IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES MADE OF PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE.
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Eccles, of Blackburn, in the County of
Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, for. the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES MADE OF PLASTIC
MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THE PURPOSE.".
Sealed the 30th November 1855, and dated the 29th June 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Eccles at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th June
1855.
I, JOSEPH ECCLES, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton
Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES MADE OF
PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THE PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
It relates to arrangements and mechanism for digging clay from the bank,
and at the same time_preparing it to be manufactured-into-bricks or tiles,
especially by such machines-as-form-or-mould-articles-from-untempered-
materials by compression. The mechanism here referred to consists of a series

page_text: of teeth and scrapers, which are arranged to operate against the face of the bank
of clay by having imparted to them a rotating or reciprocating movement,
which will detach the clay from the bank, reduce it to small particles, and
deliver it into a suitable receptacle (if required) to be conveyed away to
undergo the subsequent processes of manufacture. The mechanism may be
actuated by steam or other motive power by arranging it on a carriage or
frame mounted on wheels, along with an engine and boiler, the wheels sup-
porting the carriage or frame resting on rails placed parallel or otherwise with
the face of the bank of clay.
This Invention also relates, where steam power is employed, to arrangements
whereby the waste heat from the boiler and engine is employed in heating a
shed for drying bricks, tiles, or other articles made from plastic materials, and
consists in placing the boiler in or under the floor of the drying shed, and in
causing the flue or flues from the fire-place of the boilers employed to pass
through or under the floor of the shed in going to the chimney; and it consists
in employing the exhaust steam from high-pressure engines to heat water
which is caused to circulate through pipes passing through the drying shed;
and it also consists, in addition to the heat from the sources mentioned, in
employing steam from the boiler circulated by pipes through the shed, as an
auxiliary means of heating or drying the air in the shed.
This Invention also relates to improvements having for their object economy
of heat, and the facilitation of the, process of burning bricks, tiles, and other
articles. It consists in arranging kilns or clamps so that the chimneys may be
closed by dampers, and in arranging passages or flues to communicate between
a series of them, and arranging fans driven by suitable geer, so that the heat
or heated air from a kiln or clamp of cooling burnt bricks or tiles may be
drawn from it, and propelled through the passages to a kiln or clump of unburnt
bricks or tiles, by which means they will be gradually heated, and will
avoid the cracking to which they are liable when exposed at once to high
temperatures.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Eccles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ECCLES, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph
Eccles, Her especial license that I, the said Joseph Eccles, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Eccles,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES MADE OF PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND
IN MACHINERY AND ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE,"
upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Joseph Eccles, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Joseph Eccles, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
.
The first part of my Invention relates to arrangements and mechanisni för
digging clay from the bank, and at the same time preparing it (or in part pre-
paring it) to be manufactured into bricks or tiles, especially by such machines
as form or mould articles from untempered materials by compression. The
mechanism here referred to consists of a series of teeth, knives, or scrapers, or a
combination of them, which are arranged to operate against the face of the
bank of clay by having motion imparted to them by being carried upon arms
or a drum made to revolve, which causes them to detach clay from the bank in
small pieces or particles ready for the subsequent processes of manufacture.
The mechanism referred to may be actuated by steam or other motive power
by arranging it on a carriage or frame mounted on wheels along with an engine
and boiler, the wheels supporting the carriage or frame resting on rails placed
parallel with the face of the bank of clay.
"
Sheet one of the two- Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed-exhibits two
methods of carrying this part of my Invention into effect. In one case the

