A RIDGE TRESTLE, OR APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED ON THE RIDGES OF BUILDINGS TO SUPPORT PERSONS AND PLANKING
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wilkins, of Banbury, in the County of
Oxford, Builder, for the Invention of "A RIDGE TRESTLE, OR APPARATUS
WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED ON THE RIDGES OF BUILDINGS TO SUPPORT PERSONS
AND PLANKING."
Sealed the 11th May 1860, and dated the 15th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wilkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
November 1859.
I, WILLIAM WILKINS, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Builder, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A'RIDGE TRESTLE,' OR
APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED ON THE RIDGES OF BUILDINGS TO SUPPORT
PERSONS AND PLANKING," to be as follows:—
My Invention relates to a trestle or apparatus to be applied on the ridges of
houses and other buildings to support persons and planking, principally as a
substitute for the scaffolding usually erected thereon for building and other
purposes. My apparatus can either be employed singly as a stand or stage
for the workman, or in combination with a second similar apparatus to support
planking where broader standing surface is required. My apparatus consists
of two bars, beams, or pieces, so hinged or connected together at top that they
may be opened out at an angle and be placed astride upon the ridge so as to
lie or rest against its sloping sides or the inclined roof surfaces; connected
to them at their junction are two other beams or pieces which may be placed
or extended horizontally, or at an angle that may be suitably adjusted, and are

page_text: supported at their outer ends by bars or supporting pieces connected at their
lower extremities to the lower ends of the inclined beams first mentioned.
When the apparatus is so set up the workman may stand &c., upon it to carry
on building or other operations, or pudlogs for scaffold planking may be rested
thereon. When not in use the parts may be closed or folded together into
a compact and even portable shape.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WILKINS, of Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Wilkins, Her special licence that I, the said William Wilkins, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Wilkins, 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 "A RIDGE TRESTLE, OR
APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED ON THE RIDGES OF BUILDINGS TO SUPPORT
PERSONS AND PLANKING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Wilkins, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Wilkins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to a "ridge trestle," or apparatus to be applied on

page_text: the ridges of houses and other buildings to support persons and planking,
principally as a substitute for the scaffolding usually erected thereon for
building and other purposes. My trestle or apparatus can be employed either
singly as a stand or stage for a workman, or in combination with a second
similar apparatus to support planking when broader standing surface is
required. My ridge trestle or apparatus is constructed in the following
manner :-It consists of an apparatus in which two bars, beams, or pieces
are so hinged or connected together at top that they may be opened out at
an angle, and be placed astride upon a ridge, so as to lie or rest against its
sloping sides or the inclined roof surfaces, and which two bars, beams; or
pieces have connected to them at their junction two other beams or pieces,
which, when it is required to set the apparatus up for use, aro placed or
extended horizontally (or at an angle that can be suitably adjusted), and are
supported at their outer ends by other bars or supporting pieces attached at
their lower extremities to the lower ends of the bars or beams first mentioned.
When the apparatus, constructed as described, is so set up, a workman may
stand or place himself thereon to carry on building or other operations, or
may rest thereon putlogs for scaffold planking. When the apparatus is not
in use, the parts may be closed or folded together into a compact and even
portable shape, so that it may be carried about from place to place.
The accompanying Drawings particularly exemplify the mode in which my
Invention may be carried into effect.
in use.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a ridge trestle or apparatus constructed
according to my Invention, as set up for use on the ridge of a building;
Figure 2 is an elevation of the same when closed or folded together, and not
A, A, are two strong wood bars or beams connected together by a
strong hinge a; B, B, are two stout wood beams attached to the bars A by
hinges b, b. To the outer ends of these beams B are fixed strong metal stays,
cramps, or bent pieces e, e. C, C, are two other stout wood bars connected
to the bars A, A, by hinges c, c, attached to blocks a¹, a¹, fixed to the bars A
at the lower ends thereof. At the upper end of the bars C, C, a portion of
the wood is removed, so as to form a space or opening c², but leaving portions
of the wood to form a sort of upright c³, c, on each side of the opening, as.
clearly shown in Figure 3, which is a side view of the upper part of a bar C;.
with the end of a beam B resting on it. d, d, d, are pieces of wood firmly
fixed to the parts across the space c, forming steps, rounds, or bearers to
support the ends of the beams B, B. Rectangular pieces are cut away at the
corners of the outer end of each beam B, as shown in Figure 4, which is a
plan of the outer end of a beam B, so as to leave rectangular spaces or

