AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND SLABS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Anatole Chevallier, of 1, Cox's Court, Little
Britain, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND SLABS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Anatole Chevallier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th July 1875.
I, ANATOLE CHEVALLIER, of 1, Cox's Court, Little Britain, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND
SLAES," to be as follows:-
My improvement in the manufacture of bricks consists in mixing
with the clay a quantity of coal, peat, sawdust, straw, or any other
combustible material which may be at hand, the quantity of this
material being regulated by the degree of lightness and porousness to be
given to the brick. The clay thus prepared is formed into bricks by..

page_text: hand or by any brick making machine, and then burnt in the ordinary
way, the combustible being destroyed in the burning of the brick and
leaving it perforated or honeycombed to any desired extent.
In addition to the advantages above mentioned, this brick possesses
the further advantage that any kind of screw or key may be securely 5
fixed therein as in a piece of wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Anatole Chevallier in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANATOLE 1
CHEVALLIER, of 1, Cox's Court, Little Britain, in the County of Middle-
sex, Engineer, send greeting.
་
'3
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-1
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Anatole Chevallier, Her special licence
that I, the said Anatole Chevallier, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Anatole Chevallier, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no i
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 "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND SLABS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Anatole Chevallier, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Anatole Chevallier, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the samo

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:--
My improvement in the manufacture of bricks and slabs consists in
mixing with the clay a quantity of coal, peat, sawdust, straw, or any
other combustible material which may be at hand, the quantity of this
material being regulated by the degree of lightness and porousness to be
given to the brick. The clay thus prepared is formed into bricks by
hand or by any brickmaking machine, and then burnt in the ordinary
way, the combustible being destroyed in the burning of the brick and
leaving it perforated or honeycombed to any desired extent.
In addition to its lightness my improved brick possesses the further
advantage that any kind of screw, key, or nail, may be securely fixed
therein as in a piece of wood, my brick being therefore very suitable for
the walls of conservatories, greenhouses, or gardens, to which branches
of trees are nailed, as well as for plinths and any brickwork to which
woodwork is to be nailed, screwed, or keyed; further, my improved
brick will very readily take a varnish or a glaze.
I have found a combination of clay and peat make a very light and
good brick, suitable for all the purposes above set forth, as the peat when
pulverized and moistened works or may be manipulated very easily
with the clay. I do not however confine myself to the use of peat, but
use whatever combustible material I may find cheapest or in most
convenient proximity to the clay or place of manufacture; cutting,
crushing, or otherwise reducing the said fuel to pieces suitable to the
honeycombing desired. This mixture of fuel and clay greatly facilitates
the burning of the brick, this brick being less compact than ordinary
bricks, and the peat or other combustible material burning at the first
firing, and the fire rapidly burning the clay which the admixture of fuel
has rendered porous.
The weight of my improved brick or slab will only be about one-half
that of an ordinary brick or slab of equal dimensions, and the cost of
carriage will be comparatively lessened.

page_text: use of bricks or slabs made from a combination of combustible material
and clay, substantially as herein-before specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Anatole Chevallier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 5
six.
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