IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE AND BURGLAR PROOF BUILDINGS, ROOMS, AND SAFES, AND APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Fothergill and Thomas William
Rumble, both of George Street, Mansion House, in the City of
London, Consulting Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE AND BURGLAR PROOF BUILDINGS, ROOMS, AND
SAFES, AND APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
Sealed the 14th May 1872, and dated the 4th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Fothergill
and Thomas William Rumble at the Office of the Commissioners
•
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th March 1872.
We, BENJAMIN FOTHERGILL and THOMAS WILLIAM RUMBLE, both
of George Street, Mansion House, in the City of London, Consulting
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE AND BURglar Proop BuildINGS, ROOMS,
AND SAFES, AND APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the general construction of buildings, rooms,
and safes intended to receivé valuable property of any description, and

page_text: any known fire and damp resisting material, such for example as wood
rendered fireproof by any known process.
The floors of these chambers may be constructed either precisely the
same as the sides, or the ganister wall before mentioned may form the
outermost or lowest surface, omitting the before-mentioned first or outer
air chamber and the wall of fire-resisting stone. The metal surface
moreover of the floor of the chamber may or may not be protected like
the inner faces of the chamber with a fire and damp resisting lining or
coating. The ceiling may also be constructed in the same manner as
the sides

page_text: In some cases we combine with the ceiling so as to form a part
thereof arches or groins of fire-brick, ganister, or other suitable fire-
resisting material, above which arches or groins a fire-proof floor of any
well-known construction may be laid to form the floor of a chamber
or compartment above.
When constructing a fire and burglar proof building of two or more
stories or floors, each floor may be composed of strong iron girders, upon
which are to be laid and secured by bolts or otherwise iron plates of from
2 inches to 6 inches in thickness, grooved and tongued or rabated
together. Above these plates there is formed an air space com-
municating or not with one or other of the air spaces in the walls, and
above this air space is laid an iron plate or plates of suitable thickness to
from the floor above.
The roof of the building may be exactly the same as the sides or as
the ceilings herein-before described, and may be provided with water
tanks communicating by pipes with the interior of the building, or the
building may be in direct communication by pipes with the street mains.
We also propose to employ water charged or impregnated with carbonic
acid gas under pressure as a medium for extinguishing any fire that
might break out inside the building.
The herein-before described strong rooms or buildings must of course
be provided with one or more burglar and fireproof entrance doors as is
well understood, and may be provided inside with iron or other fire-
resisting shelves or with pigeon Holes and lockers to receive ordinary
boxes of any good construction for containing valuables, there being.
by this arrangement a burglar proof receptacle within a fire and burglar
proof room or rooms.
The above-described fire and burglar proof rooms may be constructed
inside any other suitable building provided with all the requisite offices
and appliances for the convenience of attendants or custodians.
J
In constructing iron safes according to our Invention we make the
side, top; and bottom precisely as herein-before described with reference
to the side walls of a strong room or building, omitting however the
outer wall of fire-resisting stone and the first air chamber.

page_text: filed by the said Benjamin Fothergill and Thomas William Rumble
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
5 FOTHERGILL and THOMAS WILLIAM RUMBLE, both of George Street,
Mansion House, in the City of London, Consulting Engineers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Benjamin Fothergill and Thomas
William Rumble, Her special license that we, the said Benjamin
Fothergill and Thomas William Rumble, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Benjamin Fothergill and
Thomas William Rumble, our executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE AND
BURGLAR PROOF BUILDINGS, ROOMS, AND SAFES, AND APPLIANCES IN CONNECTION
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Benjamin Fothergill and Thomas William Rumble, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Benjamin Fothergill and Thomas
William Rumble, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
what

page_text: being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
Our said Invention relates to the general construction of buildings,
rooms, and safes intended to receive valuable property of any description,
and has for its object the rendering the said receptacles perfectly fire
and burglar proof.
According to our Invention we construct the outer walls of the build-
ing or strong room or rooms of any stone that is capable of resisting the
action of intense heat, such, for example, as Craigleith and other stones
of a similar character, or in lieu of stone we may employ any other
known free-resisting material or materials, or composition, such, for
example, as ganister. The thickness of this outer fireproof wall may
vary from four inches to eighteen inches or otherwise according to
circumstances.
On the inner faces of the above described outer walls forming the
general boundary of the building or strong room, we construct air cells
or chambers which extend round the sides or otherwise of the enclosed
space or room. This air space may be about three inches or otherwise in
width, and may or may not be provided with pipes for the admission
therein of steam or water if required. The inner side of the said air
chamber is composed of ganister or other good fire brick material of a
The inner
thickness ranging from four inches to twenty-four inches.
surface of this ganister wall is to be lined with metal plates of from
one-eighth of an inch to one inch in thickness. The said metal plates
may be composed of copper or of iron, or iron plates which have been
partially converted into steel on one or both sides so as to leave a
thickness or stratum of wrought iron in the centre or on one side of
the plate, whereby hardness and ductility are combined. Or the said
metal lining may be composed of separate iron and steel plates com-
bined together by welding, the iron plates being first heated and then
having molten steel poured over them whilst at a welding heat, and
passed through rolls and subjected to a process of annealing and
tempering, or the iron and steel (by preference what is known as
"chrome" steel) plates may be united together by bolts, rivets, screws,
or otherwise, so as to form a compound iron and steel plate or plates.
The inner face of the above-described metal lining may be protected
from oxidation or corrosion when required by having a lining of wood

