Improvements in or relating to the Decorating and Finishing of Architectural Tiles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 19th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 30th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Decorating and Finishing of
Architectural Tiles.
A communication by ISAAC BROOME, of the Borough of Beaver Falls, in the
County of Beaver and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, Machinist.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved apparatus for ornamenting and finishing
architectural tiles by coating the decorative faces thereof, with paint or glaze in
plain or figured designs, and then removing the overflow of liquid from the edges of
the decorated tiles, so that they may fit true and close when set, edge to edge, in
walls, floorings or ceilings.
The following is a general description of the drawings accompanying and making
a part of this Specification, the same reference numbers always indicating the same
parts.
Figure I is an upper plan of the apparatus, the front at the right hand side of
the view.
Figure II a side elevation of the apparatus, the front thereof again at the right
hand side of the view.
Figure III a vertical section on the line x x of first figure, showing especially a
tile in contact with the decorating roller.
Figure IV a vertical section on the line y y of the first figure, showing especially
the mechanism for automatically closing the jaws of the tile carrier upon a tile to
be carried to the decorating roller.
Figure Va vertical section on line z z of the first figure, showing especially the
means for operating the travelling bed that carries the decorated tile to the
finishing end of the apparatus.
Figure VI an enlarged upper plan of the tile carriage.
The apparatus consists, essentially, of a frame to support and receive the other
parts; a tank, with rollers, to contain and apply the decorating liquid; a carriage
to convey the tiles to the decorating tank and thence to the finishing mechanism,
and a scrubbing belt to clean the tile edges of overflow after decoration.
The supporting frame 2 consists, essentially, of two long side beams, having each
a straight groove along its inner face. A feeding table, 3, is fitted on the frout
end of the frame, a little below the level of the pair of grooves. At the rear end of
the frame a delivery table 4 is fitted into the grooves and connected to tension
springs 5 attached also to the frame. The delivery table is likewise connected to
a travelling bed, 6, which moves over rollers, 7, and in front of the travelling bed
is a stop, 8, fixed in the frame of the apparatus.
Near the front end of the frame is a lever, 9, fulcrumed near its centre to a
bracket projected from the frame. This lever is connected, near its lower end, to a
tension spring, 10, supported by a bracket depending from the frame. A long
rod 11 is pivoted by one end to the before mentioned lever, and by the other end to

page_text: a short arm 12, rigidly attached, at its upper end, to a shaft, 13, journalled
horizontally in the supporting frame. A trip 14, is keyed upon this shaft and
makes an obtuse angle with the short arm fixed to the shaft.
Seated in the supporting frame, towards the front end, is a tank, 15, carrying a
large roller 16, whereof the upper segmental line rises above the rim of the tank,
and below this upper segmental line are two smaller rollers, 17, having their faces
in contact with the face of the larger roller.
Sliding in the grooves of the supporting frame is a carriage, 18, consisting of two
side bars, rigidly connected by an elevated girder. Journalled in and through the
side bars is a shaft, 19, which carries a pair of grips, 20, having between them a
movable wedge, 21, and bearing against the outer faces of the grips is a pair of
strong springs, 22, rigidly attached to the shaft.
Projecting from one of the two side beams of the supporting frame is a frame-
work, 23, carrying a vertical belt, 24, moving upon rollers 25 in the framework.
A scraper 26 is pivoted in a bracket projecting from the frame of the apparatus,
and a tension spring 27, also supported by the general frame, keeps the edge of the
scraper in contact with the vertical belt. Journalled behind the vertical belt is a
brush wheel, 28, the bristles of which are in contact with the belt.
1
The working of the apparatus is to be thus described―
Liquid glaze or colour is put into the tank 15 to such a height as will enable the
roller 16 to take it up properly. For simple glazing this roller is preferably faced
with coarse woollen cloth, but for decorating the tiles with figured designs the
facing should be, preferably, of hard felt or rubber, bearing the pattern in relief or
intuglio work. For special kinds of decoration the roller may be hollow, and
heated by steam, or gas jets fed to the roller by a flexible tube. The tiles to be
decorated and finished (marked with the letter T in the drawings) are supplied
manually to the feeding table 3 with their decorative faces downward. The
carriage 18 is then moved towards the feeding table by the application to it of
whatever kind of motive power is selected to operate the mechanism of the
apparatus. One mode of application is shown in the drawings, where a rack, 29,
attached to the under face of one of the side bars of the carriage, engages with a
cog wheel 30, keyed to the shaft of the decorating roller; this cog wheel being
turned from below by another cog wheel 31, keyed upon a shaft, 32, journalled in
the supporting frame of the apparatus. This shaft is revolved in the direction of
the feeding table by a belt and band wheel, driven by steam, gas, electricity, or
other motive power, in the usual manner.
