IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stubbs, of Rickerscote, in the County
of Stafford, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS."
Sealed the 7th November 1873, and dated the 19th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stubbs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th May 1873.
I, WILLIAM STUBBS, of Rickerscote, in the County of Stafford, Farmer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the construction and arrangement or combi-
nation, herein-after described, of the parts of machinery for the
manufacture of bricks, by the use of which machinery the moulding
and compressing of the bricks is much facilitated and hand labour
cconomized.

page_text: toothed or other convenient gearing from the pug-mill of the machine.
In the said table six or other number of dics open at top and bottom
are made, in which dies the bricks are moulded and compressed. The
top of each die is provided with a hinged lid or cover, which is opened
and closed automatically, and cach die is also provided with a sliding
bottom capable of rising and falling in the said die. The sliding bottoms
of the dies are supported on the bed plate of the machine by means of
stems or legs furnished with antifriction rollers. Projecting over a
portion of the upper face of the rotating dic table is a fixed horizontal
plate secured to the frame of the machine. Under this fixed plate the 1
dies on the rotation of the table are carried. Fixed to the bed plate of
the machine is an incline situated under and extending beyond the said
fixed plate. Up this incline the legs or stems of the sliding die bottoms
travel to mould and compress the clay and remove the moulded bricks
from the dies.
The column of clay to be made into bricks is delivered from the pug-
mill down an incline, and is cut into blocks of the required size by wires
operated by the workman.
In using the machine a workman stands at one side of the fixed plate
to feed the dies in the table with clay, and another workman stands at
the opposite side of the said plate to remove the moulded bricks. When
by the rotation of the table one of the dies approaches the fixed plate
described the workman places a block of clay in the die. On the further
rotation of the table a fixed arm closes the hinged lid or cover of the
die, and the said charged die is carried under the fixed plate, at the same
time the sliding bottom of the die is lifted in the die by the travelling
of its leg or stem up the incline on the bed plate, and the clay in the
die is thereby compressed between the said bottom and the lid or cover,
the said lid or cover being supported during the compressing operation
by the fixed plate under which it is travelling. As the dio containing
the moulded brick passes from under the fixed plate the die is opened
by the turning on its hinge of the lid or cover by the action of a second
arm, and by the further travelling of the leg of the dic bottom up the
incline the moulded brick is lifted from the die and may be removed by
the workman. By the further motion of the table the leg of the sliding
bottom passes off the incline when the said bottom descends in the die,
and the latter is ready to be re-charged with clay. In this way the
several dies in the rotating table are charged with clay and carried in

page_text: succession under the fixed plate of the machine, and the clay in the dies
compressed and moulded into bricks, and the moulded bricks lifted from
the dies.
In the jointed or hinged lids of the dies holes are made through which
any excess of clay may escape during the compressing operation, and
injury to the dies is thereby prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Stubbs in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STUBBS, of Rickerscote, in the County of Stafford, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing dato the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said William Stubbs, Her special license
that I, the said William Stubbs, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Stubbs, my exccutors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time ȧgree 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
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Stubbs, 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.

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the construction and arrangement or
combination herein-after described of the parts of machinery for the
manufacture of bricks, by the use of which machinery the moulding
and compressing of the bricks is much facilitated and hand labour
economized.
The said machinery consists essentially of the following parts:-On
the bed plate of the machine is a revolving horizontal table driven by
toothed or other convenient gearing from the pug-mill of the machine.
In the said tablo six or other number of dies open at top and bottom are
made, in which dies the bricks are moulded and compressed. The top
of each die is provided with a hinged lid or cover, which is opened and
closed automatically, and each die is also provided with a sliding bottom
capable of rising and falling in the said die. The sliding bottoms of the
dies are supported on the bed plate of the machine by means of stems or
legs furnished with antifriction rollers. Projecting over a portion of
the upper face of the rotating dic table is a fixed horizontal plate secured
to the frame of the machine. Under this fixed plate the dies on the
rotation of the table are carried. Fixed to the bed plate of the machine
is an incline situated under and extending beyond the said fixed plate.
Up this incline the legs or stems of the sliding die bottoms travel to
mould and compress the clay and remove the moulded bricks from the

page_text: cover, the said lid or cover being supported during the compressing
operation by the fixed plate under which it is travelling. As the dio
containing the moulded brick passes from under the fixed plate the die
is opened by the turning on its hinge of the lid or cover by the action of
a second arm and by the further travelling of the leg of the die bottom
up the incline the moulded brick is lifted from the dic and may be
removed by the workman. By the further motion of the table the leg
of the sliding bottom descends the incline when the said bottom falls in
the die and the latter is ready to be re-charged with clay. In this way
the several dies in the rotating table are charged with clay and carried
in succession under the fixed plate of the machine and the clay in the
dies compressed and moulded into bricks and the moulded bricks lifted
from the dise.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation; Figure 2 a plan (partly in
horizontal section); and Figures 3 and 4 vertical sections of a machine
for the manufacture of bricks, the parts of the said machine being
constructed and arranged according to my Invention. The section,
Figure 3, is taken on the line A, A, of Figure 2, and the section Figure
4 is taken on the line B, B, of Figure 2.
Figure 5 represents in front elevation, side elevation, plan and section
drawn to a larger scale one of the moulding dies of the machine open;
and Figure 6 represents a plan and side clevation of the same closed.
Figure 7 represents the sliding bottom and leg of the moulding die
drawn to a larger scale; and Figure 8 represents the antifriction roller
of the same.
Figures 9 and 10 represent in side elevation and plan the arms used
for closing and opening the lids or covers of the moulding dies.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
a is the revolving horizontal table fixed on the vertical shaft 6, the said
shaft turning in bearings at c, c. The said shaft is driven by the bevil
gearing d, and the latter from the shaft e geared to the pug-mill of the
machine. In the said table a is a series of openings, in which the

page_text: moulding dies f, f, open at top and bottom are fixed. One of these
moulding dies is represented in Figures 5 and 6. The top of each
moulding die f is furnished with a hinged lid or cover g, the joint of
the said lid or cover having a weighted arm or lever h. The upper side
of the lid or cover 9 has upon it an antifriction roller i, and the front
edge a lip k. The use of these parts is herein-after explained. Each
die f is provided with a sliding bottom (shown separately in Figure 7)
capable of rising and falling in the said die. The sliding bottoms 7 of
the dies f, f, are supported on the bed plate n of the machine by means
of the stems or legs m having at bottom antifriction rollers p, the said
rollers being capable of vertical adjustment in the tubular parts of the
stoms or legs m for the purpose of making bricks of different thicknesses.
of
Projecting over a portion of the rotating die table a is a fixed hori-
zontal plate or bracket q bolted to the frame or upright of the machine
in the manner represented in the Drawing. The said plate q acts as a
pressure plate for compressing the clay in the dies. Fixed to the said
horizontal pressure plate q is a curved screw-like arm 8 (shown separately,
drawn to a larger scale in Figure 9) for closing the lids or covers g
the dies before the said dies pass under the pressure plate q, and on
the opposite side of the said horizontal pressure plate is another arm t
(shown separately, drawn to a larger scale in Figure 10) for the purpose
of opening the lids or covers g of the dies fafter the latter have passed
from under the pressure plate q. On the bed plate 1 of the machine is
an incline u, u³, the said incline commencing under the pressure plate q
and extending around about one-half of the bed plate n. This incline u, u³,
is indicated in dotted lines in the plan, Figure 2.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The column of clay is by
preference delivered from the pug mill-down an inclined plane to a
workman situated at the side of the machine marked C in Figure 2,
where the said column of clay is cut into blocks of the required size by
wires operated by the workman. A second workman stands at the
opposite side D of the machine to remove the moulded bricks after they
have been lifted from the dies.
By the rotation of the die table a in the direction indicated by the
arrows the dies ƒ therein are carried in succession under and beyond the
pressure plate q, whereby the moulding or compressing of the clay in
the dies, the lifting of the moulded bricks from the dies, and the required
closing and opening of the lids or covers of the said dies are effected,

page_text: -
the said operations being performed in the following manner: When
by the rotation of the table a one of the open dies, marked f* in Figure 2,
approaches the fixed pressure plate or bracket q the workman at the
side C of the machine places a block of clay in the said open die f". On
the further rotation of the table a the antifriction roller i on the back of
the open lid or cover g bears against the curved face of the fixed closing
arms and closes the lid or cover upon the top of the charged dieƒ³.
The charged and closed die is now carried under the fixed pressure
plate q, the sliding bottom 2 of the said die being at the same time lifted
in the said die by the travelling of its leg or stem m up the incline 2 on
the bed plate n.
The clay in the die is thereby compressed between the
said bottom of the die and the lid or cover g, the said lid or cover
being supported during the compressing operation by the fixed pressure.
plate q. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 a charged die f closed by the lid or
cover g is represented under the fixed pressure plate q, the clay therein
undergoing compression by the travelling of the leg of the moveable
bottom up the fixed incline u. After the moulding die f containing
the moulded brick has passed from under the fixed pressure plate q the
lip k of the lid or cover g bears upon the edge of and travels up the
inclined or curved arm t, whereby the said lid 9 is slightly raised and
the weighted lever h brought into action, and the said lid completely
opened and maintained in its open position until the said lid by the
rotation of the table again comes into contact with the closing arm 8, as
before described. After the dief has been opened the further travelling
of the leg of the die bottom up the incline u lifts the moulded brick
from the die as illustrated in Figure 4, and the raised brick is removed
by the workman situated at the side D of the machine. By the further
motion of the table a the leg m of the die bottom 7 descends, the part u
of the incline and the said bottom / reaches its lowest position in the
die, and the latter is ready to receive another block of clay, as seen in
Figure 3.
The action described with respect to one die and parts connected with
it takes place in succession, with respect to all the dies of the rotating
table a, as will be understood by an examination of the Drawing, where
the dies, moveable bottoms, and lids or covers are represented in the
several positions which they respectively occupy when the table a is at
different parts of its path.
In the jointed or hinged lids or covers of the moulding dies f small

page_text: holes are made, through which any excess of clay may escape during
the compressing operation, and injury to the dies is thereby prevented.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in
machinery for the manufacture of bricks.
First. The combination with a rotating table of a series of moulding
dies and parts connected therewith for compressing the clay in the said
dies, and lifting the moulded bricks from the said dics, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. Supporting the lid or cover of the charged and closed
moulding die during the compressing of the clay in the said die by
means of a fixed horizontal pressure plate or bracket, under which the
charged and closed moulding die is carried by the rotation of the die
table, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly. The construction and combination or arrangement of parts
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for
automatically closing and opening the lids or covers of the moulding
dies in the rotating die table.
Lastly. The combination of the parts enumerated in claims 1, 2, and 3,
into a machine for the manufacture of bricks, substantially as described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, tho said William Stubbs, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
throo
WILLIAM STUBBS. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.