Improvements in Means and Apparatus Employed in the Manufacture of Bricks.
Year: 1885

page_text: Improvements in Means and Apparatus Employed in the
Manufacture of Bricks.
I, EDWARD CAMMISS, Brick Maker of Cowpen Bewley in the County of Durham
do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to means or apparatus employed in the manufacture of
bricks and has reference to the treatment of the clay of which the bricks are made,
for eliminating the impurities therefrom to the utilization of the otherwise waste
heat generated in the kilns in which the bricks are burned and also that of the
steam exhausted from the engine employed in driving the machinery, which exhaust
steam is, if desired supplemented by fresh steam from the boiler these being carried
under the floors of the drying and preparing sheds the temperature of which is
thereby raised.
In carrying out my Invention I provide a set of kilns for burning the bricks in
the usual manner arranged in any suitable manner, as for instance side by side, so
that the waste products of combustion may pass out through suitable openings or
passages from the kilns to flues or chambers provided under the floor of the drying
shed on their way to the chimney, and in order that the heat given off by these
waste products may be distributed to the whole area of the drying shed floor,
I prefer to provide a number of small flues or passages running side by side under
the whole area of floor and cominunicating at either end respectively with one of
two flues or passages of larger size running transversely with respect to the said
smaller flues one of these larger flues communicating with the kilns and the other
with the chimney, so that the waste products or gases from the kilns on reaching
one transverse flue will pass through any or all of the flues or passages under the
drying shed into the other transverse flue and thence to the chimney, the com-
munications from the transverse flues to the smaller flues being controlled by
dampers or other suitable means. In order to facilitate the draught from the
kilns to the chimney, the flues or passages between the transverse flues may be
constructed on the incline so as to rise from the kiln to the chimney end of the
drying shed.
The preparing shed may be placed in any suitable position with respect to the
drying shed and receives under its floor the steam exhausted from the engine which
drives the plant employed in preparing the clay and moulding it into bricks. This

page_text: exhaust steam may be supplemented if desirable by fresh steam from the boiler the
same arrangement of flues being provided under the floor of the preparing shed as
that already described with reference to the drying shed, in order to properly
distribute the heat to the floor.
In order to eliminate all impurities from the clay in addition to the usual treat-
ment of the clay in the wash mill of ordinary construction, I afterwards pass it
through a purifier from which it is delivered by spouts or troughs to the floor of
the drying shed. The clay which is reduced to a thin liquid in the washing mill
flows from the washing mill by means of spout through one or more gratings of
different degrees of fineness into a tank from which it is elevated or pumped up to
a tank or vat of considerable height provided with a still finer grate placed at a
convenient distance above the bottom. Wire brushes connected to a circular rack
or other suitable contrivance are made to brush the liquid clay through the fine
grating into the bottom of the tank or vat from which it flows to the spouts or
troughs on its way to the drying shed as before described, the purifying tank being
elevated to a sufficient height to make its bottom correspond with the level of the
said spouts or troughs.

page_text: Manufacture of Bricks.
I EDWARD CAMMISS Brick Maker of Cowper Bewley in the County of Durham
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―
My Invention relates to means or apparatus employed in the manufacture of
bricks and has reference to the utilisation of the otherwise waste heat from the
kilns in which the bricks are burned which waste heat is employed to raise the
temperature of the floor of the drying shed to the utilisation of the waste steam
from the steam engine supplemented if necessary with fresh steam from the boiler
for raising the temperature of the floor of the preparing shed, and to the treatment
of impure clay on its passage from the wash mill to the drying shed to eliminate the
impurities therefrom or to so minutely divide them as to render such clay suitable
for the manufacture of bricks.
In carrying out my Invention I provide a set of kilns for burning the bricks the
said kilns being arranged in any suitable manner for instance from side to side so
that the otherwise waste products of combustion may be conveyed through suitable
openings or passages from each kiln to flues or chambers provided under the floor
of the drying shed on their way to a chimney of suitable draught, the general
arrangement of flues being conducive to an equal distribution of heat under the
whole area of the drying shed floor.
The preparing shed being placed in any suitable position with reference to the
general arrangement of the brick works will have its floor warmed by steam con-
veyed underneath from the exhaust pipes of the steam engine supplemented if
necessary by fresh steam from the boiler.
The impurities are either eliminated from the clay or those left in it are so
minutely divided and intermixed as to render them innocuous by passing the said
clay through one or more grates and a purifier, on its way from the wash mill to
the drying shed.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will now proceed
particularly to describe the same and for that purpose will refer to the accom-
panying drawings whereon like letters of reference are employed to indicate the
same parts in the several figures. Figure 1 is a general plan illustrating partly in.
section an arrangement of kilns drying shed, wash mill and purifier with auxiliary
refining grates and the usual appointments of a brick yard in a manner suitable
for the application of my Invention to the manufacture of bricks Figure 2 being
an end elevation and figure 3 a side elevation corresponding to the general plan
illustrated in Figure 1.
The otherwise waste products of combustion from the kilns A instead of being
dispersed into the atmosphere are conveyed through openings a at the end of each
kiln into a transverse channel or passage B¹ adjoining the ends of the kilns and
communicating with a series of flues or passages C provided under the floor of the
drying shed X the other ends of which flues or passages C communicate with

page_text: another transverse passage B² which leads into the chimney D the draught of the
products of combustion through the flues C will be facilitated by making these
flues as straight as possible with a slight rise from the channel B' to the channel B'.
The floor of the preparing shed which may be placed in any suitable position with
reference to the general arrangement of the brick works, is raised in temperature
by the exhaust steam from the steam engine supplemened if necessary by fresh
steam from the boiler conveyed into a transverse passage or channel at one side of
the preparing shed and from thence into a series of flues running under the whole
area of the preparing shed floor into any suitable tank, chamber or outlet, the
arrangement for effecting this being so similar to that described with reference to
the drying shed floor and illustrated more particularly in figure 1 as to render a
further illustration of it unnecessary.
The flues or passages under the drying shed and also those under the preparing
shed may be provided with doors or dampers to control the admission of the waste
heat from the kilns in the case of the drying shed and of the steam in the case of
the preparing shed which may be admitted in to all the passages or only into any
selected number of them at the discretion of the brickmaker.
The clay to be manufactured into bricks is prepared to the required consistency
in the wash mill E which may be of any suitable kind in ordinary use, and when
pure clays are used they may be delivered in the usual manner from the wash mill
direct to the drying shed, but to eliminate or to render innocuous by minute division
such impurities as lime, iron pyrites, and other injurious ingredients instead of
delivering the clay direct from the wash mill E to the drying shed I convey the
clay from the wash mill E to a tank F, passing it on its way through one or more
auxiliary grates G G of sufficient fineness to intercept impurities in the form of
pebbles, the grate G2 being finer than the grate G' and so on, the clay is conveyed
from the tank F, into the purifier H by any suitable means the bottom of the said
tank is a still finer grating than the finest grating of the series G1 G2; the clay is
brushed by revolving wire brushes worked by rack and pinion or other suitable
means so as to brush the clay through the fine grating forming the bottom of the
purifier H into spouts K arranged to distribute it over the floor of the drying
shed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
Firstly. The means of raising the temperature of the drying shed floor by con-
veying thereunder the products of combustion of the brick kilns substantially in
the manner described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Secondly. The means of raising the temperature of the preparing shed floor by
conveying thereunder the waste steam from the steam engine with or without fresh
steam from the boiler substantially in the manner described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Thirdly. The means employed for eliminating or minutely dividing impurities
contained in the clay on its passage from the wash mill to the drying shed
substantially in the manner described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 11th day of February 1886

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