CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TILES, BRICKS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM DISINTEGRATED OR PULVERIZED CLAY
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
NASMYTH, of Patricroft, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and HERBERT
MINTON, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford, China Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the fourteenth year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said James
Nasmyth and Herbert Minton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said James Nasmyth and Herbert Minton, our
exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said James Nasmyth
and Herbert Minton, our exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agreo
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, and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Inven-
tion of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF TILES, BRICKS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM DISINTEGRATED OR
PULVERIZED CLAY;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we,
the said James Nasmyth and Herbert Minton (or one of us) shall cause
a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's

page_text: High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said 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
James Nasmyth, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say :-
Our Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus to be employed
in the manufacture of tiles, bricks, and other articles from disintegrated or
pulverized clay, relate to the manufacture of bricks, tiles, quarries, and other
similar articles from disintegrated or pulverized clay by compression in suitable
moulds or dies, and consist of a certain arrangement of machinery or apparatus
for effecting the said object in a more perfect, economical, and expeditious
manner than has been attained by the methods heretofore employed for that
purpose. Hitherto this object has been effected by the employment of what
is termed a "screw" or " fly press," or by an hydraulic press; but as it is
requisite for the due consolidation of the said disintegrated or pulverized clay,
that the air existing betwixt the particles thereof should be expelled or forced
out before the disintegrated or pulverized clays attains its final degree; of
compression; and as in order to effect this object it is necessary, that the
niotion of the "fly press" should be very gradual and slow at the .com-
mencement of the compression, for the purpose of allowing time for the
discharge and escape of the air from betwixt the particles. of the dis-
integrated or pulverized clay. It is found by experience that such slow
working of the fly press is incompatible with the accumulation of such an amount
of momentum or impetus in the fly wheel. as is necessary to attain or produco
the required amount of pressure. It is therefore necessary to perform the
compression or consolidation of the said pulverized clay at two or more
successive swings or vibrations of the fly wheel or fly of the screw press,
whereby a considerable amount of time is lost, and the work but imperfectly
performed, with great expenditure of unnecessary labor or power... , In order
to remedy or obviate these defects, we have invented a certain arrangement
of machinery or apparatus wherein by the employment of continuous rotatory
motion as the condition of our prime movement, we are enabled not only to
bring the pressure on to the disintegrated or pulverized clay in the first
instance in a slow and gradual manner, so as to allow of the escape of the air
from betwixt its particles, but also to terminate the consolidating or com-
pressive action with the advantage of accelerated speed and the accumulated

page_text: momentum of the fly wheel of the machine; we also, by the peculiar arrange-
ment of an apparatus, are enabled to employ a certain portion of the prime
rotatory moving power to the purpose of discharging each tile, brick, or other
article after it is formed, and also for refilling or charging the mould after
each successive operation with fresh pulverized or disintegrated clay, so that
the several operations of charging the mould or die, discharging the air consoli-
dated in the tile, brick, or other article, and discharging the same from the mould
or die, may be performed continuously, whilst the prime moving force, or
power in the condition of rotary motion proceeds without intermission. In
order more fully to illustrate the practical application of our improvements, we
have attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings representing our improved
arrangement of machinery or apparatus as applied to the manufacture of
flat tiles or quarries; the Drawing is made to a scale of about one inch and
half to a foot, and has similar letters of reference placed upon corresponding
parts of the mechanism in all the Figures. In Fig. 1, a, a, is the framing of
the machine, and b, b, represents a small steam engine; c, c, being the crank
shaft, and d, d, the fly wheel of the same. The crank shaft c, c, of the
engine is coupled to the main driving shaft e, e, of the machine, by means of
the spur gearing f, f, imparting a continuous rotatory motion thereto; g, g, is
the hopper, in which the disintegrated or pulverized clay is placed; and h, h,
is the feeding or measuring plate for supplying the requisite quantity of clay
dust to the mould or die at each successive operation. This : plate h is
capable of sliding horizontally upon the table i; i, and is brought alternately
under the hopper g, and over the lower die or mould k, by means of a lever 1, 1,
which is keyed upon a shaft m, m, and has an intermittent vibratory motion
communicated to it by means of another lever n, n, (keyed upon the
same shaft), a pin or roller upon the end of which works in the
groove of the cam 0, 0, upon one end of the main driving shaft. This is
the feeding motion, and is colored blue for the sake of distinction; the
pressing motion is colored yellow, and consists of the upper die or
plunger p, p, which is capable of sliding in a vertical direction in suitable.
bearings, and is actuated by means of an excentric rod 9, 9, the upper part of
which embraces an excentric r, r, keyed upon the main shaft: The dis-
charging movement of the machine is colored red for the sake of illustration,
and may be described as follows:-To the spur wheelf upon the main
driving shaft is cast or otherwise attached a cam 8, 8, in the groove
of which runs a friction roller t, attached to the upper end of B
sliding bar w, w. This bar actuates a lever v, v, which vibrates upon a
centre at w, and is connected at its other end to the discharger a.
The opera-

page_text: tion of the machine is as follows:-Suppose the machine to be in the position
shown in Fig. 3, and the main driving shaft revolving continuously in the
direction of the arrow, then the cam o, by means of the levers 7 and n, will slide
the plate in the direction of its arrow carrying with it a charge of pulverized
clay (and pushing before it the last finished tile) until the opening therein arrives
immediately over the lower die or mould; the discharger x is then lowered by
means of the cam s, bar u, and lever v, the lower die or mould and the charge
of clay following. The upper die or plunger p is then brought down by means
of the excentricr slowly at first, and gradually accelerating until it has reached
the middle of its course of descent; the downward motion of the plunger then
becomes gradually slower till it has arrived at its lowest point, when by the
continuous motion of the excentric the plunger in like manner returns to its
highest upward position; the plate h is then brought back to receive a fresh
charge, and the discharger x rises until the surface of the lower die is level
with the surface of the table i, i, when the operation proceeds as before.
I would here observe that although for the sake of illustration I have shewn
and described the above machine as actuated by means of a small steam
engine attached, yet it will be evident that continuous rotatory motion may be
imparted thereto from any adequate motive power in any other convenient
manner, and also that the same may readily be adapted for manufacturing
bricks or other articles. I would also remark that where it is thought desirable
still further to assist the discharge of the air from the pulverised clay, the
whole apparatus may be placed in a chamber from which the air has been
exhausted; the dimensions of the hopper should in that case be considerably
increased.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood in conclusion,
that we claim as our Invention the employment or use of mechanical power
in the condition of continuous rotatory motion to produce a reciprocating action
for the purpose of consolidating or compressing disintegrated or pulverized
clay into the form of tiles, bricks, and other like articles, and to perform the
other several functions of the machine successively, as above described, and
also (if preferred) the placing of the said press when employed for the purposes
aboved named in a chamber from which the air has been exhausted.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Nasmyth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
JAMES (L.S.) NASMYTH.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid James Nasmyth 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 Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.