IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, FLOORS, AND ROOFS FOR BUILDINGS IN WHICH CONCRETE AND IRON ARE USED, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lythgoe and Harry Thornton, both of
the City of Manchester, Joiners and Builders, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, FLOORS, AND ROOFS FOR
BUILDINGS IN WHICH CONCRETE AND IRON ARE USED, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 14th August 1868, and dated the 26th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lythgoe and
Harry Thornton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 26th February 1868.
We, THOMAS LYTHGOE and HARRY THORNTON, both of the City of
Manchester, Joiners and Builders, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, FLOORS,
AND ROOFS FOR BUILDINGS IN WHICH CONCRETE AND IRON ARE USED, AND IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is applicable in the construction.of buildings in which
concrete and iron are employed, and it consists, first, in lining the
wood or other frame into which the concrete is filled with a compound
1

page_text: Also in forming the outer and inner surfaces of the wall of fine
concrete which is run in between the outer frame and a small inner
frame, which latter is connected together by movable stays and removed
previous to filling in with the ordinary concrete.
Also in connecting the sides of the frame by plates passing through
hollow bushes made of concrete instead of wood as hitherto, and
securing the plates by cotters.
Also connecting the angles of the frame by angle straps secured by
the plates and cotters above referred to.
Also in securing the angle of the frame for chimney breasts and other
projections or recesses by straps fixed to a part of the frame.
Also in connecting the sides of the frame by horse-shoe shaped
clamps, thereby dispensing with the bolts now employed.
Also in supporting the brackets of the scaffolding by plates passing
through holes in the bushes above referred to.
Also in attaching to the inside of the frame triangular or other
shaped projections placed horizontally and vertically or otherwise, which
projections produce corresponding recesses in the face of the building
in imitation of the joints of stones or panels or other designs.
Also in making recesses in the inside of the frame to produce window
sills, key stones, cornices, architraves, and moulds for door casings and
windows and other designs, also in making moulds to produce columns;
gate posts, and other similar articles of concrete.
In constructing floors and roofs we employ bars of T-iron placed
side by side at suitable distances apart, the ends of the bars resting
on the walls and the space between the bars is filled up with concrete,
thus producing very strong, light, and fire-proof floors and roofs. When
the floors are to be covered with boarding, we bridge the space between
the bars of T-iron with pieces of wood to which the flooring boards
are nailed, and in roofs the bars of T-iron are or may be bridged with T
or other iron.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry Thornton in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
LYTHCOE and HARRY THORNTON, both of the City of Manchester,
Joiners and Builders, send greeting.
WHEREAS
Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry Thornton,
Her special license that we, the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry Thornion,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas Lythgoe and Harry Thornton, our 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 CONSTRUCTION
OF WALLS. FLOORS, AND ROOFS FOR BUILDINGS IN WHICH CONCRETE AND IRON
ARE USED. AND IN Apparatus EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition
(amongst others), that, we, the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry
Thornton, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals, 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 we, the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry
Thornton, do hereby declare the nature of our 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):
Our Invention is applicable in the construction of buildings in which
concrete and iron are employed, and it consists, first, in lining the wood

page_text: or other frame or mould into which the concrete is filled with an
improved compound having a hard and smooth surface.
Secondly, in forming the outer and inner surfaces of the wall of fine
concrete which is run in between the outer frame or mould and a
small inner frame.
Thirdly, in certain improved apparatus employed in the construction
of walls and other parts of buildings made of concrete.
Fourthly, in attaching to the inside of the frame or moulds tri-
angular or other shaped projections placed horizontally and vertically
or otherwise, which projections produce corresponding recesses in the
face of the building in imitation of the joints of the stones or panels
or other designs, and in making recesses in the mould to produce orna-
ments or other designs in relief.
And, lastly, in certain improved modes of constructing floors and
roofs with bars of T iron and concrete.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood we will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference
being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
The first part of our Invention is applicable not only to the improved
apparatus hereafter described but to other apparatus now or that may
hereafter be employed in the construction of dwellings or buildings
made of concrete. It has heretofore been customary to line the inside
of the wood frame or mould into which the concrete is filled with
sheet zinc or other metal, such lining is found objectionable owing
to the cost and to the weight, now our Invention consists in lining
or coating the said frames or moulds with a composition formed by
combining gas tar and spirits of turpentine in about equal proportions;
the gas tar must be boiled before the spirits of turpentine is added.
This composition is applied to the frame or mould with a brush like
paint, and when dry produces a hard and smooth surface capable of
resisting the action of the concrete.
The second part of our Invention will be fully understood in reference
to Figure 1, which represents part of a concrete wall constructed
according to our improvements; a represents a part of the concrete wall
and b, b, the wood frame or mould in which the concrete is poured:
this frame may be of the ordinary construction or of our improved
construction. It is very desirable to be able to make the inner and

