IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR KNEADING, COMPRESSING, MOULDING, OR FORMING CLAY OR OTHER PLASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BRICKS, TILES, PIPES, OR OTHER USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Murray, of Loman Street, South--
wark, in the County of Surrey, Machinist, and Mathew Jennings, of
Durham Lodge, New Cross, in the County of Kent, Miner, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR KNEADING, COMPRESSING, MOULDING,
OR FORMING CLAY OR OTHER PLASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BRICKS, TILES, PIPES,
OR OTHER USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES."
aled the 3rd October 1866, and dated the 14th April 1866...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Murray
and Mathew Jennings at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,.
with their Petition, on the 14th April 1866.
We, CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, of Loman Street, Southwark, in the
County of Surrey, Machinist, and MATHEW JENNINGS, of Durham Lodge,
New Cross, in the County of Kent, Miner, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR KNEADING, COMPRESSING,.
MOULDING, OR FORMING CLAY OR OTHER PLASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BRICKS, TILES,
PIPES, OR OTHER USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to the moulding or forming of
bricks, tiles, or other analogous articles from clay or plastic substances, but

page_text: it is equally applicable for moulding or compressing peat or other substances
into blocks for artificial fuel or other purposes. The clay or other sub-
stance to be operated upon is placed in a hopper, pug mill, or other suitable
receptacle, at the bottom of which are mounted two fluted or corrugated
metal cylinders, which are driven at different speeds for the purpose of
kneading, crushing up, and carrying or forcing forward the clay to a second
pair of fluted or grooved rollers or cylinders provided with very deep or
recessed grooves or flutes. These grooved or fluted rollers are mounted in
bearings in a close box or chamber, into which the clay or other material
is forced by the upper pair of rollers. The lower rollers gear into each other,
the flutes being made to fit, so that as the rollers rotate the clay may be
forced out of the flutes or grooves into the space below the rollers, and com-
municating with the exit channel or nozzle. These rollers rotate in a
direction opposite to that of the top pair of rollers, so that their function
will be to carry round in their flutes or deep grooves to the space immediately
below the clay that is forced forward by the upper pair of rollers.
The clay
is squeezed out of the grooves by the projecting part of the flutes or teeth of
the lower rollers, and is accumulated under pressure in the exit channel or
nozzle, which is provided at its mouth with vertical partitions, so that the clay
as it issues may be divided into pieces of the sectional area required according
to the article that is to be produced. Any continuous ornamental moulding
may be formed on the issuing plastic substance by adapting to the mouth of
the nozzle a former or moulding plate of the desired pattern. A reciprocating
frame provided with cutting wires is adapted to work in grooves or guides at
the mouth of the nozzle or exit channel, and is by means of a tappet motion
caused to move to and fro quickly in front of the mouth of the nozzle, first in
one direction and then in the other, and in so doing will at each stroke cut
off from the issuing clay pieces or lengths of any desired dimensions, and of
the form and sectional area required according to the former or pattern
adapted to the nozzle. These pieces as the working parts continue in
operation will be pushed forward on to an endless travelling belt, which will
carry them away a short distance. One or more attendants will remove the
bricks, blocks, or moulded pieces from the endless travelling belt and carry
them away to dry in the usual manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Henry Murray and Mathew Jennings in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 18th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
HENRY MURRAY, of Loman Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Machinist, and MATHEW JENNINGS, of Durham Lodge, New Cross, in the
County of Kent, Miner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Henry Murray and Mathew Jennings, Her special licence that
we, the said Charles Henry Murray and Mathew Jennings, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Henry
Murray and Mathew Jennings, our 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 "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR KNEADING, COMPRESSING, MOULDING, OR FORMING CLAY OR OTHER
PLASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BRICKS, TILES, PIPES, OR OTHER USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles
Henry Murray and Mathew Jennings, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 we, the said Charles Henry Murray and Mathew
Jennings, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):-
This Invention relates more particularly to the moulding or forming of
bricks, tiles, or other analogous articles from clay or plastic substances, but it
is equally applicable for moulding or compressing peat or other substances into
blocks for artificial fuel or other purposes.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section of our improved machinery for effecting these objects; Fig. 2 is a
transverse vertical section of the same taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine shewing the gearing whereby the
several parts are actuated. The clay or other substance to be operated upon
is placed in a hopper, pug mill, or other suitable receptacle, as at a in the
Drawing. At the bottom of this hopper are mounted two metal cylinders b, b,
which if desired may be fluted or corrugated, but in the Drawing they are shewn
with plain surfaces. They are driven at different speeds in the direction of the
arrows shewn in Fig. 1, for the purpose of kneading, crushing up, and
carrying or forcing forward the clay to a second pair of fluted or grooved
rollers or cylinders c, c, provided with very deep or recessed grooves or flutes.
These grooved or fluted rollers are mounted in bearings in a close box or
chamber d, into which the clay or other material is forced by the upper
pair of rollers 6, b. The lower rollers c, c, gear into each other, the flutes
being made to fit so that as the rollers rotate the clay may be forced out of
the flutes or grooves into the space d' below the rollers and communicating
with the exit channels e, e. These rollers rotate in a direction opposite to
that of the top pair of rollers, as indicated by the arrows, so that their
function will be to carry round in their flutes or deep grooves to the space ď
immediately below them the clay that is forced forward by the upper pair of
rollers b, b. The clay is squeezed out of the grooves of the roller c, c, by the
projecting part of their flutes or teeth, and is accumulated under pressure in
the exit channels e, e. To the nozzles e¹, e¹, of these channels e, e, are
adapted dies of any suitable form provided at their mouths with vertical
partitions, so that the clay as it issues therefrom may be divided into pieces of
the sectional area required according to the article that is to be produced.
The machine may have only one exit aperture for the delivery of the clay or
plastic material, or it may be provided with two, as shewn in the Drawing,
in which case the clay must be made to issue first from one and then from the
other, to which end the channels e, e, are provided with slides or valves f, f,
whereby they may be alternately closed. The stems of these valves or slides
are connected by means of links to the ends of a pair of vibratory levers g, g,
mounted on the shaft h, on one end of which is mounted the arm or lever i,
shewn by dots at Fig. 3. To the outer end of this arm or lever is connected
the vertical rod j, at the upper end of which is a long slot in which works the
pin of a crank k mounted on the axle c¹ of one of the fluted rollers or
cylinders c. It will be understood that as the crank pin is capable of moving
for some distance in the slot of the rol j without raising or lowering it, an

