IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Russell Crampton, of Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING BRICKS,
TILES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Sealed the 29th October 1867, and dated the 4th May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Russell Crampton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th May 1867.
I, THOMAS RUSSELL CRAMPTON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING
BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for preparing
clay and for making bricks, tiles, and similar articles.
I
To prepare clay for the manufacture of bricks and for other purposes
cause it to be cut into thin slices or ribands by feeding it regularly forward
to a cutting drum carrying wires strained from side to side, which serve as the
As the clay is thus cut into slices or ribands it is mixed with sand
cutters.

page_text: or other material with which it is desired to combine it, and it is then passed
between crushing rollers.
The machine which I employ for the manufacture of bricks and similar
articles consists of a pair of rollers set somewhat widely apart, through which
the clay is passed to crush it roughly together, and the stream of clay from
these rollers comes up continuously to the cutting drum, and by the wires or
cutters which it carries is divided into thin slices or ribands. The sand or
other material to be mixed with the clay may either be sent through the
rollers together with the clay, so that the rollers may effect a rough mixture,
or it may be allowed to flow regularly on to the stream of clay as it comes
from the rollers, so that the cutting drum may take it with the clay and so
effect a regular admixture. As the clay falls in slices or ribands from the
cutting drum it descends on to a third roller which as it travels on carries
it between itself and the lower roller of the first pair, and so forces it through
a moulding die by which it is formed into a stream suitable for being cut off
into bricks or other articles. The clay as it passes from the die or mould is
cut off into lengths by means of a cutting wire fixed in a frame, and which is
caused to move to and fro by connecting it with the piston of a small steam
cylinder to which steam is admitted first on one side and then on the other
of the piston, and at each motion the cutting wire is driven through the stream
of clay. The valve by which the admission and exhaustion of the steam from
the cylinder is regulated is governed by a roller or instrument moved by the
stream of clay from the die, so that however irregular may be the speed of
this stream the cut off will take place at regular intervals. As the movement
of the cutting frame is necessarily rapid I place the exhaust passages for the
steam at distances from the ends of the cylinder so that the piston may at the
end of each movement be cushioned on the steam in the portion of the
cylinder beyond the exhaust passage. For the supply of steam to commence
the stroke I provide branch passages passing to the ends of the cylinder, so
that whatever the position of the piston the steam may enter beyond it;
these branch passages are fitted with ball or other valves so that the steam
is not able to pass out of the cylinder through them, but only into it. The
bricks are pushed onwards by the stream of clay down a board which is kept
watered, and the lower end of this board comes level with the surface of the
barrow on which the green bricks are to be taken away; the surface of the
barrow is also watered, and a boy without lifting the bricks slides them down
the board into the barrow, which is then wheeled away and another sub-
stituted in its place. In some cases I mount on the cutting drum, in addition

page_text: to the wires or cutters which divide the clay in a direction parallel to the
axis of the drum, other cutters placed alternately with the first, which groove
the clay in a direction at right angles to faces of the slices or ribands which
are cut off so as to divide up the said slices or ribands into smaller pieces.
In place of employing a rotating drum to carry the wires or cutters for
cutting up the clay into slices or ribands a reciprocating frame may be
employed, and it may be worked direct by a steam cylinder or otherwise.
In place of steam compressed air may in some cases be employed. In place
of cutting up the stream of clay into bricks in the manner above described,
a length may be cut off from the stream sufficient for a number of bricks,
and this piece may be slidden down the board till it comes on to a part where
the board has slits through it transversely; here it is allowed to rest for an
instant whilst a frame of wires is passed from side to side, the wires which pass
through the slits in the board divide the clay into a number of bricks, which
are then pushed off the end of the watered board and on to barrows as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Russell Crampton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RUSSELL CRAMPTON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Russell Crampton, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas
Russell Crampton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Russell Crampton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING
BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that 1, the said Thomas Russell Crampton, my executors or administrators,

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Russell Crampton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for preparing
clay, and for making bricks, tiles, and similar articles.
To prepare clay for the manufacture of bricks and for other purposes I
cause it to be cut into thin slices or ribbons by feeding it regularly forward to a
cutting drum carrying wires strained from side to side which serve as the
cutters. As the clay is thus cut into slices or ribbons it is mixed with sand or
other material with which it is desired to combine it, and it is then passed
between crushing rollers.
The machine which I employ for the manufacture of bricks and similar
articles consists of a pair of rollers set somewhat widely apart, through which
the clay is passed to crush it roughly together, and the stream of clay from
these rollers comes up continuously to the cutting drum, and by the wires or
cutters which it carries is divided into thin slices or ribbons. The sand or
other material to be mixed with the clay may either be sent through the
rollers together with the clay, so that the rollers may effect a rough mixture,
or it may be allowed to flow regularly on to the stream of clay as it comes from
the rollers, so that the cutting drum may take it with the clay and so effect a
regular admixture. In some cases I mount on the cutting drum, in addition to
the wires or cutters which divide the clay in a direction parallel to the axis of the
drum, other cutters placed alternately with the first, which groove the clay in
a direction at right angles to faces of the slices or ribbons which are cut off
so as to divide up the said slices or ribbons into smaller pieces. In place of
employing a rotating drum to carry the wires or cutters for cutting up the clay
into slices or ribbons a reciprocating frame may be employed, and it may be
worked direct by a steam cylinder or otherwise. As the clay falls in slices or
ribbons from the cutting drum it descends on to a third roller, which as it s
travels on carries it between itself and the lower roller of the first pair, and so
forces it through a moulding die, by which it is formed into a stream suitable
for being cut off into bricks or other articles. The clay as it passes from the

