IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM CLAY OR EARTHY MATERIALS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPHI
KIRBY, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Gentleman, sends greeting
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Kirby, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Kirby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Joseph Kirby, my exors, admors, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM CLAY OR EARTHY MATERIALS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Joseph
Kirby, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
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: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Kirby, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon), that is to say:-
My improved apparatus for manufacturing bricks, tiles, and other articles
from clay or earthy materials, consists in a novel construction and arrangement
of machinery, by means of which clay or earthy materials in an unprepared or
natural state, being deposited in a hopper, is conducted by means of rollers
down into a moveable mould, which mould being then slidden with the loose
clay or earth in it under a press, the loose clay or earth is there compressed
firmly into the mould, and formed into the desired bricks or other articles.
The further progress of the mould under an inclined plane then causes the
mould to be lowered, and the bricks or other articles to be left standing up
free upon pistons, from whence they are slidden on to a plate ready to be
removed by hand, whilst the mould passes back again under the hopper to
receive a fresh supply of clay or earthy material.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine;
Fig. 2, an end elevation; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section; and Fig. 4, a horizontal
view. A, A, A, represents the framework of the machine, in which a horizontal
shaft B is mounted, from whence the moving parts of the machinery derive
their actuating power; C is a hopper, fixed to the framework, for receiving
and delivering the clay or earthy materials; and D is the mould, which is
shewn detached in different views at Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Fig. 5 represents the
horizontal or top view of the mould; Fig. 6, a side elevation of the same; and
Fig. 7, a sectional elevation; the two last Figures showing the parts by which
the mould is carried along the machine. Rotary motion being given to the
shaft B by any convenient means, a large toothed wheel E, fixed thereon,
taking into pinions F and G, communicates rotation to the working parts of
the machinery. The pinion F is fixed upon the axle of one of the pair of
cylindrical rollers H, H, within the hopper, which rollers are coupled together
by a pair of pinions I, I, at the farther ends of their axles. The clay or earthy
materials being put into the upper part of the hopper, the rotation of the
cylindrical rollers will conduct the earth down to the lower part of the hopper.
The mould D must be placed immediately under the hopper, as shewn by dots
in the section, the sliding plate a, which closes the bottom of the hopper,
having been pushed. back by the top edge of the mould as it comes into

page_text: that position, and when the mould, after being filled with earth, slides away
again, a weighted chain b, b, replaces the sliding plate, and closes the bottom
of the hopper until the mould returns to be recharged. The mould D
slides up and down upon a frame of blocks K, which are made fast
upon a table L, and to the under part of this table L a horizontal rack
bar M is affixed. A pinion c, upon a small shaft d, that passes transversely
through the machine, takes into this rack M, and as the pinion revolves
with a reciprocating action, it drives the rack bar M, and with it the table L,
the blocks K, K, K, K, and mould D, to and frow, from one end of the
machine to the other. This pinion c is driven from the pinion g through a
train of level gear e, f, and g, the last of which, fixed at the lower end of an
inclined shaft h; takes into one of the mitre wheels i or k, as the occasion may
be; tliese mitre wheels i and k are attached to a hollow axle 1, sliding laterally
upon the end of the shaft d, and the hollow axle is confined by a key, and
shifted in its position upon the shaft d by means of a lever j and grooved
cam N, on the outer end of the main shaft B., The groove of the cam N is so
formed and arranged, that when the mould placed under the hopper has been
filled with clay or earth the pinion g is thrown into gear with the bevel
wheel i, and when that is the case, the rotation of the great wheel E will,.
through the pinion G and the gear connected thereto, cause the rack bar M
with the table L and blocks K, K, K, K, to slide away from the hopper
upon the edges of the horizontal part of the framework A. The mould D, as
before said, slides up and down upon the blocks K, but is kept up by two
rollers m, m, attached to its ends, running upon side rails n, n. It will be
perceived by reference to Figs. 1 and 4, that these side rails lie horizontally
in that part of the machine which is under the hopper, but a little further on
they incline downwards There are, however, two lever bars p, p, one on each
side of the machine, which hang upon pivots, and continue the horizontal
railway for the rollers m of the mould D to run upon until it has arrived in
the middle of the machine under the press. At the period when the mould
has reached this situation, the groove of the cam N has slidden the pinions k
and i into the middle position, so that the pinion g will then be out of gear
with either of them; the table with the mould then necessarily stands still.
When the mould is thus placed, the platten P of the press is brought down
upon its top by the rotation of the excentrics Q, Q, upon the shaft B. By
these means the mould is depressed, and the clay, which is supported beneath
by the blocks K, becomes compressed closely in the mould, and thereby
formed into bricks. The mould D, it will be perceived, is at this time

page_text: supported by its rollers m bearing upon the lever bars p, the table L with the
blocks K resting firmly upon the sides of the horizontal parts of the framing
A, A. The descent of the platten P therefore causes the mould D to slide
down over the blocks (the lever bars tilting up at that time), and thereby
leaving only as much room in the upper part of the mould as shall be sufficient
to form the compressed clay into the required size of the bricks or other
articles moulded therein. When this pressure upon the clay has been thus
effected, the platten P rises again, and the further rotation of the cam N
causes the rack bar M, with the table, blocks, and mould, to move on in the
same direction as before, in doing which the rollers m, at the sides of the
mould, pass under two inclined rails q, which further depress the mould D and
cause the bricks to stand up free from the mould upon the blocks K, K, K, K,
as shewn by dots in Fig. 3. As the blocks thus move along, a stationary
plate of iron.r, fixed at the end of the machine, cuts the lower edges of the
bricks off the tops of the blocks, and receives them ready to be removed by
hand. The further rotation of the cam N now causes the bevel wheel k to be
slidden into gear with the pinion g, when a retrograde movement of the rack
bar M takes place, which conducts the table, blocks, and empty mould back
again. The rollers m on the sides of the moulds, as it thus returns, pass along
the upper surfaces of the inclined parts of the railways n, n, and under the
uplifted ends of the lever bars p, p, which consequently causes the mould to be
raised to its former position, and as the mould passes under the hopper it
pushes away the plate a, as before described, and rests in the position shewn
by dots at the right-hand end of Fig. 3, under the hopper, whilst it is again
filled with clay or earthy materials to be made into bricks or other articles by
the means above explained.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I desire it to be understood that I claim, under the above in part
recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the general arrangements of machinery or apparatus for making
bricks, tiles, and other articles from clay or earthy materials, as above set out,
and exhibited in the accompanying Drawing, subject, however, to such modifi-
cations in its parts as may be necessary to set different forms and dimensions
of bricks, tiles, and other articles, as well as in the numbers of such articles
to be made at one operation, which modifications will not require any material
change in the forms or arrangements of the parts of the machinery.
Secondly, I claim the particular construction and mode of supporting and
working the blocks with the mould sliding thereon, for the purpose of con-

page_text: fining the clay or other earthy materials whilst it is receiving pressure, and
afterwards discharging the bricks or other articles so formed, in order that
they may be readily taken from the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Kirby, have hereunto set my
fining the clay or other earthy materials whilst it is receiving pressure, and
afterwards discharging the bricks or other articles so formed, in order that
they may be readily taken from the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Kirby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.