Improvements in Machinery for Moulding, Pressing, and Delivering Tiles, Quarries, Bricks, Artificial Fuel, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 20th May, 1898
Improvements in Machinery for Moulding, Pressing, and Delivering
Tiles, Quarries, Bricks, Artificial Fuel, and the like.
I, REGINALD STANLEY, J.P., of Manor Court, Nuneaton, in the County of War-
wick, Engineer and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the samo is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:
My invention consists of improvements in machinery for moulding pressing and
delivering in an unburnt state tiles, quarries, bricks, artificial fuel, and other
articles made of clay, terra cotta, loam, sawdust, fine coal or other material or
materials whether in a dry, semi-dry, powdered, granulated, moist or plastic con-
dition.
As my invention is specially intended for the manufacture of good quality tiles
from semi-dry clay or terra cotta, I will describe it chiefly in this connection, the
said improvements relating to the general construction and working of the machine
with certain dotails as hereinafter particularly described and claimed..
The general arrangement of my machine is as follows.
Working within the die are two oppositely situated plungers for moulding and
pressing purposes and also a third plunger for raising the quarry or the like from
out of the die after it, has been pressed.
My machine may be constructed and arranged according to one of two distinct
types, the leading common features of both being the automatic working of the
machine from one driving shaft provided with a heavy fly wheel, and a special
means for providing a double or repeated pressure to the tile or the like, as
described hereinafter.
In the first type, the plungers are so actuated, and the supply of clay or terra
cotta so regulated by means of cams or eccentrics arranged upon a single cylinder
or equivalent (turned by a steam engine or by any other suitable form of power)
that all the operations for efficiently moulding, pressing and delivering an unburnt
tile or the like from oue die are accomplished in one revolution of the cam
cylinder acting upon plungers combined with certain levers and connecting rods,
the double pressure referred to above being produced by two successive cams, one
slightly higher than the other, as described hereinafter. The opposite end of my
machine may be furnished with a duplicate die and set of plungers operated from
a similar set of cams upon the same cam cylinder, and thus two tiles or the like
can be produced from the one duplex machine at each revolution.
In the second type there are two cam cylinders, one of which, mounted on the
driving shaft and working the pressing or moulding and delivering plungers,
D
011

page_text: revolves twice for each completed series of operations while the other cylinder,
working various levers and throwing out gear is geared to revolve onl
only for
two revolutions of the shaft. The double pressure is in this case provided for by
a single pressing cam upon the driven cylinder being supplemented at every
alternate revolution by a thin plate so interposed between the plunger head and 5
the cam as to increase the offective throw by the thickness of said plate, as
described hereinafter.
Till now need 1.
1
two revolutions of the shaft. Tho double pressure is in this case provided for by
a single pressing cam upon the driven cylinder being supplemented at every
alternate revolution by a thin plate so interposed between the plunger head and
the cam as to increase the offective throw by the thickness of said plate, as
described hereinafter.
I will now pressed to describe the two types of machine separately.
FIRST TYPE OF MACHINE.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view partly
in section of a machine, of the first mentioned type containing the improvements
forming part of the subject matter of my present invention and Figure 2 is a plan
of the cam cylinder and plungers of one end of the machine only, the framo being
in section and the lower rods and other mechanism being omitted altogether, for
the sake of clearness.
The framing and bed of the machine are not shown completely in the drawings
as there would be no difficulty in arranging these to suit varying requirements,
and, further, only the cams for working one end of the machine are shown, a
similar set in a different lino on the cylinder being used for working the other
end.
Upon the driving shaft N, which carries a heavy fly wheol not shown, I rigidly
fix a cylinder O bearing upon its curved surface a number of cams or eccen-
trics A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, in suitable positions and of proper dimensions for
the particular functions they are intended to serve.
Each end of the machine may contain a set of dies and plungers, each complote
in itself, the same cylinder by a duplicate arrangement of cams actuating all
the plungers or levers, or the system may be extended by having two or more sets
Bide by side at each end of the machine, each operated from a special arrangement
of cams upon the revolving cylinder.
Desoribing one set of my apparatus only, I provide at one end of the machine
a mould box or die Q hollowed out from the top to a considerable depth forming
a vertical chamber U the distance across from the side nearest to the cylinder to
the side furthest away being a little greater than the thickness of the tile to be
produced. The object of this last mentioned provision is to compensate for the
compression of the clay or other substance which first falls into this chamber U
and which is then conveyed into a moulding chamber V formed within the thick-
ness of the wall of the die Q where it becomes consolidated under the pressing
action of two opposite horizontal plungers P and 1". The inner plunger P is
carried within bearings a a fitted to the framing or base of the machine, and its
plunger head fits truly within a space cut out from the wall of the die opposite
to the moulding chamber V, and is moreover also an exact counter part of said
moulding chamber. My machine, as will be seen, moulds the tile or the like
vertically in the chamber V, the faces of the plungers P1 and P and also the walls
of said chamber determining the shape and size of the tile or the like in plan.
