IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Nichols and William Bradshaw Leachman,
both of Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Nichols and
William Bradshaw Leachman at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th July 1866.
We, DAVID NICHOLS and WILLIAM BRADSHAW LEACHMAN, both of Leeds,
in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS," to be as
follows:-
The object of our Invention is not only to form or mould the brick of the
required size, but likewise to press it during the operation of forming or
moulding, and thus to deliver it a pressed brick.
For this purpose on two strong and suitable side frames placed parallel to
each other we mount transversely and on the same horizontal line two
crushing rollers set at convenient distances apart for the admission of clay.
which is furnished from a hopper placed over the rollers and secured to the

page_text: side frames. The rollers may, if desired, bave smooth peripheries, but we
prefer to have them slightly grooved spirally and in opposite directions, that
is, right and left handed, in order to produce a superior crushing effect when
foreign matter is mingled with the clay, and also to prevent the caking of
the same. On the front part of the frame we mount the driving shaft, which
may be either put in motion by ordinary gearing or belting. On this shaft we
place a double-grooved cam; in the one groove we place a pin connected to
a die rod which has a reciprocal motion, and works horizontally underneath
the crushing rollers, the die being of the same dimensions in length and
depth as the required brick. The groove in the opposite side of the cam has
a pin connected by means of a guide rod and pin to a horizontal lever, which
in turn is connected to a knife working in half V grooves horizontally over
the die; this knife cuts off or separates the clay in the mould from that
which is in the space between the rollers and the mould. The mould we
may here explain is formed of fixed and moveable pieces, the latter being
the sides and top or knife; the horizontal lever above-named, which is con-
nected to the knife carries also a pin which works in the slotted shorter arm
of a lever keyed to a cross shaft between the frames. The longer arm of
this lever is connected by means of a rod to a bell-cranked lever at the
delivering or back part of the machine. The upper arm of this latter lever
raises or depresses a door which forms one of the sides of the mould.
The action of the machine is as follows:-Suitable gearing for driving the
rolls having been affixed, and the machine put in motion, clay drops from
the rolls into the receiving box below, the die and knife meantime retiring
by the action of the cams. Sufficient clay baving entered for the formation of
a brick the die and knife return, the latter cutting off and forming the top. of
the brick, and the former then compressing the clay against the door or
opposite side. At this juncture the pin working in the slotted short arm
comes in contact with the end of the slot, and through the intermediate lever
depresses the door, and the die pushes the brick out.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Nichols and William Bradshaw Leachman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
NICHOLS and WILLIAM BRADSHAW LEACHMAN, both of Leeds, in the County
of York, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said David Nichols and William Bradshaw Leachman, Her special licence
that we, the said David Nichols and William Bradshaw Leachman, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
David Nichols and William Bradshaw Leachman, our executors, admini-
strators, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said David Nichols and William
Bradshaw Leachman, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hand and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us or 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 David Nichols, on behalf of myself
and the said William Bradshaw Leachman, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
The object of our Invention is not only to form or mould the brick of the
required size, but likewise to press it during the operation of forming or
moulding, and thus to deliver it a pressed brick.
For this purpose on two strong and suitable side frames placed parallel to
each other we mount transversely and on the same horizontal line two crush-
ing rollers set at convenient distances apart for the admission of clay, which
is furnished from a hopper placed over the rollers, and secured to the side
frames. The rollers may if desired have smooth peripheries, but we prefer to
have them slightly grooved spirally and in opposite directions, that is, right
and left handed, in order to produce a superior crushing effect when foreign
matter is mingled with the clay, and also to prevent the caking of the same.
On the front part of the frame we mount the driving shaft, which may be
either put in motion by ordinary gearing or by belting. On this shaft we place

