AN IMPROVED BRICK
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodore Schwartz, of New York, United States,
but now of 67, Gracechurch Street, London, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED BRICK."
Sealed the 19th December 1856, and dated the 19th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodore Schwartz at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th June 1856.
I, THEODORE SCHWARTZ, of New York, United States, but now of 67, Grace-
church Street, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED BRICK," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produco a brick realizing certain practical
desiderata, not combined in any hitherto devised, without altering the general
external forn commonly given to that article, or losing any of the desirable
properties of the common brick. This object I attain by removing vertically
from its central portion such a quantity of the material as can bo advan-
tageously dispensed with, and by giving a peculiar configuration to the surfaces
of the hollow or excavation thus produced.
The cavity extends from the top to the bottom of the brick, and leaves it in
fact an open hollow frame of clay. The interior surface of the walls of this
franie I prefer to mould into corrugations, undulations, ribs, or other stiffening

page_text: protuberances, in any desired number, and of such form as may be most advan-
tageously produced, the object being to impart the maximum of strength to
the material. When these protuberances are made in a vertical direction, I
do not intend them to extend to the top of the brick, but that they shall bo
cut off by and merged into a horizontal moulding or fillet, which, spreading
out above them, contracts the cavity to a narrow elongated aperture at the top
of the brick, thus affording an amplo and properly situated receiving surface
for the mortar. A like moulding or fillet may be similarly applied at the
bottom of the cavity to produce a superior bearing & bonding surface. The
introduction of mouldings or fillets for the purposes stated is equally applicable,
whatever be the form of the other parts of the cavity. They may be cither
moulded together with the rest of the frame, or attached to it in the unburnt
state.
In order to render the mortar joints more secure & increase the binding,
it is desirable to groove both the bearing & receiving surfaces of the brick.
When deemed needful, 1 strengthen the brick for handling in the green
state, by the insertion of one or more lateral braces or supports, of any con-
venient form, made of clay, separately moulded and put in place after the
brick is formed. These braces are incorporated in burning with the body of
the brick, and greatly diminish the liability to breakage in transportation.
My improved brick may be made either by hand labour or by machinery,
the mode of manufacture forming no part of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theodore Schwartz in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
SCHWARTZ, of New York, United States, but, now of 67, Gracechurch Street,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Theodore Schwartz, IIer especial licence, that I, the said Theodore Schwartz,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Theodore Schwartz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 BRICK;"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Theodore Schwartz, my
exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and scals, 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 Oflice within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said
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, reference being had to the Drawings.
Figure 1 is a bottom perspective view of a mould brick on the improved
plan, shewing a cavity with vertical corrugations and a top moulding; Fig. 3
is a longitudinal section in perspective, shewing one half of a similar brick,
differing only from that shewn in Fig. 1 by the introduction of a countersunk
shoulder (a, a, a,) in the lower edge of the cavity, to indicate that the forin
may be modified by that means for the purpose of attaching separately moulded
projections like the one Fig. 4, when deemed desirable either to facilitate the
manufacture or improve the working qualities of the brick. Fig. 5 is a view
of a brace such as may be used as lateral strengthening in the cavity of the
brick; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section in perspective of a mould brick, having
longitudinal corrugations on the interior of the cavity and mouldings at top
and bottom. Fig. 7 is the plan view of a full size perforated brick on the
improved plan, made on the expression system by means of a single core;
Fig. 6 is a modification of Fig. 7, in which the principle of the zig-zag arrange.
ment is carried out longitudinally as well as transversally; Fig. 8 represents,
as before stated, the single core used for the brick, Fig 7. Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5 are on the scale of half size.
The object of this Invention is to produce a brick realizing certain practical
desiderata not combined in any hitherto devised, without altering the general
external form commonly given to that article, or losing any of the desirable
properties of the common brick. This object I attain by removing vertically
from its central portion, by a variety of means, such a quantity of the material
as can be advantageously dispensed with, and by giving a peculiar configura-
tion to the cavity or cavities thus produced.
The principle of my improvements may be embodied in several forms of
brick, one or another being preferred according to the character of the masonry

