IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE- PROOF AND OTHER BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES."
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mallet, of the City of Dublin, in
Ireland, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
PROOF AND OTHER BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mallet
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th October 1852.
I, ROBERT MALLET, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOF AND OTHER BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES"
to be as follows:-
I employ wrought iron plates of a square or rectangular form, and I
stamp them, or hammer or otherwise shape them, so as to curve them
in both transverse directions. A very stiff plate is thus obtained,
which is not the case if the plate is curved in one direction only.
The edge of the plate may be left flat or curved, or bent to a different
angle or curve to that of the rest of the plate. Such plates may also be
cast of the required form, and may also be made polygonal or triangular,
instead of rectangular. These plates may also be made of fire clay or
earthenware, or pottery, or of glass when transparency is required for
roofs, or dead lights, or similar purposes, or they may be made of any
other suitable material. The plate may be made of one piece, or of

page_text: several pieces rivetted or otherwise joined together.
These plates,
which may be called "buckled plates," are employed in various manuers,
as herein-after mentioned.
They are supported on and bolted or rivetted to the flanges of wrought
or cast iron girders of T iron, or double T or I section, or made of
wrought iron plates with angle iron or T irou rivetted together, or the
buckled plates are simply laid upon these girders. The plates are rivetted
or joined together when several are used in a row between the same
pair of girders; and flat iron, or angle iron, or T iron, or I iron, may be
rivetted on the junction to strengthen it. The plates are then covered
with concrete, or rubbish, or asphalte, or brickwork, so as to form a level
surface, which may or may not be covered with flag stones or flooring
boards. A very firm floor is thus produced. I prefer to employ
wrought iron girders, rather than cast iron girders, as they are better
calculated to resist the action of fire and of sudden concussions. A floor
or surface constructed in this manner may be employed for bridges, and
also for roofing, being either flat, inclined, or curved. The buckled
plates may be rivetted fast to the girders, or may be rivetted with
elongated rivet holes, or may lie loosely upon the girders so as to allow
for expansion and contraction. The ends of the girders enter recesses
or rest on corbals on the walls or columns, in which space is left for
contraction, or they are supported as herein-after mentioned. The
buckled plates may be perforated, to reduce their weight, or allow of the
passage of water when required. The perforations may also be made
subservient to ventilation or the passage of air. When applied for rail-
way bridges, the rails may be laid upon longitudinal bearers, which rest
upon the plates and upon transverse timbers or blocks over the girders,
or on the girders themselves, or the rails may run along the girders
with the buckled plates between them. In lieu of forming a floor of
several separate buckled plates it may in many cases consist of one
buckled plate made by rivetting together or otherwise uniting several
plates of suitable forms.
The edges of the plate are strengthened by flat iron or angle iron, or
otherwise, and rest upon the walls, so that girders may be dispensed
with. Rectangular or polygonal tanks, fireproof safes and boxes, and

page_text: other vessels, partitions, shutters, doors, bulkheads, ships' magazines
and other structures, may be made of the buckled plates, rivetted or
otherwise united together with angle iron or T or I iron. The intervals
may be filled with water, or substances containing water, or non-
conducting substances, when required to resist the spread of fire. In a
similar manner the buckled plates are applicable to walls, coffer dams,
and sheet piling, the plates being fixed between wrought iron or other
piles. They are also applicable to cellular lockgates and lighthouses,
and other houses.
The buckled plates, when of wrought or cast iron, may be coated
with zinc, lead, tin, or copper, or alloys of the same, or other metals, by
any of the known processes. In applying them to roofs they are screwed,
rivetted, or otherwise attached to the rafters, as they then give great
lateral stiffness to the roof. When the buckled plates are used for
floors and ceilings, the under sides which form the ceiling may be
ornamented at pleasure by enamelling, painting, or otherwise, and a
In some cases, as
handsome panelled ceiling may thus be produced.
for instance, when the buckled plates are made of earthenware, I prefer
to make the edges thicker than the rest of the plate, so as to increase
its strength. A light thin fireproof floor, having no lateral thrust on
the walls, is obtained by means of the Invention; and these floors may
be substituted for wooden floors in many buildings of the ordinary
construction, without the necessity of increasing the thickness of the
walls which carry them. The arrangements of girders used for sup-
porting the buckled plates may be varied. One plan consists in making
the main girders with angle iron flanges supporting smaller secondary
girders on their lower flanges, while the plates are fixed upon the upper
or lower flanges of the secondary girders, and covered with concrete; or
the buckled plates may be fixed at once on the main girders without
secondary girders. Another plan is to employ girders of I section in
one or more pieces, with the plates rivetted on the top flange and ceiling
joists attached to the bottom flanges; the whole covered with concrete
and hollow or solid bricks bedded in cement. Wooden flooring may be
laid upon the top of the girders, or nailed to light timbers fixed to the top
of the girders. The buckled plates may also be supported by iron girders