The outer plunger P¹ is carried within a hearing or bearings c, and is flattened
at its outer end Y, which is pierced so as to form a knuckle hinge with two hori-
zontal levors X and W likewise pierced and flattened at their ends, and continuing
in two opposite directions each at right angles with plunger P or thereabouts.
One of said levers, say X, is pivotted at its other end to a bearing d Figure 2,
upon a stationary bracket or support e, bolted to the frame or fixed in any suitable
manner, and at an intermediate point is connected to a hinged rod R extending
inwardly as far as the cam cylinder and supported in suitable bearings. The other
lever W carries at its outer extremity a hinged rod Z parallel with rod R and
extending also inwardly to the cylinder, suitable bearings being provided, and
it (lever W) is fulcrummed at an intermediate point f to a bracket carried
the framing or in any other convenient mannor.
upon

page_text: I provide also a vertical reciprocating frame j, Fig. 1, surrounding but not
touching the cylinder O, and preferably of elongated shape with rounded ends
at top and bottom, the straight sides of which slide within bearings in the
frame or bed of the machine. The frame may be either single or double, or
Boveral frames may be arranged side by side and braced together by cross bars,
the whole forming a compact framing.
The said frame j may be made in two halves bolted through flanges at the top
us at and united at the bottom by an angle plate or plates m, the vertical sides
of which carry a short swivelled cross bar or pin n (either partly square as shown,
or rounded) passing through an elongated hole in the end of a lever o (or two
levers if two dies are used as in a duplex machine) said lever o being fulcrummed
at T to a convenient support and continuing to a point underneath the centre of
the dio Q, where it is connected by means of a hinged double link p to a vertical
plunger L, hereinafter referred to as a lifter," which passes through a hole in
the bottom of the chamber U, and may there be provided with a head, upon which
the completed tile or the like may be delivered from the moulding chamber V,
automatically as hereinafter described, and lifted up through the mouth or slot
of the die, when it may be removed by the attendant.
The die is fed by means of a hopper 9 terminating in a canvas or like flexible
shoot r, closed or opened by hand, at the lower and when desired by means of a
plate s. A feed and measuring box t slides to and fro upon the top of the die Q
resting at the end of its throw for a moment or two alternately beneath (and
close up to) the mouth of the shoot r, and then over the mouth or slot of the
chamber U. The required motion given to the box by means of a horizontal
rod M carrying a fork or provided with a pair of arms M M within or between
which projects a crank or eccentric roller J revolving with the shaft N. Said
rod M may be suspended near one end upon a swinging link u and may, as shown
in Figure 1 be bent up and pivotted near the other end to the extremity of a
centrally fulcrummed lever the other extremity of which is linked to the feed
and measuring box on that end of the machine. In this manner the motion of the
rod M produced by the single cam or eccentric roller J will cause the two boxes
(one acted upon directly and the other indirectly) to slide symmetrically inwards
and outwards, each being simultaneously in position for receiving the feed from
the shoots or for delivering the same into its respective die. I could, however,
provide two separate slide rods attached to the boxes working in opposite directions
by means of two separate crank or eccentric rollers, instead of the foregoing
arrangement.
I fix within frame j before mentioned, at the top and at the bottom respectively,
a pair of roller wheels h and g capable of rotating within bearings kk. These
roller wheels h and g are arranged out of the vertical with one another, and aro
acted upon respectively, by cams H and G, the cam I commencing to raise the
frame by means of the upper roller wheel immediately the cam G is clear of
the lower roller wheel g.
I will now proceed to describe the arrangement and action of the cams carried
by the cylinder, and to render the description more clear, I have shown by Figure 3
a diagram denoting the relative positions of the cams upon the cylinder, assuming
the face of the latter to have been divided along an imaginary straight line and
spread out flatwise.
A is the first pressing cam driving the head of plunger P across the space U
up to the edge of the moulding chamber V.
B is a cam acting upon rod R and driving the head of plunger P¹ at the same
time, speed, and in the same direction as plunger P.
C is a cam to draw back plunger P slightly after the first pressing, by striking
against a bell crank lever K hinged at w, the other end of which enters a slot
formed in said plunger P³.
D) is the second pressing cam,
higher than the first pressing cam A, and
capable, therefore, of imparting an increased throw to the head of plunger P.

