Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Wednesday 7 September 1870, page 7


THE BRUNSWICK BRICK MANU-

FACTORY.

The establishment of Messrs Collier, Barry, Owen, and Rourke, recently erected at Bruns-wick for the manufacture of bricks, according to a patent now introduced to the colony for the first time, was opened on Monday afternoon. The buildings, which are of a very extensive character, occupy a 12 acre paddock in Albert street. The whole, including the machinery, has subjected the proprietors to an outlay of something like £12,000.

The premises consist - firstly, of a two storied brick building, on the ground floor of which is one of Bradley and Craven's patent lime dry clay machines, driven by a 25 horse power steam-engine. The machine is of a duplex character, consisting of a mill for grinding in one compartment, and the moulder for making the bricks in another. The pro-cess of manufacture is as follows -The clay or material to be converted into bricks is obtained from an excavation on the grounds, connected with the machine by an inclined iron tramway, up which the loaded trucks are drawn by steam power. These trucks are emptied into the mill which con-sists of a large circular pan, with two iron cylinders weighing two and a half tons each, which revolve round it after the manner of a Chilian mill, completely pulverising the clay, which then passes through a grating into an iron pan beneath, from whence it is conveyed into the hopper of the moulding machine by a series of little self emptying buckets carried up by a large revolving band. From the hopper the earth falls through a shoot into the moulds, where it is immediately pressed into compact bricks in what is called the green state. These moulds, 24 in number, occupy a revolving table, to which motion is commu-nicated by a tappet. This table turns the extent of the width of two bricks at a time. The action brings two empty moulds under the hopper to receive the charge of clay at once, while two bricks are delivered into the pressing machine, where the contents of two moulds are subjected to a powerful pressure, the table making a pause at each of these movements. The pressing machine is capable of exerting a pressure of from 40 to 150 tons, according to the nature of the ma-terial used and the quality of the article re-quired. The machine will turn out 15,000 bricks per day. They are superior to the ordinary colonial made brick. Being made with a concavity on each side, they can be used in building without the mortar ap-pearing at their edges. The machine de-

livers the bricks from the moulds on to a broad band. This band carries them in couples under a rotatory wire brush, which carries off any little rough-ness the edges may have acquired in the manufacturing process, and in this condition they arrive in an outer compartment ready for the kiln. The process of burning occu-pies from 10 to 12 days. The kiln is a large establishment in itself. It is a circular brick building with a circumference of 120ft, hav-ing in the centre a chimney 120ft. high with a diameter of 17ft at the base and of 8ft 6in at the top. An iron tramway carries the bricks from the machine to the kiln. The kiln is also surrounded by a tramway which has turn-tables at the door of each burning chamber, and similar provision is made on the top for the carriage of coals to make the fires, which are fed through iron-coated apertures in the roof. Constructed on the principle of Hoffmann's patent, the kiln resembles a vast circular brick vault, with arches to the various chambers. The furnace is 300ft long, 15ft wide, and 8ft. high. This great ring chamber is divided into 12 com-partments by a large iron partition or door, which is moved as occasion requires. There are 12 doorways and a corresponding number of flues communicating with the smoke chamber which surrounds the base of the central chimney. Provision is made for cut-ting off communication with the smoke cham-ber when required by cast iron valves. The intercepting damper may be placed in the furnace immediately behind each flue as the burning proceeds, and thus cut off communi-cation with the other flues. The fire once lighted is never extinguished. Contiguous chambers are never in full blast at once, but the burning of fuel and the pro-duction of finished bricks is carried on continuously from day to day. Two adjacent compartments have their entrance doors open at once, all the rest being closed. By an arrangement of the valves and the movable partition, the air, which finds en-trance only at the two open doors, travels round the circuit of the ring chamber before it reaches the chimney. The air entering by these two compartments passes first through a stack of green bricks almost cold. Gather-ing heat from them, it passes on through warmer bricks, and eventually through the hottest of all, still carrying the heat of the cooling bricks forward, till it reaches the part of the circle exactly opposite the two open and cold comportments. Here there is a final ac-cession of heat by the supply of a small quantity of coals through small open-ings with air-tight moveable lids in the arch of the furnace. The heated air here in its greatest intensity, passes on through the bricks to those which are less and less hot, till it reaches those which are still damp, and finally reaching the chimney, is almost cold. Next day the large damper is moved forward the space of one compartment, and all the flues, doors, and limit compartments being correspondingly changed, a complete circuit of the ring chamber is made in 12 working days, during which time 240,000 bricks may be produced. Upwards of 60 of these kilns are at work on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain, but this is the only one in Australia. The patent right to build these kilns in Victoria has been purchased by the proprietor.

The buildings were erected by the pro-prietors, and the machinery by Mr. Craven, a son of the patentees, who came out from England for the purpose. It will be seen from the foregoing description that the ma-chinery is of a very elaborate description, and it is highly interesting to see it at work. A numerous party of gentlemen was present on Monday afternoon to witness the first opera-tions. After inspecting the premises the party assembled in a chamber of the kiln, where success to the spirited undertaking of the proprietors was drunk in champagne.