IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORED BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR MOULDING THE SAME
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Large at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
November 1871.
I, HENRY LARGE, of Judd Street, Euston Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORED BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER
ANALOGOUS ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR MOULDING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to a novel mode of making colored bricks, tiles,
and other analogous articles, such as black, red, blue, yellow, or other
colors, my object being to produce colored bricks with a good face and of
a clear permanent color in an inexpensive manner. To this end I take
by preference burnt earth, or clay, or an equivalent quantity of fine sand,
and I mix therewith either slaked lime, Scott's selenitic lime, or Portland
cement with a sufficient quantity of water to cause the materials to
combine and adhere together without making them too damp. These
materials are well ground and mixed together in a mortar mill or other

page_text: suitable machine with the addition of the coloring matter that is required
to produce bricks of the desired color, and the mixture is then placed in
moulds of suitable size and shape according to the article intended to be
produced. Supposing for instance it be desired to produce a black brick,
lampblack or other suitable pigment is ground up with the other
materials, and while the ingredients are in a damp state they are
submitted to great pressure in moulds of the required shape so as to
cause the materials to adhere together. When the desired article is
produced in the mould it is pushed out therefrom and allowed to stand
a short time to dry and harden, when it will be fit for use, thereby
dispensing altogether with the burning process usually employed in
making bricks.
The machine which I use for moulding and pressing the bricks, tiles, or
other analogous articles consists of a rotating mould, table, or frame in
which are holes or recesses to receive the moulds. Any convenient
number of mould holes may be made in the rotating table, but in practice
I find that not more than six is a convenient number. An intermittent
rotary motion is given to this mould table by means of a tappet wheel
actuated by a tappet or pin fixed in a continuously revolving toothed
wheel driven by a pinion on the main shaft. On the axle of the toothed
wheel is a cam or excentric, which actuates a plunger on the lower end
of a plate which works in vertical guides. This plunger comes down
on to the earthy materials in the moulds and compresses them with great
force, and thereby moulds them into the required form. The compressed
and newly formed article is discharged from the mould by means of a s
second plunger connected to the end of a lever jointed to the top of the
plunger plate and actuated thereby.
The article when discharged is deposited on an endless apron, to which
an intermittent travelling motion is communicated for the purpose of
carrying the newly made articles out of the machine. Or the brick may
be deposited on a palm at the upper end of a vertical rod counter-
balanced by a weight, so that when the brick is removed therefrom the
palm will of itself return to its proper place and receive another article
or brick.