page_text: recesses 62, to receive and abut against the inner sides of the uprights or
top ends of the bars C when the trestle is set up for use.
When the trestle is required to be used, the bars A, A, are opened out at
an angle according or corresponding to the angle of the ridge, and are placed
astride on the ridge, so as to lie against its inclined sides or surfaces. The
beams B, B, are extended or opened out, and their outer ends rested upon
the steps d, that is to say, selecting a particular step d on each side to receive
the end of the beam B on that side, according as it may be required, to adjust
the position or level of such beam to correspond to the pitch or angle of the
ridge, for it is evident that, in proportion to the obtuseness or acuteness of
the ridge, the bottom ends of the bars A, and hence those of the bars C, will
be higher or lower, so that the position of the beams B on the bars C will
have to be regulated accordingly, and they can be placed at the desired level,
or at a required angle with respect to the bars A, by means of this step
arrangement. When the end of the beam B is on a step d, the inner sides
of the parts c³, c³, fit into the spaces 6, 62, the beam B abutting against them
at that part, and thus preventing the bar C from falling inward, and the
stay e lies or laps over the step d, and so holds it, and prevents the bar C
from falling outward. The beam B can be raised and lowered to and
from the required step d by hand, or by a crab or windlass, or otherwise.
I do not confine myself to the particular methods herein described of adjusting
and holding the beams B upon the bars C, and of keeping the latter from
falling, as other modes or arrangements may be adopted for these purposes
without departing from the general character of my Invention. Instead of
each bar or piece of the pair A or the pair C being only a single bar, as in
Figures 1, 2, and 3, each piece of the pair A or C may consist of double bars
or two bars firmly connected together by the transverse pieces a', d, as shown
in Figure 5 (side view). When the trestle is set up as described, a person can
stand on the beams B to carry on his work, but if a broader supporting surface
is required, another similar apparatus may be set up on the ridge at a suitable
distance apart, and putlogs laid upon them across from one to the other, on
which planks can be placed to form a surface or platform of sufficient size.
A scaffolding can thus be safely and easily constructed.
When the ridge trestle is not in use, the parts can be folded together into
the compact shape shown in Figure 2, the bars A being closed or brought
together, the beams B closed down over them, and the bars C, C, over these,
the blocks a; a', being of such thickness and so placed, that the bars C may
lie flat upon the beams B, and a hook f, attached to one of the bars C, is
dropped into a staple or eye g on the opposite bar G, to keep the parts close

page_text: together. Narrow slots or nicks are cut in the thickness of the bars A to
receive the stays e, so that the whole may lie flat together, though when the
bars are double with a space between, as in Figure 5, these nicks are not
required. By the employment of this my Invention, I avoid the labor,
difficulty, and loss of time of constructing a ridge scaffolding in the usual
manner.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I lay no claim to any of
the herein-before described mechanical parts considered separately and apart
from the arrangement and combination thereof, in the manner and for the
purpose herein set forth. And I declare that my Invention relates to a
ridge trestle," or apparatus to be employed on the ridges of buildings for
supporting persons and planking; and what I claim as new, and constituting
my said Invention, is, the arrangement and combination of parts forming the
ridge trestle or supporting apparatus herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wilkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
0 Witness,
JOHN PITHAM,
Regent Place,
Banbury.
WILLIAM WILKINS, (L.s.)
Builder,
Banbury, Oxon.