IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FRANKLIN, of Marston Mortaine, in the County of Bedford, Brick Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth
day of September, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Franklin, my exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Henry Franklin, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Henry Franklin, 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 expresserl, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND
OTHER LIKE ARTICLES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Henry Franklin, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in
Her said 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

page_text: in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Franklin, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention consists
in certain improved machinery, or combinations of machinery, whereby those
processes in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and other like articles, called
pugging, screening, and moulding, are performed with a great saving in time,
labour, and expence. And I declare that the manner in which the same is to
be performed is fully set forth in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is an external elevation, Figure 2 a sectional elevation, and
Figure 3 a plan of a machine embodying my said improvements. A, A, is a
hollow cylinder, which is divided into two portions A¹ and A3 by an inter-
mediate rectangular chamber B. C is another rectangular chamber, which
constitutes the base of the machine, and by which the whole is secured to the
masonry upon which it is set. The chamber C may be cast in one piece along
with the base of the cylinder A, A, or in a separate piece. D¹, D2, is a double-
threaded cast-iron screw, the largest diameter of which is nearly equal to that
of the internal diameter of the cylinder or case A. The web of the thread
of this screw upon the upper side a is in a perpendicular line with the shaft
or axis E, as shewn in section in Figure 4, but the lower side 6 is curved
in an upward direction so as to give an outward inclination to any plastic body
(such as clay) which may be introduced into the cylinder and expelled from
it by the action of the screw. The shaft E is stepped at its lower end into
a cross bar Fattached to the top of the chamber C, and at its upper end has
its bearing in the cover G, which is put on after the screw has been put in its
place. His a collar which receives the lateral thrust of the screw and pre-
vents it from rising up. Within the rectangular chamber B, which, as before
mentioned, separates the cylinder into the two portions A³ and A³, the threads
of the screw are slotted out or removed towards the centre, leaving only the
spindle E at that part which admits of two screen frames I, I, being introduced
into the chamber B, one from each side, through the side doors K, K. One
of these doors is represented in Figure 1 as being open and the other closed.
A plan of one of the screen frames is given separately in Figure 5. L is a
curved wiper inserted into the screw shaft immediately over the surface of the
screens I, I, which serves to clear them from stones, twigs, straw, or any other
extraneous substances which may accumulate upon their surfaces. M, M,
are mould or die plates, which are represented as being of the patterns com-
monly used in the formation of pipes, but may be of any desired form or

page_text: figure. These plates are attached to the bottom chamber C, one on each
side, so that both sides of the machine may be in action at once. N¹, N³, are
endless webs upon which the moulded materials are received. Each of these
webs revolves upon a series of small rollers set in the framework N³. 0, 0,
are cutting frames, which slide through holes in the uprights P, P, and are
raised or depressed by the lever handle Q, the wires R of which frames serve
as knives to cut off the moulded clay materials at any desired length. S is a
vessel containing water, which is allowed to drop slowly upon the screw
threads in order to lessen the friction and otherwise facilitate the passage of
the clay through the machine. The mode of operating with this machine is
as follows:-The screw shaft is caused to revolve slowly, either by power
applied from a steam engine, or by the application of animal power. Clay is
fed into the machine through the opening T, and the revolution of the screw
causes the clay gradually to descend in the cylinder A¹ and through the
screens I, I, by which any stones or other non-plastic matters which may
happen to be mixed with the clay are intercepted and stopped. Each revo-
lution of the shaft E brings round the curved wiper L, which sweeps into the
angular corners of the chamber B whatever is too large to pass through the
screens. The rubbish as it accumulates is removed from time to time
through the doors K, K. The clay which has been thus " pugged" and
"screened" is by the action of that portion of the screw which is situated in
the lower chamber A² now pressed downward towards and through the mould
or die plates M, M. The bottom of the base or lower chamber C is inclined
from the centre towards the die plates on each side in order that the passage
of the clay may be facilitated at those parts. The plastic mass on emerging
from the mould or die plates M, M, is received upon the endless webs
Nand N. The cutting of it into lengths suitable for bricks, tiles, pipes, &c.,
is performed in the manner already described. The finished articles are
removed from the endless web N by hand. Instead of the process of
"pugging," "screening," and "moulding," being all successively performed
by one machine, as before described, they may be performed separately, and
the machine be divided accordingly into several distinct parts suitably modified.
For example, the "pugging" and "screening" might be effected by a
machine composed of the upper part alone, the cross bar F being placed
immediately under the screens I, I. Or the " moulding" might be effected
by a machine composed of the under part alone, the cover of the cylinder A
being brought down to where the screens I, I, are placed in the single
machine. I am not aware, however, of there being anything to be gained by
such modifications, and I do not recommend them..

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim any of the
parts of the said machine as being in and by themselves new and original,
excepting always the screw of the peculiar form before described; but that
what I claim is,-
Firstly, the combination in one machine of a "pugging'
pugging" cylinder, dis-
charging screw of the peculiar form aforesaid, screening frames, and moulding
dies, cutting frame and other appendages, as before described, whereby the
processes of "pugging," "screening," and "moulding," are successively per-
formed as if by one operation, and a greater quantity of bricks, tiles, and other
like articles are manufactured in a given time with less trouble and at less
expence than heretofore.
Secondly, I claim the parts of the said machine which relate respectively to
pugging and screening, whether they are all combined together in one machine
as first berein-before described or used separately, with suitable modifications,.
as herein-before suggested and exemplified; and,
Thirdly, I claim the employment, for the purpose of manufacturing bricks,
tiles, and other like articles, of the screw of the peculiar form before described,
whether the same is employed in a machine of the description aforesaid
or in 'a machine used for the like purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Franklin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.