page_text: a double-grooved cam; in the one groove we place a pin connected to a
die rod which has a reciprocal motion and works horizontally underneath the
crushing rollers, the die being of the same dimensions in length and depth as
the required brick. The groove on the opposite side of the cam has a pin
connected by means of a guide rod and pin to a horizontal lever, which in
turn is connected to a knife working in half grooves horizontally over the
die. The knife cuts off or separates the clay in the mould from that which
is in the space between the rollers and the mould. The mould we may here
explain is formed of fixed and moveable pieces, the latter being the sides and
top or knife. The horizontal lever above-named, which is connected to the
knife carries also a pin which works in the slotted shorter arm of the lever
keyed to a cross shaft between the frames. The longer arm of this lever is
connected by means of a rod to a bell-cranked lever at the delivering or
back part of the machine. The upper arm of this latter lever raises or
depresses a door which forms one of the sides of the mould.
The action of the machine is as follows:-Suitable gearing for driving the
rollers having been affixed, and the machine put in motion, clay drops from
the rollers into the receiving box below, the die and knife meantime retiring
by the action of the cams. Sufficient clay having entered for the formation
of a brick, the die and knife return, the latter cutting off and forming the top
of the brick, and the former then compressing the clay against the door or
opposite side. At this juncture the pin working in the slotted. short arm
comes in contact with the end of the slot, and through the intermediate levers
depresses the door, and the die pushes the brick out.
"
We accomplish the same result by another arrangement, which we prefer,
experience having proved it superior to the one above named. In this second
arrangement we dispense with the crushing rollers, and in place of the same
the clay being fed from the hopper, as in the previous case, it is pressed into
the mould by a presser,"
," which consists of a piece of metal about the size
of the brick connected to a cross bar which extends from side to side of the
machine, is placed directly over the die, and receives a reciprocating vertical
motion by means of connecting rods coupled to bell-cranked levers, which in
turn are actuated through a second connecting rod from a crank on the cam
shaft. The bar to which the "presser" is connected is of the "fish-bellied "
shape, so that it may present in its descent a cutting edge to the clay, and so
loosen and prepare it for falling into the die and being pressed. The arrange-
ment for opening the door after the brick has been formed and pressed is also
simpler than the first named.
In order, however, that our Invention may be the better understood

page_text: Tolcience is made to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which mustrates
our second and preferred arrangement, which, with the exceptions already
pointed out is essentially the same as the previous plan. Similar letters denote
similar parts in the various Figures, that is to say :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of our machine; Figure 2 is an end elevation ;
Figure 3, a plan; Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a side elevation and plan,
showing the apparatus for opening the door after the brick is pressed;
Figure 6 is a plan, and Figure 7 a section of the "presser" and the bar to
which it is connected.
Letters A denote the side frames of the machine secured by the stay a;
B is the driving pulley (when the belting is used) keyed on the shaft b which
revolves in the bearings b; C is a pinion upon the shaft b which gives motion
to the spur wheel D keyed on the cam shaft d; E is the double hollow cam,
in the grooves of which work the washers connected to the plunger or die
rod F and the knife rod G; f is the plunger or die. The space denotes
the mould into which the clay drops from the hopper ¹, and is forced down
by the "presser" H, which is bolted to the cutter bar h. Jaws a³ are cast
in the frames A to admit of the slides which carry the ends of the cross bar h,
such ends being connected to the rods g (one on either side of the machine),
the latter in turn coupling with one arm of the bell-crank levers i secured to
the shaft . The crank pin d' of the crank d (which is keyed on the shaft d)
gives motion through the slotted end of the connecting rod ; to the bell
cranks and rods g, consequently to the " presser" H. I denotes a cam on
the shaft d, within the grooves of which (shewn in Figure 5) the washer j'
works, and working backwards and forwards in the slot K (Figure 2) of the
bracket (which is secured to the frame A) causes the bell crank m to move
in the arc of a circle, and so impart motion to the lever n, one end of which
is connected to its shorter arm, the other end passing through a slot in the
door o, which it raises and lowers as required. The point n' (Figure 1) shows
the position of the fulcrum of the lever n, the red lines therefrom indicating
the limit of traverse, and the fulcrum may consist of a simple bracket attached
to the leg of the side frame. In Figure 3 the knife g will be seen over the
die f. The various cams are so arranged relatively to each other that when
the die commences to press the clay, the knife 9, as before explained,
divides the clay in the mould from that in the hopper, and so forms the upper
side of the mould. The clay having been sufficiently pressed, the cam J
causes the lever n to depress or open the door o, and the brick is pushed out

page_text: by the plunger or die f, the "presser" H meantime ascending and descending
with each revolution of the crank pin d¹.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of our Invention,
and in what manner the same may be performed, we wish it to be under-
stood that, without confining ourselves to the precise mechanical details shewn,
what we claim as and of our Invention is, the manufacturing of bricks sub-
stantially by the machinery shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Nichols," have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
P. H. SHART,
Agent,
Leeds.
DAVID NICHOLS. (L.S.)