THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND ROOFS OF GREAT STRENGTH AND SIMPLICITY AND POSSESSING PERFECT FIRE-PROOF PROPERTIES."
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Evans, of 6, Southampton Street, Strand, London,
in the County of Middlesex, and Robert Swain, of 3, Brand Lane, Ludlow, in
the County of Shropshire, for the Invention of "THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FLOORS AND ROOFS OF GREAT STRENGTH AND SIMPLICITY AND POSSESSING
PERFECT FIRE-PROOF PROPERTIES."
ealed the 21st December 1876, and dated the 21st October 1876
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Evans and Robert
Swain at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st October
1876.
GEORGE EVANS, of 6, Southampton Street, Strand, London, in the County of
Middlesex, and ROBERT SWAIN, of 3, Brand Lane, Ludlow, in the County of
Shropshire. "THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND ROOFS OF GREAT STRENGTH
AND SIMPLICITY AND POSSESSING PERFECT FIRE-PROOF PROPERTIES."
We, taking advantage of the property which solid timber possesses of resisting
the action of fire for a lengthened period, provided the fire attacks it only on the
surface and does not play around it, and also taking advantage of the property
which common plaster (as used for ordinary walls & ceilings) possesses of resisting
the action of fire, propose to construct floors & roofs in the manner herein-after
described:
We take ordinary timber joists of any uniform depth and of any thickness,
generally 9-inch deals for short spans and 11-inch planks for wide spans up to
from 25 to 30 feet, and for wider spans we take deeper joists in proportion; these
joists we place side by side, as in an ordinary floor, only instead of placing them
with a space between each joist they are placed close together, without any
intervening space. The ends of the joists are allowed to bear on the brick or stone
walls in the ordinary way, and the last joist at each end of a series of joists
forming one distinct floor are also placed so as to take a bearing along their whole
length on the end walls; the sides of the joists are then brought into close contact
with each other, either by being bolted at short intervals with screw bolts, as shewn
on the accompanying Drawings, or screwed together with long screws, or spiked
with strong spikes or other like means. By this process the joists are brought
intimately into contact with each other, and the result is a perfectly solid slab of
timber bearing on the walls on all four sides possessing immense strength and
[Price 8d 1

page_text: entirely preventing the passage of air between the joists, and thus only one surface
is presented to the attack of a fire raging either above or below, the result is that
the wood only becomes charred to a comparatively little depth and there is still a
large mass of timber left untouched by the ravages of the fire, whilst the charcoal
formed on the surface being a non-conductor of heat becomes itself a protection to
the timber it encloses; as a further protection to the timber we take flat-headed
nails which we drive at short intervals into the under side of the joists forming the
ceiling of the room below, and then plaster with a thick coat of ordinary plaster,
the nails forming a key to hold the plaster in its place and the plaster offering a
large amount of resistance to the attacks of any flames.
The top surface of the joists we either plane off, thus doing away with the
necessity of any floor boards being used; or we cover them with concrete, cement,
tiles, stone, asphalte, or any other similar material, according to the nature of the
floor required.
For roofs we construct a solid slab or floor of timber, as aforesaid, and cover the
upper surface with a coating of concrete, sand, or loam, and then float over the top
with cement or asphalte or cover with lead, zinc, tiles, stone, or other like materials,
according to situation and requirements.
As a further precaution and check to any draught which might be caused by
shrinkage of the wood it is advisable though not absolutely necessary to introduce a
wood tongue between the joists, as shewn on the Drawing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Evans and Robert Swain in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th March 1877.
GEORGE EVANS, of 6, Southampton Street, Strand, London, in the County of
Middlesex, and ROBERT SWAIN, of 3, Brand Lane, Ludlow, in the County of
Salop. THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND ROOFS OF GREAT STRENGTH AND
SIMPLICITY AND POSSESSING PERFECT FIRE-PROOF PROPERTIES."
<
The Invention consists in a method of arranging a series of thin timbers or joists
in such a manner that by securing them together by means of peculiarly formed
jagged spikes, ordinary screws, screw bolts, or some other similar method, they are
brought into intimate connection the one with the other, and thus form a solid wood
floor, ceiling, roof, staircase, beam, post, or other required construction, giving
immense strength and offering an effectual resistance to the attacks of fire, whilst
(where so required) as a further protection from the action of fire these con-
structions are shaped so as to form a key for and are plastered with any ordinary
plastering material, the whole being executed in the manner hereunder more fully
described.
Our method of construction is as follows:-We take ordinary wood joists (of any
species or description of timber) of any uniform depth and of any thickness (but
we prefer to use thin joists, say from two inches to three inches in thickness, as
offering less liability to shrinkage, and an open joint forming), these we place on
the walls in the ordinary way for constructing a common floor of wood joists and
boards, only instead of placing them with a space between each joist, as they are
usually placed to receive floor boards, we place them close together (side by side)
without any intervening space. The ends of the joists are allowed to bear on the
walls in the usual way, only no plate is required, and the last joist at each end of a
series of joists is also allowed to bear upon the walls. The sides of the joists are
brought into intimate contact by means of jagged spikes (as shewn by Drawing
No. 13) driven at intervals through the sides of the joists (as shewn by Drawings
Nos. 3, 4, and 12), or they are screwed up in a similar manner with ordinary screws
or bolted up close with screw bolts, or any other similar method. As an additional
precaution against any shrinkage in the timber, causing an open joint, we sometimes