page_text: which has been rendered fireproof by any known process applied thereto,
or by a protecting coating of any well-known fire resisting paint or
enamel, or by simply galvanizing the metal.
Between the inner surface of the before-mentioned first wall of metal
plates and the outer surface of an inner range or second wall of metal
plates (which plates may be protected on the outer surface in precisely
the same manner as described with reference to the plates of the first
metal wall, and are constructed in the same manner as those plates,)
there may be left a space of from one to six inches, this wall being con-
nected to the outer metal wall by L, T, or other sectional iron or iron
bolts with collars; the space so formed between the two plates may
contain air, or be filled when required with steam, or may be filled in
with any known fire-resisting material or combination of materials.
In some cases, however, this space and the outer metal wall may be
dispensed with.
A third wall of wrought-iron or other metal plates, the same as the
two herein-before described, is formed inside the second wall of metal at
a distance therefrom sufficient to leave an intervening space of from one
to six inches in width, which we propose to fill in entirely with spiegel-
eisen or with franklinite, or with chilled iron or other drill-proof
material, such, for example, as iron slag from the blast furnace, basalt,
or glass, either in the form of blocks or slabs, or poured in a molten
state into the said space. We intend to cast the blocks and filling with
bars or bands or wires of malleable iron, steel, copper, or other suitable
material in them to impart stability and ductility thereto, and prevent
their fracture. This completes the compound side walls and boundaries
of the improved fire and burglar proof building or strong room or rooms.
The inner sides of the actual chambers or spaces within which the
valuables are to be deposited and preserved, can or may be lined with
any known fire and damp resisting material, such, for example, as wood
rendered fireproof by any known process.
The floors of these chambers may be constructed either precisely the
same as the sides, or the ganister wall before mentioned may form the
outermost or lowest surface, omitting the before-mentioned first or
outer air chamber and the wall of fire-resisting stone. The metal
surface, moreover, of the floor of the chamber may or may not be
protected like the inner faces of the chamber with a fire and damp

page_text: resisting lining or coating. The ceiling may also be constructed in the
same manner as the sides.
The several air or other spaces in the walls can or may be made to
communicate with corresponding spaces in the ceiling.
In some cases we combine with the ceiling, so as to form a part
thereof, arches or groins of fire-brick, ganister, or other suitable fire-
resisting material, above which arches or groins a fireproof floor of any
well-known construction may be laid to form the floor of a chamber or
compartment above.
When constructing a fire and burglar proof building of one or more 1
stories or floors, the roof and each ceiling may be composed of strong
iron girders, upon which are to be laid and secured by bolts or otherwise
iron plates of from two inches to six inches in thickness, grooved and
tongued or rebated together. Above these plates there may be formed
an air space communicating or not with one or more of the air spaces in 1
the walls, and above this air space is laid an iron plate or plates of
suitable thickness to form the floor or roof above.
The roof of the building may be exactly the same as the sides or as
the ceilings herein-before described, and may be provided with water
tanks communicating by pipes with the interior of the building, or the 2
building may be in direct communication by pipes with the street mains.
We prefer to employ water charged or impregnated with carbonic acid
gas
under pressure, as a medium for extinguishing any fire that might
break out inside the building, but make no claim to such application.
The herein-before described strong rooms or buildings must of course 2
be provided with one or more burglar and fire proof entrance doors, as
is well understood, and may be provided inside with iron or other fire-
resisting shelves, or with pigeon holes and lockers, to receive ordinary
boxes of any good construction for containing valuables, there being by
this arrangement a burglar-proof receptacle within a fire and burglar 3
proof room or rooms.
The above-described fire and burglar proof rooms may be constructed
inside any other suitable building provided with all the requisite offices
and appliances for the convenience of attendants or custodians.
In constructing iron safes according to our Invention, we make the 3
side, top, and bottom precisely as hercin-before described with reference to

