Improvements in the Manufacture of Keramic Tesserae, Mosaic, Tiles, Seggars, and other Fictile Goods, and in the Machinery Connected therewith.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1886.
Complete Left, 25th Feb., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 29th Mar., 1887.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Keramic Tesserae, Mosaic,
Tiles, Seggars, and other Fictile Goods, and in the Machinery
Connected therewith.
I, FRANCIS GIBBONS of the firm of Gibbons. Hinton and Company of Brockmoor
near Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Terra Cotta, Tile, and Mosaic
Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF KERAMIC TESSERAE, MOSAIC, TILES, SEGGARS AND OTHER
FICTILE GOODS AND IN THE MACHINERY CONNECTED THEREWITH, to be as follows:-
The first part of my invention has reference to the manufacture of various articles
such as ornamental tiles, tesserae, bricks, seggars &c. from keramic materials, by
means of a press of peculiar construction invented by me.
Instead of batting out a piece of plastic clay and pressing it into a mould to make,
say, an embossed tile, as ordinarily done, I make it by the following method :-I use
a press so constructed that it has a square or other shaped box for receiving the clay,
such box being open at the top and bottom, and supported on a bed plate by legs or
other means so as to stand some distance above the bed plate. Attached to this bed
plate is a screw or other mechanical arrangement for raising a bottom plate sufficiently
large to cover the bottom of the aforesaid box. When this bottom plate is lowered by
means of the screw, it allows a mould of metal, plaster or other material, for the
intended tile, to be inserted between it and the open bottom of the box. The bottom
plate is then raised by means of the screw until the rim of the mould presses firmly
against the bottom of the box. The box is now filled with the necessary clay, it
generally holds sufficient to fill a mould several times, a piston or plunger is made
to descend into the box by means of a screw at the top of the press or by other
mechanical means, and the clay is thus forced into the mould.. If the mould is of

page_text: metal, before the clay is forced into it, I place a piece of paper or other material over
its surface. This paper is forced into the mould with the clay and prevents the clay
from adhering to the metal. The mould being filled, the bottom plate is slightly
lowered by means of the screw, and a wire or knife is passed between the clay in the
box and that in the mould so as to sever the two. The bottom plate is then still
further lowered to permit of the mould charged with clay being withdrawn. By
inverting the mould, the embossed tile, bearing the impression from the mould, is
discharged.
This operation may be repeated many times before it is necessary to re-fill the box
with clay.
In the same manner I make many other useful and ornamental articles, much more
quickly and perfectly than by the ordinary method of pressing by hand, such as
seggars, moulded bricks, tesserae for mosaic &c.
The second part of my invention has reference to the arrangement of keramic
tesserae, made in the aforedescribed press, so as to form mosaic patterns or designs.
To accomplish this I take a mould of metal having a series of partitions or divisions,
similar to the junctions of the tesserae in the mosaic to be produced. The depth of
the mould is somewhat greater than the thickness of the mosaic to be produced. The
divisions are a little thinner at top than at bottom, so that the tesserae formed in the
mould are slightly taper being of somewhat greater diameter at their tops or faces,
than at bottom. In consequence of this slight tapering of the moulded tesserae, they
readily leave the mould when the latter is inverted and lifted, and the junctions in the
finished mosaic are neater than when the tesserae are not taper.
In using the mould it is placed face downward on a flat board or other surface on
which a sheet of thin paper has been placed. The different parts of the mould are
filled in the following way:-A stencil plate having perforations corresponding to
those portions of the mould about to be filled with a particular coloured clay (say blue)
is laid and fixed on the mould, the perforations in it being made to correspond with
the parts of the mould to be filled. The coloured clay is pressed through the
perforations in the stencil plate into the mould either by hand or mechanical means.
After the removal of the stencil plate referred to, another stencil plate having
perforations corresponding to the portions of the mould to be filled with clay of another
colour (say red) is fixed on the mould and the coloured clay is forced through the
perforations into the mould. In a similar way other coloured clays are introduced into
the mould.
The ground colour clay, or the clay of which the greater number of tesserae are to
be made is introduced into the mould last, and does not require the use of a stencil
plate.
The mould with the flat board or surface and the paper on which it rests, is
introduced into the aforedescribed press containing clay of the required ground or
principal colour. By the descent of the plunger as before described the unfilled
portions of the mould are filled and the group of tesserae formning the design is
completed.
The mould is, taken from the press and removed from the flat board or surface,
which had supported it, and is placed on a flat slab of plaster of Paris or other absorbent
substance, the sheet of paper still adhering to the underside of the mould. By means
of a ram or plunger having the same configuration as the spaces formed by the divisions
of the mould, the tesserae are pressed upon and the mould is lifted. The tesserae are
thereby removed from the mould, and are left on the plaster with their broad faces
downwards. All the tesserae are connected and held in their proper relative positions
by the sheet of paper attached to their broad faces. In the drying of the tesserae
preparatory to firing or burning them, the paper contracts at or about the same rate
as the clay, so that when dry the tesserae in shrinking are preserved at the proper
relative distances apart.
When the group of tesserae is dry and ready for firing, I take a sheet of paper or
other flexible organic material and coat it with a thin film of clay by means of a pallete