page_text: or joists, of the form known as "deck-beam iron." In all cases care
must be taken to allow sufficient space for the expansion and contraction
of the metal without injury to the structure. In applying these buckled
plates in fireproof buildings, I employ wrought iron in preference to
cast iron in all parts which are likely to be exposed to the action of fire.
The columns (when columns are employed) are made of wrought iron
or of fire-brick, or of other brick or stone. When stone is employed
either for columns or walls, it may be whinstone, green stone, basalt,
lava, or other igneous rock, which has already been exposed to the
action of heat, or other stone may be employed. I construct columns
of wrought iron plates, rivetted together, oither with or without angle
iron, and having angle irons or brackets rivetted or bolted to them for
carrying the girders of the floors. Or I employ rolled, welded, or drawn
tubes of wrought iron to serve as columns, and I introduce within
these columns spiral channels, down which water may be allowed to
run, so as to cool them in case of their being exposed to fire.
The
spiral channel is made by winding an irou bar into a spiral form, and
inserting it in the column, and allowing it to spring out a little to fill
the column. The brackets on the column being less exposed than the
column itself, may be made of cast iron, and a cast iron socket for the
purpose may be dropped upon the end of the column, and form the base
for the next column. This socket has suitable recesses to receive the
ends of the girders of the floor, or the ends of the webs of such girders.
The fire-brick columns are made solid or hollow, and in separate lengths
fitted together, and furnished with collars or recesses, or joint pieces
which carry the girders of the floor. The walls are built with boud
courses at intervals. These bond courses are formed of larger bricks or
stones than the rest of the wall, and of such forms as to lock into one
another and form a tie; or two or more courses of slate or other strong
fireproof material are laid so as to break joint, and united by pins or
"coaks" of the same or other material. These bond courses, or parts of
them, are made to project from the wall, or to form recesses for carrying
the ends of the girders or the edges of the buckled plate or plates
forming the floor.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Mallet in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th April 1853.
то ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ROBERT MALLET, of the City of Dublin, in Ireland, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Mallet, Her
special licence that I, the said Robert Mallet, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Mallet,
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 FIREPROOF AND OTHER BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mallet, by an
instrument in writing under my haud 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 Robert Mallet, do 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention relates to the construction of fireproof and other
buildings and structures, or parts thereof, by the application, in manner
herein-after described, of plates of iron or other suitable material bent

page_text: or
otherwise figured into a peculiar convex and concave form, and
which I denominate "buckled plates." The outline or contour of the
plate may be triangular, square, rectangular, or quadrangular, or poly-
gonal; but in general I prefer to make it square or rectangular; and its
curvature or concavity is in all cases to be such that both of two sec-
tions taken at right angles to each other through the centre of the plate
may present a convex line of surface on one side of the plate, and a con-
cave line on the opposite side. Thus in Figure 1, is shewn a transverse
section, and in Figure 2, is shewn a longitudinal section of the buckled
plates, A, shewn in plan in Figure 3. I do not in general carry out
the convexity to the extreme edges of the plate, but I leave a flat fillet
or margin of greater or less width all round the edges and in the plane
of the edges of the plate, for purposes herein-after described. In some
cases, however, it may be advantageous to carry out the convexity to
the extreme edge. The degree of convexity may be varied, but in
general I find it convenient and sufficient to make it such, that the
greatest versed sine of the curve or the deviation of the centre of the
plate from the plane of its edges may be from about one twenty-fifth to
one twelfth part of its extreme width. A plate so "buckled' is in fact
a shallow vault, and acts as such in supporting a load placed on its con-
vex side, while the edge of the plate serves as the tie to the vault. In
this respect the buckled plate differs from a plate curved in one direc-
tion only, as such a plate, although capable of acting as an arch, requires
the additional and extraneous aid of a tie or abutment, to prevent it
from being distorted or destroyed by the load placed upon it. Moreover
a plate curved in one direction only has less stiffness and is more easily
distorted when unequally loaded, than a plate curved in two or more
directions, or "buckled," as above described. It will be obvious, that
an edge or angle is formed by the union of the different curvatures at
each corner of the plate, as indicated in the plan Figure 3; and such
is the case whether the plate be triangular, square, rectangular, or
quadrangular, hexagonal or polygonal. This angle or edge may, how-
ever, be rounded off if preferred. These buckled plates may be made
of cast iron, or wrought iron, or other suitable metal, or in some cases
of pottery, and they may be manufactured by casting, stamping, press-

