IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES FOR ROOFING
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Taylor Coniam, of Chagford, Devon, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES FOR ROOFING."
Sealed the 4th March 1856, and dated the 4th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Taylor Coniam
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1855.
I, THOMAS TAYLOR CONIAM, of Chagford, Devon, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES FOR ROOFING" to be
as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are to produce a form of tile lighter than
those in ordinary use when laid upon the roof, requiring less mortar for laying,
and preventing ingress of water. I make the surface of the tile flat, with a
raised edge or fillet down each side; a similar raised edge runs along the top.
Beneath the lower end is a projecting edge, by which each tile is held or
retained by the one below it. These tiles are placed so as partly to cover each
other, similar to the ordinary slate roofing; they may be manufactured by hand
or by machinery. I reserve a right to vary the details of my Invention.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Taylor Coniam in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
TAYLOR CONIAM, of Chagford, Devon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Taylor Coniam, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Taylor Coniam, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Taylor Coniam, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES FOR ROOFING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Taylor Coniam, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Taylor Coniam, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This Invention of improvements in the manufacture of tiles for covering or
roofing buildings consists in making them of a different form or shape to
those at present in use. Fig. 1 represents a tile made according to my
improvements; Fig. 2 is a section of the same, a, a, and a¹ is a raised edge
round three parts of the upper side of the tile. The edge a¹ is made a little
lower than those along the sides a; the other part of the upper side of the
tile is made flat, excepting near the edge a', where it is depressed a little
to form a groove c, as shown by the section, Fig. 2. One end of the tile
(which forms the lower part, as shown in the position, Fig. 1,) is made some-
what narrower than the other or upper end. Upon the under side a raised

page_text: edge or fillet is made at the narrow end, as shown by Fig. 3, which repre-
sents the lower side of the tile, with the edge b moulded thereon, and having
a groove c', similar to that at c, Fig. 1. The object of making one end of the
tile narrower than the other is that it shall fit into the wider part of the tile
below it, as shewn by Fig. 4, which represents a series of these tiles placed
one above the other. The edge or fillet b fits into the groove sunk at the
back of the raised edge a' of the adjoining tile; a hole d is made through
the raised edge a', and a hole d' through the raised edge 6, as shown by the
longitudinal section, Fig. 2. The tiles are fastened to the framing of the roof
by passing a nail through one of the the holes d or d¹, and driving it into the
battens beneath. In laying these tiles upon a roof, they are made to partly
overlap each other, but only to a small extent as compared with the present
method of laying pantiles. The advantages of my improved tile are, firstly,
that the raised edges effectually prevent water leaking through the roofs;
secondly, that less mortar or cement is required in laying as compared with
the ordinary tiles; and, thirdly, that a roof laid with the improved tiles would
be much lighter than one of the ordinary construction, on account of the
small amount of overlap required. These tiles may be manufactured in
suitable moulds either by hand, or be pressed through a machine constructed
for the purpose, and driven by steam or other suitable power.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim, and desire to secure under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is, the manufacture of tiles of the form herein-before described,
and shown in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Taylor Coniam, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
0 Witness,
GEO. WARG ORMEROD, Sol",
Chagford.
THOMAS T. CONIAM. (L.S.)