IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND IN ARTICLES COMPOSED THEREOF.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bennet Adamson, of Glasgow, in the
1
County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND IN ARTICLES COMPOSED
THEREOF.
99
Sealed the 20th September 1870, and dated the 27th June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bennet
Adamson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM BENNET ADAMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND IN ARTICLES
COMPOSED THEREOF," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the employment of Portland, Keene's, and
other similar cements, for the purpose of constructing the beds, frames,
and legs of billiard and bagatelle tables, and of plate glass silvering
tables, wine bins, sinks, cisterns, filters, baths, flooring, steps, roofing

page_text: The
ridge stones, paving slabs, panels, and interior decorations for ships;
and it consists in forming them in moulds of the required shape, and
having the surface of the moulds with which the cement comes in
contact made polished or smooth and practically incorrodible.
moulds may be constructed of enamelled iron, cement, slate, or other
stone. The surfaces of the articles so made, when removed from the
moulds, are smooth and capable of receiving a high polish or finish,
which is or may be imparted thereto under the methods usually
employed for polishing marble. Articles composed of the above-
mentioned cements may be finished by the processes used for enamelling
slate or other materials.
Another part of this Invention relates to the employment of fret or
stencil frames or plates of any required shape, pattern, or dimensions
for the purpose of producing patterns or designs in one or more colours
on the surfaces of articles made of Portland, Keene's, and other similar
cements, either in intaglio, relief, or level with the surfaces of the
articles so made.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Bennet Adamson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BENNET ADAMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 34th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Bennet Adamson, Her special license
that I, the said William Bennet Adamson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Bennet Adamson, 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,

page_text: "
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND IN ARTICLES COMPOSED THEREOF,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Bennet
Adamson, 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 William Bennet Adamson, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the employment of Portland and other
similar cements in the manufacture of certain articles composed of
artificial stone, such, for example, as the beds, frames, and legs of
billiard and bagatelle tables, and of plate glass silvering tables, wine
bins, sinks, cisterns, filters, baths, flooring, steps, roofing ridge stones,
paving slabs, panels, interior decorations of ships and houses, as well as
other similar articles; and it consists in forming such articles in
moulds of the required shape having the surfaces (with which the
cement comes in contact) polished or smooth and practically incorrodible.
The moulds may be constructed of enamelled iron, cement, slate, or
other stone, glass, brass, copper or other metal, stoneware or earthen-
ware, or other material capable of receiving a smooth or polished
surface, so that the articles formed therein may, when removed from
the moulds, have a corresponding smooth and polished surface and be
capable of receiving a still higher polish or finish, which may or may
not be imparted thereto by rubbing the said articles with putty powder,
oil, or other polishing matter, or the said articles may be polished under
any of the methods usually adopted for polishing marble, or they may
or may not be finished by the process employed for enamelling. slate..
In the manufacture of the said artificial stone or of articles composed
thereof, the Portland or other cement, or a combination of cements, is
admixed with water to a pasty consistency and is then thrown upon or
spread in moulds of the shape or configuration of the articles to be

page_text: produced, and thereafter pressure is exerted on the said moulds, by
which the mass contained therein is forced, pressed, or squeezed against
the smooth surface of the mould, and it is thereby formed into a firm
and compact mass of the required shape; the pressure so employed
I may be that of an hydraulic press, or it may be otherwise obtained.
After the pressure has been applied the whole mass is allowed to remain
until thoroughly set and hard when it may be removed from the
mould, the polished surface of which will be found to have imparted a
corresponding polish or finish to the article which it contained.
Another part of this Invention relates to the employment of fret or
stencil plates or frames of suitable metal or other material of any
required shape, pattern, or dimensions, for the purpose of producing
patterns or designs in one or more colours on the surface or surfaces of
articles made of Portland or other similar cements in the manner herein-
before set forth, the said designs or patterns being either level with the
surface of the articles so made or in intaglio or relief.
And in order that this part of my said Invention may be properly
understood I have hereunto annexed an explanatory Sheet of Drawings
on which the method or manner of carrying it into practice is illustrated,
that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a plan of
part of a mould having an ornamental design or pattern represented
thereon. As herein-before stated the said design or pattern may be
imparted in one or more colours to the article formed in the mould so
as to be flush or level with the surface of the said article, in which case 2
the fret or stencil plate a is caused to project from the polished surface b
of the mould, as shown in longitudinal section at Figure 2. After the
admixed Portland, or other cements or combination of cements and
water, has been pressed in the mould, as herein-before described, and
allowed to set or harden, the fret or stencil plate is removed from the 3
mould when the design or pattern will appear in intaglio, that is to
say, it will be indented into the surface of the article produced. A
differently coloured cement is now introduced into the said indentation
so as to fill it up level with the surface of the article, or the design or
pattern may be caused to appear in intaglio by only partially filling up 3
the indentation caused by the projecting fret or stencil plate a with
cement of a different colour or different colours after it is removed from

page_text: the mould. If, however, it should be desired to make the pattern or
design appear in relief, a mould having the design or pattern required
indented into its smooth or polished surface, as shown at a, Figure 3, is
employed. In this instance the cement which forms the design or
pattern, and which is of a different colour or colours from the cement
which forms the body of the article is first introduced into the mould
so as to fill the indentations a on its surface, and the cement which
forms the body of the article is thereafter spread on the polished or
smooth surface 6 of the mould, and treated in the manner herein-before
described; or in place of forming the mould with the design indented
thereon a design may be cut through a plate of the requisite thickness,
and when superposed upon another plate or moulding surface the
cement may be filled into the parts cut out, as it is filled into the
indentations shown at a, Figure 3. Such designs or patterns are
specially applicable for ornamenting panels, as shown at Figure 4,
which are formed of cement, as herein-before described, and employed
for the interior decoration of ships or houses, but this method of
ornamentation is also applicable to other articles formed of the said
artificial stone, it being understood that I do not confine myself to
employ this system of decoration in reference to any one of the articles
herein-before enumerated.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of putting the same into practical effect, I wish to observe in
conclusion that I do not claim the employment of Keene's cement or
plaster of Paris for the construction of the articles as herein-before set
forth, but what I do consider novel and original, and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
First. The manufacture or production of articles, such as the beds,
frames, and legs of billiard and bagatello tables, plate glass silvering
tables, wine bins, sinks, cisterns, baths, flooring, steps, roofing ridge.
stones, paving slabs, panels, interior decorations of ships and other
similar articles, by moulding them from Portland or other cements, as
licrein-before set forth.
Second. The production of ornamental or other designs or patterns
in articles composed of Portland or other cement by means of fret or
stencil plates or frames, as herein-before set forth.

page_text: Third. The enamelling of the surfaces of articles made of cements, as
herein-before described, by the process used for enamelling slate.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bennet Adamson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
W. B. ADAMSON. (L.S.)