IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henderson Porter, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS AND OTHER
STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 23rd March 1858, and dated the 5th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henderson
.Porter at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th November 1852.
I, JOHN HENDERSON PORTER, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS AND
OTHER STRUCTURES " to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the more economical manufacture of iron
houses and similar structures by the adaptation of sheet or plate iron
to the formation of framing for the reception of corrugated iron or
other plates, whereby they are retained securely in their places without
the aid of bolts or rivets or any other fastening whatever. The pillars
and other frame work of such buildings are constructed of plate or

page_text: sheet iron, with wood cores, the metal strips being firmly secured to each
side of the wooden pillar, and projecting over at their edges so as to form
a groove down each side for the reception of plates of corrugated iron
or other suitable material. The plates or strips may be slightly curved
longitudinally so as to give a slight spring for the purpose of grasping
the plates or wooden planks let in between them. The several pillars
may be tied together by diagonal flat iron bracings; or if the structure
is small, the wood lining forming the interior wall of the house may
run horizontally from one pillar to another, and being firmly screwed
thereto will form a sufficient tic without bracings. The roofs of buildings
may also be constructed on this principle, which is equally applicable
to the formation of fences. When the walls to be constructe:l run at
different angles, as, for example, the corner of a house, the plates or
strips must be secured to the pillars in such a manner as to present
their grooves at the angle required. The distances at which the pillars
are placed asunder will be regulated according to the size and strength
required for the structure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henderson Porter in the Great Seal Patent
Oflice, on the 5th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN ПENDERSON PORTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henderson Porter, Her special license
that I, the said John Henderson Porter, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henderson Porter, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,

page_text: and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PORTABLE BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henderson
Porter, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henderson Porter, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
My said Invention relates to an improvement in the construction of
uprights or supports employed in the building of portable houses,
whereby greater lightness and simplicity of construction is attained
than by the arrangements hitherto adopted, the improvements being
principally applicable to the construction of buildings of a small size,
and where cheapness is a primary object to be attained. Figure 1, on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents an end elevation of a
corrugated iron house constructed on my improved principle. Figuro
2, is a corresponding side elevation, showing the entrance to the same.
Figure 3, is a corresponding vertical section of the front wall. Figure
4, is a ground plan or horizontal section of the building taken below
the level of the windows. Figure 5, is a transverse section in detail,
full size, of one of the corner posts or supports, shewing the guides or
vertical grooves for containing the ends of the corrugated plates.
Figure 6, is a similar section of one of the centre posts or supports.
Figure 7, is a transverse section of another form of upright, drawn full
size; and Figure 8, represents a similar section of a corner post on
the same principle. A, A, are the uprights or supports of the building;
they are made of wooden posts B, (Figures 5, and 6,) down the sides
of which are firmly secured the curved strips of corrugated iron C, C.

page_text: These strips are formed by simply cutting a plate of corrugated iron
longitudinally down every alternate corrugation by means of a circular
shears or other suitable cutting mechanism. They are then sccured,
as before described, to the sides of the wooden posts or supports. In
the construction of those posts intended for the corners or angles of
a building the strips are bent rather more to suit the angle required,
as shewn at Figure 5. The uprights are secured to the foundation
planks D, by brackets which are screwed to the bottom of the up-
rights, and to the surface of the foundation planks. By another
arrangement the uprights may be constructed as shown at Figures
7, and 8; the metal plates E, in this case being rolled or drawn
to the proper form required, and secured to the posts. It will be
obvious to the practical man that the roofs of buildings may be con-
structed on the same principle. The main rafter in such case being
fitted with plates similar to those shown on the posts, Figures 5, and 8,
though the angle would be varied of course to suit the fall or slope
of the roof. These uprights may be employed also in the construction
of fences composed of corrugated or other plates or of planks of wood.
A sufficient number of these uprights for the construction of the
buildings required having been fixed in a vertical position in the
manner before described, and at suitable distances apart to correspond
with the lengths of the plates which form the sides of the building,
these plates are inserted into the grooves F, in the sides of the uprights
formed by the strips C, C, the corrugations of the plates running
horizontally from one support to another. The mode of joining the
plates one over the other is shewn at G, in Figure 3, the curve of one
plate being made to overlap that of the next one, and the two are
rivetted or otherwise joined together as shewn in Figure 2. The
plates having been inserted into their proper places in the grooves, the
plate of wood (or iron) to receive the roof plates is added, and serves
by its connections at the tops of the posts to tie them together, and thus
to retain the iron plates in the grooves, to which they may, if desired,
be further secured by an occasional bolt or rivet through the vertical
strips on the posts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of m

page_text: said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which
I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features
of my Invention; but 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, the general arrangement and construction of portable buildings,
as herein-before described; and,
Second, the system or mode of constructing the vertical supports
or posts employed in such buildings in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henderson Porter, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.