page_text: outer surfaces of concrete walls or either of them of a finer material
than the interior, and heretofore this has been impossible, but by the
application of the small inner frame c this object can be attained with
the greatest facility. The frame consists of two parallel boards c, c,
connected by the roof e¹ and stays c, this frame is made by preference
of about half the depth of the frame b, it rests upon the top of the
wall and a space of about half an inch or more or less is left
between the outside of the frame c and the inside of the frame b.
When the inner frame c is in its place the fine concrete is poured
in to fill up the spaces between the outer and inner frames, and when
this fine concrete is set the stays are taken out to allow the inner
frame to be removed, the ordinary concrete is then run in to complete
that portion of the wall. In some cases only one side of the wall is
required of fine concrete, when such is the case the inner frame c
must be made accordingly. In connecting the sides of the frame to
formi concrete walls it has heretofore been customary to use screw
bolts passing through hollow cores made of wood as shewn by dotted
lines at in Figure 1; now the first part of our improved apparatus
consists in making these hollow cores or bushes of concrete which
become embedded in the other concrete forming the wall.
The second part of our improved apparatus consists in using cotters
passing through bolts instead of screw bolts and nuts to connect the
sides of the frame or mould as shewn in Figure 1. These cotters afford
great facility in connecting and disconnecting the various parts of
the frame or mould.
The third part of our improved apparatus is shown in Figure 2
which represents a plan of an angle frame the inner angle of which
is connected by the metal angle strap e, one part of which is screwed
to the frame b, and the other part is connected to the other part of
the frame by the plate and cotter e¹. In Figure 3 we have shewn
our improved apparatus constructed for making the chimney breast in
concrete, the front part of the frame b' is connected to the other parts
of the frame by the angle frames e and cotters e¹.
The fourth part of our improved apparatus is shewn in Figures 1,
2, 3, and 4, and it consists in connecting the sides of the frames bor
any other frames used in making buildings of concrete by means of
the horse-shoe shaped clamps g, whereby the usual bolts passing through
the frames and through the wall are dispensed with. The arms of

page_text: the clamps g are somewhat wider apart than the outside of the frames
or mould b, and at the upper part of the said arms are projections g'
for the inner part of the frame or mould to rest against.
The set
screws g press the frame or mould against the said projections and
against the upper part of the wall, and the frames are provided above
and below with studs 6, the lower ones being placed into the recesses
formed in the wall by the upper ones. The distance between the
centres of these studs must correspond exactly with the depth of the
mould, and by the recesses left by them in the wall the frames are
raised evenly and kept parallel to the floor line.
the angles of the wall are made with three arms as shewn in Figures
2. 8, and 4.
The clamps g for
The last part of our improved apparatus is shewn in Figures 5
and 6, and it consists in supporting the platform on the brackets
which are connected to the outer arm of the saddle , resting on the
central column which fits in a hole in the concrete wall. Two or
more of these saddles and columns are required to support a platform
according to its length, and when the platform is ready to be raised
or moved from one part of the building to the other we make use of
the blocks supported by the scaffold ', the legs of this scaffold fit
in holes in the concrete wall.
3
The fourth part of our Invention relating to the ornamentation or
moulding of concrete buildings is shewn in Figures 1, 5, and 7. In
Figures and 5 it will be seen that the inside of the outer portion
of the frame or mould b, by which the outside of the building is
moulded, is provided with triangular shaped projections placed
horizontally and vertically; these projections produce corresponding
recesses in the face of the building in imitation of the joints of stones,
and by placing a half of this triangular projection at the top of the
frame and filling the concrete up to the top of the mould the
joint of the mould is hidden, and consequently the outside wall is
not defaced by the horizontal joint line of the frame. The vertical joints
are also hidden in the same way by making the ends of the frames
6 to overlap each other as shewn in Figures 4 and 6 and by placing
the half of a triangular projection at each step of the vertical joint.
It is evident that by varying the shapes of the projections on the
moulds or frames 6 panels or other designs may be produced on the
outside and inside walls. Window sills, key stones, cornices, architraves,

page_text: and moulds for door casings and windows, may be produced in like
manner.
Our Invention also consists in making moulds to produce columns,
gate posts, and other similar articles of concrete.
The last part of our Invention relating to Our improvements in
floors and roofs is represented in Figures S and 9. Figure S is a
plan of our improved floor or roof; and Figure 9 a transverse section
of the same; , h, are bars of T-iron placed side by side at suitable
distances apart, the ends of the bars resting upon the walls of the
building, and , b, are strips of hoop iron placed at right angles to
the bars and laced over and under them as shown in Figure 9.
The space between the bars is filled in with concrete, thus
producing very strong, light, and fireproof floors and roofs. When
the floors are to be covered with boards we bridge the space between
the bars with pieces of wood m, to which the flooring. boards are
nailed, and in roofs the bars are or may be bridged with T or other
iron.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim,―
First. The composition described when used for lining or coating
wood or other frames or moulds used for building with concrete.
Secondly. Forming the surface or surfaces of concrete walls of
finer concrete than the inner portion thereof and the apparatus shewn
and described for effecting the same.
Thirdly. Making the hollow cores through which the connecting
bolts of the frame or mould pass of concrete instead of wood as now
customary as shewn and described.
Fourthly. Making the connecting bolts with cotters instead of screw
nuts as shewn and described.
Fifthly. The improved modes of connecting the angles of the
frame or mould with plates and cotters as shewn and described.
Sixthly. Connecting the two sides of the frame or mould by means
of horse-shoe shaped clamps as shewn and described.
Seventhly. The improved apparatus for supporting and moving the
platform as shewn and described.

page_text: Eighthly. The application of triangular or other shaped projections
and recesses to the inside of the frame or mould to produce ornamental
or other surfaces in the building.
Ninthly. The application of moulds for making columus, gate posts,
and other similar articles of concrete.
And, tenthly. The improved mode of constructing floors and roofs
with bars of T-iron and concrete, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Lythgoe and Harry
Thornton, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
second day of August, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
THOMAS LYTHGOE. (L.s.)
HARRY THORNTON. (L.S.)