MANUFACTURING LIQUID QUARTZ OR SILEX, TO BE USED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CERTAIN COMPOSITIONS FOR ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Harris Hardinge, of the City and State of
New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
"MANUFACTURING LIQUID QUARTZ OR SILEX, TO BE USED IN THE
Sealed the 24th June 1854, and dated the 24th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Harris Hardinge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th December 1859.
1, HARRIS HARDINGE, of the City and State of New York, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "MANUFACTURING LIQUID QUARTZ OR SILEX, TO BE USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CERTAIN COMPOSITIONS FOR ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
S
The object of my Invention is to form a liquid solution of quartz or
silica by improved chemical means while subjected to mechanical agita-

page_text: tion by an improved apparatus, especially and solely useful for this
purpose. After I have thus formed the liquid quartz, I combine with
it different ingredients so as to make thereby various useful articles.
The following is a full and exact description of the manner of forming
and compounding the same, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, which represent the mechanical means which are necessary
in connection with the chemical ingredients:-
Figure 1. is a side elevation of my apparatus; and Figure 2, a
sectional elevation of the dissolving boiler.
a is a pipe and cock leading from any ordinary steam boiler, and
connecting to a coiled pipe b, in a furnace d, the fire being built within
the coiled pipe as at c. This furnace has a damper, and chamber to
eceive carbonic acid from the charcoal burnt in the furnace c, for a
purpose hereafter set forth. By means of the fire at c, the steam in
the coiled pipe b, is raised to a very high temperature, and passes by
a pipe e into the dissolving boiler k. f is a hollow spindle fitted with a
pulley, by which it is rotated, and sustained by a bearing 2, Fig. 3, and
is connected to the pipe c, by a coupling 1, so as to allow of the rotation
of it. It is supported near its lower end by the collar 3, resting on the
cross piece m, over the top of the boiler k, the interior pan of which is
shewn by i. The boiler k is heated by fire placed in the fire place 7.
The spindle fextends nearly to the bottom of the boiler k, not, how-
ever, touching it, and on one side is an opening 4, to enable the steam
conveyed by the pipe c, to pass into the boiler. To the bottom of the
spindle f, is attached a scraper h. made to the shape of the boiler i, and
moving with the spindle, by means of which the ingredients in the
boiler are kept in constant motion. The boiler is fitted with a cover m,
to confine the steam, but it can be raised on one side when necessary.
By means of the pipe a, the steam from the boiler passes into one or more
reservoirs o, o, standing in a trough p, and which are kept cool by water
from a pipe q, regulated by the cock 9, through perforated sprinklers
10, the waste water in the trough 1, passing off by an over-flow pipe 6.
These reservoirs or condeucers are connected together by pipes 5, and
are provided with covers 11, secured in any convenient manner, and
have cocks 12, by which the condensed liquid is drawn off'; they are

page_text: also fitted with safety valves, see Fig. 4, one, 7, opening outward, and
another, 8, opening inward, so as to prevent collapsing or bursting, no
pressure being necessary in them.
In the ordinary process of forming liquid quartz by the use of fluoric
or boracic acid or other solvents, great expense is incurred for such
solvents, but by my process this expense is greatly lessened by the steam
to a certain extent acting as a solvent, thereby requiring less horacic
acid or other solvents.
I put in the boiler k, finely pulverized quartz saturated with a small
quantity of water, and a small amount of the usual solvents, as boracic
acid, carbonate of soda, and salts, and alkalies of a similar nature, and
submit the same to mechanical agitation by the rotation of the spindle f,
and scraper h. I apply heat in the furnace 7, as may be necessary,
and supply steam, heated as desired, by the pipe e and spindle f, by the
combined operation of which we are enabled to form liquid quartz in
about three hours, with very little addition of the usual solvents. The
steam which passes off by the pipe n, carries with it very minute
particles or capsules of the solution of quartz, by condensing which in
the reservoirs o, o, forms a liquid solution of quartz, as well as that
formed in the boiler k, thus saving what would otherwise be wasted in
the process.
The following shew some of the various compositions, which I make
by using this liquid quartz as the base, and thereby make: my Invention
usefully available.
To form stones for building, I take pebbles and angular pieces of
broken stones, and mix them with the liquid quartz, and by mixing in
various kinds of argillaceous loam and scoria from iron furnaces, different
colors can be produced, the quartz forming the cement to make the
particles adhere into a very strong and beautiful mass. These blocks of
artificial stone are formed in moulds, and afterwards ground off or
covered by a coating of the liquid quartz, which forms a smooth petri-
fied surface.
To form artificial marble, or composition for spreading on metallic or
other surfaces to represent marble, I take the ordinary hydrate of lime,
and introduce carbonic acid gas (which gas may be obtained from the

