Improvements in Brick-making Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brick-making Machines.
I, GEORGE GLAZEBROOK, of Tat Bank Foundry, Oldbury, in the County of
Worcester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
This invention relates to machines for making bricks in which the clay is fed
into a cylinder, worked up by beating knives, fed forward by an endless screw, and
forced through a forming die and a receiver onto the bed of a dividing machine,
which latter cuts the solid clay mass into sections or blocks each of which constitutes
a brick. In certain improvements in such machines this invention consists; their
object being a better effect in the working of the machine, to obviate the liability
of the clay being improperly mixed and the clogging of the moving parts, and also
to enable the driving means to be effectively thrown out of action when it is required
to rotate the parts of the machine in the reverse direction.
The said improvements relate 1st to the muzzle, or extreme front part of the
cylinder, which contains the clay, adjacent to which is the forming die 2nd to the
impelling screw working within the said muzzle 3rd to the knives or beaters for
mixing and working up the clay prior to its reaching the impelling screw 4th to
the gland and bearing, for the revolving shaft, within and upon the end cover of
the clay cylinder at the opposite end to the muzzle and 5th, to a means for con-
necting the driving wheel to the revolving shaft carrying the working parts, so
that the said shaft can be thrown out of gear therewith when the said shaft is
required to be turned in a reverse direction.
According to the 1st part of the improvements the walls of the muzzle are inter-
mittently grooved their full length or portions of their interior surface are set
back, so that the clay, instead of being carried along by the impelling screw, cannot
revolve with the same, it being caught by the projecting parts between the grooves
or by the edges of the grooves themselves, which present an obstacle to its rotation.
According to the 2nd part, which relates to the impelling screw, the endless blade
of the same is inclined bodily forward towards the forming die, making an angle
with the shaft carrying it less than 90°; the result being that the mass of clay
traversed by it always tends to the centre and therefore does not subject the blade
to such a strain at its outside diameter.
According to the 3rd part, which relates to the beaters or knives, the same are
set with varying pitches instead of a uniform pitch as in ordinary machines. There
are approximately twelve knives, carried by four rings, and the first ring, which
carries three, is constructed or set at a pitch of 1 inch-and-a-half as also is the
second set of knives, but the third set have a pitch of 2 inches, and the fourth,
which consists of three knives, a compound pitch viz. one knife at a pitch of 2½ inches
and the remaining two at a pitch of three inches.
In reference to the 4th part of this invention, which relates to the gland and
bearing, for the shaft, upon the end cover of the clay cylinder or container, the said
gland is fitted with two extra pins which take the reverse thrust of the impelling

page_text: screw shaft when the latter is rotated in a reverse direction, or worked backwards;
the said pins preventing the gland being pulled inwards and throttling the bearing.
The collar fast on the shaft adjacent to the gland is a steel one, and between this
collar and the gland there is a phosphor bronze abutment bush, grooved on each
face to accomodate rings of anti-friction metal, which latter take the thrust of
the shaft in its working.
The clutch mechanism, forming the last item of my improvements, for throwing
into and out of gear the shaft carrying the knives and impelling screw consists of a
collar, fast upon the shaft, having a number of sinkings or cut away parts, into which
outstanding projecting teeth upon the driving wheel take when connection is
required between the said driving wheel and the shaft. The driving wheel is
mounted loose and to slide upon the shaft, and its projections or teeth are so shaped
with respect to the parts to receive them upon the collar that immediately the said
wheel is driven in a reverse direction the inclines of the projections and the socket
throw the wheel out of gear with the last named and it revolves without imparting
any movement to the shaft. A hand lever and an arm are mounted upon a bracket
of the machine framing, and are connected to the boss of the wheel in such a manner
that the said wheel can be moved into gear with the collar fast on the shaft when
connection is required for driving the said shaft.
L
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Agents for the Applicant.
improvements in Brick-making Machines.
I, GEORGE GLAZEBROOK, of Tat Bank Foundry, Oldbury, in the County of
Worcester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to pug mills or machines for making bricks and has
distinct reference to those machines in which the clay is fed into a cylinder or box
worked up by beating knives, subsequently fed forward by an endless screw, and
forced through a forming die and receiver onto the bed of a divided machine; the
latter operating upon the clod and cutting it into sections or blocks each to con-
stitute a brick.
This invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of such
machines, the object of which are to obviate the liability of the clay being
improperly mixed and the clogging of the moving parts, a better effect in the
working of the machine generally by which the number of bricks made within the
given time are increased, and the prevention of the smashing up or breaking of
the machine's parts by its ability to be rotated in a reverse direction. The said
improvements apply first to the muzzle or extreme front part of the cylinder or box
wherein is contained the clay and adjacent to which is the forming die, second to
the impelling screw working within the said muzzle, third to the knives or beaters
for mixing and working up the clay prior to its reaching the impelling screw,
fourth to the gland and bearing upon the inner end cover of the clay cylinder which
is to take the working thrust of the shaft, and fifth to the connection of the driving
wheel to the revolving shaft carrying the working parts.
In Fig. 1 of the accompanying sheet of drawings a longitudinal vertical part
elevation and sectional view is shown of a pug mill constructed and fitted with

