IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE. OF BRICKS AND TILES
Year: 1853

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Clayton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th October 1853.
I, HENRY CLAYTON, of the Atlas Works, Upper Park-Place, Dorset
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Machinist, do hereby declare the
nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE. OF
BRICKS AND TILES" to be as follows:
Heretofore in the manufacture of bricks and tiles by forcing brick
carth in the plastic state through moulding orifices- it has been usual
to have all the sides of a moulding orifice fixed. Now my Invention
consists of constructing each moulding orifice with two moving surfaces
and two fixed surfaces. The two moving surfaces consisting of rollers,

page_text: which are put in motion by the passage of the plastic earth between
them; the interior of the moulding orifice where the rollers come being
arranged to direct the plastic matter between the rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Clayton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY CLAYTON, of the Atlas Works, Upper Park Place, Dorset
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Clayton, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Clayton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Clayton, my executors,
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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Clayton, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Clayton, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 (that is to say):

page_text: Heretofore in the manufacture of bricks and tiles by forcing brick
earth in the plastic state through moulding orifices it has been usual
to have all the sides of a moulding orifice fixed. Now my Invention
consists of constructing each moulding orifice with two moving surfaces
5 and two fixed surfaces. The two moving surfaces consisting of rollers
which are put in motion by the passage of the plastic earth between
them; the interior of the moulding orifice where the rollers come being
arranged to direct the plastic matter between the rollers.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, is a plan of the combination of mechanical parts which
according to my Invention constitutes the die or moulding orifice of
a pug mill or other machine suitable for making bricks or tiles- by
expressing brick earth, clay, or suitable plastic material through mould-
ing orifices.. The Drawing shows the moulding die or orifice for
making bricks of the ordinary size, but the dimensions will be varied,
as will readily be understood in making like moulding dies or orifices
for other sizes or forms of bricks, and for making tiles. Figure 2, is a
front view; Figure 3, is a transverse section; and Figure 4, is an
end view. The arrangement shown is suitable for fixing at the
lower part of the cylinder of a pug mill, and if like apparatus is
to be applied and fixed to other forms of expressing machinery,
the part by which the apparatus is to be fixed will be varied
accordingly, and as will be readily understood by an engineer.
In place of forming the die or moulding orifice, as heretofore, with
four fixed sides, the one shown in the Drawing is composed of
two fixed and two moving or rotating sides. a is the upper fixed.
side, and b is the lower fixed side of the moulding orifice or die. The
outer edges of these are not straight, but somewhat convex, so that the
clay when first pressed is concave on its upper and under surfaces.
,c, are the two moving ends or sides of the moulding orifice or die,
and they consist of two rollers which are somewhat conical, as shown,
and they are covered with cotton velvet or other suitable fabric; and, in

page_text: order that the surfaces of these rollers may be kept somewhat: moist,
they are madel with a grooye d,, at each of their upper ends 'to. receive
water, which, descending down the woven fabric which surrounds the
rollers filters through the fabric, and moistens the surfaces.ee, are
two plates which form the ends of the moulding orifice or die; the
front edges of these plates come: parallel with the axes of the rollers:
It will be seen that the moulding orifice.or die is, so far as these ends
e, e, and the interior form of the upper and lower parts a,b,are,
concerned, very similar to an ordinary moulding orifice or die. The
clay or brick earth, as it is expressed by a pug mill or other suitable
expressing machine, is gradually compressed into form as it approaches
the outer parts of the moulding orifice of die; but it will be seen that
the parts a, b, come more forward or extend further than the end or
side plates e, e, do ;ª consequently so soon as the clay or plastic material
which is being expressed-gets beyond the front edges of the plates, c., e
it will come in contact with the two rollers, and by its pressure thereon
will put such rollers in motion; the upper and under surfaces of the
clay will, however, still be subject to-the, fixed-upper and under-sur-
faces a and b, which, as before stated, are not straight lines or parallel.
to each other at their outer edges, but convex; hence the-clay or brick
earth on the top and bottom surfaces is, as it issues from the moulding
orifice or die, somewhat concave; the upper surface of the clay-is also
somewhat wider than the under surface thereof, but the clay or brick
earth-quickly assumes a rectangular form, or nearly so,-after-it-gets
away from the die- or moulding orifice. .h, h, are scrapers to remove
any clay or brick earth which may-adhere to and pass round with the
rollers. Ordinarily I have found that the two rollers may move
separately and independently of each other; but as some clays may not
drive the-rollers equally, I have, provided pulleys ff, on the axes of the
rollers, in order that they may be connected by a cross band, by which
any tendency in the machine to force the clay faster against one roller
than the other is compensated for, and the one roller is prevented
moving faster than the other; and there is another advantage i
coupling the rollers together; for it sometimes happens that they are
found to stick, in which cases, by the aid of-a-key g, the workmen by

page_text: turning one roller a short distance will cause both to move forward,
and thus he will overcome any temporary impediment. If bricks with
mouldings are to be made, then the fixed part or parts a or b, or the
roller or rollers, are to be made to vary in form accordingly.
I would state that although I prefer in general that the rollers
should be used at the two ends, and that the fixed parts a, b, of a
moulding orifice or die should be used at top and bottom, this state of
things may be reversed.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I am
aware that clay or brick earth has, in cases where no expressing ma-
chinery has been employed, been shaped by the rotation of four rollers
so arranged as to form an opening or passage between them of the
size of the intended brick, so that when driven by suitable power they
have rolled the clay into a suitable form to be cut into bricks; I do not
therefore claim the same, nor do I claim any of the parts above shewn
and explained separately; but what I claim is, the forming of a die or
moulding orifice to an expressing machine by the combination of parts
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Clayton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
HENRY CLAYTON. (L.S.)