IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PROOF FLOORING AND ROOFING, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS AND BRIDGES, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Farrell, of the City of Dublin, Ireland, Architect,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PROOF FLOORING AND ROOFING,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS
AND BRIDGES, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 5th December 1854, and dated the 22nd June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Farrell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
June 1854.
I, ISAAC l'ARRELL, of the City of Dublin, Ireland, Architect, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PROOF FLOORING AND
ROOFING, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS
AND BRIDGES, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved tile, which may be made of the
ordinary sizes now in use, but having a button raised on or attached to the
under side of it, and the corners cut off, so that when two of these tiles are
placed back to back, the button of each one fits into one of the corners of the
other, thus connecting them together, leaving a space between them for
cement. A number of these tiles set in two courses back to back form a
tesselated pavement, so knit and cemented together as to form one flag.
For roofing, tiles of a lighter description are used, but they are formed and

page_text: put together precisely as herein-before described. These roofing tiles may be
made either straight or curved for common or arched roofs.
For intermediate supports there are used beams of thin boiler plate,
stiffened by one or more courses of tiles or slates on each side, put together as
herein-before described, set on edge, and all connected together by screw bolts.
In the construction of walls and bridges on this principle the tiles are set on
edge; and in the case of bridges, the courses are placed diagonally, the sides
thus forming what may be called a solid lattice beam.
These improvements may also be carried out with common tiles, flags, slates,
or other materials. In such case a flat-headed screw bolt is substituted for
the button herein-before mentioned, and in all cases the tiles, flags, or slates
must be of uniform size and thickness, and the bolt must be fixed in the
centre of each.
In making these improved 'tiles, they may be pressed into a mould, so
constructed as to permit the water to permeate under the pressure, and so
consolidate the tiles as much as possible, and prepar them for the kiln.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Farrell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
FARRELL, of the City of Dublin, Ireland, Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Isaac Farrell, Her special license that I, the said Isaac Farrell,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaac
Farrell, my executors, administrators, or 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 FIRE-PROOF
FLOORING AND ROOFING, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CON-
STRUCTION OF WALLS AND BRIDGES, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Isaac Farrell, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of tho 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 Isaac Farrell, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
it
My said Invention relates to an improved construction of fire-proof flooring
and roofing, applicable also to walls and bridges, and consists of an improved form
of tile, which may be made of the ordinary material (clay), baked in a furnace
in the usual manner, and of the sizes and thicknesses of the tiles usually made
for flooring and roofing, or of any other material or dimensions that may be
found suitable or convenient, having a rabbated button raised on or attached
to the middle of the back of the tile; this button may be round or square, or
any other geometrical figure; and it may either form a portion of the tile, or
may be composed of metal, or any suitable composition, fixed in an opening
made in the tile to receive it. The four corners of the tile are cut off, and
rabbated, so as to correspond exactly with the form and thickness of the
button, and being in size each equal to one quarter of the button, so that
when four of these tiles are arranged to form a square, the opening in the
centre, formed by the rabbated corners, will exactly receive and fit the button
of a fifth tile; such fifth tile being placed underneath with its face downwards;
and a number of these tiles, so disposed and arranged in courses back to back,"
form a tessellated pavement on the upper surface, their under surfaces bearing
a similar appearance, and forming the ceiling of the apartinent underneath.
These tiles, besides being thus locked together by means of the rabbated
button, are made with indents on the back, so as to admit a bed of cement,
which unites then perfectly, and the two courses of tiles thus united form one
flag, the parts being dovetailed into each other, and the interstices filled with
cement. It will be evident that a series of these tiles, arranged in a similar
manner and placed vertically, will form a wall of great strength and solidity;
and that the improved tile is also applicable to the construction of bridges
and other structures where great strength is required, as I shall more fully
describe when explaining my Drawings.
When the floor or roof is not required to be tesselated, the upper tile is
left square, and the under tile has no button, but is made to rest on and fit to
the button of the upper tile, as is more fully described in the Drawings.

page_text: The same principle of mutual support, described in the foregoing, is appli-
cable to the construction of beams, which I make of slate slabs and wrought
iron, as is more fully explained in the description of the Drawings.
And in order that my said Invention may be more readily understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings here-
unto annexed. The same letters denote corresponding parts throughout the
Drawings.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of my Drawings, shows the face of my improved
flooring tile, drawn to a scale of one-fourth of the full size.
a, a, a, represent the corners cut and rabbated to correspond with the size
and form of the button b, b, Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is an edge view of
the same tile, shewing the edge view of the button b, which projects about
two inches from the face of the tile; Figure 3 is a back view of the tile,
shewing the face of the circular button b, and the indents c, c, to receive a
body of cement; Figure 4 represents the face of the flooring tile, shewing a
rabbated opening b in the centre, to receive a metallic or composition button,
and the corners a, a, rabbated, to correspond; Figure 5 is an edge view of the
same; Figure 6 is a back view of the same tile, shewing the small opening b
in the centre, for the shank of the button, and the indents c, c, for cement, as
before.
Figure 7 is a plan of part of a tesselated pavement composed of the foregoing
tiles, made to a scale of one-eighth the full size; b, b, are the buttons of the
under course, which rise up to the level of the face of the upper tile, and form
a part of the tesselated pavement; Figure 8 is a section through the above,
shewing how the courses are locked into each other by means of the buttons
b, b; Figure 9 represents the face of the improved tile prepared for common
pavement; Figure 10 is an edge view of the same, shewing the outline of the
rabbated button b, which projects about two inches, or a little more than
equal to the thickness of the tile; Figure 11 is the back of the same, shewing
the continued or oblong button b, and the fillets c, c, on each side.
Figure 12 is a plan, shewing the mode of arranging the foregoing in a floor,
and how the upper and lower courses break joint with each other; Figure 13
is a vertical section of the latter, shewing the button attached to the upper
course only, and the under course formed of a rabbated tile without the button.
Figure 14, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, represents the face of a roofing tile,
drawn to a scale of one-fourth full size. a, a, a, a, are rabatted quadrants at the
corners, to receive the button of the under course; Figure 15 is an edge view
of the same, shewing the thickness of tile (about five-eighths of an inch), and
how it is encreased at the corners to twice that thickness by means of the

page_text: fillet d, d, which allows for a bed of cement; the rabbated button projecting
a little more than double the thickness of the tile. Figure 16 is the back
view of the same tile, shewing the button in the centre, and the strengthening
fillets d, d, at each corner. Figure 17 is a plan, shewing the construction of a
roof with the foregoing tiles in tivo courses, as before described; Figure 18 is
a section of the same, shewing the mode in which the upper and lower courses
of tile lock into each other.
Figures 19, 20, and 21 shew the face and edge and back of my improved
roofing tile, as above described, with a square button, perforated for the recep-
tion of a small square button, perforated for the reception of a small square of
glass; Figure 22 is a plan, shewing the arrangement of these tiles in a roof;
Figure 23 is a section of same, shewing how a flat tile without a button
may be used for the under course. Figures 24, 25, and 26 shew the face
and edge and back view of the improved roofing tile, with continued button or
flange b, shewing a fillet e, e, on each side, to protect the joint, and the
strengthening fillets d, d, on the under side, which being imbeded in cement
prevents the possibility of lateral separation; Figure 27 is a plan, drawn to a
scale of one-eighth of the full size, shewing the mode of laying the above in a
roof; Figure 28 is a vertical section of the same, shewing the application of
a flat tile to the under course.
Figure 29, on Sheet 3 of my Drawings, is a side view or elevation of a span
or arch constructed of the improved tiles, as described in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
Sheet 1 of the Drawings. It will be seen that the above forms a tesselated wall,
the courses in which are laid diagonally, like the reticulated walls of the ancients.
The buttons b, b, b, and rabbated corners of the tiles in this tesselated wall
form the bond which ties the tiles that constitute the two faces of the wall
together, and which tiles break joint with each other in a diagonal manner,
and are further united by a layer of cenient.
Figure 30 is an elevation, and Figure 31 a section, of a compound beam
formed on the principle of mutual support, as herein-before described. The
sides are composed of Valentia or other slate, with a wedge-shaped button
b, b, bolted to the centre of each, and the ends of the slabs are cut to corre-
spond with the splay of the wedge. I place two longitudinal bars of iron,
one at the top and one at the bottom, and between the two plate sides
and through which the bolts pass, as shewn in the section at Figure 32;
or a piece of thin plate iron may be used, as in Figure 33. Figure 34
is a perspective view of the mould for forming the flooring tiles described
The bottom of this mould
in Figure 1, 2, 3, Sheet 1 of my Drawings.
is made to give the required form and impression to the back of the tile;

page_text: it is made of wood, in parts, which on being separated release the tile which
has been pressed in it. The sides of the moulds are formed of wood, the grain
of which runs vertically. These moulds may be made of any other porous
material that will permit the extra moisture to pass through under the high
pressure to which it may be subjected. This mould is bound with iron or
brass, the sides being made of sufficient depth to allow for the coinpression of
the clay, and are also made to separate and lift off from the bottom. A
mould so constructed is light and easily handled, and when filled with the clay
is run into the tile press, shewn in Figure 35, where it fits into a strong iron
frame or rim A, fixed directly under the die B, and capable of resisting the
utmost pressure that may be applied. The die is made as usual, the exact form
and size of the mould, and is prevented by the guide C from descending into
the mould beyond the depth necessary for the thickness of the tile.
Figure 36 represents in perspective the mould for the roofing tile described
in Figures 14, 15, and 16, on Sheet 2; and Figure 37 is a detail of the same,
also in perspective. This mould is made in parts as before described, for
the more easily disengaging the tile when compressed. The flooring tiles,
described in Figures 9, 10, and 11, Sheet 1, and the roofing tiles, described
in Figures 24, 25, and 26, Sheet 2, having continuous fillets and button
running in the same direction, can be moulded and compressed as above
described, or can be made by any ordinary tile machine, the clay being forced
through an opening or die having the section of the tile, as shewn in Figures
10 and 25, Sheets 1 and 2.
In the foregoing description and Drawings I have described what I consider
the best method of carrying out and applying my "Improvements in Fire-proof
Flooring and Roofing," and the best form and sizes of my improved tiles; but
I do not limit myself to the forms and sizes set forth, nor the particular
arrangement described in the Drawings, as they may be modified in various
ways; thus, the tiles may be bent to any curve or in any way, or may be laid
diagonally, or in courses parallel to the walls; nor do I confine myself to any
particular material or mode of construction, as my improvements may be
constructed in stone, plate, or metal, in solid slabs or perforated frames, so
long as the peculiar characteristic of my Invention, my mode of obtaining
mutual support, is retained.
The advantages to be derived from my herein-before described improve-
ments are economy in expense, height, and space, in the constructing of
fire-proof flooring and roofing, by the employment of two courses of tiles
united, as herein-before described, and occupying, in the case of flooring, about
four inches in thickness, and forming both the floor and ceiling; and in the case

page_text: of roofing, about two inches in thickness, in substitution for the usual system of
brick arches and metal beams.
Greater security from fire is also obtained. As the beams form no integral
part of the floor, they will not, if overheated or destroyed, destroy the floor;
perfect freedom from lateral pressure is also obtained. I ensure perfect
security in the case of roofing, not only from fire but from wet and storms,
as the tiles break joint perfectly with each other, and the intermediate layer
of cement renders the roof perfectly staunch and solid. When used in walls
and bridges any required space may be left open underneath, commensurate
with the solidity of the material used, and the weight that the bearing points
can sustain.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect,
I declare that I claim as my Invention,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of tiles for building pur-
poses, as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Second, the application and use of a tile having a button or flange either
formed on or attached to it, and projecting from one side or from both sides, if
found necessary, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Farrell, have hereunto set iny hand
and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
ISAAC FARKELL. (LS.)

page_text: Face of brproved Roofing tile
Edge view of Same
Back of
Shewing the araula
Button raised in, and forming
part of same.
Plan showing part of a rod
formed of the foregoing tiles.
Vertical Section of the above
ref showing how the upper and
and under courses of tile lock
inte auch ether
Improved Roofing tile showing
the Butten perforated
for glass
Edge new of same
Back view of D°
Plan shewing the arrangement
of same in Rat
Vertical section showing how
a plane erflat tile may be
used in the under curses.
Face Edge and Back of
improved tile with
ebleng Button
Plan of Ref formal d'same
Sectum of sume shewing Flat
tile in under aiuse