page_text: This cam also operates lever K and so draws the head of plunger 1 back again
to the face of die chamber U, the position shown in Figure 1.
E is a cam to deliver the tile or the like from chamber Vou to the lifter L, by
operating the rod Z hinged to lever Was already described and by this means
moving the head of plunger P' in the reverse direction to a little beyond the face
of the die chamber U.
Fis a cam causing plunger P¹ by means of rod R to return to face of die cham-
ber (a very short distance) after delivering the tile or the like on to the lifter L.
G is the cam already referred to, for operating lifter L which lifts the tile out
of the die chamber U. Thus, the cum & presses upon the lower roller wheel g
of the reciprocating frame j, forcing the inner end of the lever (or levers) o down-
wards, the throw of the outer end being augmented by reason of the pivot T being
nearer to the hinge n than to the link p. The weight of the long arm of the
lever o may be utilised, or additional balance weights may be used, to partially
carry the weight of the frame j, and thus save unnecessary jarring and wear of
the machine.
E is the cam, also referred to above, which lowers the lifter L to the bottom of
die chamber U. This is accomplished by the roller wheel being raised up upon
the cam H when the latter comes round, the whole frame j thereby being lifted
up, and the lifter lowered by means of the lever o beforementioned.
The plunger corresponding with plunger P upon the opposite end of the
machine may, as shown in Figure 1, be also drawn back after pressing, by the
action of cams C and D bearing against the bell crank lever K, by means of a
connecting rod z passing from an extension K' of one of the arms of K to a
lever y, the motion being thus symmetrical but reversed in direction. I could.
however, produce the requisite motion by having a separate bell crank lever
worked from an independent cam, instead of the foregoing arrangement.
I may provide the ends of the rods R and Z with friction rollers, but the
plunger which has the larger traverse of the two moulding plungers, I prefer
io furnish with a jointed ond piece or block shaped to fit into a cylindrical
socket made in the end of the plunger, the whole forming what I may term a
"wrist joint," from its resemblance to the joint of the human wrist.
The block 1 is cupped or hollowed to the curvature of the pressing cams A
and D and carries a tail piece 2 of metal, leather, or other suitable material which
guides the block into position for ensuring a continual and direct thrust upon
the plunger P during the whole time it is under the influence of cam A or of
cam D.
I have found from experience that the clay dust or the like after falling from
the feed box t down into the dio chamber U is often more compact at the bottom
than at the top, due probably to the combined causes of the momentum of the
clay or other material being greater according to the greater distance through
which it falls, and also the lower strata of clay or other material when at rest in
the chamber U being compressed by the weight of the material above. I there-
fore make the chamber slightly tapered at its lower end as follows.
I mount the head of the plunger P₁ to the stock in a special way, that is to say,
not rigidly, but pivotted at or near the centre (preferably slightly above), as at 3,
sufficient play being allowed to enable it to lean slightly backwardly.
I have shown in Figure 1 a small coiled spring 4 bearing against a small pro-
jection 5 on the plunger at one end and at the other against the inner and lower
side of the head of said plunger P¹, the latter being partially hollowed or slotted
at the bottom for receiving said spring 4, or as an alternative a spring plate may
be fitted to the head of the plunger. This arrangement will ensure the head of
the plunger being tilted in the required manner, but it may not be necessary
to employ such means, for, as the plunger head returns to the face of die chamber
(by action of cam F as above described), the lower edge of said head (especially if
the pivot 3 is above the centre) will drag against the edge of moulding chamber V,
and in this way cause the plunger head to assume the required inclined position.

page_text: It is important that the quantity of clay dust or like material for pressing in the
mould be regulated with great minuteness, a difference in the moisture of the
atmosphere necessitating a variation of the pressure. I meet this requirement by
providing right and left handed double adjusting screws (or single handed ones
if preferred) S and S, Fig. 2, in the rods R and Z respectively, by means of which
the plunger P¹ can be adjusted to regulate the quantity of clay dust or like
material and enable the requisite pressure to be applied.