page_text: engine and boiler is on the same carriage with the revolving drum..carrying
the teeth, knives, or.scrapers, and in the other case it is on a detached
carriage...
44
Figure 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a transverse. view (partly in section) of the
first method referred to; Fig. 3 is a side view, and Fig 4 a plan view, shewing
the other method. The same letters and figure of reference denote similar and
corresponding parts throughout the Drawings. The drum on which the teeth,
knives, or scrapers are to be placed is marked a; it is fixed on the end of the
shaft b, which revolves in bearings b¹, secured to a carriage frame c, in the
position shewn, overhanging the side of the carriage. The drum (a) shewn is
about six feet diameter and two feet broad, having flanges a formed round
it, to which the teeth, knives, or scrapers a³ are to be fixed. The drum has
revolving motion given to it by a pinion d, which geers with toothed geer d',
fixed or formed on the interior of the drum (a), as shewn in Fig. 1 and 2,
or by a pinion..which geers with a wheel d¹, keyed on the drum shaft b, as
shewn in Figs. 3 and 4. The pinion (d) may be placed directly on the crank
shaft e of a steam engine, as shewn in Fig. 1 and 2, or may be placed on a
shaft (e) in suitable bearings (e¹), and have motion imparted to it by interme-
diate geer, or by a belt e² and pulleys e³, from a steam engine on a detached
carriage, as shewn in Fig. 3. The engine and boiler represented in Fig. 1
and 2, and that partly shewn in Fig. 3, is of the class known as a portable
vertical engine and boiler, and is similar to such as are now in common use.
The portable engines used for agricultural purposes may be readily applied to
give.revolving motion to the drum:(a) by connecting the carriage of the engine
and boiler with the drum carriage by a'rigid bar f, as shewn in Figure 3,
imparting motion to the pulleye on the pinion shaft e by a belt passing round
a pulley on the crank shaft of the engine. In adapting portable engines to
this purpose, the wheels of their carriages must be such as are suitable for
running on rails. In Fig. 3-and 4 I have-shewn two pinions (e), one on each
side of the wheel d', the pinion shafts e' having a pulley e³ at each end; this
will allow of the engine being worked on either side of the drum carriage. The
form of knives or scrapers which I prefer and the method of fixing them to
the drum is shewn Figures 5 and 6, the first being an edge, and the second
a plan view; holes are made in the flanges a¹ of the drum, to which they are
fixed by a bolt. They can be swivelled into the position shewn by dotted line,
the slot formed in them admitting of adjustment inward or outward. The
position in which I prefer to place them on the drum is shewn in Fig. 3 and 4.
From this it will be seen that one knife or scraper is in advance of the other,.

page_text: and that they will act in succession, the first on one portion, the next on the
adjoining portion, and so on. The drum carriage will require to be advanced.
after each series of knives or scrapers have acted upon the face of clay, and to.
allow this to be done freely a portion of the drum between each series of knives
or scrapers will have to be left without them, as shewn in Fig. 2, the advance
of the drum carriage taking place when that portion of the drum is opposite-
the face acted upon, in which case the drum carriage will have to make an
advance for each series of knives or scrapers; or otherwise; one advance will
have to be made for each revolution of the drum (a space on the drum being
left without knives or scrapers at that part of it opposite the face of clay when
the advance takes place), each succeeding series of knives or scrapers being set
as much further out than those going before as will be equal to the thickness
of clay to be removed by them, as is supposed to be the case in the arrange-
ment of knives or scrapers shewn in Figs. 3 and 4. The drum carriage may
be advanced by a cam g secured on. the drum shaft b, the cam acting on a
bowl in the end of a lever g¹, having its fulcrum on one of the axis h of the
carriage wheels ; on this lever a pawl is jointed which takes into the ratchet
teeth of the wheel h², secured on the axle upon which the lever g¹ has its ful-
crum the oscillations of the lever given by the cam g will cause the pawl to.
revolve the ratchet wheel h, and thus advance the drum carriage, back move-
ment being prevented. by a retaining pawl jointed on the carriage frame. The
same means are employed in the method shewn in Fig. 3 and 4, except that
in this arrangement the ratchet h" is formed or fixed to the side of the carriage
wheel ', and that the lever g', which is centred on the carriage axle (h),
instead of being acted upon directly by the cam g, has motion transmitted to it
by a rod, connecting it with another lever g, (having its fulcrum on the
frame of the carriage,) which acted upon by the cam g. A retaining pȧwl
is also employed in this modification, as in the former, to prevent back move-
ment of the drum carriage. The engine and boiler in, this method (Fig. 3.
and 4) will be advanced along with the drum carriage by means of the rigid
connecting bar f, which will always maintain the same distance between the
two, so that the driving belt will be uniformly tight. The machinery herein-
before described is intended to operate upon a bank of clay earth three to four
feet high, and the manner of using it is as follows:-The field of clay to be
operated upon is opened on two sides, which I will suppose the lines k and 1,.
Fig. 7, to represent; parallel with one side, lines of rails are laid down,
and another line * of rails are also laid along the other open
of clay. On the rails the drum carriage is placed, the engine, and boiler in
side of the field:

