IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS."
Sealed the 17th April 1855, and dated the 19th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th October
1854.
I, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to brick-making machinery, in which a series of
travelling moulds is employed, and consist, firstly, in supplying the material
thereto by an arrangement which allows a sufficient quantity to be admitted
to them for the formation of the bricks, and then closes the orifice through
which it issues until the said moulds are prepared for the reception of another
supply. In order to illustrate my Invention, I will point out an arrangement
I adopt, supposing that the machine is upon that principle for which Letters
Patent were granted to James McHenry, dated 20th July 1852.
According to my improvements, I divide the hopper into two parts,
answering to the two sets of reciprocating moulds employed. Each of these
hoppers is capable of being opened and closed at its lower end by a sliding
plate or by a door. As a set of moulds advances alternately from each side,

page_text: a cam upon the axis of the pressing roller opens a corresponding slide or
door, so as to admit a certain quantity of material, and subsequently closes it.
The substance to be moulded I feed through a shoot, capable of being
divided by a moveable guide, so as to direct the supply to each hopper
alternately. In order to stir the material delivered to the moulds, I apply
revolving shafts, furnished with a number of projecting arms.... Instead of the
slides or doors, above described, I can use other apparatus to. accomplish the
same object, as, for instance, revolving stops, which may at intervals allow
the material to pass in sufficient quantity for one or for a series of bricks.
Another part of my Invention applies particularly to that construction and
arrangement of machine for which Letters Patent were granted to James
M'Henry aforesaid, and consists in the use of apparatus for positively drawing
down the pistons within the moulds, instead of allowing them to descend
by their own weight, as described in the Specification of the said Patent. I
cause the ends of the piston rods to pass into a T groove, formed upon the bar,
which raises them for the discharge of the bricks; this groove will therefore
draw down the pistons on its return motion.
Another improvement relates to the apparatus for sweeping off the pressed
bricks, and consists in arranging it so as to cause it to arrive in contact with
the bricks one after another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th April
1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, 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 me,
the said John Platt, Her special license that I, the said John Platt,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Platt, 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 terin therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Platt, 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 saine 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 John Platt, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say)
:
.
My improvements relate to brick-making machinery in which series of
travelling moulds are employed; and consist, firstly, in supplying the material
thereto by an arrangement which allows a sufficient. quantity to be admitted
to them for the formation of the bricks, and then closes the orifice through
which it issues until the said moulds are prepared for the reception of another
supply. The substance to be moulded is fed through a shoot, capable of being
divided by a moveable guide, so as to direct the supply to each of two hoppers
alternately; and in order to stir the material delivered to the moulds, I apply
revolving shafts, furnished with projecting arms..
:
Another part of my Invention applies particularly to that construction and
arrangement of machine for which Letters Patent were. granted to. James
McHenry, bearing date Twentieth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-two; and consists in the use of apparatus for positively drawing
down the pistons within the moulds, instead of allowing them to descend by
their own. weight,, as described in the Specification of the said Patent..
Also, as regards the aforesaid machine of the said James M Henry, another
improvement consists in so constructing or arranging the apparatus for
sweeping forward the pressed bricks that it shall arrive in contact with them
one after another..
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I have appended
to this my Specification a Drawing exhibiting the several improvements
combined, and which I will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 shews in side elevation a portion of a brick-making machine con-
structed upon the principle of that patented by James McHenry aforesaid ;
and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. The moulds are shewn at a,
constructed in a framing which is supported by the rollers. 6, and above them
is situate the roller. c, for pressing the clay therein. This roller is situate

page_text: cam 7.
within a trough d, on the top of which are placed two shoots e, f, joining in
one at g, and capable of being opened alternately thereto by means of a
partition h, mounted so as to turn upon a hinge joint i; to the axis of this
joint is affixed a lever j, connected by a link to a lever k, turning upon a fixed
centre at 1, and provided at bottom with a roller m, situate within a grooved
The centre pin of the roller m passes through a bar o, mounted in
guides p, and to this bar are attached two plates 9, 9*, placed in grooves
formed by divisions of the lower parts of the hoppers. The piston rods r
are formed with T ends, which pass as they travel onward into grooves 8,
formed in the parallel lever, or table w, used for discharging the pressed
bricks from the moulds by the means described in the Specification of
James McHenry aforesaid. The rail for sweeping the bricks forward when
elevated is shewn at t, and in the detached plan view, Fig. 3, it is formed
in steps, so that the action shall take place upon the line of bricks one
after the other, instead of arriving in contact with the whole range at once.
According to the position shewn in the Drawing, a supply of material has
been allowed to pass down the passage f in sufficient quantity to feed the
set of moulds travelling in the direction of the arrow, and the plate q
has been caused by the cam n to slide inward and shut off the supply.
As the moulds travel onward beneath the pressing roller c, the material is
distributed by the action of revolving rollers n, put into motion by con-
nection with a suitable moving part. The moulds having been thus filled,
their return motion will take place, during which the revolution of the
cam n will cause the bar o to slide, so as to close the bottom of the passage
e by the plate q*, and turn over the partition h, by which means the clay
will be allowed to accumulate in the hopper e, beneath which the other set
of moulds (not shewn in the Drawing) will now arrive, and a further
revolution of the cam will open the slide q*, in order to admit to them
their supply of clay, the partition turning over into the position shewn,
in order to prevent a further quantity from passing in that direction, and
to permit an accumulation in the hopper f, for the next advance of the
moulds. Thus it will be seen that the hoppers e, f, are alternately charged
with material ready to be delivered by the opening of the plates 9, 7", to
the two sets of moulds. A set of bricks having been moulded, the moulds
moving in the direction of the dotted arrow, the T ends of the piston rods
will enter the groove s, formed in the parallel lever w, which being then
caused to rise, will discharge them to be swept off by the apparatus above
mentioned, after which the parallel lever w, being caused to descend, will draw
down the pistons by the action of the groove upon the T ends of the rods.
In

page_text: order to provide for the discharge of a superabundent quantity of material
delivered to the hoppers, openings x, x, are formed therein, through which it
may pass to any convenient receptacle.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise arrangement and construction of
parts shewn, as many modifications may be made which will readily suggest
themselves to competent persons; for instance, instead of the sliding plates q, q*,
and partition h, revolving stops may be used to effect the same object; also, in
the case of the apparatus t, the steps may be made so as to take two or more
bricks at a time; also, instead of the T ends being formed on the pistons, they
may be provided with grooves, which will pass on to projections formed on the
parallel lever; that which I claim as secured to me under the above in part
recited Letters Patent being,-
Firstly, as applied to brick machines with travelling moulds, the application
of hoppers with suitable apparatus for determining the supply of material, by
opening and shutting the orifice or orifices through which it passes.
Secondly, as applied to the machine patented by James McHenry aforesaid,
the use of suitablé apparatus for positively drawing down the pistons within
the moulds.
Thirdly, sweeping off the pressed bricks by means of an apparatus which
arrives in contact with one portion of the range at a time.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Platt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JNO. PLATT. (L.S.)