IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORINGS AND ROOFINGS AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND OTHER WORKS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Xavier Tarte, of No. 20, Rue de l'Union, Brussels,
in the Kingdom of Belgium, Civil Engineer, and William Toovey, of No. 3,
Rue de la Pompe, Brussels, aforesaid, Lithographer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORINGS AND ROOFINGS AND OTHER
PARTS OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND OTHER WORKS."
Sealed the 17th October 1860, and dated the 25th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Xavier Tarto and William
Toovey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 25th April 1860.
We, XAVIER TARTE, of No. 20, Rue de l'Union, Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Civil Engineer, and WILLIAM TOOVEY, of No. 3, Rue de la Pompe,
Brussels, aforesaid, Lithographer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORINGS AND ROOFINGS
AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND OTHER WORKS," to
be as follows:-
The object of these improvements is to obtain lightness and strength in the
construction of parts of buildings and other structures, and to render such parts
of buildings fire-proof.
For these purposes are formed light framings of wrought metal, which are
covered on the upper, and, if desired, on the lower side with plates of sheet
metal, the whole being united together by nuts or screws, or other suitable
bolts. When for floorings the upper surface of these constructions may be

page_text: covered with wood or any other suitable material, and the under surface with
lath and plaster or any other suitable material to form a ceiling. Arrange-
ments of this character are shown by Sheets 1 and 2.
Sometimes the surfaces are formed by means of plates laid in angular
channels, and connected together across the upper and lower angles by
transverse straps or plates, as represented by Sheet 3, or by the aid of blocks
of wood when for roofing, as indicated by the Figures of Sheet 4.
We do not confine ourselves to the precise combinations as represented in
the respective Sheets.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Xavier Tarte and William Toovey in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 24th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, XAVIER
TARTE, of No. 20, Rue de l'Union, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Civil Engineer, and WILLIAM TOOVEY, of No. 3, Rue de la Pompe, Brussels,
aforesaid, Lithographer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Xavier Tarte and William Toovey, IIer special licence that we, the said
Xavier Tarte and William Toovey, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as wc, the said Xavier Tarte and William Toovey, our
exocutors, 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
FLOORINGS AND ROOFINGS AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND
OTHER WORKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Xavier
Tarte and William Toovey, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us or them, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Xavier Tarte and William Toovey, <lo
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of these improvements is to obtain lightness and strength in the
construction of parts of buildings and other structures, and to render such parts
of buildings fire-proof.
For these purposes are formed light framings of wrought metal, which are
covered on the upper, and, if desired, on the lower side with plates of sheet
metal, the whole being united together by nuts or screws, or other suitable
bolts. When for floorings, the upper surface of these constructions may be
covered with wood or any other suitable material, and the under surface with
lath and plaster or any other suitable material to form a ceiling.
Sometimes the surfaces are formed by means of plates laid in angular channels,
and connected together across the upper and lower angles by transverse straps
or plates, or by the aid of blocks of wood when for roofing.
But that the nature of the improvements and the means by which we carry
the same into effect may be more fully ascertained, we will proceed to describo
the same more in detail.
The incombustibility of buildings depends upon the use of fire-proof materials
distributed and disposed in the best way to resist the burning of such inflammable
objects as they may contain without being shaken or displaced in their relative
parts. The fundamental condition of every fire-proof edifice is, then, the
inalterability of the uprights (walls, pillars, &c.,) but it is necessary in order
to attain the proposed end, incombustibility, that each compartment should
form as it were "a safe" or "strong box." This fundamental condition can
always be attained by the use of such materials as are best suited to resist tho
prolonged action of fire. Incombustible compartments are obtained by the
use of our system of metallic floors and roofs.
The floorings in sheet iron, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and
13, are composed of a frame or lattice of iron bars or bands crossed at right
angles, and at their intersections they are notched to half their thickness so as
to fit one into the other; the frame serves to maintain equidistant two platos
or sheets of laminated iron, the one above, the other below, which are fixed to
the frame by rivets or screw bolts, according to the strength or thickness
required. The joints are fixed between simple T's and bands of the same
thickness as the plates invariably united by bolts on each side of the joints,
see Figure 8. The frame is divided into equal squares, say, of from ten to
twenty inches, the side from centre to centre of the bars. according to the

