CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Beck and William Strong, both of
Barrow-in-Furness, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanics, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
BRICKS."
Sealed the 10th July 1874, and dated the 3rd February 1874.
}
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Beck and
William Strong at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 3rd February 1874.
We, WILLIAM BECK and WILLIAM STRONG, both of Barrow-in-
Furness, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanics, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING BRICKS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention has for its object certain improvements in machinery
for making bricks, and the first part thereof refers more particularly to
the construction of rotating mould boxes.
Our improvements therein consist in the application and use of a
metal lining so constructed and fitted within mould boxes that the said

page_text: metal linings may be conveniently removed when worn out and replaced
with new ones without the necessity of making entirely new rotatory
mould boxes.
The object of the second part of our Invention is to regulate and
control the motion of rotatory mould boxes used in brickmaking
machines, and consists in the application and use of a bell-crank lever
(hereinafter called the lever) fixed to the framework of the machine
and operated upon at one end by a suitable cam fixed on the main
driving shaft; we suspend a weight near to that end of the lever upon
which the cam operates, the other end of the lever takes into a moveable
bolt fixed to the framework of the machine, and is movable in a plane
corresponding to the centre of the rotatory mould boxes. On the shaft
carrying the rotatory mould boxes we fix a catch wheel having suitable
recesses made therein, and into which recesses the movable bolt may
pass and so hold the mould boxes firmly in position while the clay or
loam is filled and pressed therein. When the mould boxes are filled and
pressed the cam fixed on the main driving shaft operates upon the end
of the lever, giving motion to the same, which causes the other end of
the lever to withdraw the bolt from the recess in the catch wheel, thus
leaving the mould boxes at liberty to be rotated the required distance to
present fresh moulds for filling with clay or loam as before. During
part of the rotatory movement of the mould boxes the cam on the
driving shaft ceases to operate on the lever, which is then drawn down
by the weight attached to it, and the other end of the lever carries the
bolt into the next recess presented to it by the catch wheel; thus the
mould boxes are firmly held in position as before.
The object of the third part of our Invention is to prevent the
adhesion of clay or mould to the movable base of mould boxes used in
brickmaking machines. This object is attained by heating the surface
.thereof.
In carrying out this part of our Invention we form a chamber in the
movable base of mould boxes, into which chamber we pass steam or
hot air through suitable tubes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said William Beck and William Strong in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 31st July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BECK and WILLIAM STRONG, both of Barrow-in-Furness, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanics, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Beck and William Strong,
Her special license that we, the said William Beck and William Strong,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
William Beck and William Strong, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
MAKING BRICKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said William Beck and William Strong, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or one of 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Beck and William Strong
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, that is to say :-
Our Invention has for its object certain improvements in machinery
for making bricks, and the first part thereof refers more particularly to
the construction of rotating mould boxes.
Our improvements therein consist in the application and use of a
metal lining so constructed and fitted within mould boxes that the said

page_text: metal linings may be conveniently removed when worn out and replaced
with new ones without the necessity of making entirely new rotatory
mould boxes.
The object of the second part of our Invention is to regulate and
control the motion of rotatory mould boxes used in brickmaking
machines, and consists in the application and use of a bell-crank lever
(hereinafter called the lever) fixed to the framework of the machine
and operated upon at one end by a suitable cam fixed on the main
driving shaft; we suspend a weight near to that end of the lever upon
which the cam operates, the other end of the lever takes into a move-
able bolt fixed into the framework of the machine, and is moveable in a
plane corresponding to the centre of the rotating mould boxes. On the
shaft carrying the rotatory mould boxes we fix a catch wheel having
suitable recesses made therein, and into which recesses the the moveable
bolt may pass and so hold the mould boxes firmly in position while the
clay or loam is filled and pressed therein. When the mould boxes are
filled and pressed the cam fixed on the main driving shaft operates upon
the end of the lever, giving motion to the same, which causes the other
end of the lever to withdraw the bolt from the recess in the catch
wheel, thus leaving the mould boxes at liberty to be rotated the required
distance to present fresh moulds for filling with clay or loam as before.
During part of the rotatory movement of the mould boxes the cam on
the driving shaft ceases to operate on the lever, which is then drawn
down by the 'weight attached to it, and the other end of the lever carries
the bolt into the next recess presented to it by the catch wheel; thus the
mould boxes are firmly held in position as before.
The object of the third part of our Invention is to prevent the
adhesion of clay or loam to the moveable base of mould boxes used in
brickmaking machines. This object is attained by heating the surface
thereof.
In carrying out this part of our Invention we form a chamber in the
movcable base of mould boxes, into which chamber we pass steam or
hot air through suitable tubes.
Such being the nature and object of our said Invention for "Certain
Improvements in Machinery for Making Bricks," we will now proceed
to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may
be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same

