IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN CONCRETE BUILDING.”
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Murphy, of the City of Cork, Civil
Engineer and Architect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN CONCRETE BUILDING.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Murphy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th May 1873.
I, WILLIAM MURPHY, of the City of Cork, Civil Engineer, and
Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
**IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN CONCRETE BUILDING," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has reference to apparatus in which panels of wood in
various lengths are attached at intervals to uprights and held at the
proper distance apart, according to the thickness of the wall to be built,
by bars or bolts passing through the wall, these bars or bolts being
afterwards drifted out.

page_text: And my Invention consists, firstly, of an improved mode of attaching
the panels to the uprights, and secondly, of a mode or means of keeping
the head of the lever upright from kicking out from the face of the
wall.
In carrying out my Invention I employ panels composed of two pieces
of longitudinal scantling, say 3 in. x 14 in. sheeted across, with, say, ¾ in.
boards in 2 ft. 3 in. lengths, so as to make a panel 2 ft. 3 in. wide. I
dispense with end framings. I use two sets of uprights in 4 feet lengths
3 inches wide and 2 inches thick, the two sets being exactly alike. I
attach the panels to the uprights by straps, say, 6 in. ×1×, which are
secured by bolts and nuts to the ends of the longitudinal scantling. The
straps project 1 inches beyond the end of the scantling, and in the pro-
jecting parts are holes which fit over the projecting points of bolts in the
uprights. These bolts are driven through the uprights from the inner or
wall side. Their points are slit and fitted with lynch pins, and when
the straps on the panels are fitted on over these bolts and the lynch pins
arc driven in, the panels are firmly attached to the uprights; or the bolts
instead of being slit may have a screw thread thereon, wing nuts being
then substituted for the lynch pins. The straps being fixed on the out-
side of the longitudinal scantlings, the thickness of the scantling 1
inches and the sheeting (3/4 in.) being together equal to the thickness.
of the upright (2 inches), the inside of the panel when attached to the
upright will be fair or flush with the inside face of the upright, and so
form an unbroken surface by which to shape the wall. This mode of
attaching the panels to the uprights can also be carried out in angles,
chimney breasts, and other positions.
In some cases, such for example as in building a range of wall broken
with buttresses, the straps may be attached to the inside instead of to the
outside of the panel, and by fixing uprights where the breaks occur a
projection of 21 inches can be simply obtained. This will be found
useful in building thin yard or garden walls with buttresses at intervals
to increase their strength.
The mode or means herein-before referred to of keeping the head of
the lower upright from kicking out from the face of the wall, which it
is liable to do, as it is, say, 20 inches from its head to where it is attached
to the wall by the upper wall iron, consists in the employment of plates
screwed or otherwise attached to the heels of the upright and projecting

page_text: below the same. The projecting portion of the plate on the upper
upright will thus overlap the head of the lower upright and keep the
same in place.
The building of walls with this apparatus can be carried on to any
desired height in the manner well understood. When the third lift from
the ground has been reached the lower set of uprights will be free, and
when the next lift of the panels has been made the wall irons can be
drawn out and the lower set of uprights put on the top of the other set.
As the upper straps on the panels will rise 6 inches over the head of the
uprights, which are then attached to the wall, the straps will hold the
loose uprights in place until the concrete is filled in.
By means of my improvements I effect great economy in first cost,
the apparatus can be made by any ordinary carpenter and smith, and
from the absence of end framing the straps can be taken off and the
panels cut to any length to suit altered situations, while the uprights will
answer in any positions. The operation of unfixing and refixing the
panels and uprights is also simplified.
The dimensions herein-before given are what I consider most con-
venient, but they may be varied as found desirable.
filed by the said William Murphy in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MURPHY, of the City of Cork, Civil Engineer and Architect, send
5 greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
O and grant unto me, the said William Murphy, Her special licence, that
I, the said William Murphy, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Murphy, my executors, adminis-

