IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING BRICKS, TILES, ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Weston Grimshaw, of Bowdon, in the County of
Chester, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR COMPRESSING BRICKS, TILES, ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 29th November 1859, and dated the 30th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Weston Grimshaw at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
May 1859.
I, WESTON GRIMSHAW, of Bowdon, in the 'County of Chester, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING BRICKS, TILES, ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows :—
In compressing bricks, tiles, artificial fuel, and other similar articles by
machinery, it is customary to force or press clay or other material into a mould
by a piston, plunger, or stamper. Hitherto great difficulty has been found in
getting rid of the air which enters the mould with the clay or other material,
and a great proportion of the force required to compress the clay or other
material is spent in expelling the air. Now, my Invention consists in making
small perforations in the pistons, plungers, or stampers, or in the sides or top
or bottom of the moulds, or in either or all, for the air to escape through.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Weston Grimshaw, Her special licence, that I, the said Weston Grimshaw,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Weston Grimshaw, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING BRICKS, TILES, ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND
OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Weston Grimshaw, 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 Weston Grimshaw, 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 (that is to say) :-
In compressing bricks, tiles, artificial fuel, and other similar articles by
machinery, it is customary to force or press clay or other materials into a
mould by a piston, plunger, or stamper. Hitherto great difficulty has been
found in getting rid of the air which enters the mould with the clay or other
material, and a great proportion of the force required to compress the clay or
other material is spent in expelling the air. Now my Invention consists in
making small perforations in the pistons, plungers, or stampers, or in the sides
or top or bottom of the moulds, or in either or all, for the air to escape
through.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figs. 1 and 2 are sections, and Fig. 3, a plan, of a set of moulds suitable
for the brick-making machine for which Letters Patent were granted to me
on the Seventh day of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
I wish it, however, to be understood that my present improvements are

page_text: applicable to other brick-making machines, and to machines for making tiles
and other articles, and for compressing artificial fuel.
In the present instance, the moulds, which are placed in a circular table,
consist of the top plate a, see Fig. 2, and side plates b, b, within which work
the double plungers c, c, and d, d; the inner plungers d, d, are hollow, and
provided with perforated heads e, e; these heads are made detached from and
fixed to the plungers after the small perforations have been drilled through
them, the object of which perforations is to allow the air entering the mould
with the clay or other plastic material to escape when pressure is applied to the
plunger to consolidate the brick or other article. The lower end of each
plunger d is furnished with a slide f, which is opened occasionally to remove
the particles of clay or other material which are forced through the per-
forations; these slides f may, in most cases, be dispensed with.
The top plate a is also perforated, to allow the air to escape upwards, and
the sides b, b, may be perforated in like manner, if desirable, the object of the
perforations being to allow the air to escape, whereby a considerable saving in
power is effected, and a better article is produced, as the air, when confined in
the mould, as now customary, requires great force before it is expelled, and
often renders the bricks or other articles unsound.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described one mode of
performing the same, I wish to remark that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the details, which may be considerably varied and modified ac-
cording to the peculiar construction of the machine to which the Invention is
applied; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is the perforating of the pistons, plungers, or stampers, or the sides, or
top and bottom of the moulds, or of either or any part or all of them for the
purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Weston Grimshaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
WESTON GRIMSHAW. (L.S.)