As the carriage reaches the feeding table, the lever 9 is struck by that side bar
of the carriage which is on the same side of the supporting frame as the lever.
The blow causes the rod 11 to be pushed rearward and upward, thus partially
rotating the shaft 13 and making the trip 14 strike the rear of the wedge 21,
between the grips of the carriage. The blow of the trip forces the wedge forward
and enables the grips, under pressure of the springs 22, to approach nearer to each
other and so to grasp the side edges of the tile T in position upon the feeding table.
To enable the grips to move toward and from each other upon their shaft, without
tilting upon it, any common and familiar mechanical device may be used; for
example, a spline may be inserted in the face of the shaft, with recesses in the
centres or hubs of the grips to accommodate the spline. The interior faces of the
grips are made vertically oblique, as shown, to agree with the form of the wedge,
and permit it to be driven forward when the grips are to be closed upon a tile, and
backward when the grips. are to be spread wider to release a tile from their
grasp.
The grips having closed upon a tile at the feeding table the carriage is to be
moved away from that table. This is done by reversing the motion of the shaft 32,
which reversal can be readily made, according to common practice, by having a
second belt upon that shaft, and crossing this second belt, so that the shaft is
reversed in motion without reversal of the mechanism by which the shaft is driven.
In the accompanying drawings the shaft 32 is shown provided with three band

page_text: wheels at one end, whereof the two outer ones are fixed wheels to carry,
respectively, the straight belt for forward motion and the crossed belt for reverse
motion, and the middle one is a loose wheel, turning freely upon the shaft, to carry
whichever of the two belts is not in use for rotating the shaft. The drawings also
sufficiently indicate suitable mechanical means for accomplishing a rapid shift of
the two driving belts, so as to keep the carriage in continuous motion, backward
and forward along the grooves of the supporting frame; but driving and reversing
mechanisms are not parts of this invention, and are matters of common knowledge
and use among mechanists and mechanical engineers.
The motion of the shaft 32 being reversed, the carriage passes the tile picked up
from the feeding table over the roller 16, which paints or prints the under face of
the tile. To avoid smearing, the roller must move in the same direction as the tile
and at the same rate of speed, and this is accomplished by using a cog wheel 30 of
about the same diameter as that of the decorating roller, to move both the roller
and the carriage. The rollers 17 within the tank follow by friction and spread the
liquid evenly upon the decorating roller before it reaches the tile.
The tile carried by the grips being ornamented, it is next to be turned over to
bring its wet face upwards. For this purpose a toothed sector, 33, on the outer end
of the shaft of the carriage, engages with a rack 34, supported by the frame of the
apparatus, causing the shaft to make a half turn forward, and bringing the tile
towards the delivery end of the general frame. An ordinary check or stop may be
put upon the shaft, to prevent it from turning more than half over in this
movement.
As the carriage approaches the delivery end of the apparatus, the tile passes over
the fixed stop 8, but the wedge 21, being thicker than the tile, strikes against the
stop and is driven backwards, thus spreading the grips and causing the tile to drop
upon the travelling bed 6 which carries it to the delivery table. This travelling
bed is kept firm by the pull of the tension springs 5 upon the delivery table to
which the travelling bed is connected.
To move the upper surface of the travelling bed towards the delivery table, a
loosely turning cog wheel 35, is placed upon one of the rollers of the bed. This
wheel gears with a supplementary rack 36, rigidly projected from the rack 29 of
the carriage. When the carriage is moving towards the feeding table, this
supplementary rack merely turns the loose wheel and the travelling bed is at rest.
But on the return journey of the carriage the rack reverses the motion of the loose
wheel and causes a pawl 37 pivoted upon the wheel to fall into engagement with
the teeth of a ratchet wheel 38, fixed to the roller of the travelling bed, and so the
bed is put in motion.
