Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Ornamental Strips in Soft Clay.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan.. 1897-Accepted, 13th Mar., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Ornamental Strips
in Soft Clay.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES LAWTON of No. 33 Derby Street, Hanley, in the
County of Stafford, Modeller and Designer, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in the process of manufacturing ornamental
strips in soft clay. The object of it is to effect the manufacture of ornamental
strips adapted either for being let in panel-wise flush with another surface, or for
being imposed upon another surface, or for standing edge up upon one by a cheaper
process than the one of cutting out and hand sculpture hitherto followed. It is
adapted for the manufacture of either pierced or embossed strips or of strips both
pierced and embossed.
In carrying the invention into effect I provide two blocks an upper and a lower
one somewhat after the manner of the well known moulding box, excepting that
when the strip is only small, the lower block may be dispensed with.
The lower block or bed mould is of the kind ordinarily in use amongst potters
with the additions hereinafter described. The central portion is hollow and fitted
with bars after the manner of a grid. The objects of the grid is to prevent the
clay falling through the bed mould by its own weight aud at the same time to allow
some of it to pass downwards under the pressure exerted upon it during the act of
moulding. The bed mould is supported upon the usual bench or pair of bearers.
In plan, the shape of the bed mould corresponds with the contour of the strip-
if the latter is rectangular, the former is rectangular too, if the strip is circular or
serpentine, the bed mould corresponds with it in that respect.
The bench mould may be fitted, if desired, with a proper apparatus for pushing
the clay in it, upwards so as to maintain, or restore the working or top surface of
it at the proper level.
There is a rail standing up from the top of the bed mould, one on each side of
the central space along the latter, and both parallel with each other, and with the
shape of the said mould as the same is described above.
The upper block may be either a flat block of the same shape in plan as the bed
moulà, or it may be a drum adapted to roll upon the pair of rails last described.
These rails then serve as a guide for the motion of the drum. In either case they
serve as guides for the position on the clay on the bed mould, of the bat or blank
strip of soft clay. To secure a proper position of the upper block upon the bed
mould, both two are provided with dowels. Both upper block and drum may be of
any suitable material.
The pattern is preferably, in metal. It may be either separate from the upper
block of the drum or fast to the bottom face of the former or along the periphery
of the latter. When it is desired that it should be fast to the said face or the
periphery, as the case may be, it may be made so by being carved in relief there-
upon. For small work, it is preferable that the pattern be incorporated with the
upper block, but in the case of large work, the interposition of the separate metal
pattern between the upper mould and the bat facilitates the removal of the former,
by preventing the bat sticking to it. If necessary, a special parting strip of foil

page_text: may be interposed. Further, it should be pointed out that as between flat block
and drum on strips of the same length, the suction between the strip and the at
block will be much stronger than between the strip and the drum. The separate
pattern may be taken off the strip under it without damaging the latter, if it be
bent a little before it is lifted.
The curface of the clay in the bed mould stands flush with the tops of the rails,
so that the bat lies upon the former above the latter. The relief of the pattern as
far as the piercing of the bat is concerned and the thickness of the bat are equal,
so that the presence of the upper block down upon the mould block or the traverse
of the drum along the rails, will effect such piercing.
The strip is severed from the clay in the bed mould by passing a thin line
between them, e.g., moving a horse hair stretched across the rails, along them. If
the penetration of the pattern into the clay has been managed properly, the line
will move in or just above the plane of the bottoms of the perforations in the clay,
thereby severing a strip duly pierced as distinguished from one perforated only.
The process conducted as above described is capable of producing strips too
delicate or too large for removal by hand. To meet such a condition, a band of
flexible material of a larger area than the strip in question, has one end made
detachably fast to the end of the mould bed. A wire or thin rod, is then held to
the under side of the free end of the band and rolled up in it. This roll is next
inserted under the adjacent end of the strip and rolled along between it and the
clay in the bed mould beyond the opposite end of the strip. This leaves the latter
upon the band.
