
forced out beyond the sides of the block and enter the grooves in the two
blocks which come next to it, as is shown by dotted lines in Figure 5. I
would remark that, although it is desirable to have the tongues c, c, of one
piece from side to side of the road, that is not absolutely necessary, as cach
tongue. may be in several lengths; but, in making a tongue in lengths, the ends
should not come where the blocks a, a, meet, but the ends of the tongues
should both be received by the same block of wood a, a. Figure 7 shows threo
views of inclined blocks separately, which are used in the paving or covering
the roadway, Figure 3; and it should be stated that although a particular
angle is shown, the angle of inclination may be varied.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention. Figure 8 shows a
plan, Figure 9 a transverse section, Figure 10 a longitudinal section, of my
machine for cutting the grooves; Figure 11 shows one of the rotatory cutters
employed for making grooves on the upper surfaces of blocks of wood used
for paving roads, in order to obtain a good foot-hold for horses. The machi-
nery is so fitted up as to perform the two operations, though the parts, if pre-
ferred, may be put in separate framings and constitute two machines. k, k, is
the framing; is the axis, which receives motion by an endless strap driven.
by a steam engine or other power acting on the drum m affixed to the axis ?,
as is shewn; n is the rotatory cutter which cuts the grooves to receive the
tongues c, c; this rotatory cutter consists of the frame n, n, the nature of
which is clearly shown in the Drawing, it having the cutting blades o, o, which
form the sides of the grooves, and also the cutters p, p, which remove the
wood from the grooves. 7 is the rotatory cutter which makes the grooves for
the upper surfaces of the blocks of wood used in paving roads and such liko
surfaces. This rotatory cutter consists of the frame having the cutting blades
r, as is shown. A quick rotatory motion is given to these cutters n, q, and
blocks of wood are slided on the surfaces s, t, through which the cutters respec-
tively work, as is shown; and w being gunge surfaces which can be adjusted

page_text: by the set screws x, x, and thus enable a workman to cut the grooves in a
succession of blocks, so as accurately to combine when tongues c, c, are inserted
in such grooves; and the workman can also form grooves in the upper surfaces
of blocks of wood used for paving purposes in such positions as he may
desire. I would remark that I do not make any claim to the parts of the
machinery separately.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I
claim is,―
First, the mode of applying tongues and grooves to combine and sustain
blocks of wood used in paving roads and such like ways.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of combining rotatory cutters n, q, with
surfaces s, t, and guage surfaces v, w, suitably for forming grooves to receive
tongues in blocks used for wood pavements, and for forming grooves on the
upper surfaces of wood blocks used for paving roads, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Harlow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 16th day of February, One thousand eight hundred