IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND UTILIZATION OF BITUMINOUS ASPHALTE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Alexander Lyttle, of the Grove,
Hammersmith, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND UTILIZATION OF
BITUMINOUS ASPHALTE,”
Sealed the 25th October 1872, and dated the 27th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Alexander
Lyttle at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th April 1872.
I, WILLIAM ALEXANDER LYTTLE, of the Grove, Hammersmith, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND UTILIZATION OF
BITUMINOUS ASPHALTE," to be as follows:-
In order to avoid the evolution of offensive gases from asphalte when
in course of being heated for the purpose of being laid as pavement or
utilized in any other way by being spread in a hot state, I apply the
requisite heat in the following manner, namely:-I charge the asphalte,
whether natural or compounded artificially, into a pugging machine, so
made as to be capable of being closed air-tight except at two openings,
one of which at the bottom admits hot-air or furnace gases forced in by
a force pump, and the other at the top gives egress to those gases after
they have passed through and given up their heat to the asphalte.

page_text: The latter gases and bituminous vapour either pass from the top of the
pugging machine direct to the furnace of the engine which performs the
pugging, or to any other convenient fire-place so as to be consumed, or
they pass freely into the atmosphere. The hot air or furnace gases are
administered by causing an air pump to force air through the fuel of an
air-tight furnace in a way similar to that followed in the case of certain
well known hot-air engines. This air-tight furnace communicates with
the bottom of the pugging machine, and thus imparts the requisite heat
to the asphalte by the upward passage through the machine when in
action of the hot gases.
Asphalte thus prepared can be used for roofing, paving, or any
existing applications of such substance, and is also available whether
prepared in this or in any other known and existing way to the new use
of coating the decks of ships, and the interior or exterior surface of their
hulls, whether of wood or iron, with or without the previous application 1
of any other preparatory coating.
When asphalte whether natural or artificial is required for roofing, for
coating, or flooring the surface of the decks of ships, or the interior or
exterior surface of their hulls, or for any purpose requiring tenacity, it
may be desirable to diminish its tendency to crack under sudden strains, a
and this can be effected by mixing it thoroughly when hot with any
fibrous material, such as cocoa-nut fibre torn short, spent tan dried and
torn into threads, cotton or linen waste, or any other vegetable or
ligneous fibre, or short hair.
Asphalte incorporated with fibrous matter as above described can be 2
used for house flooring and many other constructive purposes, as a
substitute for wood, and can be moulded into any desired ornamental
forms as a substitute for wood, stone, or terra cotta.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, .
filed by the said William Alexander Lyttle in the Great Seal 30
Patent Office on the 26th October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ALEXANDER LYTTLE, of the Grove, Hammersmith, in the County of..
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
-Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in 'the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Alexander Lyttle, Her
special licence that I, the said William Alexander Lyttle, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Alexander Lyttle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed; should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND UTILIZATION OF BITUMINOUS
ASPHALTE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Alexander Lyttle, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW. KNOW YE, that I, the said "William Alexander Lyttle, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
:
In order to avoid the evolution of offensive gases from asphalte when
in course of being heated for the purpose of being laid as pavement, or
utilized in any other way by being spread in a hot state, I apply the
heat in the following manner, namely:-I charge the asphalte whether
natural or compounded artificially into a pugging machine so made as to
be capable of being closed air-tight except at two openings, one of which
at the bottom admits hot air or furnace gases forced in by a force pump,
and the other at the top gives egress to those gases after they have
passed through and given up their heat to the asphalte. The latter:
gases and bituminous vapour either pass from the top of the pugging
machinė direct to the furnace of the engine which performs the pugging,
or to any other convenient fire-place so as to be consumed, or they pass
freely into the atmosphere. The hot furnace gases are procured by
causing an air pump to force air upward through the burning fuel of

page_text: an air-tight furnace in the way generally followed in the case of certain
well known hot-air motive power engines. These gases pass by a tube
from the top of the air-tight furnace into the bottom of the pugging
machine, and there give up their heat to the working asphalte through
which they pass.
When asphalte whether natural or artificial is required for roofing, for
coating, or flooring the surface of the decks of ships or the interior or
exterior surfaces of their hulls, or for any purpose requiring tenacity, it
is desirable to diminish its tendency to crack under sudden strains, and
this can be effected by mixing it thoroughly when hot with any fibrous
material such as cocoa-nut fibre torn short, spent tan dried and torn into
shreds, cotton or linen waste, any other vegetable or ligneous fibro such
as peat, or with short hair.
The asphalte best suited for incorporation with such fibrous materials
is that specified under my Letters Patent, Number 31 of the present
year, entitled "Improvements in the Preparation and Laying Down
of Bituminous Asphalte for Pavement," the proportions of mineral
ingredients therein described being reduced and the quantity of
bituminous wax increased so as to suit the absorbent character of each
kind of fibrous material employed. No rule for such proportions can be
laid down. Where great lightness as well as toughness are required the
proportions of mineral powder described in the aforesaid Patent may be
reduced or dispensed with wholly, and the asphalte will then consist
only of the bituminous wax mechanically incorporated with dry
powdered peat or other fibrous matter in such proportions as may be
found on trial to give the desired consistency.
Asphalte incorporated with fibrous matter as described can be used
for house flooring, and many other constructive purposes, as a substitute
for wood, and can be moulded into any desired ornamental forms as a
substitute for carved wood, stone, or terra cotta.
When the asphalte is to be shaped by compression it is desirable to
use so little bituminous wax that the latter shall be only sufficient by
thorough pugging or grinding aided by heat to impart a waxy varnish
to each particle or fibre of the solid ingredients. Without compression
these particles would not cohere, but with strong compression with or
without heat they become a dense, strong mass. When this asphalte
'
is used for floors it should either be laid on boards or on a concrete
floor made in the usual way. When employed for roofs it can either

page_text: be laid upon a lath and plaster bed or upon light wooden shecting,
and it can either be spread like mortar, or tacked down in sheets or
squares.
:
S.
Fibrous asphalto thus prepared with bituminous wax can be shaped
or rolled out into rectangular or other sheets like slates, and packed in
cases with any dry powder sprinkled between the sheets to prevent their
adhering together. These sheets when warmed so as to be rendered
slightly plastic can be laid like slates for roofing as described above.
The nail holes should be made with a hot boring tool.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best
means known to me for carrying the same into effect, what I claim is,—
Firstly. The employment for the various useful purposes herein-before
described of a waxy asphalte prepared either simply in accordance with
the Specification of my Letters Patent, Number 31, of the present year,
or by means of the bituminous wax in combination with the fibrous and
other ingredients as herein-before specified.
Secondly. The heating of this asphalte when desired by means of
hot gases forced through its mass whilst undergoing the process of
pugging or mixing, with or without the combustion of the resulting
mixture of waste gases and bituminous vapour, as described.
Thirdly. The employment of the latter process and apparatus for the
heating of any existing description of asphalte.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Alexander Lyttle, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1872:
In presence of
THO'. WALKER,
Matlock Bank,
Matlock Bridge,
Derbyshire.
०
W. A. LYTTLE. (L.S.)