IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CLAY, DUST, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR MAKING EARTHEN AND OTHER WARE, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING HOLLOW ARTICLES IN EARTH, CLAY, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Williams Armstrong, of Belleck, in the
County of Fermanagh, Architect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING CLAY, DUST, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR MAKING EARTHEN AND
OTHER WARE, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING HOLLOW ARTICLES IN EARTH,
CLAY, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS."
Sealed the 7th August 1866, and dated the 9th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Williams Armstrong
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th February 1866.
I, ROBERT WILLIAMS ARMSTRONG, of Belleck, in the County of Fermanagh,
Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PREPARING CLAY, DUST, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR MAKING EARTHEN
AND OTHER WARE, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING HOLLOW ARTICLES IN EARTH,
CLAY, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the preparation of clay, dust, and
similar materials for making earthen and other ware by pressure. This part
of my Invention consists in passing the clay or other material after it has been'
brought to the required degree of dampness through a pair of brushes, either
circular or flat, by the motion of which or of one of them the particles of clay

page_text: which are the dampest are broken up or reduced to their original degree of
fineness, and are thereby mixed with the lesser damped clay; a more uniform,
evenly damped, and homogeneous mass is thus produced. The brushes may
be made of bristles, hair, whalebone, wire, or any other suitable material, one
of the brushes may be caused to revolve while the other is stationary, or both
may be caused to revolve either in the same or in opposite directions, or one
or both of them may have a to-and-fro motion.
The second part of my Invention relates to improvements in machinery
for moulding hollow articles in earth, clay, and other like materials. This
machinery consists of a fixed cylinder, on the bed of which I place an inner
die or mould consisting of one or more pieces, so as to give the required shape
to the inside of the article either in whole or in part; this mould is free to rise
and fall inside the cylinder, and has one or more springs tending constantly to
raise the mould or the respective parts thereof to the required working weights;
the play of the spring or springs, and consequently the position of the mould or
dies connected therewith, are regulated by rods and set pins, and the whole is
arranged so that when the mould is depressed to its lowest point it is stopped by
and rests on a bed. Outside the cylinder I fit another mould or tool free to
rise and fall and give shape to a part or the whole of the exterior of the article
required to be produced; this outside mould like the inside one may be made
in several pieces to meet the required shape of the article to be produced and
to allow of the escape and admission of air and the easy removal of the article
when made. To ensure the proper working of the outer mould or die I
employ guides outside, so that it descends between the guides and the cylinder
before named. The clay, dust, or other material is introduced into the space
between the inner and the outer mould or tools, both having been raised to
their proper working heights, and pressure is applied by a lever, screw, hydraulic
or other press, the plunger of which may form a part or portion of the tools
or moulds for producing the required articles. As soon as the plunger reaches
the outer mould this mould descends, and with it nearly simultaneously the inner
mould or moulds, the pressure overcoming the maintaining agents until the
inner portion of the dies or tools comes down to the bed; the pressure is con-
tinued until the whole of the material contained between the moulds and the
plunger is thoroughly consolidated. The article produced will be found to be
evenly and uniformly compressed, and in a condition for shrinking equally and
proportionally in the subsequent process of firing in the ovens.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Williams Armstrong in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAMS ARMSTRONG, of Belleck, in the County of Fermanagh, Architect,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Williams Armstrong, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Williams
Armstrong, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Williams Armstrong, 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 PREPARING CLAY, DUST, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR MAKING EARTHEN AND OTHER
WARE, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MOULDING HOLLOW ARTICLES IN EARTH, CLAY, AND
OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Williams Armstrong, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Williams Armstrong, 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 thereof, reference being being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the preparation of clay, dust, and
similar materials for making earthen and other ware by pressure. This part
of my Invention consists in passing the clay or other material after it has been
brought to the required degree of dampness through a pair of brushes, either
circular or flat, by the motion of which or of one of them, the particles of clay.
which are the dampest are broken up or reduced to their original degree of