page_text: say in. boards, b, b, in 2ft. 3 in. lengths, so as to make a panel 2ft. 3 in.
wide. The panels when long and when used in building thick walls
where there is more pressure from the concrete may be strengthened by
diagonal or herring bone braces at the back. I dispense with end
framings; I use two sets of uprights c, c, in 4 feet lengths, 3 inches
wide and 2 inches thick, the two sets being exactly alike. I attach
the panels to the uprights by straps d, d, say, 6 in. x1x, which are
secured by bolts e and nuts to the ends of the longitudinal scantling.
The straps d project 1½ inches beyond the end of the scantling a, as
seen in Figure 1, and in the projecting parts are holes which fit over
the projecting points of bolts g in the uprights c. These bolts g are
driven through the uprights from the inner or wall side, as seen in
Figure 2, and a piece of thin hoop iron about 1 inches square may be
nailed over the head of each bolt to prevent it drifting back through the
uprights. The points of the bolts g are slit and fitted with lynch
pins h, and when the straps d on the panels are fitted on over these
bolts and the lynch pins driven in, the panels are firmly attached to the
uprights; or the bolts instead of being slit may have a screw thread
thereon, wing nuts being then substituted for the lynch pins. The
straps & being fixed on the outside of the longitudinal scantlings a, the
thickness of the scantling (1 inches), and the sheeting 6 (¾ inch)
being together equal to the thickness of the upright c (24 inches), the
inside of the panel when attached to the upright will be fair or flush
with the inside face of the upright, and so form an unbroken surface by
which to shape the wall. i, i, are wall irons which I prefer to make
flat, say 1 inch wide and ¼ inch thick; they are formed with holes, as
shewn, to receive pins ;, these holes being spaced so as to
thicknesses of walls, say 4, 6, 7, and 9 inches or more. Hoop iron
washers should be nailed to the scantlings and uprights where the
wall irons go through in order to prevent the pins j sinking into the
wood when the whole framework is pressed out at each side by the
pressure of the concrete.
suit various
The mode above described of attaching the panels to the uprights can
also be carried out in angles, chimney breasts, and other positions, as
represented in Figure 4, where similar letters to those in Figures 1, 2,
and 3 refer to corresponding parts. k is a solid angle upright of wood
put together with long screws and iron knees m. n, n, are wooden
framings at the outer angle. The angle panels a¹, a', are connected

page_text: together by hinges o, o, so that the angle may be made obtuse, acute, or
a right angle, as required. These angle panels a¹ will vary in length.
according to the thickness of the wall.
In some cases, such for example as in building a range of wall broken
with buttresses, the straps may be attached to the inside instead of to
he outside of the panel, as represented at d² in Figure 5, and by fixing
uprights c¹, where the breaks occur, a projection of 24 inches can be
simply obtained. This will be found useful in building thin yard or
The
garden walls with buttresses at intervals to increase their strength.
buttress may project at one or both sides of the range wall, and may be
made of any required length on the face, according to the length of the
panel which has the straps on the inside.
The mode or means herein-before referred to of keeping the head of
the lower upright from kicking out from the face of the wall, which it
is liable to do, as it is, say, 20 inches from its head to where it is attached
to the wall by the upper wall iron, consists in the employment of
plates p, Figures 1 and 2, screwed or otherwise attached to the heels of
the uprights c, and projecting below the same, as shewn. The projecting
portion of the plate on the upper upright will thus overlap the head of
the lower upright and keep the same in place.
The building of walls with this apparatus can be carried on to any
desired height in the manner well understood. When the third lift
from the ground has been reached the lower set of uprights will be free,
and when the next lift of the panels has been made the wall irons i can
be drawn out and the lower set of uprights put on the top of the other
set. As the upper straps d on the panels will rise 6 inches over the
head of the uprights which are then attached to the wall, the straps will
hold the loose uprights in place until the concrete is filled in.
Another way of arranging the lifting of the uprights which will be
found to possess advantages is as follows:-Build the first two courses
of work in the manner shewn by the Drawing. To build the 3rd
course lift the panels on one side of the wall (by preference the inside)
in the usual way all round the building, then take away from the outer
side of the wall two panels at a time so as to disengage a pair of uprights
and take them away from the walls; then lift up the lower one so that
the hole for wall iron at C, Figure 2, may be at B. Then the hole,

page_text: 3rd. The combination or arrangement of parts herein-before described
and represented in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Murphy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
WILLIAM MURPHY. (L.S.)