AN IMPROVED - CONSTRUCTION OF PRESS APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER MOULDED ARTICLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Murray, of Loman Street, in the
Borough of Southwark, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
- CONSTRUCTION OF PRESS APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES,
AND OTHER MOULDED ARTICLES."
Sealed the 2nd April 1874, and dated the 17th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Murray
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th October 1873..
I, CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, of Loman Street, in tho Borough of
Southwark, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PRESS APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE
OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER MOULDED ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct a press that will in its use
economise the power employed in working the same when applied for

page_text: .
compressing bricks, tiles, or for moulding or shaping other articles. To
this end I fit the press with a pair of moulds to receive the articles or
material to be pressed. These moulds which are open at top and bottom
are carried by a strong framing, and are detachable therefrom to admit
of their being readily changed. Above each mould is a pressing plunger,
carried by a cross head which slides in guides in suitable standards, and
below each mould is a ram which forms the bottom of the mould and
rests on a cross bar of the framing, which forms also a guide for steadying
it in its vertical motions. In this ram an elongated slot is formed to
receive a cross head which is connected by rods to the cross head of the
plunger. By thus connecting the ram and plunger the plunger will be
free to move down to compress the material placed below it without
affecting the ram, but on rising it will when clear of the mould (and
sufficiently high to allow of the delivery of a brick therefrom) lift the
ram and cause it to raise the compressed brick or other article out of the
mould. The cross heads are each fitted with a vertical rack, the teeth
of which gear respectively into a pinion keyed to a transverse shaft
which is fitted with a fly wheel. The racks are so arranged with regard
to each other that the one will rise while the other falls, and vice versa,
and by the rising and falling motion imparted to them the fly wheels
will both be driven in the same direction. The cross heads are connected
by link rods to a pair of rock levers, which when the press is worked by
hand terminate at their opposite ends in handles. These rock levers
being vibrated by the attendants on the machine will give the alternate
rising and falling motion to the pistons, and by reason of the racks the
fly wheels will at the same time be set rotating. As the speed of the
fly wheels increases each pressing plunger as it completes its downward
course will receive an impulse from the action of the fly wheels beyond
that which is due to the completion of the stroke of the rock lever, and
thus a nip similar to that of the fly press will be secured.
It will be understood that as the two presses act alternately a brick or

page_text: It will be obvious that in place of working the press by manual power
it may be driven by steam power, any well known means being applied
for reversing the direction of motion, or by means of direct acting steam
cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Oharles Henry Murray in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY MURRAY, of Loman Street, in the Borough of Southwark,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles. Henry Murray, Her
special license that I, the said Charles Henry Murray, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Henry Murray, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PRESS APPLICABLE TO THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER MOULDED ARTICLES,” upon the con-
dition (amongst others), that I, the said Charles Henry Murray, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Henry Murray, 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, reference being had to the Drawing

page_text: hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of this Invention is to construct a press that will in its use
economize the power employed in working the same when applied for
compressing bricks, tiles, or for moulding or shaping other articles.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 shews a side eleva-
tion of a double press constructed according to this Invention; Fig. 2 is
an end view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at about
the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1.
This press it will be seen is fitted with two brick moulds (one at each :
end of the machine), and that each mould is provided with precisely
similar appliances for compressing the plastic material into the form of
a brick, and for discharging the formed brick out of the mould. I may
however, if desired, dispense with this duplicate arrangement when the
press is to be worked by hand after the manner indicated in Sheet I. of:
the Drawings.
The press, as illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3, consists of a cast-iron
framing A mounted on running wheels A' and strengthened by cross
bars B, B; inside this framing are supports C, C, on which the moulds
D, D, rest, the moulds being cast with shoulders for that purpose.
These moulds are open at top and bottom, and they are held in position
by means of binding screws (see Fig. 2) which admit of their being
readily changed to suit the work in hand. Above each mould is a
pressing plunger E carried by a cross head E¹ which slides in guides
formed for that purpose in the framing A; and below each mould is a
ram F which forms the bottom of the mould, and which when depressed
is sustained in that position by the cross bar B of the framing. This
cross bar forms also a guide for steadying the ram in its vertical motions.
In the stem of this ram an elongated slot is formed to receive a cross
head F¹ to which is jointed a pair of rods F" that lead up to and slide
freely through the cross head of the plunger; at their top ends these
rods carry adjustable nuts which act as stops and prevent the plunger
from rising its full height without lifting the rods. By thus connecting
the ram F and plunger E the plunger will be free to move down to
compress the material placed below it without affecting the ram, but on
rising it will when clear of the mould (and sufficiently high to allow of
the delivery of a brick therefrom) lift the ram and cause it to raise the

