IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BUILDING IN CONCRETE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Mingay Tall, of St. George's Road, Peckham, in the
County of Surrey, Concrete Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR BUILDING IN CONCRETE."
Sealed the 26th February 1878, and dated the 30th August 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Mingay Tall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th August 1877.
JOSEPH MINGAY TALL, of St. George's Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey,
Concrete Builder. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BUILDING IN CONCRETE."
The apparatus used for constructing buildings of concrete, composed of broken
stone, gravel, or other hard substances, mixed with lime and cement, usually consists
of panels of any convenient length (made of wood or metal, or the two materials
combined) arranged in pairs at proper distances apart, so as to form a trough
These panels
or space to receive the concrete of which the wall is to be composed.
are temporarily attached by their ends to uprights fixed in their proper places, and
the panels are kept a proper distance apart by means of cores, bolts, or other devices,
which are embedded in or pass through the walls. Apparatus constructed in this
manner is cumbrous, expensive, and inconvenient to manage, and the object of the
present Invention is to obviate these objections. To this end the panels are composed
of three or more boards of any convenient length (from 6 to 18 feet) combined
together by means of short cross pieces, which will be in a vertical position when the
panels are in use, and the panels are further strengthened and their rigidity is
increased by fixing diagonal cross braces at their back.
Through the vertical cross pieces of the panels are made short narrow slots to
receive the ends of flat iron bars, which will connect two opposite panels together
in pairs, and by extending across the space between them will form gauge plates or
bars. These bars are perforated with holes to receive vertical iron rods made of
round, half round, or triangular iron, one of which rods is placed on the inner side of
the panel, and will consequently be imbedded in the face of the wall when the latter
is built.

page_text: The other vertical rod is placed on the outside of the panel at a sufficient space
from the cross upright thereon, to admit of a cam or wedge piece being inserted
between the rod and the upright on the panel. When this cam or wedge piece is
tightened up or driven home, the inner vertical iron rod will be drawn tight up
against the face of the panel, and will securely hold the same in position.
In order to extend the wall in length other panels are connected by their ends by
means of sliding bolts, buttons, or other devices, so as to form a continuous trough
or mould of any suitable length, according to the building to be constructed.
In order to form the corners of the wall the ends of the boards at one end of the
corner panels are bevilled off so that they will fit against each other, and are
connected together by hinges or other means, and they may be secured by straps or
in any other convenient manner to the long panels.
It will be found convenient to use two sets of panels, one placed above and resting
on the other, and when the trough is full of concrete and the latter has properly set
the lower panels may be removed by drawing up the outside round iron rods, so that
the panels may be lifted or drawn off from the flat iron wall bars. These latter may
also be drawn out of the wall if the inner vertical rods are raised so as to relieve
them.
These wall bars may then be used again for the next lift, for which purpose
they must be placed on the vertical round rods, and then the topmost panels are
placed on them.
By gradually drawing up the vertical rods and raising the panel one on the other
the wall may be carried up to any convenient height.
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Mingay Tall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
February 1878.
JOSEPH MINGAY TALL, of Saint George's Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey,
Concrete Builder. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BUILDING IN CONCRETE."
The apparatus used for constructing buildings of concrete, composed of broken
stone, gravel, or other hard substance mixed with lime and cement, usually consists
of panels of any convenient length (made of wood or metal, or the two materials
combined) arranged in pairs at proper distances apart, so as to form a trough or
space to receive the concrete of which the wall is to be composed. These panels are
temporarily attached by their ends to uprights fixed in their proper places, and the
panels and uprights are kept at proper distances apart by means of cores, bolts, or
other devices, which are imbedded in or pass through the wall. Apparatus
constructed in this manner is cumbrous, expensive, and inconvenient to manage, and
the object of the present Invention is to obviate these objections.
In the accompanying Drawing Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a front elevation
and partial side elevation of a building in course of construction with my improved
apparatus in position; Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view. The remaining Figures
shew various details in the construction of the apparatus.
The same letters of reference correspond to similar parts in all the Figures.
A, A, are panels which may be composed of three, four, or more boards of any.

