IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING AND COMPRESSING BRICKS OR BLOCKS OF ASPHALT CLAY OR OTHER MATERIALS.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Randolph, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING AND COMPRESSING BRICKS OR BLOCKS OF
ASPHALT CLAY OR OTHER MATERIALS.
وو
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Randolph at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th May 1875.
I, CHARLES RANDOLPH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING AND COMPRESSING BRICKS OR
BLOCKS OF ASPHALT, CLAY, OR OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows, that is to
say:
1
This Invention relates to machinery for moulding and compressing
bricks or blocks of asphalt, clay, or other materials, and has for its.
object, by an improved, simple, and durable construction to operate

page_text: on dry or semi-dry materials in a more satisfactory manner than here-
tofore.
In a machine made with the improvements a number of moulds are
arranged upon a horizontal annular table or slide, which is fitted to
turn in a circular V guide on a bed frame. The moulds are separate
boxes, without top or bottom, and fit on and over piston blocks fixed
upon the annular slide, each piston block occupying less or more of the
interior of its mould accordingly as the mould is more or less lifted
above the level of the slide. Over one part of the circular bed there is
fixed a hopper or duct, down through which the asphalt, or clay, or
other material in a more or less pulverulent or loose condition is led
from a pug mill or mixer, and the moulds in passing successively under
this hopper become filled, the movement. which carries each mould from
beneath the hopper sleeking the top surface of the material in it in
consequence of the close fitting of the tops of the moulds with the
bottom of the hopper.
Whilst being filled the moulds are kept elevated in consequence of
flanges with which they are formed resting on guide rails fixed to the
bed of the machine. Each mould as it proceeds round gets under a
compressor or stamper moving in vertical guides, and worked by an
eccentric or crank on a horizontal shaft. The mould does not require
to be very accurately placed under the stamper, as this is made with or
has attached to it a flat plate, which descends on the flat top of the
mould and covers its cavity, and in continuing its descent the stamper
forces the mould down over the fixed piston block, so as to cause the
compression of the material in the mould. After the compression the
mould passes onwards and under a second stamper formed with a
recessed bottom plate, which presses the mould still further down, and
so that the top of the mould becomes flush or nearly so with the top of
the piston block, the brick or block being thereby, as it were, lifted out
of its mould into the recess in the second stamper; this second stamper
moves vertically, and is worked by a crank or eccentric on a shaft
geared to that of the first stamper; after passing the second stamper
the bricks or blocks are to be lifted off by boys; and, finally, as each
mould gets round near the hopper it is lifted up by means of a pair of
levers on a rocking shaft made to act periodically by a cam on one of
the stamper shafts. The annular table or slide is turned to the extent
of one mould at a time by means of teeth formed or fixed on its inner

page_text: edge, and acted on at diametrically opposite points by two single toothed
(or otherwise intermittently acting) wheels driven by gearing from the
main shaft.
In some cases the circular bed and annular slide may be heated by
steam, or by means of a hot flue, a provision which will be of special
advantage when operating on asphalt of or similar to the kind known as
"Val de Travers."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Randolph in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
RANDOLPH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
in the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Randolph, Her
special licence that I, the said Charles Randolph, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Randolph,
my 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,
usc, 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 MOULDING AND COMPRESSING BRICKS OR
BLOCKS OF ASPHALT, CLAY, OR OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Randolph, 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: ว
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Randolph, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to machinery for moulding and compressing
bricks or blocks of asphalt, clay, or other materials, and has for its
object, by an improved, simple, and durable construction to operate
on dry or semi-dry materials in a more satisfactory manner than here-
tofore.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing a
brick-moulding machine as made with my improvements. In these
Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or
like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is a plan of the machine; Figure 2 is a
sectional side elevation; and Figure 3 is a sectional front elevation.
In this machine a number of moulds 1 are arranged upon a horizontal
annular table or slide 2, which is fitted to turn in a circular V guide
groove 3 on a bed frame 4. The moulds 1 are separate boxes, each
without top or bottom, and they fit on and over piston blocks 5 fixed
upon the annular slide 2, each piston block 5 occupying less or more of
the interior of its mould 1 accordingly as the mould is more or less lifted
above the level of the slide 2. Over one part of the circular bed 4 there
is fixed a hopper or duct 6, into which the asphalt, or clay, or other
suitably prepared material is supplied, and the moulds 1 in passing
successively under this hopper 6 become filled, the movement of the
slide 2, which carries each mould forward and from beneath the hopper,
sleeking the top surface of the material in it in consequence of the close.
fitting of the moulds with the bottom of the hopper. After passing the
hopper 6 each mould 1 remains uncovered for a sufficient time before
the compressing operation to admit of any defect in the filling to be.
put right by a boy or boys stationed near the hopper for the purpose.
Whilst being filled the moulds 1 are kept elevated in consequence of
flanges 7. with which they are formed resting on guide rails 8 fixed to
the bed 4 of the machine. A part of the guide rails 8 is shown in

