The Country Gentleman's Magazine 



lOI 



^gvicultaral Engineering. 



MURRAY'S BRICK-MAKING MACHINE. 



THE improvement of the dwellings of 

 agricultural labourers is one of the 

 most important matters in connexion with 

 the recent, and' still continued, discontent in 

 the rural districts. Many of the cottages 

 are quite unfit for human habitation ; and 

 probably the scarcity of good cottages in the 

 country depends not a little upon the expense 

 in building them. Everything, therefore, 

 calculated to reduce the cost of construction 

 is highly to be recommended. Mr Murray's 

 continuous delivery brick-making machine, 

 by reducing the cost of producing bricks, 

 seemo calculated to be an agent in promoting 

 the welfare of the working classes. The fol- 

 lowing account of the machine, which we 

 copy from E?igincering, was given in a recent 

 Chancery suit : — 



The cause of action was the infringement, 

 by Messrs Clayton, Sons, & Howlett, of 

 Mr Murray's continuous delivery brick-mak- 

 ing machine. Before entering into the par- 

 ticulars of the Chancery suit, it may be as 

 well to describe this apparatus, of which we 

 give an illustration. Fig. i of our engraving 

 represents an elevation of the machine com- 

 plete ; fig. 2 is a plan of the cutting table ; 

 fig. 3 is an enlarged section shewing the 

 method of attaching the cutting wires to the 

 top and bottom bars ; and fig. 4 represents an 

 end view of the cutting table. The apparatus 

 consists of a pugging mill, moulding die, and 

 cutting table, the two latter apparatus being 

 protected by separate patents ; it was the 

 latter portion — the cutting table — which 

 formed the subject of the recent litigation. 

 The pugging mill is cylindrical, instead of 

 being in the form of an inverted cone, and 

 being a continuous delivery machine requires 

 no complicated arrangements for cutting off 

 the flow of the clay, as in the ordinary intermit- 



tent action machines. The cylindrical form 

 enables it to be worked with less expenditure 

 of power than those in general use. The 

 clay on leaving the pugging mill is conducted 

 to the die, which is so constructed that the 

 faces of the clay are lubricated, the clay being 

 thereby delivered with less friction, and con- 

 sequently with a smooth and even surface. 

 For the purpose of imparting to the clay a 

 thin film of lubricating material which will 

 insure this smoothness of surface, the sides of 

 the die are made hollow, and contain the 

 liquid lubricant, which exudes from the 

 hollow sides through holes made in their 

 faces. The perforated faces are covered with 

 felt, which becomes saturated with the lubri- 

 cant, and prevents it running out too quickly. 

 The hollow vessels forming the sides of the 

 die are held in place by screws passing 

 through lugs formed on the mouth of the 

 machine. They are readily removed for 

 cleansing or covering, and are replaced with- 

 out deranging any other parts of the machine. 

 The lubricant is supplied continuously to the 

 boxes from the cylindrical reservoir shewn in 

 our engraving. The clay, in passing on to the 

 cutting table, impinges upon the felt-covered 

 boxes, and carries away with it the necessary 

 thin film of lubricating material. 



Assuming that a quantity of clay of suffi- 

 cient length to form twelve bricks has issued 

 from the mould, this length is cut off by means 

 of a vertical wire, mounted in a reciprocating 

 frame, which moves to and fro on guides 

 affixed to the side standards. The proper 

 length of clay thus severed from the advanc- 

 ing mass is moved forward by hand on to 

 the cutting table. Arrived there it receives 

 a lateral push, at right angles to its line of 

 previous motion, which forces the mass 

 against a series of fixed wires. This lateral 



