IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING AND DRYING BRICKS, TILES, AND ARTICLES FORMED FROM CLAY AND SIMILAR PLASTIC MATERIALS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Carter Stafford Percy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd February 1878.
WILLIAM CARTER STAFFORD PERCY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND
IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING AND DRYING BRICKS, TILES, AND ARTICLES FORMED
FROM CLAY AND SIMILAR PLASTIC MATERIALS."
My Invention relates in the first place to machinery for tampering and preparing
clay, and consists in the employment of crushing rollers in conjunction with a pug-
mill provided with arms or blades formed to deliver steam into the clay.
I prefer to employ two pairs of crushing rollers. The clay is fed to the rollers
through a suitable hopper, and is passed from the rollers into the pug mill.
The mill shaft is hollow and passages are formed at the backs of the blades which
are perforated.
Steam is discharged through the said perforations, and hot or cold water may also
be delivered by the same means.
The outlet from the mill deilvers the prepared clay into reciprocating moulds, or
into moulds in or on a revolving table. I may form the said mill with a steam
jacket.
In the second place in moulding perforated bricks I cause the pins to pass entirely
through the plastic mass into recesses which are closed by pistons, which are kept
level with the face by means of springs until the ends of the pins force the said
pistons into the said recesses when entering the same.
To lubricate the sliding piston of the mould I employ felt or fabric which is
secured to the sides of the piston, or to wood which is let into the sides of the
piston.
When the piston descends the lower edge of the felt dips into a reservoir of
lubricant.
The third and fourth parts of my Invention relate to the drying of bricks or
moulded articles. I cause the articles to travel through a long chamber, in which
a current or currents of air is or are maintained by means of a fan or fans.
Price 977

page_text: The door of the said chamber is provided with rollers which are fitted to revolve
in bearings, the line of the axes of the rollers sloping from the feed end to the
delivery end.
The articles, say for example bricks, are placed upon perforated and grooved
boards which are caused to travel through the chamber upon the rollers.
Each added board is pushed forwards by means of a pusher actuated by racks
and pinions, or by other suitable means, the whole series being propelled at the
same time.
The empty boards are returned by means of an inclined channel or guide. The
said chamber may be heated if considered to be advisable; as for example, it may be
heated by means of steam pipes, or by forming the sides hollow and admitting
steam thereinto, or by forming flues below the chamber, or by admitting currents
of heated air into the said chamber.
According to the remaining part of my Invention, I employ hollow metal tiles to
form the floor, upon which the bricks or articles are placed in order to be dried,
and I admit steam to the inner spaces of the said tiles.
I prefer to groove or channel the face of the said tiles.
For convenience, when made of cast iron, an opening is formed in the lower side,
and is closed by means of a lid or cover, which may also be formed with a steam
passage and be connected with the steam supply pipe, which by preference is
inclined so as to convey away the water of condensation.