page_text: improvements according to this invention. Fig. 2 represents an inner end view
of the muzzle separate and shows the particular construction of its cylindrical walls.
Fig. 3 represents a separate sectional view of the impelling screw which works
within the said muzzle, whilst Fig. 4 is the gland portion of a cylinder's cover in
elevation for the purpose of illustrating its setting screws.
According to these improvements the walls a² of the muzzle a, which form the
front to the clay working cylinder or box, are formed with full length intermittent
grooves interspaced by ribs a¹, or longitudinal portions of its interior surface
are set back thereby forming obstacles to the rotation of the clay within the impel-
ling screw as the said clay is caught by the projecting parts between the grooves,
or by the edges of the grooves themselves, and thereby prevented from revolving
with the screw; it being necessary to ensure a good working of the machine that
the clay should travel longitudinally and not rotate at all. The mouth of the
muzzle a is fitted with a distance piece and forming die b, 63, of a well known
construction and the clod of clay issues therefrom onto the table of the dividing
machine b³.
According to the second part of this invention which relates to the impelling
screw c, carried upon the working shaft a, and working within the muzzle a, the
endless blade is pitched from the upright or bodily inclined forward towards the
forming die b, 62, so that it makes through its full length on its forward face an
angle with the axis of the shaft or sleeve carrying it less than 90°. This pitching
forward of the impelling screw blade is an important matter, as it constantly gathers,
towards the centre, the clay being traversed forward by it to the die, and, as a
consequence, does not subject the screw blade to such a strain at its outside diameter,
and also prevents the clogging of the clay in the muzzle.
According to the third part of this invention which relates to the knives or
beaters carried upon the working shaft located within the clay cylinder or
box d, which has a hopper like entrance ³, the said knives or beaters are set with
varying pitches instead of a uniform one as in ordinary machines. In the sheet
of drawings twelve knives or beaters are shown carried by four rings or collars
slipped upon the shaft, but any number of such knives may be arranged so long
as their unequal pitch is observed. In the drawing the No. 1 ring, which is dis-
posed fast on the working shaft a furthermost from the impelling screw, carries
upon it a set of three knives e2, 3, 4, distanced or pitched from each other about
one inch and a half. The No. 2 ring is also carried fast upon the shaft next to the
number 1 ring, but nearer to the muzzle, and this also carries three knives or
beaters ff, f, upon it, of a like pitch as the No. 1 ring. The No. 3 ring,
carried rigid by the shaft, is disposed still nearer the muzzle and has a set of
three knives g², 93, 9, upon it, pitched or distanced at two inches. The No. 4 or
last ring, which fits up against the hip of the impelling screw, is also carried rigid
upon the shaft, and has a set of three knives of a compound pitch, viz.:-the
knife h² at two and a half inches from the knife g, and the knives h³ and h* at
three inches from the knife 2 and also from themselves, so that a gradual pitch of
the beaters from No. 1 to No. 4 is the result. All the knives or beaters are set at an
angle, but in addition they are inclined forward or towards the impelling screw so
that their tendency in working is to beat the clay to the centre.
With reference to the fourth part of this invention which relates to the gland
and bearing i for the shaft a the-said gland is fitted with two extra pins m, m²,
which enable it to be finely adjusted and locked. A collar 2 upon the shaft bears
against a phosphor bronze abutment bush ³, faced at a, 5, with rings of anti-
friction metal, to form a bearing face for the said collar and gland.
The driving mechanism forming the last item of the improvements, which is
practically a clutch for throwing into and out of gear the shaft carrying the knives
and impelling screw, consists of a large collar n fast upon the shaft, having within
its exterior face n² a number of sinkings or cut away parts n³; the circumferential
face of the sinkings being inclined. Outside this collar n, and so as to come against
its face n, and carried to slide upon the end of the shaft, is a driving wheel

page_text: having projections or teeth s³ upon its inner face, and a step collar s³ fast upon its
outer face, engaging with which latter is the bifurcated end w² of a rocking lever w,
carried by a bracket w³ bolted to the bed of the machine. The outer face of the
teeth or projections are inclined in the same direction as the inclined faces of
the sinkings n³, so that if the driving wheel s is rotated in a reverse direction the
inclined parts and n³ come into action and throw the wheel s automatically out
of gear with the collar n. The driving wheel s is rotated from any suitable power
and is placed into action with the collar n by hand.
The automatic throwing out of gear when the driving wheel is rotated in a reverse
direction prevents any possibility of the smashing of the working parts of the
machine which is now so often the case.
The clay is fed into the cylinder or box in a suitable way and first comes into
contact with the small pitch knives and then afterwards with the larger pitched
knives, it subsequently being delivered to the impelling screw by which it is carried
forward and forced through the forming die.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is.
First. In a pug mill of the kind set forth, forming the inner surface of the
muzzle's walls with corrugations or outstanding ribs, or with sinkings inter-spaced
by solid parts, substantially as described and set forth.
Second. In a pug mill of the kind set forth the combination with the muzzle and
rotating shaft of an impelling screw having its blade pitched forward out of the
perpendicular so as to make a forward angle with the shaft's axis less than 90°,
for the purpose substantially as described.
Third. In a pug mill of the kind set forth, arranging the clay-working knives
or beaters irregular in pitch and inclined, substantially as described and set forth.
Fourth. In combination in a pug mill, a muzzle a, whose interior walls are
corrugated, an impelling screw c working within the said muzzle and up to its
corrugations, and having its blade pitched forward, beaters or knives irregularly
pitched or spaced, a clay working cylinder or box d having an opening &³ within
it, and a forming die b², substantially as described.
Fifth. Constructing the gland and thrust bearing of a pug mill as set forth,
with a bush and extra set pins, and the shaft a with a collar a², for the purpose
as set forth.
Sixth. In the driving mechanism of a pug mill as set forth the combination of
the driving shaft r, a recessed collar n fast on said shaft, a driving wheels with
teeth or projections upon its inner face, the said driving wheel being capable of
sliding and rotating loosely upon the shaft, and the means w, w², for putting into
action the said wheel substantially as described.
Dated thin 9th day of Tou
1908
Q
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Also of Liverpool, London and Manchester,
Agents for Applicant.