page_text: die or mould is cut off into lengths by means of a cutting wire fixed in a frame,
and which is caused to move to and fro, thus a length may be cut off from the
stream sufficient for a number of bricks, and this piece may be slidden down
a board or table till it comes on to a part where the board has slits through it
tranversely; here it is allowed to rest whilst a frame of wires is passed from
side to side; the wires which pass through the slits in the board divide the
clay into a number of bricks, which are then pushed off the end of the watered
board and on to barrows, as above.
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a machine thus arranged;
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
a and b are a pair of crushing rollers, to which the clay is fed by means of
the hopper c; these rollers are set somewhat widely apart, and they force the
clay through a die or moulding orifice d, such as is commonly used in brick
machines. I prefer that the die or orifice should be lubricated with water, as
is well understood. In this way the clay is roughly formed into a stream
which passes along on a board e to the drum f, but before it reaches this drum
it passes underneath a funnel g, from which the surface of the stream of clay
receives a layer of sand, and it may be also of breeze, the hopper being divided
into two parts, one of which may contain the sand and the other the breeze.
The periphery of the drum f is formed of a number of strained wires f¹, f',
which as the drum rapidly rotates cut off the clay in thin slices, which fall
upon the lower roller h, and they pass between it and the roller b. In addi-
tion to the wires on the drum f I prefer to fix upon it bars carrying thin steel
teeth; these bars (which are not shown in the Drawing) are arranged alter-
nately with the wires, and they are attached by screws to the ends of the drum.
Each bar is slotted from end to end, and strips of saw-blade steel are fitted
into the slot so as to project through the bar to the extent of, say, about three
inches. The teeth are kept at about half an inch the one from the other by
distance pieces placed in the slot between them. The series of teeth and
distance pieces are pressed and held together by a locking screw at one end
of the bar. When the bars are in their places the teeth project radially aud
about an eighth of an inch beyond the wires. These teeth nick the stream of
clay from the die or orifice d before it is sliced by the wires f',f¹, and so a
further division of the clay is effected; as the teeth wear they may readily be
set up by slacking the binding screw at the end of the bar; the bar may also
be readily removed from the drum for the repair of the teeth. The wire I
employ is hard steel wire about No. 17, and the teeth of saw blade, steel may
be of the same gauge or somewhat thinner, and about to an inch wide.

page_text: In front of the rollers 6 and h there is another die or moulding orifice i which
also I prefer to be lubricated with water; this die or orifice discharges the
materials in a stream suitable to be cut into bricks or other articles on to the
table k; this in the Drawing is represented as horizontal; but it may advan-
tageously be inclined somewhat downwards. k¹ is a groove at the front of
the table to which water is supplied by a small pipe; is an axis running
longitudinally of the table and in the centre thereof; it has a pinion upon
it, as is more clearly seen at Figure 8, which is an end view of this part of
the apparatus. The axis is capable of being raised and lowered at its outer
end by a treddle m on the spindle n; o is an arm on this spindle which by a
rod p is connected with the bearing of the axis l, and this is arranged to traverse
in suitable guides; in this way the pinion can be made to gear alternately
with the toothed ares q', q', on the rocking frame q; at each motion it drives
the frame to one side or the other until the frame comes againt a stop suitably
placed just as the pinion runs off the end of the toothed are into one or other
of the toothless spaces left for it. The frame q is fixed on the shaft r, on
which is an arm s; this arm carries à single strained cutting wire s', and the
frame carries a number of such wires q, q2. The table bas grooves
formed in it for the passage of these wires. The action then is as follows:-
Each time that the treddle m is moved the wire s¹ cuts off a length from the
moving stream of clay, and this length a boy then slides along the wetted
surface of the table until it is opposite to the wires q³, q³. When another
length of clay equal to that first cut off has come upon the table from the die
or orifice the treadle is moved back to its first position, which both causes the
wire s to cut off this other length from the moving stream, and also causes
the wires q² to divide the first length of clay into a number of separate bricks
which will be truly cut because the clay is stationary at the time this cut is
made; the ends of the piece which are imperfect are. returned to the hopper c.
The bricks thus cut are then pushed off the end of the table on to a barrow
so arranged as to come level with the surface of the table; the end of the
barrow is made to turn down on hinges, and as soon as the barrow has received
the bricks the end is turned up to retain the bricks securely as they are
wheeled away. When the boy has cut and moved off one batch of bricks be
at a suitable time cuts another batch, and so the work goes on. The
machine is driven by a belt on the pulleys f³, f, on the axis of the drum f
and on the same axis is a pinion which drives a large spur wheel b¹ on the
axis of the roller b, and from this by wheels 6, a³, and h² the rollers a and h
receive motion. The axis is driven by a bevilled pinion 62 at its end gearing

