AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FORMING BLOCKS OF STONE, BRICK, IRON, WOOD, OR CEMENT, 80 THAT WHEN JOINED TOGETHER AND TIGHTENED THEY SHALL MUTUALLY SUPPORT OR BIND EACH OTHER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edouard Charles Descamps and François
Seraphin Breh, of Beersse, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manu-
facturers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FORMING
BLOCKS OF STONE, BRICK, IRON, WOOD, OR CEMENT, 80 THAT WHEN JOINED
TOGETHER AND TIGHTENED THEY SHALL MUTUALLY SUPPORT OR BIND EACH
OTHER
"
Sealed the 3rd October 1871, and dated the 10th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edouard Charles
Descamps and François Seraphin Breh at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 10th April 1871.
We, EDOUARD CHARLES DESCAMPS and FRANÇOIS SERAPHIN BREH, of
Beersse, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OP FORMING
BLOCKS OF STONE, BRICK, IRON, WOOD, OR CEMENT, SO THAT WHEN JOINED
TOGETHER AND TIGHTENED THEY SHALL MUTUALLY SUPPORT OR BIND EACH OTHER,”
to be as follows:-
This Invention, besides being of great advantage for all building
purposes, enables vaults or cellars of bonding warehouses and other

page_text: i
buildings to have flat roofs formed of blocks of stone, brick, iron, wood,
or cement, having surfaces of such shapes that they support each other,
but the system can be employed for a great number of purposes.
For the roofs of vaults cach stone or brick is so formed that when
it is joined with others of the same pattern and wedged with wedge
stones or bricks it maintains itself by leaning on the adjacent ones, and
also holds them up, so that when weight or pressure is exerted on any
part it cannot bend or be displaced so long as the extreme ends of the
joined stones or bricks are supported on proper walls, and the extent of
surface is only limited by the cohesive qualities of the materials.
The stones or bricks arc solid or hollow as required, and they may be
cemented with mortar or other cement, and the nature of this Invention
will be understood by reference to the Figures on the accompanying
three Sheets of Drawings.
Figure 1 represents the upper surface, Figure 2 the back surface,
Figure 3 the front surface, Figure 4 the bottom surface, Figure 5 a
side elevation, and Figure 6 a perspective view of one form of one
of the stones or bricks. Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 are different views of
one of the wedging stones or bricks. Figure 11. a perspective view of a
number of stones or bricks joined and wedged together, and it is evident
that this system can be applied to pavements, floors, carpentry, joinery,
mosaic and inlaid work, and also when a bottom layer of stones or
bricks have been properly prepared the interlocking stones can be used
for vertical walls, pillars, docks, and for a vast number of purposes.
When the roofs have to be inclined or have an irregular surface, we
employ mutual supporting stones or blocks having oblique upper
surfaces, as shewn in Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15.
When arches are required we form the sides of the stones or blocks in
accordance with the curve, but at the same time by the use of mortar
or cement a slight curve can be given to an arch with the stones or
bricks shewn in Figure 11.
t
When a space is required in the roof or surface for letting in daylight
or for any other purpose a metal or wooden frame having surfaces to fit
the adjacent stones or bricks is cumployed.
In Figures 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 wo represent
other forms of mutually supporting stones or bricks, but it is evident

page_text: that the forms may be varied to a great extent, and also that this system
of binding stones or other materials together can be used for inclined
walls, docks, and hydraulic structures.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edouard Charles Descamps and François Seraphin
Brch in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 10th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDOUARD
CHARLES DESCAMPS and FRANÇOIS SERAPHIN BREH, of Beersse, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Edouard Charles Descamps and François
Seraphin Breh, Her special licence, that we, the said Edouard Charles
Descamps and François Scraphin Brch, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edouard Charles Descamps,
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 "AN
IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FORMING BLOCKS OF STONE, BRICK, IRON, WOOD, OR CEMENT,
SO THAT WHEN JOINED TOGETHER AND TIGHTENED THEY SHALL MUTUALLY SUPPORT
OR BIND EACH OTHER," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Edouard Charles Descamps and François Seraphin Breh, our ex-
ecutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or
their, or one of 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 Edouard Charles Descamps and
François Seraphin Breh, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-

