AN IMPROVED COMBINATION OF MATERIALS FOR BUILDING PURPOSES, AND A NEW APPLICATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS FOR BUILDING PURPOSES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KIRRAGE, of Warner Place, Hackney Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of October, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Kirrage, Her especial license, that I, the said William Kirrage,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Kirrage,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,.
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also within Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINATION
OF MATERIALS FOR BUILDING PURPOSES, AND A NEW APPLICATION OF CERTAIN
MATERIALS FOR BUILDING PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said William Kirrage, by an instrument in writing
under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Kirrage, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist, first, in the use of sal-ammoniac in the manufacture of asphalte;
secondly, in the use of sal-ammoniac in the manufacture of concrete; thirdly,
in making building blocks of a mixture of my said asphalte, and brick or other
rubbish; and fourthly, in the application to building blocks of my own or
of other concrete or other porous material of a coating of my own or other
asphalte. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Kirrage, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention
is to be performed, by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
First, as regards the use of sal-ammoniac in the manufacture of asphalte:
To five hundredweight of bitumen, while melting, I add one pound weight of
sal-ammoniac, and to this three bushells of ground blue lias or Dorking lime,
I prefer blue lias, and then I add to the boiling mass as much clean sharp
grit as can be stirred in. If much exposure to heat is likely, three pounds
and a half of sulphur and three pounds and a half of common resin should be
added, which will enable the mixture to bear an additional heat of twenty
degrees; the only objection to using the resin and sulphur in all cases, is the
additional expense. The novelty of my mode of making the asphalte consists
in adding the sal-ammoniac to the hot bitumen, which causes it to expand,
and thereby enables me to add much more lime and grit than would otherwise
be possible. The additional quantity of the lime enables the asphalte, when
set, to bear a greater degree of heat, and the additional quantity of grit gives
solidity, firmness, and strength to the asphalte.
Secondly, as regards the use of sal-amoniac in the manufacture of concrete:
To one part of the best blue lias ground lime, I add six parts of clean sifted
shingle, and mix with water in which sal-ammoniac has been dissolved in the
proportion of half a pound to the gallon, and which must be added when at
the temperature of one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. The novelty
consists in the mixing with water in which sal ammoniac has been dissolved,
and the advantages thereby resulting are the more speedy settling of the
mixture, owing to the effect of the sal ammoniac. It must be observed that
the water is added at a temperature of one hundred and twenty degrees, since
if the water is added at a much higher temperature, it would destroy the lime,
and if at a much lower, the sal-ammoniac would not act on the lime.

page_text: Thirdly, as regards the making of building blocks: I take a quantity of the
aforesaid asphalte and work it up with rubbish, that is, broken bricks or stones,
in the proportion of about equal parts of rubbish and asphalte, adding fresh
asphalte and then rubbish, and so on, working the whole into a semi-fluid mass,
which can then be moulded into any required form of block; of course my
asphalte is capable of being run into blocks by itself without any admixture,
but the working of it up with the rubbish, that is, stones or brick bats, gives
additional strength and very much diminishes the expense without rendering
the blocks either in the least degree porous or liable to decay.
Fourthly, as regards the facing of blocks or stones or concrete with asphalte:
I place the block in a rough frame projecting so far above the face or side of
the block to be coated as the asphalte is to be thick upon it, as is usually done
in working cement. The asphalte is laid on, smoothed with a trowel and hand,
floated with fine sand, and so on with the other sides when more than one side
requires to be coated.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I hereby claim as my Invention:-First,
the use of sal-ammoniac in the manufacture of asphalte; secondly, the use of
sal-ammoniac in the manufacture of concrete; thirdly, the making of building
blocks of my said asphalte mixed with brick or other rubbish; and, fourthly,
the application of my own or other asphalte to the coating or facing of my
own or other concrete blocks, or of blocks of porous stone, or the outside
surfaces thereof for building purposes.
And such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief
entirely new and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Her said Dominion of Wales,
or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in Her said Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, nor in any of Her Majesty's Colonies or Plantations
abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that
I do verily believe this.my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully
and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to
maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kirrage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
(L.S.) WILLIAM KIRRAGE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid William Kirrage came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped 5
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.