IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONCRETE BUILDING
Year: 1884

page_text: We JOSEPH SMITHSON THOMPSON, and WILLIAM THOMPSON, of. Wexford, in the
County of Wexford, Ireland do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONCRETE BUILDING" and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
This Invention is designed to cheapen and simplify the apparatus used in
concrete monolithic building, and consists
1st. In an arrangement of wooden shutters connected by rails and
2nd. In the use of wire ties or metallic ribands and iron dogs in place of the
usual wall blocks and bolts.
Fig. 1 shews an elevation, and
Fig. 2 a section of our apparatus..
Fig. 3 perspective view of same.
A system of concrete building is already in existence in which uprights support
a series of shutters about five feet by two feet. The uprights are coupled in pairs
with bolts and spaced to the thickness of the wall to be built (by blocks of wood
or iron pipes through which the coupling bolts pass). The shutters are secured in
their places by turnbuttons and coach screws on the uprights as shewn in Fig. 3.
In this system the shutters being short a large number of uprights are require to
carry them, and if the shutters are made long and sufficiently strong not to bulge
with the ramming of the concrete, they need to have very strong rails and so are
inconveniently heavy.
Shutters of considerable length have been used in this system by coupling them
(intermediately between the uprights) with bolts spaced by wall blocks similarly
to the manner of coupling the uprights in Fig. 3.
This system is however troublesome and expensive, as each shift of the shutters
must bring the lower bolt holes in the shutter exactly to correspond with the holes
in the wall blocks placed in the top of the previous layer of concrete.
The removal of these blocks and the stopping of the holes adds to the cost of
building.
Now our Invention consists:
1st. In forming the shutters in any convenient lengths with say 3 light rails,
one C on its flat, and two D D¹ on edge as shewn, and coupling them together in
long sets often 15 to 17 feet by means of coupling rails A and A' to which they
ara halted by halts BB as shown.

page_text: By this means any convenient length and width of shutter can be used. The
long sets are easily made up by inserting standard lengths of shutters with short
sections of same or even boards between to get the required length exactly.
2nd. In stead of wall blocks placed between the shutters, we use wires or
metallic ribands E connecting the lower coupling rails D' together, as shewn, and
temporary iron dogs, F holding the upper ones D. When the wall is built up to
the top of the shutter and is set sufficiently; the dogs F are taken off and the
wires E are withdrawn, if practicable, and used afresh, of, if, firmly set, are cut off
level with the wall. The shutter or set of sliutters is now taken down to be
cleaned, after which. it is again put in its place between the uprights G, and
secured by the turnbuttons g for the next layer as before, after which the wires or
riband E are then inserted and strained, and the dogs F applied to the top rail D as
before, and the work proceeds. In our usual practice we effect the coupling by the
wires or metallic ribands as aforesaid at the bottom, and by dogs at the top, but
we also sometimes use the wires or metallic ribands both top and bottom and
occasionally intermediately between the top and bottom of the guide boards or
shutters, especially when the latter are very high.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
1st.. The apparatus for use in concrete building consisting of shutters or boards
coupled together. by long coupling rails of such weight and strength that they
could not be used by merely securing them to the uprights at the ends, but require
coupling interinediately, substantially as described.
2nd. The use in concrete building of the wire or metal riband ties with or
without iron dogs, substantially as and for the purposes described.