US9394A - Brick-machnsfe - Google Patents

Description

H. H. STRAWBRIDGE, OF NEW ORLEANS, AND DANIEL TYSON, OF COVINGTON, LOUISIANA.

BRICK-TEACHINE.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 9,394', dated November 9, 1852.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, HENRY H. STRAW- mnsn, ci New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, and DANIEL TrsoN, of Covington, in the parish of St. Tammany and St-ate of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Molding and Pressing Bricks at One Operation; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of our said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specifica-tion, and in which- Figure l represents a View in perspective oil our brick machine, Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sect-ion of the same, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a portion of the machine.

ln our machine the molds are secured to a reciprocating carriage by whose movement they are passed beneath a hopper in which the brick-clay is introduced; they are then passed beneath a compresser by which the clay is compressed in the molds; and are iinally carried to a discharging apparatus by whose action the pressed bricks are discharged from the molds. The carriage sustains two sets of molds which are alternately brought beneath the same press. Suitable stationary devices are also secured to the farine of the machine for the purpose of gaging the quantity of clay to be pressed into the molds, and also for the purpose of striking oli' any surplus and smoothing the upper surfaces of the bricks.

The several acting members of the machine as represented in the accompanying drawings are all secured to a strong frame A whose upper rails B supports the w'ays D upon which the carriage O slides. The latter consists of a strong bed or table of wood or some other suitable material which is held down upon the ways by means of top plates a, a, and is caused to move endwise to and i'ro by menas of a cog wheel E and rack F, the former being secured to a transverse driving shaft Gr, while the latter is secured to the lower face of the carriage.

The two sets of molds in which the bricks are formed are secured to the carriage at equal distances in each direction from its center. Each set, H, comprises in this instance six molds, whose breadth and length are equal to those of the bricks to be formed. These molds are open at the top and are closed at the bottom by a movable block or piston `7), which when at its lowest position is far enough below the top of the mold to admit a finished brick. The extremities of thes mold-pistons when at their lowest positions rest upon the ways D on which the carriage moves. The pistons of each set of molds are projected upwards to discharge the bricks by means of a pair of elevating rails I, I, which are pivoted to the upper extremities of radius bars c c, whose lower extremities are pivotted to the lower rails d, CZ, orn the main trame. These rails act upon the lower extremities of arms c e which project downward from the lower faces of the pistons. They are moved in the proper directions to raise the pistons or to lower them by means of stops f, g, secured to the lower ace of the carriage; these stops are secured in such positions that one of them, f, strikes the inner extremity or' the set of elevating rails as the correspondingV set of molds is brought over them by the movement of the carriage, and causes them to move outward with the carriage; while the other stop g, which is situated near the extremity of the carriage, strikes the set of elevating rails and causes them to move inward with the carriage. When the carriage is in its mean posit-ion the radius bars c c of each set of elevating rails incline inward (or toward the center of the machine) and sonsequently the outward movement of the rails, by turning the radius bars into upright positions, causes the rails to rise, in which movement they strike the lower extremities of the piston arms and project the pistons upward in their molds; while, on the contrary7 the inward movement or the rails, by restoring the radius bars to their inclined positions7 lowers the rails, which movement allows the pistons to sink in their molds until their extremities rest upon the ways.

The several devices for filling the molds with clay, pressing the clay, and discharging the bricks from the carriage, are all secured to the main frame above the carriage. The pressing apparatus is situated at the middle of the machine. It consists of a press block or platen J, whose lower face is of suiiicient size to cover the upper face of either set of molds. This press-block is supported by a pair of cross-bars It, h, which are passed transversely through mortises at its extremities and project beyond its opposite sides.

The projecting extremities of each cross bar are secured to springs z', which bear upon the main frame and tend to force the crossh bars, and the press block through which they pass, upward. The upper face of the press block slopes downward in each direction from the center toward the ends; it has grooves j, j, formed in it, whose inclination is shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and which deviate more and more rapidly from a horizontal line as they near the opposite extremities of the press block. These grooves are traversed by friction wheels 7c c, which are secured to the lower extremities of swing bars L L; the latter are pivoted at their upper extremities to a cap K, which is supported by standards in a stationary position above the press block. The lower extremities of the swing bars are caused to approach each other by means of a bent lever M and link N. The longer arm of this lever projects between a pair of bent bars Z, Z, which guide it when it is raised or depressed and are perforated to admit a transverse pin 0 to limit the distance to which the lever can be depressed. When the lever is depressed the swing bars L occupy the positions in which they are represented in black lines at Fig. 2, and when the lever is raised the swing bars occupy the positions in which they are represented in red lines in the same figure. As the swing bars diverge the friction wheel lo, 7c, are raised, and consequently the press block on which they bear will be permitted to rise under the action of the springs; the latter also facilitate the raising of the lever M, as their pressure upon the press block causes the inclined tracks to act as an obtuse wedge between the friction wheels and force them to diverge from the center of the machine.

