IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OD BRICKS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Guthrie, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OD BRICKS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Guthrie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
November 1865.
I, EDWIN GUTHRIE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BRICKS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR,"
to be as follows (that is to say)
The object of this Invention is the economic manufacture of that class of
bricks known as facing bricks, which heretofore it is believed have been made
of the same kind of clay throughout. Now the object of this Invention is to
use a finer clay for facing one or more sides of the brick and using ordinary
brick earth for the body, so as to show a white or any desired coloured surface;
the layer or stratem of fine clay being of, say, from one-eighth to a quarter
of an inch in thickness, thus economising the better quality of clay without
impairing the appearance of the brick when used for building purposes, and may
be produced as follows:-First, take common clay and mould the same by any
of the ordinary methods used in brick making, but it is preferred that the side

page_text: or sides of the brick intended to be faced should be rather rough, and the mould
should be smaller to the extent of the thickness of the facing to be applied
thereto, so that the brick after receiving its facing will be of the required
size. These bricks are then partially dried, when the side or sides of the brick
intended to be faced are wetted and allowed to stand until the side, sides,
end or ends have partially absorbed the water, when it will be in a plastic
and adhesive condition, and.as nearly as possible in the same condition as the
facing clay to be used at the time of application. The brick is then placed on
an horizontal platform of a convenient height, supported on one side by the
frame of the table containing the facing clay, and on the other side by a frame
on the top of which is a small trough containing water. The platform upon
which the brick is laid is provided with a longitudinal flat-sided vertical
guide, against which the brick is placed. The upper edge of the trough
containing water, immediately opposite and parallel to the edge of the clay
table, has jointed thereto a rectangular frame, which encompasses the upper
edges of the brick when folded thereon, and which for the sake of stability is
made when so folded down to rest on the edge of the clay table. This frame
forms the mould to be filled with the facing clay, and which frame is so
jointed to the edge of the trough that it may be turned over and immersed or
partially immersed in the water therein during the time the brick last faced is
being removed.
When it is desired to face the side and end of the brick at the same time
a second trough containing water is placed at the end of the stage on which
the brick rests, the upper edge of which is in line with or below the point on
which the brick rests, and which is fitted with a folding mould frame very
similar to the one herein-before described for applying the facing to the side
of the brick, but which mould frame coincides when folded up vertically with
the lower edge and vertical sides of the end of the brick, and the vertical
sides of which extend above the horizontal mould frame, that side of the mould
frame forming the guage on the end of the brick. The facing clay is placed
in the mould frames by the hand of the operator, which adheres to the face of
the brick, when it may be smoothed off by band, a straightedge, or in any
other convenient manner. The brick is removed and allowed to partially dry;
if desired it may be pressed in an ordinary brick press, after which it is placed
in an oven or kiln of any ordinary description for the purpose of being burnt,
when it is ready for the market.
If it is desired to have the bricks pressed the facing clay may be rolled out
in sheets to the required thickness, and be cut to the required size, and then
applied to the moulded brick, after which the same is placed in the brick press,

