IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN MACHINERY AND ADDADARIO BAD AB APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Vincent Lee, of No. 4, Lockyer
Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, Civil Engineer, but now residing at
No. 5, Bedford Row, in the City of Dublin, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN MACHINERY AND
ADDADARIO BAD
AB
Sealed the 27th February 1854, and dated the 21st December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Vincent
Lee at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st December 1853.
I, THOMAS VINCENT LEE, of No. 4, Lockyer Terrace, Plymouth,
Devon, Civil Engineer, but now residing at No. 5, Bedford Row, in
the City of Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES " to be as follows,
(that is to say):
My said improvements have reference to a series of mechanical
arrangements for performing the whole operation of making and
burning bricks and tiles of all varieties in a more uniform and expe-

page_text: ditious manner than is done by any of the arrangements heretofore in
use. These arrangements consist,
Firstly, of a mixing apparatus, comprising a series of mixing hoppers,
for the purpose of continuously feeding the clay, sand, or other material
for the bricks or tiles, with a proper proportion of water to the mixers;
cach hopper is placed above one of the mixers, and is furnished at
cach side with fixed guide frauies, in which work, vertically, two shafts,
fitted with arms or bars, alternately ascending and descending, to
prevent the materials from clogging or being fed in too fast; also a
grooved roller or second motion working in unison with the vertical
shafts by means of a connecting rod for carrying the said materials to
the mixer; also a tank for supplying water to the said materials in the
mixing hoppers through the medium of a pipe provided with a stop-
cock, which is under the control of a governor, similar to that of the
ordinary steam engine, regulating the supply by a rack and pinion,
according to the speed at which the machine is driven; also a series of
mixers, each of which is an iron cylinder, placed vertically, and fitted
internally with a number of arms or blades, within which cylinder
revolves a vertical iron shaft, also provided with arms or blades, which
pass between those fixed in the cylinder; the shaft traverses the
bottom of the cylinder, & is driven by a bevel wheel and pinion.
The arrangements consist,
Secondly, of a series of moulding apparatus, into which the clay or
other material, after it has been properly pugged, is introduced from the
mixers by means of an inclined plane upon which it is driven from the
port hole of the mixers on the removal of a plug; this moulding
apparatus comprises a series of moulling hoppers and of rollers con-
nected by gutta percha bands to draw the material to the mould, and of
moulds working each between two cylinders, also a knife or cutter
worked by a weighted lever, and other suitable contrivances to cut the
bricks, which are afterwards carried to a series of tables at which boys
are stationed to place them upon revolving plates to be conveyed to the
firing chambers.
Thirdly, the arrangements include a series of firing chambers in
which the bricks or tiles are first subjected to a moderate heat (by

page_text: hydro-calorie or otherwise), which is afterwards increased to about 1000°
Fahrenheit, and a series of fire brick chambers, which are kept at a
much higher temperature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Vincent Lee in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS VINCENT LEE, of No. 4, Lockyer Terrace, Plymouth, Devon,
Civil Engineer, but now residing at No. 5, Bedford Row, in the City
of Dublin, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, 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 me, the said Thomas Vincent Lee, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Vincent Lec, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Vincent
Lee, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN MACHINERY AND APPA-
RATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS AND TILES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Vincent Lee, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Vincent Lee, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
My said improvements, which have for their object the making and
burning of bricks and tiles of all descriptions in a more uniform and
expeditious manner than can be done by any of the arrangements
heretofore in use, so that the whole operation may be performed in
about as many hours as it formerly required days, have reference to
certain mechanical arrangements, firstly, for mixing, moulding, and
cutting the said bricks and tiles; and, secondly, for firing or burning
the same
the application of hydro-caloric or the heat of sur-
charged steam. The mechanical arrangements referred to under
the first head of my Invention comprise, firstly, a mixing apparatus,
in which the clay, sand, or other material for the bricks or tiles
is supplied to the mixers from a series of hoppers, comprising each
three rollers, between which the material is passed before reaching
the cylinders, hereafter to be described; at either end of these rollers
are placed guide frames, in each of which work vertically two shafts
furnished with arms or bars, alternately ascending and descending,
which allow as much of the material as is desirable to pass along the
guide frames, but prevent the passage of stones or other hard substances
which are too large to pass between the arms or bars; and as cach
guide frame has carried its arms or bars to the highest point they can
attain, a strong iron brush is brought into action, which scrapes off
of thom the stones or other objectionable matters. By these guide
frames the material is conveyed in the manner described into the
mixers or mixing cylinders, which are placed in a vertical position, and
furnished on the interior circumference of each with a number of
horizontal arms or blades set obliquely. Through the middle of each
cylinder passes a vertical revolving shaft, actuated by a pair of bevel
wheels and pinions at the bottom of the said cylinder, and furnished
with a series of arms or blades, so set as to pass while the shaft revolves
between the arms or blades of the cylinder; through the joint action of
these parts the material of the bricks or tiles is thoroughly pugged and
rendered homogeneous. The bottom of each cylinder is a spiral incline,
near the higher part of which is a plugged port hole, through which the

