IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SOLID AND VENEERED TESSELATED AND OTHER SHAPED WOODWORK SUITABLE FOR FLOORINGS, BUILDINGS, WORKS OF ART, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Seiler, of Interlaken, Switzerland, and 16,
Castle Street, Holborn, (City) London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SOLID AND VENEERED
TESSELATED AND OTHER SHAPED WOODWORK SUITABLE FOR FLOORINGS,
BUILDINGS, WORKS OF ART, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
11.
"
.
Sealed the 17th August 1854, and dated the 23rd March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Seiler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
March 1854.
I, FREDERIC SEILER, of. Interlaken, Switzerland, and .16, Castle Street,
Holborn (City), London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SOLID AND
VENEERED TESSELATED AND OTHER SHAPED WOODWORK SUITABLE FOR FLOORINGS,
BUILDINGS, WORKS OF ART, AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
To manufacture this woodwork I use woods of a perfect dryness, of about
one inch thick, cut by machinery according to the desired form, and each piece
of wood is provided with a groove or slot, in which a tongue or key of wood
or other material fits, forming a moveable bolt; this arrangement allows of
arranging all the separate pieces according to the design or pattern which I
wish to form, and all the pieces fitting and adjusting with the greatest exacti-
tude are strongly consolidated,. and caused to adhere together by means of
glue or other suitable substance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Seiler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
SEILER, of Interlaken, Switzerland, and 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City),
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the
year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Seiler, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick Seiler, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick
Seiler, 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 MANUFACTURE
AND CONSTRUCTION OF SOLID AND VENEERED TESSELATED AND OTHER SHAPED WOOD-
WORK SUITABLE FOR FLOORINGS, BUILDINGS, WORKS OF ART, AND OTHER PURPOSES,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Seiler, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Frederick Seiler, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say):-
My improvements consist in forming flooring or other woodwork, mentioned
in the title, with solid pieces of wood, which are united together by a novel
mode of joining, to be described in the sequel. These improvements are to
obviate the defects of common woodwork of this kind, and especially of
veneering, which is liable to warp, and otherwise be injured by the effect of
dampness, and cannot easily be repaired by planing merely. To manufacture
the improved woodwork, I use pieces or panels of wood, of a perfect dryness,
of about one inch thick, cut by machinery according to the desired form, and
each piece of wood is provided with a groove or slot, in which a tongue or key

page_text: of wood or other material fits, forming a moveable bolt. This arrangement
allows of arranging all the separate panels according to the design or pattern
which I wish to form, and all the panels fitting, and being adjusted with the
greatest exactitude, are strongly consolidated, and caused to adhere together
by means of glue or other suitable substance.
My improvements are represented on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, & 4, shew an elementary panel which enters as component part
into the design desired to be produced; as an example, I have represented this
panel square, and made up of several different pieces, but the number of com-
ponent pieces of each panel may be varied indefinitely, as well as its form,
which may either be polygonal or curvilinear. Fig. 1 is a top view of the
elementary panel; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same through the diagonal
a, x; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the panel; and Fig. 4 an elevation, over
angles. A, A, A, are three pieces of wood of the same or different kinds, and
having the same thickness as is intended to be given to the flooring or wood-
work; B, B, are two pieces of different or the same kinds of wood, and
having the same thickness as A, or about one inch, as stated above; C are ribs
of wood in-laid into the pieces A. The pieces A & B are joined together
by means of tongues a, a, which are glued in internal grooves made on
the vertical sides of the pieces. In order still further to strengthen this joint,
I add to it tongues b, which I glue edgewise, in grooves cut on the under side
of the panel, perpendicular to the joints of the different component pieces.
These transversal tongues, offering a greater holding surface than the longi-
tudinal or internal ones, prevent the panel from getting out of joint when it
is made up of several pieces, or from warping when it is of one piece only.
The internal and transversal tongues may be made either of wood, of wrought
iron, or cast iron; it will, however, be necessary to use either one or the other
of the two last-mentioned substances, in case the design to be produced is made
up of curve lines.
. In order to prevent the panels from collapsing at the points of junction when
they are not supported in those points by a bridging joist, I have devised two
kinds of strengthening or false joists, which are represented in cross section,
Figs. 5 & 6; L is the usual bridging joist; is an iron false joist, mortised
into the solid flooring P; o is a cavity at each end of the false joist; into this
cavity is driven a flat piece or iron key D, which unites the two adjacent joists
when they are made of cast or wrought iron. These false joists may also be
made of wood by increasing their depth and thickness, and by chasing them
into the under joist, as shewn in dotted lines, Fig. 5. d (Fig. 6) shews a false
joist of another form, which may sometimes be made to replace the internal

page_text: tongue a; it consists of a double T iron. The cavity at the end of each falsé
joist may also be made triangular, as seen in Fig: 6; Figs. 7 & 8. shew
longitudinal sections of two ways of fixing at suitable distances the false joists
on the real ones which may be underneath them;. however;.. I prefer the
mode represented at Fig. 7, which is as follows: The panel to the left having
been put in its place, the key D is driven into: the cavity of the false joist of
this panel. The right-hand panel is then passed on the key so as to ascertaini
the
proper position of the panels, and leaving at the same time between the.
two panels the necessary space for fixing the key D on the bridging joist L
by means of the screw V. This being done, the right-hand panel is driven
home into its proper and final position, as shewn in the Figure, and the flooring
operation is then continued as described. When the false joists are of wood,
they are secured on the joists by nailing them at their ends. The second way,
which is shewn at Fig. 8, consists in fixing the false joist by means of: a screw
before driving the key D into the cavity.. The modes of joining by transversal:
tongues and false joists, above described, are also applied with great advantage
to the kinds of woodwork already in use, and especially to certain kinds of
flooring, called "point de Hongrie simple," and "point de Hongrie retourné en
tous sens." By means of the above-mentioned tongues and false joists the
flooring is prevented from warping; it also can be made with less joists; and
is laid down with greater facility and quickness! The different kinds of solid.
flooring described and alluded to in the present Specification' may also be made..
of pine wood, which has not been applied to that purpose hitherto. For these
pine floorings I select those pieces that are free from knots, and have their
central or core parts cut out; these pieces are cut or split in a plane radial
with respect to the tree, the same as is done for sound boards, or other musical
implements. The object of this, way of selecting and treating the wood is to
give it a close-grained appearance, and impart a greater sólidity & durability.
to the flooring made with it. Whatever may be the kind of wood used, my
improvements' are applicable to all kinds of design to be executed; whether
rectilinear or curvilinear; as examples of the former kind, I have: figured two.
designs for floorings, Figs: 9 & 10; the former being made up of square
elementary panels, similar to the one represented at Figs. 1; 2, 3, & 4; and
the latter being made up of triangular panels. For curvilinear designs I
generally dispense with the internal tongues, at least for parts having a very
sharp curve; in that case the different pieces are joined together by a suitable
number of cross tongues b; when the design requires a great number of pieces
within a small space they are joined together, as represented in bottom plan,
Fig. 11, by means of a double tenon T of wood or iron. It is obvious that

page_text: the improvements above described can also be applied to wainscoating and
staircase steps. The latter are constructed in a manner similar to that in which
floorings are made, and in order to connect the panels between each other,
strengthening joists of wood & iron are let into their under side, the wooden
joists running across the step, whilst the iron ones run longitudinally, & serve
to support them.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim as my improvements is,-
Firstly, making the woodwork, set forth in the title, of solid panels of any
required shape, these panels being made up of any number of pieces joined
together by internal, or longitudinal, external, or transversal tongueing pieces,
the panels being joined together by false joists & keys, as described.
Secondly, the application of the longitudinal & transversal tongueing pieces
& false joists to solid woodwork now in use, & especially to staircase steps.
Thirdly, the manufacture of flooring, wainscoating, and similar woodwork
from pine or deal wood, the same having been cut in a plane passing through
the centre of the tree, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Seiler, have hereunto set my
hand & seal, this 23rd (Twenty-third) day of August, in the year of our
Lord 1854.