IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDINGS AND BUILDING CON- STRUCTIONS, AND IN ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL BUILDING MATERIALS AND APPLIANCES, AND IN THE MEANS, MODES, PROCESSES, & MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING & PREPARING THE SAID MATERIALS AS MERCHANTABLE ARTICLES, & IN THEIR USE & APPLICATION TO BUILDINGS & BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING WALKING SURFACES AND CARRIAGE OR ROAD- WAYS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thaddeus Hyatt, of No. 66, Gloucester Gardens, Hyde
Park, London, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer of Patent Lights,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDINGS AND BUILDING CON-
STRUCTIONS, AND IN ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL BUILDING MATERIALS AND
APPLIANCES, AND IN THE MEANS, MODES, PROCESSES, & MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING & PREPARING THE SAID MATERIALS AS MERCHANTABLE
ARTICLES, & IN THEIR USE & APPLICATION TO BUILDINGS & BUILDING
CONSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING WALKING SURFACES AND CARRIAGE OR ROAD-
WAYS."
Sealed the 1st September 1876, and dated the 30th June 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thaddeus Hyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th June 1876.
THADDEUS HYATT, of No. 66, Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer of Patent Lights.. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUILDINGS AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, AND IN ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL
BUILDING MATERIALS AND APPLIANCES, AND IN THE MEANS, MODES, PROCESSES,
& MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING & PREPARING THE SAID MATERIALS AS
MERCHANTABLE ARTICLES, & IN THEIR USE & APPLICATION TO BUILDINGS &
BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING WALKING SURFACES AND CARRIAGE OR
ROADWAYS."
According to one part of my Invention my improvement consists in washing or
otherwise cleansing plasterer's hair, such as is commonly made use of in mortars for
plastering walls and ceilings, and then drying, beating, and making up the same
into small packages of convenient size for use, or into layers, and then combining
a number of the same into small bales, compression by machinery or otherwise, as
in cotton baling, being used to render the hair portable, also metal bands when
desired, such as are used for fastening cotton bales.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in a mixture.
of animal hair or wool with vegetable fibre to improve and cheapen the same;
the vegetable fibre selected for this purpose being manilla grass or other equivalent,
long and strong fibre cut to suitable lengths by any convenient means or machinery,
and then intermingled with the hair. This process of intermingling the hair and
fibre, although it may be done at the time of mixing the mortar, and in the mortar
itself, I prefer to make a special feature of the Invention, and my method or process
[Price Sd.1

page_text: is as follows, viz.:-Upon a clean floor like a threshing floor I spread an even layer
of hair or wool, and then upon this I spread one of vegetable cut fibre, then
another of hair or wool, and again another of fibre, and so on to completion. The
mass is then turned and shook, as in haymaking, until the whole has been well
intermingled, when it is divided into parcels of suitable size and put up in packages
or in layers and bales as already described for the pure hair. I do not, however,
confine myself to this particular mode of mixing the fibres, as any other satisfactory
method may be employed as an equivalent.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in cutting
up manilla or equivalent long and strong fibre into a number of differing lengths,
as, for example, one, portion into inch lengths, another into two inch lengths, also
three, four, and five inch lengths or more, and then commingling the whole, by this
means obtaining a material for even distribution through mortars and concretes,
and at the same securing tensile strength in the mass. This combination vegetable
fibre I put up as already described in packages or bales, either by itself or in
combination with hair or wool, or both, as aforesaid, and sometimes combined with
asbestos.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in preparing
a species of felt or flock from vegetable fibre which I apply as a constituent in
concretes and cement for wall, roof, and floor making to produce a non-conducting
quality like wood, and to render cement floors more clastic. This felt or flock I
make by cutting up manilla or equivalent fibre into exceedingly short lengths, as
small even as one quarter of an inch. This flock I then put up in packages or
bales, as already described, as a merchantable article for use in mortars, cements, and
concretes.
