IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON GIRDERS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hamilton, junior, of James Street, Liverpool,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON GIRDERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hamilton at
the Offico of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1855.
I, JOHN HAMILTON, junior, of James Street, Liverpool, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON
GIRDERS" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of iron
girders when using corrugated iron. For this purpose, in constructing a girder,
sheets of corrugated iron (galvanized or not) are to be fastened together by
rivetting or screw-bolting to the extent of the length and width of the intended
girder. One, two, or more such series of corrugated sheets of iron may be
used in constructing the upper part of a girder; and where two or more serios
of corrugated sheets are used, they are to be fastened together, and kept at a
distance apart and parallel to each other by transverse partitions of wood, or of
cast or wrought iron, with undulations to correspond with and fit the corru-
gations of the corrugated sheets; and where the distance apart of two sets
of parallel sheets of corrugated sheet iron is considerable, vertical partitions of
corrugated sheet iron are used. Such partitions may be affixed by means
of corrugated angle iron to the horizontal plates of corrugated sheet iron; and

page_text: such vertical transverse partitions of corrugated sheet iron are also used as
upright props when combining the upper part of a girder with the lower part
of a girder, whether such lower part consists of corrugated sheets of iron or
plain sheets of iron; and in addition to such vertical partitions or props of
corrugated sheet iron, diagonal sheets of sheet iron, either wrought or cast, and
either corrugated or plain, are used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hamilton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HAMILTON, junior, of James Street, Liverpool, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Hamilton, Her special licence that I, the said John Hamilton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Hamilton, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON GIRDERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Hamilton, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 I, the said John Hamilton, 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 thereof (that is to say):
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of iron
girders when using corrugated iron. For this purpose, in constructing a
girder, sheets of corrugated iron (galvanized or not) are to be fastened together

page_text: by rivetting or screw-bolting to the extent of the length and width of thẻ
intended girder. One, two, or more such series of corrugated sheets of iron
may be used in constructing the upper part of a girder; and where two or more
series of corrugated sheets are used, they are to be fastened together, and kept
at a distance apart and parallel to each other by transverse partitions of wood,
or of cast or wrought iron, with undulations to correspond with and fit the
corrugations of the corrugated sheets; and where the distance apart of two sets
of parallel sheets of corrugated sheet iron is considerable, vertical partitions of
corrugated sheet iron are used. Such partitions may be affixed by means
of corrugated angle iron to the horizontal plates of corrugated sheet iron; and
such vertical transverse partitions of corrugated sheet iron are also used as
upright props when combining the upper part of a girder with the lower part
of a girder, whether such lower part consists of corrugated sheets of iron or
plain sheets of iron; and in addition to such vertical partitions or props of
corrugated sheet iron, diagonal sheets of sheet iron, either wrought or cast,
and either corrugated or plain, are used.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same..
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
α, α,
Figure 1 shows a side view of a girder constructed according to my Inven-
tion; Figure 2 shows a side elevation of part thereof on a larger scale.
are two corrugated plates of iron, which are kept apart or at a distance from
each other; b, b, are transverse uprights or supports of cast iron or other
suitable material, corrugated on their under and upper surfaces, to correspond
with the corrugations of the sheets or plates of iron a, a, which sheets or
plates of iron a, a, are rivited together at their edges and ends; c is one
of several screw bolts, or it might be a rivit, which connect the plates or
sheets to the upright 6 and to each other; d, d, are other screw bolts; or these
bolts may be made with heads at one end, and suitable for receiving keys or
cotters at the other end. These bolts d pass through the plates a, a, through
the uprights or separating pieces b, b, through the cast-iron uprights e, e, which
are formed, as is shewn at Figure 3, with tubular ribs, through which the bolts
d pass; and these uprights e are also formed with lugs or projections to receive
and have keyed to them the tie rods f,f, and the upper ends of these uprights e
are made with corrugations, and such is the case in respect to the lower ends
thereof when the second or lower series of plates g, g, are made corrugated, or
they are made with plain ends or feet when the plates or sheets of iron g, g, are
plain and not corrugated. I would remark, that although I have only shewn

page_text: two plates a, a, at top, and one thickness of plate g at the lower part of the
girder, this may be varied according to the strength desired to be given to
a girder made according to my Invention. I would remark, that where con-
siderable strength of girder is required, and where it is desired to use compa-
ratively light sheets of iron, in such cases I lay two or more corrugated sheets
in contact, as if they were one plate in thickness, and use them in other
respects in forming a girder, as above explained.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
combination as herein described of corrugated plates or sheets with other parts,
as explained, to keep them at a distance in order to form girders.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hamilton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE ANDERSON,
2, James Street, Liverpool.
JOHN HAMILTON, JUN. (L.B.)