IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, TUBES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN THE MODE OF JOINTING DRAIN PIPES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Cookson, of Layton Hawes, near Blackpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, and Charles William Homer,
of Castle Hill, near Northwich, in the County of Chester, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS,
TILES, TUBES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN THE MODE
OF JOINTING DRAIN PIPES."
Sealed the 29th July 1859, and dated the 16th February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Cookson and
Charles William Homer at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 16th February 1859.
We, RICHARD COOKSON, of Layton Hawes, near Blackpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Gentleman, and CHARLES WILLIAM HOMER, of Castle Hill, near
Northwich, in the County of Chester, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
BRICKS, TILES, TUBES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN THE
MODE OF JOINTING DRAIN PIPES," to be as follows:-
Our invention consists in an improved combination of machinery by which
clay or other plastic material is supplied to a box furnished with a piston, from
which box the clay or plastic material is forced through dies of the proper
shapes for making bricks, tiles, tubes, or other articles, when cut off to the
proper lengths.
In performing our Invention the clay or other plastic material is fed into a

page_text: revolving hopper furnished with diagonal vanes working within a stationary
hopper; at the bottom of the revolving hopper are attached blades, which
force the plastic material into a box, within which a piston is worked to and
fro by steam or other power; at each end of the box is a die or a series of
dies of the requisite shapes, through which the plastic material is forced on to
tables where it is cut into pieces of the proper lengths by wires mounted in.a
traversing frame. The piston is worked to and fro in the box by racks and
wheels having teeth on a part of their circumferences only. And a similar
arrangement of racks and wheels is employed for working the wires by which
the bricks, pipes, tubes, or other articles are cut off to the proper lengths.
Our iniproved mode of jointing drain pipes is as follows:-The ends of the
pipes are made slanting, and the joint is formed by a separate socket piece
which is circular, except at the upper part where thereisa longitudinal groove.
Both ends of the drain pipes are brought together in the socket piece, the
lower parts of the pipes touching each other, while the upper parts are slightly
asunder owing to the slanting direction in which they are cut; by means of
the groove in the upper part of the socket, and the open space between the
ends of the drain pipes, water is at liberty to enter at the joints, but stones or
soil are kept out of the nines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Cookson and Charles William Homer in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 16th August 1859.
b
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
COOKSON, of Layton Hawes, near Blackpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Gentleman, and CHARLES WILLIAM HOMER, of Castle Hill, near Northwich,
in, the County of Chester, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Richard Cookson and Charles William Homer, Her special licence
that we, the said Richard Cookson and Charles William Homer, our exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Richard
Cookson and Charles William Homer, 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

page_text: might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great,
Britain and Ireland, the Chaunel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS. TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN THE MODE OF JOINTING DRAIN PIPES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Cookson and Charles
William Homer, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Richard Cookson and Charles
William Homer, 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 (that is to
say):
The nature of our Invention consists in an improved combination of
machinery by which clay or other plastic material is supplied to a box furnished
with a double-acting piston, from which it is forced through dies of the proper
shapes for making bricks, tiles, tubes, or other articles.
In performing our Invention, the clay or other plastic material is fed into
an ordinary pug mill, or into a revolving hopper furnished with diagonal vanes
working within a stationary hopper; at the bottom of the revolving hopper
are attached blades, which force the plastic material into a box, within which
a piston is worked to and fro by steam or other power; at each end of the box
is a die or a series of dies of the requisite shapes, through which the plastic
material is forced on to tables where it is cut into pieces of the proper lengths
by wires mounted in a traversing frame. The piston is worked to and fro iu
the box by cranks, or by racks and wheels having teeth on a part of their
circumferences only; and a similar arrangement of racks and wheels is
employed for working the wires by which the bricks, tiles, tubes, or other
articles are cut off to the proper lengths.
.
Our improved mode of jointing drain pipes is as follows:- The ends of the
pipes are made slanting, and the joint is formed by a separate socket piece
which is circular, except at the upperpart where there is a longitudinal groove.
Both ends of the drain pipes are brought together in the socket piece, the
lower parts of the pipes touching each other, while the upper parts are slightly
asunder owing to the slanting direction in which they are cut; by means of
the groove in the upper part of the socket, and the open space between the

