IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSING OR DRESSING BRICKS AND TILES, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Hadfield, of Hadfield, in the County of
Derby, and William Alfred Attkins, of the same Place, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSING OR DRESSING BRICKS AND TILES, AND
OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR
SUCH PURPOSES."
Sealed the 15th May 1863, and dated the 21st November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Hadfield and
William Alfred Attkins at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 21st November 1862.
We, CHARLES HADFIELD, of Hadfield, in the County of Derby, and
WILLIAM ALFRED ATTKINS, of the same Place, do hereby declare the nature
of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSING OR DRESSING BRICKS
AND TILES, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
These improvements apply to compressing bricks, tiles, clay, peat, and other
materials, and consist,―
Firstly, of an arrangement of moulds fixed on a circular table, which
table is made to revolve, and at one part to come in contact with a
descending piston or presser which compresses the brick or other article.
or material into the form required. Both the piston and the table have a
continuous motion.
Secondly, the improvements relate principally to the pressing of bricks,

page_text: and consist in making the pannel (which forms the indent or recess in the
brick) moveable with a spring or other elastic packing, so as to regulate
the bricks or articles pressed to one uniform size and pressure and prevent
undue strain on the machinery.
And, thirdly, the improvement consists in heating the moulds by means of
steam or hot water, in order to cause the bricks or other articles to leave
the moulds readily without their being otherwise lubricated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Hadfield and William Alfred Attkins in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 21st May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
HADFIELD, of Hadfield, in the County of Derby, and WILLIAM ALFRED
ATTKINS, of the same Place, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Charles Hadfield and William Alfred Attkins, Her special licence,
that we, the said Charles Hadfield and William Alfred Attkins, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Hadfield
and William Alfred Attkins, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPRESSING OR DRESSING BRICKS AND TILES, AND OTHER
MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles
Hadfield and William Alfred Attkins, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles Hadfield and William
Alfred Attkins, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and

page_text: in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery or apparatus"
for compressing bricks, tiles, clay, peat, or other materials, and consists
in the construction and employment of a revolving table or frame, upon or
in which any convenient number of moulds open at the top and each fitted
with rising bottom dies and pistons (actuated as herein-after described)
are placed, fixed, formed, or fitted, and, a rising and falling main piston
actuated by a crank, and also working radially into and out of each succeeding
travelling mould passing respectively under the said piston as the table
revolves. The travelling mould pistons are made in box form, open at the top
to receive cushion dies, these pistons form the bottoms of the moulds in
which they are accurately fitted, and are also caused to rise and fall
therein more or less as required, and to operate by their upward pressure
simultaneously with the downward pressure of the main piston working
into and out of each mould as before described. The travelling mould
pistons and bottom dies are actuated by two semicircular inclined planes
fitted upon a bed plate under the revolving table, upon which inclines the
said bottom dies and pistons are respectively supported and travel as the
table revolves, and are thereby caused to rise and fall in the moulds. The
sides of these moulds are made hollow or in double case to receive steam, hot
water, or air for heating the same, to prevent the necessity of lubrication.
The revolving table and rising and falling pistons of the machine are
actuated by suitable gearing driven by a steam engine, or otherwise; and
the bricks, tiles, clay, or other materials, having been thereby subjected
to the required compressing forces and having received the desired form,
are lifted out of the moulds by the continued rising of the bottom piston
along the circular incline, until it arrives at the highest point thereof when
the compressed articles are removed and their places supplied by other
materiale

page_text: or back frame upon which the bearings of the working shafts are fixed; d, the
revolving table upon which the mould frames are fitted; e, the moulds or
mould boxes. These moulds are double cased having a steam way all round for
the admission of hot air, water, or steam, for the purpose of preventing the
necessity of lubrication; these mould boxes have accurately fitting box piston
bottoms which rise and fall in the moulds as the frames rotate. These box
pistons have loose pannels or dies 10, fitted into them which rest upon india-
rubber or other spring sleepers or bolsters also fitted therein, to relieve the
pressure on the machine and keep the articles compressed of a uniform
size.
ff, the travelling and rising mould pistons; g, the circular incline plane
fixed to the bed plate, and' upon which the mould bottom pistons travel and
rise and fall as the table revolves; h, the main piston which rises and falls and
works into and out of each mould as the latter pass respectively under it.
This piston has a double motion, one vertical and the other horizontal, the
horizontal is radial and describes the same circle as the moulds and from the
same vertical centre as that of the revolving table, and upon which the rising
and falling piston h is also centred; j, the crank giving motion thereto;
m, the mould frame; n, cavities for hot water or steam; o, steam pipe; q, the
swivel bearing turning upon it own axis vertically to allow for the radial
motion of the piston; r, the crank shaft; s, a spur wheel; t, a pinion gearing
therewith and keyed on to the driving shaft x driven by the engine or other
power; t, t, two mitre or bevel wheels one of which (t¹) is keyed on to the
shaft r, and turns therewith, and the other (2) keyed on to a vertical shaft v,
upon which is also keyed a spur pinion w, which gears with a large cog
wheel (x) fitted to the revolving table and by which the latter is turned.
The whole of the driving wheels are fitted with suitable coupling and
uncoupling media, for throwing the various parts of the machine into & out
of gear as required.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The bricks, tiles, clay or
other material or materials required to be compressed are placed in the
respective moulds of the mould frame on the revolving table, when power
being applied to the driving shaft (x) motion is transmitted through the spur
wheels (t and s), to the shaft r, which turns the crank j, and actuates the
main piston h, and at the same time also gives motion to the mitre wheels
t and t, and spur wheel, w and x, by which the revolving motion is given to the
table. The sizes of these four last-mentioned wheels are so regulated that the
rising and falling piston makes one stroke down and up as often as a mould
passes under it; the piston thus enters each mould and gives the top pressure

page_text: while the travelling mould pistons commencing to ascend the circular incline
also rises the bottom die with each descent of the main piston, and thus gives
the bottom pressure, and both acting simultaneously upon the material in the
mould by an upward and downward pressure or compressing force. The main
piston then rises by the up stroke of the crank while the travelling mould
piston continues to ascend the circular incline under the table, until the
compressed bricks, &c., are lifted out of the mould and are then removed,
when the moulds are again refilled and the operation before described repeated
ad libertum. The size of the revolving table, the number and shape of the
moulds and dies can be varied by changing or otherwise as circumstances may
require. The stroke of the main piston can be varied by the employment of
a disc crank and adjusting crank pin, and the rise and fall of the mould
pistons can also be regulated by an adjusting circular inclined plane so
that the simultaneous compressing forces of the main and mould pistons may
be adapted to articles of varyious size.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature and object of our
said Invention for improvements in machinery for compressing bricks,
tiles, clay, peat, or other materials, together with the manner in which the
same may be performed or carried into practical effect, we would remark in
conclusion that we claim as our Invention the peculiar novel construction and
arrangement of machinery for effecting such objects as above described &
shewn in the Drawings, or any mere modification thereof, and especially the
continuous revolving motion of the moulds and descending motion of the
piston or top die which is also applicable either in a vertical or a horizontal
position, and by whatever mechanical arrangement the continuous motion may
be obtained.
-
We also claim the loose pannel to form the indent in the bottom or top
piston with a spring or other elastic packing under the same, to regulate the
articles pressed to one uniform size, and we claim the heating of the moulds
by steam or hot water.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Alfred Attkins, on behalf
of myself and the said Charles Hadfield, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand sight hundred and cirty three
WILLIAM ALFRED ATTKINS. (L.B.)