AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, PIPES, AND BUCH OTHER ARTICLES AS ARE OR MAY BE MADE OF CLAY, WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND TO OTHER MIXING AND TEMPERING PROCESSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Knight, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gentleman, and James Stubbs, of Oldbury, in the County of
Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, PIPES, AND
BUCH OTHER ARTICLES AS ARE OR MAY BE MADE OF CLAY, WHICH IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL
FUEL, AND TO OTHER MIXING AND TEMPERING PROCESSES."
Sealed the 3rd November 1854, and dated the 21st July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Knight and James
. Stubbs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 21st July 1854.
We, JOHN KNIGHT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman,
and JANES STUBBS, of Oldbury, in the County of Worcester, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, PIPES,
AND SUCH OTHER ARTICLES AS ARE OR MAY BE MADE OF CLAY, WHICH IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL. FUEL,
AND TO OTHER MIXING AND TEMPERING PROCESSES," to be as follows:-

page_text: Our Invention consists in the use of steam and water (either hot or cold) in
the cylinders or piston boxes of brick and other machines for fashioning clay
or other plastic substances. We introduce. the said steam into the said
machines prior to pressing or forcing the clay or other plastic substance
through the dies or moulding surfaces of the said machines. The said steam,
by condensing on the surface of the clay, and on the surfaces of the different
parts of the interior of the machine, forms a layer or stratum of water thereon,
which very much facilitates the motion of the piston and the moulding of the
clay. We also apply steam.to the pug mills used for tempering clay, and
mixing and tempering other matters, the said steam, by condensing on the
knives and other surfaces of the pug mill, as well as on the clay or other
matters contained therein, facilitating the action of the machine. The said
steam by its condensation raises the temperature of the clay and other matters,
and the moulding and pugging of clay and many other substances is more
readily effected at a high than at ordinary temperatures. The introduction
of steam into machines for moulding articles of clay has the further advantage,
that it expels the air which is mechanically mixed with the clay, and hence
prevents the inconveniences which arise from the presence of air in the ordinary
method of manufacturing articles in clay. Instead of steam we sometimes
introduce water (either hot or cold) into machines used for pugging clay and
other substances, as well as into machines for moulding clay and other plastic
substances.
The said water has the same or nearly the same effect in lubricating the
moving parts of the said machines as steam has.
Our Invention is applicable to the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes, and
such other articles as are or may be made of clay, as well as the mixing and
compressing of the materials used in the-manufacture of artificial fuel, and for
mixing and tempering cements and compositions used in building, and for
other similar purposes. By using hot water or steam in place of cold water
for pugging, and the purposes herein-before described, we facilitate the drying
of the bricks and other articles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Knight and James Stubbs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
KNIGHT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, and JAMES.
STUBBS, of Oldbury, in the County of Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Knight and James Stubbs, Her special licence that we, the said
John Knight and James Stubbs, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Knight and James Stubbs, our 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, PIPES, AND SUCH OTHER ARTICLES AS ARE OR MAY BE
MADE OF CLAY, WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND TO OTHER MIXING AND TEMPERING PRO-
CESSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Knight
and James Stubbs, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,"
or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said John Knight and James Stubbs,
do hereby declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in the use of steam or water, whether the said
water be hot or cold, in the cylinders or piston boxes of brick machines and
other machines for fashioning clay or other plastic material. We introduce
the said steam into the said machines prior to pressing or forcing the clay or

page_text: other plastic substance through the dies or moulding surfaces of the said
machines. The said steam, by condensing on the surface of the clay or other
material used, and on the surface of the different parts of the interior of the
machine, forms a layer or stratum of water between the said clay or other
material and the surface of the moulds, which said layer of water very much
facilitates the motion of the piston and the moulding of the clay or other
substance. We also apply steam to the pug mills used for tempering clay,
and mixing and tempering other matters, the said steam, by condensing on the
knives and other surfaces of the pug mill, as well as on the clay or other
matters contained therein, facilitating the action of the machine.. The con-
densation of the said steam raises the temperature of the clay or other material,
and the moulding and pugging of the same is more readily effected at high
temperatures than at ordinary temperatures. The introduction of steam into
machines for moulding articles of clay has the further advantage, that it expels
the air which is mechanically mixed with the clay, and hence prevents the
inconveniences which arise from the presence of air in the ordinary method of
manufacturing articles of clay. Instead of steam we sometimes introduce water,
either hot or cold, into machines used for pugging clay and other substances,
as well as into machines for moulding clay and other plastic substances. The
said water has the same or nearly the same effect in facilitating the moulding
of the clay or other substance as steam has. Our Invention is applicable to
the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes, and other articles made of clay, as well
as to mixing and compressing the materials used in the manufacture of artificial
fuel, and for mixing and tempering cements and compositions used in building,
and for other similar purposes. By using hot water or steam in place of cold
water, for the purposes herein-before described, we facilitate the drying of the
bricks and other articles.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in the use of a second die or mouth-piece
in brick or other machines in which the stream of clay is cut into bricks, tiles,
or quarries after emerging from the said machines. We place the said die or
mouth-piece between the cores or mouth-pieces in which the brick is roughly
formed, and the rack or platform on which the clay passes prior to being cut;
the said second die forms a belt or casing around the surface of the stream of
clay as it passes through the said die, in the interior of which said die or belt
we introduce steam, for the purpose of warming and more readily moulding
the clay, as herein-before described. We prefer to make the said second die
or mouth-piece of cast iron, but we do not confine ourselves to the use of any
material. Besides serving for the introduction of steam, the said second die or

