IMPROVE- MENTS IN BRICK-MAKING MACHINERY
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Hooker, of Old Street Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BRICK-MAKING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 22nd May 1869, and dated the 2nd December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Hooker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1868.
I, PETER HOOKER, of Old Street Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN BRIOK-MAKING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
I employ an ordinary punching press to mould and press the bricks,
und my improvements consist in providing means of removing the
mould from under the plunger of the press after it has compressed
a brick within said mould, and of removing the brick therefrom. То
effect this I provide a slide at one side of the machine working in
guides fixed on the table and operated by a hand lever and connec-
ting rod, by means of which the mould is moved from under
the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: plunger of the machine to the point of delivery after the latter has
compressed a brick therein. In order to remove the compressed brick
from the mould the latter is brought by means of the slide and
hand lever above described over an aperture in the table at the other
side of the machine, the edge of the mould being brought under
guides or clamps fixed thereon which serve to keep the mould firmly
down on, the table when removing the brick therefrom. The brick
is raised out of the mould by a vertical slide or follower operated
by a shaft driven by the machine and provided with endless screw
gearing communicating with the vertical follower by means of a
connecting rod and crank pin by which said follower is moved up
through the aperture in the table and the mould for raising the com-
pressed brick completely out of the latter. The brick is removed.
from the top of the follower on to a platform or table raised above
the table of the machine in the following manner:-A rocking lever
mounted on a fulcrum in the framing near the vertical follower is
provided at its lower end with a projecting stud working in the groove
of a cam fixed on a shaft gearing with and operated by the endless
screw shaft before mentioned.
The upper end of the rocking lever
is brought forward by the action of a cam on its lower extremity
to transfer the brick from the vertical follower to the platform before
mentioned, from which it is removed by hand or otherwise.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-A mould having been filled
with the composition or material of which the bricks are to be made
a metal block exactly corresponding in size to the aperture of the
mould is placed thereon and the whole brought under the plunger
of the machine, which on its descent will force the block into the
mould, and thus compress the material contained into a brick of the
form and dimensions desired. By employing blocks of different thick-
nesses the thickness of the brick may be varied, the blocks thus
forming a guage. The mould is next brought over the aperture in
the table and under the clamps by means of the slide first mentioned,
which may be operated either by a hand lever as described or by
the machine itself by means of a shaft and suitable gearing. The
brick is then removed from the mould and placed on the platform by
means of the vertical follower and rocking lever before mentioned.
Another brick having in the meantime been similarly compressed
beneath the plunger is moved under the clamps by the slide as before

page_text: described displacing the first mould which is now empty. A small
brush is fixed above the table in a line with each clamp to remove any
sand or grit which may lodge on the edges of the moulds,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Hooker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
HOOKER, of Old Street Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHERFAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Peter Hooker, Her special licence that
I, the said Peter Hooker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as 1, the said Peter Hooker, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter
Hooker, 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 1, the said Peter Hooker, 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, reference being had to the two Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
I employ an ordinary punching press to mould and press the bricks,

page_text: and my improvements consist in providing means for removing the
mould from under the plunger of the press after it has compressed a
brick within said mould, and of removing the brick therefrom. To effect
this I provide a slide at one side of the machine working in guides fixed
on the table, and operated by a hand lever and connecting rod by means
of which the mould is moved from under the plunger of the machine
to the point of delivery after the latter has compressed a brick therein.
In order to remove the compressed brick from the mould the
latter is brought by means of the slide and hand lever above described
over an aperture in the table at the other side of the machine, the
edge of the mould being brought under guides or clamps fixed thereon,
which serve to keep the mould firmly down on the table when re-
moving the brick therefrom. The brick is raised out of the mould
by a vertical slide or follower operated by a shaft driven by the
machine, and provided with endless screw gearing communicating
with the vertical follower by means of a connecting rod and crank
pin, by which said follower is moved up through the aperture in the
table and the mould for raising the compressed brick completely out
of the latter. The brick is removed from the top of the follower
on to a platform or table raised above the table of the machine in the
following manner :-A rocking lever mounted on a fulcrum in the
framing near the vertical follower is provided at its lower end with
a projecting stud working in the groove of a cam fixed on a shaft
gearing with and operated by the endless screw shaft before men-
tioned; the upper end of the rocking lever is brought forward by
the action of a cam on its lower extremity to transfer the brick
from the vertical follower to the platform before mentioned, from
which it is removed by hand or otherwise.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in
which Figure 1 represents an elevation in front view of a brick-pressing
machine arranged according to my Invention; Figure 2 being a plan
of the same.
A is a plunger adapted to an ordinary punching machine, and serving
to compress the material to form the brick in the mould B on the table E
of the machine, this plunger being operated in a similar manner to that

