IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS."
Sealed the 11th May 1855, and dated the 16th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt at. the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th November
1854.
I, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS" to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to that construction of brick-making machinery, for
which Letters Patent were granted to James McHenry, dated 20th July 1852,
or to other machines in which a roller is employed for pressing the material
into moulds, from which the bricks are discharged by the action of pistons.
One part of my Invention consists in the adaptation of loose flat pieces placed
within the moulds, and resting upon the pistons, which loose pieces are raised
sufficiently high when the bricks are discharged to be pushed forward there-
with. Another part of. my Invention-consists in methods of forming hollow
bricks" in machinery of the description above alluded to. According to one

page_text: plan, I place loose pieces in the moulds, resting upon the pistons, as above
described, but in this instance provided with a projecting part or parts, so as to
form corresponding cavities in the pressed brick. The loose parts are raised
by the pistons high enough to be pushed forward with the bricks free from the
moulds. According to another method, I construct the bottoms of the moulds
in two parts, the one projecting beyond the other, and thereby constituting a
core for making the required hollow, but the two parts are capable of being
moved independently of each other, so as to assume the same level, and
thereby admit of the bricks being pushed forward when raised from the moulds.
Or instead of making both parts move vertically, I attach that which is to
form the hollow to the mould box or other part; the surrounding surface only
will then act as the piston ordinarily used in the above-mentioned description
of machinery. Another method consists in so forming the pistons that the
hollowed part shall extend to the outside of the brick at one or at both sides,
by which means the core will not be completely enclosed, and the moulded
article may be pushed therefrom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the sixteenth year of Her
reign, did, für Herself,-Her-heirs_and_successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Platt, Her especial license that I, the said John Platt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Platt, 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
terin 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 OR
APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS,"-upon-the-condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Platt, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,"

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the sanic 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 Platt, 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
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):
of
my
My improvements relate to that construction of brick-making machinery.for
which Letters Patent were granted to James M Henry, dated Twentieth July,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, or to. other machines in which
a roller is employed for pressing the material into moulds, from which the
bricks are discharged by the action of pistons. One part of my Invention
consists in the employment of loose flat pieces placed within the moulds, and
resting upon the pistons, thereby constituting the bottoms of the cavities into
which the material is pressed. When the pistons are forced upward for the
discharge of the bricks, the loose pieces thereon are carried above the top
surface of the mould table, so as to be capable of being swept off with the
bricks by the apparatus employed for that purpose in the aforesaid patent.
machine, or by other suitable arrangement. Another part Invention
consists in methods of forming "hollow bricks" in machinery of the descrip-
tion above alluded to. According to one. plan I place loose pieces in the
moulds, resting upon the pistons as above described, but, provided in this
instance with a projecting part or parts, so as to. form corresponding cavities
in the pressed brick, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings,
in which a represents a portion of the travelling mould table; and b, the
piston, upon which is situate a loose piece c, formed with a projecting part d;
the clay having been pressed into the mould in the usual manner, a hollow
corresponding to the part & will be formed.. The piston is then. caused to rise
sufficiently to carry the piece c clear of the table a, and is then swept, off with
the finished brick.. . A method I adopt for applying these loose pieces, and
those also which are. flat, as first described in. reference to solid bricks, is
as follows, reference being had. to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying
Drawings, of which the former is a top view of the apparatus employed for
sweeping.off the bricks constructed. upon the step-form plan, for which Letters
Patent were granted to me, bearing date October Nineteenth, One thousand
eight hundred. and fifty-four, and Fig. 4. is a cross section thereof, and of the
mould table-The step-formed rail which.arrives-in-contact with the pressed
bricks is shown. at e, behind which is formed a bottomless, frame-f, having

page_text: partitions corresponding in distances apart to those of the moulds in which the
bricks are formed, and which partitions may therefore be brought coincident
therewith. An attendant places the loose pieces within the frame f as shewn
at g in Fig. 4, in which situation they rest upon a stationary table 1. When
the elevated bricks, as at h; have been swept off by the rail e, the said pieces
will have arrived over the pistons i, and will fall through the frame f, so as to
accompany them in their descent ready for the formation of, another set of
bricks; after which the apparatus will return to the position shewn to receive
other loose pieces which have, been removed from the bricks. Another method
of forming hollow bricks in the above description of machinery is also shown in
Figs. 1 and 2; in this instance a projecting piece kis fixed or formed upon the
piston b, but extends along the entire width thereof, so as not to be enclosed by
the pressed material; when, therefore, the piston is elevated, the bricks, may be
pushed off by the advancing. rail, which rail, however, must, in. this instance
be formed with suitable, recesses for preventing it from being impeded, in.its
motion by the part k, which will remain stationary above the mould table.
Instead of the exact form above described, the projecting part k may extend
along a portion of; the mould only, so that the end next to the sweeping-off
apparatus be caused to extend through the brick. Another plan of making
hollow bricks in the aforesaid machinery consists in a method of constructing
and arranging a stationary core surrounded by a moveable piston. Figs. 5, 6, 7,
are detached views of part of the mould table, shewing this arrangement.
The table is shewn at a, with which are cast a series of cross pieces, as at b,
united also by casting to a bar c, extending throughout the length of the
machine. This casting carries a projection d, constituting a stationary core: for
forming the hollow of the brick; the divisions of the mould table forming the
sides of the moulds, as shewn at e, fitting into grooves formed in the part a,
and resting at bottom upon the casting c. The piston constituting the bottom
of the mould is at f, surrounding the core d, and extending downward the full
diameter of the mould in each-direction. The bottom of this piston is
provided-with-a T groove g, for the purpose of being drawn down positively,
according to the plan for which Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing
date Nineteenth October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and
within it are formed slots for allowing it to slide upward independantly of
the stationary bar c. The clay having been pressed into the mould, the piston
is caused to: rise and force the brick upward, moulded with a hollow by.the
core d, and is then swept off, as before mentioned. According to another
method of making-hollow bricks, as described-in-my Provisional Specification,
I proposed constructing the bottoms of the moulds 'in two parts, the one

page_text: projecting beyond the other; the two parts, however, being capable of moving
independently of each other, so as to assume the same level, and thereby admit
of the bricks being pushed forward when raised from the moulds. Since the
filing, however, of the said Provisional Specification, I have found that this
arrangement is not of practical utility, and lay no claim thereto.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim, as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, and as applied to the above description of brick-making machinery,-
Firstly, the application of loose bottoms to the moulds, capable of being
raised and pushed off with the pressed bricks, whether such loose parts be
flat for producing solid bricks, or provided with projections for forming
hollow bricks.
Secondly, constructing the pistons forming the bottoms of the moulds with
projecting parts, which will form hollows extending to the outside of the
bricks at one or at both ends thereof, for the purpose above set forth.
Thirdly, the method above described of supporting the fixed core, and
constructing the surrounding piston, as described in reference to Figs. 5, 6, 7.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Platt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
TOTTAT DY ATT