Metallic Fibre.-According to another part of my Invention my improvement
consists in making and putting up in packages or bales as aforesaid a species of
metallic fibre as a new manufacture to be used in the mixing and making of
concretes and concrete slabs and blocks to give a fire-proof quality to the same,
along with toughness and tensile strength; a part of my Invention consisting in
the production of metallic fibre by clipping or snipping sheet iron into suitable
filaments or shreds, and a part of my Invention consisting in the mode or process
and machinery for effecting the same, that is to say:-1 take a sheet of iron of the
thickness required, and feed it upon a table to a revolving cutter somewhat
resembling the instrument known as a "lawn mower," the blades of this cutter
shearing the metal against the edge of the table into fine or coarse shreds, according
to the set of the instrument. But other modes of cutting up the metal may be
employed, as I do not limit myself to any one mode in particular, the Invention
being a metallic fibre produced from the shreds of sheet metal.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in the
production of a metallic fibre for the purposes aforesaid, and in the putting up of the
same in merchantable form, substantially as aforesaid, from molten inctal, preferably
iron, though for some purposes using lead; the same somewhat resembling the article
known as "silicate wool," and which is made by means of a blast of air or steam
acting upon a sheet of molten slag as it flows from the furnace, my Invention being
the substitution of molten metal for molten slag. The fibre thus obtained will be a
ort of metal wool well adapted to bind and strengthen concretes.
According to another part of my Invention I make use of wire as the long fibre,
and cut it up into lengths, as already described with respect to vegetable fibre, and
this cut wire I put up, as already described, in packages of convenient size for use
and transportation as aforesaid.

page_text: without an admixture of asbestos fibre to the making of concrete walls, floors, roofs,
and other parts of buildings and other structures, and to the making of moulded
cement and concrete blocks, slabs, and tiles for building and other purposes to which
they may be applicable, in manner and form substantially as follows, that is to
sayWhereas cement floors in general and as ordinarily made are inelastic and
cold, for which reason the expense of a board flooring is resorted to as a covering to
the hard and cold cement; now my improvement consists in making such floors to
be used without an extra wood one above it, the same being to a degree elastic and
warm, this I effect by mixing with pure Portland cement as much of the cut
vegetable fibre or flock aforesaid as can be conveniently worked into it, which mixture
I then spread upon the concrete foundation as a layer or flooring of about one inch in
thickness. Cork dust or sawdust may be used in place of or in combination with
the aforesaid flock if desired. The ceilings and walls or partitions may be plastered
in the same way to prevent condensation of moisture from the atmosphere.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in the
mode of mixing cut fibre with concrete materials, and in the mode of forming
blocks, tiles, and slabs of concrete to resist cross or tensile strains.
In the mixing
of cut fibres with concrete materials I first commingle the dry cut fibre with the
cement in its dry state, mixing the two well and thoroughly before adding any
water whatever. When these are well mixed the other materials are to be added
and the whole treated as usual, or as in making "beton coignet."
In making roofs, floors, and other surfaces to sustain cross strains, either in the
shape of slabs, blocks, beans, or otherwise, my Invention consists in so arranging
the materials of the concrete as to bring the finest, toughest, and most compact in
the bottom half where the tensile strain is greatest, for this purpose in my com-
bination of materials the comment is in greatest proportion below the middle line of
the beam, slab, block, or floor, and the stone when formed is there the finest and
most close-grained, there also I place the largest proportionate amount of fibre,
whether vegetable or metallic. As plaster of Paris is a better non-conductor of
heat than cement I prefer to make the under or bottom part of my floors and roofs
of this material, but as metal discolors plaster when in contact with it I prefer to
mix asbestos with the plaster in place of metallic fibre; with this asbestos plaster
I lay about an inch or so to form the under part of the floor or roof, and thus give
protection against fire to the metallic fibre in the cement portion of the floor which
is next to it. In the same way where I protect the bottom flange of iron girders
and joists, I first put a layer of cement next to the iron, and then put on the plaster
of Paris, which by this method remains white and unstained.
According to another part of my Invention relating to the use and application of
cut vegetable fibre and of metallic fibre, my improvement consists in making web
and flange beams of fiberized beton coignet, Portland cement, concrete, or artificial
silicious stones, and in proportioning the bottom to the top flange of the beam upon
the general principles that govern such proportions in cast iron as a material of
crystaline texture, stone in this respect being analagous to cast iron, and requiring
consequently the same treatment in respect to proportions in beam form. The
bottom flange of the stone beam I sometimes further strengthen by means of an
internal web, which may be a perforated sheet of metal, or wire mesh, or woven
netting, or perforated canvass or calico; and the web of the beam I sometimes also
strengthen in a similar manner. By forming the sides of such beams into half
circular tubes, and forming the floor or other surface on the all beam method, a
hollow tubular construction is made that may be farther strengthened by the in-
sertion of metal pipes in the tubular spaces.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
fiberized tubular beams substantially in the manner above described. These tubes
may have any desired exterior form, but I prefer a cylindrical one, such stone pipes
or tubes made of fiberized beton or stone material, as aforesaid, may be further
strengthened by means of an interior metal tube within the body of the stone.