From the peculiar shape of the tracks on the press block, combined with the action of the bent lever, the pressure upon the clay in the mold is progressively increased as it is compressed, and this increase of pressure may be regulated to suit any particular case by altering the curve of the tracks. Thus if the pressure is to be increased the outer extremities of the tracks must be raised, and if it is to be diminished the inclination of the tracks must be increased.

The lioppers into which the clay is thrown are situated at each extremity of the press block as represented at O O. Each is separated from the adjacent extremity of the press block by a roller P, whose outer side is fitted with a scraper m, by whose action the barrel of the roller is freed from adhering clay. The barrel of this roller is at such a distance from the vface of the carriage that when the molds pass beneath it, a quantity of clay, sufficient with that in the molds, to form the bricks, will be left upon them, its upper surface being evenly smoothed off by the action of this gaging roller P, which turns by the friction of its barrel upon the clay passing beneath. The outer side of each clay hopperOis fitted with a knife n, whose edge extends across the carriage, and which, as the molds are moved outward, severs from the bricks in the molds any excess of compressed clay which may project above them. A smoothing or striking bar p is secured to the extremity of each hopper beyond the knife n. The inner angle of this bar is rounded as shown in the drawing, and its lower face is so close to the face ofthe carriage that it smootlis and compresses the upper faces of the bricks in the molds as they pass outward beneath it.

A discharging bar R is placed at each extremity of the machine to throw off the bricks when the moldpistons and the bricks laying upon them have been raised by the action of the elevating rails I, I, beneath. Each of these discharging bars is secured to a pair of oblique guide rods s s which slide in guides t t. Each rod is moved obliquely across the carriage by means of a lever r one of whose extremities is pivoted to the main frame while its other extremity is fitted with a pin v which traverses in a slot formed by attaching a rod a to the side of the discharging bar R. The middle of this lever is pivoted to a rod S which extends through a guide staple Iw secured to a crossbar T on the main frame. extremity of this rod is bent downward in such a position that the end of the carriage in moving outward shall strike it. Each extremity of the carriage has an inclined groove m sunk in it, which corresponds in position with the bent extremity of the adjacent rod. These grooves terminate in sockets (as shown in dotted lines at Fig. 2) into which the bent extremities of the rods can sink. When the carriage in its endwise movement strikes the bent extremity of the rod, the lat-ter rises and traverses the inclined groove until the socket at its extremity is brought beneath the rod, which is pressed into this socket by the action of a spring y, and is then carried along with the carriage; as the bar is thus drawn outward the lever r is moved and the discharging bar is forced t0 move obliquely across the faces of the molds. When the motion of the carriage is reversed, the rod S is moved backward until its bent extremity strikes the crossbar T, when the continued movement of the carriage causes the extremity of the rod to rise in the inclined groove which traverses beneath it until the extremity of the carriage passes within the extremity of the main frame. When the rod S is thus moved inward the lever r and discharging bar R are moved back to their first posit-ions.

The machine represented in the accompanying drawings is arranged for working The outer by manual labor. The clay is thrown into the hoppers O, O, and the carriage is caused to move endwise alternately in opposite directions by turning a crank U secured to the shaft Gr of the driving wheel E. As the molds pass beneath the hoppers they are filled with clay, and as they pass beneath the roller l?, the latter rolls down the clay in the molds leaving a certain thickness of clay laying upon them. As the carriage is still moved onward, the molds are brought beneath the press block J, when the further movement of the carriage is stopped by the crank striking a sliding stop e at the side of the frame. Power is now applied to the bent lever M, which is forced downward, by which means the clay laying upon the molds is forced into them, thus compressing the clay in the molds and fornr ing the bricks. The lever M is now raised and the carriage is moved in the opposite direction by reversing the movement of the cra-nk. By this reverse movement the filled molds are carried outward toward the eX- tremity of the main frame; as they pass beneath the knife n, the latter severs any surplus clay from the bricks, and as they pass beneath the striking bar p, it smooths 0E their upper surfaces. The molds in their outward movement are brought over the elevating` rails I, I, which are forced outward and rise by the action of the stop f. As they rise, they force up the mold pistons b Z) which eject the bricks from the molds. When the bricks have reached this position they are struck endwise by the discharging bar R, which pushes them endwise from the pistons and delivers them upon the side charged with their proper quantity of clay,

are brought beneath the press block J and have the clay compressed into them. The movement of the carriage is then reversed to carry out the lilled molds while the other set are again moved inward. As each set of molds pass inward their corresponding elevating rails l", I, being moved by the outer stop g on the carriage, are lowered to lower the pistons in their molds and thus admit a fresh charge of clay.

What we claim as oui` invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The roller (P) in combination with a reciprocating series of molds, for the purpose of gaging the quantity of clay to be compressed into the said molds, the several parts being arranged and operating as herein described.

2. The method herein described of linishing the surface of dry-clay bricks in molds by rst shaving off the surplus material and then smoothing the shaved surface by rubbing it under heavy pressure, while confined in the mold, to prevent it from breaking under the operation, as it would do if not so confined.

ln testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

H. l-l. STRAVBRIDGE. DANEL TYSON. VVit-nesses:

MARTIN Gr. PENN, C. M. STRAWBRIDGE.

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