AN IMPROVED COMBINATION IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS AND TILES
Year: 1820

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEMGEL
WELLMAN WRIGHT, of Upper Kennington, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at
Westminster, the First day of November, in the first year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, iny exors, adñiors, and
assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, excrcise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, ny Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINATION IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS AND TILES;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso that if I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright,
shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
undermy hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and
TEL 037

page_text: all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Lemuel Wellman Wright, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and the following description thereof (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine or combination of machinery for
making bricks and tiles; Fig. 2, a plan of the same, with the parts above the
dotted line A, A, Fig. 1, on the left-hand end of it, omitted to shew the
parts beneath it more clearly; Fig. 3, a vertical section taken at the dotted
lines B, B, in Figures 1 and 2, on the right-hand end of the machine;
Fig. 4, a view of the left-hand end of the machine; in all which Figures, as
well as those to be herein-after enumerated, the same letters and figures of
reference apply to the same parts of the machine. C, C, &c. is the frame of
the machine to which the various parts are affixed, and which can be conveyed
upon the wheels D, D, &c. to any place required, and which wheels are taken
off when the machine is set to work, and it will then rest upon the four feet
E, E, &c. F, an axis to which the moving power, whether of horses, steam,
&c. is to be applied to set the machine in motion. G, a pinion upon t the axis
F, which drives the wheel H fixed upon the main axis I, I. The necks or pivots
of this main axis turn in brasses in plummer blocks affixed to the machine frame;
and it has uponit various excentric cams which give motion to the several parts
of the machine, as described hereafter.. J, J, &c. are hoppers into which the
prepared clay or brick carth, which I prefer to use as stiff or of as firm a con-
sistence as possible, is to be thrown regularly and continually during the action
of the machine, either by hand or otherwise; the clay falls into the feeding
boxes K, K, &c., as shewn in Fig. 3, under the pistons L, L, &c., which fall
upon it and force it into the moulds M, M, &c. by the action of the weights
N, N, &c. contained in the boxes O, O, &c. upon the tops of the piston rods
P, P, &c. The moulds being thus filled the pistons L, L, &c. are raised up
by the longer arms of the levers Q, Q, &c. acting underneath the weight
boxes O, O, &c., and which levers turn upon the pin Ras a fulcrum; to the
shorter arms of the levers Q, Q, &c. are affixed by joints the connecting rods
S, S, &c., the lower ends of which rods are jointed to the ends of the levers
T, T,&c., the other ends of which move upon the studs or pins U, U,&c. as ful-
crums, and which pins pass through guide cheeks affixed to the machine frame
C, C. In the middle of the upper side of each lever T, T, are placed friction

page_text: wheels V, V, which are depressed by the action of the excentric cams W, W,
and which cams are fixed upon the main axis I, I, and thereby raise up the
longer ends of the levers Q, Q, as shewn in Fig. 1. When the pistons
L, L, &c. are thus raised up the clay in the moulds
or separated from that in the feeding boxes K, K,
M, M, is cut off
means of the thin plates
of steel X, X, which are pushed between the bottoms of the feeding boxes
K, K, and the tops of the moulds M, M, in the following manner. Y, Y, are
two levers moving on the pins or studs Z, Z, as fulcrums, which are affixed
between cheeks attached to the frame C, C, of the machine. To the longer
ends of these levers Y, Y, the steel plates X, X, are united by the short jointed
connecting rods a, a; and to the shorter ends of the levers Y, Y, are jointed
the rods or bars b, b, which pass through guiding holes c, c, in the frame C, C,
of the machine. In the other ends of these bars b, b, are friction wheels d,d,
which are acted upon or thrust against by the excentric cams e, e, fixed upon
the main axis I, I, as represented at the right-hand end of Fig. 1, and thus
the steel plates X, X, are thrust or pushed through the clay as required. The
steel plates X, X, are again withdrawn when the cams e, e, have passed the
friction wheels d, d, by the action of the helical springs f, f, which are
placed upon the bars b,b,for that purpose, and as represented at the left-hand
end of the machine. Having thus filled the moulds with clay, and separated.
the clay in the moulds from that remaining in the feeding boxes, the next
operation is to slide the moulds so filled with clay underneath the compressers
g,g, &c., shewn in Fig. 3, which is effected in the following manner:-h, h,
&c., are sliders having two square cavities in each to contain the two pairs of
moulds M, M, &c. These sliders are guided in their motions backwards and
forwards by the plates i, i, &c., which are screwed upon the level beds, which
extend across each end of the machine frame. j,j, &c., are other sliding plates,
which form the bottom parts of the moulds, and are likewise guided between
the plates i, i, &c., each plate having a square hole in it, as shewn at k.
I shall now proceed' to describe the manner in which I give motion to these
sliders: Each slider has a friction wheel 1, 1, &c., turning upon a stud or pin
fixed in the sliders. These friction wheels are received into oval holes or slits
m, m, &c., which are made in the ends of the longer arms of the levers n, n,
&c. These arms n, n, &c. are fixed to axis's o, o, &c., turning upon necks or
pivots p, p, &c., which act in holes made in the brackets q, q, &c., affixed to
the machine frame. To these axis's o, o, &c. are also affixed the shorter
arms r,r,&c., of the levers, which have also friction wheels s, s, &c. turning
upon studs or pins fixed in the levers. These friction wheels 8, s, &c. are
operated upon by the excentric annular rings or cams t, t, &c., which project