page_text: the side walls of a strong room or building, omitting, however, the outer.
wall of fire-resisting stone and the first air chamber.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the Figures.
Figure 1 of our Drawings is a longitudinal section and perspective view
of the interior of a fire and burglar proof strong room constructed
according to one mode of carrying out our said Invention. Figure 2
is a transverse vertical section of a building of two stories containing
four fire and burglar proof strong rooms, the section being 'taken along
the line 1, 2, in Figure 3; and Figure 3 is a corresponding horizontal:
section of two of the rooms, the section being taken along the broken
line 3-4, in Figure 2. The rest of the Figures are constructive.details
drawn to a larger scale, showing various ways of securing and forming
the corners and body of the metal work of the said burglar and fire proof
strong rooms, and which we shall herein-after more fully describe and
refer to.
The foundation of the strong room or building consists of a deep layer
of concrete A, of say about 6 feet in depth, with or without two ‘or
three layers of iron chain bond B, as shown by the dotted lines in
Figure 2. Upon this foundation are erected the outer walls C, C, of
Craigleith or other good fireproof stone, or if desired in some cases of
ganister of about 1 foot 6 inches in thickness, these side walls extending
up to the top of the building and forming the roof thereof, as shewn
at D in Figure 2. Immediately within these outer walls, and directly
upon the concrete foundation, we build the inner walls E and the floor F
of ganister of about 9 inches in thickness; air spaces G of about 3 inches
in depth are left at suitable intervals, or are made continuously all
round between the outer walls C, C, and the inner ganister walls E.
When two or more strong rooms are required within the main outer
wall, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, we make the vertical partitions H,
which are about 14 inches thickness as well as the ceilings I, which
constitute the floors for the upper rooms, also of ganister or fire-brick,
the said ceilings being built of ganister or fire-brick blocks set in the
form of an arch as shewn in the Drawing; the arches may be made to

page_text: spring from shoes built in the side walls, and the whole may be braced
together by wrought-iron tie bars, as is well understood.
Each of the four chambers thus obtained is lined at the top, bottom,
and sides with compound iron and steel plates K, such as are herein-
before mentioned, of a thickness of an inch; and inside these plates
we construct a second lining L, also of compound iron and steel plates,
of a thickness of about 1 inche, leaving a space of about 3 inches
between the two plates K and L all round the chamber, which space we
fill in with any good fireproof material M, such for example as Epsom
salts and whitening, or alum and bay wood sawdust.
At a distance of about 1½ inches inside the last-mentioned compound
iron and steel plates L we construct a third lining N, of wrought iron
plates of about an inch in thickness, and we fill in the intervening
space between these plates and the plates L with chilled cast iron O, or
with chilled compound cast iron in combination or not with metal bands.
The last-mentioned wrought-iron lining forms the inner fire-resisting
surface of the strong room, and may be painted, lined with wood, or
otherwise treated as found most desirable; an air space P is left between
the ganister arches and the before-mentioned fireproof linings, as is
clearly shown in Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a part elevation, and Figure 5 a part plan on an enlarged
scale, shewing the mode of construction above described more clearly.
The compound iron and steel plates K and L are composed of two or
more iron plates and one or more steel plates as herein-before described;
c, c, are I or sectional irons which are disposed horizontally and vertically
at suitable intervals between the compound plates K and L, and are
secured thereto by, say, 3/4 inch tapped and countersunk screws a, a,
such screws being by preference made with projecting square pap heads,
as shown dotted at 6 (Figure 5), for screwing them in, which projections
are afterwards chipped off flush; and we prefer to make these screws of
compound iron and steel twisted. We thus maintain the proper spaces
or intervals for the reception of the fireproof filling M. d, d, are
dowel screws, which are inserted into the wrought-iron plates N and the
compound plates L, and left with their heads projecting inwards in
order to secure more firmly the molten cast iron which is poured into
the space between the compound plates L and the wrought-iron plates N,
as shewn clearly in Figures 4 and 5. The junctions of the several
plates K, L, and N at the corners or angles of the chamber are made by

