IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY, FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FORMED OF PLASTIC MATERIALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Eccles. of Blackburn, in the County of
Lancaster: Cotton Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY, FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FORMED OF
PLASTIC MATERIALS."
Sealed the 29th September 1859. and dated the 4th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Eccles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
April-1850.
I. JOSEPH ECCLES. of Blackburn. in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FORMED OF
PLASTIC MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Firstly, my improvements relate to that class of machines for making
bricks, tiles. and other articles formed of plastic materials. combining a
"pug mill and pushers which force the clay through moulding orifices, and
its object is to prevent damage, breakage, or stoppage of the apparatus, when
by accident a stone piece of wood, or other hard substance gets into the
"pusher chamber" and my improvements consists in providing a plate or
other equivalent arrangement so contrived as to slide or give way when any
obstruction occurs.

page_text: Secondly, my improvements relate to this apparatus for moulding bricks,
tiles. and other similar articles formed by a "pug mill," either horizontal or
vertical, which forces clay through moulding orifices, and consists in combining
rollers with such machinery which shall not only crush and deliver the clay to
the pug mill," but assist to force the material through the "pug mill" to
be expressed through moulding orifices, which may be arranged either at the
sides or boltom of the "pug mill."
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Eccles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ECCLES, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April. in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign. did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Eccles, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Eccles, my executors. administrators. and assigns. or such others as I. the
said Joseph Eccles, my executors. administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS. TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FORMED OF
PLASTIC MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I. the said
Joseph Eccles. by an instrument in writing. under my hand and scal, 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 1. the said Joseph Eccles. do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention. and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
Firstly, my improvements relate to that class of machines for inaking

page_text: bricks, tiles, and other articles formed of plastic materials, combining a pug
mill and pushers which force the clay through moulding orifices, and its object
is to prevent breakage or stoppage of the apparatus when by accident a stone,
piece of wood, or other hard substance gets into the pusher chamber, and my
improvements consist in providing a plate, or other equivalent arrangement so
The accom
contrived as to slide or give way when any obstruction occurs.
panying Drawing, by Fig. 1 and 2, illustrates the manner of carrying into
effect this part of my Invention. Fig. 1 is a vertical section of part of such a
machine as my Invention is applicable to, and Fig. 2 a cross section of the
pusher chamber. In these machines the pusher is generally reciprocated by
a crank and connecting rod, so that the pusher has a uniform and determined
length of reciprocation. a is the pug mill cylinder; b, the pusher chamber;
c, the pusher; d, the mouthpiece of the chamber in which the moulding orifice
or die is placed; e is the sliding plate forming part of the upper side of the
pusher chamber (b), it is dovetailed, as shewn in the cross sectional view
Fig. 2, and can be slided in and out when required. I find that when made
just to fit, so that it can be slided in and out by hand, that it will keep its
place, as shewn in Fig. 1, when the machine is working in a proper manner,
but when an extraordinary pressure comes on the plate. it will slide in the
direction pointed by the arrow on Fig. 1. so that an opening will be made for
the escape of the plastic material which cannot otherwise get away; when
this occurs, the slide plate (e) may be taken out, and thus the obstruction
may be readily removed from the mouthpiece (d). The air valve usually
employed may be fixed in this plate (e) so as to slide with and be carried
by it.
Secondly, my improvements relate to that apparatus for moulding bricks,
tiles, and other similar articles formed by a pug mill, which forces clay through
moulding orifices, and consists in combining rollers with particular arrange-
ments of such machinery, herein-after described, that shall not only crush and
deliver the clay to the pug mill, but assist to force the material through the
pug mill to be expressed through the moulding orifices. I shall first describe
that particular combination of machinery according to my Invention, which I
consider most advantageous, and subsequently the modifications of it. Figs. 3,
4, 5, and 6 shew views of the machine above referred to. Fig. 3 is a longi-
tudinal or side elevation; Fig. 4 an elevation of the driving or gearing end of
the machine; Fig. 5 a sectional elevation on the line A-B, Fig. 3; and Fig 6
a sectional elevation on the line C, D, Fig. 3; an end view being shewn of the
wiper." The pedestals forming the bearings of the rollers and shafts are all
omitted, except one in Fig. 3, for the outer end of the pugging shaft, and the
"

