IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TENTS, HUTS, AND PORTABLE BUILDINGS
Year: 1855

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the: Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Rock, junior, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
December 1855.
I, JAMES ROCK, junior, of Hastings, in the County of Sussex, Carriage
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TENTS, HUTS, AND PORTABLE BUILDINGS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention has reference to the improved construction and roofing of
huts, tents, and portable buildings, so as to render them light for transport,
capable of being quickly erected or removed, and weatherproof, both as to
wind and wet.
First, I construct my huts of boards or planks of any suitable wood, placing
them edge to edge without any transverse framing or batten, so that all the
shrinkage of the wood may be in one direction; and I secure the planks
together, either by bolts passing through two or more of them edgewise, or by
band plates passing outside of them and coupled together at the external
edges of the planks, so that either. by screwed nuts or wedges the said bolts
or; band plates may be at any time tightened, in order to keep the planks
compressed together at the edges. I prefer to make the edge joints of a
conical form, shooting off the two edges of the one plank from the centre of

page_text: its thickness, and hollowing the corresponding edge of the next plank at
similar angles; but the planks may be put together in any usual manner as
regards the formation of the joints, either by plain joints with or without an inter-
mediate substance, or by matching, grooving and tongueing, or any ordinary
method. In fixing the planks together by means of band plates, as above
mentioned, it is desirable not to nail or otherwise fasten the plates to the sides
of the planks, as any such fastening endangers splitting when the wood shrinks,
and obstructs the tightening of the plates when the wood has shrunk. In
building a hut of planks put together as described, I form each side of the
hut of so many breadths of the united planks as will suffice, when brought
edge to edge and placed vertically on edge, to give the required height to
the building; and I unite the several breadths to each other when so placed
either by hingeing them permanently together, which may be done with
advantage when the size of the building is not great; or, in cases when it is
desirable to reduce the weight of the several parts, by using shifting hinges,
bolts, or socket fastenings. Generally I prefer to form each side of a building
of parts hinged together, so as to be complete in itself. Thus, in a hut of 12
fect square with walls 6 feet high, I recommend two sides to be formed
severally of two parts, each 12 feet long and 3 feet wide, and two similar sides
with additional pieces of triangular shape to form gable ends to the roof.
Each side to be hinged together, two sides having two pieces each, and the
other two to form the ends having three pieces each. The ends of the hut
should be furnished with strap bolts or projecting pins of sufficient length
beyond the ends of the planks to pass through the planks forming the sides
of the hut, and to be screwed and nutted, or punched or collared for keys, or
made with spring catches outside of those planks, or corner plates and screws
may be used instead of such bolts or pins. In erecting such a hut, wherever
required, I proceed as follows:-I place one side (its two parts folded together)
edgewise on the ground; I then place one end of the hut (also folded) at a
right angle to the side, and fasten them together by means of the bolts or pins
or plates before mentioned. I next attach the remaining sides together in
like manner, and thus form an enclosure 12 feet square 3 feet high; then
turning up the other pieces, which are also 3 feet wide, and bolting them
together, the walls are completed 6 feet high; and the triangular pieces
attached to the ends being also turned up, the hut is completed, with the
exception of a roof. I form apertures for windows and doors, as may be found
desirable. The doors must be divided at the middle, horizontally, in order to
fold with the sides, to which they may be attached. To construct a larger
building, the sides may be made proportionally longer and wider, or they may

page_text: be made up of short lengths, placed endwise together. Thus, a building 36-
feet long 24 feet wide may be made up of six 12 feet lengths to form the
sides, and four similar lengths to form the ends. In this case the three parts
forming one of the sides are best made with the upper folding parts hinged
opposite ways, two turning up from the outside and one turning up from the
inside, thus helping to support each other. Thus, buildings of any required
size can be quickly put together, the parts being made of equal size, and the
fastenings to correspond; the same parts will serve for a number of small
buildings or a less number of larger buildings. It is not necessary for the
construction of such buildings to put the planks together in the manner first
herein described, but the parts forming the walls may be made in any usual
manner; or, where great facility of transport is required, each portion may
be a light frame of wood or metal, filled in or covered either with thin board
or metal, or with some woven, felted, or "machée" substance suitably prepared;
or such portions may be simply sheets of any suitable material, hinged or
otherwise united together, as before described.
For the roofing of portable huts and other buildings, I employ rolling-up
tarpaulins or other flexible covering. I fix two stanchions to the middle or
apex of the gable ends of the building, and upon or into such stanchions
place a roller, having at one or both ends a winch, for the purpose of winding
up the tarpaulin or other covering. I fix this roofing to the roller, either by
making the roller in two halves longitudinally and inserting the tarpaulin
between these halves, or by grooving a roller of a single piece on opposite
sides throughout the whole length, and inserting the tarpaulin in such grooves;
or it may be simply nailed on opposite sides, so that in either of these modes
of fixing, when the roller is turned round, the tarpaulin (one half passing over
and the other half under the roller) may be wound up from both sides of the
roof at the same time. When it is necessary to have some of the tarpaulin
to overlap the ends of the building, I make the roller longer than the building,
throwing out the stanchions accordingly, and leaving the additional tarpaulin
detached from the roller at the ends, so as to fall down freely over the ends
of the building, where it may be confined by lacings or lashings. In some
cases for purposes of ventilation, it may be desirable to place each half tarpaulin
forming one slope of the roof upon a separate roller, leaving a small space
between the two rollers and covering both with a ridge piece, supported from
the ends of the building by the same means as the rollers; or it may be
more convenient in some cases to fix or place the covering upon a stationary
ridge picce, and roll up the covering from the parts farthest from the ridge.
My Invention, as regards the construction of tents, consists in the adapta-

page_text: tion thereto of rolling-up coverings, such coverings being made with rollers
in either of the ways already herein-before described. I support such rollers
and coverings in order to form tents by means of upright poles fitted with.eyes
or crutches to receive the spindles of the rollers; or (which I consider a better
arrangement) I form a tent by means of two pairs of poles, each pair fastened
together; at their upper ends by a bolt or rivet, and opening like a pair of com-
passes. Two such pairs of poles being set up at a certain distance apart,
according to the length of the roller used, the roller is placed in its bearings
(secured to the upper ends of the poles), and the covering being unwound and
fastened at the bottom, the tent is complete, except at the ends. In order to
close the ends, I fasten a curtain piece to each of the four poles of the tent
frame. In order to give greater stability to the tent, I connect the two pairs
of poles with each other by a cord, and carry the ends of the same cord to
the ground some little distance from the tent at each end, and secure the same
to the earth by means of pegs. Tents made in this manner may be placed
together so as to cover any required space of ground. Two such tents placed
side by side may have the half of the covering of each tent on the sides
where they approach each other raised by means of additional upright poles
to double the height of each single tent, thus forming a large high pitched
airy tent. In this case additional material will be required to close the ends,
which additional parts may be rolled upon the upright poles, it being desirable
in all cases where possible to preserve the principle of rolling up the material
used for covering both for its preservation and for facility of use and transport.
The poles for raising and extending the covering of such tents may be attached
to the poles used for supporting the rollers.