IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY, MATERIAL, AND APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND POTTERY WARE, AND WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Stone, of King William Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY,
MATERIAL, AND APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND
POTTERY WARE, AND WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION AND
WORKING OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Stone at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th September 1881.
ROBERT STONE, of King William Street, in the City of London, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY, MATERIAL, AND APPARATUS USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND POTTERY WARE, AND WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO
THE CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS."
The object of my said improvements is to promote economy in the manufacture
of bricks and pottery ware by utilising materials not hitherto used in such
manufacture, to promote economy of fuel in the working of steam and other boilers,
and in utilising the waste heat from blast furnaces.
In the manufacture of bricks, pipes, tiles, sets, slabs, cills, caps, ornaments,
ballustrades, and other pottery ware, I make use of river mud direct from the bed
or deposit of the river. Instead of washing or digging or puddling the mud, I
use it direct from its natural bed by running it through corrugated rolls working
into each other, or by any other suitable machinery, and while soft and incapable
of retaining any shape I mix therewith roasted ground lime, or hot or waste
ground chalk, or roasted sand, in order to absorb the moisture in the mud or clay.
By this method I am able to work it direct from the bed of the river in wet or
dry weather. The clay or river mud being plastic and fiue in texture will work
up into the articles named above in a superior manner, and such articles will be
very durable at high temperatures when used in furnaces, kilns, retorts, and like
purposes thereto. After the first burning of the aforesaid articles I allow them to
Paing A71

page_text: cool down, and then reburn them at a much higher temperature until they become
vitrified. This treatment makes the bricks suitable for lining furnaces. I burn
the foregoing materials in a similar manner to that which I make use of in burning
cement, with the exception that I use all the fuel direct under the kilns, that is,
by a powerful volume of under or over blast, or by a suction blast. I utilize the
waste heat from the tops or sides of the kilns or furnaces for drying the materials
before burning. In the boilers I use for the engines I make pipes from the afore-
said clay, and set them, encased in iron pipes. In these fire clay plain tubes or
tubes with checks or curves at intervals are fitted or placed to prevent the beat
from passing away too quickly before it has been absorbed. These fire clay tubes
will retain the heat much longer than the ordinary Galloway or other iron tubes
usually inserted in boilers. One large pipe in the centre of a boiler will be much
more effective than the ordinary tubes in a multitubular boiler, and will never
collapse or burn out, as the action of the fire takes place upon the terra cotta or fire
proof pipe instead of the iron tube. A great saving of fuel is effected by this
mode of fitting boiler flue tubes.
In pressing or forming bricks, blocks, tiles, pipes, and other similar articles, I use
a machine with plungers and a ram worked by cams or by a screw. I force the
clay through dies or forms of a diminished size for a certain distance, and make
the delivery end the correct size to suitably shape such articles. I prefer to make
the dies of polished plate glass. A continuous core or cores of clay is forced by
the ram or scrow through the dies to and upon a glass receiving table. The sudden
action of the cam or table is so arranged as to cut off the bricks and force them
on.a.band-or-boards-without-cutting-tho-core-into-lengths,-thus-effecting_great_
saving in labour. Instead of using the ordinary wire cutting table, I place the
wires or knives in a slanting stationary position and force the said core
or cores by means of a cam, screw, or lever, against the stationary wires
or knives, keeping the action continuous on the knives or wires, and thus doing
away with the ordinary way of cutting the core from the delivery mouths into
lengths. The side guides pass over the bed plate, which I prefer to be of plate
glass. By this method the act of cutting by the wires or knives is continuous,
and the production is greatly facilitated. I also attach and fit up and use an
oil brush to oil the bed plate supplied by a stationary oil feeder.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Stone in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th March
1882.
ROBERT STONE, of King William Street, in the City of London, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY, MATERIAL, AND APPARATUS USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND POTTERY WARE, AND WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO
THE CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS."
The object of my said improvements is to promote economy in the materials,
and in the manufacture of bricks and pottery ware, by utilizing materials not
hitherto used in such manufacture, to promote economy of fuel in the working of
steam and other boilers, and to utilise the waste heat from blast furnaces.