In the use and application of such tubes to form roofs, floors, and walking surfaces

page_text: I prefer to place them apart with a slight space between, which space I then fill
with cement and level off above and below, thus forming an even flat floor above
and ceiling below.
A part of the Invention of the stone tubular beam consists in making the tube
in sections convenient for handling and safe transportation, at the same time so
constructing the sections as that when put together the beam shall be as strong as
though made originally in one piece. To accomplish this end each section is forined
with diaphragm ends that not only strengthen the cylinders, but also enable the
sections to be readily cemented together without liability of the cement getting to
the inside of the tubes; each section is also formed with one large end to receive
the end of the next, and with one small end to enter the large end of the one
adjoining.
A farther part of the Invention of the stone tubular beams relates to their use
and application to roof, floor, and walking surface constructions, and consists in the
interposition of light metal bars, beams, joists, or flitches between the stone tubes,
the same being preferably made of sheet metal placed edgewise, which may be bent
at the edges to form bottom and top flanges when desired, or when without flanges
and used as flitches the depth of the same may be so much greater than the dia-
meter of the tubes as to leave a margin above and below the tubes, which margins
are pierced with holes at intervals of six inches, more or less, and rods of iron to
correspond are then passed through them; these rods thus become cross binders of
the tubes and metal plates, and are cemented over, both upon the uper and under
side of the floor, and connect all the tubes together.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
beton or artificial stone floors, roofs, and walking surfaces upon a metallic supporting
foundation of flitches, as above described, the flitches being riveted or .otherwise
secured at their ends to suitable sustaining pieces, the whole being in the nature
of a framework. This frame of flitches I attach to the main girders, where girders
are used, or to the side walls of the building, where girders are not used, and then
fill in the concrete; the cross rods may be either in one layer, or there may be two
or more layers of them, one or more near the top and the others near the bottom of
the flitches; when the construction is finished, no metal will be visible. In some
cases instead of making a framework of flitches, as described, I rivet or otherwise
secure each flitch to the main girders, the ends of the flitches being suitably bent
for this purpose. By an analagous system I make use of rods of metal in place of
flitches, and rivet or otherwise secure their ends to the main girders. These rods
may be from one quarter of an inch to an inch, more or less, in diameter, according
to their length and nearness to each other, a wattling of hoop iron being in some
cases made use of to still further bind the cement or concrete together. Where the
span is large and the strength required to be considerable two or more layers of
such rods may be used in combination, one above the other, the ends of the rods in
each layer being secured to the webs of the main girders. Of preference I make
use of fiberized cement and concrete in forming these floors.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in a method
of construction whereby no metal top flange is required to the main beams,
the concrete or artificial stone floor serving this purpose. In this construction
T beams are used, the bulk of the metal being in the flange which is at the
bottom; cross rods, as above described, connect the beams above the middle of
their depth in layers which break joints with one another, and within the meshes
formed by these layers of rods the cement or concrete bed is formed.
In some cases I prefer to arrange these rods so as to make an arch of the concrete
in the direction of the length of the beams. A part of the Invention in this method
of constructing floors consists in the employment of a web which projects below
the bottom flange of the beam, and is perforated to receive cross rods in similar
manner to the portion above the middle line of the beam; these rods may be in one
or more layers, the concrete bed upon them forming a ceiling to the room below, as
the concrete bed formed upon the upper tiers of rods make a floor, to the apart-

page_text: ment above, the two layers or beds of concrete thus form a hollow floor, and afford
ample protection to both the bottom flange and the web against fire, and at the same
time give side support to the web of the beam to prevent it from buckling.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
roofs, floors, and walking surfaces of lessened weight by means of permanent cores
of light substance incorporated within the body of the concrete, in place of making
the concrete hollow by the use of forms, oftentimes expensive and always troublesome
to remove. In these constructions I use wood in some cases, and in others I make
use of dried plaster of Paris of the lightest kind, moulded to the shape required.
