IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE- PARATION OF CLAY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER ARTICLES WHICH MAY BE MADE OF SUCH MATERIAL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, and William Richardson, of the same Place,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE-
PARATION OF CLAY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER
ARTICLES WHICH MAY BE MADE OF SUCH MATERIAL."
Sealed the 7th June 1864, and dated the 12th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and William
Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 12th December 1863.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, and WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PREPARATION OF CLAY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER
ARTICLES WHICH MAY BE MADE OF SUCH MATERIAL," to be as follows:--
Our Invention relates to improvements upon that machinery for which
Letters Patent were granted to us, dated 4th September 1862, No. 2450.
According to an arrangement described in the Specification thereof, the
clay was fed to two screws running at different speeds, whereby the masses of
material were to a certain extent broken up. These screws were of short
length, situate beneath the hopper, and they delivered the material to a re-
volving tube, from the end of which it was taken and fed to the " pulverizer."
We now propose that the hopper or other feeding apparatus shall deliver the

page_text: clay to screws of considerable length, occupying the position formerly assigned
to the revolving tube, and preparing it therefore for feeding the "pulverizer."
Or to cause the said screws to constitute a continuation or extension of the
revolving cylinder. These screws we place side by side, or above each other,
and we cause them to run at different speeds, or in contrary directions, so
that while they convey the material forward they disintegrate it to a certain
extent. We propose also to cause the clay as it becomes broken up to
fall or pass to another screw or screws, the first of such screws still con-
tinuing the operation upon the larger pieces, and to place apertures or grids
at intervals, through which the smaller pieces may pass. We propose also
to apply heat, and thus partially dry the clay as it is operated upon, and
caused to travel onward by the action of a screw or screws. This application
of heat may be effected by a current of hot air, or by other known means
of applying heat.
We also propose as an improvement upon the arrangement described in
the Specification of our former Patent aforesaid, and in conjunction with
the screws therein described, the use of a smashing apparatus, consisting of
revolving teeth, which intercept and smash up the clay as it leaves the said
These teeth we also cause to traverse, and thereby act laterally;
or for the same purpose we mount them in a spiral form, and above we place
a roller, in conjunction with which they act.
Also as an improvement upon the aforesaid revolving tube, we form the
same with apertures at intervals, through which the material which has been
sufficiently divided is allowed to pass. The smashers above described we
propose to apply to the screw or screws first mentioned, placing them at any
convenient distances apart.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and William Richardson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th June 1864.
TO ALL TO 'WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN S
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Platt and William Richardson, Her special license that we, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and William Richardson,.
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 THE PREPARATION OF CLAY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS, TILES, AND OTHER SUCH ARTICLES WHICH MAY
BE MADE OF SUCH MATERIAL," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, by an instrument in writing under
our 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 John Platt and William Richardson,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :—
In the accompanying Drawings Figs. 1, 2, and 3, will illustrate the first
part of my Invention. At the right-hand side of Fig. 1, g represents the
hopper, by means of which the clay is delivered to two revolving screws, as
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to us, and bearing date
September Fourth One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, No. 2450.
These screws, as therein mentioned, break up the clay to a certain extent, and
deliver it to a revolving tube.
66
According to our present method we dispense with the tube, and substitute.
therefor a stationary trough, within which are situate two revolving screws a, b,
turning in contrary directions, or at unequal speeds, so as to effect a tearing.
action upon the clay, and a breaking up or disintegration thereof, while at the
same time they convey it forward to be delivered at c, either direct into the
'pulverizer," or into any required receptacle. The screws a, b, are shewn
broken off in the middle, as they are of considerable length, say, thirty yards,
dependant, however, upon the rate of their revolution or the quality of
material to be operated upon. The clay is fed to these screws by the other
screws d, e, and for the purposes of this part of our Invention this feeding
may be direct; in the Drawing, however, an intermediate apparatus is shewn,

