CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PREPARING BATB OF EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN CLAY, AND OF FORMING OR SHAPING THEM INTO ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE THERETO
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
RIDGWAY, of Cauldon Place, in the County of Stafford, China Manufac-
turer, and GEORGE WALL the younger, of the same place, Gentleman, send
greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eleventh day of January, in the third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said John
Ridgway and George Wall, Her especial license, full
sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said John Ridgway and George Wall, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as we, the said John
Ridgway and George Wall, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PREPARING BATB OF
EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN CLAY, AND OF FORMING OR SHAPING THEM INTO
ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
APPLICABLE THERETO;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that we, the said John Ridgway and George Wall, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Ridgway and George Wall, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed,
and the following explanation thereof (that is to say):—
Our improvements in the mode of preparing bats of earthenware and
porcelain clays, and of forming or shaping them into articles of earthenware
and porcelain, and in the machinery applicable thereto, consist,―
Firstly, in rolling or preparing the ordinary bats of clay by mechanical
means, instead of striking and shaping them by hand labor, as heretofore
commonly done. This is accomplished by passing a lump of clay through a
pair of common squeezing rollers or cylinders, and thus causing it to assume
the required form of bat prior to being submitted to the moulds.
Secondly, in a certain arrangement and construction of machinery or appa-
ratus for the purpose of forming or shaping articles of earthenware or
porcelain clays, by means of which a "profile," used in combination with a
revolving mould, is caused gradually to descend upon the mould, and form the
article of manufacture by self-acting machinery driven by steam or other
power, instead of being used by hand, as now commonly practised.
In order that our improvements may be more perfectly explained, we have
attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings containing several repre-
sentations of a machine adapted to the manufacture of articles of earthenware
or porcelain clay, and have illustrated the same by figures and letters of
reference corresponding with the following description thereof, similar letters
being marked upon corresponding parts of the mechanism in all the Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine adapted for the purpose of
forming or shaping articles of earthenware or porcelain clays by the employ-
ment of the mould and profile, which are made to operate upon the clay by
mechanical means, being entirely self-acting, and capable of being driven by
steam or other power; Figure 2 is a plan or horizontal view of the machine as
seen from above; and Figure 3 is an end view as seen at the right hand of
Figure 1. The details of the machinery and its mode of operation are as
follows: The upright side and cross framing of the machinery a, a, a, a,
support the bed or table 6, b, which traverses to and fro upon the rollers c, c,
placed in bearings in the side frames. This traverse of the table (being the
first essential movement of the machinery) is accomplished by means of the
fast driving pulley & having a strap passed round it proceeding from a steam

page_text: engine or other power, and being keyed upon the end of the driving shaft e
actuating the bevilled wheel f keyed upon the same shaft. The bevilled
wheelf gears with the pinion g upon the upper extremity of the vertical shaft
h; and near the lower extremity of the shaft h a worm i drives the worm
wheel k, k, keyed upon the cam shaft l, l, upon which the grooved cams
1, 2, 3, 4, are also respectively keyed, each cam regulating the requisite
successive operations of the machine. The grooved cam 1, as it revolves,
moves the slide rod m, to the end of which is attached the radial arm n,
vibrating upon its fulcrum o. The upper end of this radial arm n is attached
to the bed or table, and thus, as the cam 1 revolves, the requisite reciprocating
traverse of the table is effected. The formation of the cams 1, 2, & 4 are
more clearly shewn in the attached views of them at Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Now supposing an ordinary mould for forming the interior of any round
vessel or article of manufacture to be placed upon the feeding table b, b, about
the place shewn by (*) in the Figures 1 and 2, and so that the centre of its
base shall be over the centre of the aperture cut in the table, and also shewn
at (*), and a rolled bat of clay placed upon it by a proper tool for the purpose,
then as the cam 1 revolves, and the table traverses in the direction of the
arrow, it will convey the mould to the spring folding doors of the "slurry box"
p; and as soon as the mould is, by the action of the table, pressed against
them, they will open, and the mould will be conveyed by the table until it
arrives exactly over the vertical spindle q, q, the spring doors having closed,
leaving the mould within the "slurry" box. The cam 2 now comes into
operation as it revolves with the cam shaft, and the excentric groove formed
on its face slides the bar r, which has the inclined plane s formed upon its
extremity, which immediately lifts the footstep or bearing of the spindle q,
and forces the spindle upwards into the mould *, just brought over it,
and lifts the mould from the table. Immediately the cams 1 and 2
have thus caused the mould and spindle to assume these positions, the
excentric cam 3, having a grooved periphery, traverses the strap guide t,
and with it the cross shaft u (which has been running upon the loose pulley
About the
v), on to the fast pulley w keyed upon the cross shaft x, x.