page_text: tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Figures on the accompanying two Sheets of
Drawings, and to the letters and numerals marked thercon (that is to
say) :—
This Invention, besides being of great advantage for all building
purposes, enables vaults or cellars of bonding warehouses and other
buildings to have flat roofs formed of blocks of brick, iron, stone, wood,
or cement, having surfaces of such shapes that they support each
other; but the system can be employed for a great number of purposes.
The principle or primitive type of this system permits the sections and
designs of the forms to be varied so long as the characteristic property
of each form is to bear upon and bind up whilst it is itself supported
and bound in an assemblage of the forms. This prototype consists in a
form, let it be of brick, for example, made in such a manner that when
it is conjoined with others of the same pattern it maintains itself by
bearing or leaning on its adjacent ones, and also reciprocally bears up
the latter in such a manner that when its extreme ends are held up or
maintained on proper walls a pressure exercised in any manner could
not displace or bend the assemblage unless the materials were crushed,
and the area or extent the assemblage can be made depends only on the
nature of the materials, or rather their power of resisting crushing.
These roof stones, blocks, or forms are plain or hollow, according to the
use for which they are designed, and in one arrangement their forms
are such that when one is placed upon its base, which is the side the
least oblong of the two parallel faces, the plan of the upper face a, b, c, d,
Fig. 1, is longer than the plan of the lower face a', b', c', d', Fig. 4, but
the upper face is not so wide as the lower one. The right and left
faces, one shewn in Fig. 5, are similar to each other, with the exception
that the angles are reversed, each having a side which is inclined
according to an oblique plan in comparison to the parallel faces in such
a manner that each face is much wider at the bottom than at the top,
and thereby appears in the form of a trapezium.
The foremost face, Fig. 3, is inclined according to a plan e, f, g, h,
Fig. 6, making an angle like that of the lateral faces i, k, Fig. 2, but in
a contrary direction, that is to say, that these lean or bear upon whilst
that is leaned or borne upon, and all the parts taken together are similar
to cut or tesselated bricks or tiles. The hind face, Fig. 2, is plain, and

page_text: resulting from the section of a perpendicular plan to the upper and
lower faces; it also resembles the form of cut or tesselated bricks or
tiles.
In the assemblage the hind faces c", d", Fig. 7, are coupled together
two by two, the right and left faces leaning or bearing on the next
blocks towards the right a¹¹, d, and towards the left a¹¹¹, c¹¹¹, placed
perpendicularly to the first, whilst the other faces of the couple sustain
the blocks which are before and behind, and these sustain in their turn
the adjacent blocks which sustain the first couple, and so on, as shewn
in Figs. 7 and 8, and thus there is a solidity in the whole system. By
this arrangement the roof stones or blocks could not be drawn out one
by one, neither at the bottom nor at the top, and is to realize a similar
object in a lateral sense, and also to bind the stones strongly together
that the inclines or juttings c, e, n, f, h, m, g, o, Fig. 6, exist in order to
leave a space P, Fig. 7, to be filled by a key or block of the same
material, and made of the form of a quadrangular pyramid shewn
detached in Figs. 95, 96, 9º, 9, the key being used to bind the neighbour-
ing bricks, stones, or blocks together, and to transmit by pressure the
reciprocal drawing together laterally, and this key not only assists in
embellishing the inlaid work, but can also if made in wood have planks
or other work fixed either under or above the roof of the vault.
Though the chief benefit of this Invention is to be able to construct
flat and horizontal roofs, it also gives the means of giving the work an
inclination, whether for constructing an arch or following any other
required line, and the assemblage is formed at the junctions of oblique
arches by means of arch stones F, Fig. 10; G, Fig. 13; F', Fig. 13*;
and G', Fig. 14.
The view of a roof stone, block, or brick, Fig. 3, is also shewn in
Fig. 10, marked 8, t, u, v and if this stone is cut at the line q, r, and a
block y, w, x, z, Fig. 10, having angles to suit the required obliquity of
the arch is placed between the separate pieces, we obtain by the union of
these three pieces the arch stones 1, x, 2, 4, y, 3, 1, pattern F, and by
adding a block y, w, x, Fig. 10, to the back of the block, Fig. 5, arch
stones are obtained, as shewn in pattern G, Fig. 13, the pattern F being
placed perpendicular, and the pattern G parallel to and upon the line of
junction.
All descriptions of curved work can be made with stones or blocks cut
according to the radius of the required curve, and the use of monter.

