IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Woodcock, of Hulme, in the City of
Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Woodcock at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
June 1855.
I, WILLIAM WOODCOCK, of Hulme, in the City of Manchester, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS" to
be as follows:-
My Invention is applicable to that class of machines in which the moulds
for the bricks or other articles are made in a circular horizontal table. The
clay or other plastic material is supplied to the moulds by a hopper, and a
stationary inclined trough is so placed, that as the circular table revolves, an
additional quantity of the plastic material is conveyed into the moulds by a
damper placed near each mould. These dampers can be raised more or less
above the level of the table to regulate the additional quantity of plastic
material, and a sliding door is placed for the same purpose near the upper end
of the inclined trough. The dampers and the loose bottoms of the moulds
are pushed up by suitable rollers or inclines placed under the circular
table, and-the-bricks or other articles are guided off the table by curved

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Woodcock in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WOODCOCK, of Hulme, in the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Woodcock, Her special license that I, the said William Woodcock,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Woodcock, my 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 MACHINERY FOR
MAKING BRICKS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF PLASTIC MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Woodcock, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said William Woodcock; do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing. Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
(that is to say):
The nature of my Invention consists in the application of an inclined trough
to those inachines for making bricks and other articles of plastic materials-in-
which a circular. horizontal table is employed, and in combining therewith
sliding dampers, by which the proper quantity of plastic material is supplied
to the moulds, and also in the machinery for raising the said dampers. I
have in the said Drawing given Figures for shewing how my Invention may
be constructed, similar parts in each of the. views being marked with similar
letters of reference..
Figure 1 of the said Drawing is an elevation of the machine for making
bricks to which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a sectional eleva-

page_text: by the
tion; and Figure 3, a plan of the same; Figure 4 is a plan of the foundation
plate a, and of some of the parts attached thereto. b is the centre column,
fixed to the foundation plate by bolts; this column serves as a fulcrum for the
circular table c, to which a slow rotary motion is imparted by the pinion d
gearing into the wheel e, which is cast to or attached to the plate c; f, f, and
9, 9, are bearings bolted to the foundation plate for supporting the antifriction
rollers h, h, upon which the outer circumference of the circular table c bears;
the inclined trough i is supported by the three bearings f.f, and by the circular
flange, which fits on the upper end of the column 6; this flange is held firm.
by the cotters k and by the lid 7, which is held on the column by the bolt m.
The flange of the inclined trough i is bolted to the flange j, the space between
them, shewn in Figure 2, being filled at intervals by chipping pieces .or
wedges. To the circular plate cis bolted the ring n, containing in this
instance 12 moulds o, but a greater or less number of moulds may be used,
if preferred. Each mould contains a loose bottom p, see Figure 2, which has
a shank passing through the table c; these shanks, as the table c revolves,
come against the inclined plane r, by which the loose bottoms p, and conse-
quently the bricks in the moulds, are raised into the proper position for
removing the bricks from the machine; this may be done by hand, or
curved incline s. Between each of the moulds o is a sliding damper t; these
dampers also pass through the table c, and their lower ends are raised as the
table. revolves by the incline u, which is placed between the incline and
the hopper v. The mode of operation is as follows The machine is set in
motion by steam or other power, and clay is supplied to, the hopper by hand,
or any other convenient manner. I prefer to use pulverized or nearly dry
clay, and as the table revolves each mould is filled in succession. The
dampers t, which are raised to their highest position just before they pass
under the hopper, collect the clay that is above the mould, and carry forward
the proper quantity for forming a brick into the inclined trough i; the upper
end of the damper then comes in contact with, and is gradually depressed by,-
the inclined trough i, thereby preventing the escape of the clay collected in
front of the damper, and causing it to be compressed into the mould by the
inclined trough i, small openings being made at w through .the trough to allow
for the escape of air and of the surplus clay. As soon as the moulds get
beyond the extreme end of the inclined trough i, the shanks come in contact
with the incline r, which gradually forces the bricks up out of the mould, as
shewn in Figure 1. The curved inclines then guides the bricks from the
machine, or they may be removed by hand, as before stated. When the shanks
9 get beyond the incliner, the false bottoms being no longer_held_up_by_the_

page_text: inclines, are allowed to drop by their own weight, and the shanks, as the table
carries them forward, pass through the groove a in the incline u, by which the
dampers are elevated. In Figure 1 two of the dampers are shewn partly
raised, and one is completed raised, or in the position for entering below the
hopper. The segment supporting the incline u may be prolonged, as shewn
in Figure 4, to prevent the descent of the dampers, the part between the
letters y and z being of the same inclination as that of the trough i. The
surfaces of the inclines r and u, against which the shanks g and dampers t
come in contact, are made of hardened steel to diminish the friction and con-
sequent wearing away, and to facilitate repairs when necessary. By altering
the rise of the incline u, the dampers may be made to rise more or less above
the level of the moulds, so as to regulate the additional quantity of clay
collected by them, and pressed into the moulds. The moulds o in the Drawing
above described are shewn of the proper dimensions for making bricks, but it
is obvious that, by varying the dimensions of the moulds and the rise of the
false bottoms, a machine may be made for making tiles or quarries or other
articles of plastic materials.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim, except as herein-
after expressly mentioned, any of the parts herein described, and which are
only shewn and referred to in order to illustrate my Invention; but that what
I do claim is, the inclined trough i with the dampers t when used for collect-
ing and compressing the proper quantity of plastic material into the moulds.
I also claim the incline u for raising the dampers t, and the groove a for
allowing the shanks 9 of the false bottoms p to pass, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Woodcock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW, Manchester.
W WOODCOCK. (L.S.)