IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Howard, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING."
Sealed the 20th April 1880, and dated the 25th November 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Howard at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th November 1879.
GEORGE HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING."
One of the greatest objections to the use of parquet flooring is the difficulty of
providing for and making good the shrinkage of the boards after they are laid.
Now the object of my Invention is so to construct a parquet floor that the
shrinkage may be readily made good.
Hitherto in laying parquet flooring it has been usual to nail each board separately
to the joists. This however made no provision for shrinkage, and as the boards
contracted the ends at the nail holes were liable to split.
According to my Invention I overcome these difficulties by connecting together
side by side, by dovetailing or equivalent means, a number of boards, and securing
the lengths thus formed to a single board which I nail or screw to the joists. As
the shrinking takes place the boards will shrink or draw up to the fixed point. In
order to hold the lengths of connected boards in place I use clamping pieces of T
or similar shape in cross section, which I firmly secure to the joists. These clamping
pieces are of the same depth as the boards, and are intended to fit over the ends of
the boards, which are rebated to permit of the same.
The boards will thus be held as it were in grooves formed by the head of the T
pieces and the joists, and will be capable of sliding laterally therein. Any space
left by the shrinking of the boards I fill up with an ordinary board, which I prefer
to screw down to the joists to admit of its being readily replaced by a broader piece
should the shrinkage continue.
This arrangement provides not only for shrinkage but also for swelling of the
wood caused by dampness, while the ends of the boards are securely held in position
and are prevented from curling up.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Howard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th May
1880.
GEORGE HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
" IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING."
One of the greatest objections to the use of parquet flooring is the difficulty of
providing for and making good the shrinkage of the boards after they are laid.
Now the object of my Invention is so to construct a parquet floor that the shrinkage
may be readily made good, while at the same time provision is made against any
injurious effect resulting from the swelling of the wood caused by dampness to
which the flooring of a new building is exposed.
Hitherto in laying parquet floorings it has been usual to nail each of the boards
composing the panel or slab separately to the joists. This however made no pro-
vision for shrinkage, and as the boards contracted the joints opened.
According to my Invention I provide for the shrinkage and swelling of the parts
composing the floor by constructing panels or slabs of boards set side by side and
firmly secured together by any one of the means hereafter mentioned. These slabs
I make of any desired length and of a width sufficient to rest, say, upon three joists,
and I fasten one board of each slab (the middle board or one of the end boards is
the best) to the joists by means of nails or screws, leaving the other boards com-
posing the slab to rest loosely on the joists. Thus when the slab shrinks it will
shrink laterally or towards the fixed board away from adjacent slabs in the same
line, thereby leaving gaps to be filled in by additional boards. The edges of the
lines of slabs thus secured will be held down to the joists by overlapping transverse
strips of wood or clamping pieces having a T or other suitably shaped cross section,
and forming with the slabs a flush floor surface.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my Invention as applied to two of
the most ordinary forms of parquet flooring. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of
a parquet floor of the simplest form constructed according to my Invention, and
Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same on the 'line 1, 2, of Fig. 1. a, a, is a number of
boards secured together to form a panel or slab by tongue and groove joints and by
the addition of dog nails applied to their under face, as shewn in the section, Fig. 3.
These boards in this instance are of such length that they will when in place rest
upon three flooring joists b, b1, b. Applied to the joists b¹, b', are strips of wood c
T-shaped in cross section, and serving to form guides for the reception of the slabs,
The slab is
which are rebated at their edges to fit against the transverse strips c.
made fast to the joists by nails or screws d, which are passed through the middle
board of the slab and take a firm hold of the underlying joists. The strips c are
made in lengths somewhat shorter than the slabs when these are applied to the
joists, as shown in the Drawing; but when the slabs arc secured to the joists in
pairs, with their abutting ends made fast to the joists, the strips c may extend
nearly the whole length of two such slabs. It will be convenient in laying a floor
according to this Invention in a newly built house to lay the slabs of each row a
short distance apart in order to provide for the swelling of the wood transversely
of the grain. As the shrinkage occurs gaps are formed, as at e, and these I fill in
by the insertion of boards f, which boards I hold in place on the joists by short
pieces c, which will form virtually continuations of the strips c. By securing these
pieces c¹ to the joists by screws a facile means is provided for removing the filling
pieces f, and supplying their place by boards of greater width as the further shrinkage
of the panels occurs.
I may remark that the means employed in carrying out my Invention admit of
various modifications to suit various kinds of wood employed in the formation of
the panels and qualities of flooring required to be formed; thus the panels may be

page_text: composed of boards butt-jointed and held together by dog nails, as shewn in Fig. 4,
such joints being glued or not, as thought desirable. Again, where the boards are
of extra stoutness, a dovetail transverse groove may be formed in them, us shewn at
Fig. 5, to receive a batten which will connect them together in the form of a slab.
But my claim does not extend to the manner in which the individual panels or slabs
are made up.
In place of forming the strips c with a T-shaped section to fit rebates in the ends
of the boards composing the slab the slabs may be held down upon the joists by
bevilled strips, as shewn in the plan and sectional views, Figures 6 and 7, the edges
of the slabs being chamfered to correspond to the bevil of the strips. Fig. 6 shows
also the boards of adjacent panels set aslant in opposite directions, as is common in
parquet flooring.
By clamping the panels to the joists by transverse strips, and securing them to
the joists in the manner above explained, leaving gaps in the rows of panels,
it will be seen that I not only provide for shrinkage and the swelling of the wood
which may be caused by dampness, but I hold down firmly the ends of the boards
and prevent them from curling up and giving the floor an uneven surface.
The application of parquet flooring is by this Invention greatly facilitated, and it
may be effected without inconvenience as respects noise in an inhabited house
where such flooring is required to be applied.
Parquet flooring constructed after my Invention may be laid upon an existing
floor, or with advantage upon a subfloor, in which cases I should fasten the panels
to the existing or subfloor respectively. This will be a convenient arrangement
in the event of the joists not being in a suitable position for receiving the attaching
nails or screws.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Parquet Flooring," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim,-
The mode of constructing parquet flooring of panels or slabs composed of boards
connected together, as above explained, and held in place upon the joists (or subfloor,
as the case may be) by clamping strips, such panels being fastened to the joists or
subfloor in the manner above explained, so as to allow of their swelling or shrinking
freely, their contracted lengths being made good by filling pieces, in the manner
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Howard, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One