IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING ARTICLES OF CHINA OR OTHER CLAY, OR OP OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Durand, of Paris, France, Mechanical
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING ARTICLES OF
CHINA OR OTHER CLAY, OR OP OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS."
Sealed the 9th October 1863, and dated the 22nd April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Durand at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd April 1863.
I, FRANÇOIS DURAND, of Paris, France, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING
ARTICLES OF CHINA OR OTHER CLAY, OR OF OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
These improvements in moulding articles of china or other clay, such, for
instance, as gypsum, soap, paste, putty, or other plastic materials, relate to
the manufacture of articles of such shape that allow of being moulded by
pressing or stamping the plastic materials in a suitable clammy, damp, or
moistened state in a suitable mould, the object of the Invention being to
allow of unmoulding without risk of deforming or distorting the shape of the
moulded article.
For this purpose a sheet of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material
is stretched over the opening of the mould and fixed all round the sides of
this latter; a similar sheet is stretched over the lower or pressing surface of
the die or stamping tool. The clay or other plastic material to bo moulded

page_text: is laid on the plastic sheet covering the mould (if required a sheet of paper
or other suitable thin resisting material may be laid under and above the
clay); the stamping or pressing now takes place, after which the die being
removed, the elasticity of the sheet of india-rubber or other elastic material
made use of will at once cause the moulded article to be lifted out of the
mould without having its shape impaired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Durand in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
DURAND, cf Paris, France, Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said François Durand, Her special licence that I, the said
François Durand, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as J, the said François Durand, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MOULDING ARTICLES OF CHINA OR OTHER CLAY, OR OP OTHER PLASTIC
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said François
Durand, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said François Durand, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
These improvements in moulding articles of china or other clay, or of other
suitable plastic materials, such, for instance, as gypsum, soap, paste, putty, or

page_text: others, relate to the manufacture of articlesof such shape that allows of moulding
them by pressing or stamping the plastic material, in a clammy or moistened
state, in a suitable mould, the object of the Invention being principally to
allow of unmoulding without risk of deforming or distorting the shape of the
moulded article.
The Invention is particularly applicable to the moulding of articles usually
made of china or other clay, such, for instance, as round, oval, or other
sorts of dishes, plates, saucers, and other articles of the same class which
hitherto were moulded by hand, whereas by my Invention it may be done in an
entirely mechanical way.
In principle my Invention consists consequently in moulding by mechanical
means articles of a suitable shape of china or pottery, clay, or other suitable
ceramic or other pastes.
In order to make the Invention better and more easily understood, I will in
this description refer to the annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a
vertical sectional view at actual size of a mould, matrix, or lower die, and of an
upper or counter die or stamping tool, such, for instance, as may be made use
of for moulding saucers.
The lower die a may be fixed in a suitable bed plate or table, and the hight
or distance at which the upper or counter die b is to be situated from the lower
one may be regulated by a set screw or other suitable means, my Invention
consisting in the arrangement and mode of acting of the dies, and more parti-
cularly of the completive parts added thereto; and as it is important for ren-
dering an Invention really practicable that the required effects should take
place at the required moments, and with proper preciseness and velocity, I will
describe also a mechanical arrangement by means of which these results may
be obtained.
The lower die or mould a is arranged in such manner that a thin sheet of
india-rubber c or other similar suitable elastic material may be laid over its
upper surface, either fixed thereto or in a moveable manner; thus, for
instance, the sheet of india-rubber may be either held by a suitable moveable
frame, or the said sheet may be fixed all round to the sides of the mould a, or
of the bed plate of this latter. The inner central or bottom part d of the
mould or lower die a may be caused to move vertically by having the said
bottom part d fixed to a rod e, the surface of which latter is provided with one
or more longitudinal flutings, serrations, or grooves for allowing that during
the moulding the air contained between the india-rubber c and the mould a
may by these grooves or holes f take its exit; the said grooves f may be made
to serve also as guides for the rod e. A spring 9 causes the central or move-

page_text: able bottom part d to rise whenever the upper die, after having been lowered and
caused this part d to come in contact with the mould a, performs its ascending
motion. For preventing that by the effect of a partial vacuum the india-rubber c
should remain adhering to the moveable bottom part d, a piece of silk or other
suitable tissue or material, allowing the air to pass freely through its mashes or
pores, is laid over the top of this part d, whilst the lower surface of the upper die b
is covered in a similar manner, as shown by the blue line in Figs. 1 & 2,
between which tissue and the clay or other plastic material to be moulded is
laid a sheet of india-rubber h, shown by a red line in Figs. 1 & 2, similar to
that c laid over the mould; by this interposition of the said tissue or suitable
permeable material between the upper die and the sheet h the air is allowed to
escape from between this sheet h and the upper die at the moment the moulding
takes place; it will further be readily understood that during the moulding
the sheets c and h will apply themselves exactly to the full outline of both dies,
and that the lump or cake = of clay or other plastic material interposed between
the said sheets caud will be squeezed out or flattened, and become moulded
in the required form; and as during this moulding the sheets c and h, in applying
themselves to the outlines of both dies will have extended so as to correspond
with these outlines, their elasticity will cause them, as soon as the upper dies b
performs its ascending motion, to contract to their original size, and thereby
separato not only from the dies, but also from the moulded article Z, so as to
cause the latter to be lifted out of the mould, and stand entirely liberated and
in the required shape on the elastic sheet c covering this latter. It will be
further understood that by my Invention articles of any suitable shape, size, or
thickness may be moulded. Should the article require to be moulded very thin,
a sheet of paper may, before moulding, be placed under and above the lump or
cake of clay or other plastic material to be moulded, which sheets will con-
sequently become stamped or moulded simultaneous with and adhere to the
article, and will be got rid of in baking.
Although my improved process of moulding may be performed by hand, I
prefer, however, to make use for this purpose of the mechanical arrangement
represented in vertical elevation view in Fig. 2, with some parts shown in
section.
A is a cast-iron or other strong frame provided with bearings for the main
and other arbors or shafts to revolve in; B is the main arbor or driving shaft,
provided with fly wheel B', and fast and loose pulleys B and B³, in case the
machine is to be worked by power, or with crank handle if to be driven by
hand. This arbor B has a pinion C working the wheel D' fitted on the arbor
D; E is a disc with crank pin E' connected to the rod F', the latter connected