page_text: intermittent rising and falling motion will be communicated to the slides or
valves f.f, thereby giving sufficient time for the clay or other plastic sub-
stance to be compressed and forced through one of the channels, while the
other one is closed. In order to facilitate the delivery of the clay or other
plastic substance from the nozzles or dies e¹ it is necessary that they should be
lubricated with oil or water, to which end they are lined with flannel, woollen
cloth, or some other flexible porous substance capable of absorbing and holding
a certain quantity of the lubricating liquid. One of these nozzles or dies is
shewn detached in plan and elevation at Figures 4 and 5, and in partial
sectional plan view drawn on an enlarged scale at Fig. 6. The nozzle or die
is made with an internal space or channel k, Fig. 6, which runs all round, and
is supplied with oil, water, or other lubricating liquid through the holes k¹, k
The liquid so supplied escapes from the space k past the inner edge of the
nozzle and saturates the cloth 1, Fig. 6, against the surface of which the clay
or other plastic substance comes as it issues from the machine. When
required the liquid may be drawn off from the space k of the nozzle through
an opening, Fig. 5, below. Any continuous, ornamental moulding may be
formed on the issuing plastic substance by adapting to the mouth of the
nozzle or die a former moulding plate or die of the desired pattern. In
order to cause the clay or other plastic substance to descend to the bite of the
rollers b, b, a rising and falling bar m of triangular shape is adapted to the
hopper above. It is made capable of working up and down in slots in
the sides of the hopper, as shewn at Figures 1 and 3, and it may be worked
by a crank actuated by suitable gearing connected with the main shaft, or it
may be worked by hand from time to time, when required. In order to
prevent the clay or other plastic substance from adhering to and accumulating
on the rollers b, b, scrapers n, n, are adapted to the box d so as to scrape off
the adhering clay as the rollers b, b, rotate. The clay as it is delivered from
the nozzles may be divided by any convenient mechanism or by means of a
reciprocating frame provided with cutting wires adapted to work in grooves
or guides at the mouth of the exit channels, or the nozzles or dies e¹, and by
means of a tappet motion this cutting frame may be caused to move to and fro
quickly in front of the mouth of the nozzle or die first in one direction and
then in the other, and in so doing at each stroke to cut off from the issuing
clay pieces or lengths of any desired dimensions and of the form and sectional
area required according to the form or pattern adapted to the nozzle or die.
These pieces as the working parts continue in operation will be pushed
forward on to an endless travelling belt, which will carry them away a short
distance. One or more attendants will remove the bricks, blocks, or moulded

page_text: pieces from the endless travelling belt and carry them away to dry in the usual
manner.
Having now described our Invention of "Improved Machinery for Kneading,
Compressing, Moulding, or Forming Clay or other Plastic Substances into
Bricks, Tiles, Pipes, or other Useful or Ornamental Articles," and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we claim as our
Invention the general arrangement and construction of parts herein set
forth.
We claim particularly the combination of the rollers b, b, with the fluted
rollers c, c, rotating in opposite directions, so as to force or compress the
clay or plastic substance into the space d and exit channels e, e, e¹, e¹, as set
forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles Henry Murray and Mathew
Jennings, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirteenth day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six.
CHARLES HENRY MURRAY. (L.S.)