page_text: ing, or otherwise moulding them. I employ these buckled plates in the
various combinations herein-after mentioned.
I will now proceed to describe various modes of applying such buckled
plates to the construction of floors.
Figure 1, is a transverse section, and Figure 2, is a longitudinal section
of a portion of a floor constructed according to my Invention; Figure 3,
is a plan of the same, drawn to a smaller scale, and shewing plates of an
oblong form; and Figure 4, is a plan of a similar floor with square plates.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in each Figure.
A, A, are the buckled plates of wrought or cast iron or other metal,
supported by and fixed to the flanges of the T iron girders or joists B, B,
by means of bolts and nuts, or rivets, or otherwise. C, C, are strips of
metal rivetted, or bolted, or otherwise fixed along the junctious of the
buckled plates A. The whole structure is thus firmly united, and one part
assists in supporting another. It is then to be covered in the manner most
suitable for the required purpose, whether it be intended for the floor of
a dwelling house, or warehouse, or factory, or for the floor of a bridge,
or viaduct, or similar structure. Thus the space above the plates may
be filled with broken bricks, or stone, or rubbish, with or without mortar;
or it may be filled with concrete, or will small coke and mortar grouting,
or with gravel or other suitable substance, up to the level of the top of
the girders B, B; and the whole may then be covered with flag stones,
or slate, or tiles, or boarding, or asphalte, or cement, to form a smooth
surface or floor. Or the plates may be covered up to and above the top
of the girders B, B, with gravel, without applying any covering over the
gravel, in which state the structure may be applied as a flooring for
bridges or viaducts; or the upper surface of the gravel may be paved
with wood, or stone, or brick, or covered with asphalte, as already men-
tioned. The plates may be perforated with holes when required for the
purpose of drainage, as in the flooring of bridges.
Figure 5, is a vertical section of the flooring of a bridge covered with
gravel, as above mentioned; and Figure 6, is a similar section of the
same covered with a pavement. A, A, are the buckled plates bolted, or
rivetted, or otherwise secured to the girders B, B, each of which is made
of a wrought iron plate with two angle irons rivetted to its lower edge,

page_text: and two other angle irons rivet ted to its upper edge. D, is the gravel
or other filling up material; and E, in Figure 6, is the pavement, which
may be bedded in chalk and sand, or lime and sand, or otherwise laid
in the ordinary manner. Where the buckled plates come in contac
with each other they are united by strips of metal C, C, rivetted to
them, as shewn in section in Figure 7, and already mentioned with
reference to Figures 2, 3, and 4; or they may be united as shewn in
the sections, Figures 8, 9, and 10, or in any other similar manner. In
Figure 8, the edge of one plate is bent so as to lap upon the other, and
the two are rivetted, or bolted, or otherwise connected together. In
Figure 9, additional strength is given to this part by rivetting or other-
wise fixing a piece of T iron to the two plates; and in Figure 10, the
same effect is produced by a piece of angle iron applied in a similar
manner.
Figure 11, is a longitudinal section of a portion of flooring adapted
for a bridge for carrying a railway. A, A, are the buckled plates,
rivetted, or bolted, or otherwise fixed to the upper flanges of the
wrought iron transverse girders B, B, which are made of iron plate and
angle irons, like those shewn in Figures 5, and 6. F, F, are blocks of
wood of a depth equal to that of the buckled plates; and G, G, are
longitudinal timbers or bearers which rest upon the blocks F, F, and
upon the buckled plates, and which carry the rails H, H.
Figure 12, is a transverse section of another portion of flooring adapted
for a railway bridge. The buckled plates A, A, are here united by
broad joint plates C, C, on which are laid the longitudinal bearers G, G,
which support the rails H, H. B, B, are the transverse wrought iron
girders to which the buckled plates A, A, are rivetted or otherwise
fixed. The effect of so fixing the buckled plates A, A, to the girders is
to add to the strength of the top flanges of the girders.
I will now proceed to describe certain arrangements more especially
adapted to the construction of fireproof buildings; and I would remark
that many of the buildings generally termed fireproof cannot properly
be considered so. Thus buildings in which the floors are constructed
of cast-iron girders, carrying brick arches, and supported on cast-
iron columns, are generally termed fireproof. When, however, a

