IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Weston Grimshaw, of Morsley, County
Antrim, Ireland, and Ellis Rowland, of the same place, for the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Weston Grimshaw
and Ellis Rowland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 7th September 1853.
We, WESTON GRIMSHAW, of Morsley, County Antrim, Ireland, and
ELLIS ROWLAND, of the same place, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS" to
be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a peculiar combination of machinery or
apparatus for manufacturing bricks from what is termed dry brick
earth in contradistinction to plastic brick earth. For this purpose a
rotating table or frame, having several moulds, each arranged with a

page_text: piston within it, is used; and when for making perforated bricks there
are a series of upright pius fixed to the bottom of each mould, the
piston being perforated accordingly. The series of moulds receive at
intervals a rotatory motion a distance equal to that at which the moulds
are apart. Each mould on its coming to one locality receives a supply
of brick carth by passing under a suitable hopper. At its next move-
ment the clay in the mould is brought in position to receive pressure,
which is done by the direct action of a steam cylinder neting by its
piston on the piston in the mould. The upper surface of the mould is
closed by having been brought under a fixed cover, and the pressure
takes place between the cover and the piston in the mould. The mould
is again moved from under the cover, and in its further rotation, by
means of suitable inclines, the piston in the mould is raised so as to
deliver the brick out of the mould; and these operations take place in
regard to cach mould of the series.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Weston Grimshaw and Ellis Rowland in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WESTON GRIMSHAW, of Morsley, County Antrim, Ireland, and ELLIS
ROWLAND, of the same place, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Weston Grimshaw and Ellis Rowland,
Her special licence that we, the said Weston Grimshaw and Ellis
Rowland, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Weston Grimshaw and Ellis Rowland, 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,

page_text: and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Weston Grimshaw and Ellis Rowland,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, 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 I, the said Weston Grimshaw, on behalf
of myself and the said Ellis Rowland, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
The object of this Invention is to make bricks of dry clay by its
compression in a mould. The improvements consist, firstly, in the use
of a piston in a steam cylinder acting in a direct manner on a pallet or
die which forms the bottom of the said mould; secondly, in the use of
blocks or pins in combination with such piston for the formation, of
perforated or indented bricks.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, in order that
it may be more fully understood we now proceed to describe the means
pursued by us.
gures.
The same letters and numbers refer to the same parts in all the Fi-
a, a, a, the frame of the machine; b, the steam cylinder; c, the
piston; c', the piston rod or ram; d, the die for making solid bricks ;
e, e', bricks; f, the plate, containing the moulds of the bricks or other
articles to be made; g, table, by which motion is given to the machine;
h, stud, on which the table g, and plate f, revolve; i, i', catches, which
take into notches k, l, m, &c. in the plate f, one of which causes it
to move in the direction from m, to 1, and the other prevents it return-
ing when the motion of the plate 9, is reversed, as will be explained;
n, o, nogs for moving the valves for giving steam to and exhausting it

page_text: from the cylinder b; p, p', catches on the top of the valve rods, which
work on hinges, and to allow the nogs to pass in one direction without
lifting rods; q, q', steam and exhaust passages; r, plate, to which are
attached the pins or blocks for forming perforated or indented bricks,
pipes, or other articles; s, a plate, receiving the impulse of the ram c,
'and connected with the pallet t, by means of the rods w, w', w; v, r', 'v,
pins, which are fastened to the plate r, for making a perforated brick;
x, hopper for containing the dried clay or material of which the article
is to be made. It will be perceived that on giving a reciprocating
motion to the table g, by means of à crank, or in any other way that
may be desired, it will carry along with it the plate f, by means of the
'catch i, until the mould No. 2, Figure 2, arrives at the placo now
occupied by No. 1; and the said mould No. 2, having previously
passed under the hopper x, Figure 1,' will be filled with the material
to be pressed, and that the said plate f, is prevented returning by the
catch, which is attached to the a', and which will consequently
fall into the notch 7, on its arriving at the place now occupied by the
notch k. On the return of the said table g, the nogs o, will lift the
rod of the valve which admits steam to the cylinder by the pipe q', and
the pressure will be given to the brick, after which the plate 9, con-
tinues its progress till the nogs n, n, lift the rod of the valve which
opens the cylinder to the exhaust pipe q, and the piston c, will fall
to the bottom of the cylinder by its own weight, and this being re-
peated the same action will keep going on. For making perforated
or indented bricks the pins or blocks are firmly attached to the plater,
and pass into the mould in the plate f, through the pallet, to which is
-connected by means of strong pins or bars to a plate S, which receives
the impulse of the piston rod of ram c. For more conveniently re-
moving the bricks it will be perceived that the bottom of the die d,
and the plate S, on being carried round with the plate f, will come in
contact with the inclined plane 5, shown in Figures 3, and 5, and be
raised till the brick will be in the position shown at e', Figure 3; the
studs attached to the sides of the dies d, and plates S, as shewn in
Figure 3, Nos. 3, 3, and 4, 4, will then pass underneath the flanges

page_text: of the inclined plane 7, and shown in section No. 6, Figure 3, and
will be drawn down into their original position.
We claim for making bricks by the pressure of a piston in a steam
cylinder acting directly on the dies or pallets forming the bottom of the
moulds; and, secondly, combined therewith, the method above described
of making perforated or indented bricks.
In witness whereof, I, the said Weston Grimshaw, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
S. C'ARPMAEL.
WESTON GRIMSHAW. (L.S.)