Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Stoneware or Earthenware Jars.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 5th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 15th May, 1997
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Stoneware
or Earthenware Jars.
I, WILLIAM RALSTON of 35 Stonelaw Street, Rutherglen, near Glasgow, Potter,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention specially relates to stoneware or earthenware jars used for holding
acids or other liquids.
At present it is usual, if the jars are made from a single piece of clay, to make
them round, and, if made square, they are formed from several pieces of clay joined
together.
My invention has for its object to make square or flat sided jars from a single
piece of clay which is first worked into the round shape and then compressed into
the square or other shape with flattened sides.
In carrying out my invention I use a single lump of clay and work it up, on
the potters wheel, by the hands and without any moulds, to the desired size and
of a round shape and, I then, by means of flattening boards, compress and shape
it into a square or other flat sided shape with rounded corners. The body of the
jar is preferably made to taper slightly from top to bottom. A strong and efficient
handle is secured to the shoulder of the jar.
The jar can be compressed on the potters wheel by flattening boards, as aforesaid,
or it may be inserted in a box with hinged sides which can be closed up so as to
compress the cylindrical jar of soft clay to the square shape. The sides of the box
can be locked or held in place when shut by means of locking gauge bars.
Instead of using a box the jar can be compressed between boards guided by or
sliding on supports and moved by means of a screw or lever arrangement.
A plug or thimble is placed in the mouth of the jar, before compression, to prevent
the mouth losing its shape.
The jar made as hereinbefore described is much stronger and cheaper to make than
square jars formed out of pieces joined together in a mould.
Dated this 10th day of June 1896.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Stoneware
or Earthenware Jars.
I, WILLIAM RALSTON, of 35 Stonelaw Street, Rutherglen, near Glasgow, Potter,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention specially relates to stoneware or earthenware jars used for holding
acids or other lianids

page_text: At present it is usual, if the jars are made from a single piece of clay, to make
them round, and, if made square, they are formed from several pieces of clay joined
together.
My invention has for its object to make square or flat sided jars from a single
piece of clay which is first worked into the round shape and then compressed into the
square or other shape with flattened sides.
In carrying out my invention I use a single lump of clay and work it up, on
the potters wheel, by the hands and without any moulds, to the desired size and
of a round shape and I then, by means of flattening boards, compress and shape
it into a square or other flat sided shape, with rounded corners. The body of the
jar is preferably made to taper slightly from top to bottom. A strong and efficient
handle is secured to the shoulder of the jar.
The jar can be compressed on the potters wheel by flattening boards, as afore-
said, or it may be inserted in a box with hinged sides which can be closed up so
as to compress the cylindrical jar of soft clay to the square shape. The sides of
the box can be locked or held in place when shut by means of locking gauge bars.
Instead of using a box the jar can be compressed between boards guided by or
sliding on supports and moved by means of a screw or lever arrangement.
A plug or thimble is placed in the mouth of the jar, before compression, to prevent
the mouth losing its shape.
The jar made as herein before described is much stronger and cheaper to make than
square jars formed out of pieces joined together in a mould.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I have hereunto
appended two explanatory sheets of drawings, which show by way of illustration or
example, various devices suitable for compressing a round jar or vessel when plastic
into a square shape.
On the drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 a perspective view of one construction of compressing
device.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another construction of compressing device.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a round jar after being compressed.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation and Fig. 6 a plan of another construction of compressing
device.
Fig. 7 is a side view and Fig. 8 a plan of another construction of compressing
device.
Referring to the drawings whereon the same reference letters wherever repeated
indicate the same or similar parts.
The device shown at Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a base plate or board a to which
the four sides or presser boards & are attached by means of hinges or other joints c.
Two of the sides are slightly narrower than the other two. d. is a bottom piece
secured or fitted at the centre of the base plate a. An angled rib or strip is,
preferably, secured to each side b for the purpose of rounding the corners of the
jar. Metal cutters g secured near the lower ends of the sides b round off the clay at
the bottom edges of the jar. hare slots made in the base a to allow superfluous and
cut off clay to fall through out of the way. With this arrangement, the jar, or other
vessel, after being worked up from a single lump of clay into a round shape on the
potters' wheel is placed upon the bottom piece d in the manner shown at Fig. 2 and
the sides b are then folded up or closed so as to compress the jar e into the shape
shown at Figs. 2 and 4. is a locking gauge bar which is hinged to one of the
smaller sides b, and, when the sides are folded up, can be brought down so that its
catch will catch on the upper edge of the opposite small side and thus hold these
two sides in the proper position. The two larger sides close up against the
smaller sides.
A plug or thimble k (Fig. 2) is fitted in the mouth of the jar before compression
in order to prevent the mouth and neck of the jaw being crushed out of the proper
shape. During the act of compression the thimble or plug is retained in place by
means of a screwed stopper fitted in the gauge i.

