IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERING THE ROOFS OF BUILDINGS WITH SLATES, TILES, OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 13th June 1854, and dated the 10th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Hunt and Thomas
Morris at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 10th February 1854.
We, SAMUEL HUNT and THOMAS MORRIS, both of Long Eaton, in the
County of Derby, Builders, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERING THE ROOFS OF BUILDINGS WITH SLATES, TILES, OR
OTHER MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
The rafters are supported by purlings where required, and fixed in the
usual manner. In the upper side of the rafter, and running the whole length,
is a saw gate about an inch in depth, in which is inserted a strip of hoop
iron about 1 inches wide, and the same length as the' rafters; the distance
between each rafter is regulated by the length of the slates used. On each

page_text: side of the strip is laid a thin coat of cement, a slate is then laid down; along
the upper edge another slate is laid, overlapping the first about one inch, and
thus continued until the ridge is reached. The slates are nailed in their places
as they are laid in the following manner :-
Instead of making holes. in the slates, which being so near the edge would
be liable to break out, we use nails of a particular shape; the straight edge of
the nail being held close to the iron strip, and driven into the rafter, will cut
its way into the edge of the slate, and hold it in its place. The slates having
been nailed down, cement or composition is applied on each side the strip.
Instead of the strip being inserted in the rafter, it may be used of the form
of a third or circle having holes through it about a foot or fifteen inches apart.
The slates are nailed down with nails which cut their way into the sides of two
slates; when the double row is laid the roll strip is filled with cement or com-
position, and screwed or nailed down over the junction of the rows of slates.
The above improvements are applicable to iron as well as wooden roofs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Hunt and Thomas Morris in the Great Seal Patent
: Office on the 10th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
HUNT and THOMAS MORRIS, both of Long Eaton, in the County of Derby,
Builders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Samuel Hunt and Thomas Morris, Her special licence that we, the said
Samuel Hunt and Thomas Morris, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Samuel Hunt and Thomas Morris, our execu-
tors, 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 COVERING THE ROOFS OF BUILDINGS WITH
SLATES, TILES, OR, OTHER MATERIAL," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Samuel. Hunt and Thomas. Morris, or one of us, by an instrument

page_text: in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the samo 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 we, the said Samuel Hunt and Thomas Morris,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists in certain improved modes of covering the roofs of
buildings with slates, tiles, or other materials.
Our first improvement is as follows:-The rafters are supported by purlings
where required, and are fixed in the usual manner, the distance between them
being regulated by the length of the slates employed. In the upper side of
the rafters, and running their whole length, we form a saw gate about an
inch in depth, in which we insert a strip of hoop iron or other material about
1 inches wide, and the same length as the rafters. On each side of the strip
wo lay a thin coat of cement, and we then lay down a row of slates upon
the rafters, with their edges abutting against the sides of the strips. Along
the upper edge of this row we lay another row of slates, overlapping the first
about one inch, and we continue thus until the ridge is reached. The
slates are held in their places as they are laid by means of nails of a particular
shape which cut their way into the slates as they are driven. The slates having
been nailed down, we apply cement or composition on each side of the strips,
and over the edges of the slates, so that the edges of the slates are in. grooves
on each side of the strips.
Our second improvement consists in the employment of rafters having grooves.
formed therein to receive the edges of the slates instead of forming the grooves
by the employment of strips let into the rafters, and cement or composition
applied after the slates have been nailed down, as before mentioned.
Our third improvement is as follows:-Instead of the strip being inserted in
the rafter we use it detached, and either flat or curved, having holes through
it about a foot or fifteen inches apart to enable it to be nailed down. The
slates are laid down with nails which cut their way into the sides of two
slates, and when the double row is laid the roll strip is coated or filled with.
cement or composition, and screwed or nailed down over the junction of the
rows of slates.
9

page_text: The above improvements are applicable to roofs having iron rafters as well
ns to those in which wooden rafters are employed. Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the
Drawings annexed represent the usual method of covering roofs. a, a, are
the rafters; b, b, the laths; c, c, the slates; and d, the wall plate. Figure 4
is a plan of a portion of a roof covered with slates according to our first
improvement; Figure 5 is an end view of the same; and Figure 6, a section
on the line a, a, of Figure 5. a, a, are the rafters; b, b, are the strips of iron
inserted in them; c, c, are the slates; and d, d, the nails by which they are
secured to the rafters. In using these nails, the straight edge is held close to
the iron strip, and the nail is then driven into the rafter, when it will cut its
way into the slate and hold it fast.
e, e, are the layers of cement on which
the edges of the slates are laid; and f, f, the outer layers which complete
the junctions at the edges of the slates. Figure 4 represents a portion of the
outside of an iron framed roof covered according to our second improvement;
Figure 5 is an end view of the same; and Figure 9, a sectional view of one
of the rafters. a, a, are the rafters; b, b, the grooves in them; and c, c, the
slates. The slates or other materials having been laid in their places in the
I grooves b, b, a waterproof cement is applied on each side of the rafter between
the slates or other covering and the upper flange of the groove, so as to make
a secure joint. The ridge of the roof is finished in the usual way. Figure 6*.
is an end view, and Figure 7 a section through one of the rafters, of a wood
framed roof covered according to our third improvement. The slates or other
materials c. c, are placed with their edges together on the rafter a, and are nailed
down in their places by nails of the shape shewn at Figure 11, or of the
ordinary description, as shewn at d, d, Figure 7. A curved strip or roll of
iron g is then laid over the meeting edges, and secured by screws or nails h,
or a fillet of slate, tile, or other material may be employed, as in Figure 8.
The cement is applied in the following manner :-One slate, tile, or other
covering having been nailed down, the cement is applied to one edge, and the
next slate is then laid down and pushed close to the first and there nailed,
thereby pressing out the superfluous cement, which answers for a bed for the
fillet, the fillet being pressed down upon it and nailed if required. If a roll is
used it is filled with cement before it is laid, and nailed down. Figure 10 is a
section of a tiled roof covered according to our Invention.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as our
Invention,.
The improved methods of covering roofs with slates, tiles, or other like

page_text: materials, whereby the roofs are composed of only one thickness of covering,
except at those parts where the edges of the slates or covering materials overlap
or are covered by the fillets or rolls, as represented in Figures 4, 5, 6, 4*, 5*, 6ª,
7, 8, 9, and 10, of the Drawings annexed, and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Morris, for myself and on behalf
of the said Samuel Hunt, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Ninth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Agent,
Nottingham.
THOMAS MORRIS. (L.s.)