IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND CHINA."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julien Arnold Bellay, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the
French Empire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING
ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND CHINA."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julien Arnold Bellay at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th July 1855.
I, JULIEN ARNOLD BELLAY, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the French Empire,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURING ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND CHINA" to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in certain machinery or apparatus in which there
are two shafts, one placed immediately over the other. The lower shaft carries
fast and loose pullies, and can be caused to rotate by a belt being slipped over
the fast pulley or pressing down a treadle, which at the same time brings down
the upper shaft. The lower shaft has fitted in or on the top a mould for
shaping the inside of any circular or conical vessel, such as a basin, saucer,
plate, &c. This shaft, as before stated, is capable of rotary motion. The
bottom of the upper shaft, which is only free to move up and down in a straight
line, has fitted to it a mould or die for giving the exterior shape to the basin,

page_text: saucer, or other circular or conical article to be produced. The operation is
as follows: A certain quantity of ceramic material is placed upon the lower
mould, the workman depresses the treadle, which transfers the driving band
on to the fast pulley on the lower shaft which causes it to rotate, while the
same movement of the treadle brings down the upper shaft and its mould for
shaping the exterior of the article to be produced. Thus the workman has
both hands free, and the manufacture may be carried on with great rapidity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julien Arnold Bellay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIEN
ARNOLD BELLAY, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the French Empire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Julien Arnold Bellay, Her special licence that I, the said Julien Arnold
Bellay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Julien Arnold Bellay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARTICLES OF EARTHENWARE AND CHINA," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Julien Arnold Bellay, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Julien Arnold Bellay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-

page_text: My improvements consist in certain machinery or apparatus for manu-
facturing articles of earthenware and china, in which there are two shafts,
one placed immediately over the other. The lower shaft carries fast and loose
pulleys, and can be caused to rotate by slipping a belt over the fast pulley on
pressing down a treadle, which at the same time brings down the upper
shaft.
The lower and revolving shaft bas fitted in or on the top a mould for shaping
the inside of any circular or conical vessel, such as a basin, saucer, plate, &c.
The bottom of the upper shaft, which is only free to move up and down in a
straight line, has fitted to it a mould, die, or templet for giving the exterior
shape to the basin, saucer, or other circular or conical article to be produced.
The operation is as follows:-A certain quantity of ceramic material is placed
upon the lower mould, the workman depresses the treadle which transfers the
driving band on to the fast pulley on the lower shaft which causes it to
rotate, while the same movement of the treadle brings down the upper shaft
and its mould or templet for shaping the exterior of the article to be pro-
duced. Thus the workman has both hands free, and the manufacture may
be carried on with great rapidity.
A driving band may be passed from a pulley on the lower or revolving
shaft to work a turning or throwing board, turning lathe, or potter's wheel,
connected to or placed near the machine, so that while a basin or plate, or
other article is being produced at the large apparatus, the clay or rough shape
for another article may be thrown or prepared at the turning board.
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a front view of the machine; Figure 2,
a side elevation; and Figure 3, a plan; Figures 4 to 14 are detached views of
moulds and templets, varying in shape to form the particular article intended.
9, 9, are two standards or uprights, fixed securely against a wall, and morticed
for the reception of parts of the machine, to be herein-after referred to. 12 is a
base plate, firmly embedded in the ground and dovetailed into the uprights 9, 9.
8 is a wooden block, fitted into the uprights; it must be securely fixed, as it
supports the weight of the greater part of the machine. 7 is an iron plate
screwed in the block 8, and formed with two arms 2, z, furnished with brasses,
in which the shaft 6 works up and down; 6 is the upper shaft, which is only
capable of an up and down movement. At top, this shaft terminates in an
eye, to which one end of a cord is attached. This cord passes over pulleys
w, w, and is fastened at the other end to a counterbalance weight 16 for the
purpose of raising or drawing up the shaft 6 after it has been brought down
by the treadle, as presently described. At bottom, the shaft 6 is screw-
threaded on the inside for the reception of the templets; 11 is a collar, which