page_text: ends of the drain pipes, water is at liberty to enter at the joints, but stones
or soil are kept out of the pipes.
.:
But in order that our Invention may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had tó-figures and letters marked thereon. :
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through our improved machinery för making
bricks; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Figs. 3 and 4 are end views. a. is. a.
box into which the clay is forced by a pug mill of the ordinary construction,
as shown at 6; within the box a is the piston c, which is double acting, being
worked to and fro hy steam or other power; the piston cis secured to the two
side plates d,d, which work through slots in the ends of the box a; the ends
of the side plates d, d, are united by the bridle e, to which are forged or
attached trunnions passing through guide blocks working'iu.slides; to these
trunnions-are connected the outer ends of the links, the other ends being
connected to the crank g, and to the driving wheel h, both of which are fixed
to the cross shaft i, revolving in bearings in the standards . The wheel his
driven by a pinion, shown by a dotted circle in Fig. 1, and this pinion.is fixed
to a shaft connected to the steam engine or other motive power, or tire gearing.
may be applied in any other convenient manner. At each end of the box a
is attached a plate a' with bearings for the four rollers a², forming dies, through
which the clay is forced by, the action of the piston c; these rollers are made
of iron covered with atube of vulcanized or other preparation of india-rubber;
the object of this covering is to produce pressure at the angles, thereby making
the bricks perfect'at the corners, and preventing the defects which frequently
occur when dies of the ordinary construction are used. When the clay has
been forced through the dies, it is deposited on tables formed by a series of
rollers j,j, and k, ; the pivots of these rollers are supported in the frames
m?,m²; around therollers j,j, are passed the endless belts of vulcanized india
rubber or other suitable material, shewn in Fig. 1, and the rollers k, kare
covered with tubes.of.vulcanized india-rubber, the object being to protect the
wood of which the rollers are made from moisture, and to secure an even
surface for the clay to bear upon. To the shaft i is fixed an excentric, the
strap of which is attached to a rod jointed to the horizontalbar l, to each end of
which is fixed a rack m; these racks gear into pinionsn loose on the shafts o;
to the pinions n are cast clutches shewn in Fig. 2, and these clutches take into
the clutch boxes p fixed to the shafts o. The pinions are cast with flanges
against which press the springs o³ to keep the clutches in gear; to the shaftso
are also fixed the mitre wheels g, gearing into similar wheels on the shafts r;
on these shafts are keyed the wheels s,-see Fig. 4, having teeth on a part of

page_text: their circumferences only; the wheels s gear alternately into the rackst, which
are cast or fixed to the upper plate of the carriages-u, and in the racks v
which are cast or fixed to the lower plate of the said-carriages; these carriage s'
bear upon
the cross-rails w, and to the carriages are fixed the columns x,
supporting-the rails y, z, and . The-wires by which the clay is cut into
bricks, pass between the rollers, and are suspended between the rails z,
and z; they are kept to the proper tension by thumbscrews shewn in Figs. 1
and 4.
I wish to remark here that instead of a single roller between the wires, it
is sometimes preferable to apply two rollers of smaller diameter, to afford
facility in placing the wire diagonally, as is requisite when bevelled bricks and
other articles are to be cut off.
"
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the various
parts of the machine in the positions they occupy when the piston c is moving
in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. The clay which was in the box a is
now being forced through the dies formed by the rollers a³, and it is pushed
on to the right-hand table, formed by the rollers ; and the rack m is
gearing into the pinion n, but does not impart motion to it because the bevel
of the: clutches is set in the proper direction to allow. the clutches on the
pinion n to slip past those of the clutch box p. When the piston c has com
pleted its traverse in the direction of the arrow the clay covers or partly covers
over the table formed by the rollers j and k, it must then be cut into pieces ³
of the requisite widths to form it into bricks; this cutting is effected while
moving the carriage u, by the wires before referred to, and the carriage is
moved during a portion of the return stroke of the piston by the rack m
acting-ou the pinion n, and thus driving the mitre wheels 2; shaft r, and
wheels, the teeth of which gearing into the lower rack v, move the carriage
in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4, while the teeth of the upper rack'
pass over that portion of the wheel s that is without teeth; as soon as the
pinion nthas moved the carriage-u-sufficiently to cut the clay into bricks, the
pinion is moved laterally on the shaft o, by the incline m³, see Fig. 2, fixed
to the rack m, which then comes against the flange of the pinion 'n, and thus
disconnects the teeth of the clutch boxes. The bricks are then removed from
the table by hand, and the carriage remains in the same position until a fresh
supply of clay has been forced on to the table, at which time it is taken back
to its original position by the wheels gearing into the upper rack t, thereby
cutting-this fresh supply of clay into bricks at the return stroke of the piston c;
the same action takes place at the left-hand side of the machine. In
describing the above machine, I have only referred to the manufacture of

