IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS My
Year: 1883

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PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Ellis Allen at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st October 1883. 7
EDWARD ELLIS ALLEN of 111 Cheyne Walk in the County of Middlesex Civil
Engineer IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS
My Improvements consist Firstly in the construction of Portable Buildings
formed of Corrugated or other sheet or plate Iron or Zinc so that the timber frame
work hitherto placed altogether behind the, said sheeting is divided so that part of
it is placed in front of the same, the two pieces of each frame being securely
bolted or secured together having the sheet or plate Iron between them. The
said timber framing it is preferred to place at distances corresponding with the
width of the metal sheets so that all joints may be made thorougly sound and as
far as possible air and water tight tarred felt or other material being sometimes
introduced to make the joint-the edges of each sheet may be flattened so that they
may lay fairly between the two timbers or parts of each frame-In some cases
additional timbers may be introduced with the view of further breaking up the
surface but in this case it would be on the outside only.
Instead of the outer part of the frame as described above being of wood only it
may be made of cast or wrought iron or the wood may be covered with sheet iron
or zinc and thus be as durable as corrugated or other metal sheets or plates
themselves
Another part of my invention consists in forming in wood or metal corrugated
strips or bands for the purpose of securing the sheets of metal horizontally and so
as to make a perfect joint as in the case of the vertical ones and in the same way-
such vertical and horizontal timbers or metal frames surrounding the metal sheets
which thus appear as panels in wooden framework. The bottom and top joints
or edges of corrugated sheets are sometimes made by straight wooden or metal
strips the spaces formed by the corrugations being filled in with Cement so that
the space behind each sheet of metal becomes more or less an airtight cell in
which any "filling in can be employed the metal sheeting being on one side and
the matched boarding on the other such "filling in being thus kept dry and all
damp and rot prevented
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The "filling in" may be dry sawdust, Silicate cotton, boiler felt, peat, charcoal,
burnt-clay, or gravel, or dry earth, or concrete, such materials being contained

page_text: in air tight cells keeping them dry and allowing of substances being employed
unsuitable in ordinary buildings where the metal sheets are simply lapped one
over the over.
Another part of my invention consists in stamping or embossing metal sheets so
as to form ornamental surfaces when the said sheets are not corrugated such sheets
being employed as frames surrounded by wood or metal framing or partly onc
and partly the other
Another part of my invention consists in forming the sides of portable buildings
having corrugated or other metal sheets or plates on one sido and matched boarding
on the other of blocks of concrete which blocks are made to slip down between the
timber frames and so constitute the "filling in" material such blocks being if
desired corrugated on one side to correspond with the metal sheets these blocks
may be playing on their edges or have grooves or channels or be or be matched as
desired a thin grouting being run in so as to fill up all cavities and practically
unite the said blocks but not so completely as to prevent their being readily
separated in case of required removal of the building-These blocks may be of any
thickness but preferably at the least part 8 or 9 inches corresponding with the
length of an ordinary brick. In this case the inner timber framing would be
planks placed edgewise between the metal sheeting and matched board lining or
they may be of iron in form of rolled joists or beams of H section or may be made
of plate iron or angle iron and plate iron as riveted girders having strips of wood
secured to their back edges or flanges upon which the matched boarding can be
nailed or screwed
Instead of match boarding I prefer in some cases to employ a lining of canvas
and felt firmly united together but which may be rolled up and be more suitable
for export than wooden lining