The series of operations takes place in the following order. The feed box t after
being filled from the shoot r, and the slides closed, is brought over the die cham-
ber U and the charge falls down into the latter. The parts of the machine are
now in the position shown in the drawings. The head of the plunger P then
recedes within the chamber V and the plunger P at the same time advances,
pushing the material. before it into said moulding chamber V and there moulding
and compressing it into a homogeneous mass. It is important that under the
action of cam B, the plunger 1" be not drawn back any faster than plunger P
advances, otherwise the material would fall down in the die chamber and bo
pressed more densely at the bottom than at the top. The plunger 1" continues
to travel forward after the head of plunger P¹ has come to rest at the limit of
its travel against the frame, and thus Ps puts the requisite pressure on the material
for shaping the tile or the like. The plunger Pa then becomes very slightly
withdrawn, and is forced forward a second time of an inch or thereabouts further
than before, exerting the maximum pressure required upon the charge in the
moulding chamber V. I find in practice that this double or repeated pressure
gives results which have hitherto been unattainable, the face of the pressed tile
or the like being very hard and smooth, free from air flaws or any tendency to
peel. After this second pressure, the plunger P pushes the tile or the like on
to the lifter L which thereupon rises and lifts the article out of the die, the feed
box meanwhile having automatically resumed its original position under the
feed shoot. The lifting cam G may ho continued a little concentrically with the
shaft N so as to enable the tile or other moulded article to remain projecting for
a short space of time and allow the attendant sufficient time to remove same.
labour of attending to the machine is very small, the tiles or the like as they
emerge from the dies simply requiring the edges to be slightly rubbed down with
the hands, when they can be removed and taken direct to the kiln without any
further treatment.
SECOND TYPE OF MACHINE.
The
On the accompanying drawings, Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in section of
a machine of the second mentioned type containing the alternative improvements,
and Figuro 5 is a plan of the end of the bed showing the manner of operating and
controlling the outer plunger. This type is a development of and improvement
upon a Patent granted to me in 1885, No. 8508.
Upon the main shaft or cylinder S are mounted two pressing cams or eccen-
trics C¹ and C³ at some distance away, from and out of line with each other, one of
which cams C acts directly upon the inner or pressing horizontal plunger 1", the
other cam C3 acting indirectly upon the outer horizontal plunger P¹ by means of
a connecting rod Y and lever K hinged centrally or thereabouts to the frame or
bed of the machine and pivotted at the ends to said rod Y and plunger P¹.
The shaft or cylinder S carries a gear wheel W which gives motion to a gear
wheel W engaging with a third wheel W³, each of the gear wheels W and W
boing twice the diameter of wheel W¹..
The wheel W is mounted rigidly upon its shaft N and the same shaft also
carries a cam or eccentric C and the drum or disc Q bearing side studs A, B,
and C, or said studs may if preferred be in the form of independent cams, eccen-
trics, or cranks.
The pressing plunger P is divided in its length at a point such as D, the two
parts being joined by an overlapping metal plate E spanning the gap D and rigidly

page_text: fixed to one length of the plunger P by bolts or the like Fat the sides and having
elongated holes H, H which pass over studs H H projecting from the sides of
the other length of said plunger Pa
Situated immediately above the division line or space D is a metal tongue T
attached to a rod T" capable of sliding within a guide G bolted or otherwise fixed
to the plunger P2, preferably to that portion which carries the pressing head. The
upper extremity of rod T is bifurcated or otherwise adapted so as to carry a cross
pin which engages into a slot U formed within one arm of a bell cranked or
shaped lever L pivotted at V, the other arm of which is adapted to be controlled
by the cam or eccentric C before mentioned, thus causing the tongue T to enter
the space D and to be lifted out therefrom at the require time.
Means have to be provided for preventing the plunger P from delivering the
tile or the like until after the second pressing of the plunger P, that is to say,
the cam (must only operate effectively at every alternate revolution of the press-
ing cam C'¹
This may be accomplished by providing a removable pin R forming
the pivot of the rod Y with lever K and by forking said rod Y to a sufficient depth
to enable it to travel idly, sliding over the end of lever K which meanwhile remains
stationary. The rod Y returns to the cam cylinder by the action of a weight Z
attached to a cord passing over a pulley The pin R is raised automatically
as required by making it form the end of a rod R' suspended upon one end of a
lever M pivotted centrally or thereabouts and adapted to engage at the further end
against the stud C. This lever M may be weighted at M' to enable rod R to fall
by its own weight when stud C no longer acts upon said lever M. The two studs A
and B are intended for the purpose of drawing back the plunger P after each
pressing through the medium of a lever pivotted near the centre or thereabouts
and there hent if necessary in order to remain more or less vertical with the hori-
zontal plunger P. The lower end of lever O is forked so as to overhang the sides
of said plunger (on the side of the division 1) nearest to the cam cylinder) which
has pins or projections X passing through an elongated slot J formed in each arm
of the fork. The stud A is only intended to draw back the inner part of the
divided plunger P sufficiently to open the gap D, ready for the insertion of the
tongue T, and stud B brings the plunger P back to its initial position after it
has finished pressing the tile or the like.
