IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICKS FOR PAVING STABLES AND STABLE YARDS
Year: 1884

page_text: CHARLES GOODMAN TEBBUTT of Bluntisham in the County of Huntingdon,
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
BRICKS FOR PAVING STABLES AND STABLE YARDS to be as follows: -
...
t
My Invention consists of bricks of the ordinary shape of those used for paving
floors except as hereinafter stated formed of clay clinker slag cement or other
similar materal suitable for being moulded and subsequently hardened; such Bricks
having rounded projections or knobs upon their upper surface such knobs being
situated at small distances from each other and being of sizes varying from a
pigeon's egg to a swan's egg. By means of such bricks a floor is produced upon
which a horse can stand and tread and rise firmly and easily and lie comfortably
and which will afford facilities for draining off urine and other liquid in the stable
and which can also be easily swept and cleaned.

page_text: I, CHARLES GOODMAN TEBBUTT, of Bluntisham, in the County of Huntingdon,
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
BRICKS FOR PAVING STABLES AND STABLE YARDS" and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawing (that is to say):-
.In the construction of the floors of stables it is of great importance that the urine
that falls upon them should be rapidly and thoroughly drained away and that this
should be effected without unduly sloping the floors..
It is also of great importance that the floors should present a surface upon which
horses will not slip or tend to slip whether when standing or when lying down.
The most usual way in which it has hitherto been sought to attain these objects
has been to make use of paving bricks which have the upper edges bevilled so that
a floor composed of these presents a system of small V-shaped gutters or drains
intersecting one another.
This method however does not satisfactorily effect either of the objects above
mentioned. Instead of this I make use of bricks which have upon their upper
surfaces convex rounded projections or knobs (see accompanying diagrams which
are intended by way of further illustration and not by way of abridgment of
description).
These projections or knobs may be of sizes varying from half a medium sized
hen's egg to half a goose's egg and of the shape of a half hen's egg cut through into
halves from end to end, or of half a spherical ball cut into halves from side to side
except that the crown or top of the knob should be flatter than would be the case
with such halves. Or they may be of some shape slightly varying from those
above described, the essential features being that the surfaces of the knobs or
projections should be so rounded and curved that they present no, points or angles
and that their bases are circular or oval or nearly approaching these shapes and
not square or angular and that their crowns should be Hat enough to afford support
for straw and animals but should not be quite flat.
In order to determine the degree or curve of convexity of the said knobs I state
that where the diameter or the least diameter (as the case may be) of the base is
two inches the extreme beight of the crowns or tops of the knobs will be from five
sixteenths to five eighths of an inch and in the same proportion where the bases
are of smaller or greater size.
The said projections or knobs are situated on the bricks at small distances apart
from each other so that the distance between the nearest part of neighbouring
knobs is from one quarter of an inch to five eighths of an inch.
The reason why these distances must be maintained is that if the knobs are
brought nearer than above mentioned they will tend to impede the free flow of the
stable liquid and would render it difficult to clean the intersticies, while if the

page_text: knobs are placed farther away from each other they will not afford a comfortable
or.convenient surface for the animal to stand and lie upon and also the straw will
not be adequately supported upon the tops of the knobs but will be pressed down
between them and thus impede the drainage.
The said knobs must be of such a size in relation to the upper surface of the
brick that this surface extends beyond the outside of their bases (either in the case
of all bricks or when used for a given floor of alternate ones) to such a distance
that when one brick is laid next to another the distance of the knobs of one brick
from the neighbouring ones on an adjacent brick shall be the same as those herein-
before declared requisite between knobs on the same brick and so that when a floor
is composed of such bricks each of the knobs is so situate with respect to the
neighbouring ones as to fulfil the conditions of distance herein before prescribed
that is to make the distances between the nearest points of neighbouring knobs
from one quarter of an inch to five eighths of an inch. I prefer that the knobs
upon the bricks I use should have circular bases and that the sides of the knobs
should rise in a curve similar to that of the sides of a half sphere upon the same
base as the knob but that the crowns or tops should be very flat so that the curve
they present should be similar to the convexity of a sphere of a radius of about
three inches, the bases of the knobs are about two inches in diameter and the
crowns or tops about half an inch in height above the bases.
The accompanying diagram is intended to represent the kind of knobs which I
prefer to use.
The surface of the bricks between, the knobs may be either flat or very slightly
concave.
The said bricks may be made from clay from which good ordinary paving bricks
are made but by preference I use terro metallic ware made from ferruginous clay
commonly known as Staffordshire Blue Bricks as being most suitable for resisting
breakage from a blow of the foot of a horse the rounded projections or knobs should
be in all cases moulded upon the brick in the solid clay.
By means of such bricks with the above described knobs upon them a flooring is
made peculiarly adapted for the requirements of stables and stable yards where .
horses or ponies are kept.
The crowns or tops of the said knobs will be sufficiently near each other to afford
a surface upon which when covered with a little straw the animal can lie with
comfort while the urine will flow and drain away upon the surface of the bricks
between the knobs rapidly and completely and so as not to make the straw which
will be kept above the urine by the knobs sodden or to soil the coat of the
animal.
At the same time the nature of the surface of the floor will enable the animals
to obtain a good foothold for walking and rising and to lie, turn, tread, and move
without slipping or tending to slip. In fact the bricks may be looked upon as
making two floors that is an upper one consisting of the crowns of the knobs upon
which rests the straw and upon which the animal stands and lies, and a lower one
consisting of the intersticies between the knobs which is so free from straw that
when any liquid falls it immediately and thoroughly drains away.
In consequence of the facilities thus given for the liquid to flow away a slope of
the floor more gentle than that necessary where no adequate facilities for draining
away the urine exists is sufficient.
A floor composed of the said bricks can be easily swept and kept clean.
For the sake of economy the said bricks may have knobs moulded upon their
under surfaces in the same manner as upon their upper surfaces so that upon the
latter becoming broken the bricks may be turned upside down.
I use the term "Stable Yards" to describe such enclosures (if any) as are used, in
a similar manner to stables for the accommodation of horses or ponies but which
may not be included in the term "Stable" by reason of their having no roof,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
C
The use of Bricks for paving Stables and Stable Yards having moulded upon
their upper surfaces rounded projections or knobs of the shape and size and placed
in the situations hereinbefore described when speaking of.the same respectively.
"
0
*1*1002