An Improved Construction of Treads of Stairs, Door Steps, mats, Landings, Flooring, and other similar Wearing Surfaces.
Year: 1886

page_text: An Improved Construction of Treads of Stairs, Door Steps, mats,
Landings, Flooring, and other similar Wearing Surfaces.
JOHN HENDRA 54, Freegrove Road Holloway London N Ironfounder WILLIAM
GOODING 11, North Road Holloway London N Builder do hereby declare the
nature of our invention for IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF TREADS OF STAIRS DOOR
STEPS MATS LANDINGS FLOORING AND OTHER SIMILAR WEARING SURFACES to be as
follows:-
The object of our invention is to construct treads of stair cases mats flooring
steps of railway and other carriages and for similar rubbing and wearing surfaces
by a combination of metal and India rubber, or metal wood and India rubber, or
any other material for wearing purpose, whereby a cheaper wearing surface than
and possessing all the properties of India mats and treads now in use can be
produced.
°
In carrying our invention into effect, we employ a tray of iron or wood of
suitable strength which can be perforated, on which we place pieces of India
rubber of any design, which pieces have on the bottom side a projection or flange.
Having placed them on the tray, we next use a light perforated grating, the
holes corresponding with the pieces of India rubber in size and shape which we
place over the pieces of India rubber allowing them to come through the perforated
grating, the said grating rsesting on the flange of India rubber or other blocks of
other material and rigidly fastened down to the so called tray making the India
rubber blocks secure.
The India rubber blocks may project more or less above the surface of the
grating so as to give a better rubbing action.
The grating can be made of any design and if desired, the India rubber blocks
can be perforated to any design, with the tray on which they rest being also
perforated to correspond.
The grating as before mentioned coming over the said pieces to secure them in
there place.
The blocks can be made in the form of letters or other devices.
When the blocks are worn the top grating can be raised, and the worn blocks
exchanged for others new or partly worn ones, and refixed without skilled labour.
Dated this 6th day of January 1986
RICHARD R. HUTCHINSON, C.E.,
Agent for Applicants.

page_text: Landings, Flooring, and other similar Wearing Surfaces.
We,. JOHN HENDRA of No. 54, Freegrove Road, Holloway, Ironfounder, and
WILLIAM GOODING, of No. 11, North Road, Holloway, Builder, both in the
:County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
Our invention relates to an improved method of constructing the treads of stairs,
steps, mats, landings, floorings, and other similar wearing surfaces, and consists in
making the wearing surfaces out of small disconnected blocks of the same size and
shape, which are held down by means of flanges projecting from their lower edges,
between two plates, which together form a frame, and through perforations in the
top-plate of which the blocks project.
The blocks, the surfaces of which form the practicable face of the tread or mat
are, therefore, interchangeable, and their relative positions can be changed by
simply opening the frame and making the desired re-arrangement, e. g., moving the
partially worn blocks from the middle of the tread or mat to the ends or corners,
and the blocks therefrom to the middle replacing, if necessary, the blocks which
are quite worn out, by new ones, and re-closing the frame.
These blocks are made of india-rubber, wood, or other suitable material; and
the plates may be made of metal or wood. We do not confine ourselves to any
particular material.
We will now proceed to describe our invention in detail, referring to the
accompanying drawings in which like parts are marked with the same reference
letter.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the application of our invention to an
ordinary stair-case.
Fig. 2 is a plan of part of a staircase tread fitted with our invention, and Fig. 3,
an end elevation of the same.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the underside; Fig. 5, a side elevation; and Fig. 6, a plan, of
a block..
A is a tray or plate which with the perforated plate B constitutes the frame.
These two plates are held together in any convenient way, e. g., by screws.
Any suitable means may be adopted of connecting the plate A to the frame of
the stair case, according to circumstances.
The upper plate is perforated for the purpose of allowing the upper part of the
blocks C to pass through them. These perforations D are shewn (as are the blocks)
in the drawings, as square in plan, although we would have it distinctly understood
that our invention does not limit us to this shape. Any shape (in point of. plan)
may be adopted, according to the suggestions of fancy or the conveniences of
manufacture, but in any given piece of work, for instance fitting our invention to
all the stairs of a large railway station, all the blocks would be uniform in size and
shape.
•
The front edge of the top plate B is advantageously extended into a nosing E.
When our invention is to be applied to other purposes than that illustrated and
described above, the shape of the bottom plate is naturally modified accordingly,

page_text: In making our invention as a mat, the plate would be made like a tray, and the
nosing E dispensed with. In each of the several applications of which our
invention is capable, the particular shape of the plates A and B will be modified
accordingly, the remaining features, those of the invention, being constant through-
out all.
The blocks C consist of three parts, the face c which may be serrated (as for a
mat) or made in small pyramids as illustrated; the body c¹; and the flange c².
A cavity, c³, may be formed in the body to economise material.
The blocks and plate A may be perforated when made for stair case work, to
allow of the passage of light.
They may be made with any desired amount of projection above the top plate,
and the perforations D arranged to produce any desired design.
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:
1. The combination of face, body, and flanges together forming a block, sub-
stantially as described with reference to the accompanying figures.
2. The combination of bottom plate and top plate, having perforations formed
therein of the same size and shape as the body of the blocks, said plates being
releasably connected together, and by being connected together, holding between
them a series of blocks by gripping their flanges, substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying figures.
3. Treads, mats, landings, floorings and the like, consisting of pairs of plates, the
top plates perforated with perforations of the same shape and size throughout
to receive the projecting bodies of blocks of the same shape and size as the
perforations, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying figures.
Dated this 10th day of August, 1880.
R. HUTCHINSON,
Agent for the Applicants.