To finish the decorated tile, it is necessary to remove from its edges whatever
decorating liquid may have overflowed upon it, before such overflow becomes dry
and hard. This is done by manually pressing each edge successively against the
scrubbing belt 24, in the framework 23; the said belt travelling continuously
downward in front and being kept clean by the scraper and brush wheel bebind.
The scrubbing belt is made of leather or any other suitable flexible material, and
may be operated by a system of belts and band wheels connected to the driving
shaft 32 of the apparatus, or by any other suitable and familiar application of
power-driven bands and pulleys. The brush wheel 28 is revolved in its proper
direction by a plain belt passing about the shaft of the brush wheel and one of the
rollers of the scrubbing belt.
Dated this 13th day of March 1893
WM. P. THOMPSON & CO., -
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: :
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Decorating and Finishing of
Architectural Tiles.
A communication by ISAAC BROOME, of the Borough of Beaver Falls, in the
County of Beaver and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, Machinist.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved apparatus for ornamenting and finishing
architectural tiles by coating the decorative faces thereof with paint or glaze in
plain or figured designs, and then removing the overflow of liquid from the edges of
the decorated tiles, so that they may fit true and close when set, edge to edge, in
walls, floorings or ceilings.
The following is a general description of the drawings accompanying the
Provisional Specification, the same reference numbers always indicating the same
parts.
Figure I is an upper plan of the apparatus; the front at the right hand side of
the view.
Figure II, a side elevation of the apparatus; the front thereof again at the right
hand side of the view.
Figure III, a vertical section on the line of first figure, showing especially a
tile in contact with the decorating roller.
Figure IV, a vertical section on the line yy of the first figure, showing especially
the mechanism for automatically closing the jaws of the tile carrier upon a tile to
be carried to the decorating roller.
Figure V, a vertical section on line z z of the first figure, showing especially
the means for operating the travelling bed that carries the decorated tile to the
finishing end of the apparatus.
Figure VI, an enlarged upper plan of the tile carriage.
The apparatus consists, essentially, of a frame to support and receive the other
parts; a tank with rollers, to contain and apply the decorating liquid; a carriage
to convey the tiles to the decorating tank and thence to the finishing mechanism
and a scrubbing belt to clean the tile edges of over-flow after decoration.
The supporting frame 2 consists, essentially, of two long side beams, having each
a straight groove along its inner face. A feeding table, 3, is fitted on the front end
of the frame, a little below the level of the pair of grooves.
At the rear end of
the frame a delivery table 4, is fitted into the grooves and connected to tension
springs 5 attached also to the frame. The delivery table is likewise connected to a
travelling bed, 6 which moves over rollers 7 and in front of the travelling bed is a
stop 8 fixed in the frame of the apparatus.
Near the front end of a frame is a lever 9, fulcrumed near its centre to a bracket
projected from the frame. This lever is connected, near its lower end, to a tension
spring 10 supported by a bracket depending from the frame. A long rod 11, is
pivoted by one end to the before mentioned lever, and by the other end to a short
arm 12, rigidly attached, at its upper end, to a shaft, 13, journalled horizontally in
the supporting frame. A trip 14, is keyed upon this shaft and makes an obtuse
angle with the short arm fixed to the shaft.
Seated in the supporting frame, towards the front end, is a tank, 15 carrying a
large roller 16, whereof the upper segmental line rises above the rim of the tank,

page_text: nd below this upper segmental line are two smaller rollers, 17, having their faces
n contact with the face of the larger roller.
Sliding in the grooves of the supporting frame is a carriage 18, consisting of two
ide bars, rigidly connected by an elevated girder. Journalled in and through the
ide bars is a shaft 19, which carries a pair of grips 20, having between them a
novable wedge 21, and bearing against the outer faces of the grips is a pair of
trong springs 22, rigidly attached to the shaft.
Projecting from one of the two side beams of the supporting frame is a frame:
work 23, carrying a vertical belt 24 moving upon rollers 25, in the framework. A
scraper 26, is pivoted in a bracket projecting from the frame of the apparatus and
a tension spring 27 also supported by the general frame keeps the edge of the
scraper in contact with the vertical belt. Journalled behind the vertical belt is a
brush wheel, 28, the bristles of which are in contact with the belt.