These cores are laid in when the concrete is plastic at the points.required, and
surrounded by the plastic material as it is put in place.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
roofs, floors, and walking surfaces by combining concrete, or its equivalent, with thin
and light "webs" of metal made from sheet or plate metal, the ties or bottom flanges
of which are cemented to the webs in place of being riveted, as is the usual practice.
of making web and flange beams. In this method of construction the cross rods'
thus serve a double purpose; for ties I use flat iron of a width and thickness to
give the strength required, and having perforated them, as would be the case were
they designed for being riveted to the webs, I place them against the web or sheet
of metal, one on each side of the sheet; and having placed two or more such webs
in position, I then pass the rods through from web to web; this layer of cross rods
serves to support and hold the concrete at the bottom of the beam, which also
extends sufficiently below the metal to give secure protection to the ties against
fire the cement grouting in the concrete when this material is shoveled in during
the process of making the floor running into all the crevices between the ties and
the webs, and into all the interstices of the holes around the rods, and thus
cementing tie and web as completely as though riveted. In this way also I make
large slabs of artificial stone, each slab being in the nature of a section of a floor,
all the metal being concealed within the body of stone. For some purposes I
make these floors on the all beam principle, and then each beam is made separately,
preferably of not less than two webs; but when of a single web the rods are short,
projecting through on each side from one to two inches like spurs both at top and
bottom of the web, with a row also at the middle, all of which serve to hold the
plastic inass well to the sides of the web. It is better, however, to make such
beams sufficiently broad to require two or more webs, as the rods then do better
service.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
concrete laminated beams, slabs, blocks, and roofs, floors, and walking surfaces on
a laminated principle, that is to say, instead of concentrating the metal in the
form of beams set at such distances from each other as to require a considerable
amount of strength in the concrete to support itself between the metals, I divide
up the metal into sheets or plates sufficiently thin to admit of their being placed
so near together as to justify the term laminated when applied to such layers or
leaves of concrete and metal. For example, I take sheet iron weighing about a
pound to the square foot, and having brought it into the shape of leaves or strips,
say, twelve inches high and twenty feet long, I arrange any convenient number of
them, say, two dozen, side by side, two inches apart, with cross rods and ties, as
already described, and then fill in the spaces with concrete; the concrete is then in
the form of laminae or leaves, two inches in thickness and twelve inches deep,
interposed between leaves of thin metal funished with ties. In this arrangement
fewer cross rods are required than where the concrete has less side support from
the metal beams; the thin leaves of inetal are also prevented from buckling by the
support of the concrete. In floors of this.tind 1 sometimes use leaves of metal
not more than half or two-thirds the height of the concrete, as the adhesion of such
thin layers of concrete, sandwiched as they are between the plates of metal, holds
the upper portion of the stony mass to the metal sufficiently to bring the tensile
force of the ties into play against the concrete under a load.

page_text: According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
a fiberized cement, beton, or concrete roofing tile as a substitute for the ordinary
baked clay tiles of commerce; my improvement consisting in the manufacture of
such tiles from hydraulic limes, betons, cements, or concretes combined with the
cut vegetable or metallic fibres already herein-above described, a part of the
Invention consisting in hardening such tiles by any of the known processes in use
for hardening artificial stone, and a farther part of the invention also consisting in
some cases in making the tiles with an interior web of metal, perforated or woven,
or of cloth, canvass, calico, or other vegetable fabric, made with meshes in a net-
like manner, or perforated, or otherwise to key the material on each side of the
sheet together. These tiles I also sometimes set with glass for illuminating or
ornamental purposes, and sometimes make them ornamental by means of inlays,
as herein-after described with reference to slabs and blocks.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
cement, beton, or concrete bricks inlaid or moulded upon ornamenting materials,
as herein-after set forth with reference to slabs and blocks of stone; the bricks
of preference being fiberized, as herein explained with reference to other forms of
beton.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
ornamental cement, beton, concrete or artificial stone slabs or blocks for building.