page_text: convenient length (from 6 to 18 feet long) combined together by means of short
cross pieces B, B, which will be in a vertical position when the panels are in use,
and the panels may be further strengthened and their rigidity increased by fixing
diagonal cross braces C at their back, as shewn by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 3.
The ends of the vertical cross pieces B, B, with the panels A, A, are notched or
slotted to receive flat iron bars or plates D, D, shewn detached at Fig. 4, which will
serve the two-fold purpose of gauge plates, and as a means for connecting two
opposite panels together in pairs to form a trough or mould to receive the concrete.
Holes a, a, (see Fig. 4) are made in these bars or plates D, D, at varying distances
apart, according to the thickness of wall required to receive vertical iron rods a¹, a¹,
a, as, (Figures 1, 2, and 3) made of round, half round, or triangular iron.
The rods a', a', which may be of any convenient length are placed on the inner
side of the panels A, A, one on either side of the wall, and will consequently form
with the plates D the gauge for the thickness of the wall, and will be embedded in
the face of the wall when the latter is built.
The other vertical rods a, a, are placed on the outside of the panels at a
sufficient distance from the cross uprights B, B, thereon, to admit of one, two, or more
cams E, E, or wedge pieces F, F, being inserted between the rods a², a³, and the
uprights B, B, on the panels A, A. When the cams or wedge pieces are tightened
up or driven home the panels will be jammed against the inner vertical iron rods
a, a¹, and will thus be securely held in position. The length of the rods a², a³, I
prefer should only just exceed the depth of two lifts of the panels A, and in sonie
cases need not exceed the depth of one panel.
In
In order to extend the wall in length other panels are connected by their ends by
means of sliding bolts, buttons, or other devices, so as to form a continuous trough
or mould of any suitable length, according to the building to be constructed.
order to form the outer angles of the walls I prefer to use special panels when it is
possible, in which case the ends of the boards at one end of the corner panels are
bevilled off, as shewn at Fig. 3, so that they will fit against each other. These
panels may be connected together by hinges or other means, or the bevilled ends may
be strengthened by cross pieces B¹, B¹, and may be held together by one or more hooks
and eyes b, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
The apparatus for the inner angles of the walls may consist of two half battens
screwed or otherwise secured together at right angles to one another. The outer
edges of these inner pieces are bevilled off in the contrary sense to the bevil on the
ends of the panels, see Figures 3 and 5 (Fig. 5 being a detached view), in order that
they may form good joints and prevent the angle pieces from being forced outwards
when the trough is being filled with concrete. In order to support these inner angle
pieces in their proper places they are provided at their upper ends with plates c, c, which
will overlap and rest on the upper edges of the panels A.
When the trough is filled with concrete and the latter is sufficiently set, the
panels may be removed and raised another lift.
The releasing of the panels is effected by loosening or withdrawing the cams E, E, or
wedge pieces F, F, and removing the outside rods a², a²; the panels are then lifted out
and raised on to the flat bars or plates D, D, above them. The rods a², a³, are then
replaced, and the cams E, E, or wedge pieces F, F, are inserted and tightened up as
before explained.
The inner vertical rods a', a', may be raised from time to time as the work proceeds,
and the wall bars or plates D, D, may be drawn out of the wall when the inner
vertical rods a¹³, a¹, are raised sufficiently high to relieve them, and may then be used
again for another lift, for which purpose they must be placed on the vertical rods
a, a'; the fresh panels are then placed in position upon them, and the rods a², a², are
inserted to receive the cams E or wedges F.
By gradually drawing up the vertical rods a¹, a¹, and raising the panels A one on
the other the wall may be carried up to any desired height.
It may be found convenient in some cases to use two sets of panels, one placed
above and resting on the other, as shewn in Fig. 2, and when the trough is filled

page_text: with concrete and the latter has properly set the lower panels may be removed, and
raised as before described.
Figures 6, 7, and 8, shew in front and sectional elevation and plan view, a modi-
fication in the means employed for securing the panels in place. In this case short
bars or levers a³, a³, having an enlargement at one end to act as a fulcrum are
substituted for the outside rods a², a²; and the cams E or wedge pieces F and the
vertical cross pieces B, B, are grooved down the centre to receive these levers or bars
as, a³. The ends of these levers or bars a³, a³, are inserted into the plates D, D, from
above and below, and are made to meet in the centre of the panel, where they are
held in position by a button d or other equivalent device.
To form the chimnies I use a core of sheet metal which is rolled to the form shewn
at e, Fig. 9. This core is expanded by means of a couple of iron rings or hoops f
which are introduced into it, as shewn in sectional elevation and plan view at
Fig. 9.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improved Apparatus for
Building in Concrete," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim the general construction and arrangement of the apparatus for building in
concrete, as herein shewn and described; I claim particularly the combination of the
bars or plates D, and vertical rods a¹, a², with the cams E or wedge pieces F or their
equivalent for securing the panels in position, as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Mingay Tall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
J. MINGAY TALL.
(L.S.)