IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINING IRON AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING BRIDGES, ROOFS, ARCHES, FLOORS, AND OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
FRANCIS MAIRE, of Mark Lane, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Fifth day of August, in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me,.
the said Peter Francis Maire, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial.
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Peter
Francis Maire, my exors, admors, or assigns, or such others as I, the
said Peter Francis Maire, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINING IRON AND OTHER
MATERIALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING BRIDGES, ROOFS, ARCHES, FLOORS,
AND OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURES," communicated from Adolphe Jacquesson, a
Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Peter Francis Maire, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the day of

page_text: the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Peter Francis Maire, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING MARKED No. 1.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cast-iron parallellopiped in one piece, the
four rounded corners a, b, a', b', a, b, a¹¹¹, 6, of which are hollow cylinders
which allow the piece to be connected with four wrought-iron rods through the
openings or holes o, o', o¹¹, o¹¹¹; several similar pieces can be connected by the
same rods, and be firmly pressed one against the other by nuts which are
screwed on to the ends of the rods which are screw tapped for that purpose;
and by this means may be formed columns, &c., by giving these pieces the
form of arches or wedge forms; by slightly inclining the surfaces b, 61, 61, 6111,
a, a, a, a, and by moving the frames among themselves any required form
may be given to them. The size of these pieces may be varied, but in all
cases the length and thicknesses of the stop pieces should be in such relation
to each other that the length of them should not exceed ten or twelve
times the thickness, The diameter of these rods should be at all times.
equal to the half of the diameter of the cast cylinder. The Figure 1 is
drawn to a scale of one tenth of the natural size. Figure 2 represents the
same form, only the plate or frame a, a', a", a¹ is in one piece, and the
four tubes or cylinders b, 61, 6, 61, are shown separate. The frame is first
placed over the rods, as shewn at Figure 3, at a, a, a, all; then over these
rods is placed a second frame b, 61, 6, 6; then four other tubes c, c¹, cl, cl,
and so on, according to the length of the form required. Upon the last
frame is placed a nut at t, t¹, t", t¹. These frames may be either of wrought
or cast iron, and they may be conical on their surface, which will alter their
form. Figure 4 shews an elevation and section of four of these pieces com-
bined together by the rods and nuts, the two lower ones according to the
system of Figure 2, and the two other of Figure 1. Two of them are in
elevation, and the other two are in section, showing the axes of the two
hinder rods. These frames may be at their lower parts of a triangular or
eliptical form, having three or four or more rods to tie them to two or three
tubes or cylinders. The parallellopiped may be doubled either in one of its

page_text: lengths or in both, and even the frames may be altered, provided the tube-
which sustains it and the rods which tie them together are properly adjusted.
This arrangement will be necessary for the arches of some bridges. Figure 5.
is a perspective view of an arrangement in which the combination of bars and
bolts are of wrought iron, with the tie rods shewn. a, a, a, a, b, 61, 11, 111,
are four bars of wrought iron, having holes therein at c, c¹, c, c, and
d, d', d", d, placed vertically and horizontally. These holes are placed in.
a line with each other. B, B, B, B, B, are wrought square-headed screw
iron bolts, screwed on to cast-iron hollow rods or cylinders F, F, F, F, F, F.
These bolts pass through the opposite hole and are secured by means of a.
nut E, which is screwed on to the end of the rod. The combination thus:
made may be connected to other similar forms by means of the ears or pro-
jecting pieces 0, 0, 0, 0, through which small rods may be introduced. The
nature of these rods is shewn at Figure 7, by the letters g, 9, 9, 9, which pass
through a flat or conical frame P, of a single piece, shown in plan at Figure 6,
and lateral elevation at Figure 7 and Figure 8, front elevation in Figure 9.
The frame is placed between each pair of the combinations or arrangements,
and prevents at the same time the cross pieces from getting out of their
proper positions. Figure 6 is a plan of the arrangement, having four hori-
zontal uprights and six vertical supports. Figure 7 is an elevation upon the
front A, B, of the plan. Figure 8 is a section upon the line x, y, of the plan,
Figure 6. Figure 9 is an elevation of the front B, C. All these Figures are
shewn a fourth of their natural size. It will be readily seen that by joining
together several of these arrangements or combinations, that columns or any
other structures may be arranged together. The frames may be either of
wrought or cast iron. Figure 10 shews a combination of the parts without
the frames between the parts, shewn upon a scale of one tenth its natural.
size. If the holes of the upper and lower rods are in a straight line with
each other, the form of the piece, when the tie rods are passed through, will
be a straight line; but if the holes in the lower rods are nearer together than
in the upper one, the form of the piece will be that of an arc of a
circle. Figure 11 shews another arrangement. A and B represent the
and are the rods
section of the vertical cross pieces 6 and 6¹¹.
which run through tubes or cylinders horizontally. m, m', m¹¹, m¹, are
5 four tubes which also run horizontally. Figure 12 represents a portion of
an arc of a bridge having a continuous cross piece applied without any frames
or projecting ear pieces, shewn from a to a¹; and from a¹ to a¹, as represented, one
of the wedged formed pieces with the frames, ear pieces, and connecting bolts;
from all to a, another form of six vertical and horizontal columns with the-