and paving purposes, the chief use of which I contemplate as for payements, both
in the footways of public streets, and in halls, courts, and vestibules, although
when made thin enough they may be used to face the walls and cover the roofs of
buildings. For halls and other places requiring a tesselated pavement, I make
slabs or squares of suitable size of Ransome, or Victoria stone, or similar material,
or of beton, beton coignet, cement, concrete or similar material, ornamenting or
"illuminating" the same by means of colored glass, pottery, porcelains, glazed and
other colored or ornamental tiles or slips, or otherwise; the ornamenting materials
being in the nature of inlays, and being either cemented into suitable indents
formed for the purpose in the face of the stone, or placed in the mould at the time
of making the stone, and thus incorporated into its texture and body, a part of the
Invention consisting in making such ornamental and inlaid stone work useful for
advertising and other purposes by inlays in the form of letters, figures, and words;
and a farther, part of the Invention consisting in some cases in giving a mosaic
character to the face of such artificial slabs and blocks by moulding the same with
indents in lines which are afterwards filled with an inlaying of cement or otherwise.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in a new
method of facing walls and other surfaces with ornamental or other tiles or
facing material in tile form, and in forming slips and tiles for the purpose; to wit,
as commonly put on wall tiles are made to adhere by mere surface pressure or
adhesion, but by my improved method the face to be overlaid is first cut up into
indented spaces by means of tiles or slips, inserted edgewise into the cement
backing or foundation, such slips of preference being made at their entering edges
of a roughened or dovetailing character to take securely into the cement, and the
body of cement being sufficiently thick to give the slips a firm hold. These slips
I sometimes make with a beaded or rounded or other ornamental exterior edge to
project beyond the general face of the inlaid tiles, and into the spaces or indents
which the slips form by their arrangement over the face of the cement, I then set
the flat tiles as inlays, the tiles thus having the advantage of the adhesion of their
edges against the slips as well as their backs against the cement.
Safe walking Surfaces. According to another part of my Invention my
improvement consists in making safe walking surfaces; according to one method
I make these surfaces of artificial stone in the manner already described, that is to
say, I make pavement slabs for the footways of streets, or courts, halls, or other
places of beton, concrete, or otherwise as aforesaid, and to make the surface of such 5
slabs more secure against slipping, I form it with raised blocks or squares somewhat
resembling the stairways at railway stations where the treads are made safe by

page_text: means of little square blocks or pegs of wood endwise; but my stone flags are cast
or moulded with raised portions which thus produces sunk lines or channels across
the face of the stone, and thus makes a more secure foothold. By another method,
I make use of ornamental squares or other shaped inlays, and set them in the
stone so as to produce the result. In wet weather such flagging is also dryer
than continuous surfaces. Where the surface to be made safe is an iron one my
improvement consists in setting the same substantially in the manner described
for inaking the face of the artificial stone, that is to say, instead of wood blocks I
use brick or ornamental baked clay inlays, or other ornamenting colored materials,
setting the same to form channels as described, except in the case of the nosings of
steps, which sufficiently answer if set flush with the metal, although they may
rise above it if desired. Where the walking surfaces are to be illuminating a part
of the Invention consists in shaping and setting the. glasses to form the above
described channels between the same, and a part of the Invention consista in
substituting for the glasses in certain proportion other materials of ornamenting
or other character better suited for giving secure foothold, and interspersing or
setting the same between the glasses.
According to another part of my Invention referring to ornamented illuminating
walking surfaces my improvement consists in giving increased illuminating power
to the metal glass-holder or grating by forming it without seats, the glasses being
slightly tapering to match the holes, and set therein in cement, and also rising
above the face of the metal sufficiently to form channels between the glasses, in
which channels I then set the ornamenting inlays a part of the Invention
consisting in making such ornamented illuminating gratings in quarry form, and
combining the same with stronger gratings having apertures to receive such quarries.
According to another part of my Invention relating to walking and carriage
surfaces my improvement consists in making the ground floors of workshops,
factories, and other manufacturing and warehouse buildings, and the courtyards of
the same of wood, one portion of which is placed endwise, and the other portion of
which is placed at right angles thereto or lengthwise, the latter serving as a support
to the former, this method of making wood paving being also applicable to public
streets. In this plan of wood paving I make use of boards or planks arranged
edgewise, each plank. being furnished at or near its lower edge on one or both sides
with a cleet in the form of a long strip of wood, which is securely fastened thereto.