page_text: i
Figure 2, but is omitted in Figure 3, so as not to hide other parts. Each
mould 1, as it proceeds round in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1,
gets under a compresser or stamper 9 attached to a slide 10 moving in
vertical guides which are fitted in the upper part of a massive casting 11.
This casting or housing 11 is bolted down to the foundation at one side
of the circular bed frame 4, and is formed with jaws, between which the
annular slide 2 with the moulds 1 and piston blocks 5 passes at one part
of its circuit, the stamper slide 9, 10, being held in the upper jaw. The
stamper slide 9, 10, is moved up and down by means of a crank or
eccentric indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3 on a horizontal shaft 12,
which is carried in bearings in the housing 11, and which is driven by
means of a spur wheel 13 fixed on it and in gear with a pinion 14 on a
first motion shaft 15 carrying fast and loose pulleys 16 for a driving belt.
The mould 1 does not require to be placed with extreme accuracy under
the stamper 9, as this is made with or has attached to it a flat plate,
which descends on the flat top of the mould, and covers its cavity, and
in continuing its descent the stamper 9 forces the mould 1 down over
the fixed piston block 5, so as to cause the compression of the material ·|
in the mould. After the compression each mould 1 passes onwards and
under a second stamper 17 formed with a recessed bottom, which presses
the mould still further down, and so that the top of the mould descends.
at least as low as the top of the piston block 5, the brick or block being
thereby, as it were, lifted out of its mould, and projecting up into the
recess in the second stamper 17. This second stamper 17 is attached to
a vertically moving slide 18, fitted to work in guides in the housing 11,
and actuated like the first stamper slide 9, 10, by a crank on a horizontal
shaft 19 geared by a pair of equal spur wheels 20 to the shaft 12 of the
first stamper. As the second stamper 17 rises it leaves the brick or
block exposed, and after passing on from the stamper the bricks or
blocks are to be lifted off by boys.
Finally, as cach mould 1 in passing round at length approaches the
hopper 6 again it is lifted up by means of a pair of links 21 moved by
levers 22 on a rocking shaft 23 made to act periodically, and then moves
forward, being kept in its elevated position by the guide rails S. Each
mould 1 passes off the forward end of the guide rails 8 just as it reaches
the position under the stamper 9; but it is kept from descending except
by the force of the stamper by a lever 24 acted on by a spring which
yields as the stamper descends. The annular table or slide 2 is turned

page_text: to the extent of one mould 1 at a time by means of teeth 25 formed
or fixed on its inner edge, and acted on at diametrically opposite points
by two single-toothed wheels 26 driven by gearing from the first-motion
shaft 15; this shaft 15 has on it a bevil pinion 27 in gear with a bevil
wheel 28 on a short vertical shaft, and this bevil wheel is fast to a
pinion 29 which is in gear with spur wheels 30 fast to the single-toothed
wheels 26; it is a small cam 31 fixed or formed on the under side of
one of the spur wheels 30, and shown separately in Figure 4, which
acting on a lever 32 fast on the rocking shaft 23 makes this shaft,
through the pairs of levers 22 and links 21, lift up a mould 1 just
prior to each shift of the slide 2, the links 21 having pins in their upper
ends which engage under the flanges 7 of the mould.
In some cases the circular bed 4 and annular slide 2 may be heated
by steam, or by means of a hot flue, a provision which will be of special
advantage when operating on asphalt of or similar to the kind known
as "Val de Travers."
The moulds 1 and piston block 5 may obviously be modified in form
to produce bricks or blocks of different shapes. Figure 5 is a plan
showing a portion of roadway paved with blocks as made in the
moulds 1, shown in Figures 1, 2, 3; and Figure 6 is a side elevation
showing one of the blocks, the shape being what I purpose using in
laying asphalt to form roadways. The upper edges of these blocks
are bevilled, and when the blocks are combined or laid together the
bevilling of the edges produces a grooved surface which presents a hold
for the feet of horses.
By my machine the blocks are made without taper in any direction, '
and therefore combine together in a solid mass when laid to form a
roadway. The formation of the roadway by means of blocks of asphalt
is also a simpler and cheaper operation than that ordinarily adopted in
laying asphalt.
When it is wished to have the grooves in one direction only, as across
a roadway for example, the blocks can be made with only two edges.
bevilled instead of all four. The blocks are moulded in an inverted
position, the bevillings being formed by suitable projections at the
upper edges of the piston block 5, as seen in the sectional part at the 3
left-hand side of the series of moulds in Figure 2. The mould 1, piston
block 5, and annular slide 2 are in Figure 2 shown as sectioned at a

page_text: point midway between the two stampers 9, 17, and not as though they
were directly under either stamper.
If preferred the moulds 1 and piston blocks 5 may be arranged
with their longer sides tangential instead of radial, as shown; also,
the rocking shaft 23 for raising the moulds may be arranged above the
moulds, and have a lever to be acted on by a cam surface or groove on
the large wheel 13.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, and that
I do not claim the use of a revolving series of moulds with stationary
stampers, nor any of the separate mechanical details excepting as hercin-
after stated; but that what I believe to be novel and original and claim
as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, the arranging or combining together of the parts of
machinery for moulding and compressing bricks or blocks of asphalt,
clay, or other materials, substantially in the improved manner herein
described and delineated, and more particularly the combining of each
mould with a special piston block, the mould being movable on the
block to allow first of the compression, and thereafter of the complete
uncovering of the bricks or blocks.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Randolph, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.