page_text: to be executed, or the particular mode of manufacturing the article that may
be found most desirable or convenient. On the accompanying Drawings I
bave represented five such forms, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 shewing bricks on my new
plan formed in moulds, while Figs. 6 and 7 shew bricks made on the same
principle by the ordinary expression brick machine. The forms of the latter,
although dissimilar, realize the same aim and advantage as the first; these
advantages are superior lightness, increased facility of drying and burning,
greater non-conduction to damp, sound, and heat, ready ventilation, improved
bearing, binding, and keying, an economical mortar surface, and a form
that can be cut to advantage; the aim being to produce a light non-conducting
ventilating brick, which is so perforated as to afford an effective and uniform
distribution of the material, and whereby the thickness of the article may be
increased to any desired extent without prejudice to the drying and burning.
In the moulded brick represented Fig. 1, the cavity a extends from the top
to the bottom of the article, and leaves it in fact an open hollow frame of clay.
The interior surface of this frame is moulded into vertical corrugations, ridges,
or ribs a, a, of any desired form and number, to impart the maximum of
strength to the material. The bottoms and edges of these corrugations afford
superior bearing and bonding surfaces. The corrugations do not, in this
instance, extend to the top of the brick, but are cut off by and merged into a
horizontal moulding or fillet b, which, spreading out above them, contracts the
cavity at the top to a narrow clongated aperture, reducible into a mere slit or
fissure or fissures of whatever configuration, thus leaving an ample and pro-
perly situated receiving surface for the mortar.
The form thus produced may be strengthened for handling in the green
state by the insertion of one or more transverse braces or supports, like Fig. 5,
of any convenient shape, made of clay, separately moulded and put in place
after the brick is formed; braces thus inserted become incorporated in burning
with the body of the brick, and greatly diminish the liability to breakage in
transportation. Fig. 2 shows another form of moulded brick, differing from
Fig. 1, in having longitudinal instead of vertical corrugations.
The two styles of brick, described above, require to be made in moulds,
whether hand or by machinery; they cannot be produced by the system of
expression through dies without modification; as it is desirable, however, to
apply that mode of manufacture to my Invention, I have devised a variation of
form, which secures the combination of advantages stated to be my aim, while
it is easily produced by the application of a single core to the dic of an ordi-
nary expression machine. The nature of the modified form is to secure a
proper mortar surface, by reducing the hollow spaces or grooves between the

page_text: ribs, so as to dispense with the moulding 6, Fig. 1, carrying the ribs through
and through, thus producing a brick whose top and bottom surfaces are alike,
without abandoning any of the objects or principles involved in the construction
of the mould bricks, Figs. 1 and 2.
Figs. 6 and 7 are illustrations of forms such as I propose to apply as abovo
to the expression system of brick making. The adaptation to the process in
question is accomplished simply by enlarging the ribs or corrugations, and
changing the shape of the central cavity into that of a tortuous line of slits or
narrow elongated passages of angular or undulated configuration or network
of contracted cavities, which I prefer to arrange as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, so
that the projections or ribs c, c, on one side of the middle line shall be opposite
the slits or perforations e, e, on the other, in other words, alternating the
position of the ribs and slits one with the other, the abject being to attain tho
maximum strength of the material in the bonding of the masonry. To prevent
the brick Fig. 7 from losing its proper shapa by the sagging of the upper side
while in the green state, I give a slightly raised or arched form to that side,
and add to the ends of the ribs c, c, (on either or both sides) projections like
d, d, so that when the clay has yielded or sagged far enough to make the
raised side of the brick quito straight, the said projections d, d, will come to
bear firmly upon each other, and prevent any further depression or sinking..
These projections thus brought into contact may or may not unite in burning;;
if united, they leave the brick perforated by a succession of transverse slits or
angular cavities; the connections, however, though united in the wet state, are.
likely to crumble away during the drying, so as to leave the whole perforation
one continuous space.
I do not confine myself to placing the ribs c, c, opposite to the slits e, e, ljut
when preferred the slits may be placed opposite to each other. I contemplate
making the slits so narrow that tho mortar will have little or no tendency to
enter them (considering the absorbtion by which it becomes thickened), but if
found desirable in practice, the cavities may be made wider by being narrowed
at the top, by indenting the ribs c, c, in such a manner as. to widen their
surface.
Fig. 8 represents the single core, by means of which the entire excavation
or perforation represented Fig 7, is produced.
Having thus described my Invention, I wish it to be understood that I do
not claim "making bricks by forcing clay through a moulding orifice having
a series of cores to form holes or perforations in the brick," as I do not intend
in any case to use more than a single core; but what I claim under the above
in part recited Letters Patent is,-

page_text: 1st, the formation of bricks or building blocks, substantially as herein
described and illustrated.
2nd, the use of clongated perforations of undulated or angular form, as
exemplified Figs. 6 and 7, and of ribs, ridges, mouldings, fillets, or other
analogous forms, as in Figs. 2, 3, and 7.
⚫ 3rd, the zig-zag arrangement of the ribs, as a means of securing strength.
4th, making perforated bricks on the expression system, with two or more
connected cavities or independent holes by means of a single core.
5th, the application of indentations, depressions, or grooves for the purposes
of contracting the perforations, to enlarge the surface on which mortar is to be
spread, and increasing its hold.
6th, I also claim the insertion or attachment of parts separately moulded.
I do not limit myself to any particular dimensions, but intend making my
improved brick of any size that may be found desirable in practice. And these
claims I make as parts of a system of form, intended to realize the principles
laid down in the introductory part of my Specification, and as presenting such
modifications of the particular forins herein-before described as I have contem-
plated as coming properly within the scope of my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Schwartz, have hereunto set my
hand, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
THEO. SCHWARTZ. (L.S.)