IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Purvis Sherwood, of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR
ARTICLES."
Bealed the 25th August 1871, and dated the 1st March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Purvis Sherwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st March 1871.
I, EDWARD PURVIS SHERWOOD, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND SIMILAR
ARTICLES," to be as follows: _
This Invention has for its object improvements in arranging machinery
for preparing clay and for making bricks, tiles, and similar articles.
For this purpose the clay is first fed by means of a hopper between the
rollers 1 and 2 to the space c, as shown in the accompanying Drawing,

page_text: from thence it passes through between the rollers 1 and 3 to the space b,
the sides of which are formed so as to mould or comprise the clay to the
desired form previous to passing through the moulding orifice a, through
which it is forced by the action of the rollers 1 and 4. By this means
the clay is forced through the mould so as to impart a uniform density
thereto. The surfaces of the rollers 1 and 2 are by preference caused to
revolve at unequal speeds by well-known arrangements of mechanism.
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Purvis Sherwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
PURVIS SILERWOOD, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in tho year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Purvis Sherwood, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Purvis Sherwood, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Purvis
Sherwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any timo
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING CLAY, AND FOR MAKING
Bricks, Tiles, and SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Purvis Sherwood, 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.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF TILE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, Figure 2 a plan, Figures 3 and 4 arc
side clevations, and Figure 5 an end view of machinery arranged and
constructed in accordance with my Invention; Figure 6 is a plan of
the roller 3 showing also a plan of the mouthpiece m and the sides
of the space s¹.
The clay is first fed by means of the hopper / between the rollers 1
and 2 to the spaces, from thence it passes through between the rollers
1 and 3 to the space s', the sides &², s³, of which are inclined or so formed
as to collect the clay and shape it to the desired form previous to its
passage through the mouthpiece m, through which it is passed by the
action of the rollers 1 and 4. The sides 82, 83, of the space &¹ may be in
separate pieces (as shown in the Drawing) connected to the framework
of the machine or elsewhere, or they may be connected with and form
part of the mouthpicce m. The clay in its passage between the rollers 1,
2, and 3 is subjected to great pressure at the two points x and y where
the surfaces of the rollers come into close proximity, by which means
it is prepared previous to its passage through the mouthpiece m, and I
prefer that the surface speed of the rollers 1 and 2 should be unequal.
In making tiles, pipes, and similar articles the roller 3 is moved
back and the roller 4 raised by means of the screws G and H, and
suitable driving wheels are introduced; the top roller 2 is also provided
with a screw K to suit different qualities of clay. The roller 3 can also
be regulated for the same purpose by the screw G. The distance
between the rollers 1 and 4 on a straight line p, connecting their centres
is about equal to that of the thickness of the mouthpiece m, and the
sides 8, 8, of the spaces' are so arranged that at the same line p they
are contracted to a space equal to the mouthpiece m or thereabout, by
which arrangement the clay is forced continuously through the mould
at a uniform density, wherchy the bricks or other articles thus moulded

page_text: are not liable to crack in drying and burning. It will be seen that by
this arrangement the space s' forms a receiver for the admission of the
clay before it passes the mouthpiece mat p, or in other words before it
passes the straigh line connecting the centres of the rollers 1 and 4,
and as no dimension of this space is smaller than the orifice of the
mouthpiece at p the clay is kneaded, compressed, rendered homogenous,
and gradually shaped to within a small fraction of the size of the brick
by the rollers 1 and 4, the mouthpiece having a straight taper only and
not being relied on for shaping the brick, but merely for smoothing its
surface and scraping the rollers.
Motion is communicated to the series of rollers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the
arrangement of machinery shown in the Drawing in the following
manner-a is the driving axis which receives motion from a steam
engine or other motive power. The toothed pinion a' fixed on the axis a
takes into and drives the toothed wheel & fixed on the axis 6, upon 1
which the roller 3 is also fixed and thereby driven. Another toothed
wheel on the axis 6 takes into and drives the toothed wheel c' fixed
on the axis c, upon which the roller 1 is fixed and driven. The toothed
wheel c takes into and drives the toothed wheel a fixed on the axis d,
upon which the roller 2 is fixed and driven; c² is a toothed wheel fixed
on the axis c which takes into and drives the toothed wheel e' on tho
axis e, upon which the roller 4 is fixed and thereby driven; 2* and 3*
are scrapers for clearing the surfaces of the rollers 2 and 3. In order to
keep the clay from working out at the ends of the rollers grooves m*,ms*,
aro turned in them near their extremities, and plates o, o, are placed 2
therein. These plates confine the clay to the surface of the roller.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing or carrying the same into practice, I would have it under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement or
combination of machinery proviously described and shown in the 3
accompanying Drawing so long as the novel character of my Invention
'is retained; but what I claim is,―
First. The preparation of the clay in its passage between a series of
rollers to the mouthpiece m for making bricks, tiles, and similar articles
by subjecting it to pressure between the rollers at two or more points x 3
and y, substantially in the manner licrcin described and shewn in the
accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Secondly. I claim the arrangement of the rollers 1 and 4 in com-
bination with the mouthpiece m (in such manner that the clay previously
crushed and prepared is moulded to the size required at one uniform
density, being smoothed on the surface in its passage through the mouth-
piece, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein described
and shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly. I claim the general arrangement and combination of ma-
chinery for preparing clay, and for making bricks, tiles, or similar
articles, substantially in the manner herein-before described and shewn
in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Purvis Sherwood, havo
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-sixth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
EDWARD PURVIS SHERWOOD. (L.S.)