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250,635 · McLean · "Manufacture of Glass Building-Blocks for Sea-Walls, &c." · Page 1 Home  > Prism Glass  > Patent Index  > Page 1

250,635: 1 of 3

Patents: 125 of 530	UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHRISTOPHER W. McLEAN, OF NEW BERNE, NORTH CAROLINA.	C. W. McLean 2 of 2
MANUFACTURE OF GLASS BUILDING-BLOCKS FOR SEA-WALLS, &c. SPECIFICATION of Letters Patent No. 250,635, dated December 6, 1881. Application filed October 4, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:     Be it known that I, CRISTOPHER W. MCLEAN, a citizen of the United Ztates, residing at New Berne, in the county of Craven and State of North Caroline, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Glass Building-Blocks for Sea-Walls, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.     The object of my invention is the manufacture of glass building-blocks for sea-walls, embankments of rivers, dykes, breakwaters, docks, &c. The materials for the construction of such works according to my invention are found on the spot where such structures are most needed, and have heretofore been rejected or overlooked, when they might have been utilized without the additional expense of transportation. This omission has arisen from an oversight on the part of owners of land in close proximity to the sea-shore and on the banks of rivers, for right under their feet and on the spot where such structures are most needed lie all the materials necessary for the building of walls and the reclaiming of good tillable land.     It has been said that "He who makes two blades of grass or two ears of corn grow where but one grew before deserves well of his country."     In many localities along the sea-coast and on the banks of rivers land can be reclaimed and Neptune deprived of a part of his domain at a comparatively low cost, for the principal requites of a good sea-wall or embankment are the weight and quality of material of which such walls, &c., are constructed.

In glass blocks are slabs we have these requisites not only in the weight of the material, but also the non-destructible qualities so essential in such structures. Artificial stone, concrete, beton, and even the natural stone give way to the constant wearing action of the waves and tides. The action of the frost and the constant changes from heat ro cold have also much to do with the rapid disintegration and destruction of such walls.     In the drawings I have shown a wall composed of glass blocks with interlocking tongue and groove. The ends of the blocks may be provided with like tongues and grooves, to more effectually interlock with each other and form a strong and durable wall.     I may find in practice that a furnace mounted on wheels and adapted to travel on a suitable tramway will answer my purpose well. The molten glass in run into molds for the proper formation of the blocks, and the molds may be provided with a suitable internal heating-chamber, so that blocks may be annealed or toughened therein. Such molds I have more particularly described in an application marked "A," filed even date herewith.     A designates the blocks; b, the tongies, and c the grooves. Of course, the materials of which I propose to manufacture whese blocks are of a coarser character than those used for glassware in general, and the glass produced will, as a natural consequences, be of a coarse texture, but will have all the requisites to withstand the wearing effect of the walt-water and the elements.     The essentual feature of my invention being for the use of glass as a material forming the body of the structure of sea-walls, docks, break-