TU MANURACTURE OF PIPES. TILES. BRICKS. AND SLABS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Whitaker, of Rochdale, Engineer.
and James Walmsley the younger, of Smithy Bridge, near Roch-
dale, Earthenware Manufacturer, for the Tnvention of IMPROVE-
TU MANURACTURE OF PIPES. TILES. BRICKS. AND SLABS,
::
Sealed the 11th November 1858, and Inted the 11th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Whitaker
and James Walmsley the younger at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th May 1853.
We, EDMUND WHITAKER, of Rochdale, Engineer, and JAMES
WALMSLEY the younger, of Smithy Bridge, near Rochdale, Earthen-
ware Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES, TILES, BRICKS. AND
SLABS, FROM CLAY," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the application of the direct action of the
clastic force of air for the purpose of compressing clay into or through
moulds used in the manufacture of pipes, tiles. bricks. and slabs. The

page_text: air may be compressed by a force pump, or other means, into a suit-
able receiver, and allowed to exert its expansive force upon a piston
working in a vessel, which is connected to a second piston and vessel,
the latter containing the clay, and this force may be assisted by the
application of heat to the vessel containing the air; or the force pump 5
may be dispensed with, and the power for propelling the clay obtained
by causing the air to expand by the application of heat.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.
filed by the said Edmund Whitaker and James Walmsley the
younger in the Great Seal Patent Office. on the 11th November
1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
EDMUND WHITAKER, of Rochdale, Engineer, and JAMES WALMSLEY the
younger, of Smithy Bridge, near Rochdale, Earthenware Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three, and in the sixteenth year of Her reign,
did for Herself, Fler heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Edmund Whitaker and James Walmsley. Her special license
that we, the said Edmund Whitaker and James Walmsley, our execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edmund
Whitaker and James Walmsley, our 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES,
TILES, BRICKS, AND SLABS, FROM CLAY," upon the condition, amongst
others, that we, the said Edmund Whitaker and James Walmsley,
or one of us, by an instrument in writing under our hands and scals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what mamer

page_text: the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar inonths next and immune-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Whitaker, do hereby
declare the nature of our 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):
Our Invention consists in the application of the direct action of the
elastic force of air for the purpose of compressing clay into or through
dies or moulds used in the manufacture of pipes, tiles, bricks, and slabs.
The construction of machinery suitable for carrying out our Invention
inay be varied considerably, according to the desire of the manufac-
turer, or of general arrangements; we have, however, to this our
Specification appended a Drawing, shewing two methods by which
the principle may be carried into practical effect, and which we will
now procced to describe. Fig. 1, is a vertical section of one apparatus,
fitted with a suitable die for producing drainage pipes. A cylinder ",
similar to that of a steam engine, and provided with a piston b, is
placed upon a platform c; to this cylinder is adapted a valve box d,
fitted with an ordinary slide valve, suitably arranged for opening a
communication with the upper or lower side of the piston. At any
convenient part of the premises is placed a vessel similar to an ordi-
nary steam boiler, and provided, in like manner, with a safety valve;
into this vessel air is continually forced by means of a pump, and a
pipe being passed therefrom to the valve box d, the clastic force gene-
rated may be caused to exert its power upon the piston b, so as to
cause it to descend or ascend at pleasure. Beneath the apparatus
described is a second cylinder e, provided with a plunger f. attached to
the rod of the piston and consequently moving up or down there-
with; the lower part of the cylinder e, is widened, and carries armis g,
by which a core h, forming the dic of the pipe to be made, is carried.
A small cylinder is placed upon a framework, is provided with a piston,
the rod of which carries a platform j, capable of moving vertically on
guides : to this cylinder is attached a pipe l, leading to the compressed

