Improvements in Armour.
Year: 1895

page_text: Improvements in Armour.
I, MURRAY CLAYTON of The Oaks, Boston Spa, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Armour plates of ordinary kinds are cumbersome and very costly to produce.
Now my invention has reference to the construction of armour by building it up of
metal girders and bars imprisoned between the girders the whole being secured to
a suitable plate backing between which and the hull of the vessel or other
structure to be protected any suitable backing may be interposed. The cross
sectional forms of the girders and bars will depend upon the particular application
the girders being usually of H section or approximately so, but sometimes with the
flanges corresponding to one side of the H narrower than those of the other side,
as for instance when the bars instead of being entirely imprisoned are to have
parts of their surfaces exposed between the girders; or as in the case of armour
for a curved structure where the flanges will be correspondingly curved and if the
edges of the flanges of one girder are to butt against those of adjacent girders then
the flanges at the outer sides of the girders must be wider than those at the inuer
sides. In order that where the ends of the girders and bars come together the
various portions of the armour may be well secured together I sometimes form in
the ends alike of the girders and of the bars dove-tailed or other suitable slots into
which I insert correspondingly formed keys, or the different lengths of girders and
bars may be arranged to break joint. Although I have referred to girders of
Hsection or approximately so, it is to be understood that I may use other sections
with bars of cross sections adapted to be held between such girders, the shapes of
the girders being such as not only to hold the bars between them but also to admit
of being securely attached to the backing plate or plates. Compound armour
according to my invention can be built up of metal of different kinds or qualities
and be produced from ingots in any convenient and suitable way and those surfaces
exposed to shot or shell may be tempered or hardened in any known or suitable
manner. Sometimes I dispense with girders and build up the armour of a series
of bars of a section cr sections such that when in position against the backing plate
or plates the bars partly overlap or engage or interlock one with another.
Dated this 4th day of November 1895.
Improvements in Armour.
I, MURRAY CLAYTON of The Oaks, Boston Spa, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner-the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
..
Armour plates of ordinary kinds are cumbersome and very costly to produce.

page_text: Now my invention has reference to the construction of armour by building it up of
metal girders and bars imprisoned between the girders, the whole being secured
where necessary to a suitable plate backing between which and the hull or
protective deck of a vessel, a fortification or other structure to be protected, any
suitable backing may be interposed. The cross sectional forms of the girders and
bars will depend upon the particular application, the girders being usually of
Hsection or approximately so, but sometimes with the flanges corresponding to
one side of the H narrower than those of the other side, as for instance when the
bars instead of being entirely imprisoned are to have parts of their surfaces
exposed between the girders; or as in the cases of armour for a curved structure
where the flanges will be correspondingly curved and if the edges of the flanges of
one girder are to butt against those of adjacent girders then the flanges at the
outer sides of the girders must be wider than those at the inner sides. In order
that where the ends of the girders and bars come together the various portions of
the armour may be well secured together, I sometimes form in the ends alike of the
girders and of the bars dove-tailed or other suitable slots into which I insert
correspondingly formed keys, or the different lengths of girders and bars may be
arranged to break joint. Although I have referred to girders of H section or
approximately so, it is to be understood that I may use other sections with bars of
cross sections adapted to be held between such girders, the shapes of the girders
being such as not only to hold the bars between them but also to admit of being
securely attached to the backing plate or plates. Compound armour according to
my invention can be built up of metal of different kinds or qualities and be
produced from ingots in any convenient and suitable way and if desirable may be
tempered or hardened in any known or suitable manner. Sometimes I dispense
with girders and build up the armour of a series of bars of a section or sections
such that when in position against the backing plate or plates the bars partly
overlap or engage or interlock one with another.
.
The accompanying drawings are cross sectional views illustrating several ways
of carrying my invention into effect.
In Fig. 1 of these drawings, 1, 1 are metal girders or bars which may be of any
convenient length, are of H or I section with flanges 1ª, 1° of equal width and
which may be fixed in any convenient manner, as by screws or bolts 2 to a plate
metal backing 3 and to the wall of the structure to be armoured with their webs
perpendicular thereto. 5, 5 are metal bars fitting and entirely imprisoned between
the girders 1 and into some of which the screws 2 may in some cases extend as
indicated.
Fig. 2 illustrates a similar arrangement to that shown in Fig. 1 but built up of
girders baving the outer flanges 1 of less width than the inner flanges 1" and of
bars 5 of such a section that their outer ends pass between the outer flanges
of the girders and so as to come flush with the outer surfaces of such flanges.
Fig. 3 illustrates armour such as shewn in Fig. 2 secured to plate backing 3.
between which and the wall 4 of the structure to be protected a backing 6 of wood
or like material is interposed, 3* being an additional metal plate between the wall 3
and the backing 6. The armour may be attached by screws 2 to the plate metal
backing 3 which is secured at different points of the structure to be protected by
screw bolts 7 which are screwed into some of the bars 5 and extend through the
girder flanges 1', the backings 3, 6 and 3 and the wall 4, and are provided at their
inner ends with nuts 7 between which and the said wall may be placed a pair of
washers 7 with interposed washer 7° of elastic or yielding material such as india
rubber.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate armour comprising girders and imprisoned bars of various
sections; these sectious being given by way of example only, as other sections are
applicable.
Figs. 6 and 7 respectively illustrate armour according to this invention with
and without wood or like backing, applied to structures having curved exteriors.

page_text: In both cases the girders are so proportioned that the flanges 1ª and 1° of each
girder will butt against those of the adjacent girders.
Fig. 8 illustrates a modification in which the girders are dispensed with and
the bars 5 are of zig-zag section and arranged to partly overlap each other as
shown.
Fig. 9 illustrates a similar arrangement in which the bars 5 overlap and interlock
one with another.
Fig. 10 shows how the adjacent ends of the metal girders and bars when they
terminate in the same plane can be securely connected together by a key of double
dove-tail shape in section fitting into corresponding dove-tail shaped slots or
recesses in the ends of the girders and bars.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
.1. The construction of armour by building it up of girders, and bars imprisoned
between the girders, substantially as described.
2. The construction of armour by building it up of a series of bars of a section
or sections such that when in position against a backing plate or plates, the bars.
will partly overlap or engage or interlock one with another, substantially as
described.
3. Armour constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described
with reference to the several examples shown in the accompanying illustrative.
drawings.
1