IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK-MAKING MACHINERY
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of 35, South-
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
.the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK-MAKING MACHINERY."—A
communication from abroad by Messieurs Knight Brothers, of
Washington, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph
· Barnard Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents
with his Petition, on the 16th February 1869.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Iuvention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK-MAKING MACHINERY," a
communication to me from abroad by Messieurs Knight Brothers, of
Washington, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
-
The principal features of this Invention are, ―
First. An arrangement of paired mould wheels whose peripheries con-
tain a series of equidistant radial compartments or moulds, with
intervening spaces on each periphery, the said wheels being so geared
together that the moulds of one revolve in close juxtaposition with
PPrice 8d.1

page_text: .
the periphery of the other, the moulds of each wheel containing
plungers operated by a fixed cam attached to the frame of the machine,
and operating inside of said wheel with a loose journal at its
centre, around which each respective wheel with its series of plungers
revolves.
are
Second. An arrangement of devices whereby the moulds
completely and continuously charged with the clay, in proper quality
and quantity.
Third. Provisions, such as tongue, scrapers, rollers, for ensuring a
smooth and dense finish to the bottom of the brick.
The lip serves
may
work past
The frame of the machine has journalled in it two heavy shafts, to
which are secured the mould wheels, whose radial compartments or
chambers constitute the moulds proper, said chambers being traversed
by the reciprocating (preferably hollow) plungers that are constructed
and operated in the following manner :-The outer end of each plunger
has a marginal rebate and a central recess, the former being for the
attachment of a steel spring, lip, or packing, and the latter for the
reception of a boss which projects from the rear side of the face plate,
which plate is fastened to the plunger body by a screw.
to scrape the mould clean and to arrest any clay that
the face plate. The inner end of each plunger has journalled within
it a roller whose shaft projects some distance beyond the side of the
plunger for a purpose which will be hereafter described. Resting upon
the aforesaid shafts are fixed cams that are prevented from rotating by
means of arms which are bolted to the standards of the frame, and the
upper portion of said cains is provided with two wings having inwardly.
projecting flanges, which serve to retract the plungers whenever their
shafts are by the rotation of the mould wheels brought in contact with
said flanges. The ends of these flanges are chamfered so as to ensure
the proper engagement of the shafts, even in case the mould wheels
should be turned in a wrong direction, and said flanges are provided
near their mid length with swells, which can be reduced by filing so as
to regulate the retraction of the plungers with the utmost nicety. Each
of the cams has swells and eccentric portions, the former for the com-
pression of the clay while within the mould and the latter for its
expulsion as a complete brick therefrom. The cams are provided with
hubs which surround the shafts and within which the latter revolve.
A dividing tongue is secured immediately below the point where the

page_text: peripheries of the mould wheels meet and in a line with the swells and
the wheel's axes in order that it may sustain the entire strain when
the clay in the moulds is being subjected to the greatest pressure. As
the rotation of the wheels brings each mould successively within the
hoppers such mould becomes charged with clay by the action of a pair
of feed rollers or wallowers having blades which without intermeshing
revolve with the blades in opposition. The clay is introduced into an
upper hopper containing a pair of intermeshing peg wheels or pul-
verizers from which the now comminuted clay passes by a shoot into a
lower hopper. The pulverizers are provided with match gear wheels
and a pulley on one of their shafts driven by suitable belting from
some other shaft on the machin
The above-described pulverizers and wallowers may be constructed
in any manner that will serve to comminute and forward the clay.
Scrapers are employed located below the dividing tongue and extending
completely across the faces or peripheries of the mould wheels, with which
they are held in contact by levers and weights. A final finish is imparted
to the bottom of the brick by means of a pair of vibrating rollers journalled
in bell cranks having weights which serve to press the rollers firmly
against the clay. Unlike the scrapers these rollers do not extend across
the entire face of the wheels but only to the shoulders of the moulds, so
that said rollers can compress the clay in the moulds, and thereby impart
a smooth square, and even finish to the bottom of the brick.
A conveyor
conducts away from the machine the scrapings from the mould wheels;
this conveyor rotates within a trough. Secured to the aforesaid scrapers
are auxiliary ones which keep the peripheries of the vibrating rollers
perfectly clean. An endless carrier conducts the pressed bricks to any
part of the yard or kiln. Cylinders, whose peripheries are covered
with sheep skin having the hair on or with thick woollen cloth, are
caused to revolve by their contact with the mould wheels, and in so
doing lubricate the moulds with oil that is elevated by said cylinders
from suitable tanks. If preferred the tanks may be filled with water
instead of oil, in which case sand should be placed in boxes above, it
being understood however that the sand is never used with oil.
The operation of the machine is such that the clay is forced into the
moulds'iby the wallowers as rapidly as the mould wheels bring the open
ends of the moulds within the hopper. The solid portion of one mould