page_text: pitch lines only of the gearing are shewn in Figs. 4 and 5. a is the pugging
cylinder, it is in an horizontal position, and stands upon feet. (a) cast upon it;
bis the pugging shaft, it is carried by two pedestals one upon the frame c, the
other upon a bracket (a), from the end cover (a'). The strain which the
propelling action of the pugging blades bring upon the shaft (b) in one
direction, is resisted by a plate 6', which is secured to the end of the shaft (b)
by a bolt b; this plate works against the side of the pedestal (b). The
pugging shaft (b) is turned to fit the holes which are bored in the end covers
a' and a of the pug cylinder (a). which are secured to the end of the cylinder
by bolts. The frame c is also bolted to the end of the pugging cylinder (a).
The pugging shaft (b) carries a series of blades d (see Figs. 3 and 5), which
are secured in it as shewn; these blades are at a short distance apart in the
length way of the shaft, and are arranged one in advance of the other. and
they are each placed at an angle so as to propel the material when the shaft is
rotated from the end at which it enters to that at which it passes out of the
cylinder (a) through the moulding orifices. e are the mouthpieces which are
placed and secured by bolts opposite holes in the pugging cylinder (a). In
these mouthpieces (e) are placed the dies (). intended to form the article
required, the moulded material being received on each side by the ordinary
receiving tables, (found by a series of rollers) that are not shewn in the
Drawings. On the shaft of the pug mill, opposite the mouthpieces (e), a
single wiper" (g) is placed, of the form seen in Fig. 6; its width is rather
more than that of the mouthpieces, and one of its edges is formed by a piece
g. shaped in the screw form. A side view of this wiper (g) is shown by the
detached view Fig. 7. The screw edge (g) of the wiper (g) serves to confine
and prevent the material from escaping from under the wiper, which acts to
produce an intermittent delivery of the material through each moulding orifice,
thus giving time for the cut by the wires when the moulded material is to be
divided into the required lengths. Cast upon the pugging cylinder are two
standards (a), which form the support of two other standards or frames h,
these standards carry the pedestals for the bearings of two pairs of rollers k
and . the arrangement of which is seen best in Fig. 5. The rollers are turned
up true. and fit accurately between two plates 1, which are secured to the
standards h. The upper rollers (k) are about three-quarters of an inch apart
the lower ones are about one-fourth of an inch apart. Above the upper pair of
rollers (k) a hopper m is placed (supported by feet resting on the side frames
(h), into which the material is fed, passing between the first pair of rollers (k),
which crush any small stones there may be in the clay material. Any material
adhering to the rollers is removed by a pair of "doctors" (n) which rests upon
"

page_text: pieces secured to the side plate (1) or frames (h), the doctors themselves
being further secured by set screws passing through cars at each end, also to
the side plates (1), these doctors conduct the material to the second pair of
rollers (k), which are also supplied with doctors (n) which conduct the
material into the pugging cylinder through an opening in the top of it. Each
pair of rollers (k and k) are geered together by the wheels and ³, and they
are each driven separately by a pinion and and wheels and k³ re-
spectively on the axes of one of the upper and lower pair of rollers. The
standard c and frame c' carries the pedestals for one end of the pinion shafts
and, the other ends of these shafts are carried by pedestals on another
standard, which is not shown in the Drawings. The pinion shafts k' and k
have each a drum secured on them, so as to be rotated by separate belts from
the same countershaft. The pag mill shaft (b) may be geered directly with
shafts from the steam or other motive engine employed, or a wheel may be
fixed upon the end geering with a driving pinion on a shaft. the pinion shaft
having a drum driven by a belt same as for the rollers. One of the pairs of
rollers may be driven directly. and the other rollers and the pugging shaft may be
geered with it, but I prefer to drive each separately by belts, which in case of
an obstruction will slip and give way. The speed for the pugging shaft is
about eight revolutions per minute, and that of the lower pair of rollers about
twenty revolutions, and the upper about fifteen revolutions per minute, more or
less, according to the requirements of the pug mill and the distance between
the rollers.
I believe the machine last described is the best arrangement according to
my Invention, but it may be modified by placing the pug mill so that its axis
will be in a vertical position. so that the two delivering monthpieces will be
at the lower end of the cylinder. The pug mill shaft terminating about flush
with the top of the cylinder, working in a bearing fixed to the sides of the
cylinder, in a manner similar to vertical pug mills, the shafts of which descend
through the bottom of the mill, and are rotated by a bevil wheel keyed on the
shaft, and a bevil pinion upon a driving shaft which geers with a bevil wheel.
The rollers in this modification are placed over the upper end of the pugging
cylinder, which is open only to the passage leading between the lower pair of
rollers.
Another modification of my Invention consists in combining two or more
pairs of rollers with an horizontal pug mill, delivering through moulding
orifices in a line with the axis of the pugging mill; with this modification of
my Invention I employ that arrangement of apparatus which is now used for
atting by wires the moulded material into lengths while it is in motion, as

page_text: the delivery from this machine is continuous while the machine is in motion.
In operating with these machines the clay earth for making bricks (except it
is very stony) may be taken direct from the bank and passed through the
machines, and these machines will mould bricks from such unprepared clay
earth, which, when properly dried and burned, will be found of excellent
quality.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention and the
manner in which it may be carried into effect, and wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the details, but I claim as my Invention, .
Firstly, the arrangements for preventing damage to that class of machines
for moulding various articles formed of plastic materials, combining a pug mill
and reciprocating pushers. substantially as herein-before described under the
first division of this Specification.
Secondly, claim as my Invention a pug mill with its axis horizontal
delivering moulded material intermittently at one or both sides, substantially
as herein-before described.
Thirdly, I claim as my Invention the combination with a png mill. having
its axis either horizontal or vertical of one or more pairs of rollers, acting in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourthly. I claim as my Invention the combination with a pug mill. having
its axis horizontal, and delivering the moulded material in the line of its axis.
of two or more pairs of rollers. acting in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before explained.
Fifthly, claim as my Invention in machines formed by a combination of
rollers and a horizontal or vertical pug mill and expressing plastic materials
through moulding orifices, the driving of each pair of such rollers by a separate
beli.
In witness whereof, I. the said Joseph Eccles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal. this Twenty-eight day of September. in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine
JOSEPH ECCLES. (...)