The working of the apparatus is to be thus described :—
Liquid glaze or colour is put into the tank 15 to such a height as will enable the
roller 16 to take it up properly. For simple glazing this roller is preferably
faced with coarse woollen cloth, but for decorating the tiles with figured designs
the facing should be, preferably, of hard felt or rubber bearing the pattern in
relief or intaglio work. For special kinds of decoration the roller may be hollow,
and heated by steam or gas jets, fed to the roller by a flexible tube. The tiles
to be decorated and finished (marked with the letter T in the drawings) are
supplied manually to the feeding table 3, with their decorative faces downward.
The carriage 18 is then moved towards the feeding table by the application to
it of whatever kind of motive power is selected to operate the mechanism of
the apparatus. One mode of application is shown in the drawings where a
rack 29, attached to the under face of one of the side bars of the carriage,
engages with a cog wheel 30 keyed to the shaft of the decorating roller; this
cog wheel being turned from below by another cog wheel 31 keyed upon a
shaft 32, journalled in the supporting frame of the apparatus. This shaft is
revolved in the direction of the feeding table by a belt and band wheel, driven by
steam, gas, electricity or other motive power, in the usual manner.
As the carriage reaches the feeding table, the lever 9 is struck by that side bar
of the carriage which is on the same side of the supporting frame as the lever.
The blow causes the rod 11 to be pushed rearward and upward, thus partially
rotating the shaft 13 and making the trip 14 strike the rear of the. wedge 21,
between the grips of the carriage. The blow of the trip forces the wedge forward
and enables the grips, under pressure of the springs 22 to approach nearer to each
other and so to grasp the side edges of the tile T in position upon the feeding table.
To enable the grips to move toward and from each other upon their shaft, without
tilting upon it, any common and familiar mechanical device may be used; for
example, a spline may be inserted in the face of the shaft, with recesses in the
centres or hubs of the grips to accommodate the spline. The interior faces of the
grips are made vertically oblique, as shown, to agree with the form of the wedge,
and permit it to be driven forward when the grips are to be closed upon a tile, and
backward when the grips are to be spread wider to release a tile from their grasp.
The grips having closed upon a tile at the feeding table, the carriage is to be
moved away from that table. This is done by reversing the motion of the shaft 32,
which reversal can be readily made, according to common practice, by having a
second belt upon that shaft, and crossing this second belt, so that the shaft is
reversed in motion without reversal of the mechanism by which the shaft is driven.
In the accompanying drawings, the shaft 32 is shown provided with three band
wheels at one end, whereof the two outer ones are fixed wheels to carry, respectively,
the straight belt for forward motion and the crossed belt for reverse motion, and
the middle one is a loose wheel, turning freely upon the shaft, to carry whichever
5 of the two belts, not in use for rotating the shaft. The drawings also sufficiently
indicate suitable mechanical means for accomplishing a rapid shift of the two
driving belts, so as to keep the carriage in continuous motion, backward and forward

page_text: along the grooves of the supporting frame; but driving and reversing mechanisms
are not parts of this invention, and are matters of common knowledge and use
among mechanists and mechanical engineers.
The motion of the shaft 32 being reversed, the carriage passes the tile picked up
from the feeding table over the roller 16, which paints or prints the under face of
the tile. To avoid smearing, the roller must move in the same direction as the tile
and at the same rate of speed, and this is accomplished by using a cog wheel 30 of
about the same diameter as that of the decorating roller to move both the roller
and the carriage. The rollers 17, within the tank follow by friction and spread the.
liquid evenly upon the decorating roller before it reaches the tile.
The tile carried by the grips being ornamented, it is next to be turned over to
bring its wet face upwards. For this purpose a toothed sector 33, on the outer end
of the shaft of the carriage, engages with a rack 34, supported by the frame of the
apparatus, causing the shaft to make a half turn forward, and bringing the tile
towards the delivery end of the general frame. An ordinary check or stop
may be put upon the shaft, to prevent it from turning more than half over in
this movement.
As the carriage approaches the delivery end of the apparatus, the tile passes over
the fixed stop 8, but the wedge 21 being thicker than the tile strikes against the
stop and is driven backwards, thus spreading the grips and causing the tile to drop
upon the travelling bed 6, which carries it to the delivery table. This travelling
bed is kept firm by the pull of the tension springs 5 upon the delivery table, to
which the travelling bed is connected.