page_text: introduce a wood tongue between the joists (as shewn by Drawing No. 9), or should
an open joint occur from shrinkage we run in a little fine liquid plaster or cement
to stop the joint and prevent the passage of air through the same.
For plastering
the surfaces of the constructions thus formed we use any ordinary plastering
material, and cach of the joists previously to being fixed is prepared by having an
angular groove run on each side of the bottom edge, so that when the joists are
brought into position these grooves form a series of dovetails on the under surface
of the wood floor or ceiling, and thus form a key for the plaster (this is shewn
by Drawing No. 10). In lieu of the dovetails above described we also form the
key for the plastering by using a number of flat-headed nails which we drivo
at close intervals into the surface of the wood required to be plastered (this is
shewn by Drawing No. 11), or we nail up wire netting, or use any other similar
method for keying up the plaster, but we give the preference to the dovetail system
first described, as it forms the best key, and also gives greater security against an
open joint forming in the wood flooring or ceiling.
Under ordinary circumstances in situations where a common wood floor is
required we either leave the top surface of the joists, rough or plane it off, as the
case may be, or if an ornamental wood floor is required the rough upper surface of
the joists can be covered with flooring of oak, teak, pitch pine, parqueterie, or other
similar floor, or if required we lay a floor of stone, tiles, slate, marble, asphalte,
cement, or such like material, having first covered the upper surface of the wood
floor, previously described, with a layer of loam and sand, and then a floated bed of
fine concrete to receive the finished flooring material, the loam and sand preventing
any cracking taking place in the finished floor caused by any shrinkage which may
occur in the timber below.
In cases where the building is of very large size and the span of the floor is
required to be very great, and there are objections to using brick piers and arches
to carry the ends of the joists, we construct beams and posts to support the flooring,
on the same principle as already described; for the actual floor we take thin
timbers, place them side by side in close contact, and either bolt them firmly
together with screw bolts or screw them with ordinary screws, or spike them with
spikes, as herein-before described, the advantages of this being that greater strength
is obtained, there is less liability to serious defect in the timber, whilst at the same
time there is less danger of the joists opening and forming air spaces than there
would be if solid baulk timber were used, which is at all times liable to fly open,
split, and form shakes. These beams and posts we cover with plaster, having
previously grooved the pieces of which they are composed to form dovetails, or use
nails or wire netting, as herein-before described, to form a key for the plaster (these
are shewn by Drawings Nos. 16, 17, and 18).
Following the same principle as already described for the floors we construct
solid wood staircases, using a series of joists or thin timbers of varying sizes,
placing them together in close contact and screwing them with ordinary screws, or
spiking them with spikes. The pieces composing the stairs can either be left rough
or they can be grooved in the manner herein-before described and covered with
plaster, or the treads and risers may be covered with thin boarding of deal, pitch
pine, oak, teak, or other like material (Drawings Numbers 19, 20, and 21, shew
these stairs).
For roofs we construct a timber floor, as herein-before described, and then cover
the upper surface with either cement, asphalte, tiles, stone, slate, or other such like
material, laid on a layer of fine concrete or other similar material, having previously
covered the timber with a thin layer of loam and sand, as herein-before described,
to prevent cracks by shrinkage; or we cover, the upper surface of the woodwork
with lead, zinc, or other similar material, laid on in the usual manner (Drawing
Number 22 shews a roof constructed on our system).
Drawings Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, and 15, shew various arrangements of our
system, same being described on the said Sheets of Drawings.
Having now particularly described and exemplified our improvements, and the

page_text: manner of their application to the various purposes and uses we have enumerated,
we claim the Invention of securing and protecting, in manner substantially as
herein-before described and for the purposes described, thin pieces of timber,
substanially as the same is set forth and described in this our Specification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Evans, on behalf of myself and Robert
Swain, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
seven.
Witness,
T. MORGAN,
Secretary,
Inventor's Patent Right Ass"., Limited,
21, Cockspur Street, S.W.
GEORGE EVANS. (L.S.)

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