page_text: The
My improvements consist, 1st, in providing a slide C at one side of
the table E for removing the mould from under the plunger A after
compressing the material contained. This slide C works in guides D
fixed on the table E, and may either be worked by means of a hand
lever and connecting rod, or preferably it may be operated for the same
purpose directly by the gearing operating the plunger. For this purpose
I provide a projecting tappet F on the spur wheel G, which is brought
into contact at each revolution of said wheel with a part H' of lever H
keyed to one end of a horizontal shaft I. The other end of shaft I
carries a second lever J connected to the slide C by a rod K, and in this
manner said slide C will be brought forward each time the tappet F
comes in contact with and depresses lever H, which takes place after
each descent of the plunger A into the mould. The latch H' is hinged
to lever H, so that should the machine be accidentally driven in the
backward direction, the tappet F will raise and pass the latch H' without
operating the slide C, and thus prevent injury to the machine.
slide C is returned to the position shown by its own gravity, aided if
required by a counterbalance weight P suspended from a lever arm
carried on shaft I. The motion of the slide C is further assisted by
mounting it on friction rollers a and a' of unequal diameter, connected
together by a frame i as shown, and resting upon an inclined grating or
support 6 fixed to the under side of the table E of the apparatus, the
smaller roller a being in advance, so that when the lever H is released
from tappet F, the slide C will run back down the incline by the
aid of the friction rollers in readiness for acting on the next mould
which it pushes forward as before to the point of delivery after a brick
has been compressed therein by the plunger A. The grating b is pro-
vided so that the dust or other matters from the table E may fall
through, which would otherwise check the action of slide C. In order
to remove the compressed brick from the mould B the latter is
brought by the slide C, as before described, to the position shown in
red lines over an aperture L in the table E at the opposite side of the
apparatus, the edge of the mould passing under clamps d fixed on the
table so as to keep the mould firmly down on the table E when removing
the brick therefrom. The brick is removed from the mould by a vertical
follower M sliding on guides below table E-and operated as herein-after
described, which rises through the aperture L. and through the mould,
carrying with it the compressed brick, which is thus raised completely

page_text: out of the mould. This follower M is operated by a shaft N carrying a
pinion N gearing with spur wheel G, and provided with endless screw
gearing O, communicating with the follower M by means of a connecting
rode and crank pin f, arranged so that after the descent of the plunger A
for compressing a brick in the mould placed beneath it, the follower
will rise and remove the compressed brick from the mould previously
brought over the aperture L by the slide C. The brick is removed from
the top of the follower M in the position shown in red lines in Figure 1,
either directly by hand or by the mechanical arrangement before
described, as being operated by the machine for removing the brick on
to the platform or table (not shown in the Drawings) raised above
table E, from which it is removed by hand or otherwise. The follower M
then returns to the position below table E as seen, to permit of the
removal of the mould.
The action of the machine is as follows: A mould B having been
filled with the composition or material of which the bricks are to be
made, a metal block g exactly corresponding in size to the aperture of
the mould is placed on the material or composition, and the mould then
brought by hand under the plunger A of the machine, which on its
descent will force the block g into the mould, and thus compress the
material contained into a brick of the form and dimensions desired. By
employing blocks g of different thicknesses the thickness of the brick
may be varied, the block employed thus forming a guage for the same.
The mould B is moved from under the plunger between guides d by the
forward motion of slide C, operated as described, and brought to the
position shown in red color at B₁ and another mould or moulds having
been similarly acted on by the plunger, the whole are moved forward
together by slide C, and brought successively over aperture L in the
table E as at B2. The first mould having arrived over aperture L and
under the clamps d, the brick is raised therefrom by the follower M,
from which it is conveyed on to the raised platform by the arrangement
before described. Another brick having in the meantime been similarly
compressed beneath the plunger A, the next mould is moved under the
clamps d by the slide C, as before described, displacing the first mould
which is now empty. A small scraper x (or it may be a brush) is fixed
above the table E in a line with each clamp d to remove any sand or grit
which may lodge on the edges of the moulds; m inclined shoot, placed

page_text: under aperture L to carry off any dust or matters from table E, brought
to that point by moulds B. The machine may be operated either by hand
or other power.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as ny Invention
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,-
-
1st. In brick pressing machines 1 claim the slide C for removing the
moulds from under the plunger A, whether operated by hand or by
the machine, arranged substantially as shown and described.
2ndly. clain the follower M for removing the bricks from the
moulds, arranged and operated substantially as shown and described.
3rdly. I claim the arrangement described for delivering the bricks on
to a platform from follower M.
In witness whereof, I, the said l'eter Hooker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
PETER HOOKER. (L.S.)