IMPROVEMENTS IN BLOCKS AND BRICKS FOR BUILDING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Briggs, of Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLOCKS AND BRICKS
FOR BUILDING."
Sealed the 25th November 1856, and dated the 4th June 1856..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Briggs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
June 1856.
I, JOSEPH BRIGGS, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLOCKS
AND BRICKS FOR BUILDING," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing the parts of blocks and bricks for
building, whether of wood, stone, iron, earthenware, clay, or other suitable
substance, in various forms corresponding with each other, and so that each
separate block or brick so constructed has an aperture or apertures into which
may be put one or more rods, bars, pins, ties, or bolts, so as to hold the blocks.
or bricks together.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Briggs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPП
BRIGGS, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Briggs, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Briggs, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Briggs, 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 BLOCKS AND
BRICKS FOR BUILDING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Briggs, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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 I, the said Joseph Briggs, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawings annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in constructing the parts of blocks and bricks for
building, whether of wood, stone, iron, earthenware, clay, or other suitable
substance, in various forms corresponding with each other, and so that each
separate block or brick has apertures into which may be inserted rods, bars,
pins, ties, or bolts, so as to hold the blocks or bricks together. The apertures
are so formed and placed that upon any two or more blocks being brought
together in the position they are intended to occupy, one or more of the
apertures in each block shall correspond with or come opposite to one or more
apertures in the next block or blocks to allow of the passage of the tie rods
through them, or of their being slipped on the tie rods.
Figure 1, of the Drawings hereunto annexed, is a side view of a brick con-

page_text: structed according to my present Invention; Figure 2, a vertical section, and
Figure 3, a plan of the same, shewing the apertures for the admission of pins
or bolts; Figure 4, a section through the line a, b, of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a
side view of another form of brick which I use in conjuction with that shewn
at Figure 1; Figure 6, a section, and Figure 7, a plan of the same; Figure 8,
a cross section through the line c, d, of Figure 7; Figure 9 is a side view of
a foundation or tic block or brick of different shape to those before given;
Figure 10 is a plan thereof showing two rows of apertures for the insertion of
pins; Figure 11, a vertical section through the line e, f, of the same, and
Figure 12, a cross section through the line g, h, of Figure 10; Figure 13 is a
side view, and Figure 14, a plan of another form of brick; Figure 15 is a
view of a piece of brick or stone work composed of that form of brick or stone
shewn at Figures 1 and 5; Figure 16 represents part of a wall built with the.
description of brick shown at Figure 9; and Figure 17 is a course of masonry
or brickwork supported by columns, pedestals, or balustrades, shewing the
manner of attaching my improved bricks to the same and the columns to the
other parts of the structure. A is the brick, the end B of which is formed of
half the thickness of the central part, and the end C on the opposite side is
made in a similar manner, the two ends B and C have holes or apertures i, i,
moulded in them. In Figure 5 the ends D and E are formed opposite to
one another, the holes k, k, in the ends being of the same size as those in
Figure 1. To put the brickwork together, the part marked D is placed on
the end C, the end E at the same time resting on the end of another brick
similar to the part marked C, when the holes or apertures i and k will cor-
respond; a pin or plug, formed of wood, iron, or any other suitable material, is
then driven through the holes i and k, and mortar or other adhesive substance
being placed between the bricks the whole is made perfectly secure, and, when
several layers have been formed, present the appearance shewn at Figure 14.
The blocks, shewn at Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12, are secured with pins or plugs
in a manner similar to those before described; they are laid in the same way
as ordinary brickwork, so that the joints of the different bricks shall not cor-
respond. Grooves or channels 1, 1, may be formed on all the sides, ends, and
faces of my bricks and blocks which will admit of mortar, cement, or other
suitable material being employed as well as my tic pins.
To attach the brickwork to columns as in Figure 17, I prefer to use the
description of brick shewn at Figures 1 and 5. Through the column or
pedestal I place a pin or plug, the bottom part fitting into one of my
improved bricks, having apertures therein; on the top I fit the end of one of
the bricks shewn at Figures 1 or 5, the plug passing through the hole in the end

page_text: thereof; I then place another brick of similar form on it, and so on until the
work be completed.
I build a paving of my blocks with the tie rods placed horizontally as shewn
at Figure 18, and give a good foot-hold for horses by chamfering off the upper
edges of the blocks and making grooves in them, as shewn in the Drawing.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that although I have described
and represented four forms of bricks or blocks, I do not limit myself to those
precise forms, or to the number of holes or apertures made in each brick or
block, as the same may be varied according to circumstances; and I declare
that I claim, the construction of blocks and bricks for building with two or more
apertures made therein, in the manner herein-before described, for the purpose
of receiving two or more pins to tie, hold, and unite together any number of the
same employed to build a wall, or paving, or other structure.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Briggs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of December, Ono thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
JOSEPH BRIGGS. (L.B.)