IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF COMBINED IRON AND TIMBER SHIPS."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Cato, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Ship Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF COMBINED IRON AND TIMBER SHIPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Cato at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
September 1863.
I, PETER CATO, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Ship Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF COMBINED IRON AND TIMBER SHIPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of combined iron and timber ships in
which the ribs or frames are made of iron, and the skin or planks of timber,
and the subject thereof is to bind or secure together more firmly and make
more "taut" the hull of a ship, and to relieve the through bolts from the
strain which they have to bear in ships of this class constructed in the usual
way.
In ships constructed according to my improvements, the three main parts,
the ribs or frames, the planks or skin, and the through bolts are of any usual
shape, kind, or description, and are fitted together as may be found most
suitable. Secured to and projecting from the outer surfaces of the frames or
ribs are a number of pieces, say, of metal which "take into" sunk recesses or
spaces on the inner surfaces of the planks or skin, or the inner surfaces of.the

page_text: planks or skin may have sunk spaces which fit on to the frames or ribs, the
object being, as above stated, to bind the ribs or frames and the planks or skin
stiffly together. The arrangement of parts which I prefer, however, is neither
more nor less than a dowel joint formed by securing to the frames or ribs by
rivets, cylindrical pieces of cast iron, which have holes corresponding thereto 5
in the timber planks or skin to allow them to be brought close up to the ribs
or frames.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Cato in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
CATO, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Ship Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Peter Cato, Her special license that I, the said
Peter Cato, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Peter Cato, 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 COMBINED IRON AND TIMBER SHIPS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Cato, 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 per-
formed, 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 Peter Cato, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-

page_text: This Invention relates to that class of combined iron and timber ships
in which the ribs or frames are made of iron, and the skin or planks of
timber, and the object thereof is to bind or secure together more firmly and
make more taut the hull of a ship, and to relieve the through bolts from the
strain which they have to bear in ships of this class constructed in the usual
way.
In ships constructed according to my improvements, the three main parts,
the ribs or frames, the planks or skin, and the through bolts are of any usual
shape, kind, or description, and are fitted together as may be found most
suitable. Secured to and projecting from the outer surfaces of the frames or
ribs are a number of pieces, say, of metal, which "take into" sunk recesses
or spaces on the inner surfaces of the planks or skin, or the inner surfaces of
the planks or skin may have sunk spaces which fit on to the frames or ribs,
the object being, as above stated, to bind the ribs or frames and the planks
or skin stiffly together. The arrangement of parts which I prefer, however,
is neither more nor less than a dowel joint formed by securing to the frames
or ribs, by rivets, cylindrical pieces of cast iron which have holes corresponding
thereto in the timber planks or skin to allow them to be brought close up to
the ribs or frames.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawings shews details of my improvements;
thus Fig. 1 is a vertical section of part of the side of a ship through the
planks between the frames or ribs; Fig. 2, a like section through one of the
ribs; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of part of the side of a ship; Fig. 4, a
side elevation of parts of the frames or ribs of a ship; and Fig. 5, a view of
the inner side of the planks of a ship. These views represent the arrange-
ment which I prefer, and in referring to them, herein-after, the same letters
are used to indicate like parts.
a shews the frames, to the outer webs of which are secured the cylindrical
pieces of cast iron or other material by the rivets c; the heads of these
rivets are flatened into countersunk spaces in b. The cylindrical pieces or
dowel projections may be disposed in rows, diagonally, at stated distances
apart, or in any other manner to suit the arrangement of the timber planks d;
here such planks are shewn as running in lengths at right angles to the length
of the ribs or frames, and they have openings e therein corresponding in size
to the projections b, c, which fit into them. The frames are shewn as made of
L-formed metal in section, rivetted back to back; any other section could to
be used in iron, steel, or any other preparation from iron. The through bolts
are not shewn.
Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal section through part of the side of a ship,

page_text: shewing the planks with recessed or cut out spaces or pieces on or from their
inner surfaces; f are the frames; 9, the planks with cut-out spaces h for
every frame.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and shewn how the same may be carried practically into effect, I would have
it understood that I do not confine myself to any particular shape or disposition
of the projections, nor to any particular means of cutting out the parts or
pieces on the inner sides of the planks; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, constructing combined iron and timber ships with projections from
the frames or ribs which pass into but not through the planks, substantially
as herein described and for the purpose set forth.
And, secondly, constructing combined iron and timber ships by recessing or
cutting out spaces from the inner surfaces or sides of the planks, substantially
as herein described and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Cató, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
In the presence of
JOHN DAVIES,
Clerk to John T. King,
Patent Agent,
Liverpool.
PETER CATO. (L.S.)