When the planks are in position the cleets form cracks or channels between the
boards or planks, which channels I fill with end wood of a thickness corresponding
to the channel, the cleet being the support upon which the end wood takes its
bearing. I prefer to combine a number of such planks and end wood filling together
by means of cross rods, so forming packs convenient for handling, and which may
be prepared at the workshop and brought to the ground ready for being laid.
foundation I prefer to place timber lengthwise with the roadway and at distances to
catch each end of the pack, and one also at the middle; also I prefer to lay these
packs to break joints with one another. Where it is preferred, asphalt or bituminous
rubble may be used in combination with the end wood, and in some cases in place
of it. Floors of this kind are not subject to dry rot.
As a
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
walking and carriage surfaces of fiberized ashphalt or equivalent bituminous com-
pound, that is to say, I combine cut vegetable fibre, as herein-above described with
reference to concrete, with asphalt or bituminous material, the object in the latter case
being to increase the foot-holding power of the asphalt surface to prevent slipping.
According to another part of my Invention having reference to fiberized mortars,
cements, betons, and concretes; and their applications, my improvement consists in
moulding such material upon an internal metallic shell or core of perforated metal,
wattling, or woven wire so shaped as to be adapted for being cemented to the bottom
flange of irou girders, beams, and joists, the moulded article being in the nature of
a channelled brick, two of which being placed one upon either side of the web of
the beam, the bottom flange entering the slit or channel of the bricks, thus make

page_text: the metal flange fire-proof; my improvement consisting in the manufacture and
application of such a brick to the protection of metal beams, its internal metal frame
guaranteeing its not breaking away, its brick form making it convenient for
handling, and its beton character rendering its application easy by means of mortar
or cement.
Building Appliances. According to another part of my Invention my improve-
ment consists in locating and fixing small pipes within or upon the walls in the
interior of buildings in place of the bell wires or electric wires ordinarily employed
as means of communication from one part of the building to another, the same
being made in some cases of very fine bore, almost as small indeed as wire itself,
and of steel, copper, or other metal sufficiently hard to not be subject to accidental
flatening by slight blows, and being also terminated at either end by air pumps or
piston boxes of such size, shape, and proportions as to substantially amount to mere
enlargements of the ends of the pipe, the same being furnished with suitable spiral
springs and pistons, and a bell being connected at one end with the terminal piston ;
a part of the Invention consisting in attaching piston boxes to or building them
into the walls at or near the angle of the ceiling and side wall, and with the mouth
of the piston box downwards, thereby enabling the operation of sounding the bell
to be done by means of a bell cord, as in the ordinary wire and crank movement.
A farther part of my Invention consists in some cases in dispensing, at the terminal
or bell end of the pipe, with the piston cylinder and spring piston, using in place
thereof the spring of the bell for the piston spring, and making use of the end of
the pipe for the piston box, the piston itself being a simple rod, and of preference a
wood rod for lightness. For some purposes I use gongs or other sounding media in
place of bells; the general automatic fixtures and arrangements made use of for
electric and wire bells and gongs may also be used in combination with my method
of air tubes.
According to another part of my Invention having reference to footways and
tesselated pavements made of artificial stone and concrete, a part of my improvement
consists in making such footways and pavements of cement, beton, artificial stone,
concrete, carbonite, baked clay, or other suitable molded substance, made into the
proper shapes and sizes and inlaid with ornamental inlays, as already described
herein in the form of slabs and border slips or coping, and combining the same into
a pavement representing an harmonious design in colors, a part of the Invention
consisting in laying the same upon a framework of metal, wood, concrete, or stone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thaddeus Hyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th December
1876.
THADDEUS HYATT, of No. 66, Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer of Patent Lights. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILD-
INGS AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, AND IN ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL BUILDING
MATERIALS AND APPLIANCES, AND IN THE MEANS, MODES, PROCESSES, AND
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING AND PREPARING THE SAID MATERIALS AS
MERCHANTABLE ARTICLES, AND IN THEIR USE AND APPLICATION TO BUILDINGS
AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING WALKING SURFACES AND CARRIAGE
OR ROADWAYS."
According to that part of my Invention which relates to "Walking Surfaces and
Carriage or Roadways," my improvement consists in making the floor or pavement
of timber sections in convenient form and size to be readily taken up and put
down without detriment to the general construction, and which having tensile
strength in themselves may rest upon sleepers to form roadways, and upon wall
strips to form floors, so that air nay circulate under the floor to prevent dry rot.