page_text: which will hereafter be described in conjunction with the whole machine, and
another portion of our Invention.
In place of the arrangement above described, the revolving tube shewn .in
the Specification of our former Patent aforesaid may be retained, and the two
screws d, e, used in combination therewith, and in continuation thereof. The
casing within which the screws a, b, are placed may be furnished at intervals
with grids at its lower part, so as to allow the material when disintegrated to.
a certain extent to fall through the openings thus provided, and these.smaller
particles may drop into another trough furnished with a revolving sorew, by
which they may be conveyed forward, the larger lumps still continuing to be
broken up by the two revolving screws.
We will now proceed to describe other parts of our Invention embodied in
the arrangement of machinery shewn in the above-mentioned Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
At g is the hopper, in which the clay is placed, and from whence it passes on
to the breaking-up screws d, e, of our former Patent above referred to. These
screws after partially breaking up the material pass it onwards towards a
revolving drum or smasher h, armed with a number of projecting teeth, which
teeth, as seen in Fig. 2, are arranged in spirals upon the said drum. Beyond
this is another smasher i of similar form, and the two are situate within
curved casings k, k. Above the smashers h, i, are drums mounted upon
levers m, which are capable of turning upward upon centres n, and at o are
blades carried by the said levers, and acting as scrapers against the peripheries
of the drums. At a, b, are two screws placed within troughs f, f, and pro-
vided with a chamber p extending the length of the screws, and rising up
between them, as seen in Fig. 2. Into this chamber steam is admitted. The
operation is as follows:-The clay being placed in the hopper 9, is delivered,
as before mentioned, to the smasher h; by the rapid revolution of this instru-
ment in the direction of the arrow, the clay is broken into smaller pieces and
carried forward to the other smasher i, by which, and by the joint action of
the two, a further breaking up is effected, the spiral arrangement of the teeth
securing an action upon all parts of a lump. This rapid revolution of the
smashers would, of necessity, throw a large portion of the clay upward, but
this is prevented by the covering effected through medium of the drums 1,
which drums are caused to revolve, in order to prevent the clay from being
plastered thereon, but should any adhere thereto it is removed by the scrapers o.
The drums rise with the levers m if an undue mass of material press against
them. The clay thus broken up is projected by the smasher into the
trough q, and on to the screws a, b, which, in this instance, are supposed to.
revolve in contrary directions and at equal speeds; the effect is, the working of

page_text: the clay against the sides of the steam chest p, whereby it becomes partially
dried, and to some extent a disintegration of the particles is effected, which
are in this condition delivered direct to the "pulverizer," or to any other
machine or receptacle. The screws a, b, are shewn as broken off in the
middle, they being of considerable length, say, thirty yards, but the said
length may be varied. Should it happen under some circumstances that the
drying effected by the steam chest is not sufficient, the screws a, b, may
be covered in, and a blast of hot air blown or drawn by a fan or other
apparatus over the surface of the material, or steam pipes may be placed
along the troughs, as shewn at 20. In this arrangement, as in the first
described, grids may be formed around the lower parts of the troughs f, for
the purpose of allowing the more finely divided portions of clay to fall through,
and to be conveyed forward by another screw or screws. The above-mentioned
revolving parts may have motion communicated to them in any convenient
manner, but as certain gearing is shewn, we will point out its arrangement.
The first motion shaft is at r, upon which there is a pinion s driving a wheel t,
the shaft of which carries a pinion u gearing into a wheel v. This wheel is
upon the axis of one of the screws a, b, the two being geared together by
pinions w, x. The two smashers are driven separately through the medium
of pulleys y, which on their axes carry other pullies 2, which drive the shafts n,
and these shafts are provided with pinions 1 taking into wheels 2 on the axes
of the drums . The screws d, e, are driven from the shaft 3 through the
medium of wheels 4, 5, and are geared together by pinions 6, 7. The two
screws a, b, described in conjunction with the steam chest have been mentioned
as running at equal speeds in contrary directions, but if desired they may be
caused to revolve at unequal speeds, and we would also remark that the
smashers may be used at one or more intervals along the length of such
screws, whether they be supplied with heat, or are without heat, as in the first
described arrangement.
Another part of our Invention refers specially to the revolving tube
described in the Specification of our former Patent above referred to, and
consists in forming openings at intervals of the length thereof, through which
the smaller particles of clay may pass. Fig. 4 represents a method of effecting
this. The tube referred to being of considerable length, is made in a number
of parts joined together. At the required intervals for the openings we place
filling pieces 8 between the flanges, so as to provide a number of spaces 9.
These spaces deliver the smaller particles of clay to a shute 10, at the bottom
of which is a revolving screw 11, which carries them forward to the
"pulverizer," or to any other required situation. In order to prevent the

page_text: openings from being choked up, we adopt the following contrivance:-At 12
is a stationary pulley over which a chain passes, carrying at one end a
weight 18. The other end of the chain is connected to a bell-crank lever 14,
capable of turning upon a centre at 15. One arm of this bell-crank lever
extends upwards, projecting into the openings 9. As the tube revolves the
lever 14 is caused to turn upon its centre by the filling pieces 8, they being
formed as inclines for that purpose, but when a filling piece has left the lever
the weight 13 projects it upward, and clears the opening if it be choked.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be
understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,-
Firstly, as an improvement upon our former Patent above referred to, the
use of the screws a, b, in place of or in conjunction with the tube described in
our said former Patent.
Secondly, we claim the use of a screw or screws in conjunction with a steam
chest or other heating medium, for the purposes above set forth.
Thirdly, the use of a screw or screws for the aforesaid purposes moving in
a trough or troughs, which will allow the smaller particles to fall through.
Fourthly, as an improvement upon our former Patent aforesaid, the use of 2
the smashers illustrated at h, i. Also in reference to such smashers we claim
their use in combination with the screws illustrated at a, b.
Fifthly, as an improvement upon the revolving tube of our former Patent
aforesaid, we claim the use of openings therein for the smaller particles to
pass through.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Platt and William Richardson,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of June, Oue
thousand eight bundred and sixty-four.
2
JNO. PLATT.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM RICHARDSON. (L.S.)