IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES MADE OF LIKE MATERIALS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WORKMAN, of Stamford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Furnist and
Furnace Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
July, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant. unto
me, the said John Workman, my exors, adñiors, and assigns; Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Work-
man, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Workman, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,, exercise, and vend, witliin
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES
MADE OF LIKE MATERIALS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso that I, the said John Workman, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Workman, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in making bricks, tiles, and other porous earthen-
ware materials non-absorbent or waterproof.
The Drawing represents a machine. The bricks or other articles in a
burned state, and which are to be made non-absorbent, are placed upon an
endless chain, herein-after more fully described, and are thereby conducted into
the hot-air chamber A, which is heated by a suitable furnace capable, when
desired, of raising the temperature to upwards of five hundred degrees. The
bricks or other articles are thence conducted by the endless chains down the
incline to the part B of the apparatus, which forms a cistern or receptacle
for a solution composed of whale or seal oil, in the proportion of one gallon to
a quarter of an ounce of sugar of lead pounded and well mixed. This solu-
tion is supplied from a cistern E placed above B, and the supply is regulated
by the float and valve F. The bricks or articles to be operated upon are,
when in, a heated state, to be thoroughly immersed in the liquid, as exhibited
in the Drawing, and by the motion given to the endless chains they are caused
to pass to the second part C of the heated chamber, in order to harden when
the operation is complete; and the articles operated upon pass from the end-
less chain on to the inclined planie, as shewn, from which they are to be
removed for stacking. After which they should remain for about the space of
fourteen days, submitted, as much as possible, to the action of the atmosphere,
by means of which they will be caused to oxidize, and become waterproof.
For bricks, tiles, or other articles used to face houses and other buildings that
are exposed only to damp atmosphere and rains, and not always in contact
with water, as is the case with those used for wharfs or river walls, may be
operated upon by precisely similar means, merely using linseed oil in pre-
ference to that of the whale or seal, as in the foregoing description; and the
heat of the chamber A in this case may be below five hundred degrees
Fahrenheit. The endless chain is composed of angle or T iron formed into
links, which have pieces of iron G rivetted or otherwise attaclied to them,
which serve as hinge joints, as shewn in the detailed views. The links are
kept equidistant by cross rods J, which are kept in their places by the
thimbles H and the washers and nuts. The links have also cross pieces I, I,
rivetted or screwed thereon, which pieces I, I, carry the bricks or other

page_text: articles to be made more absorbent, and they are further provided with ver-
tical pins j, j, which serve to keep the articles from shifting upon the pieces
I, I, of the chain upon which they are placed. The top of the furnace is
covered with fire tile or plate iron, as may best suit convenience, cither of
which may have a thickness of sand above to prevent the heat from passing
off too freely.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Workman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.