page_text: charcoal burned in the furnace d, Fig. 1), together with the liquid
quartz in the proper proportions, so as to produce chrystalization, which
may be aided by electricity, if desired. This composition may be colored
by any known process with mineral oxyds, so as to imitate any desired
character of marble or precious stones, and by introducing kaolin a pure
white marble is imitated.
By using composition suitable for furniture, and mixing the same
with my liquid quartz, and introducing suitable coloring matter, I am
enabled to imitate rose or any other wood, and form tables, &c.
This liquid quartz may also be used as a varnish, or applied to glass,
producing a beautiful character of stained glass.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Harris Hardinge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
BARRIS HARDINGE, of the City and State of New York, United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the 24th day of December, A.D. 1853, in
the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Harris Hardinge, Her special
license that I, the said Harris Hardinge, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Harris Hardinge, my execu-
tors, 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 the Isle of Man, an Invention for "MANUFACTURING
LIQUID QUARTZ OR SILEX, TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN
COMPOSITIONS FOR ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Harris Hardinge, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-

page_text: tain 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 1, the said Harris Hardinge, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described & ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,
making a part of this Specification, & which represents the mechin-
nical means which are necessary in connection with the chemical:
ingredients:-
The object of my Invention is to form a liquid solution of quartz
or silica by improved chemical means while subjected to mechanical
agitation by an improved apparatus, especially and solely useful for this
purpose; and also the combining the liquid quartz thus formed with
different ingredients, so as to make thereby various useful articles.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the
apparatus which I use; Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the dis-
solving boiler. The other Figures are separately referred to, and the
like marks of reference designate the same parts.
a is a pipe and cock leading from any ordinary steam boiler. The
pipe a connects to a coiled pipe b, in a furnace'd, the fire being built
within the coiled pipe as at c. This furnace has a damper, and chamber
to receive carbonic acid from the charcoal burned in the furnace c, for
a purpose hereafter set forth. By means of the fire at c, the steam in:
the coiled pipe is raised to a very high temperature, & passed by a pipé e.
into the dissolving boiler k, which is formed sectionally as shewn in:
Figure 2. f is a hollow spindle fitted with a pulley, by which it is to
be rotated. This shaft is sustained in a bearing 2, Figure 3, and is con-
nected by a coupling 1, to the pipe e, so as to allow of the rotation of
the spindle. Near its lower end it is supported by the collar 3, on the:
cross piece m, over the top of the boiler . The interior pan of the
boiler is shewn at i. is the fire-place by which the materials in
the boilers
& i are heated. The spindle f extends nearly to the

