IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL SURFACES, APPLICABLE AS COVERINGS FOR COURTS AND WAYS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Olivier Delphin Renaudon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th November 1873.
I, OLIVIER DELPHIN RENAUDON, of Miles Lane, Upper Thames
Street, in the City of London, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTAL
SURFACES, APPLICABLE AS COVERINGS FOR COURTS AND WAYS," to be as
follows:-
'
In carrying out the object of my Invention I form tiles or slabs of
asphalte by reducing the material to powder, then heating it to bring it
to a plastic state, and compressing it in moulds by means of a heated
plunger or die, or by equivalent means. These slabs or tiles I propose
to ornament by inlaying colored cements or compositions, which when
set will be as hard or harder than and equally durable as the asphalte.
To this end I form in the bottom of the mould or on the face of the
plunger a raised counterpart of the pattern desired to be produced, and
I thus while compressing the asphalte indent the face of the slab or tile
sufficiently to receive and retain the colored cements which are to form
the ornamentation thereof.

page_text: These indentations I fill into the level of the face of the slab with the
following compositions :-Venadendon rock (a natural rock obtained
from Fontainbleau, France), say, 75 per cent.; of silex 20 per cent.; of
rosin 10 per cent.; of tallow 5 per cent.; and of coloring matter
(metallic) 10 to 25 per cent. This composition I reduce to a liquid
state by means of heat, and in this state I apply it to the moulded slab
or tile, filling in all such indentations as will retain the composition, and
prevent it from flowing over the edge of the tile. The divided portions
of the pattern, the complement of which will be found on the adjoining
slab or tile, will be filled in at a subsequent stage of the manufacture.
The slabs or blocks thus far formed I lay upon a concrete bed, and I join
them up so as to complete the pattern by bringing together the com-
plementary portions which have been impressed on the tiles or slabs.
When the surface intended to be ornamented is covered by the slabs
or blocks, and these are joined together in the well-known manner of
connecting asphalte blocks, I complete the ornamenting of the surface
by filling in the remaining indents with the colored composition, and
thus a careful disposition of the pattern having to that end been made I
effectually hide the joints in the paving.
When the composition is set I finish the pavement by the application
thereto of fine sand and pumice stone, and thereby bringing the same
to a smooth and even surface.
I would remark that in place of the Venadendon rock, the elements.
of which it is composed or equivalent substances, may be used if thought
desirable, but I prefer the natural rock, as it is both abundant and.
cheap.
When it is desired to apply a special device to my improved pavement,
instead of indenting the slabs or blocks by moulding or pressure with
that device, the same may be cut out by hand, and the indents thus
formed may be filled in as above described with varying tints of the
inlaying composition.