page_text: fire occurs in such a building filled with combustible materials, the
great heat evolved in many cases either melts the columns and girders,
or portions of them, or raises their temperature so much, that they are
cracked by the water thrown on to extinguish the fire. The expansion
and contraction of the brick work and girders (especially when the ends
of the latter are firmly built into the walls) so distorts the building, that
even when the floors still remain after the extinguishing of the fire, it
is sometimes necessary to pull down and rebuild the whole structure.
In order to avoid these defects I proceed as herein-after described.
I construct the floors of fireproof buildings with wrought-iron girders
(and cross girders where necessary), carrying buckled plates of
wrought iron rivetted or otherwise firmly fixed to them, or carrying
buckled plates made of fire clay or other suitable description of pottery
of a sufficient thickness, and covered above with concrete or any other
suitable material such as already described. Such floors rest upon and
are sustained by piers or columns, or by the walls of the building, or by
any or all such means, and care is taken to leave space for the expansion
and contraction of the materials to take place without injury to the walls
of the building. The walls and piers or columns of the building may be
constructed of fire brick, or other bricks, or of whin stone, green stone,
basalt, lava, or any other similar variety of stone belonging to those
classes, called by geologists "igneous or metamorphic rocks," which,
having already been subjected to heat, are less likely to be injured by
any temperature below their fusing points. Other stone, however, may
be employed for the purpose. The piers and columns may be advan-
tageously made of fire brick or of wrought iron, but cast iron is to
be rejected for the reasons herein-before mentioned. 1 introduce at
intervals tie or bond courses made of bricks or stones, of such forms as
to interlock with each other, and I take advantage of these courses to
form the supports for the girders of the floors.
Thus Figures 18, and 14, are transverse sections of portions of walls
with such bond courses I, I; and Figure 15, is a front view of one of
such bond courses. Figure 16, is a perspective view, shewing the forms
of the bricks or stones which are employed in such bond courses, but
other interlocking forms may be employed. In Figure 13, the bond

page_text: course is shewn projecting, for the purpose of carrying the floor; and in
Figure 14, two courses are shewn forming a recess for the reception of
the ends of the girders or the edge of the floor.
Figure 17, is a front view of a different construction of bond course,
formed of two or more thicknesses of slate or flag stones having corre-
sponding holes through both plates, at intervals, into which holes short
cylinders or "coaks" are inserted and cemented. These short cylinders
or coaks" may be made of cast iron, as they are not exposed to the
full action of the heat in case of fire, or they may be made of any other
suitable material.
Figure 18, is a section of such a bond course of the same width as
the rest of the wall; and Figure 19, is a section of a similar bond course
made of greater width, so as to form a projection for supporting a floor.
Figure 20, is a vertical section of a portion of a firebrick column,
made hollow and in separate lengths, and rabbetted together at the
joints. It has a projection or corbal at a, a, for supporting the floor.
Figure 21, is a vertical section of another hollow column of baked
fire clay or other clay, in which the separate lengths are united by a
collar b, which forms a projection for the support of the floor. These
columns may be made either solid or hollow. The hollow columns may
be employed for introducing steam into the building in case of fire, for
the purpose of extinguishing it; or they may be used for purposes of
ventilation.
Figure 22, is a vertical section, and Figure 23, is a sectional plan of
a portion of a solid pier or pillar of stone, or brick with recesses, for
the reception of the ends of the girders B, B.
Figure 24, is an elevation of a portion of an octagonal pillar or column,
with a projecting collar a, for supporting the girders B, B. In these
columns and piers allowance is made for the expansion and contraction
of the girders, which are not firmly fixed to them, but merely rest
upon them.
In the floors herein-before described several buckled plates are sup-
ported on girders; but a floor may be made of one buckled plate sup-
ported at the edges. Thus Figure 25, is a vertical section of a floor
made of one buckled plate, which is formed by rivetting together several

