An Improved Composition for Paving, Roofing, and Building Purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1891
CUMI DELP
DIMCIFICATION.
An Improved Composition for Paving, Roofing, and Building
Purposes.
I, HENRY FAIRFAX WILLIAMS, of No. 2422, Howard Street, in the City and
County of San Francisco, State of California, United States of America, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
My invention consists in treating natural asphalt of commerce in such a manner
to reduce it and obtain the bitumen therefrom in a pure or nearly pure state and
then mixing an emollient with such product to render it flexible and tenacious, not
unlike india rubber, and so that it can be spread into sheets for roofing purposes
or remelted and treated to or mixed with earthy material to form pavements, or
pressed into blocks for building purposes.
To this end I employ a suitable tank or cauldron into which is placed the crude
asphalt of commerce and the temperature raised to a melting or boiling state
while the necessary agitation is kept up by stirring until the residuum is liberated
from the bitumen and allowed to settle in the bottom of the tank, when the liquid or
refined bitumen is drawn off leaving the residuum in the bottom of the kettle. To
this liberated and refined bitumen I add to every 100 pounds weight three pounds
of refined lard or lard oil intimately mixing it with the product by agitation or
stirring while in a heated or melted condition.
If, however, the product so produced contains less than 60% of bitumen the
quantity of lard may be reduced and one pound of lard for every 20 % of pure
bitumen contained in the product will answer a very good purpose.
Of all the oleaginous and fatty matters employed by me in making tests with my
compound, refined lard or lard oil is preferable as this imparts to it the neces-
sary flexibility and the condition of the material so compounded has undergone no
change during the period of about six months covering my experiments.
As thus prepared and at a temperature of about 300° Faht. the product is poured
onto canvas in which condition it will run along the fabric and form a sheet or film
of the desired thickness when cool, without the necessity of pressing or running
through rollers to harden or render the surface smooth, or the product is placed in
barrels, packages or boxes, or formed into blocks for transportation from place to place
for constructing pavements or building blocks, when it is remelted and the necessary
infusorial earth in sufficient quantity such as the silicates or silicious matter (clean
sharp sand will answer) is mixed with it to produce the required consistency or
stiffness to spread on the street in which condition it is tamped or rolled down
upon the road-bed to form pavements; or the product may be pressed into blocks of
the required dimensions and induration for building purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1.-A compound consisting of a combination of asphalt and refined lard or lard
oil. substantially as berein set forth

page_text: refined asphalt, refined lard or lard oil and infusorial earth, substantially as
herein set forth.
Dated this 30th day of December 1890.
HENRY FAIRFAX WILLIAMS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.