A New Machine for Use in the Preparation of Clay.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New Machine for Use in the Preparation of Clay.
I, HERMANN DIESENER, of Charlottenburg, near Berlin, in the German.
Empire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by:
the following statement:-
My invention relates to a machine which has for object to free brick-clay, when
in a plastic condition and of a proper consistency, from impurities such as,
for instance, stones, nodules of marl, etc. and to render the same thoroughly³
homogeneous in character.
In the accompanying drawings,—
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the principle of my machine:
Figure 2 is a plan of the machine:
Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in section on the line x x of Figure 2; and,
Figure 4 is a section on the line d e, Figures 2 and 3.
The layer or column of clay T is pressed against the disc S which rotates,
rapidly. In consequence of the adhesion which takes place the disc tears off!
from the clay a thin layer which remains adhering to it.
If stones or other
foreign bodies are. present in the clay they remain suspended in the thin layer and
are carried with the latter. The clay column, however, is supported on a guide g
the edge of which may be pressed into more or less close proximity to the
rotating disc. If the space left between the edge of the said guide and the disc
be narrow the foreign bodies in the clay will be kept back whilst the pure clay
will be carried forward until-it is scraped off from the disc S by the knife P.
For the purpose of removing the stones, which remain behind, being too large
to pass through the narrow slit, rotating knives M are used which pass through the
slit from underneath whereby the stones are forced out.
In Figures 2, 3 and 4, a is the cylinder of any suitable pug-mill or of a brick
press, which cylinder is connected with the mouth or outlet b. Above the said
cylinder are arranged adjustable plates c, c which are movable amongst themselves
and which also form the cover of the mouth or opening b. To the front end of
the said mouth or opening I attach a guide g to the forward end of which is fixed
at right angles an adjustable steel plate f. The guide g is closed laterally by the
valve k which can be suitably weighted by the weight w or by means of a spring,
the said guide being also connected with the stone shoot o.
The knife P is arranged against the rotating disc S, as shewn in Figure 4, and
scrapes off the clay from the latter. Above the disc S there is arranged a pivoted
lever D provided with knives m, m, the axis of the lever being supported in
bearings, and actuated by the toothed wheels z, z.
.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The space between the disc S and
the edge of the steel frame f (the said space forming the so-called "free working
slit ") is regulated according to the degree to which the plastic clayey mass is to
be purified. The plates c, c of the mouth or opening which form the top of the
outlet for the clay and which are weighted by their own weight are so arranged
that they leave a free opening. The cross section of the column T has the form
of a lengthened trapeze as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 4, in order to compensate
for the increase in velocity of the surface of the disc S from the centre to the
circumference. The column of clay T issues from the opening b, slides on the
guide g forwards and is there seized by the rotating disc S.

page_text: The slight pressure which the column T exerts on the disc S suffices to produce
a certain amount of adhesion sufficiently strong to enable the disc to tear off (peel
off) the material from the column. Solid bodies such as stones, nodules, roots and
the like remain lying on the working slit, formed by the steel plate f, until they
are forced by means of the rotating knives m laterally through the valve k which
is pressed against the opening by the weight w. The knives m, m enter the
working slot from below, clear it out and cut through any clay nodules which may
be present and simultaneously force forward solid stones and the like to the outer
edge of the disc S (as seen in Figure 4) where they, after being discharged
through the valve k, fall on to the shoot o from which they drop into a suitable
receptacle. The purified material which is now rendered homogeneous is then
scraped off the disc by means of the knife P and falls in the form of rolled strips
into a press arranged underneath.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A machine for preparing clay in which the material to be treated is led
under pressure in the form of a layer or column to a rotating disc and is delivered
from this in a purified condition through a narrow slit whilst the stones and the
like are removed by an arrangement of knives which rotate before the disc and
keep the slit open, substantially as described.
2. In a machine of the kind described in Claim 1, a device arranged at the
outlet of the clay from the pug-mill or other machine, whereby the cross section of
the layer or column of clay issuing from the same is regulated to agree with the
varying velocity of the surface of the rotating disc, substantially as described.
3. The machine for preparing clay hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings.
Dated this fith day of December 1805
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.