IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TILES
Year: 1844

page_text: WILSON, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-third day of May, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard
Wilson, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Richard Wilson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Wilson, my exors, adñiors, 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, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TILES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Richard Wilson, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next 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
Richard Wilson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
n what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
n and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings

page_text: say):-
My Invention consists in a machine of peculiar construction for making
all kinds of tiles by means of pressure into moulds placed upon the periphery
or edge of a polyedrous wheel. The figure of the wheel I prefer and have a
present made is a hexagon, having six flat sides or edges to fix the moulds upon
as may be seen and understood by referring to the accompanying Drawing, and
the description afterwards given. The great advantages arising from this method
of making tiles, either plain or curved, for roofing, draining, &c., are that they
may be made extremely thin and light, with equal or more strength than tiles
made in the usual way double the thickness; also they can be made of con-
siderably stiffer clay than those made by hand, or such as are bent over a tile
horse; they will dry quicker and sounder, and keep their size and shape better,
requiring much less clay to make them, and consequently less firing. After
the clay is properly tempered and pugged as stiff as possible, it is cut into flat
sheets a little thicker than the tile is wanted, either by a mould crossed with
strong wires being fixed under the pug mill, or otherwise by a small single wire
after the clay comes out of the mill in square lumps; each sheet is then taken
by a boy and laid quickly into a thin plate made of sheet copper or other
suitable material the shape of the under mould, the sheets of clay being pre-
viously sanded or dusted. The plate with the sheet of clay on it is instantly
taken by another boy, and placed into the under mould next following the one
receiving at that moment its pressure. The thin plates have nibs or hooks on
the ends, which fit into notches made in each end of the under mould, to hold
the plate in its proper place, also a small hook on the back which catches the
under side of a small plate screwed across a hole made in the inside of the
under mould, to prevent the plate and tile rising with the upper mould after
the pressure.
At the moment of delivery the hook on the back frees itself by
the plate slipping down about half an inch before dropping off. One of the
end hooks prevents the plate with the rough sheet of clay in it from slipping
out of the under mould when lying in a slant direction as first laid on; the
other prevents them slipping too soon out in an opposite direction, after having
been pressed and turned from under the upper mould. To facilitate the delivery
of the tiles, particularly draining tiles, I find it advantageous to cover both the
upper mould and the inside of the thin plate with fustian, or a similar material.
When the hexagonal wheel is turned to the proper place for delivery, both the
tile and plate drop out of the under mould either upon a flat belt or tile
horse; the plate being then uppermost is lifted off by a boy, handed back to
receive another sheet, and the tile set away to dry. It will be observed that at

page_text: the same time the third tile is in the position for being pressed, the first pressed
one is just then thrown off, either on to a tile horse or belt, as the case may be.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side elevation, Figure 2 a bird's-eye view, Figure 3
an end view, shewing endless chain, belts, &c. The framework of the machine is
shewn at A, A; and the driving shaft, by means of which the various parts are
set in motion, at B, on which is keyed a fly wheel C and pinion D; the pinion
D works into the wheel E, which is keyed on to a crank shaft F, that moves
back and forward the connecting rod G, and gives motion to the links. H, H,
which move the upper mould I up and down between the guide bars J, J, to
press the tile in the under mould L. The polyedrous wheel M, together with
the ratchet and stop wheel O, are keyed on to the shaft N. The mitre wheel
P, fixed on the cranked shaft F, gives motion to the shaft R, and from that to
the shaft S, on which is keyed the crank T, which works the rod U upwards
and downwards. The arms V, with the cutters attached, being fixed to the
rod U, move up and down with it, which motion causes the cutters to shave the
superfluous clay off the edges of the tile. The crank W works into the lever
X, which works into the ratchet and stop wheel O, and turns the shaft N with
the wheel M, on the six sides or edges of which the under moulds L, L, are
fixed. When the crank W lifts the lever X it turns the wheel M one sixth
of its circumference, which brings one of the moulds L immediately under the
upper mould I; the crank W drawing the lever X back to its former position
leaves the wheel M stationary, where it is held steady by a check or catch Y
that falls into the stop wheel O until the tile it pressed.
A small roller, with endless chain, belt, &c., for the purpose of bringing the
thin plates with the sheets of clay in them close to the hexagonal wheel; 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, rollers with endless belts for the purpose of facilitating the delivery of
the tiles to a considerable distance from the machine when worked on a large
scale. The rollers and belts are not considered as part of the machine or
absolutely necessary, as the tiles can be made and delivered without them.
Figure 4 is an end view of the upper mould I, and under mould L, at the
moment of pressure, shewing the sheet of clay (white), and the thin plate of
copper with brass nib on the end (red), lying in the under mould L (black).
Figure 5, side view of the copper plate, shewing the edge of the nib on each
end and the hook on the back. Figure 6, an end view of the copper plate
and nib. The end of the upper mould L, which is uppermost, as the receiving
side of the polyedrous wheel rises, is cut in the thickness of the nib to receive
it flush, which prevents the plate and clay from slipping out when lying in a

page_text: sloping direction as first laid on.
The opposite end of the same mould L is
cut in about half an inch more than the thickness of the nib, and as the deeper
cut end becomes the uppermost one, as the wheel M turns previous to delivery,
the thin plate is allowed to slip down about half an inch, which frees the hook
on the back, when both plate and tile drop out of the under mould L, the
plate uppermost. The same description is applicable to all the moulds.
I claim as my Invention the use of the polyedrous wheel for the purposes
above mentioned, and also the same wheel in combination with the above
described power or method of pressure for making all descriptions of tiles.
In witness thereof, I, the said Richard Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.