page_text: wrought iron plates, and rivetting an angle iron round the edges to give
additional strength, and form a species of selvage or tie.
Figure 26, is a section of a portion of the same floor on a larger
scale. A, is the buckled plate; c, is the angle iron; d, is a vertical plate
of iron rivetted to the angle iron; and D is concrete, or other filling up
material. I, I, are projecting bond courses similar to those herein-before
described, and which serve to support the edges of the floor. J, J, are
small joists laid upon the filling D, and carrying the flooring boards
K, K. L, is a skirting board fixed to the wall M. Space is left all
round the floor to allow of expansion and contraction. Flag stones or
other covering may be employed in lieu of boarding. The under sur-
face of the buckled plate may be painted or enamelled, or otherwise
ornamented, and will form a ceiling for the room beneath the floor; or
ceiling joists may be affixed to it, and a flat ceiling made in the ordinary
manner. This mode of constructing floors may be applied to rooms of
three, four, or more sides. When a rectangular floor of considerable
size is thus made, it may be strengthened by means of a flat or other
bar or rod carried across from the centre of each side to the centre of
the opposite side below the buckled plate; or bars may be placed
diagonally across the corners, so as to form an octagon with the central
portions of the edges of the buckled plate, which will thus be prevented
from being sprung out by the thrust of the vault formed by the buckled
plate.
Figure 27, is a cross section of a square wrought iron column which
may be used for supporting the girders of my improved floors. Figure
28, is a side view of a portion of the same. The column is formed
of wrought iron plates rivetted to angle irons at the corners.
are angle irons rivetted to the sides of the column for carrying the
girders B, B.
a, a,
Figure 29, is a sectional plan of a cylindrical column and cap; and
Figure 30, is a side view of a portion of the same. The column N, is
made of wrought iron, and of a cylindrical form, and may be an
ordinary welded wrought iron tube, or may be made by bending up a
wrought iron plate and rivetting the edges together, or to a strip
of wrought iron placed over their junction. The cap O, is made of
!

page_text: cast iron, and fits upon the top of the column. It is provided with
a socket at the top for receiving another column, and it has two
projections a, a, which support the wrought iron girders B, B. The
vertical webs of the girders are prolonged beyond the rest of the girder,
and bent round at their ends, and they are dropped into sockets in the
cap at ff.
Sufficient space for expansion and contraction is left in the sockets,
which serve however to secure the girders in their places. The cap O,
is made of cast iron; but as it is protected to a great extent from the direct
action of fire, there is the less objection in this case to the application
of that material. When, however, there is reason to apprehend that
the cup may be exposed to so high a temperature as to injure cast iron,
a wrought iron collar or wrought iron brackets are to be employed to
support the girders. When hollow columns of wrought iron are em-
ployed, they may be so arranged as to admit of the introduction of steam
or water for the purpose of cooling them in case of fire.
N, is the side
wound round
Thus the columns may be cooled by allowing water to trickle down
them; and to prevent the water from falling at once to the bottom, I
sometimes insert a spiral bar of iron in the interior of the column, as
shewn in Figure 31, and on a larger scale in Figure 32.
of the column; and P, is the spiral bar of iron which is
a bar or tube, of somewhat smaller diameter than the column, and
is then introduced into the column and allowed to expand by its own
elasticity. The water runs round and round upon the spiral channel or
path thus formed, and cools the column.
In covering large spaces without intermediate columns or supports
the buckled plates may be rivetted or fixed to and supported by girders
in the manner herein-before described, and these girders (which may then
be called the secondary girders) may be supported on larger main girders
instead of resting at once on the walls or columns. In such cases each
separate area of flooring, consisting of the buckled plates rivetted or
otherwise securely fixed to the secondary girders, is to rest upon or be
supported by the main girders, or by them and the walls, without being
so rigidly secured to them as to leave no space for expansion and con-
traction. Figure 33, is a vertical section of such an arrangement.

