IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
"
18
& Co, Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings London for an Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS
A communication to him from abroad by Henry R. Dickinson of Hamilton;
Illinois, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th September 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, " IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS [A communication to him from abroad by Henry R.
Dickinson of Hamilton, Illinois, United States of America.]
"
This Invention relates to improvements in machines for compressing nearly dry
pulverized clay into bricks ready for "hacking up," or making into piles for
drying.
According to the said invention I construct a machine in which the main frame
has two side plates and a base plate to which the said side plates are fixed with a
space between them. The said side plates correspond in form and are held together
by bolts, suitable bearings projecting from each plate to the median line. These
side plates form a frame which is bent in form to reach over and under a table.
A bolt connects the upper and lower parts, the said bolt passing from the said
bearings through the table to give strength to the frame.
The said table is circular, and bears four pairs of moulds (one pair in each
quarter) and has a stationary table at one side for holding the clay for filling the
moulds. The table rests by an annular bearing in a sunken channel in a saddle
piece or bearing which rests upon, and spans, the space between the side plates.
The said saddle piece is adjustable so as to bring the moulds true under their
plungers, and its sunken channel is arranged to carry oil for its lubrication. The
table is arranged to turn upon this saddle-piece or bearing by means of a band?

page_text: crank and suitable gearing so as to bring each pair of moulds in turn into the
several positions for filling with clay, compressing the clay into bricks, and dis-
charging the bricks, so that there will be a pair in each position at the same time.
The main lever is pivotted on a bolt between the top ends of the said side plates,
and is connected by a link and pivots, or pins, with a slide below it which is fitted
to move freely up and down in guide ways between the side plates and bears
plungers on its lower end, arranged to descend into the moulds when in place
below. This lever, is also connected to a lower lever by a link so as to impart
movement to the same.
The lower lever is connected by a link and pivot, or pin, with a pivot between
the lower ends of the side plates and by a pivot or pin with a slide which is held in
guide ways between the side plates so as to move freely vertically.
The moulds have movable bottoms arranged to fit them closely but' free to slide
up and down, and having projections at the underside to hold them from falling
out. These bottoms have long dependent bases which project below the table
when down, and come over the head of the lower slide when the moulds are turned
into place under the plungers.
The link connecting the main lever and lower lever is connected by another link
with a holder on a lever which is pivotted on a bolt.
This holder is movable along
the lever so as to adjust the length of its throw or travel
The said lever is connected by a link to another slide which is held in guide
ways between the side plates so as to move freely up and down, and has plungers
on its upper end arranged to enter the moulds when the same are in position
opposite to the upper plungers. These lower plungers have catches rising above
them, with enlarged heads, which are arranged to fit into channels in the dependent
bases of the mould bottoms, so as to enter and leave them only as the table turns,
the channels being contracted below so that the enlarged parts cannot pass out
downwardly; but any other form of catch which will act in a similar manner may
be used as an equivalent therefor.
The table has catch spaces or notches cut in its lower rim one for each pair of
moulds, and a catch is borne by a rock-shaft between the side plates so that it may
be thrown by a handle into one of the said notches when the table is turned to
bring a pair of moulds true under the plungers so as to lock and hold them in place
for the plungers to descend and enter the moulds.
The main lever is moved by a pitman from a crank on the driving wheel so as
to move it down and up a certain space. This pitman has a slot for the pivot of
the main lever to allow the lever to be stationary a portion of the time, and the
lever has a counterweight arranged to balance the weight of the parts and hold
them up during such time.
The parts are arranged so that when the moulds opposite the stationary table
are filled with pulverized clay from it, the rotary table can be turned by a
crank until these moulds are brought into position under the plungers while
another pair of moulds are brought into place to be filled, and the slot in the said
pitman allows the main lever to remain stationary until the table is caught by
the said catch. The parts are also arranged so that as the driving wheel turns,
the pitman is drawn down further, so as to draw down the main lever, pushing the
upper slide down, and the upper plungers into the moulds, and the lower slide up,
and the mould bottoms into the moulds so as to press the clay into compact bricks
by motion inward from both top and bottom, and make both sides equally compact;
and then the pitman is pushed up again, returning all the parts to their first
position, withdrawing the plungers from the moulds, leaving the table free to turn
again to bring new moulds into these positions, and to take the moulds containing
the pressed bricks forward.
This arrangement of parts is such that at the moment of greatest pressure upon
the bricks, the said pivots or pins, the plungers, mould-bottoms, and moulds are
brought into one direct line with the outer bolts which bear the strain, so as to
obtain great pressure by machinery of an economic weight.

page_text: When the upper plungers descend into the moulds, a lever pushes the lower
plungers up into the moulds on the opposite side of the table, so as to push out the
bricks into position to be removed by hand, and the reverse motion pulls down the
lower plungers and the inould bottoms by the said enlarged heads engaging with
their contracted channels. The motion of the said lever then relaxes so as to
release the pressure between the said heads and the mould-bottoms and leave the
table free to turn.