In the manufacture of bricks, pipes, tiles, sets, slabs, cills, caps, ornaments,
balustrades, and other pottery ware, I make use of river mud direct from the bed
or deposit of the river. Instead of washing or digging or puddling the mud, I used
it direct from its natural bed by running it while in a plastic state through_corru-
gated rolls working into each other in the manner described in certain Letters
Patent, dated the 12th September 1878, No. 3605, and 24th June 1879, No. 2535,
granted to Thomas Corry Stone, and also in my previous Letters Patent, dated
21st May 1880, No. 2070, and 18th May 1881, No. 2171, or by any other suitable
machinery. I also sometimes mix therewith waste ground lime or hot or waste
ground chalk or roasted sand in order to absorb the moisture in the mud or clay.
By this method I am able to work it direct from the bed of the river in wet or dry
weather. The clay or river mud being plastic and fine in texture will work up in
the articles named above in a superior manner, and such articles will be very
durable when subjected to high temperatures, when used in furnaces, kilns,
retorts, and other works requiring refractory materials. After the first burning of
the aforesaid articles I allow them to cool down, and then reburn them at a much
higher temperature until they become vitrified. This treatment makes the bricks
suitable for the above mentioned purposes. I burn the foregoing materials in a
similar manner to that which I make use of in burning cement, as described in the
said former Patents, with the exception that I use all the fuel direct under the
kilns, that is, by a powerful volume of under or over blast, or by a suction blast.
I utilize the waste heat from the tops or sides of the kilns or furnaces for drying
the materials before burning, or I may return the waste into the kilns for burning
or drying. I use a machine with plungers, and a ram worked by cams or by a
screw, as described in my former Patents. I force the clay through dies or forms
of a diminished size for a certain distance, and make the delivery end the correct
size to suitably shape such articles. I prefer to make the dies of polished plate
glass. A continuous core or cores of clay is forced by the ram or screw through the
dies to and upon a glass receiving table. The sudden action of the cam or table
is so arranged as to cut off the bricks and force them on a band or boards without
cutting the core into lengths, thus effecting great saving in labour. Instead of
using the ordinary wire cutting table I place the wires or knives in a slanting
stationary position, and force the said core or cores by means of a cam, screw, or.
lever against the stationary wires or knives, keeping the action upon the knives or
wires continuous, and thus superseding the ordinary mode of cutting the core from
the delivery mouth into lengths. The side guides pass over the bed plate, for
which I prefer to use plate glass; by this method the act of cutting by the wires
or knives is continuous, and the production is greatly facilitated. I also attach
and fit up and use an oil brush to oil the bed plate, the oil being supplied by a
suitable feeder.

page_text: When I require to mix chalk or any other colouring material or substance with
the clay, I sometimes use (in preference to the mills described in the said former
Patents) a grinding or pulverising machine consisting of a drum running against a
cone or cylinder, or a cone inside a cylinder. The cylinder may be stationary
while the cone revolves, or the cylinder may also revolve in a contrary direction to
that of the cone in order to facilitate the operation, this method being superior to
that with the ordinary fat or horizontal surfaces. The vertical position of the
cylinder and cone also allows a large quantity of material to be put into the
machine at a time, and increases the fineness of the grinding, the distance between
the grinding surfaces being regulated to insure the necessary degree of fineness.
When necessary an archimedean screw may be used to facilitate the passage of the
material through the machine.
This arrangement is suitable for grinding fine plastic materials in a stiffer state
than by ordinary methods, thus effecting a great saving in materials which after-
wards require drying, as there is much less moisture to be driven off and
evaporated.
In adopting my said Invention to improvements in steam boiler furnaces, I line
the flues with suitably formed pipes or internal linings made from the aforesaid
material, such linings having checks or curvas formed therein at intervals in order
the more effectually to arrest, absorb, and utilize the heat, and prevent it from
escaping with too great rapidity; these fire. clay tubes. retain the heat, and are
more effective than Galloway or other tubes, one large circular flue in the centre of
a boiler being much more effective than a number of tubes as usually arranged in
-a-multitubular-boiler-The-terra cotta or fire proof lining protects the metal flue
from the action_of_the_fire, making-it-moro-durable-and-effecting-a-great-saving-in-
fuel.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim and desire to be secured to me is,
1. The novel process of treating and utilizing river mud direct from the bed or
deposit of the river, and the application of the resulting products for manufacturing
brick and pottery ware, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The use and application of the improved mills, machinery, and arrangements
for effecting the said manufacture, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The use and application of the said resulting products for lining the flues of
steam boilers, for the purposes and in the manner substantially as bersinbefore
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Stone, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.