page_text: a
can be moved up or down the shaft upon a screw thread cut on the outside
thereof, whereby the length of its down stroke may be regulated; 1, 1, are
brackets, terminating at top in a collar A', which embraces the shaft 6, and is
fixed thereto by a screw passing through it; 2 is a flat bar, connected to the
lower ends of the brackets 1, 1, and to the shaft 6 by a collar B', which fits
round it and by a screw. The bar 2 has formed in it two slots in the
direction of its length, one on each side of the collar B'. Into these slots
the templets are screwed at their ends. 13 is the lower or revolving shaft,
which is stepped at bottom in a socket in the base plate 12. This shaft
is provided with a shoulder, and terminates at top in a screw C like the head
of a lathe, after first passing through a table 10 fitted into the uprights 9, 9.
The table is itself supported by brackets D, D. a is a conical pulley, fast
on the shaft 13; b' is a loose pulley above the pulley a, having a flange at
top. This pulley turns freely on the shaft without moving it. c is a collar,
furnished with a screw placed above the pulleys intended to prevent the pulley
working up, and the driving band e from slipping between the pulleys; k is
pulley fast on the shaft 13, which imparts rotation through a belt to the shaft
of a turning or throwing board v placed near or connected with the machine.
The brackets 1, 1, and bar 2 are screwed together by two rods 3, 3, which
pass through the table 10, and embrace at bottom a cross piece 5 screwed
tightly through rings or bearings in which the rods 3, 3, terminate. This
cross piece 5 is curved in the centre to leave room for the pulleys; 4, 4,
are brackets or arms which support the treadle, and are suspended at top
to the cross piece 5, which is made flat at the parts at which it receives them;
the cross piece 5 connects the arms 4, 4, to the rods 3, 3, and bar 2 and
brackets 1, 1, and thus when the treadle is depressed, the shaft 6 is brought
down. 14 is the treadle, which consists of several parts. A is the front board
or face plate. It has a handle at top, and is jointed, hinged, or screwed at
bottom to the board B on which the workman places his foot. This board
branches off into two fect, which are dovetailed into the base plate A, and ter-
minate in levers, one of which is centred on the base plate 12, and the other
fitted to the end of each of the feet of the treadle. By means of these lovers
an up and down movement is communicated to the rods 3, 3, and shaft 6.
C, C², are arms, secured to the branches B, B, and carrying at their upper
part two rollers or drums, over which the driving band e passes from a driving
shaft g. Thus, by depressing the treadle, the band e is slipped on to the fast
pulley a, and the shaft 13 made to revolve, while when the foot is removed
from the treadle and the treadle allowed to rise, the band is slipped on to the
loose pulley and the revolution of the shaft stopped. 15, 15, are springs,

page_text: .
which are placed under the treadle to assist its upward movement, and also the
descent of the weight 16; M' is a throwing or preparing board, placed near
or connected to the apparatus set in motion by the band from the pulley k.
This table may be worked by the same motion which actuates the large
apparatus, and is intended to prepare the clay for the workman operating at
the large or main apparatus, so that while a plate or other article is being
formed or finished off at the latter, the ceramic material for the next may be
prepared or roughly shaped at the turning board M'. o is a lever working
upon a pin o', which connects it to a metal frame o², secured to the rough
forming table or to the table on the principal machine. This lever rises
and falls in a slotted guide n, which is also held upon the frame. A collar
on the guide n regulates the distance to which the lever o (and templet
screwed to it, as to be herein-after mentioned,) may descend, and consequently
the thickness of the material to be worked upon the preparing table. At the
end of the lever o are formed orifices, into which a templet p is screwed.
This templet acts in the same manner as a workman's hand in spreading the
plastic or ceramic material on the leathern disc q on the turning board M'.
The templet is of cylindrical or of other suitable form, and made of wood
encased with gutta percha and provided with a small brass plate, or it may be
of stone or metal, the length and thickness varying of course according to the
intended diameter of the article to be produced. After the templet has been
screwed into the lever, a weight is also screwed on the lever; s is an oblong
vessel, placed over the lever and templet, for containing water or other liquid,
which is admitted through a funnel-shaped orifice, so contrived that the liquid
may not be spilled by the action of the lever. The liquid trickles on to the
clay through a tap, with which the vessel is provided. When the lever o is
raised, the liquid is thrown into the end of the vessel furthest from the tap,
and when the end of the lever descends, the water is thrown into the end of
the vessel near the tap, through which it trickles on to the ceramic material.
Thus, while the workman is finishing off a cup, plate, or other article at the
principal machine, the clay for the next article is being prepared at the turning
board adjoining, so that two parts or processes of the manufacture may be
performed at the same time, namely, finishing off one piece and preparing
another. A plate, for example, may thus be made in half a minute; whereas
in the old plan, first the workman had to spread, throw, and prepare the clay,
and then to form it into the plate or cup or other article to be produced. By
merely disengaging the band from the driving pulley of either machine, either
of them may be worked separately.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-A dise or cap is screwed on

page_text: the threaded head C of the lower shaft 13, and a mould placed on the cap,
into which the ceramic material is introduced. A templet is then screwed
into the upper shaft 6, and the driving shaft g set in motion. The treadle is
then depressed by the foot, when the band e is slipped on to the fast pulley a
as described, thereby imparting rotary motion to the shaft 13, while at the
same time the upper shaft 6 and templet are brought down upon the mould.
Fig. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are detached views of several moveable
pieces for forming or shaping articles of earthenware and china.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as of my said
Invention,―
First, the manufacture of articles of earthenware and china, so far as the
imparting of form or configuration thereto is concerned, by means of machinery
in which, by one and the same motion, a mould is caused to rotate, and a
templet brought down thereon, in the manner herein-before described.
Second, I claim the general arrangement of machinery represented in the
Drawings annexed and herein-before described, for manufacturing and forming
articles of earthenware and china.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julien Arnold Bellay, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Ing" Civil,
6, Rue Filles du Calvaire, à Paris.
J. A. BELLAY. (L.S.)