page_text: wheel is brought in contact with the clay contained in the mould of the
opposite wheel, thereby imparting additional pressure to the clay just
before the mould reaches the dividing tongue. As each mould in
succession is brought opposite the tongue its contents are subjected to a
powerful pressure by means of rollers coming in contact with the swell
of the fixed cam, which causes the plungers to be forced out of the
mould wheel. After passing the tongue any clay which may be
adhering to the surface of the wheel is removed by scrapers. The final
pressure is imparted to the clay by the vibrating and weighted rollers,
and as these are adapted to operate between the shoulders at the ends of
the moulds they reduce the outer surface of the brick to a perfectly
smooth, level, and uniform condition. The eccentric portion of the cam
is gradually forcing the plungers out from the time they pass the
tongue until they reach a position under the shaft of the mould wheel,
when such plungers are protruded to the periphery of the wheel, and the
pressed clay is delivered in the form of brick upon the endless carrier.
After the clay has been expelled from the mould wheel the plungers are
maintained in their protruded condition by the concentric portion of the
cam until the plungers approach the wheel's zenith, or are nearly ver-
tically over its shaft, at which point they are retracted by means of the
projecting shafts coming in contact with the flanges of the wings of
the cam. This protracted protusion of the plungers ensures their
thorough lubrication by the cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard

page_text: Mills, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, 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 BRICK-MAKING
MACHINERY," a communication to me from abroad by Messieurs Knight
Brothers, of Washington, in the United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, 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 I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and 'in' what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The principal features of this Invention are,―
First. An arrangement of paired mould wheels whose peripheries
contain a series of equidistant radial compartments or moulds, with
intervening spaces on each periphery, the said wheels being so geared
together that the moulds of one revolve in close juxtaposition with the
periphery of the other, the moulds of each wheel containing plungers
operated by a fixed cam attached to the frame of the machine, and
operating inside of said wheel with a loose journal at its centre, around
which each respective wheel with its series of plungers revolves.
0 Second. An arrangement of devices whereby the moulds are com-
pletely and continuously charged with the clay in proper quality and
.quantity.
:
Third. Provisions, such as tongue, scrapers, and rollers, for ensuring, a
smooth and dense finish to the bottom of the brick.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a transverse section of a
brick machine embodying the improvements, with a plan of the
pulverisers shown above it, the section being taken at the line Y, Y,