page_text: A, A, are the buckled plates, and B, B, are the secondary girders which
rest upon the main girders Q, which are formed of wrought iron plates
and angle irons. It may be advantageous to fix one of the secondary
girders at or near to the centre of each of the main girders, in order to
keep the flooring in its proper position, and the flooring will then be free
to expand and contract on each side of the secondary girder so fixed.
Bolts and nuts or rivets passing through elongated holes in the plates or
in the main girders may be employed to keep the parts of the floor in their
places without interfering with their expansion and contraction. C, C, are
angle irons rivetted to the junctions of the buckled plates; D, is the filling
of concrete or other suitable material.
Figures 34, 35, 36, and 37, are vertical sections of floors constructed
according to my Invention, and differing very slightly from those first
herein-before described. Thus, in Figure 34, the section of the wrought
iron girder B, is similar to that shown in Figure 5, with the exception of
the angle irons which form the bottom flange being reversed. A, A, are
the buckled plates rivetted to these angle irons; and D, is the concrete or
other filling. In Figure 35, the buckled plates A, are rivetted to the top
flanges of the girders B, and covered with a thin layer of concrete or other
filling D, on which is laid a pavement of hollow bricks E, united by
cement. R, R, are ceiling joists, suspended to the girders B, B, by hook
bolts or otherwise, aud carrying a ceiling S, constructed in the usual
manner. In Figure 36, the ceiling joists R, are pailed or otherwise fixed to
fillets or battens r, r, attached by screws or bolts, or otherwise to the
girders B, B, which are made of T iron, with an angle iron g, attached to
one side, and a square piece of wood J, attached to the other side to
serve in lieu of the upper flange; K, are flooring boards, nailed or other-
wise fixed to the pieces J. In Figures 37, the girders B, B, are formed
of wrought iron of a form commonly called "deck-beam iron," having
a flat bottom flange and a rounded top flange or beading. The buckled
plates A, A, are rivetted to the bottom flange, and are covered with the
concrete or other filling D, on which the flooring joists J, J, are laid.
K, K, are the flooring boards fixed to the joists J, J. In this Figure po
ceiling joists are shown, as the lower sides of the buckled plates them-
selves form the ceiling, and handsome panelled or coffered ceilings may

page_text: thus bo made. They may be painted or enamelled, or otherwise orna-
mented, as already mentioned.
Figure 58, is a vertical section of a floor, which, although not absolutely
fireproof, is arranged with a view to checking the upward progress of fire.
K, K, are the flooring boards, supported upon the ordinary joists J, J,
which are fixed at intervals to the Tirous B, B, which carry the buckled
plates or tiles A, A, formed of baked fire clay or other description
of pottery, and covered over with mortar. r, r, are fillets or battens
fixed to the Tirons B, B, and carrying the ceiling joists
and ceiling
S. The edges of the buckled tiles A, A, are turned up or thickened so as
to increase their strength. These buckled tiles may be made themselves
to form the ceiling, and may be glazed, painted, euanelled, or otherwiso
ornamented.
Figure 39, is a vertical section of a water tank of a polygonal form con-
structed of buckled plates. The bottom is formed of a single buckled
plate A, made by rivetting together several plates of suitable forms with a
strong angle iron round the edge, and the sides are formed of rectangular
buckled plates A', rivetted to each other, or to strips of metal at their
adjoining edges. An angle iron may be carried round the top edge to give
additional stiffness. Such a tank may rest upon a polygonal or circular
wall T, without requiring any other support.
ner.
Figure 40, shows a side elevation and a partial vertical section of a
rectangular tank constructed of buckled plates. The buckled plates A,
which form the bottom, are rivetted together, or to junction strips, and
the buckled plates A', which form the sides, are united in a similar man-
Cross stays or ties, of flat or round or angle iron, or other forms,
are carried across the top of the tank to prevent the sides from bulging
out,
, from the pressure of the liquid in the tank. The tank is supported
on walls, one of which is shown at T, and the bottom is supported
by cross walls or girders when required. When girders are used they may
he rivetted to the bottom plates of the tank, if desired, and in that case
they may be either placed beneath the bottom plates or upon them, and
within the tank. Close water tanks for ships may be constructed in a
similar manner of buckled plates rivetted together, and covered over with
a suitable opening or openings for filling and emptying them. Such a

