IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES OR SLABS, AND IN ATTACHING TILES OR SLABS TO SURPACES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Grainger, of the City of Worcester,
China Manufacturer, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN TILES OR
SLABS, AND IN ATTACHING TILES OR SLABS TO SURPACES."
Scaled the 20th December 1872, and dated the 28th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Grainger at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th August 1872.
I, GEORGE GRAINGER, of the City of Worcester, China Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TILES OR SLABS, AND IN ATTACHING TILES OR SLABS TO SURFACES," to be as
follows:-
--
My Invention has reference to tiles or slabs which are principally
used as an ornamental covering to walls, ceilings, shop fronts, and other
surfaces, and consists in constructing the said tiles or slabs as herein-
after described, which method of construction combined with the means
of attaching them to surfaces, also herein-after described, permits of the

page_text: attaching of the said tiles or slabs to surfaces with great facility, and
with a security unattainable by the ordinary method of making and
attaching tiles or slabs.
Although my Invention is especially applicable to ornamental tiles
or slabs, yet my said Invention is also applicable to plain tiles or
slabs.
In making tiles or slabs according to my Invention I make them
hollow instead of solid, as is usual, and I make one or more openings in
the backs of the tiles of the purpose of facilitating their attachment to a
wall or surface, as herein-after described. I make a groove or recess
running round the middle of the edges of the tile for the purpose
of securing the said tiles together at their edges, as herein-after
explained.
In small tiles I prefer to make in the back one large hole opening
into the hollow body, but in large tiles I prefer to make two or more of
the said holes. I make the said tiles by the ordinary processes of manu-
facture.
.In attaching the said hollow tiles or slabs to a wall, ceiling, or other
surface I fix in the wall or surface nails or screws in such positions that
when the tile is put in its place on the wall or surface the heads and
parts of the stems or bodies of the said nails or screws will enter the
hole or holes in the back of the tile or slab. In attaching the tile to
the wall or other surface a quantity of Portland or other cement in a
plastic state is forced into the hole or holes in the back of the tile or
slab, enough of the said cement being forced into each hole to form a
shoulder or extension a little distance within the hollow body all round
the hole. The tile or slab is then pressed upon the wall or surface, the
heads and parts of the stems of the nails or screws being thereby forced
into the cement.
In the pressing of the tile or slab the cement closes round the heads
of the nails or screws, which, on the setting of the cement, are firmly
imbedded therein, and the tile or slab can only be removed from the
wall or surface by the application of great force.
Portland cement is also inserted between the edges of the tiles before
the said edges are brought together. This cement is forced into the
recesses in the edges of the tiles, and when the said cement hardens it

page_text: forms a dowel or tongue, which unites the edges of the tiles and gives
great strength and stability to the whole. The tiles or slabs may how-
ever be used without the said recesses in their edges.
Plaster of Paris and other cements may be used in place of Portland
cement.
I make tiles or slabs according to my Invention of china, opalite,
parian, semi-porcelain, earthenware, terra cotta, or other ceramic mate-
rials. Tiles made according to my Invention add less weight to the
wall or surface to which they are attached than solid tiles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Grainger in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
GRAINGER, of the City of Worcester, China Manufacturer, send
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Grainger, Her special license
that I, the said George Grainger, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Grainger, 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 OR SLABS, AND IN ATTACHING TILES OR SLABS TO SURFACES;"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Grainger;
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Grainger, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
My Invention has reference to tiles or slabs, which are principally
used as an ornamental covering to walls, ceilings, shop fronts, and other
surfaces, and consists in constructing the said tiles or slabs, as herein-
after described, which method of construction combined with the means
of attaching them to surfaces, also herein-after described, permits of the
attaching of the said tiles or slabs to surfaces with great facility, and
with a security unattainable by the ordinary method of making and
attaching tiles or slabs.
Although my Invention is especially applicable to ornamental tiles.
or slabs, yet my said Invention is also applicable to plain tiles or
slabs.
In making tiles or slabs according to my Invention I make them
hollow instead of solid, as is usual, and I make one or more openings in
the backs of the tiles for the purpose of facilitating their attachment to
a wall or surface, as herein-after described. I make a groove or recess
running round the middle of the edges of the tile for the purpose
of securing the said tiles together at their edges, as herein-after
described.
In small tiles I prefer to make in the back one large hole opening
into the hollow body, but in large tiles I prefer to make two or more of
the said holes. I make the said tiles by the ordinary processes of manu-
facture.
In attaching the said hollow tiles or slabs to a wall, ceiling, or other
surface I fix in the wall or surface one or more nails or screws in such
positions that when the tile is put in its place on the wall or surface the
heads and part of the stems or bodies of the said nails or screws will
enter the hole or holes in the back of the tile or slab. In attaching
the tile to the wall or other surface a quantity of Portland or other
cement in a plastic state is forced into the hole or holes in the back of
the tile or slab, enough of the said cement being forced into each hole to
form a shoulder or extension a little distance within the hollow body all
round the hole. The tile or slab is then pressed upon the wall or surface,

