AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hutton, of Portland Town, Saint John's
Wood, in the County of Middlesex, Builder, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS."
Sealed the 31st October 1854, and dated the 2nd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hutton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1854.
I, WILLIAM HUTTON, of Portland Town, Saint John's Wood, in the County
of Middlesex, Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in adapting to an ordinary pug mill a series of
skeleton moulds, for moulding clay into bricks, said moulds being arranged
and disposed about the lower part of the pug mill in a vertical direction, and
combined with pads for recessing one side of each brick, and with knives for
dividing the clay when the moulds are filled, thereby forming the opposite side
of the brick, said pad and knives being operated upon by levers and weights
suitably connected for effecting the above objects.
This Invention will, however, be better understood by the following explana-

page_text: tion of the construction and arrangement of the improved machine:-I take a
pug mill of the ordinary kind, and to the lower part thereof I attach a box
with three or more sides, and the same number of openings therein of the size
and shape of an ordinary, brick; each of these openings is provided with a
knife, which receives reciprocating-movement-in a vertical direction through
the agency of a lever, the fulcrum whereof is a pin. Attached to the outside
of the pug mill, opposite to each of the aforesaid.openings, I-place a mould or
rectangular-shaped skeleton box, that is to say, a box without a bottom; the
side of this box rests upon-a-projecting piece fixed lower than the bottom of
the pug mill, and to the said projecting piece a vibrating lever is attached, to
one end of which a piece of wood, called a "pad," is attached, same being
employed to form the recess in the brick, and which is common to all bricks.
MODE OF OPERATING.
The clay is placed in the pug mill, and operated upon in the usual way by
horse or other power, the effect of which is to force the clay into the several
skeleton moulds, the handles to which the knives are attached being raised for
that purpose, and thereby holding the pads in forced contact with the skeleton
moulds during the filling thereof with clay; and when the clay has been suffi-
ciently compressed, according to the judgment of the operator, he then presses
down one or other of the knives, by which the clay will be divided and the
other side of the brick thereby formed; at the same time the pressure will be
removed from the pad, and the mould with its brick be free to remove to the
stack; and in this manner the operator proceeds to discharge the clay from the
several moulds, each time replacing the empty mould and lifting up the knife,
by which the moulds will be again filled with clay moulded into the form of a
brick. The extent to which the clay is compressed will depend upon the
length of time the moulds are allowed to remain during the time the pug mill
is in action.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Hutton, Her special licence that I; the said William Hutton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Hutton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to tiine 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 "AN IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Hutton, by an instrument in writing tinder my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Hutton, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in adapting to an ordinary pug mill a series of
skeleton moulds, for moulding clay into bricks, said moulds being arranged and
disposed about the lower part of the pug mill in a vertical direction, and com-
bined with certain parts or pieces, called "pads," employed for forming a
recess in one side of each brick. The pug mill is also furnished with knives for
dividing the clay when the moulds are filled, and thus forms the opposite side of
the brick, the aforesaid pads and knives being operated upon by lever handles,
suitably connected for effecting the above objects. The nature of this Invention
will, however, be better understood by the following explanation of the con-
struction and arrangement of the several parts which compose the machine
which I employ in and for the manufacture of bricks, that is to say: I take a
pug mill, such as is commonly used by brick-makers, and to the lower part
thereof I attach boxes which have rectangular-shaped openings formed therein,
of about the size and form of an ordinary brick; each of these openings I
provide with a knife of peculiar construction, which receives reciprocating
movement in a vertical direction through the agency of a lever handle con-
nected to each knife, the fulcrum of said lever handle being a pin passed

page_text: through a casting fixed to the outside of the pug mill. Immediately opposite
to and in close contact with each of the openings in the aforesaid boxes I
place a mould or rectangular-shaped skeleton box, that is to say, a box without
a bottom; one side of this box rests upon a projecting piece of metal or rail,
fixed lower than the bottom of the pug mill, and to the said projecting piece
or rail I connect a vibrating bell crank lever, to one end of which a piece of
wood, called a "pad," is securely fixed, and I operate with the above machine
MODE OF OPERATING.
The clay is placed in the plug mill, and operated upon with knives in the
usual way by horse or other power, the effect of which is to force the clay into
the several skeleton moulds, the lever handles to which the knives are con-
nected being depressed, so as to hold the pads in forced contact with said
moulds during the filling thereof with clay; and when the clay has been
sufficiently compressed, according to the judgment of the operator, the work-
man then raises the knife, by which the clay will be divided and the other side
of the brick thereby formed, after which, by continuing to raise the lever
handle to which the knife is connected, the pad will be disengaged from the
mould, and the moulded clay be free to remove to the stack to be dried and
afterwards to be burnt; and in this manner the operator proceeds to discharge
the clay from the several moulds, each time replacing the filled mould by an
empty one, and afterwards pressing down the knife to allow the empty mould
to be filled with clay moulded into the form of a brick, as before. And I
would remark that the extent to which the clay is compressed in the mould
will depend in a great measure upon the length of time the moulds are
allowed to remain during the time the pug mill is in action.
But in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means. I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my
said Invention, and designed for the manufacture of bricks; Figure 2 is an
end elevation thereof; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the above machine;
Figure 4 is a transverse and vertical section of the same, taken through the