page_text: close tank or vessel may be used as a steam boiler, and will be better
adapted for resisting pressure than a similar vessel made of flat plates.
Boxes and other vessels of capacity are made in a similar manner.
A box or vessel with a moveable lid may be made of six wrought iron
buckled plates. Five of such plates are rivetted together with angle irons
at the corners to form the bottom and the four sides of the box, and
the sixth plate forms the lid, and may be made to fix on with bolts and
nuts or screws, or it may be attached by hinges, and furnished with
a lock. Owing to the great stiffness of the buckled plates it is possible
to employ much thinner metal than would be required to make similar
articles of equal strength of flat plates. In some cases (as for instance
in manufacturing small boxes or packing cases) two or more of the
sides may be made of one piece of metal bent at the corners, but
having each part or side of the buckled form. The edges of the buckled
plates may also be bent at right angles or other angles if required, so
that they may be rivetted together at the corners of the box or vessel
without the necessity of employing angle iron.
Iron rooms and houses may be similarly constructed with the buckled
plates rivetted or bolted or otherwise firmly fixed to angled irons or
Tirons, or other suitable pillars or supports. Bankers strong rooms and
safes may be constructed in a similar manner.
Figure 41, is a vertical section, showing a mode of combining the
buckled plates A, A, face to face, by rivetting or otherwise fixing them
together with or without an intermediate frame h. A central stay is
shewn at i, to give additional strength. Such a combination may be
applied for a door or shutter, or partition in a fireproof or other building
or structure. Figure 42, shows a somewhat similar combination of two
sets of buckled plates fixed back to back, and rivetted to iron bars of a
double T section. The buckled plates may also be combined with the
back of one plate opposite to the face of the other. These combinations
may be employed for walls, partitions, magazines, and bulkheads of ships,
cellular wrought iron lock gates, and many other similar purposes. By
uniting the plates in a water-tight manner, the space between them may
be filled-with substances which are bad conductors of heat, or with water,
or substances containing water, so as to prevent the spread of fire in a

page_text: building or ship; or the space may be left empty. The buckled plates
employed for partitions, walls, or similar purposes, may be of wrought
iron or other metal; or buckled tiles of baked fire clay or other suitable
description of pottery may be employed; and such buckled tiles may
be fixed by means of bolts and nuts, or they may be slipped into their
places, and secured by loose pieces of brick dropped in between them ;
or their edges may fit into grooves in the upright supports.
Figure 43, is a sectional plan, showing a mode of applying the buckled
plates in combination with piles for the construction of dock walls, retain-
ing walls, wharf walls, sheet piling, coffer dams, and similar structures.
A, A, are the buckled plates bolted or rivetted to the hollow triangular
piles U, U, made of wrought iron plates rivetted together and driven
into the ground. The piles may be further strengthened by land ties or
rods V, V, carried back into the earth and fixed to other piles. Other
descriptions of piles may be substituted for those shown in the Figure;
and the buckled plates may be of wrought or cast iron.
I construct iron lighthouses of an octagonal or other polygonal form.
Each face is formed of a series of buckled plates of rectangular or slightly
tapering form, placed one above another, and firmly united at the corners
by angle irons or Tirons. A parallel or tapering hollow tower is thus
produced I construct floors in the interior at various heights, and I
make each floor of a single buckled plate of octagonal form, or of the
same form as the interior of the tower, and I leave a suitable opening
or openings for the reception of a staircase. These openings may be
strengthened, if required, by surrounding them with augle iron or
otherwise. Or a central column, of small diameter, and made of
wrought or cast iron, may be carried up the centre of the tower, and
the floors may be made of triangular buckled plates supported by the
column and by the sides of the tower. One or more of such tri-
angular plates may be omitted to make room for a staircase; or the g
floors may be constructed in the ordinary manner, and only the tower
constructed of buckled plates. The plates in each face of the tower
may be lazed on the same level, so that the joints run completely
round the tower; or they may be placed alternately, so that the plates
in each face break joint with those in the adjoining faces.
3

