Improvements in Fire-proof Doors, Shutters. Wainscoting, or the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 8th Jan., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fire-proof Doors, Shutters. Wainscoting, or the like.
I, DAVID HISLOP FERGUSON, of No. 314 Board of Trade Building, in the City
of Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec, Dominion of
Canada, Manufacturer, 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:-
This invention relates to the construction of comparatively inexpensive, light,
durable and fire proof doors, shutters, wainscoting and the like, without requiring
metallic or other stiffening, as I shall describe referring to the accompanying
drawings.
Fig. 1 is a face view partly in section of a door constructed according to my
invention; Fig. 2 a horizontal section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are
similar views shewing a heavier door, Fig. 4 being an enlarged horizontal section
on line 4, 4, of Fig. 3.
By way of example I describe a door according to my invention, having panels,
styles and rails as usual. I pulp asbestos fibre, as in paper making, with incom-
bustible binding material such as silicate of soda, and press this pulp between dies
and moulds made to emboss one half of a door preferably with its styles 5 and 7,
rails 6 and panels 8. These halves are allowed to dry and then are immersed in a
solution of salt capable of decomposing the binding substance and causing it to
set; for silicate of soda I use preferably calcium chloride. The halves or sides of
the door being then dried, I cement or otherwise fasten them together.
The embossing makes the door sufficiently stiff without the aid of metallic or
other extraneous stiffening. Such a door is well suited for the inner apartments
but for an entrance door I prefer to provide edge strips 9 and studs 10 and secure
them between the two halves (Fig. 4).
The spaces between the halves may be filled with asbestos fibres or other incom-
bustible material 12, and the necessary rigidity is imparted to those parts which
carry the hinges and lock my solid filling-pieces 11, which are preferably moulded
in one with the halves of the door, forming part of the edge strips and halves and
occupying the inside spaces where the hinges and lock are to be fixed.
By the construction described I make a strong, stiff door at once fire-proof,
light and impervious to heat, cold, or sound, and not liable to twist or warp.
Shutters wainscoting and the like may be made in the same manner but with only
one side embossed and these as well as the doors may be veneered with wood or
other material, as indicated at 13 or may be painted or otherwise decorated as
desired.
According to a modification a door, wainscoting and the like may be made as
follows:
A sheet of ordinary aspestos millboard is used as the main board, and hardened
and rendered non-hygroscopic by first soaking it in the binding material and after
being carefully dried to prevent warping soaked in the decomposing salt solution.
The styles and rails are also separately cut from asbestos millboard similarly treated
and attached to the main board.

page_text: These additional pieces, while they complete the resemblance to a panelled
wood door serve also to stiffen and re-inforce the main board which consequently
may be thin.
Having now partioularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A fireproof door, wainscoting, shutter or the like formed of asbestos treated
with binding material such as silicate of soda and setting material such as calcium
chloride, substantially as described.
2. A fireproof door, shutter, wainscoting or the like consisting of asbestos pulp
moulded in two halves treated with binding and setting materials and secured
together, the space between the halves being filled with asbestos fibre or other fire-
proof material substantially as described.
3. A fireproof door, shutter, wainscoting or the like formed of a main board of
asbestos treated with binding and setting materials and strips of the same material
similarly treated and attached to the main board substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
Dated this 6th day of November 1897
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant...