IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS FROM CLAY ALONE, OR MIXED WITH OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Burstall, of Southall, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS FROM CLAY ALONE, OR MIXED WITH OTHER
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 11th October 1860, and dated the 16th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Burstall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th April 1860.
I, THOMAS BURSTALL, of Southall, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS FROM CLAY ALONE, OR MIXED WITH OTHER
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates particularly to manufacturing bricks from clay alone,
or mixed with other materials in a pulverized state, the machinery being
similar to that for which Letters Patent were granted to me, dated March 5th,
1857, the distinctive difference being that the eccentric shaft is driven twice
the speed of the cam shaft; this is to enable the upper plungers to make two
strokes for one of the lower ones, the operation of making a brick being as
follows:-On the machine being set to work, the mould being full of pulverized
material, the eccentric forces down the top plunger to such a depth as to form
an incomplete brick, and continuing to revolve untill it again brings down the

page_text: upper plunger into the mould, the steam is then let into the cylinder, forcing
up the lower plunger through the medium of the beam, and giving an elastic
pressure, the brick is completed by equal and opposite pressures between the
two plungers.
My improvement consists of making bricks from pulverized material by a
seperate rigid pressure forming an incomplete brick, and finishing the same by
combined opposite pressures, one being rigid and one elastic.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Burstall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th October' 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BURSTALL, of Southall, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Burstall, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Burstall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Burstall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS FROM CLAY ALONE, OR MIXED WITH OTHER
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Burstall, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
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 Thomas Burstall, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-

page_text: My Invention relates to an improvement on the machine for manufacturing
bricks and tiles from clay alone, or mixed with other materials, dated the Fifth
day of March 1857.
The improved machine is shown by the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is an end view, with dies and
plungers in section; the same letters of reference are used for similar parts in
both views, and are also the same as in the Patent aforesaid.
The machine consists of two strong frames A, A, to which are fixed two
dies B, B, B, of the shape of the length and breadth of the brick C; in the
dies are plungers D, D, fitting easily therein; these plungers are acted upon by
steam pressure through the medium of the piston E, the piston rod F, the
connecting links G, the lever H, and the antifriction rollers I, I. The frames
A, A, carry a shaft L with an eccentric M fixed thereon, which gives motion.
to two plungers N, N, by means of the connecting rod O; on the shaft Dis
fixed two spur wheels P, P, which are geared into and are worked by two spur
pinions Q, fixed on a shaft R, working in bearings in the frames A, A, the
other end of the shaft (shewn broken off) being carried to any required length
to work in a bearing fixed to a wall; on the shaft R is also fixed a pulley S,
which is driven by a belt T from any motive power; on the shaft R is also
fixed a spur pinion n, geared into and working a spur wheel m fixed to a
shaft v.
This shaft works in bearings in the frames A, A, and on it are fixed
two cams W; these cams are for working the rocking standards X, by means
of the rollers y, y, and giving motion to the feed box a by means of two con-
necting rods z, bringing the feed box under the hoppers b, b, the bottom of the
feed box being over the top of the dies B, B; on the shaft vis also fixed a
cam c for lifting the brick out of the die by acting on the plungers D, D,
through the medium of the rollers d, the lever e, and the connecting links f, f;
on the other end of the frames A, A, is fixed a cylinder, and steam is admitted
thereto by a slide valve, such as is used in the high-pressure steam engine. It
is to be particularly observed the eccentric shaft L must make exactly two
revolutions for one revolution of the cam shaft v.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-On the belt T being put in
motion in the direction of the arrows, the shaft R is turned, and the pinions Q
drives the wheels P, P, and at the same time the pinion n drives the wheel /;
these wheels respectively drive the shafts L and v; the hoppers b, b, being filled
with pulverized material, it falls into the feed box a, which is brought over the
dies B, B, by the cam W; the cam c then allows the plungers D, D, to fall;
the material is deposited in the dies, and the feed box returned under the
hopper for another charge; in the meantime the shaft L revolving with

page_text: eccentric thereon, brings down the plungers N, N, presses the pulverized
material lightly into contact, and the shaft L still continuing to revolve until
the plungers N, N, are again in the dies B, B; the steam is let on the piston E,
and the upper pressure is given by the plungers D, D, which is met by the
downward pressure from the top plungers N, N, and the brick is completed;
the machinery continuing in motion, the eccentric M begins to lift, the brick
is partially raised by the steam pressure, and is lifted flash with the top of the
die B, B, by the cam c, and pushed off by the feed box a when again brought
forward by the cam W; as soon as the cam c begins to act, the steam is let
on above the piston, which brings down the beam to make room for the
plungers D, D, to fall clear; these plungers are prevented falling on the beam
by a check strap working over a roller, the other end being connected to a set
screw and hand nut for regulating the fall of the plungers D, D; between the
nut and the strap I place an elastic medium, such as prepared india-rubber,
to make the whole elastic.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that I do not
claim any of the separate parts of the machinery described; but I claim the
mode of manufacturing bricks from pulverized material by first giving a separate
pressure forming an incomplete brick, and finishing the same by combined
opposite pressures, one being rigid and one elastic.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Burstall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
THOMAS BURSTALL. (L.S.)