The lifter and lifting cam, also the feed box mechanism may be arranged to
work in a manner similar to that described in connection with the first mentioned
type of machine, and therefore are not shown again in Sheet 3 of the drawings.
The delivering plunger P may be brought back to the face of the die by means of
cams such as Band Falready described.
The walls of the mould and also the plunger heads may be hollowed out to
form steam or hot water chambers.
Either of the two types of my machine herein before described will be found
to work well in practice, the main difference being that the first type can produce
one tile or other article moulded from one die at each revolution of the shaft,
whereas the second type requires two revolutions for every such operation.
Although I have described my improvements particularly in connection with the
manufacture of tiles, it will be easily understood that I may with slight modifica-
tion adapt my invention to a variety of moulded articles.
In conclusion, I would state that I do not wish to confine my invention to the
particular details as described, nor to any particular combination of details, but
I may employ any more mechanical equivalents or modified combination which
would obviously produce the same results as my aforesaid invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In machinery for moulding, pressing, and delivering tiles, quarries, bricks,
artificial fuel, and the like, the combination with a continuously revolving cylinder

page_text: of a pair of successively operative pressing cams or eccentrics, or of two or more
pairs according as there may be two or more dies, one of said pressing cams or
eccentrics being slightly higher than the other in the same pair, whereby two
applications of pressure are produced within the mould in succession during each
revolution of the cylinder the second or repeated pressure being greater than the
first, for the purpose and in the manner substantially as herein before described
with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
2. In machinery for moulding, pressing, and delivering tiles, quarries, bricks,
artificial fuel, and the like, the combination with a continuously revolving oylinder
or shaft bearing inter alia a single eccentric or pressing cam of a pressing plunger
divided in its length and thus adapted to receive automatically at every alternate
revolution of said cylinder or shaft an interposed plate wheroby the material in
the mould receives two pressings during two revolutions of the cylinder or shaft,
tho second (or every alternate) pressing being greater than the first (or the other)
by reason of the pressing cam or eccentric being augmented in effect by the thick-
ness of said interposed plate, means being provided for throwing the delivery and
feed mechanism out of gear during the period of the second or increased pressing,
for the purpose and substantially in the manner hereinbefore described with refer-
ence to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.
3. The machine for moulding, pressing, and delivering tilos, quarries, bricks,
artificiul fuel, and the like, (referred to herein as the "First Type of Machine")
consisting of a cylinder or shaft revolving continuously and bearing a number of
cams or eccentrics, certain of which act upon the pressing and delivering plungers
directly and indirectly respectively and others act upon a vertical reciprocatory
frame connected with levers comprising the lifting mechanism, in combination
with a sliding bar worked by a roller cam or eccentric for actuating the feed box,
the whole arranged so that complete article is moulded, pressed, and delivered
in an unburnt state by a single revolution of the cylinder and driving shaft, the
said machine being either single, duplex, or multiplex, substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
4. The machine for moulding, pressing, and delivering tiles, quarries, bricks,
artificial fuel, and the like, (referred to herein as the "Second Type of Machine")
consisting of two cylinders or shafts one of which working the pressing or mould-
ing and delivering plungers revolves twice for each completed series of operations
while the other working various levers and throwing out gear is geared down ono
half so as to revolve only once for two revolutions of the driving shaft, the whole
combined and arranged so that during two revolutions of the driving shaft a com-
plete series of operations is carried out for feeding the material and moulding,
pressing, and delivering the article in an unburnt state, the said machine being
either single, duplex, or multiplex, substantially as herein before described with
reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.
5. In machinery for moulding or pressing articles by means of a can or eccen-
tric acting upon a plunger, the application of a block fitting within a cylindrical
socket in the end of the plunger and cupped or hollowed according to the curve
of the cam or eccentric and carrying a tail piece or guide, the whole forming a
wrist" joint, substantially as herein before described.
"
6. In machinery for moulding or pressing tiles, quarries, bricks, artificial fuel,
and the like, the employment of a swivelled or pivotted plunger head or plate
fitted thereto, so arranged as to present a slightly inclined surface during the
oharging of the die, the latter being thus narrower at the lower end, in order to
counteract the tendency of the material to become denser at or near the bottom
than at or near the top, substantially as hereinbefore described.
7. In machinery for moulding or pressing and delivering articles by means of
plungers, operated directly and through side rods respectively from cams or eccen-
trics, the provision of a right and left handed (or single handed) dividing scrow
for adjusting the position of the delivering plunger backwards or forwards whereby

page_text: the pressure according to the quantity or condition of the charge can be regulated
to a nicety, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Dated this 9th day of December 1897.
STANLEY, POPPLEWELL & Co.,
Chartered Patent Agents, 61, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.