page_text: which will insure perfect adhesion by simply wetting the two surfaces of the
clay which are in contact. An endless band or revolving circular table in
combination with rollers for rolling out the facing clay may be used in con-
nexion with a brick-making machine, which may consist of a fixed die or
mould fitted with moving pistons at top and bottom, in which case the sheet of
facing clay may be first fed on to the lower piston and raised the required
distance into the mould, which is then filled from the top, and the upper
piston brought down to give the required pressure, when the moulded brick
may be withdrawn by allowing the piston to descend simultaneously, so as to
clear the brick of the die or mould, or the lower piston may be brought up so
as to form a bottom for the mould, when the required quantity of brick, earth
is placed in the mould, after which the sheet of facing clay is laid on the top
of the die, and the upper piston brought down upon it, and after the required
pressure has been applied it may be withdrawn from the mould in, the same.
way as when the facing clay is applied from the bottom. In drawing the
bricks in either case it will be seen that one or other of the pistons will have
to recede to enable the brick to be removed after it leaves the mould.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Guthrie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
GUTHRIE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edwin Guthrie, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin
Guthrie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edwin Guthrie, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FOR BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND
IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that. I, the said
Edwin Guthrie, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under my, 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 I, the said Edwin Guthrie, 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 following
statement (that is to say) :-
This my said Invention has for its object the economic manufacture of
that class of bricks known as facing bricks, which heretofore I believe have
been made of the same kind of clay throughout. Now the object of this
my said Invention is to use a finer clay for facing one or more sides of
the brick, and using ordinary brick earth for the body, so as to show
a white or any desired coloured surface. The layer or stratem of fine
clay being of, say, from one-eighth to a quarter of an inch in thickness,
thus economising the better quality of clay without impairing the appearance
of the brick when used for building purposes, and may be produced as follows:
-When the bricks are to be hand made, I first take common clay and
mould the same in the ordinary manner, but I prefer that the side or sides
of the brick intended to be faced should be rather rough, and the mould
should be smaller to the extent of the thickness of the facing to be applied
thereto, so that the brick after receiving its facing will be of the required
size. These bricks are then partially dried, but not so much as to lose their
plastic and adhesive condition, and should be as nearly as possible in the same
condition as the facing clay to be used at the time of application. The brick
is then placed on an horizontal or oblique platform of a convenient height,
supported on one side by the frame of the table containing the facing clay,
and on the other side by a frame on the top of which is a small trough con-
taining water. The platform upon which the brick is laid is provided with a
longitudinal flat-sided vertical guide, against which the brick is placed. The
upper edge of the trough containing water, immediately opposite and parallel
to the edge of the clay table, has jointed thereto a rectangular frame which
encompasses the upper edges of the brick when folded thereon, and which
for the sake of stability is, made when so folded down to rest on the edge of
the clay table. This frame forms the mould to be filled with the facing clay,
and which frame is so jointed to the edge of the trough that it may be turned
over and immersed or partially immersed in the water therein during the
time the brick last faced is being removed.

page_text: When I desire to face the side and end of the brick at the same time I
place the brick on an oblique platform, and use a frame which will encompass
both the side and the end of the brick which I desire to face, and proceed
with the facing as in the case where only one side of the brick is to be faced.
The facing clay is placed in the mould frames by the hand of the operator,
and adheres to the face of the brick, when it may be smoothed off by hand, a
straightedge, or in any other convenient manner. The brick, is removed
and allowed to partially dry; if desired it may be pressed in an ordinary brick.
press, after which it is placed in an oven or kiln of any ordinary description
for the purpose of being burnt, when it is ready for the market.
If it is desired to have the bricks pressed the facing clay may be
rolled out in sheets to the required thickness, and be cut to the required
size, and then applied to the moulded brick; after which the same is
placed in the brick press, which will insure perfect adhesion, by simply
wetting the two surfaces of the clay which are in contact. An endless
band or revolving circular table in combination with rollers for rolling out
the facing clay may be used in connexion with a brick-making machine,
which may consist of a fixed die or mould fitted with moving pistons at top
and bottom, in which case the sheet of facing clay may be first fed on to the
lower piston, and raised the required distance into the mould, which is then
filled from the top, and the upper piston brought down to give the required
pressure, when the moulded brick may be withdrawn by allowing the piston
to descend simultaneously so as to clear the brick of the die or mould, or
the lower piston may be brought up so as to form a bottom for the mould
when the required quantity of brick earth is placed in the mould; after
which the sheet of facing clay is laid on the top of the die, and the upper
piston brought down upon it, and after the required pressure has been applied
it may be withdrawn from the mould in the same way as when the facing.
clay is applied from the bottom, or may be modified by the use of a movable
rectangular moulding box and piston or plunger, in which case the sheet of
facing clay may be first fed under the moulding box, which will be made to
descend upon it; the plunger will then be made to bring down with it from
the hopper & quantity of brick earth sufficient to fill the mould to the extent
of the required size of the brick. The moulding box is provided with an
orifice, the lower edge of which will be the breadth of the upper edge of the
brick, through which all superfluous clay will be forced. The moulding box
will rise the requisite height to clear the brick, after which the plunger will
be elevated and the brick will pass from under the plunger on the revolving
table or endless band. When the bricks are to be moulded by brick machines

