IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEAMS, GIRDERS, AND BRIDGES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Peake, of Liverpool, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEAMS, GIRDERS, AND BRIDGES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Peake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th September 1857.
I, WILLIAM HENRY PEAKE, of Liverpool, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEAMS, GIRDERS, AND
BRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of beams,
girders, and bridges. For these purposes a series of bars and plates of iron
are laid or built one on the other, and the whole are bound together by means
of bolts passing through the plate at intervals, such bolts being fixed at top
and bottom by rivetting the ends, or it may be by screws and nuts or otherwise.
The beams, girders, or bridges may be horizontal or curved, according to the
requirement.
In constructing a beam, girder, or bridge, a plate is first laid, on the middle
of which a series of bars are piled one on the other, then another plate, and so
on till the depth desired has been arranged, there being a plate at top as well
as the bottom; the bolts are then introduced and fixed in their places, there
being a row of such bolts on each side of piled bars, by which they are
retained in their proper positions along the middle of the structure. The
different lengths of bars and plates used are arranged to come with their ends
butting together, but in such manner as to break joints; and where the ends

page_text: Masse prave iYCO
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Peake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY PEAKE, of Liverpool, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Peake, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Peake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Henry Peake, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEAMS, GIRDERS, AND BRIDGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Peake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing 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 William Henry Peake, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of beams,
girders, and bridges. For these purposes a series of bars and plates of iron
are laid or built one on the other, and the whole are bound together by means
of bolts passing through the plates at intervals, such bolts being fixed at top
and bottom by rivetting the ends, or it may be by screws and nuts, or otherwise.
The beams, girders, or bridges may be horizontal or curved, according to the
requirement.

page_text: In constructing a beam, girder, or bridge, a plate is first laid, on the middle
of which a series of bars are piled one on the other, then another plate, and so
on till the depth desired has been arranged, there being a plate at top as well
as at the bottom; the bolts are then introduced and fixed in their places, there
being a row of such bolts on each side of piled bars, by which they are
retained in their proper positions along the middle of the structure. The
different lengths of bars and plates used are arranged to come with their ends
butting together, but in such manner as to break joints; and where the ends
of the uppermost and lowermost plates come together they are joined by a
transverse plate rivetted to the two ends.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 is an end view, and Figure 3 is a plan,
of part of a beam or girder constructed according to my Invention. a is the
bottom plate on which the bars b, b, are piled. These bars may either be the
full length of the beam or girder or of a shorter length, in which latter case
the ends of the bars where they meet are simply butted together; but care
should be taken so to distribute these joints as to keep them as far apart
as possible. c, c, are intermediate plates, introduced into the girder at
intervals, and running through the whole length; d is the top plate of the
girder; e, e, are bolts passing through holes in the plates a, c, and d, and
rivetted at the two ends. Where two lengths have to be joined together in
constructing the plates a, c, and d, a transverse plate is bolted over the joint,
and the bar b above has to be notched away to fit over this plate. In the
construction of bridges I employ beams or girders of this description in the
same way as ordinary beams or girders are employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Peake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM HENRY PEAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
LLEWELYN GRIFFITH,
44, Wood Street, Liverpool.