IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK MACHINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lampas Gregg, of Philadelphia, in the County
. of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, and United States of America, Brick
Manufacturer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK MACHINES."
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. the said William Lampas Gregg at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th July 1880.
WILLIAM LAMPAS 'GREGG, of Philadelphia, in the County of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania, and United States of America, Brick Manufacturer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK MACHINES."
The object of the Invention is to provide a simple, compact, and efficient
machine, by the use of which clay, in the condition in which it is taken from the
bank, may, after being properly disintegrated, be subjected to the pressure requisite
for compacting it into bricks of uniform texture, density, and dimensions, and
which may likewise be used for the purpose of repressing previously formed
bricks.
+
To these ends the improvements consist, first, in the combination with a mould
box and pressing mechanism of an agitated feed hopper, through which clay is
supplied to the mould box; second, in the combination with a mould box and
pressing mechanism of a feed hopper and a feed or forming box; third, in the
combination with a mould box and pressing mechanism of a feed box having a
longitudinal tenon or filling piece, by which its transverse section is reduced at and
adjacent to its centre; fourth, in the combination with a mould box and pressing
mechanism of a feed box and an adjustable feed slide for varying the quantity of
clay fed to the mould box; fifth, in the combination with a mould box and pressing
mechanism, of a feed box having a side opening, removable door, and guide for the
insertion of bricks to be repressed; sixth, in the combination with a mould box and
pressing plunger of a pressure cam having a recess in its periphery, and steel shoes
or segments fitting the recess in the pressure cam, for the purpose of varying, as
desired, the thickness of the bricks manufactured or the pressure upon the clay in
the mould box; and, seventh, in the combination of a mould box, a pressing plunger
reciprocating therein, and a lower guide.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Lampas Gregg in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
January 1881.
WILLIAM LAMPAS GREGG, of Philadelphia, in the County of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania, and United States of America, Brick Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK MACHINES."
The object of the Invention is to provide a simple, compact, and efficient
machine, by the use of which clay, in the condition in which it is taken from the
bank, may, after being properly disintegrated, be subjected to the pressure requisite
for compacting it into bricks of uniform texture, density, and dimensions, and
which may likewise be used for the purpose of repressing previously formed bricks.
To these ends my improvements consist in certain novel devices and combinations
of devices hereinafter fully set forth.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, in elevation, of a brick
machine embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section at
the line 1, 1, of Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section at the line 2, 2, of
Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a plan or top view; and Fig. 5, a vertical transverse section through
the feed hopper. In Fig. 1 the pressure plate is shown as elevated to admit of the
discharge of a finished brick, and in Figs. 2 and 3 the pressure plate and plunger
are depressed and in the position they occupy when the mould box is receiving a
charge of clay.
The frame of the machine consists of two vertical housings A, united by a cap
plate a and lower brace rod's a'. A borizontal driving shaft B, mounted in bearings
in the housings, carries upon one end a driving pulley B¹, to which power is
communicated from a prime mover, and upon the other a spur pinion b meshing
with a gear c upon one end of a cam shaft C; a balance wheel B is secured upon
the driving shaft B to impart greater steadiness and regularity to the working of
the machine. An open topped mould box D is formed upon or secured to the cap
plate a above and in line with the cam shaft C, and a piston or plunger D¹ is fitted
accurately within the mould. box, its upper surface being preferably faced with
steel. A downwardly projecting bar d is secured to each side of the plunger D¹ at
the lower portion thereof, which is recessed or reduced in width to admit of the
free passage of the arms in the mould box on the upward movement of the plunger,
and long slots are formed in the arms, through which slots the cam shaft C passes.
The plunger is elevated for the purpose of pressing and discharging the brick by a
cam C' secured upon the shaft C, on which cam a roller d¹ jourṇalled in the bars d
rest, and the downward movement of the plunger is effected by cams C2 secured on
the shaft C, and bearing on lower rollers d² on the bars d. The bars d are
prolonged below the rollers d², and their true rectilineal movement is assured by a
transverse lower guide a² secured to the housings A, within which guide their
lower ends slide freely as the bars are raised and lowered by the cams C and C¹
respectively.
.
The mould box D communicates through a feed opening e in one of its sides with
a horizontal feed or forming box E formed upon or secured to the cap plate a of
the machine, and having a vertical trunk or feed spout E¹ upon its upper side. A
feed hopper E2 having a flaring or funnel shaped mouth is suspended between
collars or shoulders, or in a square frame upon a horizontal shaft e mounted, with
the capacity of end motion, in bearings in the feed spout E, near its top, and, is
provided with a discharge spout e2, which extends downwards within the feed
spout E¹ to or near the opening through which the latter communicates with the
feed box E, the spout e² being tapered outwards from its upper to its lower end, so
as to ensure the unobstructed discharge into the feed box of the clay supplied to
the hopper. Lateral vibration is imparted to the feed hopper E2 by the rotation of

page_text: a pulley e mounted loosely on the shaft e¹, on which the hopper is hung, and having
a series of ratchet teeth formed upon one of its sides working against corresponding
teeth on a collar es secured upon the shaft, and thereby moving the shaft end wise
in its bearings for a distance equivalent to the depth of a ratchet during the
passage of each ratchet of the pulley over a ratchet of the collar, the shaft being
correspondingly moved in the opposite direction by a spring e bearing against a
collar on its opposite end. The pulley e' is rotated by a belt from a pulley e³ upon
the driving shaft.