page_text: prepared material exudes to be conveyed to the moulding apparatus.
The above mixing apparatus is supplied with water by a pipe provided
with a stop-cock, placed under the control of a governor similar to those
of the ordinary steam engine, which is worked in unison with the
machinery, and regulates the supply according to the speed the latter is
driven at, the said stop-cock being opened or shut through the interven-
tion of a rack and pinion. The material exuding in the manner above
described through the port holes of the mixing cylinders is conveyed to
the hoppers at the upper part of the moulding apparatus, whence it is
drawn down by means of endless bands between four rollers, two of which
have, on the inner side, fluted or corrugated face boards for pressing the
material to give it the requisite hardness before it reaches the moulds.
The moulding machines, of which any suitable number may be
employed, are formed to produce six articles of the required shape
simultaneously. They revolve each between two cylinders, at the rate
of about thirty-two revolutions in a minute. These cylinders are placed
underneath the rollers, and are driven by the same endless bands.
When the formation of the brick or tile is perfected, it is immediately cut
off' by a knife which works horizontally by means of a weighted lever,
and it is then carried upon endless bands to the front of the machine,
whence it is conveyed upon revolving plates to the firing chambers.
The knife is worked by a cam, ratchet wheel, & weighted lever, and will
cut through any thickness of brick or tile to which the weight may be
adjusted. All these motions are worked simultaneously by means of the
endless bands which draw the material down to the mould. At each
movement the bottom of the mould rests for an instant on the reverse
end of the lever to that on which the weight is placed, and the lever, by
means of the same cam which drives the knife, and of an eccentric
motion, then ascends against the bottom of the mould, by which means
a resistance or counter pressure is given to the downward pressure
produced by the bands, rollers, fluted or corrugated face boards, and
cylinders, as described. I place above the bed of the machine two
bands, worked by a ratchet and speed wheel, and running over a
Above these bands is an
grooved drum or rigger wheel at either end.
open box, in which are placed the boards for the reception of the
material when it arrives at the point where the weighted lever receives

page_text: it. These boards follow each other without interruption, cach of them
being separately expelled from an aperture between the box and the
endless bands, the board above constantly taking the place of that
which has just been carried forward.
My Invention having reference, secondly, to mechanical arrange-
ments for burning or firing bricks or tiles by the application of hydro-
caloric or surcharged steam, is performed by an apparatus consisting of
a vertical series of chambers of suitable dimensions, composed of metal
or fire tile, communicating by passages, each of which is governed by a
stop-cock, lever, valve, or other similar contrivance, with the coil by
which the steam is heated. The coil is composed of copper or cast iron,
semi-circular in shape, and fitted into horizontal pipes or flanges, syphon
bends, or other contrivances for the same purpose. This coil differs
from those at present in use by having three or more times the amount
of heating surface in the same bulk, and consequently more heat in the
same proportion from a given amount of fuel. Instead of using one
row of pipes, as at present, I use another over it, each pipe lying over
the interval between the two under it, so as to make six hundred feet
of heating surface where only two hundred has before been obtained,
while the heat to the upper course is greater than to that nearest the
fire. The coil is placed longitudinally across the furnace, from the
back thereof to the front of the fire-bars. I employ an improved
furnace, for the protection of the metal tubes from the direct or sensible
action of the heat. A combe or woodwork is built under the coil at
two or three inches' distance from its lower arch, and on the said
combe is placed a layer of fire clay to embed the first pipe. This fire
clay is, by the action of heat, converted into a compact lining. Out-
side, and over the upper circle of pipes, is an arch of fire-brick or tiles.
The coil is heated in the following manner:-From the back of the
fire-bars or bridge a graduated circular ascent of heat takes place to
the back of the coil, where an aperture is left all round according to
the surface of the furnace bars. A dead wall of fire-brick checks the
heat which is returned above; the top, being made to correspond
with the surface of the fire-bars, and split above the furnace mouth,
whence the heat is returned by side flies to the back, and thence to.
the chimney.. The steam is adimitted to the coil. from the boiler; and,.

page_text: having taken up in its passage an amount of caloric proportionate to
the surface with which it has come in contact and the degree of heat
to which the coil has been raised, is thence transmitted to the firing
chambers. The application of hydro-caloric or surcharged steam,
herein-before described, is applicable to the drying and burning of
porcelain and every other article manufactured from clay, as also to
the desiccation of timber and other materials.
Having now fully described the nature of this my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would have it
clearly understood that I do by no means confine myself to the precise
details herein-before described, as the same might be varied without
departing from the general principle of my said improvements; but that
which I do claim as new, and of my said Invention, is,―
Firstly, the general construction and arrangement of an apparatus
for the purpose of mixing, moulding, and cutting bricks and tiles in
readiness for the firing chambers, in the manner and for the purposes
above described and set forth.
Secondly, the application of hydro-caloric or the heat of surcharged
steam to the burning or firing of bricks, tiles, and other articles manu-
factured from clay.
Thirdly, the construction and arrangement of the coil, as set forth
and described.
And, fourthly, the improvements described in the construction of
the furnace for protecting the metal tubes of the coil from the action
of the heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Vincent Lec, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
THOMAS VINCENT LEE. (L.S.)
WEATHERDON & Co.,
Agents for the Patentec.