page_text: with a similar pinion on a transverse shaft which at its end has a belt pulley
and a belt encircles it, and also a pulley f' on the axis of the drum f; t is an
endless apron to return any of the material which may fall beyond the roller h;
the surface speed of this apron should be about double that of the roller h.
The apron is driven by a belt from the axis of this roller; u is a guard board
at the back of the drum f.
It is not essential that the preparing the clay and the making bricks from
it should be effected by one machine; thus a preparing machine may be con-
structed of the parts a, b, c, d, e, f, and g, and the materials prepared by such
a machine may be afterwards moulded by a separate machine or otherwise.
Another convenient way of forming the untempered clay into a rough
stream is by means of a box with a plunger or pusher within it, and this may
be substituted for the rollers a and b; also, it is not essential, although very
convenient, to form the clay into a stream before. slicing. it; in. place thereof
the clay may be fed up to the slicing wires by an endless apron, but in this case
to obtain a good result the operation will require to be several times repeated.
To mould clay thus prepared, or otherwise, a machine may be constructed such
as is shown in section at Figure 4, that is to say, with the three rollers a, b,
and h, and the die or moulding orifice i without the slicing apparatus. In
this arrangement the stream of clay from the rollers a and b falls upon the two
pug shafts v, v, which revolve inward and have blades made of thin steel set
in them in the same way as the bars which the drum f carries; the pug
shafts v, v, should be rapidly driven.
The pug shafts v, v, may be advantageously used in the machine repre-
sented at Figures 1, 2, and 3 to operate on the slices of clay cut by the drum f
before they pass between the rollers 6 and h. In place of cutting off a length
from the moving stream of clay from the die or orifice i, and subsequently
subdividing this length, as already described, the bricks or articles may be cut
from the moving stream by a wire (or wires) receiving a very rapid motion by
connecting it with the piston of a small steam cylinder to which steam is
admitted first on one side and then on the other of the piston, and at each
motion the cutting wire is driven through the stream of clay. The valve by
which the admission and exhaustion of the steam from the cylinder is regulated
is governed by a roller or instrument moved by the stream of clay from the
5 die, so that however irregular may be the speed of this stream the cut-off will
take place in regular lengths. I prefer to cause the stream of clay just as it
issues from the die or orifice to pass over several small rollers with an endless
apron upon them, and the axis of one of these rollers carries cams or other

page_text: x
instruments moving the steam valve in any ordinary manner; the valve
should be so constructed as to open and close rapidly. As the movement of
the cutting frame is necessarily rapid I place the exhaust passages for the
steam at distances from the ends of the cylinder so that the piston may at the
end of each movement pass over the exhaust passage and be cushioned on
the steam in the portion of the cylinder beyond the exhaust passage. For
the supply of steam to commence the stroke I provide branch passages pássing
to the ends of the cylinder, so that whatever the position of the piston the
steam may enter beyond it; these branch passages are fitted with ball or
other valves so that the steam is not able to pass out of the cylinder through
them but only into it; the cutting frame and the moving parts in connection
with it should be made as light as possible. The bricks are pushed onwards
by the stream of clay down a board which is kept watered, and the lower end
of this board comes level with the surface of the barrow on which the green
bricks are to be taken away; the surface of the barrow is also watered, and a
boy without lifting the bricks slides them down the board on to the barrow,
which is then wheeled away and another substituted in its place. If a
number of cutting wires are thus worked there will be short waste pieces
between each batch eut, and these are returned to the hopper c.
Rollers may
be arranged for the stream of clay to travel upon after leaving the moulding
die or orifice.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is the
arranging apparatus to prepare clay for moulding into bricks, tiles, and other
similar articles by cutting the untempered clay into thin slices by means of
cutting wires or blades moving rapidly and continuously, as described.
I also claim the arranging apparatus to form the untempered clay roughly
into a stream, and to slice such stream by means of a rapidly revolving drum
with cutting wires upon it.
I also claim the arrangement of machinery herein described for moulding
clay, such arrangement consisting of three rollers and a die or moulding orifice
so placed that the clay. after passing between the upper and the central
roller may descend on to the lower roller and be carried between it and the
central roller to the forming die or orifice.
I also claim the so arranging the machinery that by a cutting wire a length
may be cut off from the stream of clay issuing from the forming die or orifice
and slid along a table until it is brought opposite to a frame of cutting wires
which are passed through the length of clay while it remains stationary, the

page_text: single wire and the frame of wires being connected together so as to move
simultaneously.
I also claim the cutting bricks, tiles, or blocks from a moving stream of
clay by means of a cutting wire or wires actuated by a steam cylinder, the
valves of which are governed by the flow of the clay.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Russell Crampton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
T. R. CRAMPTON. (L.S.)