The other parts of my Invention heretofore set forth in the Provisional of this

page_text: Patent having been transferred to another Provisional, viz., to No. 3579, Sep. 12,
1876, I confine this Final Specification to walking and carriage surfaces only,
reference being had to the Drawings attached hereto, and making part of this
Specification, that is to say, the pavement or flooring which constitutes my Inven-
tion consists substantially of two parts, one being a timber foundation, and the
other being a wearing surface attached to it, the foundation being made of timbers
or planks placed edgewise in packs with cleets between to make channels or gutters
for holding the wearing surface, and the whole being bound together by suitable
rods or bolts. Each pack or section should be of a convenient size for handling, say,
about two feet six inches by six feet, and nine inches deep.
Figure 1 represents such a pack, a, a, a, being the planks, and b, b, b, the cleets
which are nailed or otherwise fastened to them, preferably one on each side of
the plank. The cleets must be deep enough for the strength required. I propose
to make them three inches deep and of same length as the planks. The letters c, c, c,
represent the iron rods which pass entirely through the pack, a head being at one
end and a nut and thread at the other end of each rod. In this way all the
planks are tightened together and a solid pack or section made. The gutters or
channels d, d, d, will be wide or narrow according to the thickness of the cleet or cleets.
Figure 2 represents two sections A and B in plan to shew how they meet and
interlock at the ends, a balk of timber C being of preference laid in the sand under
them where they meet. When the planks are put together they are laid so that
the end of one passes the end of the other by several inches, say, from six to
twelve, as represented, thus producing a break joint arrangement at each end, so
that when the abutting sections are brought together, as represented in Figure 2,
the long ends of A enter the spaces of B, and the long ends of B enter the spaces
of A. Other methods of abutting the sections may be adopted, but I consider this
the best.
Figure 3 represents the tops of the planks as forming a portion of the wearing
surface, e, e, e, being the filling or blocks between them, which may be either end
wood, bricks, stone, fiberized asphalt, or bituminous rubble.
4
Figure represents an all wearing surface, the tops of the planks forming a rest
for the blocks or filling above them, as the tops of the cleets form a rest for the
blocks or filling above them. By this mode of construction the blocks or filling
that take their bearing upon the clects rise to a height of several inches, from one
to three, or more, above the tops of the planks, and thus become supports to the
blocks or filling on the tops of the planks. Similar letters refer to similar parts
in all the Figures.
According to another part of my Invention my improvement consists in making
walking and carriage surfaces of fiberized asphalt, or of equivalent bituminous
compound, such as bituminous rubble, and which asphaltic materials for road
making and walking surfaces I prepare as follows:-The purpose of this part of
my Invention being to make a safe walking pavement for pedestrians and a secure
or footholding roadway for animals. The fiberized asphalt I make by the use
and application of fibre, which may be of the cheapest kind, such as cocoa nut
fibre or other wood fibre; this material is to be combined with the asphalt, as
hair is combined with mortar, and should be in quantity as much as the asphalt will
safely hold or contain. The bituminous rubble I prepare in a way to produce a
roadway resembling the Macadamized roads, but with the difference that mine
will not wash away by rains as the others do. To prevent this I first prepare the
earth by water-proofing it before mixing the stones with it. The earth which I
prefer to use in a thoroughly dry state I boil with or otherwise saturate with coal
tar or equivalent cheap water-proofing material, combining with it only enough of
such material to give it the water-repelling character required. This prepared
earth I then employ for road making in the same general manner in which ordinary
Macadam roads are made. Whether during the process of rolling down the road-
bed it should be sprinkled with coal tar or with water is a matter to be determined
in practice.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would-observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is
First. A timber road-bed or foundation of sectional character constructed sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purposes as herein described and illustrated
by my Drawings.
Second. Combining with a timber road-bed or foundation, as last aforesaid, a
wearing surface made of end wood, bricks, stones, concrete, asphalt, bituminous
rubble, or other suitable material, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
as herein described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Third. A roadway surface formed of fiberized asphalt or of waterproofed earth
and stones, substantially as herein-described.
THADDEUS HYATT. (L.S.)