IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES
Year: 1849

page_text: ROBERTS SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ROBERTS, of Connaught Square, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Roberts, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Roberts,
my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Roberts,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry Roberts, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Roberts, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
My Invention consists of making bricks and tiles, hollow or otherwise, of
the form shewn in the Drawing, in order to obtain goed bonding in building
walls when using such bricks and tiles. It has before been proposed to make
hollow bricks and tiles, and to employ them in building walls; but in such
instances a great obstacle to their adoption has been either the unfitness of
such bricks and tiles to produce good bonding with perfect joints and similarity
in general appearance to the brickwork at present in use, or else a retention of
the objectionable medium of communication between the external and internal
surface of the wall, which is afforded by heading courses, and by vertical joints
passing through the wall. Now, my Invention is directed to obtain good
bonding without heading courses, and also to avoid vertical joints passing
through a wall, as I consider that in order to obtain perfect dryness there
should be no such medium of communication between the external and internal
surfaces of a wall as is afforded by what are called heading courses, and by
vertical joints noceine the

page_text: either with a square joint, a rebated joint, or with a chamfered joint, as shewn
in the Drawing, and with a level, a sunk, or a bevelled bed. In laying these
bricks in courses all vertical joints passing through the wall would be avoided,
and consequently the chance of any moisture being transmitted through the
mortar would be greatly diminished, if not altogether obviated; great facility
is also afforded for the introduction of wall plates, joists, and other timbers,
without disturbing the hollow character of the wall or diminishing its
strength.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is the
manufacture of bricks and tiles, whether hollow or otherwise, of the forms
shewn suitable for obtaining good bonding, without headers, and for avoiding
vertical joints which pass directly through a wall, as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Roberts, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eleventh day of June, One thousand eight hundred and