The term "strip" is to be understood as including a sheet, and not as a long and
narrow area only.
With reference to the modification in process described above in respect of small
strips and small work, it must be explained that this class of work may advan-
tageously be treated according to the principal process by making use of multiple
pattern pieces.
Dated this 9th day of April 1896.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Ornamental Strips
in Soft Clay.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES LAWTON, formerly of No. 33 Derby Street, Hanley, but
now of Ford Street, Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, both in the County of Stafford,
Modeller and Designer, 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 :-
The present invention consists in an improved process for moulding in soft clay,
plain or ornamental strips and plates, either perforated or embossed, or both
perforated and embossed, for use in the manufacture of earthenware and the
like.
Hitherto, it has been the practice to make strips and plates of the kind described
above by pressing the clay into plaster moulds, separating the excess clay by
passing a wire over the top face of the mould, removing such excess, and then
picking the moulded article out. The process of picking out is tedious, it takes up
a great deal of time, and the moulded articles are in constant danger of being
broken. There are always fragments of clay left behind in the corners of the

page_text: pattern, adhering to the mould there, and all these must be removed before the
mould can be used again. The material of the mould being plaster, it is obvious
that these fragments cannot be got clean away from the mould surface without
chipping or indenting it more or less.
According to the present invention, the article is moulded in relief on the top
surface of a bed of clay, and is next severed from such bed by passing a wire
through the latter.
The said invention also includes a special device for effecting the removal of
even the most delicate article from off the bed, after it has been severed therefrom
in the way mentioned, without risk of its being broken during such removal.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this
specification and read therewith,
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation through the bench and empty bed
mould.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a transverse sectional elevation through the bench, full bed-mould,
and the raised clay impression for an ornamental strip, including the severing
wire.
Figure 4 is a plan of the same.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the bench, full bed-mould
and ornamental strip, illustrating the action of the removing band.
Figure 6 is a plan of the removing band with the ornamental strip upon it.
Figure 7 is a side elevation of a rolling upper block together with a portion of
the raised clay impression of an ornamental strip and of the bed mould.
Figure 8 is a part sectional end elevation of the same.
Figure 9 is a side elevation of a press-down upper block.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of the parting foil.
Figure 11 is a side elevation of the corresponding bed mould..
Figure 12 is a plan of a bed mould, the raised clay impression of
ornament, and a severing wire.
a small
:
Figure 13 is an elevation of a flower pot or vase having recesses to receive
ornamental strips panel-wise.
Figure 14 is an elevation of the same pot or vase with ornamental strips in the
recesses and one set edge up around the top edge of the pot.
a, a is the well known potter's bench and 6 is the bed mould standing thereupon.
The distance between the two sides of it is greater across the bottom than across
the top, to avoid unnecessary friction between them and the clay, as the latter is
forced downwards, it being then freed of all down or waste clay instead of clogging
up the mould, as it would do if the two sides of the latter were parallel.
.
c, care transverse parallel bars extending edge-up from one side of the bed
mould to the other, after the manner of a grid. The function of these bars is to
prevent the clay d falling down through the bed mould by its own weight and also
to allow of some of it to pass downwards under the pressure of the upper
block.
.
. The upper block may be made so as to be rolled over the top surface of the clay,
or to be pressed down upon it.
A rolling upper block is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. It consists of the
pattern e and a drum f pivotted upon an axle fast in the end of a 'handled fork e¹.
Figure 7 shews the drum as large enough to receive two patterns. Each one is
held to the face of the pattern groove e' in the periphery of the drum, by screws e, e².
The projecting edges or shrouds 11f of the drum run upon parallel rails f, which
are fast upon the sides of the bed mould b. The pattern groove 3 in the drum is
of the proper depth to provide for the required thickness of the strip or plate to
be above the top edges of the rails 1, 2, in order that it may be severed from the
under-lying mass of clay by the severing wire described further on.