page_text: bricks, but in making tiles, tubes, or other articles capable of being made by
forcing clay or other plastic materials through dies, it is only necessary to
change the dies, and the distance between the cutting wires and these altera-
tions can easily be made without the aid of Drawings. I would also remark
that the pistone may be worked to-and-fro in the box a by wheels having
teeth on a part of their circumferences ouly, similar to the wheels described
above, which wheels work in racks attached to the side plates d, d. The
machinery may be further modified by dispensing with the ordinary pug mill
shewn at b, and feeding the clay or other plastic material into a revolving
hopper furnished with diagonal vanes; working within a stationary hopper.
The plastic material is in this case forced into the box a by blades in the lower
part of the revolving hopper.
Our improvements in the mode of jointing drain pipes is shewn in Figs. 5
and 6, which represent transverse and longitudinal sections of the joint. The
ends of the pipes A are made slanting in contrary directions, these pipes can
be made by a machine similar to the one above described, or by any other
suitable machinery. The sockets B are circular except at the upper part,
where a longitudinal groove is formed marked C, these joint pieces can also
be made by forcing clay through.dies, and then cutting to the proper lengths.
When the socket is brought over the ends of the drain pipes, the lower parts
touch, as shewn in Fig. 6, while the upper parts are slightly asunder owing
to the slanting direction in which they are cut, consequently water is at liberty
to pass through the groove C into the drain pipes, but stones or soil are kept
out.. A modification of this part of our Invention is shewn in Fig. 7; in this
view the pipes Dare made with a fast socket at one end, and a loose socket E
is slipped over the joint where the two ends of the pipes meet together; by
this means, when it is necessary to take a pipe out of its place for repairs, or
for any other purpose, two of the socket pieces E are slipped on to the body.
of the pipes, thereby setting the intermediate pipe at liberty...
Fig. 8 represents another modification of our improved mode of jointing
drain pipes, in this case each pipe is made with a fast shoulder, against which
the loose socket E bears when slipped over the joint.
Figs. 9 and 10 are two views of another improved joint for drain pipes, in
this case each end of the pipe is furnished with a fast shoulder, and the joint
is made by the saddle F formed in two parts, so that when the tops are
removed the pipes are at liberty to be lifted out.
. Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of carrying the same into practical operation, we declare that we claim,―
First, the general arrangement and combination of the machinery for

page_text: making bricks, tiles, tubes, and other articles of plastic materials as shewn
and described.
Secondly, the use and application of a double-acting piston working in a
box for forcing clay or other plastic materials through dies placed at each
end thereof, as described.
Thirdly, The improved mode of connecting the piston to side plates forming
piston rods, as shewn and described.
Fourthly, the covering of the rollers forming the sides of the dies, through
which plastic material is forced with vulcanized or other preparation of india-
rubber as described.
Fifthly, the improved machinery shewn and described for cutting the clay
or plastic material, and particularly the wheel having teeth on a part of the
circumference only, and marked s, in Fig. 4.
Sixthly, the application of wheels similar to.s, in Fig. 4, for moving the
piston c, to and fro, as described.
And, lastly, the improved modes of jointing drain pipes as shewn and
described in reference to Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Cookson and Charles William
Homer have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirteenth day
of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
RICHARD COOKSON.
(L.S.)
CHARLES, WILLIAM HOMER. (L.S.)