page_text: enables a slightly curved arch to be made from the stones or blocks
A and B, and their modified forms. In the arch of an arched vault the
result of the direction of force, whether by gravity or by pressure, exerted
perpendicularly at any part on the arch is distributed parallel with the
floor of the vault, and has a tendency to widen the sides, but the side
pushes, which take place in vaults built according to the old method,
are imperceptible at the points of support when the roofs are constructed
according to our improved system before described, on account of the
solidity and holding together of the blocks which constitute a roof, both
massive and unyielding laterally. In effect the side pushes which take
place in arches would on a roof such as that shewn in Fig. 11 act as
follows: The sides of the block No. 1 would press against the sides of
the adjacent blocks 3 and 4, thence to the blocks 5 and 6 which exert a
drawing action on the blocks 7 and 8, and cause an outward pressure on
block 2 and drawing action on the blocks 9 and 10, which in their turn
exert a drawing action on the blocks 11 and 12, and these effects of
pressing and drawing together take place on the entire surface of the
roof, the roof itself supporting or withstanding the effect which in the
old system was transmitted to the sides. From these principles result
the property that these constructions have of holding the blocks together
and resisting pressure either from below or at the top, and the reason for
the solidity being assured is that the principal action exerts itself by
pressing and drawing the blocks together, the resistance being only over-
come when the pressure exceeds the cohesive attraction of the materials
employed. The assemblage of blocks forming the roof can be kept up
by resting on two walls or sides only; in this case to strengthen the sides
which are not supported blocks made according to the pattern I,
Fig. 12, can be used, each formed of a block and a half block of the
pattern A united in one piece.
In order to make spaces in the roof for the admission of daylight, or
to bind the blocks with masonry, or for any other purpose, we can in
the assemblage shown in Fig. 11 leave out the blocks marked 20, 21, 22,
23, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37, the semi-blocks 24, 25, 26, and 27, and
the keys or tightening blocks 28, 29, 30, and 31, and substitute for
them a frame, Fig. 15, of which the leaning sides or faces are supported
by the adjacent blocks, whilst the sides a² and a³ are leaned upon by
other blocks, and thus the frame is maintained firm. By placing a first
layer of these improved stones or blocks on their backs and joining to
them another layer, and so on, a vertical wall can be made.

page_text: The Figures 16, 17, 18, 19, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, and the
assemblage Fig. 45 represent different patterns of keying stones or
blocks emanating from the same principle as before described, and
therefore any further description of them is unnecessary.
To shew that mortar between the stones can be used without altering
the system it is sufficient to suppose each couple of stones and each
tightening key or block to be diminished at each side equal to half a
joint, as shown by the dotted lines in the blocks marked 50, 51, 52, 53,
54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60, Fig. 11, where the lines primitively
limiting the forms become the centres of the interstices, and if we
suppose them to be filled with mortar which in hardening unites with
the stones the assemblage is similar to that in which no mortar was
used, and thus the employment of mortar obtains the same results as if
the stones were of larger dimensions. Whether the materials employed
are burnt or baked clay, cast iron, stone, wood, or other substances,
according to the requirements, the system of construction with or
without mortar is of great utility in the construction of vaults with
stages and divisions in their interiors, posts and pillars for bridges, weirs,
lock walls, inclined walls, constructions in loose or shifting earth,
hydraulic works for the tops of the openings in bridges, for paving roads
and footpaths, terraces, halls, vestibules, kitchen floors, and innumerable
other purposes, and the system is especially adapted for rooms or
warchouses above subterranean vaults or cellars, the roofs of which
serve for ceilings for the vaults and also floors to the places above, and
as these assemblages can be inclined it is easy to construct the upper
roofs of brick, stone, cement, or other material, it being only necessary
to asphalte or tar the exterior, and thus tiles, laths, rafters, timber work,
and linings may be dispensed with. This system can also be used for
carpentry, ceilings, wooden floors, cabinet, inlaid, and mosaic work.
One of the advantages of this system is the economy of space and
materials resulting from the difference between the heights of vaults
made according to the old method and our improved one, for it is evident
that in arched vaults there is a great waste of space, besides being very
inconvenient, especially between the vault or cellar floor and the level
of the street, and in addition to these inconveniences there is an increase
in brickwork, masonry, and carpentry of the building, and the arches
also require the walls to be thicker. All these inconveniences are
avoided with the horizontal roof, but at the same time for large vaults a.
slight curve can be given when desired.

page_text: From what has been before described it will be seen the Invention
consists in the introduction of a new clement of construction of such
a form that it enables an assemblage of blocks of brick, stone, or other
material to be suspended and at the same time support and bind all the
parts together. By means of this Invention vaults with flat roofs and
also various other constructions have their parts bound together in such
a manner that it is impossible that they can be dislocated unless the
materials are crushed or broken.
In witness wheroof, we, the said Edouard Charles Descamps and
François Scraphin Breh, have hereunto set our hands and scals,
this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.
EDOUARD CHARLES DESOAMPS. (L.S.)
FRANCOIS SERAPHIN BREH.
(L.S.)