COLUMNS, PILLARS, SUPPORTS, AND GIRDERS IN WROUGHT IRON FOR HALLS, BUILDINGS, VIADUCTS, AND CONSTRUCTIONS GENERALLY
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Friedmann, Engineer, in Vienna (Austria), for
the Invention of "COLUMNS, PILLARS, SUPPORTS, AND GIRDERS IN WROUGHT
IRON FOR HALLS, BUILDINGS, VIADUCTS, AND CONSTRUCTIONS GENERALLY."
Sealed the 1st September 1876, and dated the 7th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Friedmann at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th March 1876.
ALEXANDER FRIEDMANN, Engineer, in Vienna (Austria). COLUMNS, PILLARS,
SUPPORTS, AND GIRDERS IN WROUGHT IRON FOR HALLS, BUILDINGS, VIADUCTS, AND
CONSTRUCTIONS GENERALLY."
My Invention has for its object the manufacture and several new applications of
columns, pillars, supports, and girders or beams in wrought iron, made with such
a minimum of material that notwithstanding their little weight they shall be
capable of resisting not only longitudinal pressures, but also all lateral inflexions
or strains, that they shall be very cheap, and that their application as constituent
or auxiliary parts of buildings or other constructions shall be as easy as that of
timbers or of large double T irons. For this purpose I make wrought-iron columns,
pillars, supports, and girders from angle irons or other similar irons rivetted
together, and combined so that the cross section of such columns, pillars, supports,
or girders presents the principal outlines of a rectangle or square of moderate
dimensions, and that each of the four sides is like a sort of trellis girder, or that
at least two of the four sides are like a trellis girder, the others being closed.
I employ such columns or pillars in place of brick pillars or cast-iron columns to
support the roofs of halls or buildings, in place of the tubes or cylinders of cast iron
or iron plates which form the constituent parts of the pillars of some railway
viaducts, and I employ columns and girders inanufactured in the aforesaid fashion
as supports, girders, and other constituent or auxiliary parts of roofs, viaducts,
bridges, lighthouses, and scaffoldings or constructions generally.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Friedmann in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
September 1876.
"COLUMNS, PILLARS,
ALEXANDER FRIEDMANN, Engineer, in Vienna (Austria).
SUPPORTS, AND GIRDERS IN WROUGHT IRON FOR HALLS, BUILDINGS, VIADUCTS, AND
CONSTRUCTIONS GENERALLY."
In the construction of bridges cast iron has been almost entirely and with great
advantage superseded by wrought iron. But the same has not yet been done with
equal advantage in the construction of halls, buildings, and other structures where
columns, pillars, or vertical supports are required. This is because the construction
of such columns or supports in wrought iron would require so much material
that their cost would too much exceed that of cast-iron columns. Now by iny
Invention I can construct columns and supports in wrought iron with such a
minimum of material and capable of resisting not only longitudinal pressures, but
also all lateral inflexions or strains, that their cost will be very much reduced, and
their application as casy as that of timbers.
Instead of giving to the columns and especially to those intended for halls and
buildings a form such that their horizontal section has the form of a I or of a
cross, and instead of making them like tubes of round or rectangular section,
I make them in wrought iron by means of angle irons or other similar irons, and
of iron bands in such manner, that the horizontal section presents the principal
outlines of a rectangular or square tube, while each of the four sides is like a sort
of trellis girder.
The accompanying Drawings represent a hall or building constructed with the
aid of such columns, Figure 1 showing the columus A. in front view; Figure 2,
one of these columns in side view; and Figure 3, a borizontal section of the same
on a larger scale. The principal outlines of this horizontal section are those of a
rectangle and the four angle irons w, w, the sides of which embrace the four
corners of the rectangle, and which have together a section corresponding to the
weight which the column has to support are connected together by other less
strong angle irons a, a, and iron bands b, b (see Figures 1 and 2), which form the
trellis of the four sides of the column. In place of the angle irons a, a, small
Tirons or irons, or other like irons, the section of which offers great
resistance, may be used, and instead of the bands b, b, other suitable rolled or flat
irons, but it is essential not to choose in place of these bands b, b, tapped tie rods
and nuts, or to effect the combination by means of bolts, but on the contrary to
invariably rivet all these flat irons to the angle irons w, w, so as to construct a
piece as easy to handle and apply as a timber.
Figure 4 represents a modification of Figure 3, which would sometimes be of
advantage to combine with other pieces used in the building or other structure.
In Figure 4 the four angle irons w, w, instead of embracing the corners of the
rectangle are in the reversed position.
Figure 5 shows another modification, which as a column would be generally less
economical than that of Figure 3, but which would be of advantage in some cases.
The two opposite sides x, y, are of trellis form while the other two sides m, n, are
close or full, and formed of sheets rivetted to the angle irons w, w. These irons
are similar to those of Figure 3, their sides being turned towards the rectangle
which forms the chief outlines of the transverse section. In cases where the two
close sides m, n, are of great breadth the angle irons w, w, may have a position
opposite to that shown in Figure 5, so as to bring the two trellis sides x, y, a little
nearer together.
Figure 6 is an improvement on Figure
of rolled irons of ✓ section, which at
angle irons w, w, of Figure 5, the two sides
30
5, the two close sides m, n, being made
the same time take the place of the
and y are of trellis form. In default of

page_text: irons sufficiently wide the desired width of each close side m, n, may no
obtained by rivetting together two ✓✓ irons, each being half of the desired width.
Figure 7 shows a modification of Figure 6 but inferior, the two ☐ irons
being replaced by two I irons.
