AN IMPROVED BRICK-MAKING MACHINE.
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hart, of Northampton, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED BRICK-MAKING MACHINE.'
Sealed the 7th February 1861, and dated the 11th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hart at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
August 1860.
I, THOMAS HART, of Northampton, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED BRICK-MAKING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain machinery for the manufacture of bricks
in a more speedy and efficient manner than by machines hitherto constructed
for that purpose. I propose employing a metal frame of any suitable shape
mounted on wheels; on the upper part of the frame is a hopper for the reception
of the clay or loom which passes between rollers to obtain the required pressure ;
it then passes into recesses, being pushed therein by means of horizontal
plungers or pistons actuated by a cam and levers. The clods are thus partially
formed into bricks, when they are passed into cells formed in and around a
drum or roller; these cells are opposite to each other, and are supplied with
double pistons or plungers, so that as one cell is being filled the opposite one
is being emptied, and the bricks thus formed deposited upon an endless band
passing over rollers, by which means they are carried from the machine to be
dried and burnt.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Hart in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HART, of Northampton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and.successors.. give, and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Hart, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Hart, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Hart, 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 "AN IMPROVED BRICK-MAKING
MACHINE," upon the condition_(amongst others), that I, the said Thomas
Hart, my executors or administrators by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.
i
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Hart, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
:
This Invention relates to certain machinery for the manufacture of bricks
in a more speedy and efficient manner than by machines hitherto constructed
for that purpose. In order to explain my said Invention as completely as
possible, I now proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for
carrying the same into practical effect, reference being bad' to the illustrative
Sheet of Drawing and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively as follows.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
.".
I employ a metallic framing a, of any convenient form for carrying the
necessary gearing and other machinery required for the purpose, on the top

page_text: of which frame I place a hopper b, through which the clay or loom passes
between jagged rollers c, of any suitable construction for the purpose of partly
pugging the clay, which then passes through rollers d, d, thereby compressing
the clay and breaking the flakes or grain thereof. By employing steam or
other convenient power, and the various cranks and leyers as shewn in the
accompanying Drawing, the whole apparatus is set in motion, causing the clay.
or loom to pass as before described through the various rollers until it arrives
at the lower part of the machine, when by means of horizontal blocks e, e, the
clay is partly compressed: before reaching the, stamper or piston f..which
piston or stamper drives it into cells formed in a drum or cylinder 9, the size
of the brick intended to be made; this drum is so arranged that; as, one brick
is being compressed the one on the opposite side of the drum is being delivered
on to an endless band h, whence, they are taken by hand to the pile for burning.
The drum or cylinder has a series of double-headed pistons i, i, placed within
its interior as shewn, each piston head being formed with a shoulder, so that
when the mould is sufficiently filled the piston head rests on the solid metal-of
the drum at which time the necessary pressure takes place by means of a crank,
cam, or lever, as may be found most convenient to arrange. The cylinder g,
may be extended in length to admit of more than one brick, and the interior
moulds and vertical piston or plunger so formed, that a "keck," or indent
is made on either or both sides of the bricks; the brick after receiving the
required pressure passes on within the cylinder 9, and in its rotary motion is
cut straight on its upper surface by a scraper or knife not shewn in the
Drawing. The upper surface of each piston is lubricated by a suitable elastic
pad supplied with oil or other lubricating fluid, and the cylinder itself is caused
to revolve at intervals, by a catch dropping into ratchet teeth on the periphery
of a disc j, said catch being connected by a bar or rod k, to a cam or crank
on the upper part of the machine. The machine may be so constructed as
to be rendered portable or stationary as may be deemed most expedient. In
some instances it may be better_to feed the clay to the cylinder (according to
its nature,) by means of a screw or worm wheel placed within a cylinder and
actuated by bevelled gearing placed at the rear of the machine, so as to give
it a forward and backward motion, thus not only forcing the clay beneath the
plunger but at the same time pugging it a second time before being forced or
compressed into a solid body.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion, that I do
not confine or restrict myself to the precise details as shewn in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, as other means may be adopted whereby the same.

page_text: results may be obtained without in any way departing from the principle of my
Invention, but what I claim as my Invention intended to be secured to me by
the herein in part recited Letters Patent is;-
Firstly, the circular drum g, with its recesses for the reception of the clay
and the double headed pistons i, i, for the purpose of delivering the bricks after
being pressed and moulded.
Secondly, the vertical plunger f, by which the bricks receive the required
pressure.
And lastly, the general arrangément of the parts herein-described and
shewn in the annexed Sheet of illustrative Drawings for the purposes herein
described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hart, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this 8th day of Feb. in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
THO, S. WRIGHT,
Walgrave,
N. Northampton.
THOS. HART (L.S.)