page_text: The jar, after being compressed, has the appearance shown at rig. 4.
rounded corners.
are the
The compressing device shown at Fig. 3 differs from that shown at Figs. 1 and 2.
in that the sides or presser boards & are hinged to movable supports . These
supports have guide rods m secured to them and which are capable of sliding back
and forward in straps m' secured to the base board a. The two smaller sides 6 of the
device are capable of being locked together by a locking gange bar i in the same
manner as at Figs. 1 and 2.
With this construction of device jars of different sizes can be made as the supports &¹
and sides & can be slid out or in, the straps m' acting as guides, so as to vary the size
of the enclosed square. In the view shown the sides b are in the furthest in position
and when it is desired to make a larger enclosed space the supports & and sides bare
moved out the proper distance. In order to increase the breadth of the boards & so as
to correspond to the enlarged square space, additional boards having the desired
breadth are screwed or otherwise secured temporarily to the sides b. Of course
different sizes of gauges i and different sizes of bottom boards d would be used for the
different sizes of jar to be produced. It will be seen that the locking gauge bar i is
in this case removable and is provided with two catches i¹.
The device shown at Figs. 5 and 6 consists of movable sides b which can slide back
and forward upon guide rails or bars m² secured to the base a. The bottom board d
is capable of easy removal so as to be readily replaced by a larger or smaller size of
bottom board as desired for making different sizes of jars. The board may be held in
place by pins indicated in dotted lines at d² which enter holes in the base a. The
upper end of each side b is provided with a nut & and these nuts work upon screwed
spindles o o'. These spindles, which cross each other at right angles, are each cut
with right and left hand screw threads. The spindles, which are carried in bearings n
on a rectangular frame p supported by pillars are rotated simultaneously by means
of the crank handle g secured to the spindle o and the worm wheel gearing r, r. The
worm wheel r is upon the spindle o' whilst the worm is upon the spindle o.
this arrangement when the crank g is rotated in one direction or the other the four
sides are simultaneously moved in or out as desired being guided by the
bars m².
With
In order to enable the round clay jar to be placed on the board d for compression
one of the sides 6" is made in three parts, viz., a central part which is hinged to a
bottom part & sliding on the rods m³ and can be locked to a top part, provided with
the nut working on the spindle o, by means of a hook and eye catch s. By
undoing the catch s the centre part of the side 6x can be folded down so as to admit
of a jar being placed in or withdrawn from the device. The sides are preferably
made of metal and additional boards or plates, as indicated in dotted lines at t, can be
secured to them when it is desired to make a large size of jar.
The compressing device shown at Figs. 7 and 8 is of a very simple construction
and can be adapted to make different sizes of jar. The device consists of a simple
base a having in it a double series of holes u, u', crossing each other at right angles
A bottom board d of a size suitable for the jar to be made is secured to the base a
by means of pins at its under side which fit into holes made in the base as
indicated in dotted lines. Four presser boards of a size suitable for the jar to
be made are also provided and the bottom part 6' of each of these boards is held
in place by means of two pins in its lower edge which fit into the holes u, or u¹,
as the case may be. The upper parts b of the boards are hinged to the bottom
parts in the same manner as those at Fig. 3. Gauges i are used. Sets of
different sized boards b, bottoms d, and gauges are provided to suit
different sizes of jar. When it is desired to press a jar in this device all that is
necessary is to first fit a suitably sized bottom board in place and then fit four
correspondingly sized boards 6 in place in the holes u, u. The procedure is then
the same as with the device described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
If desired the vessel thrown upon the potters' wheel can be simply shaped by
means of two boards, provided with handles, held one in each hand but the work

page_text: *done according to this method is not so satisfactory as when a compressing box
is used.
The boards can be made either of metal or wood and they can be lined or not
as desired with plaster or stucco. When it is desired to imprint designs on the
jars the boards are preferably lined or coated with plaster on which the design is
formed.
The bottoms d are preferably coated with a thickness of plaster or the like.
The devices may be so made as to compress jars or vessels into different shapes
having flat sides.
Although I have shown various constructions of compressing device it is to be
understood that I do not confine myself thereto as other constructions can readily be
devised. The constructions shown are merely given by way of example.
It is to be understood that the term "jar" is intended to cover any hollow stoneware
or earthenware vessel having flatteried sides capable of being made according to my
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
consider novel and desire to claim is :-
1. The method of making earthenware or stoneware jars by first working up the
clay into a round shape on the potters' wheel and then compressing it into a square
or other shape with flattened sides, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. Stoneware or earthenware jars made by first working up the clay into a round
shape on the potters' wheel and then compressing it into the desired shape by means
of flattening boards, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The different constructions of compressing device substantially as hereinbefore
-described with reference to the drawings annexed.
Dated this 4th day of March 1897.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.