page_text: advance; as they are moved along the rails, the drum will come against the face
(7) of the clay, and by revolving will dig the clay earth from it in small pieces
or particles. The portion worked off the bank I suppose to be that between
the line and the dotted line parallel to it. During the time the machine is
working the clay earth.from the bank, labourers are employed filling the mate-
rial dug into waggons, by which the clay earth is transported along the rails.to
the place required. To prevent the clay carth dug by the machine when
working from getting into the interior of the drum, or on to that portion of the
rails to be passed over by the drum carriage, the end of the drum is closed by
partition a³ (see Fig. 2), and the side of the carriage c¹ is made to descend to
a little below the level of the rails ', as shewn in the Drawings. When the
machine has passed to the end of the first line of rails another rail is laid, and
the machinery and engine is placed on it, and another piece of the bank is
worked off, this being repeated till the surface of the whole field is removed.
The drum and knives or scrapers are so arranged as to work the clay earth to
the level of the surface on which the rails bed, by which means the drum wiil
itself always form the surface for the next line of rails nearer the bank. The
drum shewn in the Drawings only removes from the bank a breadth equal to
about half the gauge of the rails upon which its carriage rests; therefore the
rails are laid half a gauge asunder, the outside rail being removed and placed
nearest the bank every time a fresh piece is to be worked off it. It will be.
most advantageous to have four rails placed half a gauge from one another,
which will leave one rail always at liberty to be removed nearest the bank, so
that a new line of rails may be formed for the machine while it is working.
The rails most readily moved and placed will be of the class shewn in the
Drawing, having a broad base held to the gauge by cross bars Z³ (see Figs. 2
and 4). The drum carriage and engine and boiler may be moved from one
line of rails to another by a railway traverser, similar to such as are commonly
employed on railways. There will be no difficulty in supplying the fire of the
boiler with fuel when the machine is at work, as it will only move slowly along
the rails, and water for the boiler-may be kept-in a small tank attached to.it,
and this tank may be filled by taking the engine to the line of rails marked *
(Fig. 7), alongside of which a pipe should be laid to furnish the water required,
which should have proper valves at convenient distances apart, to which a
flexible hose can be attached to convey water to the tank of the boiler.
The second part of my Invention relates to arrangements where steam
power is employed, whereby the waste heat from the boiler and engine is
employed in heating a shed for drying bricks, tiles, or other articles made from

page_text: plastic materials, and consists in placing the boiler or boilers in the drying
shed or under its floor; and it consists in causing the flue or flues of steam
boilers to pass through the shed or under the floor in going to the chimney;
and it also consists in employing the exhaust steam from high-pressure engines
to heat water, which is caused to circulate through pipes passing through the
drying shed; and it also consists, in addition to the heat from the sources
mentioned, in employing steam from the boiler circulated by pipes through the
shed as an auxiliary means of heating or drying the air in the shed. This
part of my Invention is illustrated in Sheet 2 of the Drawings hereunto
annexed, shewing several views of a drying shed, combining the several means
of heating herein-before referred to. Fig. 8 is a plan view below the level of
the floor, shewing flues and air passages; Fig. 9, a plan above the floor;
Fig. 10, a cross sectional view of the shed at that end where the boiler is
placed; Fix 11, a cross section view below floor, shewing position of flues
and air passages. . a, walls of shed; b, boiler (which is placed below the level
of the floor of the shed); c, flue from it leading to chimney d; e, passages
on each side of flue for circulation of air, and which allow it to come in con-
tact with the sides of the flue, formed by a thin wall; f, passages for hot water
and steam pipes (g) below the floor; h are grids, placed in the floor over the
air passages below the floor of the shed, to allow the hot air to rise from them
into the shed. In employing the exhaust steam from high-pressure engines
to heat water, the engine should exhaust into a closed vessel containing water
of quantity in proportion to the horses' power of the engine. The vessel should
be about half filled with water, and connected with the exhaust pipe of the
engine and with the pipes leading to and from the shed. The circulation of
the water through the pipes is produced by a pump worked by the engine.
The vessel should be provided with a valve to allow the escape of the exhaust
steam, should it get above a certain fixed pressure. I need not explain how
steam is employed from the boiler to heat the shed further than to say, that
the pipes, after passing from the boiler and traversing the shed, may terminate
in the vessel for heating water by the exhaust steam. The steam boiler may
be supplied in great part with feed water from the vessel for heating the water
by the exhaust steam from the surplus water arising from the condensed steam.
The third part of this Invention relates to improvements having for their
5 object economy of heat and the facilitation of the process of burning bricks,
tiles, and other articles. It consists in arranging kilns or clamps so that the
chimneys may be closed by dampers or covers, and arranging passages or flues
to communicate between a series of such kilns or clamps, and arranging fans