page_text: knife or brush or otherwise, and place the sheet of paper, the clayed side downwards,
upon the group of tesserae, pressing it into close contact with their upper faces, or the
faces which constitute the back or lower faces in the finished mosaic.
The group of tesserae, thus supported on paper having a thin layer of clay, is placed
on a bat of clay or biscuit and is fired or burned in a kiln. The paper burns away and
leaves the group of tesserae connected by the film of clay, the whole shrinking
symmetrically, each tessera retaining its proper position relative to the others.
After the removal of the groups of tesserae from the kiln, and cooling, a sheet of
paper coated with gum or other adhesive material is pressed gummed side downwards
upon the faces of the tesserae, and the film of clay which connects them at their
opposite faces being removed the groups are ready to be supplied to commerce. They
are set by embedding the lower part of the whole group at one operation in cement.
When the cement is set, the gummed paper is removed from the face of the mosaic,
which is now complete.
لبحيت
1
ப்
يكفد

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Keramic Tesserae, Mosaic,
Tiles, Seggars, and other Fictile Goods, and in the Machinery
Connected therewith.
1, FRANCIS GIBBONS, of the firm of Gibbons Hinton and Company, of Brockmoor
near Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Tile, Mosaic and Terra-Cotta
manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
Improvements in the manufacture of keramic tesserae, mosaic, tiles, seggars and
other fictile goods and in the machinery connected therewith.
My invention has reference to the manufacture of various articles, such as ornamental
tiles, tesserae, terra-cotta &c. from keramic materials, by means of a press of a peculiar
construction invented by me, and also to the arranging of the said tesserae to form
mosaic paterns.
Instead of bating out a piece of plastic clay and pressing it into a mould to make,
say an embossed tile, as ordinarily done, I make it by the following method
I use a press so contrived that it has a square or other shaped box A for receiving
the plastic clay, such box being open at the top and bottom and supported on a bed
plate B by legs C or other means, so as to stand some distance above the bed plate.
In this bed plate is a screw 1) or other arrangement for raising a plate E sufficiently
large to cover the bottom of the aforesaid box; this I call the bottom plate. When
this bottom plate is dropped by means of the screw, it allows a mould of metal, plaster
or other material for the intended tile to be inserted between it and the open bottom
of the box. The bottom plate is then raised by means of the screw until the rim of the
mould presses firmly against the bottom of the box. The box is now filled with the
necessary clay it generally holds sufficient to fill a mould several times-a piston or
plunger F is made to descend into the box by means of a screw G attached to the top
of the press, or by other mechanical means, and the clay is thus forced into the mould.
The mould being now filled, the bottom plate is slightly lowered by means of the screw
and a wire or knife is passed between the clay in the box and that in the mould so as
to sever the two. The bottom plate is then still further lowered to permit of the mould
charged with clay, being withdrawn. By inverting the mould the embossed tile
bearing the impression from the mould is discharged.
This operation may be repeated many times before it is necessary to re-fill the box
with clay.
In the same manner I make many other useful and ornamental articles much more
quickly and perfectly than by the ordinary method of pressing by hand, such as tesserae
for mosaic, terracotta &c.
To manufacture tesserae, according to my invention, I take a mould H preferably of
metal, having a series of partitions or divisions similar to the junctions of the tesserae