But
To move the upper surface of the travelling bed towards the delivery table, a
loosely turning cog wheel 35, is placed upon one of the rollers of the bed. This
wheel gears with a supplementary rack 36, rigidly projected from the rack 29 of the
carriage. When the carriage is moving towards the feeding table, this supple-
mentary rack merely turns the loose wheel and the travelling bed is at rest.
on the return journey of the carriage, the rack reverses the motion of the loose
wheel and causes a pawl 37, pivoted upon the wheel to fall into engagement with
the teeth of a ratchet wheel 38, fixed to the roller of the travelling bed, and so the
bed is put in motion.
To finish the decorated tile, it is necessary to remove from its edges whatever
decorating liquid may have overflowed upon them, before such overflow becomes
dry and hard. This is done by manually pressing each edge successively against
the scrubbing belt 24 in the framework 23; the said belt travelling continuously
downward in front and being kept clean by the scraper and brush wheel behind.
The scrubbing belt is made of leather or any other suitable flexible material, and
may be operated by a system of belts and band wheels connected to the driving
shaft 32 of the apparatus, or by any other suitable and familiar application of
power-driven bands and pulleys. The brush wheel 28 is revolved in its proper
direction by a plain belt passing about the shaft of the brush wheel and one of the
rollers of the scrubbing belt.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is-
1. The apparatus for decorating and finishing architectural tiles, consisting of a
supporting frame having the two side beams grooved, respectively, on their inner
faces; the feeding table fitted in and at the front end of the frame; the travelling
bed within and near the rear end of the frame; the short vertical stop fixed in said
frame immediately in front of the travelling bed; the trip mechanism at the front
of the frame combining the fulcrumed lever, tension spring, connecting rod, short
arm, horizontal shaft and trip; the tank set in the forward part of the frame and
provided with the decorating roller and spreading rollers; the carriage mounted
and moving in the frame, and having the shaft, grips, wedge and pressure springs;
the framework projected from and at the rear of the supporting frame and

page_text: containing the vertically moving scrubbing belt, scraper and brush wheel; the
power operated driving shaft within and across the supporting frame, provided with
cog-wheel; the rack beneath 'one of the side bars of the aforesaid carriage; the
cog wheel upon the shaft of the decorating roller, engaged with the cog wheel of
the driving shaft and with the rack beneath the carriage; the toothed sector at the
outer end of the shaft of the carriage; the rack projected from and supported by
the frame of the apparatus and engaged with the tooth sector; together with any
suitable and ordinary means for rotating the power operated driving shaft and
reversing the motion thereof, and for operating the aforesaid travelling bed by
mechanism connected to said driving shaft; the apparatus constructed throughout
substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
2. The carriage for taking up and conveying tiles in a decorating apparatus,
consisting of two side bars rigidly united by a girder, and provided with a shaft
supported in the side bars, the grips mounted and moving laterally upon the shaft
and having obliqued inner faces, the movable wedge between said grips, and the
pressure springs fixed upon said shaft and bearing, respectively, upon the outer
faces of the grips; the whole constructed substantially in the manner and for the
purposes described.
3. The combination, in a tile decorating apparatus, of the tile carriage consisting
of two side bars, rigidly united by an elevated girder and having the journalled
shaft, grips, movable wedge, pressure springs, and the toothed sector upon one end
of the said shaft, with a rack supported in or by the frame of the apparatus and
engaging with the toothed sector; all substantially in the manner described, for
the purpose of imparting a half-turn to the said shaft and grips, whereby the tile
conveyed by said carriage is shifted from the rear to the front of said carriage and
its under and decorated face turned upwards, in position for release from said
carriage.
4. The combination, in a tile decorating apparatus, of the tile carriage consisting
of two side bars rigidly united by a girder, and having the shaft supported in the
side bars, the grips moving laterally upon the said shaft, and the pressure springs
fixed to said shaft and bearing, respectively, upon the outer faces of the grips, with
the decorating roller supported in the frame of the apparatus beneath the plane of
said carriage; together with suitable mechanism for simultaneously moving said
carriage and turning said roller in the same direction at the same rate of speed;
all substantially as described, for the purpose of applying liquid glaze or colour,
-spread upon the face of said roller, to the under face of a tile borne by the carriage
over and in contact with said roller, without smearing the liquid upon the face of
the tile.
1
A ment 1002
WM. P. THOMPSON & CO.,
Agents for the Applicant.