page_text: In constructing roofs according to my Invention, I rivet or bolt, or
otherwise firmly attach buckled plates of wrought iron to the top or
bottom flanges of the Tiron or other rafters of the roof, in a similar
manner to that herein-before described in reference to the construction
of floors. They may also be fixed by screws or nails to the wooden rafters
of ordinary timber roofs. The buckled plates form the exterior covering
of the roof, and also contribute greatly to its lateral stiffness. Flat
roofs may be constructed like the floors and covered with asphalte, or
with boarding and sheet lead, or other suitable covering. Buckled
plates of cast iron or other suitable metal may also be employed in the
construction of roofs in lieu of wrought iron, and the buckled tiles
herein-before mentioned may also be used for a similar purpose.
When the buckled tiles are employed, they are to have holes formed in
their edges, for the purpose of fixing them; and they may be secured'
by small bolts and nuts, with washers of felt or vulcanized india-rubber,
or other elastic and waterproof material resting on the tile, which
may be bedded upon strips of similar material. Each buckled tile in
a sloping roof may be made with its edge to overlap the edge of the
next buckled tile beneath it.
In some of the arrangements herein-before described, I have spoken
of wrought iron only as the material of which the buckled plates and
girders or rafters are constructed, and I generally prefer that material for
the construction of fireproof buildings; but cast iron or other suitable
metal may be substituted for wrought iron. When cast iron is employed,
I generally connect the parts by bolts and nuts, in preference to rivetting
them together, on account of the danger of breaking or cracking the cast
iron in the process of rivetting.
.
In most or all of the arrangements herein-before described, the load
or pressure is applied to the convex surface of the buckled plate, and I
consider that arrangement to be generally the most convenient and
advantageous; but, if preferred, the load or pressure may be applied to
the concave surface of the buckled plate by reversing its position.
The buckled plates herein-before mentioned may be manufactured by
means of the various known methods of shaping and moulding metals and
other substances; thus, buckled plates of wrought iron or other malleable

page_text: metal may be manufactured by stamping or pressing a flat sheet of the
metal between two dies. The metal may be heated to increase its
ductility or pliability. One die may be fixed and the other worked by
a crank or eccentric, or by a lever, or by a steam hammer, or by a screw,
or by a hydraulic press, or by a falling weight, or any other arrangement
of machinery may be employed, by which the two dies may be pressed
together with sufficient force and rapidity to give the required form to
the metal plate. The edges may be strengthened, when required, by
rivetting or otherwise fixing to them flat bars, or angle or T shaped
bars. Buckled plates of cast iron or other fusible metal are cast in
any of the ordinary methods of casting or founding.
The edges may
be made thicker than the rest of the plate, as in the buckled tiles
shown in Figure 38. The buckled plates may be made of one metal
or alloy, and coated with another metal or alloy. Thus wrought and
cast iron buckled plates may be coated with zinc, tin, lead or copper,
or other metals, or alloys of metals.
Buckled plates of tiles of fire clay, or other description of pottery, may
be made by the ordinary processes of the manufacture of pottery.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
what I claim as my Invention, whereof the exclusive use is intended to
be secured by the aforesaid Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, the constructing fireproof and other buildings and structures,
or parts thereof, of buckled plates of metal rivetted, bolted, or other-
wise firmly fixed to girders, rafters, angle irons, T irons, or similar
supports, in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the constructing the floors and roofs of fireproof and other
buildings and structures with buckled plates of metal rivetted, bolted,
or otherwise firmly fixed to girders, rafters, angle irons, T irons, or
similar supports, and covered with concrete or other filling, in manner
herein-before described.
Thirdly, the constructing the floors of fireproof and other buildings
and structures with buckled plates of metal rivetted, bolted, or other-
wise firmly fixed to secondary girders, which are supported on main
girders in such manner that the separate areas of floor are free to
expand and contract upon the main girders, as herein-before described.

page_text: Fourthly, the constructing the floors and roofs of fireproof and other
buildings and structures of single buckled plates, strengthened at the
edges, and covered with concrete or other suitable filling and covering,
in manner herein-before described in reference to Figures 25, and 26.
Fifthly, the constructing the floors, roofs, walls, and partitions of fire-
proof and other buildings and structures with buckled tiles, in manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mallet, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
WELLINGTON SWITZEB,
Bath Avenue,
Dublin.
ROBERT MALLET. (L.s.)