A MACHINE FOR MANTRACTURING BRICKS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Allen Browne, of the State of Massachusetts,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of "A MACHINE FOR
MANTRACTURING BRICKS "A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Allen Browne at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
7th November 1855.
I, CHARLES ALLEN BROWNE, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS," to be described and ascertained in
and by the following description, and the accompanying Drawings, of which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of said machine; Figure 2 is an end elevation of it;
Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view of it, taken through the skeleton wheel
and lower plunger from d¹ to c¹, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the
ratchet and its stock, together with the discharging apparatus, to be herein-
after described.
A, Figure 1, is a bed plate of cast iron; B, B, Figures 1 and 2, are two
cast-iron sides; C, Figures 1 and 2, is a cast-iron vertical wheel, made with
eight equidistant openings; such wheel constituting a skeleton for the purpose.
of receiving any variety of moulds and plungers to be inserted through its

page_text: periphery. D, D, D, Figure 2, are eight cast chilled moulds, secured by keys,
let into both the moulds and skeleton wheel, in order to make them perfectly
secure in their places; these moulds are without bottoms, and receive the
inside plungers. E, Figures 1 and 3, are eight inside plungers, acted upon in
succession by the small cams F, F, Figure 3, and forked compresser bars G, G.
These inside plungers are inserted into the skeleton wheel and its mouths, and
in such manner that the head of each of the plungers serves to form the
bottom of the mould, as well as to act as a compression plunger. F, F,
Figure 8, are two short cams placed upon the shaft of the lower tooth wheel
U, Figure 1. G, G, are two compression bars, upon one end of each is a rect-
angular hook to take hold of the cross bars Q, Figures 1 and 3, and at the
opposite end of said compression bars are forks (with cast-iron cross heads
secured by strong screws and nuts) in which the short cams F, F, revolve, and
cause the inside plungers to approach the surface of the moulds. H, H, Figure 3,
are two cross heads upon the forks of the compression bars G, G, which pass
through guides upon the caps of the lower cam R, Figure 3. J, Figures 2 and 4,
is a strong wrought-iron connecting bar, attached to the outside of the upper
tooth wheel U, Figure 1, by a pin, upon which it revolves, and extending to
the upper horn of the ratchet stock K, Figures 1 and 2, and secured by a pin
between the jaws of the stock. K, K, Figures 2 and 4, is the ratchet stock,
formed of two corresponding wrought-iron bars, embracing the ratchet x upon
the shaft of the skeleton wheel C, Figure 4; between these is secured the pall
hand Y, which acts upon the ratchet at cach half revolution of the upper tooth
wheel. L, Figures 3 and 4, is another connecting bar, extending from the
lower horn of the ratchet stock K, in a vertical direction to the lever M,
Figures 2 and 4, placed upon the outer end of the rock shaft N, Figure 2.
M, Figures, 2, and 4, is a lever, attached to the connecting bar L, and operated
by it. N, Figures, 1 and 2, is the rock shaft, upon which is placed two short
lovers: (0,0, Figure 2), for the purpose of causing the vertical hooked bars to
rise or fall when discharging the bricks. P, P, Figures 2 and 4, are said, two
vertical hooked, bars, which are attached respectively to the short levers 0, 0,
by pins passing, through slots in their lower ends, to allow for the vibration of
the levers O, O. The upper end of each of the said bars is formed as a rect-
angular hook, to act upon the cross bars.Q, Figures 1 and 2. There are eight
of these cross bars of wrought iron passing respectively through the shanks of
the inside plungers and the openings of the, skeleton wheel, and forming lugs
to be taken hold of by the hooks upon the compression bars G, G, and the
vertical bars P, P, alternately. R, R, Figures 2 and 3, are the two long canis
upon the shafts of the tooth, wheel U, U, such canis acting upon the upper and