page_text: It will be seen from the preceeding description that the principle upon which
this part of the Invention is based is capable of numerous applications
for the construction of arches, floors, ceilings, and other description of
buildings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS, No. 2.
The parts in Figure 1 are shewn upon a scale of one twentieth the natural
size, and in the Figures from 2 to 8 they are shewn half size. Figure 1
shews a portion of the arc of a bridge having several modes of constructing
and putting together the parts which form the bridge, which will be more
particularly explained. No. 1 shews four pieces slightly conical to allow
for the difference of the curve. They are connected together by four bolts
and two lower bands. No. 2 represent rectangular forms separated by
conical plates placed between then so as to produce this curve. In No. 3
the place of these conical pieces is supplied by conical keys which close at
the same time the upper and lower part of the pieces; the bands are required
in this arrangement. In No. 4 there are two pieces, tied by means of
upper keys and lower bolts, with nuts which fix a portion of the plate against
which they press. In No. 5 the forms or figures are tied together by braces
which are placed in the centre of the piece, to which they are tied by straps
at the upper part, the lower part being screw tapped, passing into a flat band of
iron and being secured by a nut screwed therein. In No. 6 the pieces are sepa-
rated from each other by a conical key, having at its upper and lower end a screw
and nut which connects them with their lower and upper part by means of a flat
band placed at each end. Figure 2 shews a prospective view of a square form,
which may be either in wrought or cast iron. Figure 3 shews parts of the conical
pieces A, joined together by a band and bolt. Figure 4 is a section taken
through the line B of the Figure 3, shewing the bolt and the lower nut.
Figure 5 is a front and side view of the band or strap through which the
screw bolt passes, which also passes through the ear or projecting pieces at
each angle. Figure 6 is a view of one of the keys which are placed between
the pieces. They are formed of iron plates and are more or less conical in
accordance with the curve of the bridge required, these are to be used
when the pieces are quadrangular. Figure 7 shews a conical key with
projections at the upper and lower part; in place of the projection at the lower
part there may be a screw and a nut.
Figure 8 shews another form of key
with projecting screws at the upper and the lower part, to receive a nut to tie
together the pieces, either by pieces of metal or bands running all along.

