IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND MOULDING CLAY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES FROM PLASTIC SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Murray, of Loman Street, Southwark, in
the County of Surrey, Machinist, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND MOULDING CLAY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES,
AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES FROM PLASTIC SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Murray at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1881.
CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, of Loman Street, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, Machinist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND MOULDING
CLAY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES FROM
PLASTIC SUBSTANCES."
My Invention has reference to dies, through which clay or other plastic substance
is delivered for making bricks and like articles, and particularly to that kind of
die wherein the sides of the die are made to contain water or other liquid lubricating
material, which is caused to exude therefrom through felt, woollen cloth, or other
porous material.
According to my present Invention each side of the die consists of a check or
plate, whose front or acting surface has in it grooves or channels, one or more of
which communicates or communicate with a pipe or passage formed in one with
the said plate, and supplied with lubricating material, as above described. These
side plates extend the whole length of the die, and have porous material arranged
in front covering the whole surfaces thereof, and are so constructed as to be easily
removable to allow of fresh porous material being inserted when required.
A convenient means of attaching or fastening such sites to the other portion of
the die is by clamps furnished with hand screws. The ends of the clamps are
arranged to grasp projections on the top and bottom of the die, while the screws
abut against the backs of the side plates and press them and also the porous
material tightly up to their placos.

page_text: The top and bottom of the die are cast separately, each being cast with a
portion of the flange by which the die is connected to the machine attached to it.
The two portions are held together at the back hy bolts passing through lugs on
the flange, and at the front by bolts and distance pieces.
By my present Invention it is not essential to make the back part of the die bell-
mouthed, as heretofore usual. The sides of the die are parallel, but the top and
bottom thereof I make tapered or contracted to suit the character of the plastic
material.
For moulding and shaping clay for paving tiles, blocks, and quarries, I modify
my die so as to make it adjustable for various sizes of work. The top and bottom
I form independently, and provide each with a flange whereby it may be attached
to the front of the machine. In each flange there are elongated screw holes, so
arranged that the top and bottom of the die can be raised and lowered to adjust
the distance between them to correspond to the desired thickness of the tile or
block. The sides or cheeks, of which there is a separate pair for each thickness of
tile, are provided with means for lubrication, and are covered with cloth or fustian
or other textile material, as hereinabove described, and are designed to lie between
the top and bottom plates, so that they may be placed at various distances apart,
according to the desired width of the tile. The width of the cheeks is such that,
when arranged for the narrowest tile that the die is designed for, their outer
edges project slightly beyond the sides of the top and bottom plates, and the grooves
or channels in their working faces are always in communication with the supply of
lubricant. By preference I make these sides or cheeks of wood, but they may be
of cast iron or other metal.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Henry Murray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd March 1882.
CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, of Loman' Street, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, Machinist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND MOULDING
CLAY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ANALAGOUS ARTICLES FROM
PLASTIC SUBSTANCES."
My Invention has reference to dies, through which clay or other plastic
substance is delivered for making bricks and like articles, and particularly to that
kind of die wherein the sides of the die are made to contain water or other
liquid lubricating material, which is caused to exude therefrom through folt,
woollen cloth, or other porous material.
According to my present Invention each side of the die consists of a cheek or
plate, whose front or acting surface has in it grooves or channels, one or more of
which communicates or communicate with a pipe or passage formed in one with
the said plate, and supplied with lubricating material as above described. These
side plates extend the whole length of the dio, with the exception of the mouth
piece, and have porous material arranged in front, covering the whole surfaces
thereof, and are so constructed as to be easily removable to allow of fresh porous
material being inserted when required.
A convenient means of attaching or fastening such sides to the other portion of
the die is by clamps furnished, with hand screws. The ends of the clamps are
arranged to grasp projections on the top and bottom of the die, while the screws
abut against the backs of the side plates, and press them and also the porous
material tightly up to their places.
The top and bottom of the die are cast separately, each being cast with a portion
of the flange by which the die is connected to the machine attached to it. The
two portions are held together at the back by bolts passing through lugs on the
flange, and at the front by bolts and distance pieces.
By my present Invention it is not essential to make the back part of the die
bell-mouthed, as beretofore usual, but by preference is partly so, as shown in Fig. 4.