page_text: fineness, and are thereby mixed with the lesser damped clay; a more uniform,
evenly damp, and homogeneous mass is thus produced. The brushes may be
made of bristles, hair, whalebone, wire, or any other suitable material. One
of the brushes may be caused to revolve while the other is stationary, or both
may be caused to revolve either in the same or in opposite directions, or one or
both of them may have a to-and-fro motion.
The second part of my Invention relates to improvements in machinery for
moulding hollow articles in earth, clay, and other like materials. This
machinery consists of a fixed cylinder, on the bed of which I place an inner
die or mould consisting of one or more pieces, so as to give the required shape
to the inside of the article either in whole or in part; this mould is free to
rise and fall inside the cylinder, and has one or more springs tending constantly
to raise the mould or the respective parts thereof to the required working
heights; the play of the spring or springs and consequently the position of the
mould or dies connected therewith are regulated by rods and set pins, and the
whole is arranged so that when the mould is depressed to its lowest point it is
stopped by and rests on a bed. Outside the cylinder I fit another mould or
tool free to rise and fall and give shape to a part or the whole of the exterior
of the article required to be produced; this outside mould like the inside one
may be made in several pieces to meet the required shape of the article to be
produced, and to allow of the escape and admission of air and the easy removal
of the article when made. To ensure the proper working of the outer mould
or die I employ guides outside so that it descends between the guides and the
cylinder before named. The clay, dust, or other material is introduced into the
space between the inner and the outer mould or tools, both having been raised
to their proper working heights, and pressure is applied by a lever, screw,
hydraulic, or other press, the plunger of which may form a part or portion of
the tools or moulds for producing the required articles. As soon as the plunger
reaches the outer mould this mould descends, and with it nearly simultaneously
the inner mould or moulds, the pressure overcoming the maintaining agents
until the inner portion of the dies or tools comes down to the bed; the pres-
sure is continued until the whole of the material contained between the moulds
and the plunger is thoroughly consolidated. The article produced will be
found to be evenly and uniformly compressed and in a condition for shrinking
equally and proportionally in the subsequent process of firing in the ovens.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical section of a machine
for moulding mortars, constructed according to the second part of my Inven-
tion. This Figure shews the moulds or dies raised and ready to be filled with
the clay, dust, or other material from which the mortar is to be made.

page_text: Figure 2 is a similar view of the machine, showing the moulds pressed down
or home with the finished mortar between them.
:
A is a cylinder fixed to a bed B, inside the cylinder A is an inner die or
mould C, which when pressed quite home rests upon the bed B.. This mould C
is composed of one or more pieces as required by the shape of the interior
of the article to be made, or as may be found necessary: to allow of the
escape or admission of air; it is free to rise and fall in the cylinder A, and
has a spring D fitted in its interior, tending constantly to raise the mould
to the proper working height; the rise or play of the spring D, and therefore
the position of the mould C is regulated or controlled by a rod E passing
through the bed B, and by a set pin F working through a collar G'into the
stem B' of the bed plate B, which acts as a guide to the rod E, the rod
having a key E' which works in a slot in B¹ and comes against the collar G.
In some cases, as, for instance, when the shape of the mould C requires it to
be made in several pieces, I employ several springs D and rods E, in order to
allow of the escape and admission of air at the proper times from. and into
the mould C; I make the top or cap C¹ of the mould movable; and I form
an inner or flat top C with holes. H, H, for the admission of air. Figure 3 is
a plan of the mould C with the cap C¹ removed, and Figure 4 is a view of the
mould, as seen from below. I, I, are guide screws. Outside the cylinder A I fit
another mould or tool J free to rise and fall, and give shape to the whole or a part
of the exterior of the mortar; this mould may likewise be formed in one or several
pieces as required by the external shape of the mortar or other article, or to
allow of the escape and admission of air. This mould is balanced by weights
attached to one end of ropes or chains which are passed over pulleys and con-
nected at their other ends to eyes K on the mould. L, L, are guides outside
the mould J, so that it descends and rises between them and the cylinder A.
The clay, dust, or other material from which the mortar or other article is to
be made is introduced between the moulds C and J, when in the position
represented in Figure 1. Pressure is then applied by means of a screw press
or otherwise to a plunger or ram M, which is represented in the Drawing as
having a tool N connected thereto, to give shape or form to a portion of the
outside of the mortar. As soon as the tool N or plunger M reaches the outer
mould J this mould descends and with it nearly simultaneously the inner
mould C, the pressure overcoming the spring D of the inner mould and the
balance weights until the moulds reach the position represented in Figure 2;
the pressure is continued until the whole of the material between the moulds
and the tool N is thoroughly consolidated. O represents the finished mortar ;
P, P, are apertures for the admission and exit of air into and from the spaces

page_text: between the cylinder A and guides L; and Q, Q, are apertures for the admission
and exit of air into and from the interior of the mould C; R is the bed of
the press, cast by preference in a piece with the guides L. The shape or con-
figuration of the parts of the machine will of course be varied according to
the articles required to be moulded therein.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, preparing clay, dust, and similar materials for making earthen and
other ware by passing it after it has been brought to the required degree of
dampness through a pair of brushes, to which or to one of which motion is
imparted substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second, constructing machinery arranged and acting substantially as herein.
before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings for moulding
hollow articles in earth, clay, and other like materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Williams Armstrong, have here-
unto set my hand, this Fourth day of August, One thousand eight
: hundred and sixty-six.
ROBERT WILLIAMS ARMSTRONG. (L.S.)