page_text: air chamber before referred to; and provided with a cock; another pipe
and cock being also adapted, which may be opened to the atmosphere.
Suppose the parts to be in the position shewn in the Drawing, the
attendant will place a core m, upon the table j, the position thereof
being regulated by pins or other registering means; compressed air
is then to be admitted to the small cylinder i, by the force of which
the table j, will be carried upward, and cause the core to be pressed
against the under side of the die h. A quantity of clay having been
placed in the cylinder c, the attendant, by means of convenient appa-
ratus connected to the rod n, admits compressed air on to the upper side
of the piston b, which, being then caused to descend, will carry the
plunger downward, and force the material through the orifice v.
formed by the dich, so as to cause it to slide along the circumference
of the core m. As soon as the attendant perceives the necessary
length of pipe to have been formed he moves the valve rod n, so as
to shut off the air pressure from the upper and transfer it to the under
side of the piston b, by which means it will be caused to ascend, and
carry with it the plunger f, again to the position shown in the Drawing.
The cock of the pipe 7, is now to be closed, and that of the other pipe
opened to the atmosphere, by which means the piston will be liberated
from upward pressure, and will, together with the table j, descend by
its own gravity, carrying with it the core m, so as to provide a space
for the passage of a wire, by which the pipe may be severed and carried
away, another core being then adapted, and the operation proceeding
as before.
A modification of the foregoing apparatus is shewn in vertical section
at Fig. 2. In this instance the air is compressed within a vessel, through
the intervention of a water pump, and by its clastic power maintains
a constant pressure, causing the water to operate upon the piston
of the working cylinder. A vessel p, is connected to another 9, by
means of a pipe ; the communication of the two, however, is capable
of being opened or closed at pleasure by a cock s. To the lower
part of the vessel p, is adapted a pipe m, the end t, thereof leading
to an ordinary hydraulic force pump, and the end u, to the valve
box d, of Fig. 1, the communication thereto being governed by a

page_text: cock v.
At w, is another cock adapted to a pipe, which is arranged
so as to discharge water into the well or other source from which
it has been drawn by the force pump at t. At a, is a pipe lead-
ing to the atmosphere, and capable of being opened or closed by a
cock. The positions of the parts shewn in the Drawing are those
they would assume before the apparatus is put to work, the cocks v, w, a,
being closed, and that shewn at s, open. The first operation before
the machine can effect the desired pressure is to obtain a reservoir of
compressed air in the vessel ; this is effected by bringing the force
pump which is in communication with the end t, of the pipe into
operation, by which means the fluid not being able to escape by the
cocks w, v, will be driven into the vessel p, lifting the floating ball
valve y, from its seat; the fluid, as it rises, will drive the air before it
through the pipe 7, and this operation will continue until the floating
valve y, shall have arrived at the top of the vessel p, and closed the
orifice of the pipe r, at which time a safety valve adapted to the vessel P
will allow the water to escape, and give notice of the completion of
this part of the operation. According to the arrangement shown in
the Drawing, the vessels p, q, are of about equal capacities, and the
air is therefore compressed into one half its original bulk; as this com-
pression may not, however, be sufficient, we provide means for repeat-
ing the operation as follows:-The cock s, being closed so as to
prevent the compressed air from passing into the chamber p, the pipe w,
is opened in order to allow the water in the vessel p, to run off into
the cistern froin which it has been taken, the cock a, having been
opened to admit the pressure of the atmosphere. This having been
accomplished, the cocks w, a, are again closed, and that of the pipe r,
opened, and the operation before described repeated, so as to compress
another column of air contained in the vessel p, into the other vessel 4,
and this may be repeated so many times as may be necessary, accord-
ing to the power required. The existance of the required compression
of air is ascertained by a loaded valve adapted to the vessel 7. It is
arranged that this condition shall be arrived at when the vessel P, is
only partly filled with water, and the float valve y, in about the posi-
tion shewn by dots, the orifice of the pipe r, being open, and allowing,

page_text: therefore, the compressed air to act upon the surface of the fluid. The
apparatus is now ready for communicating power. to the pressing
machinery, and this is done by opening the cock v, and continuing the
action of the force pump, by which means water will be driven through
the pipe at u, and caused to act upon the piston b, Fig. 1, the resist-
ance afforded by which will be overcome by the compressed air in the
vessel 9, acting with an elastic force, and thus preventing the water
from rising in the vessel p, so as to provide space for the whole of that
supplied by the force pump.
We have, in the foregoing description shewn dies constructed
for making drain pipes; it will be evident, however, that the clay
may be pressed into or through dies or moulds suitably formed
for tiles, bricks, or slabs; we have also alluded to particular arrange-
ments of operating machinery for carrying out the principle of our
Invention; we desire it, however, to be understood that we do not
confine ourselves thereto, as many modifications may be adapted
which would answer the purpose; particularly we would observe,
that instead of using a pump for forcing air into a vessel, as first.
described, the requisite clastic force may be obtained by heat, after
the manner of motive power air engines, or heat may be used in com-
bination with a force pump. In conclusion, we desire it to be under-
stood that we claim as secured to us, under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, the application of the clastic force of air applied direct
to the manufacture of pipes, tiles, bricks, and slabs, from clay.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Whitaker, have hereunto
set my hand and this Tenth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
EDMUND WHITAKER. (L.S.)