IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Toward, Engineer, of St. Ann's Row, New-
castle-upon-Tyne, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS."
Sealed the 31st May 1867, and dated the 5th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Toward at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th December
1866.
I, JOHN TOWARD, Engineer, of St. Ann's Row, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to certain arrangements of machinery for the
manufacture of bricks in which a hollow wheel is employed constructed with
any even number of bottomless recesses or matrices in its circumference for
receiving the clay and giving it the requisite form; this wheel is mounted on
a hollow axis sufficiently large to allow a fixed bearing to pass through it,
which bearing is eccentric with it by at least half the thickness of a brick,
the wheel being caused to rotate by as many successive and separate motions
as there are recesses by means of a pawl and ratchet wheel; into each of
these recesses is fitted a moveable bottom, those bottoms which are opposite
each other being fixed together in pairs. The connection of the parts is
arranged side by side, each being provided with a suitable slot to take the
eccentric bearing already referred to in such a manner as to receive motion

page_text: therefrom, and to cause the recess on one side of the wheel to be of the size
required to mould the brick, whilst the bottom of the recess immediately
opposite pushes the already formed brick on to a moveable or other platform,
so that the bricks may be conveniently taken away in succession. The
machine is supplied by a pug mill of the usual construction provided with a
wiper at the extremity next the wheel so arranged that the wiper presses the
clay out through an opening in the mill at such intervals when the recesses or
matrices above described with their bottoms drawn down to the requisite
depth are opposite the opening, and these recesses or matrices are thereby
successively filled. The following motion of the pawl brings a fresh recess
opposite the opening, and presses the recess already filled under a press where
the clay is consolidated, indented, or marked with the maker's name, as may
be required. As each successive motion of the pawl and ratchet wheel carries
the filled recess further from the opening in the pug mill its bottom by the
action of the fixed eccentric bearing above referred to is pushed outwards so
that when it arrives at a point opposite the opening the clay is pushed
completely out of its recess on to the platform above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Toward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TOWARD, Engineer, of St. Ann's Row, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, 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 me, the said
John Toward, Her special licence that I, the said John Toward, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Toward, 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 term 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 FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Toward, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and

page_text: 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 John Toward, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
These improvements relate to certain arrangements of machinery for the
manufacture of bricks, in which a hollow wheel is employed constructed with
any even number of bottomless recesses or matrices in its circumference for
receiving the clay and giving it the requisite form. This wheel is mounted
on a hollow axis sufficiently large to allow a fixed bearing to pass through
it, which bearing is eccentric with it by at least half the thickness of a brick,
the wheel being caused to rotate by as many successive and separate motions
as there are recesses by means of a pawl and ratchet wheel; into each of these
recesses is fitted a moveable piston or plunger, each end of which forms the
bottom of a brick mould; these bottoms which are opposite each other are
fixed together in pairs, and each piston is arranged side by side so that they
clear each other, each being provided with a suitable slot to take the eccentric
bearing already referred to in such manner as to receive motion therefrom,
and to cause.
the recess on one side of the wheel to be of the size required to
mould the brick, whilst the bottom of the recess immediately opposite pushes
the already formed brick on to a moveable or other platform so that the bricks
may be conveniently taken away in succession. The machine is supplied by a
pug mill of the usual construction provided with a wiper at the extremity next
the wheel so arranged that the wiper presses the clay out through an opening
in the mill at such intervals when the recesses or matrices above described
with their bottoms drawn down to the requisite depth are opposite the opening,
and these recesses or matrics are thereby successively filled. The following
Inotion of the pawl brings a fresh recess opposite the opening, and passes
the recess already filled under a press where the clay is consolidated, indented,
or marked with the maker's name as may be required. As each successive
motion of the pawl and ratchet wheel carries the filled recess further from
the opening in the pug mill its bottom by the action of the fixed eccentric
bearing above referred to is pushed outwards, so that when it arrives at a point
opposite the opening the clay is pushed completely out of its recess on to the
platform above mentioned.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily.

page_text: in section, of a machine for manufacturing bricks arranged and constructed in
accordance with my improvements.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2. an end view, partly in
section, in which a, a, represents the framing of the machine; b is the driving
axis which receives motion by means of a belt passing over the pulley b¹ fixed
on the axis b; c is a hollow wheel formed with an even number of bottom-
Jess recesses c¹ in its circumference for receiving the clay and shaping
the brick. This wheel is mounted on the hollow axis c sufficiently large to
allow a fixed bearing to pass through it, which bearing is eccentric with it
by at least half the thickness of a brick. The wheel c is caused to rotate by
as many successive and separate motions as there are recesses in the following
mannerd is an axis to which motion is communicated from the driving
axis b by means of the bevil wheels b' and d¹; d' is an eccentric pin carried
by the axis d, and the pawl d³ for driving the ratchet wheel is carried and
actuated by the eccentric pin d'; into each of the recesses in the wheel c³
is fitted a moveable bottom c, these bottoms which are opposite each other
being connected together in pairs. The connections c of the parts are arranged
side by side, each being formed with a suitable central slot c' to work upon
the eccentric bearing &, previously referred to, so as to receive motion there-
from, and to cause the recess on one side of the wheel to be of the size required
to mould the brick, whilst the bottom of the recess immediately opposite pushes
the already formed brick on to the endless travelling belt e, so that the bricks
may be conveniently taken away in succession. The machine is supplied by
a pug mill of the usual construction (which may if preferred be placed in a
vertical position) provided with a wiper f¹ so arranged that it presses the clay
out through an opening få in the mill into the open moulds or matrices above
described as they arrive opposite the opening f. The movement of the
pawl ds brings a fresh recess or mould in the wheel c opposite the opening f³,
and passes the recess or mould previously filled under a press 9 which is
actuated in the following manner :-d' is a crank pin carried by the axis d;
which by means of the connecting rod d³ imparts a rocking movement to the
lever arm g¹ and axis 93, and this movement is communicated to the pressing
plate g, by means of the lever arms g³ when required. As each successive
motion of the pawl d³ and ratchet wheel c carries the filled recesses or
moulds c further from the opening in the pug mill feach bottom by the

page_text: action of the fixed eccentric bearing is pushed outwards, so that when it
arrives at a point opposite the pressing plate g the moulded and pressed brick is
forced completely out of its recess on to the endless travelling sheet e previously
described. A fixed stop e" may be attached to the framing to ensure the
delivery of the brick should it adhere to the bottom of the mould.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is carried into practice, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the exact details herein shown and described; but what I
claim is the improved arrangement of machinery herein described and shown
in the Drawing, wherein a hollow rotating moulding wheel is employed
formed with an even number of moulds, recesses, or matrices, the moveable
bottoms of each opposite pair of moulds being connected together and actuated
by an eccentric shaft or bearing in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Toward, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JOHN TOWARD. (L.S.)