page_text: by a jointed part G to the carrier F of the upper die b; a regulating or set
screw Hallows of bringing the upper die 6 exactly in the required position in
respect to the lower die or mould a for regulating exactly the thickness of the
article to be moulded. The lower die a is fixed in a bed plate in the frame A.
jis a horizontal disc turning on a vertical spindle i, and provided round its
periphery with a series of holes i, as represented in plan view in Fig. 8; an
intermittent rotary motion is transmitted to this disc j, so as to carry in
regular succession each of the holes between the upper and lower die, with
its centrum in the corresponding axial lines of both dies. During the moulding
the operative who is to provide the machine with clay or other plastic material
successively places over each of the holes a sheet c of india-rubber or other
suitable elastic material fitted in a frame corresponding in diameter with that
of the hole, but a little larger than this latter, and on the centrum of this
sheet c he lays a lump or ball of clay, by preference, however, flattened out in
the shape of a round flat cake, over which he then applies the moveable
sheet h of india-rubber mentioned above. The disc; then rises, and thereby
allows the mounted article of being lifted out of the mould or lower die, after
which the disc turns round to the required distance by means of the bevil
wheels K and K', the one K fitted to the lower end of the spindle i, and by
means of the gear wheels 1, 1, and P, on the axis of which latter is fitted a ratchet
wheel m and a lever m³, carrying the catch or paul m¹; a curved arm p
fixed to the axis of the wheel m serves for lifting the catch m' at the required
moment, and for preventing the same to pass over more than the required
number of teeth. The lever m³ is worked by means of a rod n connected to
the crank n' fitted on the arbor n; this latter receiving its rotary motion by
means of the pinions o¹ and o, the latter fitted on the arbor D; whereas the
other pinion o¹ forms part of the arbor n³, to one end of which is fixed tho
crank n', whilst the other end has a crank 9 connected by the rod q' to tho
arm g' of a lever g, r, q, turning upon a pin r, the opposite end q³ of this lever
being connected by a link q' to the arm q' of the lever q, r, s, the forked end
s of which works in the neck t of a socket u forming part of the disc j, and by
means of which socket the discj is lifted and afterwards lowered at the re-
quired moments, viz., before or after the same has turned round, and thus lifts
this disc from off the mould a as soon as the article has been moulded, after
which the disc turns round for one step and another hole falls over the
mould a, in order to allow of producing another moulding, and so on. In order
to prevent that thin articles should become distorted, a small form or mould of
the same shape as the mould a might be laid on the sheet c, and be provided
with the clay or other plastic material from which the article is to be moulded

page_text: the moulded article remaining till sufficiently dry, in this small mould
which ought to be of thin sheet metal or other suitable material and stamped
in the required form. After the saucers, plates, dishes, or other similar articles
have been moulded, and have acquired the required firmness, the barbs or fins
are to be removed from them, for which purpose I prefer using the potter's
lathe represented in vertical side elevation view in Fig. 4. In this Fig., a
represents the frame, with shelve b for the tools. c is a box of a cylin-
drical or other suitable shape fitted on a vertical spindle or shaft d turning
in a collar e and step f; g is the working pulley receiving the driving cord or
band; h is the cover or lid of the box c, represented separately in plan view, in
Fig. 5.
This lid is provided with a great many perforations h¹ (of which only
a part are indicated in Fig. 5), and forms the throwing disc of the lathe; the
outer surface of this lid is covered with felt or any other suitable material
or tissue, on which the article to be finished, such for instance, as a plate i,
is placed. is an inverted bell or pouch of india-rubber, the upper rim of
which is firmly beld between the lid h and the box c in such manner that
the plate i rests on this rim. The lower part of the bell or pouch j is con-
nected by a joint k to the lever 1, this latter turning at one end upon a
pin m, whilst the other end is provided with a handle n, so as to allow of
fixing the lever in one or the other of the notches of the rack o, and by thus
extending the pouch j, cause more or less vacuum or suction to be produced
in this latter, by means of which suction or partial vacuum the plate i is firmly
connected to the upper rim of the pouch, thus allowing of finishing the said
plate or other article thus connected with the utmost nicety.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be practically
executed, I declare that what I consider to be novel and original, and con-
sequently claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-
1ly. Making use of thin sheets of india-rubber or other suitable elastic
material, fixed or not on the mould or lower die, and on the upper or
counter die or stamping tool, in the manner as above described, with an
intermediate tissue interposed or not, as required, for the purpose of allowing
the free escape of the air contained between the upper and lower dies so as to
allow an automatical moulding and unmoulding of any article of ceramic or
other suitable plastic material.
2ly. The general arrangement and combination of parts of the above
described moulding press and represented in Fig. 2.
3ly. The general arrangement and combination of parts of the above

page_text: described improved potter's lathe represented in Fig. 4, in which lathe an
india-rubber or other suitable elastic impermeable pouch or inverted bell-shaped
bag serves for steadying or fixing in position the article to be finished by the
effect of a partial vacuum or suction produced underneath the same in the
said pouch or bag.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Durand, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
DREYFOUS,
Eng. Civil.
FCOIS DURAND. (L.S.)