IMPROVEMENTS IN ARCHES."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Clark, of 24, Great George Street, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARCHES." A communication from abroad by
Johann Fillunger, of Landstrasse 355, Vienna, in the Empire of
Austria.
Sealed the 24th October 1862, and dated the 29th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th April
1862.
1, EDWIN CLARK, of 24, Great George Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARCHES," a communication from Johann
Fillunger, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of arches in any material,
as used for bridges, roofs, culverts, or for any other purpose to which
arches are applicable, by which great facility and economy of construction
is obtained.
The peculiarity of this Invention is, that the arches being constructed as

page_text: is usual in framed arches, of two segments or flanges, placed one above the
other at some distance apart, forming the extrados and intrados of the arch,
the space between is occupied by a series of diagonal braces, by which the
intrados and extrados of the arch are retained in form and the structure made
rigid throughout. In elevation these arches would appear as a series of open
triangles, the apices of which are alternately reversed. The upper and lower
members of the alternate triangles being the extrados and intrados of the
arch, which may be of bars or links jointed with pins or of material formed
into a rigid shape, and the diagonal braces may be secured to them by
pins to allow of motion at the joints, or be rigidly fastened to the top and
bottom members, or the arch may be constructed of a series of triangular
frames.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
CLARK, of 24, Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edwin Clark, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edwin
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and in 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
ARCHES," a communication to me from Johann Fillunger, of Landstrasse 355,
Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edwin Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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

page_text: 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 Edwin Clark, 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:-
This Invention consists in the peculiar arrangement and construction of
arches for bridges, roofs, and similar structures, more particularly when the
openings to be arched are of considerable span, these arches being composed of
bars or plates arranged in the form of a single or a double series of triangles.
According to this Invention the two segments forming the intrados and
extrados of the arch or rib are placed at some distance apart, and are
connected by diagonal braces, which divide the space between the segments
either into a single or a double series of triangles, the double series being
applicable to arches of large span, in which case one set of diagonals would
intersect the other, and thus reduce the distance between the points of support.
The segments may be formed of bars or links connected by pins or rivets,
which also connect the diagonal braces, or the arch may be constructed of
triangular frames bolted or rivetted together.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing is an elevation of part of an arch
or rib constructed according to this Invention of a single series of triangles,
the rib in this instance being composed of two concentric segments, which are
formed of a succession of bars or links connected at their extremities by bolts
or pins, which also connect the diagonal braces. Figure 2 represents the
portion of an arch formed of a double series of triangles, the members in this
case being formed in a similar manner, the letters of reference in both Figures
denoting similar parts.
A represents the abutment of the arch; B, B the under segment or intrados;
C, C, the upper segment or extrados; and D, D, the diagonal braces. In either
case the number and depth of the ribs are of course regulated by the nature
and form of the arch or structure for which they are required.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same may be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements herein
referred to, as the construction may be varied without deviating from the
principle of the said Invention. I would remark, however, that I do not
claim as of my Invention the exclusive use of the several parts of the arch
herein described, but what I claim as of my Invention is,

page_text: First, the general arrangement and construction of arches, as herein-before
described.
Second, the mode of imparting rigidity to arches by the introduction of
diagonal braces between two segments, so as to divide the intervening space
into a single or a double series of triangles as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Clark, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
EDWIN CLARK. (L.S.)