IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONCRETE BUILDING
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Wakefield, of Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONCRETE BUILDING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Wakefield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st October 1877.
EDWARD THOMAS WAKEFIELD, of Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman. " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CONCRETE BUILDING."
This Invention relates to the building of concrete walls with finished faces, colored
or uncolored, as desired, without the employment of skilled labour to face or finish
the work.
Instead of building by means of the usual apparatus used to shape the concrete
as it is applied in situ, such apparatus rising as the work proceeds, and forming a
trough or mould for the concrete, I construct my walls by setting up edgeways and
back to back thin facing slabs of concrete in parallel lines, and at such a distance
apart as will with the thickness of the slabs correspond with the thickness of wall
desired to be made.
The space between the lines of slabs I fill in with concrete, and thus produce a
solid wall. The slabs for both faces of the wall I make of corresponding area, and'
the vertical joints in the opposite faces of the wall I make to correspond one with
the other.
To ensure the maintaining of these slabs in a vertical position I provide a saddle
frame, which will serve to gauge the thickness of the wall, and being set astride of
it will serve as side supports to the loose slabs. This saddle frame will be of a
length sufficient to extend over, say, two courses of work, and the lower course,
which is firmly set before the next succeeding course is built up, will serve as a
guide for the verticality of the frame.

page_text: This frame may be fitted at top with a spirit-level or with a ball pendulum,
or plumb lines may be applied thereto to enable the workman to fix it in a vertical
position.
Frames of this kind will be applied wherever a vertical joint occurs, and will
thus serve to ensure even upright work by maintaining the loose slabs or those
last applied in the desired positions with respect to the fixed slabs until the concrete
filling has set, and fix them in place. The frames are then to be shifted and
applied as before.
The slabs I form in suitable moulds of selenitic or other cement, and I smooth
the face thereof in some cases with a trowel, and powder on to the slab when it is
on the point of setting coloring matter, such as oxide of iron or other metallic
oxide, which will combine with the cement, and form an integral part of the slab.
The back of the slabs I may mould with a transverse rib or ribs to facilitate the
lifting of the same from the ground, and the depositing of the same in situ on the
rising wall.
To facilitate the putting of these slabs in place I propose to use a gripping
apparatus of the following construction :-I provide a fraine somewhat like the
gauge frame with internal side pieces for holding the slabs against the external
side pieces.
A loose hinged joint may serve to connect the outer and inner side pieces
together; and the inner side pieces I also connect together, preferably, by jointed
arms, which, when the apparatus is not in action will take a V form, but when
lifted will press the internal side pieces outwards.
To the centre joint of these arms I attach a ring to receive the hook of a
suspending rope.
When this apparatus is on the ground the gripping pieces will be loose, and the
slabs may be readily fitted in the apparatus.
On the lifting rope being brought to tension the gripping pieces, (which may be
recessed to receive the transverse ribs on the back of the slabs), will by the pressure
of the jointed arms be forced into contact with the slabs, and will hold them firmly
until they are brought into place on the wall.
When thus placed the gauge frame is to be applied as above described, and,
the slabs being thereby held in position, the lifting rope may be slackened, and the
gripping apparatus removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edward Thomas Wakefield in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th April 1878.
EDWARD THOMAS WAKEFIELD, of Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONCRETE
BUILDING."
This Invention relates to the building of concrete walls with finished faces,
colored or uncolored, as desired, without the employment of skilled labor to face or
finish the work.
The usual mode of building, as is well known, is to employ apparatus for shaping
the concrete as it is applied in situ, such apparatus rising as the work proceeds,
and forming a trough or mould for the concrete. It has also been proposed to use
slabs for forming the internal and external face of the walls, and to secure these
slabs in place by means of concrete thrown in between them. This is the plan
which I adopt, and it is the means which I have designed for facilitating the
mode of concrete building which constitutes the subject of my present Invention.
I construct my walls by setting up edgewise and back to back thin facing slabs
of concrete in parallel lines, and at such a distance apart as will with the thickness
of the slabs correspond with the thickness of wall desired to be made.
The space between the line of slabs I fill in with concrete, and thus produce a
solid wall. The slabs for both faces of the wall I make of corresponding area, and
the vertical joints in the opposite faces of the wall I make to correspond one with
the other.