page_text: the employment of [ shaped or double L iron bars e, e, screwed to the
plates K and L respectively, and by the use of L iron or steel bars f,
which are screwed to the compound plates L, and have screwed to them
the wrought-iron plates N.
Figure 5 also shews the doorway or entrance Q to the chamber, and
the mode of constructing the same, which is sufficiently evident from
the Drawing without further description here.
Figure 6 represents another modification of the mode of forming the
junction of the several plates at the corners or angles thereof, and con-
sists in substituting for the [ shaped or double L iron bars e, and the
strong L iron bars before described, the castings 9 of malleable cast
iron or cast steel, which form the corner or angle pieces, and receive the
edges of the several plates K, L, and N, which are screwed thereto, as
shown clearly in the Drawing.
A
Figure 7 is another modification, wherein the junction angles of the
outer and inner sets of compound plates K and L are formed by strong
angle-iron bars h, h', of about six inches in breadth, on each face and
about three-fourths of an inch in thickness, which are to be screwed as
shewn on to the edges of the plates at the salient angles or corners.
strong angle iron or steel bar i is also screwed to the inner compound
plates Lat the inner or entering angle, and to this are screwed the inner
wrought-iron plates N, the thickness of the metal of the angle iron or
steel bar i forming the space between the plates L and N for the re-
ception of the filling of chilled cast iron O.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 illustrate the method of making rounded in lieu
of square corners. In Figure 8 the outer and inner compound plates K
and L are simply bent round at the corners, the distance between them
to form the space for the fireproof filling M being maintained by the
intermediate Z or sectional iron bars which are screwed thereto. The
angle iron or steel bar i is similar to that in Figure 7, but with the angle
rounded. Where joints in the compound plates occur, we prefer to
rebate them as shewn at 1, in Figures 8 and 9, and to screw cover plates m
over them. In Figure 9 the plates K, L, and N are all curved and
continued in an unbroken form over the rounded corners, the use of
angle iron or angle steel corner bars being dispensed with. In Figure 10
the construction somewhat resembles that of Figure 9, with this dif-
ference, that in lieu of the plates K, L, and N being continued single
round the corner, they are lap jointed at the corners so as to have a

page_text: double thickness of metal in each plate over the rounded part. The
internal fittings of the herein-before described strong rooms will vary
according to requirement, for example, they may be fitted with nests of
metal lockers or pigeon holes of various sizes provided or not with fire-
proof locked doors, as shewn at R, in Figures 1, 2, and 3, arranged
along the sides of the room and across the centre, as in the two. upper
chambers, in Figure 2; or the strong rooms may be simply fitted with
light iron shelves, consisting of hanging brackets S supporting metal
rods, as shewn in the left-hand lower chamber in Figure 2, such
brackets S being attached both to the walls and to stanchions T in the
central space of the room. Or the said strong rooms may be left bare,
as shewn in the right-hand lower room in Figure 2, for the reception of
any large cases or boxes containing valuables which may be deposited.
therein.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First. The construction of fire and burglar proof buildings, strong
rooms, and safes, by disposing the main bulk or mass of fire-resisting
material on the exterior and the burglar-proof or thief-resisting material
on the interior thereof, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by our Drawings.
Second. The construction of the outer walls for fire and burglar proof
buildings and strong rooms of Craigleith or other fire-resisting stone
or material, with air cells or chambers constructed therein, substantially
as herein-before described.
Third. The application and use to and in the construction of fire and
burglar proof buildings, strong rooms, and safes, of metallic linings, 3
composed of iron plates which have been partially converted into steel
on one or both sides, so as to leave a thickness or stratum of wrought
iron in the centre or on one side of the plate, as herein-before described.
Fourth. The application and use to and in the construction of fire
and burglar proof buildings, strong rooms, and safes, of a metallic lining 3
or linings, composed of separate iron and steel plates combined together
by welding and rolling, substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: Fifth. The application and use to and in the construction of fire and
burglar proof buildings, strong rooms, and safes, of a metallic lining or
linings, composed of iron and steel plates united together by bolts, rivets,
or screws, substantially as herein-before described.
Sixth. The combination of two or more metallic linings of the de-
scription above referred to, with an intervening space or spaces filled
with air, steam, or any known fire-resisting material or combination of
materials, substantially as herein-before described.
Seventh. The combination with the above-mentioned metallic lining
or linings of a further metallic lining of wrought iron or other metal
plates in conjunction with a filling of spiegeleisen, franklinite, chilled
cast iron, or other drill-proof material, substantially as herein-before
described.
Eighth. The combination with the above filling, whether in the form
of blocks or otherwise, of a malleable metallic bond, consisting of bars,
bands, or wires of malleable iron, steel, copper, or other suitable material,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Ninth. The construction of the ceilings and roofs for fire and burglar
proof buildings of arches or groins of fire-brick, ganister, or other suitable
fire-resisting material in conjunction with an air chamber, and the
metallic linings, fire and burglar proof fillings herein-before mentioned,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by our Drawings.
Tenth. The construction of the ceilings and roofs for fire and burglar
proof buildings of strong iron girders, upon which are laid, secured by
bolts or otherwise, thick metal plates of the character of what are known
as armour plates for ships, grooved, and tongued, or rebated together in
conjunction or not with an air space or spaces above such plates, the
whole being arranged substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Fothergill, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas William Rumble, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Third day of September
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.