page_text: where the clay is made to issue from an orifice in the machine and afterwards
cut into bricks by a frame of wires, I construct a second orifice parallel to
one or more, sides of the orifice through which the stream of common clay
issues, through which second orifice the facing clay will simultaneously issue
and form a coating upon the stream of common clay. When more than
one side is to be faced the orifices and rolling tables I fix obliquely.
That this my said Invention may be the more readily seen and understood,
I have hereunto annexed Drawings illustrating so much of one modification
of my Invention as will enable those acquainted with the art to readily
understand my system of coating or facing the bricks by hand; also a
sectional elevation of a machine for moulding and facing bricks according to my
system with the aid of steam or other motive power. Like letters and figures
marked on the Drawings are used to denote similar parts.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a brick mould and stool with the facing
guages shown open; and Figure 2 is a like elevation showing the facing
guages closed; this arrangement is shown as arranged to face one side and
one end of the brick; Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing the
side of one of the guage pieces; and Figure 4 are top views of the side
guages; and Figure 5 is an elevation of the connecting piece, which is used
when the brick is only to be faced on one side or end.
¡A, the moulding stool; B, moulding box, into which is placed the brick to
be faced; C, side guage; D (Figure 5) is the movable guage or connecting
piece, to be used when the brick is to be faced only on one side or end, and
which is provided with e, two little dowel pieces, which take into f, holes in
the side guages.
: The mode of operating this modification is as follows:-First, I mould the
common brick earth to the required size, as herein-before described; I then
allow them to be partially dried, when they are placed one by one into the
mould B. When they are to be faced on one side or end only, I place
the guage piece D (Figure 5) in position; then I proceed to face the side
or end of the brick as required, the operator applying the facing clay to
the surface to be covered, when it may be smoothed off by a straightedge
¡or otherwise. When it is desired to face one side and end of the brick the
operation is precisely the same, except that the guage piece D (Figure 5) is
removed. After the brick is faced the guage pieces are turned up and the
brick removed from, the table for drying, and when desired pressing, after
which it is burnt by any of the ordinary means.
Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of a brick moulding and facing machine
which is actuated by steam or other motive power.

page_text: Figure 7 is a plan of the revolving table taken from a to b. G, framing;
H, a revolving table, which is seen in plan at Figure 7, and is mounted upon
K, a revolving shaft, on to which is keyed L, bevel wheel, which gears into
M, a second bevel wheel keyed into N, an horizontal driving shaft, and into
which is also keyed O, ratchet wheel, which is actuated through P, a rod,
attached to Q, an eccentric on R, main driving shaft; S, brick earth clay
hopper.; T, facing clay hopper; U, ram or die plunger, which is actuated
through V, connecting rod attached to W, crank on main driving shaft; X,
rectangular moulding box formed on the lower edges of the two sides, with a
piece projecting downwards coinciding with the angular recess in table
working in the throat or .delivery orifice at the bottom of the hopper, and
which moulding box is suspended by Y, transverse trunnions, which pass
through slots formed in the sides of the hopper throat, and are attached to Z,
eccentric rods actuated by Z and Z, eccentrics on main driving shaft.
The action of this modification of the apparatus is as follows:-The common
clay, when tempered, is placed in the hopper S, and the facing clay or slip
into the hopper T. When the machine is set in motion the plunger is
elevated into the hopper S, and with it also the rectangular moulding box X;
then the table is actuated by the ratchet gear to revolve a given distance, when
it becomes stationary; then the rectangular moulding box X descends, and
into which follows the die plunger, carrying with it the required quantity of
common clay, which is pressed on the sheet or stratem of facing clay, which
has been supplied from the slip hopper T on to the table. Power may be
applied where the slip is stiff to insure a sufficient quantity of facing clay to
leave the hopper T to form the sheet of facing clay. On the return action of
the piston and moulding box the revolving table is turned round by the action
on the ratchet wheel O, so that the faced brick may be removed from the
table, and so on.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the relative proportion or dimensions of the several parts of the apparatus
herein-before described and set forth, as it will be readily seen that the same
may be considerably varied without departing from the Invention; but what
I claim is,-
First, the manufacture of faced bricks for building and other uses sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and
set forth.
Secondly, the peculiar arrangement, construction, and use of the apparatus

page_text: for applying the slip or facing clay to bricks by hand, substantially and in the
manner herein-before described and set forth.
And, lastly, the peculiar arrangement and combination of the several parts
of the apparatus described for the manufacture of faced bricks, substantially
in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Guthrie, have hereunto set my
hand and affixed my seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street,
Liverpool.
EDWIN (L.B.) GUTHRIE.