IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING CLAY TO THE FORM OF BRICKS AND TILES, AND ALSO FOR MIXING, COMPRESSING, AND MOULDING OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES,
WHITE, of Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of November, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James White, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said James White, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James White, my exors, adiiors, 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, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING
CLAY TO THE FORM OF BRICKS AND TILES, AND ALSO FOR MIXING, COMPRESSING, AND
MOULDING OTHER SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said James White, shall cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said 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: moulding clay to the form of bricks and tiles, with a portion of it removed;
and Figure 2 is an elevation of the machine with several parts of it in section,
for the purpose of showing the internal construction more clearly.
Figure 3
is an end view of the cutting apparatus which divides the moulded clay into
the lengths required, removed from its placed, which is in front of the machine.
There are two, one on each side, as represented by the plan, Figure 1. In
preparing the clay for moulding when necessary to crush it, I prefer to do so
between rollers grooved and ribbed, the ribs of the one working into the
grooves of the other, which will break up the clay more effectually than by
crushing it between two rollers having plain cylindrical surfaces. When tho
clay has been prepared for moulding, it is conveyed into the machine by the
aperture a, Figure 2, on an endless band, or by a shovel, or the aperture may
be lower down, opposite the screw b, on the hollow lubricating shaft c, and the
clay impelled into it direct by the force of the crushing rollers. In this case
the screw may be placed in a horizontal position, and the aperture a be above
it. The power which gives motion to this machine is applied to the vertical
shaft d, and by means of the pinione working into the wheelf the screw and
shaft c are put in motion. This shaft is supported and retained by one bearing
at top, and the screw b is turned and fitted to the cylinder in which it revolves
at bottom. There is a stuffing box g fitted to the top of the lubricating shaft
c, which receives the end of the pipe h that supplies the chamber in the shaft
with water.
When the machine is used for making bricks and tiles, a brass

page_text: b
plate i is screwed on the lower end of the shaft c, and prevents the water
which it contains escaping in that direction. But when it is used for making
circular tubes the plate it is removed, and a plug jinserted, which forms the
inside diameter of the tube, as shewn by Figure 4, and the water is then per-
mitted to perculate that way. The clay is lubricated from the spiral plane
of the screw by having a radiating channel from the chamber in the shaft c,
into which very small holes are drilled for the water to escape by. There are
also lubricating joints or channels in the flanges at the top and bottom of the
cylinder in which the screw b revolves, marked k, k, in the different Figures,
and similar joints or channels are formed round the orifices or moulding
openings, from whence the clay exudes from the machine by the propelling
power of the screw. And I would state that these lubricating joints or
channels may be differently constructed without departing from my Invention,
so long as the application of hydrostatic pressure in supplying a fluid to them
is retained. Figure 2, b, is a section of a vessel containing water, from which
several pipes with brass cocks on them convey water to the lubricating joints
in the top and bottom of the cylinder in which the screw revolves, and also to
the shaft c, and the lubricating orifice in the chamber m from whence the clay
exudes. The clay with which the machine is charged by the aperture a,
Figure 2, is drawn into the spiral plane of the screw b, as it revolves, and
impelled into the bottom chamber m, from whence it escapes in two streams
in opposite directions, as shewn in Figure 1, by n, n. When different
figures are required to be moulded, it is only necessary to change the
chamber m and apply one having an orifice of the form wanted. Figure 5 is
a face view of a lubricating orifice for forming bricks; and Figure 6, a
similar view of one for making draining tiles. In both these Figures
the lubricating channels round the orifices from which the clay exudes
are distinctly shewn. In dividing the moulded clay into the lengths required,
the screw makes a brief stop at that moment and consequently the clay
to be cut. The pinion e is loose on its shaft, and resting on a collar, as
shewn in Figure 7, which is a section of the pinion and toothed clutch box o, o,
which turns it. When the toothed clutch box o, o, is withdrawn from the
pinion, as will be presently described, the shaft d may turn, and the pinion e,
with the appendage it drives, will remain stationary until the clutch box is
forced up again to its present position by the spring p. It is withdrawn twice
every revolution of the shaft d by two inclined planes q, q, depressing the
roller as they alternately pass over it, as will readily be understood by
reference to the Drawing. These planes q. q. can be regulated to cut the

page_text: moulded clay to any length, produced from one revolution of the shaft d,
simply by increasing their number or adding to the length of their planes. In
addition to this mode of cutting various lengths, the horizontal shaft s, s, of
the cutting apparatus shewn in Figure 1 can be extended, and several cutting
instruments t, t, fixed at given distances from each other, and all of them made
to operate at the same instant. The levers w, w, give motion to the slide v
which carries the cutting instrument t, as shewn in Figure 3, at the time the
clutch box o, o, is withdrawn from the pinion e by two quadrants or inclined
planes a, a, fixed on two circular plates shewn on the shaft d. The red lines
represent the vibration of the levers in Figures 3 and 4, and it will be seen
that the clay is cut and recut by their motion.
Figure 8 is a plan of the slide which is used for cutting circular tubes; it is
moved by the horizontal shaft s, s, vibrating two levers through openings in the
top plate of the machine shewn in Figure 1. In forming principal drains with
these tubes, I recommend short circular soles to support them at the joints;
the soles may be moulded after the manner described for making common
draining tiles, and cut into short lengths by a circular saw after the clay is
sufficiently dry for burning. In the event of the machine, Figure 1 or Figure
2, being employed for mixing, compressing, and moulding peat, I apply knives
on the screw shaft, and also round the circumference of the cylinder in which
it revolves, making in fact an ordinary pug mill, by which the materials will be
mixed and blended together before they arrive at the screw, where such
inaterials will be pressed and moulded into rectangular bricks, and may be
cut by the apparatus described.
Another part of my improvements relates to the compressing of peat by the
superincumbent weight of the atmosphere; to effect which I form a large
vessel of any known material that will keep it sufficiently air-tight, such as
iron, slate, or stone. A few inches from the permanent bottom of this vessel
I place another full of small holes and support it on the former; above the one
full of holes a layer of coarse cloth is spread, upon which the peat to be s
compressed is laid to about twelve inches deep. The length of the vessel is
immaterial provided it be sufficiently air-tight. One, however, two hundred
feet long by six feet wide would be a proper size for compressing about forty
tons of peat at one time. When the vessel has been charged the peat is to
be well blended together, which may be done after the mauner clay is made to 3
combine in forming the bottom of a canal when making it water-tight, and it
is also to be well pressed to the edges of the vessel to prevent as much as
possible the air descending by it or through it in a downward direction. When

page_text: the top surface of the peat has been secured by either of the modes mentioned,
a communication is to be opened with an air pump, and the air exhausted
from the space between the two bottoms, which will cause a partial vacuum
below the peat, and thereby offer to the water which it contains great facility
to escape, at the same time the pressure of the atmosphere on the top
surface of the peat will be in proportion to the exhausted state of the air
below, and the whole mass will be compressed, and the water which escapes
will be carried away by the air pump, after the manner the air pump of a
condensing steam engine performs its office. When the peat has remained in
the vessel or pit sufficiently long to be reduced to about one-third part of its
original depth, it is to be removed and properly dried by any of the modes in
use. In removing it, it may be readily cut into regular sizes by having a
carriage to pass over it with knives projecting downwards, and so placed as to
divide it into a number of slips about four inches wide, and these may be
cross cut into lengths of eight inches, which is found to be a good size for
drying.
Having described my improvements for moulding clay to the above-men-
tioned purposes, and also for compressing peat, I wish it to be understood that
I do not claim any of the parts which are well known and in use for moulding
clay and compressing peat; but what I do claim as the first part of my
Invention is, the application of the inclined surfaces of a screw to press clay
through moulding orifices, as above described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of stopping the moulded clay while it is being
cut, as above described.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of lubricating the clay with water when being
moulded by pressure through moulding orifices, as above described.
Fourthly, I claim the mode of mixing, compressing, and moulding peat by
means of a pug mill, when combined with a screw, to compress and mould the
peat through moulding surfaces, as above explained.
And, lastly, I claim the mode of compressing peat by the pressure of the
atmosphere, and separating the water from it by a pump, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James White, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid James White came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty.