Improvements in Presses for Bricks and like Articles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1897
1000
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Presses for Bricks and like Articles.
We, JAMES WHITTAKER, of Dowry Street Ironworks, Accrington, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, and C. WHITTAKER AND COMPANY LIMITED, of the same
place, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates mainly to brick presses in which a crosshead, to which
the pressing blocks are attached, is moved up and down by connecting rods
operated from a crank or cam shaft. It has been found in practice that owing to
variations in the clay, or from other causes, excessive strain is sometimes brought
on the ends of the said cross head and crankshaft; and this strain besides tending
to bend the crankshaft and crosshead, also tends to bend the connecting rods
thus in time causing fracture of such connecting rods.
Now the object of our invention is to obviate such bending of the connecting
rods thereby reducing the liability to fracture, and for this purpose we provide
the connecting rods either at the crosshead end, or the crank end, or both with.
movable joints such as universal joints, ball and socket joints, conical or hollow
bearing bushes, or equivalent devices so arranged that little or no bending strain
may be thrown onto the said connecting rods while at the same time the action
of the connecting rods in moving the crosshead is not, or only very slightly,
affected.
Al 180
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Presses for Bricks and like Articles.
We, THOMAS WHITTAKER, Junior, of Elwy House, Whalley Road, Accrington,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH WHITTAKER,
of Willow House, Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Chemical Manufacturer,
Executors of the Will of James Whittaker, of Dowry Street Ironworks, Accrington,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, deceased; and C. WHITTAKER AND COMPANY,
of Dowry Street Ironworks, Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers,
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 mainly to brick presses in which a crosshead, to which
the pressing blocks are attached, is moved up and down by connecting rods

page_text: operated from a crank or cam shaft. It has been found in practice that owing to
variations in the clay, or from other causes, excessive strain is sometimes brought
on the ends of the said crosshead and crank shaft, and this strain besides tending
to bend the crank, shaft and cross head also tends to bend the connecting rods,
thus in time causing fracture of such connecting rods.
Now the object of our invention is to obviate such bending of the connecting
rods thereby reducing the liability to fracture; and for this purpose we provide
the connecting rods either at the crosshead end, or the crank end, or both, with
movable joints, such as universal joints ball and socket joints, conical or hollow
bearing bushes, or equivalent devices, so arranged that little or no bending strain
may be thrown onto the said connecting rods while at the same time the action
of the connecting rods in moving the crosshead is not, or only very slightly,
effected.
Fig. 1 on the accompanying drawing is a sectional view of so much of a brick'
pressing machine as is necessary to illustrate our invention, and Fig. 2 is a side
elevation of the same, a is the crosshead of the press to which are attached the
pressing plungers in any usual way: b is the bearing pin attached to the cross-
head. c is the connecting rod between the crosshead and crank pin by means
of which up and down motion is imparted to the crosshead. The connecting rod
is attached to the pin b of the crosshead by means of the block d and pin forming
with the pin b a universal joint so that any bending of the end of the crosshead
in a downward direction, or any strain of the crank shaft or crank pin has no
tendency to bend the connecting rod in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1 as is
at present the case with rigid connections. This lateral freedom obviates all danger
of the connecting rod breaking from the transverse strains caused by repeated
bending. The lower end of the connecting rod is shown attached to the crank
pin e by a ball and socket joint f, g is the main or crank shaft, h the main driving
wheel which acts as the crank and carries the crank pin e The parts above
described are duplicated at the other side of the machine. It will be obvious
that various joints which will allow lateral freedom to the connecting rod may be
used instead of universal or ball and socket joints.
In practice it has been found that in many cases the universal joint between the
connecting rod and crank pin may be dispensed with as the greatest bending of
the connecting rod takes place near the crosshead end.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:
--
In brick pressing machinery connecting rods attached to the crosshead and
crank pin or to either of them by means of universal, ball and socket, or equivalent
joints or devices substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this Nineteenth day of January 1898
W. B. JOHNSON,
4, Clayton Square, Liverpool, Agent.