page_text: length or breadth of the floor, the squares may be of a greater or less
dimension. The thickness of the plates and the distance between them varies
necessarily with the length and breadth of the space to be covered by the
flooring, and also the supposed weight to be borne.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION.
The arrangement shown by Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, is drawn on a
scale of one-fourth the size of execution for No. 2 of table, and applies to
surfaces of from 13 feet 1 inch to 19 feet 6 inches on each side, and to the
weight of 10 cwt. 3 qr. 2 lb. to 2 tons 3 cwt. to the square yard.
The form Figure 1, plan and section is composed of two plates of sheet
iron of from to of an inch thick, each separated one from the other by
a distance of from to 5 inches and filled in by bars of laminated iron, as
represented in Figure 2, upon which these sheets are rivetted. The bars in
flattened or laminated iron, of which the frame is composed fit one into the other
at the crossing points by means of grooves or notches cut half way into their
thicknesses, as represented at Figures 3 and 3*. The upper and lower sheets
are then fixed to the rails of the frame by means of bolts riveted in sufficient
numbers, and in the manner indicated at Figures 1, 2, and 4.
For weights
of from 1 tons to 2 tons per square yard, it would perhaps be preferable to
employ screw bolts.
Figure 5 represents a form furnished with a "parquet" in wood and
plastered ceiling. The thickness of the flooring inclusive of the above would be
for No. 2 of table about 2 inches. The plastering is applied upon listels and
laths of wood attached by screw bolts a, a, a, Figures 2 and 5, or simply by
wood screws traversing the iron plates.
Figure 6 represents a circular form which may be employed on a great
number of occasions. The use of the forms of our system either plain or
curved may extend to all constructions where the surfaces are destined to
sustain a heavy pressure. The smallness of space which these floors occupy
in buildings, either as ground frames in hydraulic works, as tablettes of bridges,
as supporting roofs or otherwise, involves in all constructions an economy which
practical men will be able to appreciate at first view.
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 18, apply to the surfaces comprehended
under Nos. 4 and 5 of the table (from 70 to 110 square yards), and a weight
of from 10 cwt. 8 qr. 2 lb. to 2 tons 3 cwt. 0 qr. 8 lb. to the square yard.
The adaptation represented by Figures 7 and 8 is also composed of two plates
in sheet iron of from to an inch thick, separated by a distance of 2
to 4 inches, filled by reversed T1 bars, crossed at right angles, notched

page_text: at their intersections, and forming a general framing as represented at
Figure 11. The upper and lower plates are afterwards fixed to the iron lattice
work by means of strong screw bolts in sufficient number to obtain a great
rigidity, as represented by Figure 10, and in the manner indicated by Figures
7 and 8. The joints in the plates are secured by the T's and bands covering
the joints through which the screw bolts are passed, as shown at Figure 8.
Figure 12 shows the disposition of the iron plates; the full line shews the
upper plate, and the dotted one the under plate.
Figure 13 represents a form furnished with a thin wooden floor or "parquet,"
and also with a plastered ceiling. The thickness of this floor, all included will
be from 5 to 6 inches for surfaces of 70 to 110 square yards. This second form
without being of so general an application as the first, is susceptible of being
employed in almost all public buildings to contain large rooms, viz., in palaces,
hotels, hospitals, theatres, festival halls, arsenals, docks, warehouses, foundries,
manufactories, &c. &c. Without the plastering which would be useless in
establishments of the latter description, the thickness is about 5 inches. The
floorings of the first and second forms, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
12, and 13, notwithstanding their little thickness, are able to support a
quadruple pressure, and to break them down it would be necessary to employ a
weight the quintuple of that indicated in the table. Thus for No. 1, which presents
a surface of only 42 square feet, the rupture would be effected by 88,000 lb.
equally distributed. The floorings of ordinary houses have generally, including
the plastering, a thickness varying from 8 to 12 inches; this thickness in
dock warehouses attains even to 2 feet 2 inches without plastering, and which
is unnecessary in these constructions.
According to our system the floorings of ordinary houses, inclusive of
plastering, would only attain to 2 inches, and need never exceed 5 inches to
5 inches for docks, with forms representing surfaces of from 70 to 110 square
yards. The frames of our system of floorings are of incomparable rigidity,
and being susceptible of prolongation into the walls of the building, they form
a general anchoring, which not only unites the principal walls, but also the
partition walls, so that the destructive effects of the bulging of walls, or the
outward pressure where there are vaults or any other cause, are prevented
or neutralized. These new functions constitute a complete solidarity between
the compartments of a house or public edifice, which insures for them the
greatest possible solidity. The height of apartments varies generally from 7 to
15 feet. By diminishing the thickness of the floors and ceilings there would be
the means of having one or two stories more according to the relative height of
the buildings without augmenting the total elevation. We must also add that

