IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster;
Mechanical Engineer, and William Richardson, of the same Place,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention. of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
Scaled the 28th November 1861, and dated the 6th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and William.
Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 6th June 1861.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical:
Engineer, and WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to that part of the mould by which the pressure is
given to the material, and consists in forming such part in two or more pieces
adapted to move independently of each other, so as to effect a slight opening
for the escape of air; such pieces, however, we so arrange as to be capable of
being forced forward simultaneously when desired. Thus we construct the
top die or mould of exterior and central parts, the latter being mounted so as
to slide within the former. This die being allowed to descend so as to strike
the material by percussive force, admits of one part thereof continuing its
motion beyond the other, or the same effect may take place by positive

page_text: pressure, and a separation of the parts may be effected upon the die being
withdrawn.
Another improvement relates to sifters or screens for the clay, and consists
in directing a blast of air from a narrow opening against the outward surface,
so as to keep the meshes clear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and William Richardson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, Her special license that we, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and William Richardson,
our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that we, the said John Platt and William Richardson, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals (or under the hands and seals of
one of us) 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 we, the said John Platt and William Richardson,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawing (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates, firstly, to sifters or screens for clay intended to be

page_text: moulded into bricks, and consists in directing a blast of air from a narrow
opening against the outward surface of the said sifter or screen, so as to keep
the meshes clear.
Secondly, our Invention relates to that part of the mould of brick-making
machines by which the pressure is given to the material, and consists in
forming such part in two or more pieces adapted to move independently of
each other, so as to effect a slight opening for the escape of air, such pieces,
however, being so arranged as to be capable of being forced forward simul-
taneously when desired.
In the accompanying Drawing the first part of our Invention is shewn at
Figs. 1 and 2, the former being a transverse section of a rotatory screen with
the improvement adopted, and the latter a cross section of part thereof. The
screen is at a, mounted upon a shaft b, which is caused to revolve. At c is a
tube supplied with a blast of air by means of a pipe d. The tube c is furnished
at its side next to the screen with a slit e; as therefore the screen is caused to
revolve, a stream of air is directed with force against the meshes, and any
material clinging thereto is propelled inward.
The next part of our Invention is shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, which are vertical
sections taken at right angles to each other, of a ram carrying the top mould
or die of a brick-making machine.
In describing this apparatus we shall suppose that the moulding is effected
by two operations; firstly, the ram is allowed to descend so as to strike the
clay in the bottom mould by percussive force; and, secondly, a positive pressure.
is given by the direct action of a cam or similar apparatus. The bottom die
is not shewn in the Drawing, as it forms no part of our Invention. The top die
is at a, a, the part a being fixed permanently to the ram b, 6, but the part a*
is loose within the part a, and is therefore capable of moving upward or down-
ward (to a certain extent) therein. This central part a is attached to rods c,.
which at their upper ends are provided with collars d, beneath which are
springs e, resting at their lower ends upon shoulders f, formed by projecting
parts within the ram. The ram b, b*, is also formed in two parts, the lower
part being connected to the upper part be, by means of a key 9 passing
through a pin h, by which key therefore the lower part is capable of being lifted
when the upper is raised; the latter of these, however, is at liberty to move
downward independently of the former, there being, as shewn in the Drawing,
a slight space left between them when the whole ram is lifted. The operation.
is as follows:-According to the position shewn in the Drawing the ram is
raised, that operation having been accomplished by any ordinary mechanical
means, and by which it is allowed to fall when the proper elevation has been
b

page_text: attained; this falling will cause the mould or die a, a, to strike the clay
within the bottom mould by percussive force, and as an impetus will be giver
to the whole mass the part 6 will be jerked forward, and will by that impetus
strike the upper ends of the rods c, so as to drive them downward until the
upper part of the ram meets the lower part b. The result of this will be
that the loose part at of the top die will be forced slightly downward into the
clay beyond the fast part a. This having been accomplished, a cam or other
ordinary pressing mechanism will arrive in contact with the bowl k, and will
complete the moulding of the brick or set of bricks. The ram being now
lifted by the ordinary mechanism connected to the part 6*, that part will rise
first, and will thus liberate the rods c, c, from pressure, and the springs e, e,
will then be free to act so as to raise the loose portion a* of the die or mould,
and restore it to the position shewn in the Drawing, and when this has been
accomplished the key g will have arrived in contact with the bottom portion b
of the ram, and the whole will move upward together, and it will thus be seen
that the central part a* of the die or mould is moved from contact with the
clay before the outward part a thereof commences to rise.
We have above described our Invention as applied to a certain construction
of brick-making machinery-in which percussive force is used for compressing
the material, but we do not confine ourselves thereto, as other arrangements in
which the pressure is effected by positive mechanism may be applied.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be under-
stood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
L
Firstly, in reference to screens or sifters for clay in brick-making machinery,
the application of a blast of air, acting after the manner described in reference
to Figs. 1 and 2.
Secondly, forming the top die or mould of brick-making machines in two
portions, so as to be capable of moving independently of each other.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Platt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.