IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERINGS FOR BUILDINGS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COWPER, of 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, 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 Third day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Cowper, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Cowper, my exors,
admňors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Cowper, 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, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colo-
nies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERINGS
FOR BUILDINGS," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Charles Cowper, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
the 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

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Cowper, do hereby declare that the nature of the 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:-
The Invention consists in constructing coverings for buildings of iron plates
formed into the shape of tiles, and furnished with suitable contrivances for
fixing the same, and afterwards coated with a vitrifiable glaze or enamel.
Figure 1 of the Drawing hereunto annexed is a front view of a tile made
according to the Invention; Figure 2 is a section on tho lino 1, 2, in
Figure 1 Figure 3 is a section on the line 3, 4, in Figure 1.
;
The
same letters refer to similar parts in all the Figures. A sheet of iron, of
the form shewn in the Drawing, is stamped or cut out; and a rib b, b, is also
raised by stamping, and serves to direct the course of the rain water and pre-
vent its passing under or between the tiles; d, d, are holes for the passage of
nails, pins, screws, or bolts for fixing the tiles; d', d', are other holes for a
similar purpose. The upper end of the plate is turned down, as shown at c.
The plate, being thus prepared, is immersed in dilute muriatic acid or other
acid, to remove the oxide from its surface, and it is then immersed in a vessel
of lime water to neutralize the acid and preserve the plate from the action of
the air.
Two different enamels are employed to coat the iron, one being used as the
body, and the other for the surface or glaze. The first enamel, which is used
for the body, is prepared by melting together in a covered crucible one hun-
dred parts by weight of silica or sand, and sixty parts of borax. The
compound thus obtained is ground to an impalpable powder, and mixed with
two and a half parts of clay and a sufficient quantity of water to bring it to
the consistence of rather thick cream. The iron plates are plunged into this
cream and shaken, when they are removed, so as to spread the enamel equally
over the surface, and it is then dusted over with the glaze or surface enamel,
reduced to a fine powder, and contained in a small sieve or a silk bag. The
glaze or surface enamel is composed of one part by weight of silica, one-tenth
of a part of borax, two-tenths of a part of minium or red lead, and one-eighth
of a part of calcined bones. These substances are melted together, and after-
wards ground to a fine powder, with water, and dried and preserved for use.

page_text: In place of this glaze, the following composition may be employed:-On
quarter of a part by weight of silica, two and a half parts of white glass, one
sixth of a part of borax, and one-tenth of a part of scales of oxide of iron
These substances are powdered together and melted, and afterwards ground
5 fine with water, and then dried and preserved for use. From one-twentieth
to one-fifth part of oxide of lead may be added, to render the composition
more fusible, the proportion being varied according to the greater or less
fusibility of the glass employed. The glaze or surface enamel ought to melt
at about the same temperature as the body, to prevent it from swelling or
frothing during the operation of fusion, which is performed in a furnace or
muffle, in the ordinary manner employed in enamelling iron. When the enamel
is properly fused, the tiles are allowed to cool gradually in an annealing
chamber, to prevent the enamel being cracked by sudden cooling. Various
other enamels may be employed, provided they are of such a naturo as to
adhere to the iron and not to crack in cooling. The mode of fixing or
securing the tiles may be varied; thus, in Figure 4 is shewn a front view,
and in Figure 5 a side view of some tiles supported on wooden boards g, g,
by means of the bent parts or hooks c, c. The tiles may be still further
secured by means of nails, screws, or pins passing through the holes d, d, in
the tiles, and entering the boards g, g; a small washer of caoutchouc, leather,
or other elastic material may be placed under the head of the nail, to prevent
any water from passing through the holes. When the tile is made with the
holes d', d', shewn in Figure 1, the holes d, d, and the hook c, may be dis-
pensed with, and the tile secured by two nails, screws, or pins passing through
these holes into the boards g, or by means of small bolts and nuts passing
through the boards g. When the hook c is employed to support the tiles,
the chief uso of the nails is to prevent the tiles from being raised by the
wind. This object may be attained by means of a small hook rivetted to each
tile, as shewn in Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 is a front view, and Figure 7 is
a section; a is the tile; c is the beut part or hook, resting on the lath g; e is
a small hook rivetted to the iron plate of the tile. It is essential that this
hook should be fixed to the plate before it is enamelled, as it could not be
attached afterwards without injuring the enamel. Figure 10 is a front view,
and Figure 11 a side view of a series of tiles of this construction, supported
on the laths g, g. The lower part of each tile passes under the hook e of the
one below it, and thus one tile cannot rise without lifting the others.
Figure 8 is a front view, and Figure 9 a side view of a series of tiles, supported
by books c, c, to the laths g, g, to which they are also secured by nails, pins, or

page_text: screws, as in Figures 4 and 5. In Figures 8 and 9, the tiles are shown
without the rib shewn at b, b, in Figure 1.
Figure 12 is a front view, and Figure 13 is a transverse section of two
tiles in which the rib is of a different form, and so arranged that the edge h
of one tile may overlap the edge h¹ of the adjoining one, as shewn in the
transverse section, Figure 14.
Another method of fixing the tiles consists in rivetting or fixing to the
under side of the iron plates small pins or screws, which being passed through
holes in the laths or boards, are secured by nuts on the other side; or in place
of nuts, cottars or keys may be driven through holes in the pins. These pins
must be fixed to the iron plates before they are enamelled, and the threads of
the screws or the holes in the pins must be kept free from enamel by covering
or stopping them up when the plate is immersed in the enamel, or by wiping
the enamel off before it is fused in the furnace. This method of fixing the
tiles may be applied either with or without the hooks c when the tiles are laid
on iron laths, and it has an advantage over bolts and nuts passed through the
holes d, d, in Figure 1, inasmuch as there no holes through which the water
can pass.
The form of the tiles admits of variation, and they may be rendered orna-
mental both by their form, and by employing coloured enamels, or by painting
them with enamel colours fixed by fire, or by applying gold or other metals
as in painting and gilding on porcelain or glass. Figure 15 is a perspective
view of some tiles formed of flat iron plates turned up at their edges, and
enamelled as before mentioned. Their junctions are covered by the ridge o
cap k, also formed of iron plate and enamelled. They are fixed on boards o
laths by the upper edge or a portion of it being turned down, or by pins
rivetted or fixed to the under side, or by nails, pins, screws, or bolts passing
through holes in the upper edge; but in whatever way they are secured, pro
vision must be made for so securing them before the iron plates are enamelled
In place of making the tiles of wrought iron, they may be made of cas
iron, and enamelled in the ordinary manner of enamelling cast iron, the holes
pins, or other means of attachment being formed in the casting, or fixed to th
plates before they are enamelled. They cannot, however, be made so light a
those made of wrought-iron plates.
These enamelled iron tiles may be employed either for covering roofs, c
for covering the walls of buildings, and form at once a durable and elega
covering.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the inauner i

page_text: which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim
the constructing coverings for buildings of enamelled iron tiles, consisting of
iron plates of the form of tiles, furnished with suitable hooks or holes, or other
means of attachment, and coated with enamel, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cowper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
5
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Charles Cowper came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the First day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.