page_text: lower outside plungers. S, S, Figures 1 and 3, are two outside plungers, with
their guides extending to the guide rods, around which are twined one spiral
spring to each guide rod, in order to act upon the plungers, and withdraw them
from the moulds as soon as the point of the cams has passed the top of the
plunger. T, Figure 1, is a fork, attached to the lower end of the lower
plunger S. This fork acts as a regulator of the skeleton wheel, by taking hold
of a pin inserted into the ends of the moulds, so as to ensure the plungers
entering the mould at all times. U, U, Figures 1 and 2, are two large tooth
wheels, placed upon the cam shafts for the purpose of actuating the plungers.
V, Figure 2, is a pulley upon the shaft of the skeleton wheel, and acts upon a
small pulley upon the carrier shaft through a belt extending from one to the
other. W, Figures 1 and 2, is a pulley, placed immediately under the skeleton
wheel, over which a broad band passes and extends to any desirable distance,
for the purpose of off-bearing the bricks. X, Figure 1, is a hopper, placed
upon the upper periphery of the skeleton wheel, for the purpose of receiving
the pulverized clay. Y, Figure 2, is a small pinion upon the driving shaft, and
gearing into the two tooth wheels U, U. Z, Figure 2, is a driving pulley, for
the purpose of putting the machine in motion. a', Figure 1, is a quadrant,
there being one on each side of the skeleton wheel, each being attached by a
rod b' to a lever c'; such is for the purpose of regulating the amount of clay
for making the bricks, by causing the lugs Q, Q, to rise or fall as the quadrants
are raised or depressed through the agency of the crank shaft lever c². Tho
lever c', for regulating the amount of feed through the quadrant, may be held
in position by a pin fitting into any one of a series of holes drilled into the
sides of the frame.
In order that this machine in its action may be fully understood, I will
give the following description of its operation, viz.:-The prepared clay
passes into the hopper upon the top of the machine from the pulverizer;
as the moulds upon the face of the wheel pass under the bottomless hopper
they receive the necessary quantity of clay to produce a brick, and when
the mould arrives opposite the top plunger, this clay receives a sufficient
amount of compression from the plunger to expel a portion of the air and
consolidate the clay sufficiently to carry it to the second plunger, when the
said plunger and and the corresponding inside plunger approach each other
through the action of the reversed cams upon the lower compression shaft,
making the bricks uniform in size and weight.
After the bricks have received three compressions by the rotary motion
of the wheel, the mould takes a vertical position with the skeleton wheel shaft;
and while the plunger is going on to compress the succeeding brick, and while

page_text: the mould wheel is perfectly at rest, the brick is expelled from the. mould
through the action of the vertical bars. P, P, which take hold of the inside
plunger, and force said plunger half an inch beyond the surface of the mould,
and thus prevents the corners from being broken, as the bricks are deposited
perfectly flat upon the carrying belt, and carried by it to the kiln' door, thus
requiring but two persons to shovel the clay into the pulverizer, when the
machine with but a single row of moulds will compress from eighteen to twenty
thousand bricks per day ready for delivery to the kiln.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the combination of the two outside and any even number of inside
plungers, from four upwards, with the skeleton wheel and moulds, as set forth
in the foregoing Specification.
2nd, I claim the mode of discharging the bricks while the wheel is at rest,
viz., by the combination of the upper tooth wheel U, the upper or long con-
necting bar J, the ratchet stock R, R, the lower connecting bar L, the long
lever M, the two short levers O, O, the hooked bars P, P, and the cross bars
Q, Q, (passing through each of the inside plungers); all of which combination
is shown in Figure 2, and for the purpose set forth.
3rd, I claim the mode of regulating the amount of feed, viz., by means of
the quadrants acting upon the inside plungers, as described.
4th, I also claim the mode of regulating the skeleton, wheel, viz., by means
of the fork T operating on a pin, as described, so as to insure a true plunge at
all times, substantially as set forth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Allen Browne in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, CHARLES
ALLEN BROWNE, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, A.D. 1855, in the nine-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles Allen Browne, Her special license that I,
the said Charles Allen Browne, my executors, administrators; and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Charles Allen Browne, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time.

