AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING FLOORS FOR FIREPROOF BUILDINGS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HEARD WILD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me.
the said Charles Heard Wild, Her especial licence that I, the said Charles
Heard Wild, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Heard Wild, 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, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING FLOORS
FOR FIREPROOF BUILDINGS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Charles Heard Wild, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery.

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear..
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Heard Wild, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
to consist in constructing floors of bricks, stones, or other fireproof materials,
the same being in shape parallelopipeds, and laid with joints parallel to each
other, both as regards those which are vertical and those which are horizontal,
and combined in manner herein-after described. And in further compliance
with the said proviso, I, the said Charles Heard Wild, do hereby describe the
manner in which my said Invention is to be performed, by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a warehouse floor constructed upon my
principle, and Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same, taken at right angles,
a portion of the brickwork being removed to shew the girders and tie rods.
a, a, are portions of columns supporting the floor. b, b, are columns sup-
porting a floor above. c, c, are girders supported at each end upon the
columns, but in Figure, 2 the girder c¹ rests at one end upon the column, and
the other in the wall d, which is supposed to be one of the outer walls of
a warehouse. e, e, are wrought iron tie rods which pass through the girders
c, c, and prevent their lateral displacement by means of keys finserted into
them. The form of girder and manner of fixing the tie rods may be adapted
to circumstances, I therefore do not confine myself to the mode here shown.
9, 9, is the brickwork composing the floor, which is laid with parallel joints and
thickened towards the abutments. And although I have shown in the,Drawing
certain proportions, yet, I do not intend to confine myself to the, precise thick-
nesses there shewn, as they may be varied to suit the purposes for which the
floors are to be applied, and also to suit the span of what I propose still to call
the arches. Similar letters are used to denote similar parts in all the Figures.
Figure 3. exhibits a section of a floor constructed upon my principle, sup-
ported at intervals by columns, but having no girders thereon..
Figure 4 is a section in the opposite direction taken through the upper part
of the column, and. Figure 5 a plan of the same, shewing more clearly the
mode of fixing the ends of the tie rods to the columns. a, a, are the columns.
e, e, wrought iron tie rods which stretch from column to column transversely
and longitudinally through the building, and are secured thereto by means

page_text: of T-shaped heads dropping into snugs h, cast upon the columns, as seen
more clearly in Figures 4 and 5. The section of this arch between each pair
of columns taken, at right angles will be precisely, similar to that, shewn
in Figure 3, and has great analogy to a groined arch, I have therefore not
thought it necessary to shew sections in two directions, except as in Figure 4,
to shew the manner of fixing the rods. In both descriptions of floor, herein,
before described, where an arch abuts against a wall, the tie rods may be
secured to wall plates built therein, as is shewn in Figure 6.
Figure 6 shews the manner of constructing a floor on my principle, sup-
ported only by the two outer walls d of the warehouse; -the-section-is-supposed
to be taken transversely through the building; and Figure 7 is a longitudinal
section of the same. 9, 9, is the brickwork of the floor. e, e, the tie rods
which pass through wall plates i, i, built in the walls, and are fixed thereto by
cotters or keys k, k.
Figure 10 shews the form of the wall plate on a larger scale.
Figures 8 and 9 exhibit the manner of fixing the tie rods to the girders, as
described in Figures 1 and 2. In either of the cases herein-before described
if the exterior walls of the building are sufficiently strong to resist the lateral
pressure of the arches, the tie rods may be dispensed with.
Now, whereas I claim as my Invention the mode of constructing fireproof
floors, with voussoirs in the form of parellelopipeds, laid with parallel horizontal
and parallel vertical joints, so that the upper extremities of the voussoirs may
form the floor, or a level and uniform surface on which to lay the floor, which
floors may be constructed with or without girders, and with or without tie rods, as
herein-before explained. And such my Invention being, to the best of my know-
ledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her
said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this
my said Specification doth comply, in all respects fully, and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained. Wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Heard Wild, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
CHARLES HEARD (L.s.) WILD.

page_text: "
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Charles Heard Wild came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three."