Structural Iron Forms.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Structural Iron Forms.
I, TIMOTHY SIDNEY WHITE, of New Brighton, in the County of Beaver, in
the State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for STRUCTURAL IRON FORMS and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide a structural iron unit that shall combine
strength with great economy in material and labor, in structures for which it is
adapted; that may be readily united with like or with dissimilar units to form a
variety of composite structural members; and that shall be especially adapted for
union with units like itself to form what may be turned laterally-continuous girders
for replacing the common heavy beams and connecting floor-arches now so widely
used.
To attain these ends the unit must be of such form as may be readily rolled, the
material must be advantageously disposed with reference to strength, and the unit
must have such lateral reach as will fit it for use as a continuous floor-girder where
strict regard is had for economy.
In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this Specification and which
consist of cross sections only,
Fig. 1 shows the unit in its preferred form.
Fig. 2 shows the same unit joined to identical units to form a column or girder.
Fig. 3 shows it united with unlike units, for like purposes.
Fig. 4 is a slight modification of the form of Fig. 3, and
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 show modifications hereinafter more specifically
mentioned.
The preferred unit (Fig. 1) consists of a plane main web A having parallel
uniting flanges B, B¹, integrally connected, respectively, to the edges of the main
web by oppositely extending secondary webs C, C. The unit thus constituted is
rolled as easily as the simplest Z-bar and it may be joined, with great facility, to
either the like or dissimilar units to form structural members, such for example, as
.columns or girders. In forming such members this unit lessens the number of pieces
required, the number of rivets and the like, and the labor requisite to form the
member and put it in place.
It is further to be observed that in this unit the greater part of the metal is at a
considerable distance from the neutral axis, about which the moments of the webs
When two of
and flanges are equal, that is the unit or section is "balanced."
these units are rigidly joined by riveting together their flanges B in such manner
that the minor webs lie in two planes only, as in Fig. 2, the two units form a
member that is much used in iron construction, and that like the unit, is balanced.
Fig. 3 shows the unit combined with two Z-beams to form the common member
usually made up of five pieces instead of three, that is of four Z-beams and a plane
plate, requiring for its construction the making of six lines of rivet holes instead
of four, as in the column shown in Fig. 3, and the handling of additional pieces
with the expenditure of additional labor. This column member is commonly
spoken of as balanced but in strictness it is not, and that it may become so 1
thicken the main web as shown in Fig. 4, to balance the contiguous Z-beam
flanges.
Fig. 5 illustrates the modification of making the main web oblique with reference
to the secondary webs, or in other words oblique to the vertical line when the unit
is employed in forming a floor support or laterally continuous girder.

page_text: In the form of Fig. 6, the upper flanges of Fig. 5 are omitted, the secondary
webs serving as uniting flanges.
Fig. 7 illustrates the omission of the lower secondary webs, the lower uniting
flanges being connected directly to the main webs.
Fig. 8 shows a member having all the secondary webs omitted.
Fig. 9 illustrates the use of units like the unit of Fig. 1 except that the lower
flanges are omitted. This form is especially intended for columns and girders not
laterally continuous, and in case a perfectly balanced cross section is desired the
secondary webs may be made thicker than the rest of the structure. In situations
where great strength is required in a small space, the complete units of Fig. 1 may
be united ir pairs with an auxiliary web Y, Fig. 10, inserted between them,
parallel to the main web and provided, if desired, with one or more flanges Y₁ at
its lower edge and in the plane of the secondary webs. A plate X, Fig. 11, may
also be riveted to some of the forms, for example, that shown in Fig. 10.
When any two of the combined units are to be used in such situations that they
form a trough which might retain water, the uniting rivets bear washers or
thimbles W interposed between the uniting flanges, as shown in Fig. 12.
All the oblique forms are intended to secure great lateral reach, which is very.
desirable when the units are to form a laterally-continuous floor girder or partition
stud.
It is evident that in all the forms the metal is well distributed for strength, and
especially so in the forms having lateral webs, which give extreme rigidity in the
plane of the girder as a whole. When any one of the forms is used in a laterally
continuous girder, any number of units may be joined in a series, according as the
space to be spanned is greater or less; and the number required will clearly depend
upon the width of the secondary webs, the inclination of the main web, and slightly
upon the thickness of the material. These elements may be varied as good
judgment shall dictate, in accordance with the particular requirements of the
situation in which they are to serve.
In floor construction, concrete and tiles may be placed upon the continuous
girder in precisely the same way that they are now placed upon heavy beams and
the floor arches spanning the space between them. If wood floor is to be used,
strips G, Fig. 5, of wood may be secured to the upper part of the structure to
receive the usual nails. The lower joints also afford facilities for the attachment
of ceiling material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A rolled structural iron unit consisting of a plane main web having uniting
flanges integrally connected to its lateral margins, respectively, by oppositely
extending secondary webs each making an angle with both the main web and the
flange which it connects to the main web.
2. The combination with a unit consisting of a main web having uniting flanges
integrally connected to its margins, respectively, by oppositely extending secondary
webs each making an angle with both the main web and the flange which it connects
therewith, of a second flanged unit having a flange rigidly attached to the flange of
the first.
3. A laterally continuous girder made up of a series of identical units each
having a plane main web and an integrally formed vertical flange adapted to hold
the main web oblique to the general plane of the girder when the flange is fixed to
the next unit of the series.
4. A rolled iron structural unit consisting of a main web having upon each side
an integrally formed secondary web making an angle with it, said secondary webs
extending in opposite directions and one of them being provided with an integrally
formed lateral flange in a different plane.
5. The combination with two of the units described, of a preferably flanged web

page_text: placed between the registering faces of the flanges of said units, and rivets passing
through said flanges to unite them, substantially as set forth.
6. The combination with a pair of the units described united by their corres-
ponding flanges, of a web secured to and joining the secondary webs most distant
from said flanges, substantially as set forth.
7. The structural iron unit consisting of the marginally thickened main web and
the flanges integrally connected, respectively, to the margins of the main web by
secondary webs extending out upon opposite sides of said main web, substantially
as set forth.
8. The combination with a rolled iron unit consisting of a central web having at
its margins oppositely extending secondary webs one of which is provided with a
flange, of a second unit like the first, having its secondary webs in the planes of the
secondary webs of the first and its flange registering with and rigidly connected to
the flange of the first.
9. The combination with a unit consisting of a plane central web having at its
edges oppositely extending secondary webs one of which is provided with a flange
of a like unit oppositely turned, a plate lying between the registering flanges of
the two units and bisecting the space between the two main webs, and rivets or the
like rigidly binding together the two flanges and the interposed plate, substantially
as set forth.
Dated this 2nd day of Max 1893
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.