page_text: In all the different Figures the same parts are marked with the same letters.
A is a hollow quadrangular cone, of wedged form, either of cast or wrought
iron, made of one piece; the faces of compression are inclined, the one upon the
the other, according to the curve of the arch that is required, or they
may be in right lines as at A, and have the inclination given to them
by the conical keys which are given to them. The surface b, called
the resistance to the pressure, should be smaller than the surface a
called the base of compression. The proportions may be barred according to
circumstances, but it is believed that the surfaces of compression should never
exceed twice the surface of the resistance. c, c, are the holes through which
the bolt passes to connect the different parts together. In place of making
these conical pieces A separate, two or three of them may be cast together,
by which the number of corrections would be decreased. B, Figure 5, is
the band which, with the bolt, connects the conical pieces together; they are
placed at the lower part, and the number of them may be increased. C, are
the bolts which tie the pieces together. D is the nut which is screwed upon
the bolt C. E a conical plate of metal fixed between each of the rectan-
gular pieces A. The upper part of it is of a suitable thickness, so as to give
the required form to the arch; and c, c, are the holes through which the
bolt C passes, so as to secure these plates to the wedge pieces A¹. F is a
view of the conical key which separates the pieces A, so as to give the
required inclination; the ends f forming heads which tie the pieces together,
and by which the use of the bands B may be dispensed with.
c, c, are the
holes for the passage of the bolts C. F (Figure 1) is a similar key to
the one just described, with the exception that in place of the head at the
lower end, it is screw tapped f" for a nut f" to screw thereon, which passes
upon a small flat band, forming a double arch. G is a similar key, but of
a sufficient thickness to allow of there being a screw bolt 9, at the upper and
lower part of which works a nut, thus screwing the continuous plate H, H,
which form a double arch, and which should be of wrought iron if the
pieces A¹ are of cast iron, the object of these flat bands being to secure it
against the chances of the cast iron breaking. c are the holes for the bolt C,
with or without the band B. J, (Figure 1), are conical braces, the arms i of
which meet thrugh the projection i to the centre; they may be placed above
and below, or only above; the lower part in this case being screwed at the
end and pressed against the plate H by a nut there, they may be secured as
the others. K, K, are the straps which secure the pieces J, fixing them by
the ends of their arms i, which are grooved out for this purpose.
Having given the form of these Figures for the construction of bridges, it

page_text: will be evident that the width of the bridge will determine the number of
these parts. The proper distance for them to be kept apart will be regulated
by suitable cross pieces.
Figure 9 shows the part of a bridge constructed of the parts A, A, fixed
together by screw. bolts and nuts at x, x, and the upper part of the bridge is
supported by perpendicular columns y, y, formed by quadrangular pieces fixed
together by screw bolts and nuts; and these columns are received into hollow
shoes W, fixed at intervals to the wrought-iron straps z, which straps are
combined together by right and left handed screws z¹.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING No. 3,
Which represents at Figure 9 a perspective view of a rectangular form in
wood, constructed upon a similar principle to the hollow iron ones. It differs
in being made of several pieces, and presenting tin frames joined together by
cross pieces, which, for the surface, of pressure, present a frame as the face of
resistance only in appearance, the cross pieces serving to connect the two
frames, and forming, with the upper and lower one,. the complete form.
Figure 10 shews the mode of joining two of these frames together, in which
the required angle is given to them by means of the conical or wedged-formed
frames. In this view is seen the wedges which join the upper and lower part
together, as well as the binding pieces which complete the junction, also the
bolt which passes through the wedges to tie them to the binding frames.
Figure 11 shews an arrangement on which the figures are joined together at
the lower part by a hinged joint, more particularly applicable for a swing
bridge.
Figure 12 is a plan of the under part of several of these forms or figures.
L, L, are two rectangular frames. The upright and cross pieces are attached
to each other by metal straps 1, screwed to them, or fixed by any suitable
manner. L', L', are cross pieces which form a framing with the side
uprights of the surface of compression. These pieces are fixed by screw bolts
and nuts . M is a double binding piece which connects two of these frames
together, and forming a double plate or arch both above and below; these
pieces are fixed across the frames L by metal straps, as well as the screw
bolts. N are the wedge pieces, the section and size of which determine the
section produced by the figures joined together. P are the bands or straps
which connect the interior part of the upper and lower part of the two frames
and the wedges placed between them. R are bolts crossing through the
binding pieces and the wedges fastening them securely together; they may
also be fastened by screws. S are wedge-shaped frames, with cross pieces s',