page_text: bottom of the boiler i, but not, however, touching it, and on one side of
such spindle is an opening 4, to allow the steam conveyed by the pipe e
to pass into the boiler. To the bottom of the spindle f is attached a
scraper h, made to the shape of the boiler i, and moving with the
spindle f, by means of which the ingredients in the boiler are kept in
constant motion. The boiler is fitted with a suitable cover m, to confine
the steam; this cover, however, can be raised up on one side, when
necessary. By means of the pipe n, the steam from the boiler passes
into one or more reservoirs standing in a trough p, and which are kept
cool by water from a pipe 9, its discharge regulated by the cock 9,
through perforated spindles 10, the waste water in the trough passing
off by an overflow pipe 6. The pipe 9 connects with a hydrant or any
convenient reservoir of cold water. The reservoirs or condensers o, o, are
connected together by pipes 5, and are fitted with covers 11, secured in
any convenient manner, and having cocks 12, by which the condensed
liquid is drawn off. These reservoirs or condensers 0, 0, are also fitted
with safety valves, Figure 4, one, 7, opening outward. and another, 8,
opening inward, so as to prevent collapsing or bursting, no pressure
being necessary on them.
In the ordinary process of forming liquid quartz by the use of fluoric
or boracic acid, or other solvents, great expense is incurred for such
solvents, so much of them being required, but by my process this
expense is greatly lessened by the steam to a certain extent acting as a
solvent, thereby requiring less boracic acid or other solvents.
I put in the boiler k, finely pulverized quartz saturated with water,
and a small quantity of the usual solvents, as boracic acid, carbonate of
soda, & salts and alkalies of a similar nature, and submits the same to
mechanical agitation by the rotation of the hollow spindle f, and scraper
h, which, not touching the interior boiler i, prevents the mass from
adhering at any point. I apply heat in the furnace 1, as may be
necessary, and supply steam, heated as may be desired, by the pipe e
and spindlef, by the combined operation of which I am enabled to form
liquid quartz in about the space of three hours, with a very little
addition of the usual solvents. The steam which passes off by the pipe
n, curries with it very minute particles or capsules of the solution of

page_text: quartz, by condensing which in the reservoirs o, o, forms a liquid solu-
tion of quartz, as well as that formed in the boiler k, thus saving what
would otherwise be wasted in the process.
Having thus described the process of making the liquid quartz, the
following shows the various compositions which I make by using this
liquid quartz as the base, and describes the manner in which I carry
out this Invention, & make it usefully available :-.
To form stones for building, I take pebbles & angular pieces of
broken stones, & mix the same up with the liquid quartz, & by
mixing in various kinds of argilaceous loam & scoria from iron
furnaces, different colors can be produced, the quartz forming the
cement to make the particles adhere into a very strong & beautiful
mass. The blocks of artificial stone may be formed in moulds, &
afterwards ground off, or covered with a coating of liquid quartz, which
forms a smooth polished surface.
To form artificial marble, or composition for spreading on metallic
or other surfaces to represent marble, I take the ordinary hydrate of
lime, & introduco carbonic acid gas, (which gas may be obtained from
the charcoal burned in the furnace d, Fig. 1.) together with the liquid
quartz, in the proper proportions so as to produce chrystallization,
which may be aided by electricity, if desired. The composition may be
colored by any known process with mineral oxides, so as to imitate any
desired character of marble or precious stones, and by introducing
kaolin a pure white marble is imitated. To make composition suitable
for furniture, I take the ordinary composition or stucco used for picture
frames and similar ornaments, & introduce into the same while
being made the liquid quartz and carbonate of lime or alumina, &
color the same to imitate rosewood or any desired article. This com-
position may be made into articles of furniture, or it may be placed on
any article as a coating. A bright & durable varnish may be formed
by mixing this liquid quartz with the gum resins, by the addition of
mutual solvents, forming a hard & most durable varnish, and also
with gelatinous substances forming a composition or varnish which has
the appearance of pearl. By mixing with the liquid quarts different
mineral colors, and applying the same to glass, a durable & beautiful

page_text: character of stained glass will be produced, & alone the liquid quartz
will produce a semi-transparency of great beauty when applied to
glass.
I do not claim forming liquid quartz by bydrofluoric or boracic acid
or other solvents, as that is well known; but what I desire to secure
by Letters Patent is,―
First, I claim the introduction of steam under pressure into the
pulverized or agitated mass as set forth, thereby lessening the quantity
of boracic acid or other solvents heretofore used, thus saving the cost,
and rendering the liquid quartz so formed sufficiently cheap to be
useful.
Second, I claim condensing the steam or vapor produced in the
above process so as to save the particles of liquid quartz that are carried
off with the steam in the form of capsules, as specified.
Third, I claim the introduction of liquid quartz made by the above
process into the various compositions herein specified, for the purposes
and as described and shewn.
In witness whereof, J, the said Harris Hardinge, have here-
tofore set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May,
AD 1854.
HARRIS HARDINGE. (L.S.)