IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK- MAKING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Liddell, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK-
MAKING MACHINES."
Sealed the 6th April 1875, and dated the 12th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Liddell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th October 1874.
I, JOHN LIDDELL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN BRICKMAKING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to
say:-
This Invention which relates to improvements in machines for manu-
facturing bricks by compressing them into moulds has for its object to
simplify the construction of such machines to diminish their cost, and to
cause them to occupy less space than hitherto. The mechanism is driven
from a first motion horizontal shaft on which is a bevil pinion gearing

page_text: into a bevil wheel on the vertical shaft of the machine. The vertical
shaft of the machine carries the blades by which the pug mill is operated,
and at or near to its lower part a crank is situated provided with an
antifriction roller which in rotating acts upon a horizontal adjustable
slide block, the effect of which is to reciprocate the slide block. The
reciprocating motion of the slide block is communicated by connecting
rods to a crank which is thereby vibrated on a rocking shaft, and to the
upper part of this crank the slides in which the moulds are situated are
connected so that they are alternately brought under the discharge
mouth of the pug mill to receive the clay to be formed into a brick.
1
The pressing blocks by which the bricks are forced into the moulds are
actuated from the first motion shaft by a crank and adjustable guide
acting on the levers to which they are connected, the adjustable slide
being constructed similarly to the slide blocks herein-before described
by which the mould slides are operated. In place however of operating 1
the pressing blocks from the first motion shaft, the levers to which they
under that arrangement are connected are dispensed with, and the shafts
are provided with rollers between which cams placed at the upper part
of the pug mill pass so that they are alternately raised and depressed.
Under another arrangement the pressing blocks are actuated by :
tappets on the mould slide, a counterbalance weight being employed to
raise the pressing block after the tappets have depressed it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Liddell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LIDDELL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the 3
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the 38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Liddell, Her special license
that I, the said John Liddell, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said John Liddell, my executors,
administrators, or 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
BRICKMAKING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Liddell, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 John Liddell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, 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 which relates to improvements in machines for
manufacturing bricks by compressing them into moulds has for its
object to simplify the construction of such machines, to diminish their
cost, and to cause them to occupy less space than hitherto. The
mechanism is driven from a first motion horizontal shaft on which is a
bevil pinion gearing with a bevil wheel on the vertical shaft of the machine.
The said vertical shaft carries the rotating blades of the pug mill, and
at or near to its lower part a crank is situated provided with an anti-
friction roller which in rotating acts upon a horizontal adjustable slide
block, the effect of which is to reciprocate the slide block or frame.
The reciprocatory motion of the slide block or frame is communicated
by connecting rods to an arm or crank which is thereby vibrated on a
rocking shaft, and to the upper part of this arm or crank the slides in
which the moulds are situated are attached so that they are alternately
brought under the discharge mouth of the pug mill to receive the clay
to be formed into a brick.

page_text: guide similar to that already described as operating the brick mould
slides, or they may be driven from the vertical shaft of the machine by
means of a cam situated at the upper part of the vertical shaft, and
acting upon rollers carried in rods attached to the pressing blocks which
are thereby raised and depressed at the proper intervals.
Under another arrangement the pressing blocks are actuated by
tappets on the mould slides, a counterweight being employed to raise
the pressing blocks after the tappets have depressed them.
5
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner 1
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say: -
Figure 1 on the annexed Sheet of Drawings is a front elevation of the
improved brickmaking machine constituting my said Invention, Figure 21
being an elevation of the same at right angles to Figure 1. The machine
is driven from the shaft A carried in bearings B, and upon which is a
bevil pinion O gearing with a bevil wheel D fixed to the lower extremity
of the vertical shaft E. The lower end of the vertical shaft E is sup-
ported in a step or socket bearing F, whilst the upper end is carried in 2
bearings formed in the beam G, which beam G also serves to bind
together the side frames H standing upon the upper part of the pug
mill I. Any required number of the ordinary pug mill screw blades J
are fixed upon the shaft E, so that when the shaft E is caused to revolve
in the pug mill I the screw blades J mix or stir, and at the same time 2
force the clay out of the pug mill (through passages near the bottom)
into the brick moulds formed in the slides K. The slides K are reci-
procated by mechanism, shewn more particularly in plan at Figure 3 of
the Drawings; it consists of a crank L fixed upon the vertical shaft E and
situated beneath the pug mill. The crank L carries an antifriction 8
roller M, which when the shaft E revolves bears alternately upon the
adjustable bars O and P which are fixed by jamb nuts to rods Q sliding
in guides in the brackets R; thus by the action of the crank L. the
sliding frame consisting of the bars O and P and rods Q is alternately
and intermittently traversed forwards and backwards, and a vibratory or 8
rocking motion is thereby imparted through the connecting links S and
shaft S₁ to the levers or cranks T situated on the rocking shaft U. The

page_text: slides K are attached by connecting links W to the upper parts of the
cranks or levers T, so that as the cranks T are vibrated the slides K are
correspondingly traversed in the slide beds formed at the upper parts of
the standards X, Y, Z.
•
The pressing blocks a (one being situated on each side of the machine)
are actuated from a cam 6 at the upper end of the shaft E, guides c
and dare carried on the frames H, and in the guides c, d, slots or slide
beds are formed, slides e being placed therein. Upon the slides e anti-
friction rollers fare situated in such a position as to be acted upon by
the cam 6, which when revolving causes the slides e to rise and fall in
the guides c, d, and the pressing blocks a being connected to the slides e
by the rods they are thereby raised and lowered. When the clay has
been thus forced by the pressing blocks a into the moulds formed in the
slides K the slides K are slid by the herein-before described mechanism
so as to bring another mould opposite to and below the pressing blocks a
which are then again lowered upon the clay at the same time that the
brick last made is being forced out of the mould by one of the pressers น
which are actuated from a cam i fixed upon the shaft E. Weights ; are
attached to the pressers 7, and to the weights j rods are fixed, their
lower ends sliding vertically in guides situate in the lower part of the
pug mill I, as shewn. Rods are also attached at right angles to the
rods, the inner extremities of the rods 7 being provided with anti-
friction rollers m which bear upon the cam i so that by adjusting the
cam i on the shaft E the pressers h may be made to fall at the proper
intervals for removing the bricks from the moulds in the slides K, a
shoot, table, or other receptacle being provided to receive the bricks as
they are pushed out of the moulds.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is or may be practised, I
desire to observe in conclusion that I am aware that brickmaking
machines having a vertical pug mill, horizontal mould slides, and
pressers have hitherto been in common use, and I therefore make no
claim to such features except in combination with the other features
constituting my present Invention, what then I do consider to be novel
and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. Actuating the sliding table containing the brick moulds by
means of a crank revolving in a horizontal plane and acting upon an

page_text: adjustable horizontal guide, substantially as herein-before described and
shewn.
Second. Actuating the pressing blocks by means of a cam situated
upon the vertical shaft of the pug mill, as herein-before described and
shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Liddell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.