page_text: may be distinctly understood we have annexed hereunto two Sheets of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof, the same letters of reference indicating correspond-
ing parts throughout all the Figures, that is to say :-
The first part of our Invention relates to certain improvements in
rotatory mould boxes used in brickmaking machines, and consists in the
application and use of metal linings fixed within the same, and are
particularly referred to in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, under the letter m 1.
We fix the said metal linings within the rotatory mould boxes by means
of pins or screw bolts n 1 (Fig. 4, 5, and 6.)
The improvements under the head of the second part of our Invention
relate to the regulating and controlling of rotatory mould boxes.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation; Fig. 2 an end elevation; Fig. 3 a
plan of a brickmaking machine in which two mould boxes are employed;
Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of our improved mould boxes; Fig. 5 a
cross section; and Fig. 6 a sectional view of the same.
a indicates the framework; b is a driving shaft carrying a pinion 6 1;
c is a crank shaft and is the main shaft from which the various parts of
the machine are operated; d is a spur wheel keyed on the end of the
crank shaft c; e is a connecting rod operated by the crank shaft c and
is connected with a rocking lever f; g is a connecting rod connected at
one end to the rocking lever fand at its other end to a knuckle joint h
which is attached at its lower end to an adjustable plate i in the frame-
work a; the upper end of the knuckle joint is connected with a
presser j; is a connecting rod operated by the crank shaft c and is
connected to a rocking lever 1; m (see Figs. 2 and 3) is a connecting
rod connected at one end to the rocking lever 1, and at its other end to a
knuckle joint n which is attached at its lower end to an adjustable
plate o in the framework a, the upper end of the knuckle joint n is
connected with a presser p; q is a connecting rod operated by the crank
shaft c and is connected to a ram working in slides 1 in the frame-
work a; s is a connecting rod operated by the crank shaft c and is
connected to a ram t which works in slides 1 in the framework a; u is
a rotatory mould box working in suitable bearings in the framework a
and containing 4 recessed moulds. On the end of the said mould box is
a catch wheel having 4 pawle notches in its periphery, and also 4

page_text: tapered recesses 1; w is a rotatory mould box also working in suitable
bearings in the framework a and containing 4 recessed moulds. On the
end of the said mould box is a catch wheel x having 4 pawle notches
made in its periphery and also four tapered recesses x²; y is an ordinary
hopper used in brickmaking machines to receive the clay or loam; z is
a screw to press the clay or loam down into the machine; 2¹ is a breeches
pipe into which the clay or loam is pressed by the action of the screw 2,
the said breeches pipe terminates in mouth-pieces ≈4; 2 is a bridge
which divides the clay or loam and causes an equal quantity (or
thereabouts) to pass to cach set of rotatory mould boxes; z 3 are waste
pipes through which may pass any surplus clay or loam; al is a
connecting rod working at one end on a pin a 2 fixed in the spur wheel d
and is connected at its other end to two short levers 62 working on the
end of the mould box u; c1 is a pawle working between the levers 6 2
and takes into the pawle notches in the catch wheel v; dl is a disc
wheel fixed on the end of the crank shaft c; el is a connecting rod
working at one end on a pin e 2 fixed in the disc wheel d 1. The other
end of the said connecting rod is connected to two short levers f1 fixed
on the end of the rotatory mould box w; g 1 is a pawle working between
the levers f1 and takes into the pawle notches in the catch wheel x;
1 is a bell-crank lever working on a stud 2 fixed in the framework a.
One end of the said lever is operated upon by a cam h 3 fixed on the
spur wheel d, the other end of the said lever is connected by means of a
stud j1 to a moveable bolt j2 supported in suitable bearings j3. Near
to the end of the said lever which is operated upon by the cam h3 we
suspend a weight j 4 by meams of a rod or chain; 1 (see Fig. 3) is a
bell-crank lever working on a stud 2 fixed in the framework a, one end
of the said lever is operated upon by a cam k 3 fixed in the disc wheel
the other end of the said lever is connected by means of a stud / 1
to a moveable bolt 12 supported in suitable bearings 13.
al;
Near to the end of the said lever which is operated upon by the
cam 3 wc suspend a weight similar to j4 by similar means and
for a similar purpose. Motion being given to the crank shaft c the
ram is moved forwards and comes in contact with the clay or loam
from the mouth-piece 4 of the breeches pipe 1, and forces it into
one of the moulds in the mould box (sec Figs. 1 and 3), by the
continued motion of the crank shaft c the cam 3 comes in contact
with and raises the end of the lever 1, and withdraws the bolt j2

page_text: from the recess in the catch wheel v, leaving it at liberty to be rotated
the distance required to present the next mould box for filling; this
rotation is accomplished by the action of the pin a 2 (fixed in the
spur wheel d) upon the connecting rod a 1 and the pawle cl. By
the continued motion of the crank shaft c the cam 3 escapes from
the end of the lever 1, the weight j4 pulls down the said lever
and forces the bolt j2 against the periphery of the catch wheel v
ready to enter the next tapered recess therein, and thus secure the
mould box u firmly in position for filling with clay or loam, as before,
the precceding mould being filled with clay or loam is now in the
position for pressing, which is accomplished by the action of the crank
shaft c upon the connecting rod e, the rocking lever f and connecting
rod upon the knuckle joint h; the latter is drawn into a straight
position, and the base plate i being rigid the presser j is brought with
great force against the clay or loam in the mould box u (see Figs. 1
and 2); by the next revolution of the crank shaft c another mould is
presented to the ram for filling with clay or loam the opposite mould
containing the brick which has been last pressed.
The action of the ram in filling the mould against its moveable
base ejects the pressed brick in a finished state.
Having now described the mode of making bricks in the mould
box it will be unnecessary to describe the process of making bricks
in the mould box w, as the action of all the parts is exactly similar, tho
machine being constructed to work two sets of mould boxes alternately,
that is to say, while a brick in the mould box u is being pressed one of
the moulds in the rotatory mould box w is being filled.
The object of the 3rd part of our Invention is to prevent the adhesion
of clay or loam to the moveable base of mould boxes used in brick
making machines. This part of our Invention is particularly referred
to in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the accompanying Drawings. m 1.shews
the before-mentioned metal linings of the mould boxes; n 1, the pins
by which the said linings are secured; o1 shews the moveable bases
of the rotatory mould boxes herein-before referred to having hollow
chambers; o2 are tubular connecting pieces holding the moveable bases
of the mould boxes in position by means of the screws 03; pl are
flexible tubes for conveying steam or hot air to the chambers of the
moveable bases of the mould boxes; p 2 are tubes for conveying away
the exhaust steam or air; the flexible tubes p1 and p2 are connected