The sides of the die are parallel, but the top and bottom thereof I make tapered
or contracted towards the mouth piece to suit the character of the plastic
material.
Referring to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation
of a die constructed in accordance with my Invention for moulding and shaping
clay for making bricks; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is a
horizontal section of the same; Fig. 5 is a view shewing the grooved or channelled
face of one of the cheeks or side plates, with the porous material removed.
The die is formed or bounded by a top plate A, a bottom plate B, and two cheeks
or side plates C, C. The top and bottom plates have a portion of the flange D
cast upon each of them, and these two portions are united by bolts E, E, passing
through lugs E', El. The flange D serves for the attachment of the die to the
machine that feeds the clay. The top and bottom plates are united at the front or
outlet end by a light frame or distance piece F. Each side of the die consists of a
cheek or plate c, whose front or acting surface is formed with grooves or channels G
in it, which communicate by the opening H with a pipe or passage I formed in one
with the check or plate itself, which pipe or passage is supplied with lubricating
material through a pipe or connection J attached thereto.
If the flow of lubricating material be found at any time to be greater than is
necessary, the grooves or the passage leading to them may be partially stopped or
blocked with wood or other suitable material. These side plates C, C, extend the
whole length of the die to the mouth piece, and in front of them is secured (by
means of spikes or points C', C', at the backs of the plates or cheeks) felt or other
porous material K covering the whole surfaces thereof, and so held or retained as

page_text: to be readily removable to allow of fresh porous material being inserted when
required. The cheeks or plates C are retained or held by means of clamps L, L,
furnished with hand screws M, M, which bear upon the backs of the plates to keep
them tightly in position. The porous material is caught or gripped between the
side plates and the other parts of the die, and is consequently fixed and loosened
simultaneously and by the same means as the cheeks or side plates. The ends of
the clamps L, L, are arranged to grasp projections N, N, on the top and bottom
plates A and B of the die.
For moulding and shaping clay for paving tiles, blocks, and quarries, I modify
my die so as to make it adjustable for various sizes of work.
Fig. 6 (Sheet 2) is a front elevation of such a modified die, with the mouth piece
in front removed; Fig. 7 is a plan, and Fig. 8 a longitudinal vertical section of the
same.
The top and bottom plates P, P, I form independently, and provide each with a
flange Q, whereby it may be attached to the front of the machine. In each flange
there are elongated screw holes R, R, so arranged that the top and bottom of the
die can be raised and lowered to adjust the distance between them to correspond
to the desired thickness of the tile or block. The sides S, S, (which I will call
sides or blocks), of which there is a separate pair for each thickness of tile, are
provided with means for lubrication, as already explained with reference to the
previous form of die, and are covered with cloth or fustian or other textile material,
as hereinabove described, and are designed to lie between the top and bottom
plates, so that they may be placed at various distances, art, according to the
desired width of the tile. The width of the sides h'
Or
is such that when
arranged for the narrowest tile that the die is des
outer edges may
project slightly beyond the sides of the top and boom plates, and the grooves or
channels in their working faces are always in communication with the supply of
lubricant. By preference I make these sides or blocks of wood, but they may be
of cast iron or other metal.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I would have it understood that what is considered to
'be novel and original, and is therefore claimed as secured to me by the Letters
Patent herein before in part recited is,―
1. In a die for shaping and moulding clay for making bricks, tiles, and other
analagous articles, and wherein clay is fed or forced between an upper and a lower
plate and two side cheeks or plates covered with porous material, forming in the
acting faces of the said side checks or plates grooves or channels, one or more of
which is or are in communication with a pipe or passage formed in one with the
said cheeks or plate, and supplied with lubricating material, substantially as
described.
2. The improved die having grooved side cheeks or plates for shaping and
moulding clay for making bricks, constructed, arranged, and operating as shewn in
and described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawings.
3. In a die for moulding and shaping paving tiles, blocks, quarries, and analogous
articles the use of grooved sides or blocke, constructed, arranged, and operating sub-
stantially as described with reference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8 of the Drawings.
4. The improved die shewn in Figs. 6 to 8, for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Murray, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand ciglit hundred and eighty two.