IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR PAVING, ROOFING, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR PAVING, ROOFING, AND OTHER
LIKE PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by James Rolston
11
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
-
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 5th June 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVED COM-
POSITIONS FOR PAVING, ROOFING, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declara-

page_text: tion that it has been communicated to me from abroad by James Rolston
McClintock, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement:
The first part of my Invention relates to the production, as an article
of commerce, of a fluid or liquid asphaltum suitable for paving, roofing,
or other purposes, and one which is reduced to a fluid or liquid and held
in that condition without the employment of heat.
The second part of my Invention relates to concrete paving or roofing
compositions, in which coal tar or artificial asphaltum (residuum of pitch
or coal tar) is used as the cementing or the basis of the cementing
property.
The nature of my Invention as relates to the first part thereof consists
in producing a semi-fluid solution of asphaltum in the ordinary spirits
of turpentine of commerce, or in benzine, naphtha, or other similar
light hydrocarbons put up and ready for use without being melted for
paving, roofing, and other purposes, substantially as herein-after
described. The process through which I obtain the liquid asphaltum
is as follows: I take the crude asphaltum, either Trinidad or Cuban,
and pulverize or reduce the same to a fine or coarse powder, preferably
the latter, and then place it in a suitable vessel and pour in the
ordinary spirits of turpentine of commerce, or naphtha, benzine, or
benzole, or other bituminous liquid. The mass is then agitated or
stirred by any suitable means, and the asphaltum is rapidly dissolved,
the solvent readily taking up from four to eight times its quantity,
according to the use in connection with which the asphaltum is to be
employed, and consequently the degree of consistency required. The
fluid asphaltum thus obtained can readily be barreled and transported
and is ready for use without being heated or any heat whatever
having been used in producing the fluid asphaltum. For some purposes
it may be advantageous to mix with the bituminous liquid when used
as the solvent a small quantity of the spirits of turpentine of commerce.
The naphtha and benzine may be rendered odorless before being mixed
through the action of chlorine or other suitable deodorizing agent.

page_text: .
: The object of the second part of my Invention is to remedy defects
in that class of concrete pavements in which coal tar, or the residuum
of pitch or coal tar, termed artificial asphaltum, is used as the cementing
or the basis of the cementing property, and-the nature of this part of
3. my Invention consists in using as an additional element or ingredient
in all such paving compositions, crude asphaltum, either Trinidad or
Cuban, the same having been previously pulverized or reduced to a fine
powder. It is a fact fully demonstrated by practical experience that
neither coal tar nor artificial asphaltum can effect, in connection with
any composition exposed to the effects of moisture and the intense hoat
of the summer sun, a permanent and durable concretion, as when
subjected to the combined destructive action of moisture and heat, as
exposed pavements inevitably are, a certain evaporation takes place,
which first softens, the composition, this softening being followed by a
rapid decay, ending in the disintegration and breaking up of the entire
_mass; while on the other hand experience in America and Europe has
demonstrated the permanence and durability of the asphaltic pavement.
Yet there are difficulties which exist in connection with the uso of
asphaltum, notwithstanding its positive and undeniable advantages
which have caused its use to be almost entirely superseded by coal
tar or artificial asphaltum. These difficulties chiefly exist in connection
with the intense heat required to reduce asphaltum to a liquid, and
which involves a great expense not only in regard to fuel, but in the
rapid destruction and burning out of the metallic kettles in which
the liquidizing of the asphaltum is effected, and which not unfrequently
burns out and destroys some of the most important antiseptic properties
of the asphaltum.
And again, the dead oils which are now almost invariably introduced
to facilitate the melting or the reducing of the asphaltum to a fluid,
contain certain deleterious acids which render the asphaltum most
i
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page_text: In practising my Invention I take the crude asphaltum, either
Trinidad or Cuban, and pulverize or reduce the same to a fine powder,
and mix it with the coal tar or artificial asphaltum, either before it is
mixed with the other ingredients that are to form the paving com-
position, or as they are poured in. It matters not when the powdered
asphaltum, is added provided the coal tar or artificial asphaltum is
sufficiently liquified to so take it up through a proper stirring of the
samo as to ensure its perfect incorporation with the coal tar or artificial
asphaltum in the composition. This powdered asphaltum I purpose to
add to all paving compositions, or wooden or stone pavements, in
connection with the construction of which either coal tar or artificial
asphaltum is now used. And I desire it distinctly understood that I
also consider all roofing compositions embraced within the scope of my
Invention.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same,
I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. A. semi-fluid solution of asphaltum in the ordinary spirits.
of turpentine of commerce, or in benzinc, naphtha, or other similar light
hydrocarbon, put up and ready for use for paving, roofing, and other
purposes, as above described.
Second. Trinidad or Cuban asphaltum pulverized or reduced to a
powder as an ingredient in all paving and roofing compositions whero
coal tar or artificial asphaltum is used as the cementing or the basis of
the cementing property, as and for the purpose specified:
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five
Witness,
JA. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)