IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH SAGGERS OR APPARATUS IN WHICH ARTICLES OF POTTERY WARE OR THE LIKE ARE ARRANGED AND HELD APART WHILST BEING " BAKED
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the
County of Middlesex Gentleman for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OR CONNECTED WITH SAGGERS OR APPARATUS IN WHICH ARTICLES OF
POTTERY WARE OR THE LIKE ARE ARRANGED AND HELD APART WHILST BEING
"
BAKED communicated to him from abroad by Jean Felix Bapterosses of
Briare (Loiret) in the Republic of France Manufacturer
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th November 1882.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH SAGGERS OR APPARATUS IN
WHICH ARTICLES OF POTTERY WARE OR THE LIKE ARE ARRANGED AND HELD
"
APART WHILST BEING BAKED a communication to me from abroad by Jean Felix
Bapterosses of Briare (Loiret) in the Republic of France, Manufacturer,
This Invention relates to improved means for arranging and supporting plates,
dishes, and other like articles of pottery ware in the saggers in which they are
baked. According to this invention temporary points of support are provided
which enable the articles to be arranged in position at the proper distance apart
with facility and precision. These temporary supports consist essentially of a
frame carrying sliding bars for temporarily supporting the plates or other articles of
pottery ware at their upper edges and swivelling racks for spacing or adjusting the
said plates or articles at their lower edges.
In carrying out this invention ridges are formed on the bottom of the sagger in
the direction of its length and this may be effected by laying on the bottom of the
sagger a plate (which may be of zinc) provided with two longitudinal slots and
putting clay through these slots before the sagger is hardened so as to form when
the plate is removed two ridges or ribs on the bottom of the sagger which ridges
or ribs serve as stops or supports for two rests of the same material and presenting
ID 71

page_text: angles or edges at the parts which come in contact with the plates or other articles
in the sagger.
The plates, dishes, or other articles of pottery ware that are to be baked in the
sagger are arranged in position by means of an apparatus consisting of a frame
which is placed upon the sagger and is provided with sliding bars capable of
sliding horizontally at both sides of the sagger and forming temporary supports
for the upper edges of the plates-To this frame are also attached pendent arms
extending to about one third of the height of the sagger from the bottom where
the said arms carry swivelling racks capable of being either turned up so as to
project between the plates or turned down so as to hang clear of the said plates.
The bars or rests having triangular edges or angles at the parts which come in
contact with the edges of the plates as herein before described are first placed in
the bottom of the sagger between and bearing against the ribs or ridges herein-
before referred to. The frame being in position the operation of setting or
arranging the plates or articles of pottery ware is then proceeded with in the
following manner-The horizontal sliding bars on each side of the frame are first
drawn back and the swivelling racks inside the sagger are turned up.
A plate (for example) is then introduced into the sagger at one end of the latter
so that the lower edge of the plate rests upon the bars at the bottom-The lower
part of the plate is guided and steadied in its descent by the teeth of the swivelling
racks and the upper part of the plate is supported at each side of the sagger by
two of the horizontal sliding bars previously pushed forwards for this purpose
which are provided at their extremities with fingers or prolongations of suitable
form. The next pair of sliding bars is then pushed forward and another plate
placed in position and so on until the sagger is filled. The plates so inserted
incline slightly backwards so that their under side rests against the supports.
In order to retain the plates in position after the frame has been removed a
notched bar or rack of ceramic material is laid across the upper edges of the plates
after the sagger is filled being supported at its extremities in recesses in the ends
of the sagger-Before removing the frame the swivelling racks inside the sagger are
turned down so that the teeth of the said racks are clear of the plates and admit
of the frame or adjusting apparatus being removed from the sagger without risk of
disturbing its contents.
The notched bars or rack which supports the plates at their upper edges is
formed in a mould specially constructed for the purpose strips of metal being laid
in the bottom of the mould to enable the rack when inoulded to be removed without
danger of being distorted.