The feed or forming box E is of substantially rectangular form, except in the
particular that in order to cause the clay to be fed and distributed from the centre
towards the ends of the mould box its cross section is contracted at and on each
side of its centre by a longitudinal V shaped tenon or filling piece e, extending
along its bottom from the feed opening e to a point on the opposite side of the feed
spout E. As a result of this construction greater perfection in the corners, edges,
and angles of the bricks is attained by reason of the pressure being exerted from
the ends towards the centre of the brick instead of from the centre to the ends, as
has heretofore been the case. The clay supplied to the feed box E is pressed into
the mould box D, through the opening e, by a reciprocating feed slide or plunger F
fitting neatly. within the feed box, and having its bottom recessed comformably
with the tenon e, over which it passes in its traverse. Movement is imparted to
the feed slide by the upper arms of two bell crank levers F¹ secured upon a shaft f¹.
mounted in bearings in the lower part of the housings A, said levers carrying
rollers on the ends of their lower arms, which rollers work in grooves in the
cams C2 on the shaft C. The upper arms of the levers F¹ are journalled to short
links f, by which they are connected to a shaft 2 passing through slots in the sides
of the feed box and through the feed slide F, and the feed slide may be adjusted
relatively to the shaft f2 and pause or lost motion be admitted, so as to vary the
amount of clay fed to the pressing plunger by set screws f³, f, each of which
engages a nut in the feed slide in line with the shaft f. The traverse of the feed
slide in the direction opposite to the mould box is limited by set screws ƒ³ engaging
nuts in the top of the feed box.
For the purpose of admitting of the introduction of bricks to be repressed I
provide an opening in the side of the feed box E adjacent to the mould box, closed
by a door E³, which is removed during repressing, and secured in position during
the operation of the machine in making bricks, and a guide E is secured to the
feed box to ensure the insertion of the bricks in a direction parallel to the face of
the feed slide, by which they are pushed into the mould box.
The traverse of the pressing plunger may be varied so as to form bricks of
different thicknesses or to impart different degrees of pressure to the clay by the
insertion of steel shoes or segments c', of different thicknesses respectively, in a
recess formed in that portion of the periphery of the pressing cam C¹ which bears
upon the roller d' of the pressing plunger during the application of pressure to the
clay in the mould box, the thickness of the segment employed in each particular
instance being regulated by the nature of the clay, the pressure required, and the
thickness desired for the finished brick. The pressure imparted to the clay by the
plunger D' in the formation of the brick is applied against a pressure plate F
resting upon the top of the mould box, and connected by vertical rods f passing
through guides d³ on the sides of the mould box with rollers f¹ fitted to grooves
formed in the cams C2 on the shaft C. The curvature and throw of these cam
grooves, and their position relatively to that of the pressing cam C¹, are such that
during the operation of pressing the brick the plate F is held firmly in position
against the top of the mould box, and immediately thereafter the grooves of the
cams C² acting on the rollers f¹ impart an upward motion to the plate F coincident
with that of the plunger D', and elevate the plate into the position shown in Fig. 1
to admit of the removal of the finished brick, after which they return it to
its former position against the top of the mould box in readiness for the next
operation.

page_text: The throw of the pressure cam C is sufficient to elevate the top of the plunger
upon which the compacted brick rests to the level of the top of the mould box, and
the brick is pushed off the plunger to a table D2, or to a conveyor belt, by the
discharging mechanism shown in the Drawings, or otherwise, as may be preferred.
I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-
1. The combination in a brick machine of an open topped mould box, a recipro-
cating plunger working therein, a pressure plate closing the top of the mould box,
and an agitated or vibrating feed hopper through which clay is fed by its own
gravity to the mould box.
2. The combination in a brick machine of a vertical open topped mould box, a
reciprocating plunger working therein, a pressure plate closing the top of the mould
hox, a feed hopper, a horizontal feed box communicating with the mould box, and a
reciprocating feed slide or plunger by which clay is supplied intermittently from
the feed box to the mould box.
3. The combination in a brick machine of a mould box and pressing mechanism,
a feed box communicating with the mould box through an opening in its side, and
a longitudinal tenon or filling piece by which the transverse section of the feed box
is contracted or reduced at and near its centre.
4. The combination in a brick machine of a mould box and pressing mechanism,
a feed box communicating with the mould box through an opening in its side, and
an adjustable feed slide or plunger by which the quantity of clay supplied from the
feed box to the mould box may be varied as required.
5. The combination in a brick machine of a mould box and pressing mechanism,
a feed box communicating with said mould box through an opening in its side, a
feed slide or plunger reciprocating in the feed box, and a removable door fitting
into a side opening in the feed box for the insertion of bricks to be repressed.
6. The combination in a brick machine of a feed box and a feed slide recipro-
cating therein, a removable door fitting a side opening in the feed box, and an outer
guide secured to the feed box, adjacent to the side opening thereof, perpendicular to
the line of movement of the feed slide.
7. The combination in a brick machine of a mould box, a plunger reciprocating
therein, and a pressing cam operating said plunger, and having a recess formed in
that portion of its periphery by which pressure is imparted to receive a removable
shoe or segment.
8. The combination in a brick machine of a mould box, a pressing plunger
reciprocating therein, and a lower guide for the plunger rods or bars in line with
the mould box.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lampas Gregg, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Fifteenth day of December 1880
Witnesses,
R. C. MITCHELL;
S. F. GRAY.
WILLIAM LAMPAS GREGG. (L.S.)