The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-07 00:00:00

CLAYTON'S PATENT COMBINED CLAY-PRE-
PARING AND SOLID BRICK-MAKING MA-1
CHINE.

In these days of building societies, agricultural im-
provements, and sanitary reform, there can be scarcely
any subject more practically interesting than the im-
provement of brick and tile making, and accordingly it
has, for two or three years, engaged a considerable share
of public attention. A machine has been recently in-
vented and patented by Mr. Clayton, which undertakes
to supply the confessed deficiency, and to bring solid
bricks within the range of efficient machine power. In
a private view which was given on Monday, Mr. Clayton
afforded to a large party of visitors an opportunity of
observing the action and capabilities of his invention.
It has already obtained the medal of the Great Exposi-
tion of Industry at Amsterdam. The improvement con-
sists in the construction of moulding orifices or dies,
having rotating sides formed by vertical rollers, instead
of the fixed sides used heretofore, the rollers rotating
' while the clay is delivered through the die, and thus
producing and preserving a sharpness and neatness in
the edges of the brick which had previously been found
unattainable in the manufacture of bricks through dies.
The machine pugs or prepares the clay and makes the
bricks at one and the same time. One of the leading
features observed is a continuous delivery. The action
of the blades as ordinarily set can produce only an in-
termittent delivery • but in this case there is an arrange-
, ment of blades by which the clay is subjected to a con-
tinuous lateral thrust, effected on either side of the die
through the moulding orifices. The machine was
worked by one horse, a man to feed the machine, and
two boys to clear off the bricks atthe sides. Four or five
revolutions were performed in a minute, and in that
time sufficient clay was given out to make 25 bricks.
The clay, after coming out horizontally in a solid oblong
mass, is with great precision cut up into bricks of the
required dimensions by means of equi-distant wires
placed on one side, and worked so as to divide the whole
at one stroke.
To thig machine the great medal prize of the Great
Exhibition of Industry, at Amsterdam, has recently
been awarded ; and the machine we saw in work is one
of which has been constructed for his Grace the Duke of
Bedford.
The following, we believe, to be an accurate descrip-
tio of this valuable machine :
" It consists of a large iron cylinder, and is fitted with
an extracirdinarys(patented) arrangement and adaptation of
Clayton's plan of Archimedian knives, and with suitable
machinery for the pugging preparation of the clay, and
the formation of bricks at one time and by the same ope-
ration.
" The action of this machine is a rotatory, and its de-
livery continuous ; it is worked by one horse (or is appli-
cable to steam or water-power) ; employs one man to feed
it, and two boys to clear off the bricks and place them on
the palette boards upon the barrows, ready for stacking
at once. This number of hands will on an average pro-
duce from 9,000 to 15,000 bricks per day (according to the
motive power and speed employed), thus effecting an enor-
mous saving over hand-moulding; and the machine re-
quires no skilled labour to work it. Many advantages are
derived by the use of this machine in addition to its great
powers of production, as the manufacturer can take the
greatest possible advantage of favourable weather ; and,
if working under cover, he is not forced to discontinue his
operations even in the most unfavourable seasons, as the
clay used is much stiffer than that used for hand-moulding.
The operation of the machine is as follows :—The clay
is dug from the field, and watered and turned up in the
usual manner • it is then conveyed to the machine by the
temperers ; the body of the machine is filled with clay, and
the machinery set in motion, worked by one horse (or
other power), by which the clay is thoroughly pugged, in-
corporated, and carried down to the moulding orifices,
whence is discharged in continuous streams, and after-
wards separated into bricks of any required dimensions.
The pressure of the machinery being uniform throughout
causes the bricks to issue uniformly, compact, and per-
fectly free from sand-flaws so frequent in hand-moulding."
All attempts at expressing have been to force the clay
through the hollow square orifices, the sides of the
orifices being steady or fixed, but by Mr. Clayton's in-
vention the revolving dies or orifices, which are formed
by rollers placed vertically, which keep up a rotatory
motion, works with the clay as it makes its egress from
the orifice. The rollers are kept damp by a stream of
water, which is let on by small taps when required
round the tops, and the material with which they are
covered is kept in a proper degree of moisture ; the
bricks come along the sort of stage erected to receive
them, and having arrived at the end, they are imme-
diately, at one movement, cut into separate bricks by
wire, and are carried away. They appear perfect in
form, and with sharp edges ; and another great advan-
tage is that the supply is continuous—hence there is no
waste or breaking of the bricks, or loss of time. We
witnessed five or six experiments, and the results were
22, 24, 25, 25, 25, and 25 bricks in one minute. The
continuous delivery is one of the leading features in the
invention. The action of the blades, if set in the or-
dinary manner for pugging, would only produce an
intermittent delivery. Below these blades, however,
there is another arrangement of blades on the same
axis, by which the clay is subjected to a continuous
lateral thrust, which compels the clay to escape on either
side through the moulding orifices. When we come to
compare the advantages of this invention with hand
moulding, we perhaps encounter a little difficulty, inas-
much as the moulding in the London and country dis-
tricts varies materially. Thus, in the London district,
the pallet-moulder, we are told, will, with his assistants,
turn out 5,000 bricks a day ; but he requires the aid of
a clot-moulder and five other hands (making seven
workmen in all), besides a horse, for the complement of
his "stool." But in the country districts, where the
clot-moulder is not engaged, 3,000 a day is the fair
average. The brickmaker's day, too, is a long summer's
day, from early morning till night ; whilst the day cal-
culated in the case of this machine is only ten working
hours, in which from 10,000 to 15,0(10 bricks can be
produced by the labour of one'horse, one man, and two
boys. All these are facts which cannot fail to attract
the attention of the public ; and having already exceeded
our usual limits for notices of this character, we leave
the patentee to reap those advantages which his inven-
tion deserves, and the merits of which we see have been
certified to by the written approval of an immense
number of scientific and practical men.
Several gentlemen from the foreign embassies, eminent
engineers, contractors, and large brickmakers, were pre-
sent yesterday, amongst whom we noticed the Baron A.
de Berg (Prussian embassy), le Don Viriato Medeiros
(Brazilian embassy), Count Chotch (secretary to the
kustrian embassy), J. G. Bosanquet, Esq., Charles
isday, Esq., John Jay, Esq., W. Caldwell, Esq., A. T.
Cooke, Esq. (Venice), G. S. Brockie, Esq. (Edinburgh),
and M. York, Esq. (Gloucestershire),
ANiesPsrisice.b Esq.,rudg and Stephenson, Messrs. Treadwell and
Co, W. IL Kavanagh, Esq. (Brentwood), D. Montague,
Esq. (Leigh, Essex), W. W. Pocock, Esq., J. W.
Browning, Esq., T. C. Morton, Esq., J. Timothy, Esq.,
C. B. Blore, Esq., Y. Thynne, Esq., Messrs. Cubitt and
Co., Messrs. Redlora (Notts), J. Newett (Berks),
Wilkins (Oxon), and several brickmakers from the
potteries.