Improvements in Roofing Tiles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 18th Mar., 1892-4ccepted, 30th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Roofing Tiles.
I, JOHN MORRIS, of West Street, Midhurst, in the County of Sussex, Outfitter,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
My invention relates to improvements in roofing tiles for houses and other
buildings.
The materials of which these tiles are composed are 3 parts of good Portland
cement, 3 parts of fine well washed sand, and 4 parts of fine gravel, shingle, sea
beach, or crushed stone. They are mixed in any suitable way, and then cast in
suitable moulds. The moulds consist of a bottom plate level in the centre with, a
sunk part about half an inch deep along the top to form the web by which the
tile is suspended. There is also a sunk part along the bottom about a quarter of
an inch deep, to form with the tile next above a lap joint to prevent wet driving
up, and having a small cavity between to prevent suction. This joint has a
peculiar and novel feature. The sides, top, and bottom pieces of the mould are,
preferably, cast iron slips with holes to screw on to the bottom plate. They are
as deep as the required thickness of the tile when finished. The mould is filled in
the following manner---I take about 1 lb. of cement, and add water sufficient to
make a thick wash. I then add the gravel or shingle or crushed stone, and stir
well. The mould is nearly full and the remaining cement mixed with the sand
into a thick mortar is spread dry over the gravel in the mould, and worked in. Pure
cement is then dusted over the surface of the tile which is then perfectly trued level
with the edges of the mould. The colouring matter is now dusted over the surface
and smoothed into it.
Along the top of the tile a ledge is formed. This forms the top half of the
anti-capillary joint. It is formed by laying a straight edge across the face of the
tile resting on the two sides. A little cement mortar is worked up to it and
struck off level. The flanges down the side are made next. The two side pieces
are removed, and are replaced by two higher pieces which are filled in with cement
mortar, and struck off level. The tile must now remain in a damp place for
several days to set. When it is firm enough to handle, it may be placed on end
in a tank of water for a week. It should afterwards be kept in a damp shady
place and in about a month it will be fit for use, though it will get harder by
longer storage in a damp place.
The clip to cover the down joint may be made of galvanized iron, bent into a
half round to fit the flanges. A small web is formed at the bottom corners which
fits into a corresponding slot in the flange of the tile and fixes itself in securely.
The clips are the same length as the tile, and are made to break the joints half
way down the tile, to prevent wet driving in. These clips may be coloured to
match the tiles.
A modified form of tile is without the side
joints are anti-capillary as in the other tile.
corners are cut off to allow for the lap.
Dated this 18th day of June 1891.
flanges and requires no clip. The
They lap and the right and left
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: quality of the tile.
With reference to the gravel if it or its substitute be difficult to procure, it may
be omitted, and a larger proportion of sand be used in its stead.
The above mentioned materials are mixed in any convenient way either by
hand or in a suitable machine, and the tiles are produced therefrom by casting or
pressing the mixture in suitably shaped moulds.
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the construction and use of a mould for making a
diamond shaped tile by hand.
I provide a metal frame of the same shape as the tile, i.e., square with a pair of
opposite corners cut off. It is in two halves a, b; and these are extended outwards
parallel with each other at one corner. The two extensions a', ', are pivotted
together by a pin e, and one of them a¹ is lengthened into a tang upon which a
handle c is fixed. At the opposite corner, the side a las a U, a², formed upon it
and opening inwards. It is thereby adapted to receive the outward extension of
the adjacent end of the side b. The above mentioned U is, preferably, closed at
the bottom, upon which latter the extension b³ rests. The advantage of this
arrangement, and of the bottom to the U, are that the two halves of the frame

page_text: cannot be detached from each other, but can be easily separated after the tile has
been made, and that the half frame b, when its extension 6 is within the U, is in
the same plane as the other half a.
d is a square plate upon which there are two triangular elevated planes, both of
the same height, d', d². They are separated by a groove e and the outer edges of
the latter plane stop short of the respectively adjacent sides of the half
frames a, b, to produce a pair of grooves e¹, e'. The elevation of the
said plates must be fully sufficient to prevent the frame ab from slipping
up on
to either of them during the operation of tile-making. f, are
ledges on four sides of the plate d, leaving openings at the corner next the handle
of the frame and also at the opposite corner to admit the extensions a¹, b', a², b²,
and to allow them to rest upon the surface of the plate d, and stopping short of the
two other corners, as their presence at either of them is unnecessary. The
function of these ledges is to keep the frame in working position, i.e., with its sides
parallel with the respective sides of the elevations d³, d²; but any other equally
effective device for the purpose may be adopted, such as lugs and pins as indicated
by dotted lines in Fig.
The plate and the frame constitute a mould. This plate may be of any suitable.
material either iron or wood. If the latter, it should be covered with sheet metal,
preferably zinc.
