IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE SYSTEM OR MODE OF TREATING CLAY FOR POTTERS' USE IN FORMING ARTICLES IN POTTERY, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Cochran, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE SYSTEM OR MODE OF TREATING CLAY FOR POTTERS' USE IN
FORMING ARTICLES IN POTTERY, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR
MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 20th December 1864, and dated the 23rd June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Cochran at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1864.
I, ROBERT COCHRAN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE SYSTEM OR MODE OF TREATING CLAY FOR POTTERS' USE IN FORMING
ARTICLES IN POTTERY, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED
THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the system or mode of
treating clay to be used for the manufacture of various articles in pottery, and
consists, firstly, in the employment of machinery for stamping out the batts
from which the finished article is to be made. The machine, by preference,
employed for this purpose consists chiefly of two faces or discs, both made of
stucco or any other suitable material fitted and fixed on to a shaft, block,
frame or frames moving in suitable slides or bearings, one or both of which
have a reciprocating or alternate motion imparted to them by eccentrics, cams,

page_text: or cranks keyed on an approximate revolving shaft, or this motion may be
imparted to them by any other convenient system of mechanism. The plates
of stucco are arranged either vertically or horizontally, or in any other con-
venient position, and they are regulated to produce a batt or batts of any
desired thickness.
The second part of this Invention relates to the stamping of articles in
pottery by such a machine, or one in most respects similar to that herein-before
referred to. The articles which it is found most advantageous to employ
machinery for stamping are plates, dishes, saucers, bowls, cover dishes, and in
general every similar kind of article in pottery. Instead of using flat surfaces,
the faces of the machine are made of various forms to suit the two sides of
the article to be produced; for instance, if it is required to stamp a plate, one
of the faces is made of the form to suit the interior shape of the plate, whilst
the other face is made of such form as to produce the exterior shape. The
motion of the machine is regulated that the faces or stamps approach each
other to any degree of precision, a space being left between them equivalent
in width to the thickness of the article to be produced. The motion or
amount of travel, as well as the distance between the stamps, is regulated by
an adjustable cam or crank fixed to an approximate shaft, or it may be regu-
lated by, any other convenient arrangement of mechanism, the essential part
of this Invention being the employment and application of machinery for
producing articles in pottery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Cochran in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
COCHRAN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Cochran, Her special license that I, the said Robert
Cochran, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Robert Cochran, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time

page_text: 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 THE SYSTEM OR MODE OF TREATING
CLAY FOR POTTERS' USE IN FORMING ARTICLES IN POTTERY, AND IN THE MACHINERY,
APPARATUS, OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert Cochran, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and
seal of one of them, 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 Robert Cochran, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in the system or mode
of treating clay to be used for the manufacture of various articles in pottery,
and consists, firstly, in the employment of machinery for stamping out the
batts from which the finished article is to be made. The machine by pre-
ference employed for this purpose consists chiefly of two faces or discs, both
made of stucco or any other suitable material fitted and fixed on to a shaft,
block, frame or frames moving in suitable slide bearings, one or both of which
have a reciprocating or alternate motion imparted to them by excentrics,
cams, or cranks keyed on an approximate revolving shaft, or this motion may
be imparted to them by any other convenient system of mechanism. The
plates of stucco are arranged either vertically or horizontally, or in any other
convenient position, and they are regulated to produce a batt or batts of any
desired thickness.
The second part of this Invention relates to the stamping of articles in
pottery by such a machine, or one in most respects similar to that herein-
before referred to. The articles which it is found most advantageous to
employ machinery for stamping are plates, dishes, saucers, bowls, cover dishes,
and in general every similar kind of article in pottery. Instead of using
flat surfaces, the faces of the machine are made of various forms to suit the
two sides of the article to be produced; for instance, if it is required to stamp
a plate, one of the faces is made to suit the interior shape of the plate, whilst