page_text: line A, B, at Figure 3; Figure 5 is a top plan view of the bottom of the pug
mill, shewing the novel mode of constructing the same; Figure 6 is an edge
view, and Figure 7, a front view (to an enlarged scale) of a skeleton mould for
shaping the clay into the four sides of a brick; Figure 8 is an elevation of a
"pad," for forming the recess in another side of the piece of clay of which
the brick is formed; Figures 9 and 10 shew two views of one of the
knives employed for dividing the clay and forming the other and flat side
of the moulded brick, said knife being exhibited drawn, to an enlarged scale,
to shew the construction thereof more clearly. At each of the foregoing
Figures I employ similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts,
in so far as such parts, appear or can be seen at each of the said Figures
respectively..
At. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, A is a circular, shaped vessel of cast iron,. formed
taper and in two parts, which constitute the upper part of the pug mill. B is
the bottom of the mill, to which the upper part is connected by bolts passed
through lugs a formed thereon; and a peculiar feature in my said Invention
consists in forming the bottom B of the pug mill with sloping channels b, b,
shewn at Figures 4 and 5, for the purpose of directing the clay through the
same and pressing it into the moulds, herein-after referred to, more easily and
with less power, than would be required if the bottom of the pug mill were
not formed sloping, as aforesaid. C is a cast-iron framing, upon which the pug
mill is supported, or it may be supported on brickwork, if desirable. D is a
square shaft of wrought iron, carrying a series of knives d, d, of the ordinary
construction, which are connected thereto, as exhibited at Figure 4; the lower
end of the shaft D works in a step piece E, fixed to the bottom of the pug
mill, and the upper part of the said shaft works in a bearing formed in, the
cross piece F, which is firmly bolted to the top edge of the pug mill, as exhi-
bited. G, G, are cast-iron boxes, fitting into openings formed in the part A of
the pug mill, said boxes being connected to the bottom B, by bolts and nuts,
as exhibited at Figures 1, 2, 3. It will be seen, upon referring to Figures
1 and 4, that the tops of the aforesaid boxes are formed sloping, so as to
correspond with the sloping channels b, b, in the bottom B, thereby forming
rectangular shaped sloping conduits, from which the clay exudes when the
knives are in motion, and thus fills the moulds H. The mode of arranging
these moulds, as also the pads I and knives K, is as follows:-To the per-
pendicular sides of the openings in the boxes G, G, I securely fix strips of
wrought iron L, L, in each of which a groove is formed, and in which the
knife M. at Figures 9 and 10 fits and slides by the action of the lever handle.

page_text: R and rod O which are connected thereto. P is a metal strip or rail, the ends
whereof are securely fixed to the pieces L, L; this rail is for the purpose of
supporting the mould, which is placed edgewise thereon, as at Figure 4, a stop
pin-c, shewn-at-Figures-1-and-3,-being-employed-to-ensure the opening-in-the
mould H coming opposite to that in the box G, and the mould is retained in
this position during the filling thereof with clay by pressure of the pad I,
which is connected to the box, and actuated in the following manner :-It will
be-seen; upon referring to Figures 1, 2, 4, that there is a forked piece e fixed
to the rail P, and to this forked piece a bell crank lever Q is connected by á
pin, which is the fulcrum thereof; the upper part 1 of the bell crank lever is
securely fixed to the pad I, and the lower part 2 of said lever is formed bent,
in order that the part 3 of the said lever may be in close and forced contact
with the solid part of the knife K when the knife is. down, as exhibited at
Figure 4, and thus the pressure of the knife K keeps the pad I in forced
contact with the mould H during the filling thereof with clay, the clay
passing through the opening *;*, formed in the said knife, as exhibited at
Figure 9; and to facilitate the dividing of the clay by the knife, I employ a
box X containing water, (shewn by dotted lines at Figure 4,) in which the knife
is immersed during the time-the-moulds are being filled. Thus it will be seen;
that by raising up the lever handle R, the edge 4 of the knife K will pass
through the clay and thus divide it, the bevilled edge of the knife operating so
as to compress the clay which is in the mould still further, and upon con-
tinuing to pull up the said-lever handle after the clay has been so divided, the
projecting piece f, coming into contact with the under side of the part 2 of
the bell crank lever Q, will raise such part, and thereby throw back the part 1
of the said lever, and thus remove the pressure of the pad I from the mould,
which can now be removed from the machine and another similar empty mould
substituted in the place thereof, care being taken to press the lever handle R
down, so as to press the pad I against the mould, as before stated, and in this
manner the workman proceeds to fill and remove the several moulds in
succession, and thereby effects the moulding of clay into bricks.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention of "An Improved
Machine for the Manufacture of Bricks," and the best means I am acquainted
with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion,
that what I claim is, the novel mode above particularly described, set forth,
and represented, of combining together certain mechanism, so as to constituté
a machine capable of manufacturing, bricks more perfectly than heretofore, and
more particularly the making of the bottom B of the pug mill with sloping

page_text: channels b and boxes G, by which the clay is discharged from the pug mill
with considerably less power than if the bottom were not sloping, as above
stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hutton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square.
W. HUTTON. (L.S.)