page_text: and at all times thereafter 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 Inven-
tion of "A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING BRICKS," (a communication,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Allen Browne, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Allen Browne, 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 (that is to say) :-
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of said
machine; Figure 2 is an end elevation of it; Figuro 3 is a horizontal sectional
view of it, taken through the skeleton wheel and lower plunger from d¹ to c¹,
Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the ratchet and its stock, together with
the discharging apparatus, to be herein-after described.
A, Figure 1, is a bed plate of cast iron; B, B, (Figures 1 and 2) are two
cast-iron sides; C (Figures 1 and 2) is a cast-iron vertical wheel, made with
eight equidistant openings, such wheel constituting a skeleton, for the purpose
of receiving any variety of moulds and plungers to be inserted through its
periphery. D, D, D, (Figure 2) are eight cast chilled moulds, secured by
keys let into both the moulds and skeleton wheel, in order to make them
perfectly secure in their places. These moulds are without bottoms, and receive
the inside plungers. E (Figures 1 and 3) are eight inside plungers, acted
upon in succession by the small cams F, F, (Figure 3) and forked compression
bars G, G. These insido plungers are inserted into the skeleton wheel and
its moulds, and in such manner that the head of each of the plungers serves to
form the bottom of the mould, as well as to act as a compression plunger.
F, F, (Figure 3) are two short cams placed upon the shaft of the lower tooth
wheel U, Figure, 1. G, G, (Figure 3) are two compression bars; upon one
end of each is a rectangular hook, to take hold of the cross bars Q (Figures 1
and 3), and at the opposite end of said compression bars are forks (with cast-
iron cross heads, secured by strong screws and nuts,) in which the short
cams F, F, revolve, and cause the inside plungers to approach the surface of
the moulds. II, II, (Figure 3) are two cross heads upon the forks of the
compression bars G, G, which pass through guides upon the caps of the lower

page_text: cam R (Figure 3); J (Figures 3 and 4) is a strong wrought-iron connecting
bar attached to the outside of the upper tooth wheel U, Figure 1, by a pin,
upon which it revolves, and extends to the upper horn of the ratchet stock K
(Figures 1 and 2), and secured by a pin between the jaws of the stock.
K, K, (Figures 2 and 4) is the ratchet stock, formed of two corresponding
wrought-iron bars, embracing the ratchet A¹ upon the shaft of the skeleton
wheel C (Figure 4); between these there is secured the pall hand Y, which acts
'upon the ratchet at each half revolution of the upper tooth wheel. L (Figures
3 and 4) is another connecting bar, extending from the lower horn of the
ratchet stock K in a vertical direction to the lever M (Figures 2 and 4), placed
upon the outer end of the rock shaft N (Figure 2). M (Figures 2 and 4)
is a lever attached to the connecting bar L, and operated by it. N (Figures 1
and 2) is the rock shaft, upon which is placed two short levers O, O, Fig. 2, for
the purpose of causing the vertical hooked bars to rise or fall when discharging
the bricks. P, P, (Figures 2 and 4) are the said two vertical booked bars,
which are attached respectively to the short levers O, O, by pins passing through
slots in their lower ends, to allow for the vibration of the levers O, O. The
upper end of each of the said bars is formed as a rectangular hook to act upon
the cross bars Q (Figures 1 and 2). There are eight of these cross bars
of wrought iron passing respectively through the shanks of the inside plungers
and the openings of the skeleton wheel, and forming lugs to be taken hold of
by the hooks upon the compression bars G, G, and the vertical bars P, P, alter-
nately. R, R, (Figures 2 and 3) are the two long cams upon the shafts of the
toothed wheels U, U', such cams acting upon the upper and lower outsido
plungers. S, S, (Figures 1 and 3) are two outside plungers, with their guides
extending to the guide rods, around which are turned one spiral spring to each
guide rod, in order to act upon the plungers, and withdraw them from the moulds
as soon as the point of the cams has passed the top of the plunger. T (Figure 1)
is a fork attached to the lower end of the upper plunger S; this fork acts as a
regulator of the skeleton wheel, by taking hold of a pin inserted into the ends of
the moulds, so as to ensure the plungers entering the moulds at all times.
U, U, (Figures 1 and 2) are two large tooth wheels placed upon the cam
shafts for the purpose of actuating the plungers. V (Figure 2) is a pulley
upon the shaft of the skeleton wheel, and acts upon a small pulley upon the
carrier shaft through a belt extending from one to the other. W (Figures 1
and 2) is a pulley placed immediately under the skeleton wheel, over which a
broad band passes, and extends to any desirable distance for the purpose of
off-bearing the bricks. x (Figure 1) is a hopper placed upon the upper
periphery of the skeleton. wheel for the purpose of receiving the pulverized