page_text: the other face is made of the form to suit the exterior shape. The motion of
the machine is regulated that the faces or stamps approach each other to any
degree of precision, a space being left between them equivalent in width to
the thickness of the article to be produced. The motion or amount of travel,
as well as the distance between the stamps, is regulated by an adjustable cam
or crank fixed to an approximate shaft, or it may be regulated by any other
convenient arrangement of mechanism.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the system, mode, or manner in which the same is
or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to the
several Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I have here-
unto appended, and in each of which corresponding parts are indicated by
similar letters of reference, that is to say,-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine for treating clay for
use in the manufacture of pottery; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same
machine; and Figure 3 is a corresponding plan.
In all the Figures A is the framing of the machine, and it carries all the
moveable parts. This framing is formed, as will be seen on referring to
Figure 1, with two projections B at its upper part; these projections are
formed so that the moveable bar C may reciprocate therein in a vertical
direction, the bar C being kept in the bearings by means of the caps B',
which are fixed thereto by means of bolts, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. To
the lower end of the bar C there is fixed the block of stucco C, which com-
presses the lumps of clay upon the tables D and D¹, as these are alternately
brought under it. In the upper part of the framing A a horizontal circular
hole is formed, into which is fitted so as to be capable to revolve the
shaft E, to the inner end of which is keyed the crank disc F, carrying the
crank pin F', and as the disc is revolved the circular motion of the pin F' is
converted into a vertically reciprocating motion of the bar C by means of the
connecting rod G which communicates the motion from the former to the
latter. At the outer end of the shaft E there is keyed the large spur wheel H,
and into it is geared the pinion H¹ in the prime motion shaft I, to which
rotation is imparted by means of the bolt J, which passes over and actuates
the fast pulley of the system of fast and loose pulleys K. To the further end
of the shaft I there is fixed the fly wheel L, by which the motion of the
machine generally is equalized. On the shaft E there is keyed the pinion M,
which gears into the teeth of and gives motion to the spur wheel N, carrying
the crank pin N¹, to which is connected the rod O, and as the pin revolves,
motion is, by means of the intervention of the rod O, communicated to the

page_text: lever P, keyed on one end of the moveable shaft Q; there is also keyed a
similar lever P¹, attached to which is the connecting rod R, by means of
which, when the entire is in motion, the tables D and D¹, fixed to the sliding
bed plate S, are caused to be alternately situated immediately beneath the
stacco block C, so that as the latter is moving in the downward stroke either
one table or the other is approaching to it in such manner that when the
stucco table D, carrying the lump of clay T and the stucco block C³, are
in the position to flatten the clay, the table is then directly under the block.
So soon as the lamp T is flattened, the rod C, carrying the block C³, is again
raised, when the attendant removes the flattened lump, and placing thereon a
fresh lump, the rod C, having by this time nearly completed its upward
stroke again descends to flatten a similar lump upon the opposite stucco
table D', and so on in succession for any number of lumps of clay. The dis-
tance between the moveable tables D and D¹ and the block C' is capable of
alteration so as to form different thicknesses of the flattened material as may
be required, the distance between the tables and blocks being capable of
adjustment by means of the screw U, actuated by the hand wheel U¹ at the
top of the rod carrying the moveable block C¹.
It is obvious that the arrangement of mechanism herein-before described
and delineated in the accompanying Drawings is susceptible both in part and
wholly of numerous modifications; and I wish it to be distinctly understood
that the mechanical arrangements may be entirely deviated from without
departing from what I consider to be the chief feature of my said Invention,
namely, the use and application of plates or lumps of stucco as the material of
which the faces between which the clay is compressed and flattened are made,
nearly all other materials at present known being found inapplicable for the
purpose from the fact of the clay adhering to them after the compression has
taken place, whereas no such result is found to ensue when faces of stucco are
employed, as the compressed lump is removed with facility by the attendant
from either the table D or D¹, on which it is left as soon as the rod C together
with its block C¹ commences to move upward.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine myself to the precise details or
arrangements herein-before described and referred to as many variations may
be made therefrom without deviating from the true principles or main features
of my said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original, and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,-

page_text: First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for compressing and flattening lumps of clay to be used for the manufacture
of articles of pottery, substantially as herein-before described, or any mere
modification thereof.
Second, the use, application, and employment of blocks or faces of stucco
for compressing and flattening lumps of clay and other similar substances out
of which articles of pottery are formed, substantially as herein-before described,
or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Cochran, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
ROBERT COCHRAN.
(L.B.)