The driving belt runs on a pulley which has a friction-pulley on the same shaft
to engage with, and turn, a friction-wheel which has a pulley on its shaft to turn
the driving wheel. The two first pulleys are mounted on a swinging frame, which
has a foot lever by which it can be turned to. press one of the said pulleys onto the
said friction wheel to turn it and drive the machinery; but without the pressure of
which the friction will not drive and the machine is idle: A lever is connected by
a bar with the said swinging frame so that until the said lever moves so far as to
throw the aforesaid catch into a notch in the table, the said frame cannot move far
enough to drive the machine, which prevents the accident of bringing down the
plungers when the moulds are not in exact position to receive them.
In some cases the aforesaid driving wheel is not used, and instead, a lever is
pivotted at its journal bearings and arranged to move by hand. This lever, has a
slot for a pulley to travel in, which pulley is held by bars from the main lever so
as to pull the main lever down with a leverage which increases very greatly when,
by the motion of the slotted lever, the pulley runs along the slot to the pivotted.
end of the said slotted lever so as to gain great force upon the brick at the point of
greatest pressure.
Several of the parts may be modified to secure a like result by equivalent
means,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE
Southampton Buildings, London
MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS A communication to me from abroad by Henry R.
Dickinson of Hamilton, Illinois, United States of America
"
This invention relates to improvements in machines for compressing nearly dry
pulverized clay into bricks ready for "hacking up" or making into piles for
drying.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1, is a perspective view of a machine constructed according to this
invention as arranged to be driven by power.
Figure 2, is a similar view of a machine arranged to be driven by hand
Figure 3 is a central vertical section of the machine shown in figure 1.
The main frame has two side plates A, A¹, and a base plate A¹¹, to which they
are fixed with a space between them. The plates A, A¹ correspond in form; and are
held together by bolts B, B' and b 6'; bearings c, c¹ projecting from the said plates
to the median line between them. These side plates form a frame which is formed
to project over and under the table D as shown. The bolt C in the bearings c, c¹
connects the upper and lower projecting parts through the table D, to give.
strength to the frame.
The table D is circular and bears four pairs of moulds d, d', one pair in each
quarter, and has a stationary table D' at one side, for holding the clay for filling
the moulds. The table D rests on an annular bearing in a sunken channel in the
saddle E, which rests upon and spans the space between the plates A, A¹. The
said saddle is, adjustable, so as to bring the moulds true under their plungers M,
and the sunken channel is arranged to carry oil for its lubrication. The table D is
arranged to turn upon this bearing by means of a hand crank F and gearing, as
shown, so as to bring each pair of moulds in turn into the several positions for
filling with clay, compressing the clay into brick, and for discharging the brick, so
that there will be a pair of moulds in each position at the same time.
The main lever G is pivoted on the bolt B, between the top ends of the
plates A, A¹, and is connected by a link I and pivots i, i with the slide H below,
which slide is fitted to move freely up and down in guide ways between the
plates A, A¹, and bears plungers M on its lower end, arranged to descend into the
moulds d when in place below. This lever G is also connected to the lever G¹
below by a link K, so as to impart movement to the same.
The lever G¹ is connected by the link I and the pivot " with the pivot B'
between the lower ends of the plates A, A¹, and by the pivot 11 with the slide H¹,
which is held in guide ways between the plates A, A¹, so as to move freely
vertically.
The moulds d, d¹, have movable bottoms N arranged to fit them closely, but free
to slide up and down, and have projections on the undersides to prevent them from
falling out. These bottoms have long dependant bases which project below the
table when down, and come over the head of slide H' when the moulds are turned
into place under the plungers M.
The link K is connected by the link K¹ with the holder L' on the lever L, which
is pivoted on the bolt B¹. This holder is movable along the lever so as to adjust
the length of its throw.

page_text: The lever L is connected by the link K" to the slide P, which is held in guide
ways between plates A, A¹ so as to move freely up and down, and has plungers P¹
on its upper end, arranged to enter the moulds d' when in position opposite to the
plungers M. These plungers have catch heads or catches R rising above them,
with enlarged tops, which are arranged to fit into channels in the dependent bases
of the mould bottoms, so as to enter and leave them only as the table turns, the
channels being contracted below so that the enlarged parts cannot pass out down-
wardly but any other form of catch which will act in a similar manner may be used
as an equivalent therefor.
'
The table D has catch spaces or notches cut in its lower rim, one for each pair
of moulds, and a catch holder S is carried by a rock shaft S' between the
plates A, A¹, so that it may be thrown by the handle S" into a notch when the
table is turned to bring a pair of moulds directly under the plungers M, so as to
lock and hold them in place for the plungers to descend and enter the moulds.