page_text: Figure 2; Figure 2 is a dongitudinal section of the machine; Figure 3 is
an end elevation of the machine shewing the operating gearing;
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of one of the
plungers and its accessories; Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken at the
line X, X, Figure 4; Figure 6 shews the devices for cleaning the mould
wheel and for conducting the debris away from the machine; Figures 7
are diagrams exhibiting the shoulders at the ends of the moulds;
Figure 8. is an enlarged view of that portion of the fixed cam which
Figure 2; Figure 2 is a dongitudinal section of the machine; Figure 8 is
an end elevation of the machine shewing the operating gearing;
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of one of the
plungers and its accessories; Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken at the
line X, X, Figure 4; Figure 6 shews the devices for cleaning the mould
wheel and for conducting the debris away from the machine; Figures 7
are diagrams exhibiting the shoulders at the ends of the moulds;
Figure 8. is an enlarged view of that portion of the fixed cam which
served to retract the plungers.
The frame A has journalled in it two heavy shafts b, c, to which are
secured the mould wheels B, C, whose radial compartments or chambers
D constitute the moulds proper, said chambers being traversed by the
reciprocating (preferably hollow) plungers E that are constructed and
operated in the following manner:-The outer end of each plunger has a
marginal rebate e and a central recess e¹, the former being for the
attachment of a steel spring lip or packing F, and the latter for the
reception of a boss.g which projects from the rear side of the face plate C,
which plate is fastened to the plunger body by a screw g¹. The lip F
serves to scrape the mould clean, and to arrest any clay that may work
past the face plate. The inner end of each plunger has journalled within
it a roller H, whose shaft h projects some distance beyond the side of the
plunger for a purpose which will be hereafter described. Resting upon
the shafts b, c, are fixed cams I that are prevented from rotating by
means of the arms i which are bolted at 2 to the standards of the frame,
and the upper portion of said cams is provided with two wings J, Ju
having inwardly projecting flanges 7, 7", which serve to retract the
plungers E whenever their shafts h are by the rotation of the mould
wheels brought in contact with said flanges, as clearly shewn in Figure 4.
The ends of these flanges are chamfered, as shewn at ; in Figure 8, so as
to ensure the proper engagement of the shafts, even in case the mould
wheels should be turned in a wrong direction, and said flanges are pro-
vided near their mid length with swells jx, which can be reduced by filing
so as to regulate the retraction of the plungers with the utmost nicety.
Each of the cams has swells and eccentric portions, the former for
the compression of the clay while within the mould, and the latter for its
expulsion as a complete brick therefrom. K are the hubs of the cams
which surround the shafts b, c, and within which the latter revolve. L is

page_text: a dividing tongue which is secured immediately below the point where
the peripheries of the wheels meet and in a line with the swells
and the wheel's axes, in order that it may sustain the entire strain when
the clay in the moulds is being subjected to the greatest pressure. As
the rotation of. the wheels brings each mould successively within the
hoppers a such mould becomes charged with clay by the action of a pair
of feed rollers or wallowers M having blades which, without inter-
meshing, revolve in the manner indicated by the arrows with the blades
in opposition. The clay is introduced into an upper hopper a containing
a pair of intermeshing peg wheels or pulverizers M, from which the now
comminuted clay passes by a shoot a' into a lower hopper all. The
pulverizers, M are provided with match gear wheels 5 and 6, and a
pulley.7, on one of their shafts, driven by suitable belting from some
other shaft on the machine.
The above-described pulverizers and wallowers may be constructed
either as herein represented or in any other manner that will serve to
comminute and forward the clay. O are scrapers located below the
dividing tongue L, and extending completely across the faces or
peripheries of the mould wheels, with which they are held in contact by
the levers o and weights o¹. A final finish is imparted to the hottom of
the brick by means of a pair of vibrating rollers P, P', journalled in bell
cranks p, having weights p¹, which serve to press the rollers firmly
against the clay. Unlike the scrapers these rollers do not extend across
the entire face of the wheels B and C, but only to the shoulders d of the
moulds, so that said rollers can compress the clay in the moulds, and
thereby impart a smooth, square, and even finish to the bottom of the
brick. Qis a conveyor which conducts away from the machine the
scrapings from the mould wheels; this conveyor rotates within a
trough q. Secured to the scrapers O are auxiliary ones'r, r', which keep
the peripheries of the vibrating rollers P, P¹, perfectly clean. K is an
endless carrier which conducts the pressed bricks to any part of the yard
or kiln S are cylinders, whose peripheries are covered with sheep skin
having the hair on or with thick woollen cloth, and these cylinders
are caused to revolve by their contact with the mould wheels, and
in so doing lubricate the moulds with oil that is elevated by said
cylinders from the tanks 8, s. If preferred the tanks 's may be filled
with water instead of oil, in which case sand should be placed in, the
'
29771

