Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Tiles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 20th Oct.,
1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Tiles.
We, CRAVEN DUNNILL AND COMPANY LIMITED, of the Jackfield Works,
Jackfield, in the County of Salop, Encaustic Tile Manufacturers, and THOMAS
PITT, of Cox's Cottage, Venn's Lane, Aylstone Hill, Hereford, in the County of
Hereford, Tilemaker, 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 :-
This invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of tiles having undercut
or bevelled grooves or recesses therein, the object of the said invention being to
provide improved means for forming the undercuts and to allow the die which forms
the undercuts to serve as the top plate or plunger or as the bottom plate of the
mould.
According to the said invention the die which is to form the back of the tile and
the undercut grooves or recesses therein is constructed of a box or case having
formed in it a number of inclined slots, and of a casting working in the said box or
case and having sliding pieces loosely attached to the casting at one of their ends,
the other ends being located in the said slots and adapted to be projected beyond
the surface of the box, the said projecting ends being shaped to correspond with the
shape of the grooves or recesses to be formed in the tiles, and normally kept level
with such surface by means of a spring. The said casting is secured to the ram of
the die if used as a top plate, or to the discharging rod if used as a bottom plate,
the extent of relative movement of the box and casting being limited by suitable
stops.
The other die which is to form the front or face of the tile is of ordinary
construction.
. To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan of a die constructed according to our invention for forming the
backs of tiles having undercat grooves or recesses, the parts being in their normal
position, that is to say, the sliding pieces being moved into position to allow a
moulded tile to be removed:
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same on line 2-2, Figure 1 :
Figure 3 is a similar view on line 3-3 of Figure 1:
Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and,
Figure 5 is a similar view to Figure 2 but shewing the position of the parts
when moulding a tile :
Figures 6 and 7 are face and edge views respectively of one of the sliding pieces
detached.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
grooves or recesses,
b
a is the box or case of our die for forming the backs of tiles having undercut
and 6, 6 are the inclined slots therein; c is the casting adapted
to slide within the box a; d, d are the sliding pieces supported at one of their ends
in recesses a¹ upon studs e, e on the casting passing loosely through holes f,in the
sliding pieces d, the other ends being located in the inclined slots b in the box a and
shaped as shewn to correspond with the shape of the undercut or bevelled grooves
5 or recesses to be formed in the tiles; g is the spring which presses the box a and
casting casunder thereby normally keeping the free ends of the sliding pieces d
level with the surface of the box a; h is a tube connected to the casting c and to
the ram of the die or to the discharging rod according to whether the die is to be
used as a top plate or a bottom plate. 9' is a rod passing through the said tube and

page_text: connected to the box a, the said tube and rod serving to enable the box a and
casting e to be relatively moved.
j, j are triangular blocks let into the corners of the box a and which by working
in recesses k, k in the corners of the casting and abutting against the tops and
bottoms of such recesses serve as stops for limiting the extent of movement of the
box and casting with relation to each other. The blocks ; are fixed by means of
:screws l, l.
The operation of our improved tile-moulding apparatus is as follows:
Suppose the parts to be in the position shewn in Figures 1 to 4, the pressure
applied as usual in making the tile will cause the spring g to be compressed and the
sliding pieces d to project beyond the surface of the die (the parts then assuming the
position shewn in Figure 5) and form the undercut grooves in the back of the tile.
Upon the pressure being relieved the casting e will move back to the position shewn
in Figures 2 and 3 and the sliding pieces d will be withdrawn from the grooves or
recesses in the tile, the inclination of the slots b enabling this to be effected
without damaging the undercut portions of the said grooves.
We have shewn the box a as being of a square shape and provided with four
sliding pieces d but it will be obvious that the said shape and number of sliding
pieces can be varied according to the shape of the tiles required and the number of
recesses therein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :--
1. In apparatus for moulding tiles with undercut grooves or recesses in their
backs, the combination with a box having inclined slots of a casting caused to slide
in the said box and having sliding pieces attached thereto at one of their ends, the
other ends being located in the said slots and adapted to project beyond the surface
of the box the said projecting pieces being shaped to form the grooves or recesses
in the tiles and normally kept level with such surface by means of a spring, suitable
stops being provided to limit the sliding movement of the casting within the box,
the die thus constructed being adapted to serve as the top plate or plunger or as the
bottom plate of the mould, substantially as herein before described.
2. The improved apparatus for the manufacture of tiles arranged as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing and operating in the manner
and for the purpose set forth.
Dated the 12th day of September 1804
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.