page_text: in the mosaic to be produced. The depth of the mould is somewhat greater than the
thickness of the tesserae to be produced. The divisions are a little thinner at top than
at bottom so that the tesserae formed in the mould are slightly taper, being of somewhat
greater diameter at their tops or faces than at bottom. In consequence of this slight
tapering of the moulded tesserae, they readily leave the mould when the later is inverted
and the junctions in the finished mosaic are neater than when the tesserae are not taper.
In using the mould it is placed face downwards on a flat board or other surface I
on which a sheet of thin paper or textile material J has been placed, (the later materials
prevent the clay tesserae from sticking to the board or surface) it is now put under the
box of the afore described press and charged with clay precisely as described with the
embossed tile. When taken from the press the clay tesserae are discharged from the
mould by means of a ram or plunger Khaving the same configuration as the spaces
formed by the divisions of the mould and having also points L to make it work true
with the mould. This being placed on the mould and pressed upon and the mould.
lifted the tesserae are discharged upon the board or other surface and when dry are
ready to be fired or burnt.
In making mosaic arrangements or paterns according to my invention I take a
mould precisely similar to the afore described and charge it with the required different
colored clays by the following means. The mould being placed face downwards on a
flat board or surface on which a sheet of thin paper has been placed, a stencil plate M
having perforations corresponding to those portions of the mould about to be filled with
a particular colored clay (say blue) is laid and fixed on the mould, the perforations in
it being made to correspond with the parts of the mould to be filled. The colored clay
is pressed through the perforations in the stencil plate into the mould either by hand
or by mechanical means.
After the removal of the stencil plate referred to, another stencil plate N having
perforations corresponding to the portions of the mould to be filled with clay of another
color (say red) is fixed on the mould and the colored clay is forced through the
perforations into the mould.
In a similar way other colored clays are introduced if necessary into the mould.
The ground color clay or clay of which the greater number of tesserae are to be
made is introduced into the mould last and does not require the use of a stencil plate,
but is put into the mould by means of the press afore-described, the mould still resting
on the flat board or surface is placed under the box of the press which is charged with
the required colored clay and is filled and withdrawn exactly as described in the
manufacture of tesserae.
The mould with the paper still adhering to its underside is now removed from the
flat board or surface and is placed on a flat slab of plaster of Paris or other absorbent
material and by means of a ram or plunger similar to the one described before, the
tesserae connected by the paper are discharged onto the plaster slab; their broad faces
being downwards, all the tesserae are connected and held in their proper relative
positions by the sheet of paper attached to their broad faces.
In drying, the paper contracts at about the same rate as the clay, and the tesserae
retain their proper relative distances apart.
When the group of tesserae is dry and ready for firing or burning, I take a sheet of
paper or other flexible material and coat it with a thin film of clay by means of a pallete
knife or brush or otherwise and place the sheet of paper, the clayed side downwards,
upon the group of tesserae, pressing it into close contact with their upper faces, or the
faces which constitute the back or lower faces in the finished mosaic.
A tile of clay or biscuit is now placed on the group of tesserae and the whole inverted
and the plaster slab removed leaving all the tesserae with their broad faces upwards
and still retaining their proper relative order.
When fired or burnt in this order the thin film of clay connects the tesserae while
the paper burns away, and so they are made to retain their proper positions until taken
from the kiln, when a sheet of paper coated with gum or other adhesive material is
pressed, gummed side downwards, upon the faces of the tesserae and the film of clay

page_text: .
adhering to their backs being removed, the group or patern is ready to be supplied to
commerce and to be treated as mosaic ordinarily is.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is :
1. The invention of the press precisely as described in the specification, having a box
for holding the clay and a plunger to descend into it and force the clay into the mould
which rests on a movable bottom plate, and which can be charged with clay several
times to one filling of the box.
2. The invention of the process of using paper or textile material to separate the clay
tesserae made in the mould as before described from the board or surface on which
the mould rests during the operation of moulding.
3. The process of retaining mosaic arrangements in set. order, through the operation
of moulding, drying and firing, precisely as described.
T
.
1009
FRANCIS GIBBONS.