The following is the process of making a tile by hand in a mould as described
above.
The
To about a third of the total quantity of Portland cement above specified,.
enough water is added to make a thick wash. The gravel, shingle, sea beach or
crushed stone, whichever is being used, is added to the wash and both are well
stirred. The mould is covered with a damp sheet of thin paper and dusted over
with the desired colour and nearly filled with the stirred wash and gravel.
remainder of the cement, mixed with the sand into a stiff mortar, is spread dry, i.e.,
with as little water in it as possible, over the said wash and gravel and worked into
it. Pure cement is next dusted over the surface of the tile which is thereupon
trued level with the top of the frame and afterwards smoothed. The groove e
produces the nib g by means of which the tile grips the lath or batten, and the
grooves e, el produce the pair of ridges h, h, the function of which is described
further on. The short opposite sides a³, 63, of the frame produce the short
opposite sides i, i.
So far the under side, the edges and most of the face of the diamond tile are
finished as far as shape is concerned. There remains however, a pair of ledges j, j
to be formed upon the face along the sides of it opposite to the ridges. These
may be produced as follows. The frame A B is removed and a one deeper but
otherwise of the same construction as the one above described,-capital reference
letters being used to distinguish them, is laid within the ledges F- -see Fig. 3.
This second frame is as deep as the joint thicknesses of the tile and ledge-
see Fig. 4.
k is a board or plate of the same area and shape as the tile less the ridges j, j.
It is laid on the tile within the frame and close up to the sides of the latter
opposite to the positions of the desired ridges, thereby leaving a pair of grooves
between it and the frame, suitable for their production which is effected by filling
the grooves with the composition. The top is trued off and the plate k and
frame A-B removed. Colour is then dusted on to the surface of the tile and
smoothed into it. The colours which I prefer to use are red ochre, lime-blue
and lamp-black for, respectively, red, blue and slate coloured tiles.
The tile is next removed into a damp place, where it is kept for several days to
allow of its setting. When it has become firm enough to handle, it may be
placed on end in a tank of water and kept there for a week. After that, it should
be kept in a damp shady place, and after the lapse of a month-more or less
according to circumstances-it will be fit for use. But it should be borne in mind
that longer storage in a damp place increases the hardness of the tile.

page_text: Figs. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate in plan the way in which diamond shaped tiles made
with the ridges described above attach themselves to the roof and fit together.
The tiles are laid with their short sides, i, i, touching. When the next row is
laid, the ridges h. h upon the tiles constituting it, will not be in contact with the
ridges j, j, of the lower row, but will overlap them by a space 1. The advantage
of interposing this distance between the ridges and jis simply this, that any
water that may be driven in by winds, or drawn up by suction or capillary
attraction under the ridges h, will not pass or be driven over the ridges j
respectively above them. This combination of ridges and j therefore constitutes
an anticapillary joint.
Referring to Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the square tiles illustrated therein are made of
the material hereinbefore described, and by hand in a hand mould, or by any
suitable mechanism. The necessary modifications in the contour and arrangement
of the hand mould illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 and described therewith are too
obvious to require detailed specification. A square tile T₁ made according to my
invention is like the diamond tile already described, always flat. t is the nib
or ridge on the under side along the top edge by means of which the tile is held to
the roof by catching above the lath. is the ridge on the upper side of the tile
along the top edge. 2 is a nosing or drip along the bottom edge, and t³ is the space
between them. The parts t, t', t and space 3 discharge the same functions as the
ridges g, j, h and space described above with reference to the diamond shaped
tiles. u, u are the side ridges. They are not parallel with the tile, inasmuch as
their height increases towards the top, so that when a slope of tiles is laid, the
side-ridges are aligned. u' is a clip or cap made, preferably, of galvanized iron,
which embraces the side ridges u, u of two adjacent columns of tiles. It is turned
down under the drips of the bottom tiles in the ordinary way. The cap may be
in short lengths as long as the tiles. If so, they break joint half way down the
tile and engage in notches on their sides.
The above described square tile may be varied so far as to be oblong.
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 1
claim is
1. The hereinbefore described composition for the manufacture of roofing tiles.
2. Roofing tiles made from the hereinbefore described composition.
3. The herein before described method of making roofing tiles by hand.
4. The mould for making roofing tiles as set forth and illustrated.
5. A diamond shaped roofing tile consisting of a combination with a flat tile, of
a nib by which it can hold to the lath, ridges on its upper surface along its two
top edges, ridges on its under side along its bottom or opposite edges and two
short sides respectively opposite each other.
6. A square shaped tile consisting of the combination of a flat tile, a nib on its
under side along the top edge by means of which it can hold to the lath, a ridge on
its upper face along the top edge, side ridges, and a drip, as set forth and illustrated.
Dated this 18th day of March 1892.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.