CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM CLAY ALONE OR MIXED WITH OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BURSTALL, of Lee Crescent, Edgbaston, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the First day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Burstall, my exors, adiiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Burstall, my
exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Burstall,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM CLAY
ALONE OR MIXED WITH OTHER MATERIALS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Burstall, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Burstall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
My Invention of improvements in the mode of making bricks and other
articles from clay alone, or mixed with other materials, consists of machinery
adapted for that purpose by compressing the materials into a mould, in such a
state as regards humidity, as that it will sufficiently adhere, and that when
made can be at once taken to the kiln and burned, and this I do in the
following manner:-I take the clay alone, or clay and such materials as the
nature of the article to be manufactured requires, as coal dust, breeze, chalk,
sand, burned clay, and any other suitable material, in such a state as that they
can be separated into a granular or pulvurent state, and capable of being
compressed into a mould when pressure is applied. The manner I prefer to
granulate these materials is by placing them in a revolving pan in which a
pair of heavy edge rolls run. In the outer periphery of the pan are gratings
of a suitable opening to sift the mixture, and the material being alternately
brought by proper scrapers under the rolls and over the gratings is ground,
mixed, and sifted; falling through the gratings, is scraped into a hopper to
supply the brick machine, and is there ready for being formed into bricks and
other articles, by my improved machinery, as shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one modification,
shewing on the left hand the prepared clay, as above described, placed in
the mould D, in due quantity to form one brick, and this is measured in
bringing a box of the proper capacity alternately under the hopper contain-
ing the prepared clay, where it is filled, and in proper time bringing the same
over the mould where it is deposited, and is then ready to be pressed; to the
right hand is shown a brick N already pressed, and another brick N lifted
up ready to be removed. Figure 4 is a section of Figure 1 through the red
line a, b, shewing the action of the cam L and stop M for lifting up the
brick N. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section, as above, shewing the acting
parts in another position; viz. :-On the left band the brick N pressed by
steam through the medium of the piston, piston rod, the ram c, and the

page_text: plunger E, E; and on the right, the stop M removed ready for the brick N
being forced out. Figure 5 is a cross section through the red line c, d,
showing the cam L, having forced down the stop, leaving the space .clear for
that operation. Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, as above, shewing on the
left hand the steam still pressing the brick N', and on the other right hand the
brick N forced out on to the stop M; and Figure 6 is a cross section through
the red line e, f, showing tho action of the cam L keeping the stop M down
during that operation. The same letters of reference are applicable to Figures
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and in these Drawings A, A, are showing cast iron frames
to which are fixed the cylinder B, B', fitted with piston, double ended piston
rod, cylinder covers, and slide valve, as usual in the ordinary high pressure
steam engine, and supplied with steam from a high pressure boiler. To the
ends of piston rod are fixed rams C, C', to press forward the plungers E, E,
E', E', moving easily in the moulds D, D', which are securely fitted to the
frames A, A, the interior of these moulds being of the section of the length
and breadth of the brick. These plungers are moved by the levers F, F', when
acted on by the cams G, G', for throwing out the brick, and the cams H, H',
for returning the plungers ready for receiving a charge of ground material into
the moulds. These cams are fixed on a shaft 1, on which is also fixed a bevil
wheel K, to enable the same to be driven by a suitable pinion from any motive
power; two cams P and O for giving admission and egression of steam to the
cylinder in proper time, and two cams L, L', to move the stops M, M', those
stops being for the purpose of closing the orifices of the moulds D, D¹, and
also to lift up the bricks when thrust out, the levers and counterbalance
weights T, T, and U, U', being to facilitate those operations. The stops
M, M', slide casily in grooves, and the wedge form at the back keeps them
tight to the face of the moulds by fitting against the abutments z, z. The
action of the machine is as follows:-The clay, prepared as described, is
deposited in due quantity to form one brick in the hopper S, falling into the
mould D; and, the shaft I being put in motion in the direction of the arrow m,
the various cams are brought into action, the first being the steam cam P
moving the steam valve R through the medium of the levers Q, Q', admitting
the steam to the cylinder at B, forcing the piston, piston rod; the rains c, c¹,
and the plunger E, E', in the direction of the arrow h. and pressing the loose
clay in the mould D', and forming a brick N', see Figure 2; the whole of
these then rest until the reverse steam cam 0 comes into operation. The
pressure now being removed from the back of the plunger E, E, and the
shaft I continuing to revolve in the same direction, the cam L forces down the