middle of this shaft the mitre wheel y gears into the mitre wheel z upon
the upright shaft 5, upon which a band pulley 6 and band 7, driving the
band pulley 8 upon the spindle q, causes the spindle, and with it the mould
and bat of clay, to revolve rapidly. Water contained in the tank g above is
now caused to flow upon the clay, in order to mollify it by means of the
groove 10 cut in the side of the table b, having opened the cock 11 by means
of the pinion and rack rod 12. The above evolutions of the machinery having

page_text: brought the mould into the "slurry" box, caused it to revolve, and the bat of
the clay into a proper state to receive its outer shape or form, the cam 4
now comes into operation, which, as it revolves with the cam shaft, brings
down the profile 13, having its fulcrum in the upright 14, by means of
actuating the connecting rod 15 working in the swivel bearing 16. It will
thus be perfectly evident, that as the profile descends and presses upon the
revolving clay and mould, that its outer form or shape will be instantly com-
pleted and ready to be removed to receive the operations of finishing. This
is immediately accomplished by the peculiar arrangement and construction of
the cams, which can be easily calculated by the practical engineer; and at this
position of the apparatus the profile 18 will ascend by means of the revolving
cam 4, thus releasing the now-formed article from pressure. The spindle q
will cease to revolve by means of the revolving cam 3 having passed the strap
n upon the loose pulley v, and will drop down out of the mould by means of
the revolving cam 2 having brought the top of the enclined planes from under
the foot of the spindle, the water tap closed, and the feeding table again put in
motion by means of the revolving cam 1. The cams 1, 2, 3, 4, having com-
pleted one entire revolution, and each having performed its respective opera-
tion, the mould, with its now-formed article upon it, only remains to be entirely
removed from the "slurry box," in order to make room for the next mould
and bat to enter. This last operation is accomplished by means of a pin or
stud 17, on the back of the cam 1, vibrating the bell-crank lever 18, which
works upon the fulcrum 19, and has at its other arm a connecting link 20,
which is connected to be a short projecting piece formed upon the detent rod
21, 21, supported in the bearings 22, 22, and furnished at suitable intervals
with hooked arms or detents 23, 23. Now it will be seen, that as the table
6 moves forward the mould with the formed article will be conveyed out of
the slurry box through the spring folding doors on the opposite side, which
will, like the former, spring back, and close after it as soon as the mould has
passed through; and the detent rod 21 being pulled round one quarter of a
revolution (see red lines in Figure 3), by means of the vibration of the bell-
crank lever, will allow the mould to pass under the detents, and proceed
forward with the table. The pin 17 then escaping the end of the bell-crank
lever, the detent rod will fall to its former position, and the hook or detent
will prevent the mould being carried backwards by the return of the feeding
table. The next evolution takes the finished article and mould another step,
and so on, until, after it has passed the last detent, which will thus convey the
mould into the hands of the finishing operator.
Having now particularly described the nature of our said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be particularly
understood, that we claim as our Invention,-
Firstly, rolling or preparing the ordinary bats of clay, by passing them
through rollers or cylinders instead of forming them by hand, as now
commonly done in the potteries.
And secondly, the arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for the purpose of shaping or forming articles of earthenware or porcelain
clays by means of a "profile," used in combination with a revolving mould, or
vice versâ, and also in combination with self-acting, feeding, and delivering
apparatus impelled or driven by steam or other power.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Ridgway and George Wall the
younger, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this day of
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
JOHN (L.S.) RIDGWAY.
GEORGE (L.s.) WALL, Jun'.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of July, in the
fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said George
Wall came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of July, in the
fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John Ridg-
way came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Tenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty.