IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK, PIPE, AND TILE MACHINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick George Sanders, of the Patent Architec-
tural Pottery, Poole, in the County of Dorset, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK, PIPE, AND TILE MACHINES."
Sealed the 9th November 1855, and dated the 12th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick George Sanders
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1855.
I, FREDERICK GEORGE SANDERS, of the Patent Architectural Pottery, Poole,
in the County of Dorset, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK, PIPE, AND TILE MACHINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in brick and tile machines consists of an
apparatus for facilitating the process of pressing the clay through the dies in
order to form the same into bricks or tiles. The novel features of the Inven-
tion consist in using a series of four screws fitted upon a pair of spindles and
made to work to the right and left. These screws are placed within suitable
cylinders or barrels (forming receivers for the plastic material). The screws are
driven at each end of the cylinders by means of toothed wheels or other
gearing connected with the engine. Hoppers or other means of feeding the
clay into the machine are placed at each end of the cylinders or barrels. By
this arrangement the clay is supplied to the machine at both ends of the
cylinders, and passes from the same in a continuous stream and thence into
the dies. I reserve a right to vary the details of my Invention, of which the
foregoing is an outline.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick George Sanders in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, FREDERICK
GEORGE SANDERS, of the Patent Architectural Pottery, Poole, in the County
of Dorset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord 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 him, the said
Frederick George Sanders, Her special licence, that he, the said Frederick
George Sanders, his executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
he, the said Frederick George Sanders, his 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, PIPE, AND TILE MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that be, the said Frederick George Sanders, by an instrument in writing
under his hand and scal, 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 Frederick George Sanders, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
In those machines for moulding or manufacturing bricks, pipes, and tiles in
which the clay is forced through a mould or die by means of a pair of screws
fitted in a horizontal trough, considerable strain is thrown upon one end of
the machine, which ultimately draws the parts asunder, so that the machines
constantly require careful attention and frequent repair.
Now, the object of my Invention of Improvements in Brick, Pipo, and Tile
Machines is to obviate this serious defect, by equalizing the force exerted upon
each end of the machine, and I accomplish this in the following manner :-In
a suitable trough, forming a receptacle for the clay to be moulded, I place two
pairs of screws, which when put in motion force the clay from each end of
the machine towards the centre of the trough, whence it passes out by lateral

page_text: openings or apertures, in which the mould or die is placed. By this arrange-
ment, the force or strain thrown upon one end of the machine, by the action of
one pair of screws forcing the stiff plastic material forward, is neutralized by
the counteraction of the other pair bringing the clay in the opposite direction.
At each end of the trough is fitted a hopper, into which the clay to be moulded
is thrown. The screws are put in motion by suitable gearing, and the clay is
carried through the moulds placed in the lateral apertures, the moulded
articles passing along an endless band carried over a series of rollers, as in
machines of the ordinary construction. It is obvious, that if an injurious
action or force exerted upon a particular direction or part of a machine
(tending to drag asunder the parts thereof) be counteracted by a force exerted
in an opposite direction, that the parts of the machine will remain firm and
stable, and it is to this important point I have given particular attention.
The Drawings accompanying this Specification show different views of my
improved brick, pipe, and tile machine. Figure 1 is a front elevation of the
machine, and Figure 2 a plan of the same.
A, A, is a substantial framing which supports the working parts of the
machine; B, B, is a horizontal trough in which the screws work; C, C, are
the shafts upon which the screws D, D, are fitted. As will be seen by the
plan, there are two pairs of these screws, the threads of which are made very
deep, in order to expose a considerable extent of surface to the clay, and carry
it rapidly through the machine; E, E, are the hoppers into which the clay is
thrown; F, F, are the lateral openings or apertures in which the moulds G
are placed; H, H, are the endless bands which pass round the rollers I, I, over
which the moulded articles are carried, and whence they are removed by the
workmen or boys attending the machine; K is the framing which supports
the mechanical arrangement for cutting the bricks or other moulded articles
of a uniform length; but as the mechanism of this part of the machine forms
no part of my Invention I have considered it unnecessary to show the details
thereof in the Drawings. It will only be necessary to state that any of the
means now in use may be employed for the purpose. Motion is communicated
to the screws by means of the shafts L, L; these are caused to rotate in oppo-
site directions by the bevil gearing M, M, actuated by the wheel N, which is
connected with the engine or other prime mover. 0, 0, are fast and loose
pullies, put in motion by the straps P, P¹, which pass over the drums Q, Q,
fixed on the shafts L, L. Upon the shafts of the pullies O, O', are fitted the
pinions R, R, and these are in gear with the cogged wheels S, S, which are
fitted upon the screw shafts C, C; upon these are also fitted the pinions T, T,
which drive the pinions U U, fitted upon the shafts of the screws C, C. Thus

page_text: both the screws of each pair are caused to rotate in opposite directions and to
force the clay through the machine, while either pair may be thrown out of gear
at pleasure by shifting either of the driving straps P, P, from the fast to the
loose pullies. The screws may be fitted in two pairs, as before described, the
bearings for the inner ends of the same being fitted at or near the centre of
the machine; or the four screws may be fitted on a pair of shafts running from
end to end of the machine, thus avoiding the central bearings, care being taken
that the thread or spiral of each screw runs in opposite directions, so as to
carry the plastic material towards the lateral openings opposite the centre of
the machine.
Another of my improvements is to fit knives upon the shafts C, C, in place or
in lieu of the spiral screw threads. These knives are placed at an angle similar
to the angle of the spiral, and caused to rotate in opposite directions, as before
described in reference to the action of the screws; or in some cases it would
be sufficient to have a single shaft with a series of knives fitted thereon.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise arrangement of the details of the machine herein-before
described, as the same may be varied without departing from the peculiar
features of the Invention; but what I claim, and desire to secure under the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
Firstly, the construction of brick, pipe, and tile machines wherein one, two,
or more screws or other mechanical means are fitted or placed at either end,
for the purpose of forcing the clay or plastic materials in opposite directions,
substantially as herein-before described and shown.
Secondly, I claim the application of knives either to double or single shafts,
for the purpose of mixing and forcing clay through the die or lateral openings,
or for performing the process known as pugging, as herein-before described
and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick George Sanders, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five
Witness,
THO R SANDERS, jun.
FRED G. SANDERS. (L.B.)