page_text: stop M by means of the link O, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, leaving room
for the brick to be forced out, and the shaft I still moving in the same
direction. The cam G forces out the brick on to the stop M, and the projec-.
tion on the cam L pushes the brick off the face of the plunger, and the
stop M and brick N is lifted up rapidly by the weights U, U; the brick is
then removed to the kiln. The various operations of filling, pressing,
removing the stop, forcing out the brick, returning the stop, and lifting up
the brick, being performed in due time at each end, producing a brick at cach
stroke of the piston.
a
Figures 7 and 8 are longitudinal sections of a machine for making thin
flooring bricks and tiles, as also ordinary bricks. The same letters are
applicable to the Figures 7 and 8, and consists of a steam cylinder B, B¹, as
before fixed to framings A, A. To the ends of the piston rod are attached
mechanical movement called a toggle joint or jointed rods. one end of
which works on a pin fixed in the frames A, A, at a, a, and the other to
the rams E, E', which slide in the moulds D, D'. In these moulds are also
plungers F, F, F, F, which slide easily up and down when moved by the
canis G and H through the levers I, 1', and K, K'; these cams being fixed
on the driving shaft X. On this shaft is also a cam L, for giving a recipro-
cating motion to the receiver M, M, M, M, by acting on the rollers n, n,
turning on pins fixed in the receiver M, M. The excentric P is also fixed on
the shaft X, and is for the purpose of giving motion, through the levers Q, Q',
to the valve R, for giving admission and egression of steam to the cylinder in
due time. The receiver M, M, M, M, is formed with two receptacles O, O',
cach of capacity to hold a sufficient quantity of prepared clay for one brick;
and these are alternately brought under the hoppers S, S¹, where they receive
a charge of prepared clay, which is deposited in the moulds D, D¹, as it
passes
over them on the return stroke, each alternately. The action of the machine
is as follows: The prepared clay is placed in the hoppers S, S', and falls by
its gravity into the orifice O; and the shaft X being put into motion in the
direction of the arrows, the receiver passes over the mould D, and deposits
the material therein, see Figure 8, and passing over the mould to the position
as shewn in the left, Figure 7, where it rests stationary during a portion of a
revolution. The excentric P then opens the valve R, giving admission of
steam to the piston at B, forcing the piston in the direction of the arrows;
and the toggle joint thus being forced into a vertical position, raising the ram
E, forces up the plunger F, F', and presses the loose clay in the mould
forming the brick N¹ between the plunger F, F, and the bottom of the
receiver M, which is kept down tight by the inclined part w' being forced

page_text: under the wedge-shaped abutment ', where the brick is pressed, the toggle
joint is forced beyond the perpendicular, and the pressure is relieved from the.
plunger F, F; and the shaft continuing to revolve, the receiver is carried to
the alternate end, and the same operations are performed while the receiver is,
at rest, the shaft being still in motion. The brick N is being forced up by the
cam G acting on the levers K, K', and plungers F, F. This plunger falling
down for another charge of clay, to be placed into the mould on being relieved
from the action of the cam G, the same operations are carried on alternately,
producing a brick at each stroke of the piston.
In order that I may employ steam cylinders of the ordinary construction,"
having a greater or less diameter and stroke, I propose to introduce levers or
beams of any of the ordinary methods of construction for such a purpose,
between the ends of the piston rod and the mould boxes, in which case, though
the principle of Invention remains the same, the disposition of the various parts
will be varied to suit the different conditions of things required to be manu-
factured. And it will be evident that the density of steam in the cylinder
being uniform, the same amount of pressure will be given to each brick, the
only difference of those bricks being, that they will vary slightly in thickness,
according to the quantity of material measured in, it being impossible to do so
without perfect accuracy, on account of the varying state of the clay as regards
moisture; and the effect of thus being unable so to do is, that if at any time a
greater quantity than is proper for a brick is in the mould, and no outlet
provided, machines on the principle of a rigid pressure must either cease to act
or be broken, the clay always having to be compressed into the same bulk
whatever the quantity there is in the mould.
I do not more particularly describe the grinding machinery, as any machinery
at present in use for that purpose may be employed; nor do I claim that as
any part of my Invention. But I claim the application of the direct action of
steam pressure for compressing clay alone or mixed with other materials into
bricks, tiles, and other articles.
Secondly, the direct action of steam as above, in combination with the
mechanical movement called a toggle joint; and,
Thirdly, the direct action of steam in combination with a lever or levers, as
may be suitable to produce the same effect.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Burstall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-two.
THOMAS (L.S.) BURSTALL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Thomas Burstall came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and nity-two.