In Figure 1 the columns A are shown as supporting the roof of a hall or building,
an application in which they are of the most use, they may however be used for other
purposes. Thus the cast-iron, stone, or brick columns of houses and buildings
generally may be with advantage replaced by my wrought-iron columns, and
especially in the construction of the fronts of warehouses and shops' columns, such
as are represented in Figure 6, are specially recommended. Similarly, in place of
the ordinary cast-iron columns of railway viaducts passing above streets, iny
wrought-iron columus may be very advantageously used, and especially the column
shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3; in large iron structures of the kind, for example,
of the columns or supports of the Creuse Viaduct, of the Orleans Railway, near
Busseau d'Athun, each of the 8 cast-iron tubes, which, connected together by ties,
form the constituent pieces of each column or support, might be very advan-
tageously replaced by as many of my columns of rectangular section, and with
trellis sides, such as are shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The prismatic form of these
columns or supports, such as is indicated in Figures 1 and 2, is the most practical
and original, the dimensions of their transverse section not being sufficiently large
to necessitate the form of a truncated pyramid, which would besides be more
costly.
In general the applications above indicated of the columns shown in Figures 1
to 3, will be those which offer the greatest benefit, since for other applications
one has already had recourse to a sufficiently economical construction in iron, and
the large iron trellis railway bridges are in fact large horizontal beams or girders
constructed with the aid of rolled iron rivetted together similarly to the column of
Figures 1 and 2. However the practical difference between such a bridge and a
column, such as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, which I propose above to substitute
for the cast-iron tubes which form the constituent pieces of such supports is very
great. In fact, as is stated at the commencement of this description, in order to
render the application of the columns, pillars, or supports thus constructed, as easy
as that of timbers, my combination or construction is based on the idea of rendering
these pieces not complete and close structures in themselves as a bridge or a a pillar,
or a lighthouse, but clearly with the object of rendering these columns, pillars,
and supports elements of construction like large I irons for example. All this
natually involves that the dimensions of the rectangle forming the principal out-
lines of the transverse section of these pieces ought in order to be within the
scope of what I consider to be an essential part of my Invention to be moderate, such
for example, as 6 by 14 inches, or 18 by 18, or 12 by 20, or 24 by 36 inches. But
as in addition to the combination or construction itself there are so many different
new applications of my wrought-iron columns, pillars, and supports, which will
cause an important improvement I proceed to describe other applications. Thus in
Figure 1 the rafters B, B, and C, C, are constructed similarly to the columns A, A,
in the same Figure. These rafters have four sides like a wooden beam, of which
at least two are trellis work of rolled iron, and they have a transverse section similar
to that of Figures 3, 5, or 6. In case of selecting the section, Figure 5 or Figure 0,
it is however not immaterial for such an application which of the four sides of
the rafters aro the vertical sides, and it it ovident also that for such an application
the position of the transverse section should be similar to that soen in Figure 8,
according to which the two trellis sides x and y are vortical, while the lines m, n,
of the rectangle representing the full or close sides are horizontal.
Besides the new applications already described of my wrought-iron pieces,
Figure 10 shows an application, which however I do not claim to bo a new one, as a
girder. This Figure is a transverse section, and Figure 11 a longitudinal view of
part of a large hall or market constructed with the aid of my columns, with four
trellis sides of rolled iron. In Figure 10 D, D, represent beams or girders, which

page_text: extending from the columns A, A¹, to the columns A", A", support in the centre
the arches O, O, of the roof; Figure 9 is a longitudinal section; and Figure 8, a
transverse section of such a girder D on a larger scale.
It is hardly necessary to say that in default of L irons the combination
shown in Figure 3 or Figure 5 should be selected for the transverse section of such
a girder D. That shown in Figure 7 is not at all to be recommended either as a
girder D or as a rafter B or C, or even as a column A; it is only in an exceptional
case that it should be used.
By the aid of the preceding description it will be easy for any engineer to apply
wrought-iron beams or girders, which are readily moved and transported, have a
rectangular section and trellis sides of rolled angle iron and iron bands, to supports,
and other similar elements of structures of large frameworks.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. The manufacture of columns, pillars, supports, and girders, in wrought iron
from angle irons, or other similar irons, and iron bands rivetted together and com-
bined in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described, and especially
so that the transverse section of such columns, pillars, or supports, presents the
principal outlines of a rectangle or of a square of moderate dimensions, and that
oach of the four sides is like a trellis girder of an iron bridge.
Second. The manufacture of columns, pillars, supports, and girders in wrought
iron from angle irons or other similar irons and iron bands rivetted together, and
combined in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described, and especially
so that the transverse section presents the principal outlines of a rectangle or
square of moderate dimensions, and that two of the four sides are like trellis girders
of an iron bridge while the other two sides are close.
Third. The employment, as herein-before described, of wrought-iron columns,
constructed substantially in the manner herein-before explained to support the
roofs of halls or similar structures.
Fourth. The employment, as herein-before described, of wrought-iron columns,
constructed substantially in the manner herein-before explained, in the building of
houses in place of pillars or columns, as usually employed.
Fifth. The employment, as herein-before described, of wrought-iron girders, con-
structed in the manner herein-before explained, as, rafters for the roofs of halls or
buildings.
Sixth. The employment, as herein-before described, of wrought-iron columns,
constructed in the manner herein-before explained, as supports or other vertical
structural, or auxiliary elements of constructions generally, scaffolding for example.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Friedmann, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-six.