The teeth or projecting parts of the rack present suitable angular edges at the
part which comes in contact with the plate and may either be moulded in one
piece with the bar or consist of square or angular pins passed through holes formed
in a bar constituting the back of the rack-This arrangement presents the
advantage of enabling fresh edges or points of contact to be presented to the plates
when required by simply turning the pins-These bars and the pins to be used
with them may be made in moulds specially constructed for the purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th May 1883.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH SAGGERS OR APPARATUS IN
WHICH ARTICLES OF POTTERY WARE OR THE LIKE ARE ARRANGED AND HELD
APART WHILST BEING BAKED a communication to me from Jean Felix Bapterosses
of Briare (Loiret) in the Republic of France, Manufacturer
"
This Invention relates to improved means for arranging and supporting plates
dishes and other like articles of pottery ware in the saggers in which they are
baked According to this Invention temporary points of support are provided
which enable the articles which are to be baked and the permanent supports
therefor to be arranged in position with facility and precision-These temporary
supports which are removed when the sagger is full consist essentially of a frame
carrying sliding bars for temporarily supporting the, plates or other articles of
pottery ware at their upper edges and swivelling racks or combs for spacing or
adjusting the said plates or articles at their lower edges as hereinafter described.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
Figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing is a transverse vertical section of a sagger
for baking plates with the improved devices and apparatus applied thereto according
to this Invention for supporting the articles to be baked Figure 2 is a plan and
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the same.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal Section of the upper portion of a sagger showing the
permanent lateral supports for the upper edges of the plates
Figure 7 (drawn to a smaller scale) is a vertical section of a sagger filled with
plates showing the supports for the lower edges of the latter and Figures 5, 6. 8
and 9 are details of or connected with these supports as hereinafter explained.
Figures 10. 10 and 10b are respectively an elevation transverse section and plan
of a support for the upper edges of the plates and figures 11. 11 and 115 are
similar views of a modified form of this support
Figures 13 and 13ª are respectively a plan and transverse section of a mould for
making supports of the form illustrated in figures 10. 10° and 10b and figures 12
and 12 are similar views of a mould for forming the backs of the supports
illustrated in figures 11. 11° and 11b the pins or teeth y² of these supports being
made in the mould illustrated in plan and transverse section in Figures 14 and 14
The apparatus employed for arranging the plates Z in the sagger A consists of a
metal frame B figures 1. 2 and 3 placed upon the sagger and provided with guides
or grooves C for the reception of sliding bars D operated by keys D¹ and provided
with fingers D' corresponding to the number of plates Z to be packed in the sagger-
This frame is also provided with pendent arms E carrying comb shaped swivelling
racks & the fingers or teeth of which are arranged at the same distance apart from
centre to centre as the sliding fingers D-The said racks e are capable of turning
in bearings provided at the extremities of the arms E and are provided with
levers m operated by means of rods / which enable the teeth of the racks e to be
either supported in a horizontal position so as to project between and support the
plates Z or to be turned out of the way of the latter when required
The fingers D' acting in combination with the racks e form temporary lateral
supports on both sides of the sagger A and enable the plates Z to be arranged in

page_text: the sagger with facility and precision-The plates incline slightly to one side as
shewn in Figures 3 and 7 so that the underside only of each plate comes in contact
with the supports D² and e
The permanent supports upon which the plates rest at the bottom of the sagger
and which support the plates laterally at the upper part of the sagger are so formed
as to present the smallest possible points of contact with the surfaces of the plates
as hereinafter described
is
In order to form the permanent supports upon which the plates rest at the
bottom of the sagger, a plate z of zinc, (see figures 6. 8 and 9 which are views of a
sagger drawn to a small scale) presenting two longitudinal slots or openings 2',
laid on the bottom of the sagger after the latter has been moulded and while it is
still soft-Two bars or strips of fire clay are then placed in the openings 2¹ and
firmly pressed down to cause them to adhere to the bottom of the sagger-These
strips of fire clay are baked with the sagger when the plate z is removed and form
two parallel ribs or ridges b b₁ figures 1 and 2 on the bottom of the sagger which
constitute stops to maintain in position two bars d d made of the keramic material
ordinarily employed to form points of support for articles of pottery ware during
baking One of these bars is shown separately in elevation plan and transverse
Bection in figure 5-The upper side of these bars presents an edge as shewn in the
section figures 1 and 5 which forms the permanent point of support for the lower
edges of the plates when the latter are arranged in the sagger by the aid of the
temporary supports hereinbefore described-The plates are thus supported at the
bottom of the sagger at two points only
In moulding the saggers a recess f is formed at the centre of the upper edge of
each end of the sagger for the reception of the extremities of a rack or bar y
Figures 4 and 7 hereinafter described which is provided with pins or teeth y¹ and
which may be secured in position by means of a piece of clay-The teeth y¹ of this
rack are moulded of keramic materials in special moulds and are bevelled as shown
in Figure 10 so as to present triangular edges as points of support for the plates-
The distance between the centres of these teeth is the same as the distance between
the centres of the fingers D' hereinbefore described
The plates when set on edge in the sagger are so arranged that the bottom only
of each plate comes in contact with the teeth y¹ which afford the requisite lateral
support for the upper edges of the plates and by reason of the edge or bevel present
the smallest possible surface of contact
The teeth y' may be moulded in one piece with the bar y as shown in figures 7.