To ensure the maintaining of these slabs in a vertical position I provide a saddle
frame, which will serve to gauge the thickness of the wall, and being set astride.
of it will serve as side supports to the loose slabs. This saddle frame will be of a
length sufficient to extend over, say, two courses of work, and the lower course,
which is firmly set before the next succeeding course is built up, will serve as a
guide for the verticality of the frame.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in side elevation and Fig. 2 in
transverse section a portion of a wall in course of building, saddle frames being
applied thereto to gauge the position of the facing slabs, and to retain them in their
adjusted positions until the concrete filling has set.. These saddle frames I make to
suit a given thickness of wall, and a given depth of slab; their construction admits,
as will be readily understood, of considerable modification, but the manner in which
I prefer to make them is illustrated at A, A, Figures 1 and 2. This construction of
saddle may be said to consist of two parallel strips of wood a, a, and a cross piece
a', some six inches, more or less, in width, braced by a bar of T iron b of sufficient
stiffness to prevent the springing or warping of the wood. The length of the
saddle frame will be equal to the depth of two slabs set one above the other, or
thereabouts, and the space between the parallel strips of wood a will correspond to
the thickness of wall required to be built.
The saddle frames may be fitted at top with a spirit-level or with a ball pendulum,
or plumb lines may be applied thereto to enable the workmen to fix them in a
vertical position.
Saddle frames of this kind will be applied wherever a vertical joint occurs, and
will thus serve to ensure even upright work by maintaining the loose slabs on
those last applied in the desired positions with respect to the fixed slabs.
When by
the setting off of the concrete the slabs are secured in place the frames are to be
shifted, and applied as before.
The slabs I form in suitable moulds of selenitic or other cement, and I smooth
the face thereof with a trowel, and deposit on the slab when it is on the point of
setting by means of a fine sieve or its equivalent; dry coloring matter, such as oxide
of iron or other metallic oxide mixed or not with finely ground dry Portland

page_text: cement, which will combine with the moist cement, and form an integral part of
the slab; or a white cement may be used as a facing. By this means I am enabled
to obtain any desired permanent tint within certain limits for both the external
and internal faces of the walls.
To facilitate the putting of these slabs in place I use a gripping apparatus, which
will lift, say, two of the slabs at a time, and hold them in their proper relative
positions for being placed on the wall.
This apparatus is shewn in side view at Fig. 3, in end view at Fig. 4, and in
longitudinal section at Fig. 5.
This apparatus consists of a gauge frame with gripping appliances attached
thereto, and working within it. The frame is composed of two parallel slabs of
wood or other suitable material B, B, braced together by two straps of iron C, C,
which serve also to carry a central guide bar D. Through holes in this bar D slide
freely the side rods of a vertical rectangular frame E, the lower horizontal bar of
which forms a fulcrum for two pairs of gripping levers F, F. These levers are
supported by chains G, G, from the straps C in such position that the ends of the
gripping levers will stand back from the slabs B, B, sufficiently far to allow of the
insertion of the slabs of cement between them, as shewn at Fig. 4, the upper edges
of these slabs bearing against ledges carried by the side pieces B. When an upward
drag is given to the sliding frame E by the lifting rope H of a crane the gripping
levers F will be thrust into contact with the slabs, as shewn at Fig. 4, and hold
them fast in the gripping apparatus. By the motion of the crane the slabs may
then be brought into position on the wall in process of building, and when adjusted
in place and secured by saddle frames, as above explained, the crane rope may be
slackened. The gripping levers will then fall back out of contact with the slabs
into the dotted position of Fig. 4, and the apparatus may then he removed to
permit of the filling in of the concrete between the slabs thus placed in position.
In order to steady the sliding motion of the frame E, I apply below the central bar
D a pair of transverse guide bars I, I, through which the side rods of the frame
slide. These side rods I form with screw threads at their lower ends for the
reception of adjustable stops i, i, which will regulate the amount of lateral motion
imparted to the gripping levers by the rising of the frame.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Process of and Apparatus for Concrete Building," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim,—
First. The mode above described for placing the facing slabs for concrete walls
in pairs in situ, and securing them temporarily in position until the concrete
has set.
Secondly. The gripping apparatus constructed substantially as above described.
Thirdly. The construction of saddle frames as above described.
Fourthly. Facing the moulded slabs with finely powdered coloring matter, the
same being applied thereto by a sieve or its equivalent, as and for the purpose above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Wakefield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
E. T. WAKEFIELD. (LS.)