page_text: the heads and part of the stems of the nails or screws being thereby
forced into the cement.
In the pressing of the tile or slab the cement closes round the heads
of the nails or screws, which, on the setting of the cement, are firmly
imbedded therein, and the tile or slab can only be removed from the
wall or surface by the application of great force.
Plaster of Paris or other cement is also inserted between the edges
of the tiles before the said edges are brought together. This cement is
forced into the recesses in the edges of the tiles, and when the said
cement hardens it forms a dowel or tongue, which unites the edges of
the tiles, and gives great strength and stability to the whole. The
tiles or slabs may however be used without the said recesses in their
edges.
Plaster of Paris, and other cements, may be used in place of Portland
cement to connect the tiles to the wall or surface.
I make tiles or slabs according to my Invention of china, opalite,
parian, semi-porcelain, earthenware, terra cotta, or other ceramic
materials. Tiles made according to my Invention add less weight to
the wall or surface to which they are attached than solid tiles.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a plan of the under or back face of a couple of
tiles constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 is an edge
view of the same; Figure 3 illustrates in horizontal section, and
Figure 4 in vertical section the method of attaching the tiles to a
wall or surface; Figure 5 is the front ornamental face of one of the
tiles.
The said tiles marked a, a, are hollow, the hollow part of the said tiles
being marked b, b, (see the sections, Figures 3 and 4). In the back of
each tile is a large opening c, which opens into the hollow of the tile.
In the middle of the edges of the tiles is a groove or recess d running
all round for the purpose of securing the tiles together at their edges.
In the hole c, and in the hollow part of the tile, plastic cement is

page_text: placed for attaching the tile to the wall, or surface screws e (or nails) are
also fixed in the wall or surface parts of their stems, and their heads
projecting from the wall in the manner represented in the Drawing, so
that when the back face of the tile is presented to and pressed against
the wall the said stems and heads enter the hole c in the tile.
In attaching the tiles to the wall a layer of Portland or other cement
in a plastic state is placed on the wall or surface, and a quantity of
cement in a plastic state is also forced into the hole c in the back of the
tile, and the said tile is then pressed upon the wall or surface, the heads
and stems of the screws e being forced into the cement in the hole c,
which cement closes round the said heads of the screws. By the pressing
of the tile against the wall or surface the plastic cement in the hole c is
forced into the hollow b of the tile, so as thereby to form a shoulder or
extension marked fa little distance within the hollow body b, all round
the hole c, as seen in the sections, Figures 3 and 4. On the setting of the
cement the tile is held very firmly to the wall or surface by the con-
tinuous shoulder ƒ of cement within the hollow body b, and also by the
heads of the screws e fixed in the wall or surface being embedded in the
cement with which the opening or hole c is filled. Before the edges of
the tiles are brought together plastic cement is placed between them,
the said cement on the pressing of the tiles together being forced into
the grooves or recesses d, d, in the said edges of the tiles. When
the said cement hardens it forms a dowel or tongue (see Figure 3),
which unites the edges of the tiles, and gives great strength and stability
to the whole, but the grooves in the edges of the tiles are not absolutely
necessary.
In large tiles I prefer to make four extra holes in the back, as repre-
sented in back elevation and section in Figure 6, each hole c opening
into the hollow b of the tile. In this case a screw or nail fixed in the
wall or surface is used for each hole, the said screws or nails being
embedded in the plastic cement in the said holes, and the cement being
forced into the hollow part of the tile in the manner herein-before
described with respect to a tile with one large central hole only.
Figure 7 represents a back view and transverse section; and Figure 8,
in edge view, a couple of tiles of a triangular figure made according to
my Invention. In the said Figures 7 and 8 a central hole opening into
the hollow tile is employed; or three extra holes opening into the
hollow tile may be used, as illustrated in Figure 9.

page_text: Figures 10 and 11 represent back views of lozenge shaped tiles made
according to my Invention, the tile in Figure 10 being provided with a
central hole, and the tile in Figure 11 being provided with holes near
two of its corners, in addition to the central hole.
Figures 12 and 13 represent back views of elliptical shaped tiles made
according to my Invention, the tile in Figure 12 having a central
hole, and the tile in Figure 13 having two holes in addition to the
central hole.
In the said Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 the tiles are marked a,
the hollow in the tiles is marked b, and the hole or holes opening into
the hollow of the tiles are marked c.
Although for greater security, and where the material of the wall or
surface admits of the driving of screws or nails into the said wall or
surface, I prefer to use screws or nails in combination with the hollow
body of the tile, and hole or holes opening into the said hollow body for
attaching the tile to the wall or surface, as herein-before described and
illustrated in the Drawings, yet the said screws or nails may be dispensed
with, and the tile be attached to the wall or surface by cement alone,
the said cement being forced into the hole or holes in the tile, and made
to form a shoulder or shoulders within the hollow part, as before
explained; and although I have generally spoken of tiles, yet my
improvements are equally applicable to slabs.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in tiles or
slabs, and in attaching tiles or slabs to surfaces herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making
tiles or slabs hollow, and making a hole or holes in the backs of the said
tiles or slabs, the said hole or holes opening into the hollow of the tiles.
or slabs, the attaching of the said tiles or slabs to the wall or surface
being effected by means of cement in a plastic state spread upon the
surface to which the tiles or slabs are to be affixed, and forced into the
said hole or holes, and made to form a shoulder or shoulders within the
hollow of the tiles, and all round the hole or holes, substantially as
described and illustrated.

page_text: Also attaching the said tiles or slabs to the wall or surface by screws
or nails fixed in the wall or surface, the heads and parts of the stems of
the said screws or nails being embedded in the plastic cement forced into
the hole or holes in the backs of the tiles or slabs, substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Grainger, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
EDWARD LOCKE,
Worcester.
GEORGE GRAINGER. (L.S.)