10. 10 and 10 or they may be made in the form of pins with heads as shewn in
figures 4. 11. 11 and 11-In the latter case the bar y is made with holes for the
reception of the pins y' which act as teeth and the combination thus forms a rack
or comb with moveable teeth-This latter arrangement possesses the advantage of
enabling the surfaces or points of contact to be renewed by turning the pins y¹ so
as to present a fresh edge to the plate thus enabling each pin to be used in four
different positions the holes in the bar y being square with their sides forming an
angle of forty five degrees with the length of the bar so that the pins may be readily
withdrawn turned round and reinserted so as to present a fresh angle or point of
support for the plates when required
The moulds for forming the racks or supports are illustrated in Figures 12 12ª
13. 13 14 and 14ª Figures 13 and 13" represent in plan and transverse section
respectively a mould Y for moulding a rack with the teeth in one piece with the
bar y This mould is capable of moulding two racks simultaneously In order to
allow the racks when moulded to be removed from this mould without distorting
them a plate of metal is placed in the bottom of each part of the mould as shewn
in the drawing being provided with pins to facilitate its extraction
Figures 12 and 12" represent in plan and transverse section respectively a mould
X for moulding bars or backs of racks with square holes for the reception of the
moveable pins or teeth y¹ and figs 14 and 14" are similar views of a portion of a
mould W for moulding the said pins or teeth y¹

page_text: The mould X may also be provided with a plate x for facilitating the removal of
the moulded article The racks or supports when moulded are baked in the usual
manner
The operation of setting the plates in the saggers is performed by the aidof the
apparatus constructed according to this Invention as follows-
The supports or bars d d are first placed in position against the ridges 6 b¹ on
the bottom of the sagger A as shown in Figure 1-The frame B is then placed in
position upon the sagger with the fingers D' drawn back and the comb shaped
racks e in a horizontal position as shewn in the drawing-By means of the keys D¹
one finger D on each side of the frame at one end of the sagger is then pushed
forwards as far as possible-A plate is then introduced into the sagger so that its
lower part passes between the first four teeth e of the rack or comb at the lower
part of the sagger and rests upon the edges of the bars d d as shown in Figure 1
the upper part of the plate being supporting laterally by leaning against the two
fingers D that have been previously pushed forwards for this purpose as herein-
before described-The first plate being thus adjusted in position the next pair of
fingers D is pushed forwards and another plate introduced and so on until the
sagger is filled-When the sagger has been filled with plates adjusted and sup-
ported in the proper position as herein before described the permanent support or
rack y is placed in position over the plates so that the extremities of the rack rest
in the recesses fin the ends of the sagger and the teeth y¹ pass between the upper
edges of the plates as shown in figures 4 and 7
The teeth e are then turned down by means of the rod and lever m and the
frame B together with all the parts connected therewith is removed bodily leaving
the plates supported solely by the triangular edges of the bars d d' at the bottom
of the sagger and by the edges of the teeth or pins y' at the upper part-The
surfaces of contact are thus reduced to a minimum and the articles are arranged in
an orderly and regular manner in the sagger with speed and precision
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited
Lettent Patent is-
First The improvements in or connected with saggers or apparatus in which
articles of pottery ware or the like are arranged and held apart whilst being baked
consisting in providing temporary supports for supporting the articles whilst being
arranged in the saggers substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings
Secondly The improvements in saggers or apparatus for supporting and holding
apart plates and other like articles of pottery during the baking process consisting
in providing the said saggers with angular rests and racks with fixed or movable
angular teeth or pins presenting a minimum surface of contact between the plates
and the supports substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, also the moulds or apparatus hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing for producing the said rests or racks
In witness whereof I the said John Henry Johnson have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal this tenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three