A press down upper block with its modified bed mould is illustrated in Figures 9
to 11. g is the upper block and h is the corresponding bed mould. The pattern is

page_text: fixed in a recess in the bottom face of the upper block g. The clay d projects
above the top of the bed mould h for the proper distance. g', h¹ are dowel pins
and eyes to guide the potter in bringing the pattern down upon the upstanding
clay. is a parting piece of thin metal foil. Its presence between the pattern and
the raised clay impression of it, at the moment when the upper block is lifted off
the bed mould h, prevents the raised and perforated clay impression of the pattern
on and in the clay d, being distorted by the said block sucking at it.
The patterns above mentioned are, preferably, of metal and may be either fixed
to the respective upper block, or separate therefrom. A separate pattern may be
taken off the clay without damaging the raised and perforated clay impression, if
one corner of it be bent up a little to begin with.
It is obvious that the face of a pattern is the converse of that of the impression
to be moulded on the clay. Where there is a convexity in the impression, there is
a concavity in the pattern, and where there is to be a perforation in the impression,
there is on the pattern, a projection equal to the thickness of the article-strip or
plate as the case may be.
The raised and perforated clay impression is severed from the clay d in the bed
mould of the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, 7 and 8, by laying a severing
wire or hair k transversely upon the rails f, and drawing it along them, as indicated
in Figures 3 and 4, the tops of the rails serving as a guide for the severing wire or
hair. A severed strip is represented in Figures 5 and 6. But the rails are not
always present, in which case a trustworthy guide is a thin metal stencil cut to
pass over the raised clay impression and laid upon the bed of clay d, as indicated
by the dotted line f3 in Figure 4 or by the space between the device and the circle
which defines the bed mould in Figure 12.
Either of the above described processes-roller or lift up upper mould-of
moulding, is capable of producing perforated strips and plates too delicate or too
large for them to be taken off the underlying clay by the moulder's hands. To
meet such a condition, I use a band m of flexible material and having a larger area
than that of the moulded and severed article. One end of this band is made fast
along its edge to a thin rod n which is then rolled lengthwise of the band until the
latter is rolled around it. The other end of the band is made detachably fast to
one end of the bed mould. A suitable device consists of holes n' in the said end of
the band adapted to fit over pins n² projecting from the end of the bed mould. The
rolled up band is next inserted under the adjacent edge of the article-e.g., the
strip on Figure 5-and rolled along over the face of the underlying clay d beyond
the opposite edge of the article. This rolling leaves the article upon the band m,
whereupon both are removeable by detaching the holes n' from the pins n². They
are then ready to be handed over to the workman whose duty it is to fix the moulded
article in its desired position.
The shape and plan of the upper block and bed mould correspond with that of
the article to be manufactured. Those above described are rectangular in plan
because the article to be manufactured-a strip as indicated in Figure 4 and
illustrated in Figures 5 and 6-is rectangular. A round bed mould j-see
Figure 12 is used for moulding small ornaments, heraldic devices as in the figure,
or round strainer plates. A third shape is illustrated in Figure 14 where the
strip o must be of the same shape as the recess o¹ in the flower pot or vase p into
which it is to fit. A fourth shape is illustrated in the same figure, that of the
strip q set edge up round the top edge of the pot.
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
claim is :-
1. The hereinbefore described process for moulding pierced articles in soft clay,
consisting in forming a raised clay impression upon the clay in the bed mould by
either a rolling or a press down upper block, and severing the said impression from
the underlying clay by a wire or hair drawn over the latter.

page_text: 2. The hereinbefore described process for moulding pierced articles in soft clay,
consisting in forming a raised clay impression upon the clay in the bed mould by
either rolling or a press down upper block, severing the said impression from the
underlying clay by a wire or hair drawn over the latter, and providing for the-
removal of the moulded and severed impression, by interposing a flexible band.
between the two.
Dated this 7th day of January 1897.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.