The lever G is moved by the pitman T from a crank on the driving wheel T', so
as to move it down and up a certain space. This pitman has a slot T" for the
pivot of the lever G, to allow the latter to be stationary a portion of the time, and
the said lever has a counter weight G₁ arranged to balance the weight of the parts
and hold them up during such time.
The parts are arranged as shown, so that when the moulds opposite the table D'
are filled with pulverized clay, the table can be turned by the crank F until these
moulds are brought under the plungers M, while another pair of moulds are
brought into place to be filled the slot in the pitman T allowing the lever G to
remain stationary, and until the table is caught by the holder S with the parts in
the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the pivots in the position shown in
dotted lines in Figure 3. The parts are also arranged, so that then as the
wheel T turns, the pitman is drawn down further so as to draw down the lever G,
and bring the parts into the positions shown in full lines in Figure 3, pushing the
slide H down, the plungers M into the moulds d the slide H' up, and the mould
bottoms N into the moulds so as to press the clay into a compact brick by inward
motion from both top and bottom, and make both sides equally compact. The
pitman is then again pushed up returning all the parts to their first position,
withdrawing the plungers from the moulds, leaving the table free to turn again to
bring new moulds into position and to take the moulds containing the pressed
brick forward.
This arrangement of parts is such that at the moment of greatest pressure upon
the brick, the pivots i, i, i, 2, the plungers M the mould bottoms N, and the
moulds are brought into one direct line with the outer bolts B, B¹ which bear the
strain, as shown in Figure 3, so as to secure great pressure by machinery of an
economic weight.
When the plungers descend into the moulds d, the lever L pushes the
plungers P' up into the moulds d' on the opposite side of the table, so as to push
out the brick as shown in figures 2 and 3, so that they can be removed by hand
and the reverse motion pulls down the plungers P₁and the mould bottoms N, by
the enlarged heads of parts R engaging with their contracted channels. The motion
of the lever L then ceases so as to release the pressure between the heads R and
bottoms N, and leave the table free to turn.
The driving belt runs on the pulley V, which has a friction pulley V' on the
same shaft, to engage with and turn the friction wheel U¹ which has a pulley U on
its shaft to turn the driving wheel T¹. The pulleys V, V₁ are mounted on a
swinging frame Z, which is pivoted to turn at Z₁, and has a foot lever W by
which it can be turned to press the pulley V' on to the wheel U', to turn it and
drive the machinery; but without which pressure the machine will not run.
lever S is connected by a bar V" with the frame Z so that until the lever Su
moves so far as to throw the holding lock S into its catch or notch in the table,
the frame Z cannot move far enough to drive the machine, thereby preventing
The

page_text: the plungers from coming down when the moulds are not in exact position to
receive them.
In some cases instead of the wheel T¹ a lever X is pivoted at its journal
bearings and arranged to move by hand. This lever has a slot X¹ for a roller t to
move in, which roller is held by bars t', t¹¹, on lever G, so as to pull the lever G
down with a power which increases very greatly, when by the motion of the
lever X, the pulley runs along the slot towards the pivoted end of the said lever so
as to gain great force upon the brick at the point of greatest pressure. This
arrangement is shown in figure 2, the machine in all other respects being the same
as when the power attachment is used.
I do not limit myself to the precise details of construction hereinbefore described
as it is obvious that several of the parts may be modified without departing from
the nature of this invention
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent and the manner of performing the same I wish it understood
that I claim
First The combination, with a movable brick mould, of the lever G pivoted to
the main frame at B, and having the slide H and the plunger M connected with it
by the link I, and the lever G' pivoted to the main frame at B' through the link I'
and having the slide H' connected with the plunger N pivoted to it, all arranged
and connected as set forth, so that the mould and series of connecting parts and
their joints will come into one direct line between the pivots B, B¹, at the point of
greatest pressure on the brick, substantially as set forth
Second, The combination of the driving wheel T¹ the slotted pitman T and the
lever G, with the lever G₁ the plungers M, N, and the table D, carrying brick
moulds arranged substantially as set forth, so that the said driving wheel may
turn while the pressing apparatus remains stationary for the table to turn.
Third. The combination of the slide L', the lever L, the slide P, and the plungers Pl
having catches R, with the channels in the movable brick mould bottoms Ñ, arranged
as set forth, to draw down the said bottoms into the moulds.
Fourth. The combination of the friction driving wheel V' with a brick machine
having a movable table with moulds, and provided with a catch or holder S and
with a guard bar V₁ for preventing the application of power until the said catch
is in its place in the table.
Fifth. The combination of the revolving table D, having brick moulds, with an
annular channel bearing therefor adapted to hold oil for its lubrication.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twentieth day of March in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty three