IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF CLAY AND SUCH LIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William McAdam, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF CLAY AND SUCH LIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES."
Partly a communication.
Scaled the 19th December 1856, and dated the 28th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William McAdam at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th June 1856.
I, WILLIAM MCADAM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF CLAY AND SUCH LIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES," partly a
communication from abroad, to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to the arrangement and combination of parts
forming apparatus to be used in place of what are commonly called the
"potters' wheel" & "potters" moulds."
Two moveable headstocks are supported by a horizontal bed of cast iron or
other suitable material, with a capability of being moved thereon the required
distance by racks and wheels. One of the said headstocks has a revolving
spindle, similar to a turning lathe, and is furnished with a cutter, suitable to
cut out and press the clay as held in position. This cutter being withdrawn,
à supporting frame is then drawn into position to carry a portion of clay to
form the bottom or support to the article to be produced; the other move-
able headstock carries a spindle, with a cutter capable of being set at right
angles thereto.

page_text: The two spindles work in opposite directions, the one on the outside, the
other in the inside, completing the forming or luteing of the bottle or other
vessel in the bottom.
A stationary frame, fixed on a horizontal bed, and closing in parts properly
hinged, to admit of the bottle or other vessel being easily taken out, gives the
external figure, and into which the proper quantity of clay is put when the
operation is commenced; this frame stands between the two moveable head-
stocks, and can be changed according to the form or kind of vessel wanted, the
cutters on the moveable headstocks being at the same time arranged to suit.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William McAdam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MCADAM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year. of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William McAdam, Her special licence that I, the said William McAdam, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the, said William
McAdam, 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
terin therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Jslands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTICLES OF CLAY AND SUCH LIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES," partly a
communication, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said. William
McAdam, 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 William M. Adam, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate to the arrangement and combination of parts
forming apparatus to be used in place of what are commonly called the
"potters' wheel" and potters". moulds. Two moveable headstocks are sup-
ported by a horizontal bed of cast iron or other suitable material, with a capa
bility of being moved thereon the required distance by racks and wheels. One
of the said headstocks has a revolving spindle, similar to a turning lathe, and
is furnished with a cutter, suitable to cut out and press the clay as held in
position. This cutter being withdrawn, a supporting frame is then drawn into
position to carry a portion of clay to form the bottom or support to the article
to be produced; the other moveable headstock carries a spindle, with a cutter
capable of being set at right angles thereto.
The two spindles work in opposite directions, the one on the outside, the
otlier in the inside, completing the forming or luting of the bottle or other
vessel in the bottom.
A stationary frame, fixed on a horizontal bed, and closing in parts properly
hinged, to admit of the bottle or other vessel being easily taken out, gives the
external figure, and into which the proper quantity of clay is put when the
operation is commenced; this frame stands between the two moveable head
stocks, and it can be changed according to the form or kind of vessel wanted;
the cutters on the moveable leadstocks being at the same time arranged to
suit.
:
But that the nature of the said Invention, and the means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe
the Drawings annexed.
:
Figure 1 shows a side view, and Figure 2 a plan view, partly in section, of
apparatus constructed according to my improvements; Figures 3 and 4 show
two end views; Figure 5, a section across the line 1, 1, of Figures 1 and 2,
but with the cap of the holder a removed; and Figure 6, a section through
the line 2, 2. The other Figures show some of the parts in detail, and to a
larger scale.
The clay or other plastic substance to be moulded is placed in the stationary
frame a, in sufficient quantity to fill the same or nearly so, when the parts of
it a, a, are brought together. The part a' of the frame a is secured to the
bed b, and the part à³ is capable of opening on the part a' at the hinge joint a³,
whilst these two parts are retained together, when filled with the clay or other
plastic substance, by the clasp à', or by other suitable means. The cutter c,
whilst revolving-at considerable-speed, is then slided into the
clay or other

page_text: plastic substance in the frame a, so as to cut out the surplus matter and give
internal form to the vessel to be produced. The form of the frame a inter-
nally will be varied to the external form of the vessel to be produced, as will
also the form of the cutter c to the internal figure of such vessel. The cutter c
is fixed in any suitable manner to a spindle c', carried by the sliding frame c,
and having affixed upon it the pulley c³, by which it receives motion by a band
or strap from a steam engine or other suitable power. The frame c³ is formed,
as shown, to slide freely and correctly along the bed b, and it has affixed to or
formed on its under side a rack c, which is taken into by, and receives motion
from, the toothed wheel d, affixed to the axis d', which is capable of turning
freely in the bearings 61, when acted upon by the lever handle d² affixed
thereto, so as to move the cutter c into or withdraw it from the plastic sub-
stance being moulded. The cutter c revolves in the direction-indicated by the
arrow. If the vessel to be produced is simply of the cup form, then a frame a
and cutting or moulding instrument c are all that will be required; but
when the vessel to be produced is of dimensions internally larger than the
neck of such vessel, as in the illustration given, in which e represents the
plastic material having form given to it, then an instrument c of the form
required will produce the internal figure to the part e, and a bottom of the
form desired (one of which is shown at f) will be applied thereto by the sup-
porting frame g, which is formed in the following manner:-The frame g is
formed with two bars or rods g', g', by which it is guided in an up-and-down
movement in fixed guides 93, and the suitable formed piece of plastic matter
to produce the bottom or other support to the vessel e is placed against, and
holds by adhesion to the sliding piece g³, which is capable of sliding somewhat
in the frame g. The bottom. f is placed in the frame g when that frame and
its parts are in the position indicated by Figures 1 and 6. The frame g is
then raised, so as to bring the part g³ with the piece f opposite the centre of
the vessel e, when, by pressure applied against the part g³, the piece f will be
forced in the part e, to cause adhesion to it. Whilst the frame g holds the
piece in the part e, an instrument h comes into operation to assist the adhe-
sion of and to give form to parts e and f, at their junction internally of the
vessel. The instrument h turns upon an axis h³, carried by the spindle h²,
which is partly formed hollow to admit of the passage therethrough of the
rod h, by which the instrument is caused to turn upon its axis h¹. The
axis 2 is affixed, as shewn, to the spindle h, which is capable of turning freely
in the standards of the sliding frame 7, and has affixed upon it the wharve or
pulley h, by which it receives rotary motion by a strap or band, driven by a
steam engine or other suitable power. The frame h is formed so as to be

page_text: capable of sliding correctly on the bed-plate 6, and the sliding movement is
given to it by means of the toothed wheel i taking into a rack formed on the
under side of the frame h³, the toothed wheel i being affixed to the axis ?,
capable of turning in the fixed bearings 23, when acted on for that purpose, by
the lever arm . The parts carrying the instrument h have motion given to
them to take that instrument through the neck of the bottle or other such
vessel when the instrument h is in the position represented by Figures 1, 8, 9,
and 10; but so soon as that instrument is fully within the bottle or other
vessel, the rod h³ is acted upon to turn the instrument h into the position indi-
cated by Figure 11, when it will be in position for operating internally upon
the junction of the parts e and f. and it will act by the rotary motion imparted
to the spindle h'. When this operation is completed, the instrument h will be
drawn a little back, to admit of its again being brought into the position indi-
cated by Figures 1, 8, 9, and 10, previous to the withdrawal of it from the
vessel e, when its complete withdrawal will, like its insertion, be effected by
the operation of the handle . When a vessel is thus formed, it is removed
to be dried, baked, or burnt, as is usual.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details berein-shown
and described, or to the form of or manner of giving the desired motions to
the respective instruments, as the same may be varied without departing from
the peculiar character of the Invention; but what I claim is, the arranging
and combining mechanical parts for the manufacture of articles of clay and
other plastic material, substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William M°Adam, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
ROBERT HARVEY.
WILLIAM MCADAM. (L.S.).