page_text: casing may be employed for coating or covering the stream of clay passing
through it with any colouring, glazing, or other material, or other coating with
which it may be desired to coat or cover the bricks, tiles, or other articles made
from the stream of clay passing through the said second die or casing. If
devices or inscriptions be impressed on the bricks or other articles, the said
second die or casing may be employed to fill up the impressions with clay or
other plastic matter of a different composition or color from that of which the
bricks or other articles are in the first case formed. In this way bricks, tiles,
quarries, or other articles may be produced, having on them coloured devices or
inscriptions. The devices or inscriptions impressed on bricks, tiles, or other
articles, as well as devices or inscriptions raised thereon, we produce by means
of rollers, the said rollers being placed on the rack on which the articles pass
in course of manufacture. The said rollers may be placed so as to impress any
required side or sides of the brick or other article.
Our Invention consists, thirdly, in fixing bars or cores in the dies of brick-
making machines. The said bars or cores are fixed between the piston and the
interior of the dies, so that the perforations made by the cores or bars are
closed as the stream of clay passes through the exterior part of the dies. The
clay so forced or expressed through the bars acquires thereby a texture, which
renders the bricks made from it more dense and impervious to water and
damp. Such bricks are better adapted for outside walling, and are less liable
to decay in water than bricks made by the ordinary method.
Our Invention consists, fourthly, in pressing artificial fuel, by forcing the.
same through dies containing cores, for the purpose of forming perforations
through the said fuel; the said perforations facilitate the drying or baking of
the fuel. Artificial fuel made according to our Invention acquires great
solidity by the pressure used in forcing it through the dies and cores.
In making artificial fuel, we add to the coal, peat, or other carbonaceous or
combustible matter a small quantity of nitre, that is to say, saltpetre, or nitrate
of potash, or nitrate of soda. The said nitre is mixed with the other combustible
materials during the process of pugging. The said nitre facilitates the com-
bustion of the said fuel and prevents the formation of smoke therefrom; it also
facilitates the coking or making the said fuel into charcoal.
Our Invention consists, fifthly, of improvements in the construction of
machinery for making bricks, tiles, &c. One of the said improvements con-
sists in the use of a friction sheeve, shewn at a in the accompanying Drawing,
which said Drawing represents in side elevation a brick machine, containing
our various improvements. The said friction sheeve a consists of a pulley or

page_text: wheel, which receives its motion by means of a strap or belt gearing it to
another wheel on the axis of the wheel b. The said friction sheeve a, not being
rigidly geared to the driving shaft c, the motion of the said friction sheeve is
arrested, if the resistance presented to any part of the machine driven by the
said friction sheeve is greater than the friction between the said friction sheeve
and the band or belt driving it. Any obstacle arising in the working of the
machine (as when a hard substance gets into the piston box), the said friction
sheeve is arrested, and the injury avoided which occurs when the driving
power is rigidly geared to the working parts of the machine. We do not limit
ourselves to placing the said friction sheeve in the position represented in the
accompanying Drawing, as the same may be placed at any convenient point
between the driving power and the working parts of the machine.
Another of our improvements in brick machines consists in giving motion to
the pistons of brick machines by means of a rocking shaft d. Motion is com-
municated to the said shaft by means of a connecting rod e, which said
connecting rod is jointed at f to the wheel g; motion is communicated to the
said wheel g by the wheel h. By the revolution of the wheel g, a rocking
motion is communicated to the shaft d and lever i, which said motion com-
municates a reciprocating motion to the piston of the machine through the
piston rod k, which is jointed to the lever i.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise methods herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our said Invention; but we claim as our
Invention,
Firstly, the use of steam or water in the cylinders or piston boxes of brick
machines and other machines for fashioning clay and other plastic materials, as
herein described.
Secondly, the use of a second die or mouth-piece in brick and other such
like machines in which the stream of clay is cut into bricks, tiles, or other
articles after emerging from the said machines, the said second die or mouth-
piece being placed between the die or mouth-piece in which the brick or other
article is roughly formed and the rack or platform on which the clay passes
prior to being cut, for the purposes herein described.
Thirdly, pressing bricks, tiles, and quarries with devices or inscriptions by
means of rollers, as herein described.
Fourthly, fixing cores or bars in the dies of brick-making machines, the said
cores. being so placed between the piston and the interior of the dies, that the

page_text: perforations made by the said cores or bars are closed before the stream of clay
passes from the machine, as herein described.
Fifthly, moulding artificial fuel into masses, having perforations therein, and
using nitre or nitrate of soda in the composition of artificial fuel.
Sixthly, the use of a friction sheeve in brick-making machines, and com-
municating motion to the pistons of brick machines, as herein described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Knight & James Stubbs, have
hereunto set our hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
JOHN SALT.
JOHN KNIGHT.
(L.8.)
JAMES STUBBS. (L.S.)