page_text: compressed brick or other article out of the mould. The cross heads E'
are each fitted with a vertical rack E³, the teeth of which gear respectively
into a pinion E³ keyed to a transverse shaft E' which is fitted with a fly
wheel E. The racks are so arranged with regard to each other that the
one will rise while the other falls, and vice versa, and by the rising and
falling motion imparted to them the fly wheels will both be driven in
the same direction. The cross heads E¹ are connected by link rods G to
a pair of rock levers H, H', which terminate at their opposite ends in
handles; these rock levers being vibrated by the attendant at opposite ends
of the machine will give the alternate rising and falling motion to the
plungers, and by reason of the racks the fly wheels will at the same time
be set rotating. As the speed of the fly wheels increases each pressing
plunger as it completes its downward course will receive an impulse from
the action of the fly wheels beyond that which is due to the completion of
the stroke of the rock lover, and thus a nip similar to that of the fly
press will be secured.
It will be understood that as the two presses act alternately a brick
or tile will be pressed for every reciprocation imparted to the levers
which connect the presses together.
I, I, are the tables for receiving the clay which is intended to be
moulded; and in front of these tables stand respectively the workmen,
whose duty is to fill the moulds and by means of the levers to depress
their respective plungers E.
Instead of employing two fly wheels and two fly wheel shafts a like
result to that above described may be obtained by keying the two
pinions into which the racks gear on a common fly wheel shaft, and
giving a proportionally increased weight to the fly wheel. This
modified form of press is shewn in Sheet II., in which Fig. 4 is a front
or end elevation, and Fig. 5 a vertical section taken in the line 3, 4, of
Fig. 4. In these Figures it will be seen that in place of working the
press by manual power it is arranged to be driven by steam power, a
friction clutch being applied for reversing the direction of motion.
As the like reference Figures to those used in Sheet I. are applied to
like parts in the Figures in Sheet II. it will only be necessary further to
state that K is the driving shaft mounted in bearings at the top of the
press, and receiving motion from band pullies K¹, K³, which are mounted
loosely thereon but are made fast to their shaft alternately by means of

page_text: a friction clutch L which is worked by a fork L³; on one end of the
shaft K is keyed a fly wheel M, and on the other end a pinion N which
gears into a spur wheel O on the shaft E*; to this shaft is affixed the
rack pinion E³, which gears into and drives both the racks E³ of the
plungers E.
In Fig. 4 the clutch is shewn as engaged with the band pulley K¹.
The fork L' may have a tendency given to it (by means of a spring) to
retain a vertical position and thus hold the friction clutch Ļ out of
action. In that case a double action treadle may conveniently be
employed for throwing the fork to the right or left hand and thus putting
the clutch in action. This treadle should run longitudinally of the press
so as to be within reach of the foot of the attendants at the opposite
ends of the press.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of an improved
construction of press applicable to the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and
other moulded articles, and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrangement of mechanism above
described constituting my improved press, whereby I am enabled to
economize the power employed in compressing moulded articles and in
discharging the same from the press mould.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Murray, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
· CHARLES HENRY MURRAY. (L.S.)