page_text: boxes it being understood however that the sand is never used
with oil,
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P...
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v
.. Motion is communicated to the various parts of the brick machine in
the following manner :-A belt U proceeding from the engine or other
motor passes around a pulley u on shaft V, whose pinion gears with a
wheel W: The wheel W is secured to one end of the shaft w, whose
opposite end carries a pinion wo¹ which gears with the large spur wheel X
that is attached to one end of the shaft. c of mould wheel C. Secured to
the other end of 'shaft c is a wheel Y which meshes or gears into another
one Y' that is attached to the shaft b of the mould wheel B, and as these
two wheels Y, Y', are of uniform diameters it will be seen that the two
mould wheels must revolve at a uniform speed and in opposite directions,
as indicated by the red arrows in Figures 1 and 3. The conveyor Quis
rotated by the pinion Z which gears with the wheel W. Gearing with
the spur, wheel X is a pinion 8 which operates the driving roller of, the
endless carrier R. The shafts m of the wallowers M¹ are provided with
pinions 9 that are driven by the wheels Y,,Y', through the medium of
carrying wheels -10. The operation of the brick machine will be readily
understood by reference to Figures 1 and 2, where it will be seen that
the, clay is forced into the moulds D by the wallowers M¹ as rapidly as
the wheels B and C bring the open ends of the moulds within the
hopper.di
:.
!!!
By referring to the Drawings it will be seen that the solid portion of
one mould wheel is brought in contact with the clay contained in the
mould of the opposite wheel, thereby imparting additional pressure to
the clay just before the mould reaches the dividing tongue L. As each
mould D in succession is brought opposite the tongue L its contents are
subjected to a powerful pressure by means of the rollers H coming in
contact with the swell of the fixed cam I, which causes the plungers E
to be forced out of the mould wheel. After passing the tongue L any
clay which may be adhering to the surface of the wheel is removed by
the scrapers O; as shewn in Figure 6, and by diagram under Figure 1.
The final pressure is imparted to the clay by the vibrating and weighted
rollers P, P, and as these are adapted to operate between the shoulders d
at the ends of the moulds they reduce the outer surface of the brick to a
perfectly smooth, level, and uniform condition. The eccentric portion k¹
of the cam is gradually forcing the plungers out from the time they pass

page_text: the tongue L until they reach a position under the shaft of the mould
wheel, when such plungers are protruded to the periphery of the wheel,
and the pressed clay is delivered in the form of brick upon the endless
carrier R. After the clay has been expelled from the mould wheel the
plungers are maintained in their protruded condition by the concentric
portion, of the cam until the plungers approach the wheel's zenith, or are
nearly vertically over its shaft, at which point they are retracted by
means of the projecting shafts / coming in contact with the flanges,
of the wings J, Ju, of the cam.
This protracted protrusion of the
plungers ensures their thorough lubrication by the cylinders S.
Such forms of the various parts have been selected for illustration
as have been found to be effective, but the right is reserved to vary
the same while retaining the essential characteristics of the machine;
for example, the rollers P, P¹, may be held against the peripheries
of the mould wheels by spiral or other springs instead of weighted
levers.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
mode in which the same is carried into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein shewn and
described; but what I do claim ie,-
First. The pair of geared mould wheels B, C, the solid parts of whose
peripheries operate to press the bricks in the manner set forth, each
wheel having a stationary cam I, plungers E, and friction rollers H, and
having its shaft passing through the cam aforesaid as and for the purpose
designated.
Second. The provision in a brick machine of the pair of feed rollers
or wallowers M² so geared together as for their ribs or blades to
move in opposition and without intermeshing, as and for the purpose
specified.
Third. The arrangement of the fixed cam I having wings J, J", and
flanges, in combination with a series of plungers E having rollers H
with protruding shafts h, for the objects herein stated.
Fourth. The dividing tongue L when placed between the mould wheels
Band C, and in line with the swells k, as described.
Fifth. In combination with a mould wheel having radial compartments

page_text: D, I claim the pressure rollers P, P₁, arranged and adapted to operate as
set forth.
Sixth. In the described combination with the mould wheels B, C, and
pressed rollers P, P¹, I claim the scrapers O, r, r³, as set forth.
Seventh. The combination of the mould wheels B, C, feed rollers M¹;
dividing tongue L, pressure rollers P, P¹, and apron R, when made and
used substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
B. J. B. MILLS. (L.S.)