IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FILLING MOULDS WITH MOIST AND SOFT CLAY AND OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Coonc, of the York Hotel, York Road,
Waterloo Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Merchant, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FILLING MOULDS
WITH MOIST AND SOFT CLAY AND OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS,"-A com-
munication from abroad by Gideon H. Houghton, of Marlin, in
the State of Texas, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 4th February 1873, and dated the 21st December 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Bernard Coone at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 21st December 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: WHEREAS by reason of a communication from Gideon H. Houghton,
of Marlin, Texas, United States of America, I am in possession of an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FILLING MOULDS WITH MOIST
AND SOFT CLAY AND OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declara-
tion that I am the true and first Inventor thereof..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Bernard Coone, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
This Invention which is peculiarly applicable in the process of brick
making, but may be also applied in other manufactures where moulds
are to be filled with plastic materials, such as moist and soft clay, consists
of apparatus in which there is a travelling table or bed on which the
moulds to be filled with the plastic material are placed; and such
travelling bed or table is so arranged that by the reciprocating motion
to and fro of such travelling table or bed, the said moulds are brought
mill are
consecutively under a pug mill, in the bottom of which pug
orifices fitted with sliding valves or doors to open or close the said orifices
when and as required for the filling of the said moulds with the moist
clay or other plastic materials.
And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood,
I now proceed more particularly to explain and set forth the mode or
manner in which the same is or may be used or practically carried
into effect, for which purpose I have annexed hereunto two Sheets of
Drawings in each of the Figures of which the same letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of my machine and Figure 2 is a plan
section of the same.
A represents the bed frame which rests upon the ground sills B and
which is of any convenient size or shape; upon the top of this frame is
placed the pug mill C which is an ordinary pug mill for making bricks,
and may be worked by any mode of applying power to the shaft D. In

page_text: the bottom of the pug mill there are two orifices I, I, as shown in the
plan, one on each side I prefer, but it is not necessary to my Invention
that the shaft of the pug mill D should have at the bottom of it a
screw E of a similar form to the ordinary screw for propelling ships,
passing over the orifices I in the mode shewn in the Drawings so as to
sweep or force the clay down, into, and through the orifices I, I.
Over each of the orifices is a sliding valve or door F which is drawn
backwards and forwards by any levers, the most convenient form of
lever is that shewn in the Drawing G. These sliding valves or doors
open and close the orifice I; the mill
pug being filled with moist and
soft clay or other plastic material, and the shaft D being kept revolving
by the application of power, the clay or other material is run into the
moulds J. When used for the manufacture of bricks each mould
contains by preference six bricks as represented in the Drawing. The
travelling bed or table L which is worked by a pinion wheel H fitting
into a toothed rack underneath the travelling bed, moves backwards and
forwards along the bed frame and has a reciprocating to-and-fro motion
given to it by this pinion and ratchet, the pinion being turned first in
one direction and then in the other in such a manner as to carry the
mould J or set of moulds which are placed on it successively under the
orifices at the bottom of the pug mill for the purpose of being filled.
If it be desired that the travelling table should have the reciprocating
motion given to it while the axle or shaft of the pinion turns con-
tinuously in the same direction, I fit a mangle rack and pinion on
the side of the travelling bed or table as represented in Figures 3, 4,
and 5.
The moulds must be made with an even surface at the top, and
so as to fit in the space between the bottom of the pug mill and the
bed L.
Any moulds may be used which will fit into the space between the
bottom of the pug mill and the travelling bed.
The manner in which the machine operates when used in the manu-
facture of bricks is as follows:-A mould or series of moulds, by
preference of the form shewn of moulds in Figures 1 and 2, to be
placed each upon a thin board of the same size as the bottom of the
mould, which board is first placed on the travelling bed or table L.

page_text: pug
The mill is then to be put in motion by any suitable
power applied
to it, the clay or other plastic material after being properly pugged is
allowed to pass out by the opening of one or both of the sliding valves
or doors F, and is forced out of the pug mill through the apertures I
into the mould or series of moulds J carried under the said apertures
upon the moving bed L. I prefer that only one of the sliding valves
or doors F should be used at a time, and that the sliding valve or door F,
which is open, shall be the one towards which the moulds are moved, so
that when the moulds are moved towards the right, the valve on the left
will be closed and the valve on the right open.
As the moulds pass by the movement of the travelling bed or table
under and through the space formed between the bottom of the pug mill
and the travelling bed or table, the clay is fed down into them through
the apertures L in the bottom of the pug mill, filling each compartment,
and as. the moulds by the above movement of the travelling bed or table
pass successively out, the top of the clay in the moulds is smoothed by
the under side of the pug mill.
As soon as the moving bed frame L has moved far enough, the filled
moulds are taken off from the travelling bed or table on the boards and
replaced by empty ones placed as before on boards, and the operation
and movement of the travelling bed or table is reversed. The filled
moulds which have been removed from the travelling bed or table are
then lifted up from off the boards and the moulded bricks slide out
of the moulds on to the boards, and are to be carried away to be
dried. The moulds are then ready to replaced on the travelling bed
be table.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not
claim as of the said Invention any of the separate parts of which the
above machinery or apparatus is composed, but what I claim and desire
to be protected by Letters Patent is, the construction and arrangement
of machinery and apparatus for filling moulds with moist and soft clay
and other plastic materials herein-before described, in which a pug mill
having orifices at the bottom thereof capable of being closed by sliding
valves or doors is combined with a travelling bed or table for carrying a

page_text: mould or series of moulds as herein-before described and represented in
the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Nineteenth day of December One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.