page_text: the resistance of ordinary floorings in our houses is calculated by the number
of persons whom our apartments are supposed to contain; this number is 3
persons to the square yard, equivalent to a weight of 440 lbs., which is even
carried to 1,100 lb. to be assured of sufficient solidity.
The adaptation represented by Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17 is composed of an
uninterrupted union of equilateral triangles in metallic plates susceptible of
being indefinitely prolonged by means of riveted joints, which attach theso
plates lengthwise and breadthwise in order to make all its constituent parts
but one and the same piece. The rigidity of the floor is owing to its form and
to the tenacity of the metal, which thus preserves all its resisting power. This
model differs from the preceding ones only in the mode of filling the interval
between the upper and lower plates; instead of bars crossing at right angles,
we have here a continuous metal plato bent to angles of about 60°, of
which the apices meet alternately with the upper and lower plates to which
they are strongly fixed by rivets, and then form an assemblage of incomparable
strength, capable of resisting the greatest pressure. For the greater facility
of uniting the different parts, the lower plate will be sometimes replaced
by bands of metal, placed at equal distances from each other, and of a breadth
equal to the same distance or thereabouts, to compensate for the division of the
lower plate into bands; the said bands must be augmented in thickness
accordingly.
Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17 indicate perfectly the principal dispositions. It
may be applied with great advantage for floorings, but it is above all applicable
to bridges and viaducts, its greatest resistance being in the direction of the
ridges of the angular plates. For roofs or vaults of edifices, it presents itself
It is
under two very favorable conditions, lightness without lateral pressure.
capable of receiving every kind of ornament; formed cylindrically, it offers
the most economical means of spanning great openings, tunnels, submarine
structures, &c., &c., &c.
Figures 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 represent an arrangement adapted for roofing
purposes. Applied to roofing, the angular plate in iron, zinc, or other metal is
distinguished for its lightness and elegance. In gable end roofs the con-
struction is of very great simplicity; it is composed of a ridge plate, against
which the roof leans on each side. In the construction of roofs for mansions or
large edifices presenting complicated forms, the different sides prepared before-
hand according to one of the arrangements shown in the Drawing are applied
against the ridges of iron (or wood, if not to be fire-proof,) and there fixed by
rivets, &c. The intersections are covered by an angular sheet of metal, of
which the edges lap over, so as to insure its being perfectly water-tight.

page_text: The iron bars which are seen in Figures 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22, are placed
at distances of from 10 to 20 inches from each other, alternately on each side,
and fixed to the angular plates by means of small blocks of wood, and wood
screws or iron bolts and nuts, according to the degree of strength intended.
The iron bars fulfil the same office in the roofs as the horizontal plates in the
floors, i.e., they render the whole quite rigid and of vast strength, compared
with the quantity of metal employed; indeed it is in their employment that tho.
principal novelty and excellence of our system resides. One of the great.
advantages of our roofs is that no soldering is required; all the joints are
lapped over. To prevent the water filtering at the screws or nuts, we place a
square piece of india-rubber or other impermeable substance as represented
by the Drawing.
Figure 23 is a plan by which the divisions of the plates are shown; it will
be seen that the joints are placed alternately for the purpose of obtaining a
greater degree of homogenity in the "ensemble."
Figuro 24 is a section showing the way in which the angular plates Baro
overlapped; the lines of rivets or bolts thus take at the same time the angular
plates B and horizontal plates C, thereby forming a system presenting the
greatest possible strength with the least weight of iron. The above mode of
laying the plates is for floorings of large dimensions for bridges, which can be
made either flat or with parapets for greater rigidity, as represented by
Figure 25 for high level bridges, the parapets may become beams placed under
the flooring. The system is capable of taking whatever form circumstances
may require. For structures of smaller dimensions, the angular plate, instead-
of being composed of its simple element, as represented by Figure 26, may be
composed of two or more, as shown by Figure 27, thereby saving labour.
For structures of great strength the angular plate will always be secured by
upper and lower plates over all.

page_text: The attentive examination of this table, the results of which are mathe-
matically established, demonstrates the influence of the space between the two
plates upon their supporting power, and on the other hand, the reduction which
can be made in the distance of the two plates by increasing their thickness
without changing the resistance to pressure.
In witness whereof, we, the said Xavier Tarte and William Toovey,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
X. TARTE.
(L.S.)
Witness,
GO. SIMONAU. Brussels.
W. TOOVEY. (L.S.)