page_text: clay. y (Figure 2) is a small pinion upon the driving shaft, and gearing
into the two tooth wheels U, U. Z (Figure 2) is a driving pulley for the
purpose of putting the machine in motion. a¹ (Figure 1) is a quadrant, there
being one on each side of the skeleton wheel, each being attached by a rod b¹
to a lever c; such is for the purpose of regulating the amount of clay for
making the bricks, by causing the lugs Q, Q, to rise or fall as the quadrants
are raised or depressed through the agency of the crank shaft lever c. Tho
lever c is for regulating the amount of feed through the quadrant, & may be
held in position by a pin fitting into any one of a series of holes drilled into
the sides of the frame.
In order that this machine in its action may be fully understood, I will give
the following description of its operation, viz. :-
The prepared clay passes into the hopper upon the top of the machine from
the pulverizer. As the moulds upon the face of the wheel pass under the
bottomless. hopper they receive the necessary quantity of clay to produce a
brick, and when the mould arrives opposite the top plunger this clay receives a
sufficient amount of compression from the plunger to expel a portion of the air,
and consolidate the clay sufficiently to carry it to the second plunger, when the
said plunger and the corresponding inside plunger approach each other through
the action of the reversed cams upon the lower compression shaft, making the
bricks uniform in size and weight. After the bricks have received threo
compressions by the rotary motion of the wheel, the mould takes a vertical
position with the skeleton wheel shaft, and while the plunger is going on to
compress the succeeding brick, and while the mould wheel is perfectly at rest,
the brick is expelled from the mould through the action of the vertical bars
P, P, which take hold of the inside plunger, and force said plunger half an
inch beyond the surface of the mould, and thus prevents the corners from
being broken as the bricks are deposited perfectly flat upon the carrying belt,
and carried by it to the kiln door; thus requiring but two persons to shovel
the clay into the pulverizer, when the machine with but a single row of moulds
will compress from eighteen to twenty thousand bricks per day ready for
delivery at the kiln.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the combination of two outside and any even number of inside plungers,
from four upwards, with the skeleton wheel and moulds, as set forth in the
foregoing Specification.
2nd, I claim the mode of discharging the bricks while the wheel is at rest,
viz., through the combination of the upper tooth wheel U', the upper or long
connecting bar J, the ratchet stock K, K, the lower connecting bar L, the

page_text: long lever M, the two short levers O, O, the hooked bars P, P, and the cross
bars Q, Q, (passing through each of the inside plungers), all of which com-
bination is shown in Figure 2, and for the purpose set forth.
3rd, I claim the mode of regulating the amount of feed, viz., by means of
the quadrants acting upon the inside plungers, as described.
4th, I also claim the mode of regulating the skeleton wheel, viz., by means
of the fork T operating on a pin, as described, so as to ensure a true plunge
at all times, essentially as set forth.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature and affixed my
seal, this 28th day of January, A.D. 1856.
CHARLES ALLEN BROWNE. (L.S.)