IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROOFING TILES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hellier, of 17, Somerset Square, Cathay, Bristol,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROOFING TILES,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hellier at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th May 1877.
"
WILLIAM HELLIER, of 17, Somerset, Square, Cathay, Bristol. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ROOFING TILES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of roofing
tiles, and in apparatus employed therein.
There are various descriptions of roofing tiles which bave rolls or ridges raised
upon them, and these have to be tapered in such manner that the larger end of the
roll or ridge on one tile may be able to overlap the smaller end of the roll or ridge
on the tile next below it. Tiles of this description I manufacture by pressing the
clay through a die to bring it approximately to the form desired, but with the rolls
or ridges parallel. I then cut the sheet of clay thus produced to suitable lengths,
and complete the shaping of the tile by means of a mould suitably shaped to corre-
spond to one face of the tile, and a roller having its periphery formed to correspond
to the other face of the tile. The sheet of clay having been laid in the mould the
mould is passed under the roller, and so the clay is reduced to the finished form of
the tile, and superfluous clay is cut off. The tile is taken out of the mould by
means of a fork, such as is employed when forming tiles of this nature in hand
moulds.
In order that the roller and the mould may work truly together-I fix a pair of
spur wheels on the roller, one at either end, and these gear with racks fixed upon a
travelling table, which carries the mould.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Hellier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th November
1877.
WILLIAM HELLIER, of 17, Somerset Square, Cathay, Bristol. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ROOFING TILES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of roofing
tiles, and in apparatus employed therein.
There are various descriptions of roofing tiles which have rolls or ridges raised
upon them, and these have to be tapered in such manner that the larger end of the
roll or ridge on one tile may be able to overlap the smaller end of the roll or ridge
on the tile next below it. Tiles of this description I manufacture by pressing the
clay through a die to bring it approximately to the form desired, but with the rolls
or ridges parallel. I then cut the sheet of clay thus produced to suitable lengths,
and complete the shaping of the tile by means of a mould, suitably shaped to corre-
spond to one face of the tile, and a roller having its periphery formed to correspond
to the other face of the tile. The sheet of clay having been laid in the mould the
mould is passed under the roller, and so the clay is reduced to the finished form
of the tile, and superfluous clay is cut off. The tile is taken out of the mould by
means of a fork, such as is employed when forming tiles of this nature in hand
moulds.
In order that the roller and the mould may work truly together I fix a pair of
spur wheels on the roller, one at either end, and these gear with racks fixed upon a
travelling table, which carries the mould.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side clevation, Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is an end elevation
of a machine constructed according to my Invention, and intended to be used in
making roofing tiles.
A, A, is the frame of the machine, it is mounted upon wheels in order that it
may be more readily conveyed from place to place. At one end of the machine
there is a clay box B, into which the clay for making the tiles is placed. The top
of the clay box serves as a lid and turns up on a hinge joint, and when the box has
been filled the lid is shut down and secured by strong bolts. One end of the box is
moveable and works as a piston within it; it is fixed to the end of a toothed
rack C. The other end of the box is formed by a mouth-piece D, in which a
moulding orifice is formed; the piece D is shown separately at Figure 4. The
rack C is in gear with a pinion E, and on the same axis with the pinion there is
the worm wheel F. G is a worm, gearing with the wheel F, and when the worm
is turned by means of a cranked handle applied to its axis the moveable side or
piston of the clay box is made to advance towards the moulding orifice, and the
clay is made to issue as a moulded sheet. So far. the operation is substantially
similar to that by which parallel tiles have before been moulded. H is a roller,
mounted on an axis which is carried in suitable bearings upon the frame; it is
capable of being turned by means of the hand wheel I. The axis of the roller has
keyed upon it two toothed pinions, which gear into two corresponding racks K, K,
fixed upon either side of a table, which is able to travel on guides along the frame A.
The table carries a mould L, formed to correspond to one face of the tile which it is
desired to produce,
The mould which the Drawing represents is suitably formed to produce a tile of
a shape such as is now very commonly made by hand.
Figure 5 shows separately a transverse section of the mould to a larger scale;
and Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the same.

page_text: To facilitate the removal of the tiles when made, part of the mould can be
separated from the rest; it is made of a fork-like forin, as is represented in plan
at Figure 7. On this part of the mould the finished tile is removed to be taken to
the drying shed, as is usual in the hand moulding of tiles of this class.
The mould L, as already stated, is shaped to correspond to one face of the tile.
The roller H is similarly shaped to correspond to the other face, except that the
form is worked out on the cylinder in place of on the flat. Figure 8 is a plan of the
roller H.
The operation of working the machine is now as follows:-A suitable quantity
of clay having been made to issue from the moulding orifice D it is cut off by means
of a cutting wire, not represented on the Drawing, leaving the piece of clay
(moulded to the preparatory form) resting upon the grating M. By turning the
hand wheel I the table with the mould L upon it is now made to approach. The
mould passes under the piece of clay upon the grating, and then the end of the table
strikes against a lever which throws forward (for a distance of about two inches)
the rods N, to which the grating M is fixed. In this way a separation is made in
the clay, which enables the workman to place his haud behind the detached portion,
and the table being now caused to return he slides the piece of clay off the grating
into its place upon the mould L. As the mould L returns with the clay upon it
the clay becomes pressed between the mould and roller, and so the form of the clay
is changed into conformity to that of the surfaces of the mould and roller. One
passage however is not sufficient to produce the result, and in using the mould
represented in the Drawing I set it upon the table with its outer end so low that
in the first passage beneath the roller the roller does not come into contact with the
leading end of the tile, and after the first passago I insert a wedge beneath the
mould L to bring it up to a level position. I give two more rolls, one in and
the other out, to finish the tile. The wedge may, if desired, be made to work
automatically.
It will be seen that the ends and sides of the mould are so shaped and adapted
to the roller that the superfluous clay is cut off and rejected by the mould.
The roller should be lubricated with paraffine oil, and the mould also should be
thus lubricated, or it may be sanded.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
exact details described, but I claim,―
First. The manufacture of roofing tiles by squeezing the clay through a moulding
orifice to approximately reduce it to the form required, and afterwards by the use
of a roller and a mould bring it to a finished form, substantially as described.
Second. The means of and apparatus for the manufacture of roofing tiles sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hellier, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand cight hundred and seventy-seven.
5 ISAAC CULLIFORD,
7, Frenekey Terrace,
Stapleton Road,
Bristol.
WILLIAM HELLIER. (L.S.)