page_text: from the internal faces of the two pairs of wheels u, u, &c., that are fixed
upon the ends of the main axis I, I. Each of these wheels u, u, &c. are fitted
upon cylindrical parts made on the main axis, so as to adjust the situations of
the inclined planes of the cams, as may be necessary to enable them to perform
their respective offices in due time, and they can then be fixed securely by
keys or wedges let into slits or grooves made in the shaft and holes for that
purpose. The cains of each pair of wheels are placed on opposite sides of the
axis I, I, and the two pairs are fixed nearly at right angles to each other upon
that axis. The consequence of this arrangement will be that the sliding
plates h, h, and j, j, are moved to their relative situations backwards and for-
wards during the operation of the machine as required.
I shall now proceed to describe the progressive movements of the moulds
M, M, &c., as will be seen by reference to Fig. 3. When the main axis I, I,
is put in motion, the camst, t, &c. operate upon the friction wheels s, s, &c.,
upon the shorter arms r, r, &c. of the levers; and cause their longer arms
n, n, &c. to act upon the friction wheels 1, 1, &c., which lie in the slits
m, m, &c. in those arms, and consequently to move the sliding plates h, h, & j,j,
backwards and forwards. The right-hand pair of moulds M, M, filled with
clay, will be thus carried underneath the compressorsg.g, ready to be pressed,
the manner of effecting which I.shall now describe.
The compressing plates g,g, &c. are affixed to the bottoms of the upright
sliders, v, &c., the lower parts of which are squared and guided in holes
made in the horizontal bars or plates w, w, which are affixed to the machine
frame C, C. The upper parts of the sliders v, v, &c. are made cylindrical,
and pass through guide holes made in the upper horizontal bars or plates
c, a, &c., affixed to the frame C, C. Around these cylindrical stems are also
placed the helical spring y, 3, &c., which act against the bars a, a, &c., and
the collars or flanches, z, &c., on the tops of the sliders, so as to raise them
up after being depressed in the manner now to be described. In the sliders
v, v, &c. are made grooves 1, 1, &c., having in the lower part of each friction
wheels 2, 2, &c., turning on pins passed through the sliders. Upon these
friction wheels act the shorter arms of the levers 3, 3, &c., and the ends of
which are shewn in Fig. 3, and which levers turn upon pins or studs 4, 4, as
fulcrums in standards affixed to the machine frame C, C. In the longer arms
of the levers 3, 3, &c. are placed other friction wheels 5, 5, &c., turning upon
pins passed through the arms. These friction wheels 5,5, &c. areacted upon
by the excentric cams 6, 6, &c., affixed upon the main axis I, I. It will be
seen that these cams 6, 6, &c. have three distinct curves or shapes 7, 7, 8, 8,
and 9, 9, given to them, in order to communicate to the levers 3, 3, and

page_text: sliders v, v, &c. their necessary movements; thus, the curve 7, 7, &c. causes the
compressors g, g, &c. to press the clay in the moulds M, M, &c. to its proper
thickness and density. The pressure is then taken off the bricks by the
friction wheels 5, 5, &c. falling into the depressions 8, 8, &c. in the cams, in
order to afford an opportunity of moving the lower sliding plates j, j, under
the bricks in the moulds until either the cavities K, K, &c. in them are
brought underneath the bricks, or the plates are removed from underneath
them, and permit them to be forced out of the moulds and to fall through the
holes 10, 10, &c., which are provided in the beds of the machine frame C, C,
for that purpose, by the action of the curves 9, 9, &c. of the cams 6, 6, &c.,
upon the levers which force down the compressers, as seen on the left-hand
side of Fig. 3, where the several parts described are shewn in the act of dis-
charging the brick's from the moulds M, M, &c., and which bricks drop upon
revolving endless straps or webs 11, 11, &c., which convey them away. These
endless webs 11, 11, &c. pass around and are supported by the rollers or
cylinders 12, 12, &c, which turn on the axis 13, 13, &c., the necks or pivots
of which move in holes made in projecting supports, affixed to the frame C, C.
On the two innermost axis's 13, 13, &c. are fixed band wheels or riggers
14, 14, &c., which are set in motion by bands passing over band wheels
15, 15, &c., affixed upon the main axis I, I.
Figures 5 to 11 inclusive are additional representations of detached parts of
the machine, which could not well be seen in the other Figures. Fig. 5 is
a view of one of the plates u and cams t, which move the sliders h, h, andj, j,
by means of the levers n, o, r. Figures 6 and 7, a plan and edge view of one
of the sliding mould plates h, h. Figs. 8 and 9, a plan and edge view of one
of the lower sliding plates j, j. Fig. 10, a view of the two cams 6, 6, one of
which is shewn as acting upon one of the levers 3 in a position to discharge
the bricks from the moulds. Fig. 11, two of the cams W, W, one of which
is shewn as acting upon the lever T to lift the pistons of the feeding boxes;
and also two of the cams e, e, one of which is shewn as acting upon one of the
connecting rods b, as before described.
The machine here described is calculated to make eight bricks at each revo-
lution of the main axis I, I, but other machines may be made to operate at
one end only if required, or to make a greater or lesser number of bricks at
pleasure. In order to make tiles by this machine it will be necessary to vary
the proportions or sizes of the various parts of the moulds and other apparatus,
according to the sizes and figures of the tiles to be made. I do not mean or
intend hereby to claim as my Invention any of the individual parts of which
this machine may be composed; but I do hereby claim the improved com-

page_text: bination thereof, and particularly the apparatus for feeding and forcing the
clay or brick earth into the moulds, either in its native state as taken out of
the earth, or alter being mixed with the usual materials for making bricks or
tiles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-one.
LEMUEL W. (L.S.) WRIGHT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of May, in the year
of our Lord 1821, the aforesaid Lemuel Wellman Wright came before our
said Lord the King in His 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.
Inrolled the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand