IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I, HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the firm of Herbert and Company, Patont
Agents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FLOORS AND CEILINGS, a communication to me from abroad by François Louis
Perrière, Contractor, of Paris, Franco, to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a system of hollow blocks or bricks of earthenware
applicable in the construction of floors and ceilings and has for its object to replace
the rubble work plaster or similar material hitherto employed for filling the
interstices between the joists forming the skeleton of the floors.
For this purpose I place between the joists or beams forming the skeleton of the
floor, a series of hollow or tubular bricks with or without recesses and adapted to
bridge over the space between the joists, resting on the lower flanges of I iron
joists or on lateral projections or ledges of wooden joists suitably constructed to
receive and hold the same, the whole thus forming a base adapted to carry the
wooden boards or any other suitable material forming the surface of the floors.
The filling thus placed between the joists may be composed of any number of
hollow bricks of any desired shape or dimensions, and the ends of which may be
adapted to fit into the joists or interlock with the contiguous bricks.
The hollow bricks may be perforated lengthwise or crosswise, while their
surfaces may be curved corrugated or plane. The filling may thus be kept ready
made and put down between the joists and connected together and with the joists
by cement or in any other suitable manner.
Instead of placing such hollow bricks ready made between the joists I may
however prepare a mass of plaster or any other suitable plastic material and fill
the interstices between the joists with the same by pouring the mass over a series
of india-rubber tubes previously placed between the joists; the tubes being
removed after the mass has become hard, the whole thus forming a hollow filling.
The ends of the bricks, when placed between the joists may either be vertical or
inclined, and either smooth, serrated or stair shaped.
"
•

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
I, HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the firm of Herbert and Company, Patent
Agents, of 67, Strand, Westminster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND
CEILINGS, a communication to me from abroad by François Louis Perrière,
Contractor, Paris, France, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained-'in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to a system of hollow blocks or bricks of earthenware
applicable in the construction of floors and ceilings, and has for its object to replace
the rubblework, plaster or similar material hitherto employed for filling the
interstices between the joists forming the skeleton of the floors.
In describing the invention, reference will be made to the annexed drawing,
Figs 1 to 19, which represent various types and details of the system embodying
the invention.
In carrying out the invention I place between the joists or beams forming the
'skeleton of the floor a series of hollow or tubular bricks constructed as follows:
·
1. Hollow bricks of earthenware A (Fig, 1) perforated lengthwise and having
at the base transverse recesses C forming a sort of a step adapted to fit into the
I shape joists N, see N° 2, Fig. 8.
The hollow bricks may, however, also be made without these recesses C, as
illustrated by Fig. 2.
2. Hollow curved bricks of earthenware D and G (figs 3 and 4) having either
transverse perforations (fig. 3.) or longitudinal perforations (fig. 4), while the
extreme end of the base may either be angular E, or flat F. (These bricks are
convex on one side and concave on the other).
3. Hollow bricks of earthenware H (Fig 5) the upper surface of which is plano,
while the lower face is concave, the extremity I of the base being rounded off.
4. Hollow bricks of earthenware S, fig. 9, having either transverse or longi-
tudinal perforations, and recesses at the ends as already shown by Fig
A,
but deeper, so that the brick may be placed directly on two wooden ledges R joined.
to the beams or joists P.
•
5. Hollow bricks of carthenware X (fig 11) cut square and provided with teeth;
the extremities of the base V form rounded projections.
6. Hollow earthenware bricks Y, fig. 12, with extremities convex at the base =³,
or cut out to form a notch equal to a quarter of a circle 2. This type of hollow
bricks is also adapted to fit directly on the I joists N, as illustrated by figure 12.
7. Hollow earthenware bricks, of which fig. 13 is a longitudinal vertical section
and fig. 14 a cross section. The extremities of the base B¹ of these hollow bricks
are concave.
8. Hollow earthenware bricks U, of which Fig. 10 represents a side elevation,
.one of the extremities 8, t, being male, the other female, these bricks having thus
so to say, no right side and no, wrong side.
Floors, partitions, or walls thus constructed form a system of continuous canals
which allow a current of air to circulate freely in the same, and can be utilized for
laying telephone. wires, or as pneumatic or acoustic tubes, so much employed in
modern buildings.
The use of this type of hollow bricks is particularly advantageous for receiving
electric conducting wires, in as much as by this arrangement the wires are
completely insulated from each other, protected against sudden variations of
temperature and maintained in a drip stato

page_text: 9. Hollow earthenware bricks C¹ I' (figs 15 and 17) designed to replace. the
blocks or tiles of plaster for floors or partitions and for other purposes.
These bricks or blocks are provided with notches N¹ (fig. 15) and R¹ (fig. 17)
serving to facilitate their connection as shown by fig. 16.
The blocks may be square, as shown in Fig. 15, or bevelled, as shown by Fig. 17,
in which the extremity of the base is rounded off.
10. Hollow earthenware bricks J' and K' (fig, 18) recessed at the upper surface
only, the recesses forming a quarter of a circle 1 or a curve S¹.
Whatever the shape of these recesses, they have for their object to increase the
solidity of the joint when filled with pluster or cement.
The above described hollow bricks or blocks V, G³, I', J', and K¹ (figs 10, 15,
17 and 18) may be placed either vertical or horizontal.
The whole of the surface of each brick or block, or only certain sides of it, may
be provided with sharp or rounded grooves, as indicated by Figs 3, 4 and 6, or q
andr Fig. 5, or the surface may be left smooth, as in Fig. 10. The ends of the
blocks may be cut off at right angles, like M Fig. 7, or obliquely, like a, b, Fig. 7,
or one end at right angles and the other slanting, as at c, d, and h, m of Fig. 7.
The joints are filled with coment or mortar, as at o Fig. 7.
Fig. 8 shows several rows of hollow blocks laid between the joists N, N, but
before the joints are cemented together.
Fig. 19 illustrates a hollow block of plaster produced on the spot by casting
plaster around a series of india-rubber tubes V placed between the joists N. The
rubber tubes should be strong enough to prevent their collapse under the weight of
the semi-liquid plaster. After solidification, the tubes are extracted by a pull at
one end, and may thus serve repeatedly for the formation of hollow blocks.
The same process of casting hollow blocks in situ may be applied for other shapes
of blocks and for cornices.
-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declaro that what
I claim is:
•
Floors and ceilings constructed of or with hollow blocks or bricks, placed side
by side, and joined together or with the joists or beams, substantially as described
and illustrated.