IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF CLAYS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND AND OTHER CEMENTS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Reid, of Herne Bay, in the County of
Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND
PREPARATION OF CLAYS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND AND OTHER
CEMENTS."
Sealed the 5th April 1870, and dated the 9th October. 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Reid at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th October 1869.
I; HENRY REID, of Herne Bay, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF CLAYS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND AND
OTHER CEMENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, firstly, in washing the clay by a suitable wash
mill, and thereby removing from it all impurities, such as pyrites and
insoluble portions of carbonate of lime. The washed material when so

page_text: purified and in a semi-liquid state is mixed with the finely comminuted
particles of carbonate or sulphate of lime, whereby the whole mass
becomes thoroughly incorporated and in a fit condition to be afterwards
beneficially acted upon by the heat of the kilns during the process of
decarbonization. By this process improved colour to the cement will be
secured and increased power of ultimate induration from the absence
of oxide of iron or other ingredients likely to tend to its disintegration
when used for building under water or on the surface.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Reid in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
REID, of Herne Bay, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Reid, Her special license that I, the
said Henry Reid, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Reid, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION
OF CLAYS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND AND OTHER CEMENTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Reid, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain 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 Henry Reid, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
In the employment of clays or shales of the lias formation it often
happens that they contain or are impregnated with iron pyrites, shelly
nodules of carbonate of lime, and other impurities which are injurious
both to the quality and color of the cement produced therefrom.
Now this Invention has for its object the separation of these impurities
and the employment of the levigated and purified clays or shales in
conjunction with finely divided carbonate of lime for the production of
cements of an improved quality.
In carrying out my Invention the clays or shales are disentegrated
and triturated with water, and the finer particles are allowed to flow off
either into suitable reservoirs where they may be allowed to drain, and
are then ready to be employed for the production of cement, or the
finer particles suspended in water and separated from the impurities are
well triturated with the requisite proportion of finely divided carbonat
of lime, and after thorough incorporation the materials are allowed to
flow into a reservoir where they are collected and drained, and the
residual plastic mass may be moulded or blocked ready for burning in
the kilns. The proportion of carbonate of lime will be dependent upon
the composition of the clay or shale operated upon and the quality of
the cement it is desired to obtain.
Any discntegrating and levigating machine or apparatus may be
employed, it may be circular and constructed of iron or wood, or it
may be of a any other form.
By the employment of this Invention thorough incorporation of the
purified clays or shales with the carbonate of lime is obtained, and the
cements which are produced therefrom are more uniform in color and
of superior quality than those manufactured from clays or shales which
contain the impurities before referred to.
What I claim is,―
First. Submitting clays or shales to a disentegrating and levigating
process so as to separate the heavier impurities contained therein, and

page_text: Second. Incorporating with the purified and levigated clays or shales
when suspended in water finely divided carbonate of lime so as to obtain
a more intimate admixture than is now obtained, and in order to produce
a more uniform and definite quality of cement.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Reid, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of April Onc
thousand eight hundred and seventy.