IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU- FACTURING ARTICLES FROM THE MINERALS OR ROCKS OF THE DESCRIPTIONS COMMONLY CALLED BASALT OR TRAP, SOMETIMES ROWLEY-KAG AND WHINSTONE.
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Timmins Chance, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU-
FACTURING ARTICLES FROM THE MINERALS OR ROCKS OF THE DESCRIPTIONS
COMMONLY CALLED BASALT OR TRAP, SOMETIMES ROWLEY-KAG AND WHINSTONE.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Timmins Chance
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th October 1854.
I, JAMES TIMMINS CHANCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU-
FACTURING ARTICLES PROM THE MINERALS OR ROCKS OF THE DESCRIPTIONS COM-
MONLY CALLED BASALT OR TRAP, SOMETIMES ROWLEY-RAG AND WHINSTONE," to
be as follows:-
It has of late years been discovered that those descriptions of minerals or
rocks of the characters commonly called basalt or trap, sometimes Rowley-
rag and whinstone, and by other names, are capable of being fused and of
being run into moulds, and cast into articles in a similar manner to cast iron,
.and Letters Patent have been granted for manufacturing articles therefrom by
such means; and I have discovered that, unlike cast iron, these minerals or

page_text: rocks, which differ but little in their composition in different localities, are,
when in a fused state, also capable of being rolled or pressed into form; and
my Invention consists of subjecting fused masses of such minerals or rocks to
pressure, by rollers and pressing apparatus, to produce various articles, such as
slabs, sheets, bars, or rods, and articles of other forms; and such articles may
be made with plain or varied surfaces, according to the purpose to which they
are to be applied, the surfaces of the rollers or surfaces employed being made
accordingly. In rolling slabs and sheets, although pairs of rollers may be
used for producing some forms, it is generally preferred to employ tables or
surfaces with rollers, and the slabs or sheets thus made may be plain or un-
dulating or corrugated, and with or without ornament, according to the nature
of the rollers and tables or surfaces on which the fused masses are rolled. It
is not essential to my Invention that the minerals or rocks above mentioned
should alone be used in the manufacture of articles by rolling, but in most
cases they are simply fused and used alone. The articles thus produced may
be annealed, and the nature or fracture of the article when annealed will as
heretofore (when making articles from such minerals or rocks by casting)
depend on the time and other circumstances under which the process of
annealing is carried on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Timmins Chance in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TIMMINS CHANCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Timmins Chance, Her special licence that I, the said
James Timmins Chance, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Timmins Chance, my executors, administrators, and
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

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARTICLES FROM THE MINERALS OR ROCKS OF
THE DESCRIPTIONS COMMONLY CALLED BASALT OR TRAP, SOMETIMES ROWLEY-RAG AND
WHINSTONE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Timmins Chance, 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 James Timmins Chance, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof (that is to say):
It has of late years been discovered that those descriptions of minerals or
rocks of the characters commonly called basalt or trap, sometimes Rowley-
rag and whinstone, and by other names, are capable of being fused and of
being run into moulds, and cast into articles in a similar manner to cast iron,
and Letters Patent have been granted for manufacturing articles therefrom by
such means; and I have discovered that, unlike cast iron, these minerals or
rocks, which differ but little in their composition in different localities, are,
when in a fused state, also capable of being rolled or pressed into form; and
my Invention consists of subjecting fused masses of such minerals or rocks to
pressure, by rollers and pressing apparatus, to produce various articles, such as
slabs, sheets, bars, or rods, and articles of other forms; and such articles may
be made with plain or varied surfaces, according to the purpose to which they
are to be applied, the surfaces of the rollers or surfaces employed being made
accordingly. In rolling slabs and sheets, although pairs of rollers may be used
for producing some forms, it is generally preferred to employ tables or surfaces
with rollers, and the slabs or sheets thus made may be plain or undulating or
corrugated, and with or without ornament, according to the nature of the
rollers and tables or surfaces on which the fused masses are rolled. It is not
essential to my Invention that the minerals or rocks above mentioned should
alone be used in the manufacture of articles by rolling, but in most cases they
are simply fused and used alone. The articles thus produced may be annealed,
and the nature or fracture of the article when annealed will as heretofore
(when making articles from such minerals or rocks by casting) depend on
the time and other circumstances under which the process of annealing is
carried on.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.

page_text: The mineral may be melted in pots, such as are used by glass makers, and
may be poured from them direct on to a table or between rollers, so as to bé
at once rolled out into the forms desired, and according to the nature of the
rollers employed, or the table and roller used as the press; or the same may
be ladled from the melting pots, and placed between the rollers or on the table
of the press, in like manner to what glass is now rolled into sheets; or the
mineral may be melted in a reverberatory or other suitable furnace, and tapped
and run therefrom or ladled out in the desired quantities, and brought into the
province of the presses used, and so that the fused metal may be pressed into
the forms desired. The press most suitable when sheets are required, whether
plain or ribbed or corrugated, is an iron table and roller, such as are used for
rolling glass, but varied according to the articles; and in using such a press,
the mass of melted mineral is poured on to the table and rolled or pressed out
by means of the roller, in which case the roller or the table, or both, in place
of being plain; may be engraved or grooved, according to the form of the
article to be made; and in like manner may pairs of pressing rollers be used,
either plain or grooved or engraved, according as plain or ornamented plates
or bars or mouldings are desired to be made. It is not essential that roller
presses should be employed, as surface presses may in some cases be used with
advantage, particularly where the melted mineral is placed in a die or on a
bed plate, and the reverse side is required to be produced by a forcer of a
press. Articles thus manufactured from the mineral by pressure are next
subjected to the process of annealing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Timmins Chance, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JAMES T. CHANCE. (L.S.).
Witness,
THOMAS HOWELL,
of West Bromwich,
Manager to Chance, Brothers, & Co.