page_text: driven by suitable geer, so that the heat or heated air from a kiln or clamp.
of cooling burnt bricks or tiles, or other articles of plastic materials, may be
drawn from it and propelled through the passages to a kiln or clamp of unburnt
articles, by which means they will be gradually heated, and will avoid the
cracking to which such articles are liable when exposed at once to high
temperatures. This part of my Invention is illustrated in the Drawings on
Sheet 2, Fig. 12 representing plan views of a series of four kilns or clamps,
the one marked D being a plan sectional view, and Fig. 13 an end elevation.
of one of them. The parts marked a are vents from the fire-places; those
marked the central vents. These central vents all pass into and are con-
nected together by a flue c, which passes down to the ground at the end of the
kiln or clamp, then underground to a passage or flue d, which is, common to
the whole of the kilns. or clamps. Adjoining and parallel to the flue or
passage d is another one'e; to this passage, the whole of the series of kilns
or clamps are connected by passages f, leading up the centre of the kilns or
clamps below the level of the floor, having openings (f) into it (see kiln D).
In place of the flue c connecting the central vents to carry the hot air from
the upper part of the kiln or clamp, one or more passages may be formed
in the side walls, of kiln or clamp, communicating with the, upper part of
the "clamps or kilns and the, flue d, as shewn by dotted line in the clamp
or kiln B, and on the end view-Figure 13, and marked C. The passages or
flues daude do not communicate with each other except through a centrifugal
fan or fans, which is placed so as to communicate and draw the air from the
passage d, and propel it into the passage e g represents the centrifugal fan;
it is of ordinary construction, and may be driven by suitable geering by steam
power one or more of them may be employed as required, all placed so as to
exhaust the air from the passage d and propel it into e. h are dampers, by
which the passage or flue communicating between the central vents of the
kilns or clamps and the flue or passage d-may be closed; and are dampers;
answering the same purpose in respect to the passages or flues e and f. With
these arrangements, when a kiln of articles have been burnt and require to
cool, the vents a and b are closed by covers, and the damper h belonging to the
kiln is opened. When this is done and the fan is working, the heated air or
gas is drawn from it, and propelled through the passage e to any of the other
clamps or kilns of unburnt articles with which the passage e may be in com-
munication by reason of its damper k being open. In using the clamps or
kilns, it should be so arranged that when the articles in one are burnt, another
is filled with-articles-ready for burning..

page_text: it
I have now described the nature of my Invention, and the methods by which
be carried into effect, and claim as my Invention,-
may
Firstly, the arrangements and machinery and its mode of action, described
herein as the first part of my Invention, for digging clay earth from the bank
for the purpose of subsequent manufacture into bricks, tiles, and other articles
made of such materials.
Secondly, the arrangements and means employed for drying bricks, tiles,
and other articles made of plastic materials, herein described as the second
part of my Invention.
Thirdly and lastly, the method and arrangements, herein-before described as
the third part of my Invention, whereby the heat or heated air from a kiln or
clamp of cooling burnt bricks or other articles made of plastic materials is
passed to and caused to heat another kiln or clamp of unburnt bricks or other
articles made of plastic materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Eccles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JOSEPH ECCLES. (L.S.)