IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING ROOFS AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIALS OF WHICH THE SAME ARE OR MAY BE CONSTRUCTED
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL' TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,. WILLIAM
MALINS, of Mansion House Place, in the City of London,.. and, West
Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Iron Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria;.by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing. date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of November, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
William Malins, Her especial license, full power,' sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Malins, my executors, administrators, and assigns; and
such others as I, the 'said William Malins, my executors; administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England; Wales, the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING ROOFS AND OTHER PARTS OF
BUILDINGS OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIALS
OF WHICH THE SAME ARE OR MAY BE CONSTRUCTED;". in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Malins, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly, to describe and fascertain 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 Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: 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
William Malins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of Improven:ents in Constructing Roofs and other Parts of
Buildings of Iron or other Metals, and in the Preparation of the Materials of
which the same are or may be constructed, consists, in the first place, in
preparing or shaping the sides or side edges of the metal plates (of which I
propose to construct roofs and other parts of buildings) in such a manner that
they may fit or lap over contiguous ones, and prevent any water or rain that
may full on a roof constructed of plates so prepared or shaped from running
I also
through and injuring anything that may be covered by the roof.
prepare the rafters by rolling or bending up the sides so as to form a groove
underneath, which may be either filled with a strip of wood if thought
necessary, as would be the case if the under side of the roof is to be covered
with plaster, or the grooves of the rafters may be left vacant if the roof is
merely temporary, or intended for an outbuilding.
The Invention consists, secondly, in a novel or improved mode of connecting
together the several parts of which the roof or other part of the building is
composed, so as to form a cheap, secure, and light structure, which may be
put together or taken to pieces with great expedition, but which also may, if
The material which I prefer
required, be so fixed as to remain permanent.
to employ for this object is the Patent Galvanized Iron, whereby the structure
will be found more durable, stronger, and more secure than most of the
ordinary systems now employed for similar purposes.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various views of the method in
which the several parts are prepared for the various purposes for which they
are intended, and also other views of my improved method of constructing roofs
or other parts of buildings by the employment of the materials so prepared.
Fig. 1 represents a transverse section of a side rafter, which may be used
either to support a roof or to carry the side plates which form the sides of a
building; and Fig. 2 is a side view of part of one of these rafters. By the
section Fig. 1 it will be seen that the rafter is hollow, and that it is formed of
a strip of sheet or plate iron of suitable thickness, rolled or bent up into the
required form, as seen in the Figure. By this means great strength and

page_text: rigidity, with lightness of material, is obtained. These rafters are also furnished
with staples or screwed bolts at convenient distances apart, which, by passing
through corresponding holes made in the plates, support these latter in their
places, and will yet admit of their removal with facility when required.
Fig. 3 represents a transverse section of the longitudinal ridge piece which
runs along the ridge of the roof, and the side rafters which carry the roof
plates are connected to this ridge piece, as will be hereafter described. Fig. 4
is a transverse section of one of the galvanized iron or other metal plates which
form the covering of the roof or other part of a building. These plates, it
will be seen, have their side edges bent or rolled up in a peculiar manner for
the purpose of resting on the side rollers, and at the same time overlapping
each other, so as to prevent water from getting through. In order to construct
a temporary roof (of the materials above described) for covering hay or corn
stacks in place of canvas, as shewn in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, I take first a ridge piece
a, such as at Fig. 3, of a suitable length, according to the dimensions of the
stack, and after I have supported it either by placing it on the top of the
stack or at both ends in any convenient manner, I tako the side rafters b, b,
which are furnished at one end with a hook c, as seen in Fig. 2; the hook
at the end of the rafter is dropped into a hole or socket made in the ridge
piece, as seen at Fig. 5, and is thereby supported in the manner shewn at
Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Fig. 5 represents a transverse section of a temporary roof,
and Fig. 6 a plan view of part of a roof. When the side rafters b, b, have been
secured in their proper places by means of the hooks c at their ends, the metal
plates (such as are shewn at Fig. 4) are placed on the rafters, and are
supported in their proper places by the staples or screwed bolts d, d, of the
rafters, which staples or screwed bolts pass through holes made in the bent or
rolled up or curved sides, caps or ridges of the plates, as seen at Figs. 5 and 6.
The side ridges or caps of each plate cover or are covered by the side ridges
of the adjoining ones, so that the staples or screwed bolts d, d, of the
rafters 6, 6, pass through the holes of both plates, which for this purpose are
made to correspond. The plates are then further secured by inserting pins or
cotters in the staples, or by means of nuts when screw bolts are used, and the
lower ends of the upper rows of plates of course overlap the upper ends of the
row of plates immediately below, and when all the plates on both sides of the
roof have been properly secured, a ridge covering or crest piece is placed over
their upper ends, as seen at e in Fig. 6. If the roof is intended to be
permanent then the ridge piece a, a, should, I consider, be supported by the
rafters b, b, in a different and more secure manner, such as by abutting against
the said ridge piece, which for this purpose should be made rectangular

page_text: •
instead of curved, as shewn in the Figure; and as it may also be necessary to
ceil the inside of the roof, the rafters 6, b, are furnished or lined with slight
timbers, which are placed in the hollow of the said rolled or bent up
rafter, and there secured by the staples or screwed bolts above described, as
shewn in Fig. 8, to which timbers the laths may be nailed in the usual
manner: The sides or ends of buildings are constructed in precisely the same
manner as the roofs, but the rafters must be firmly secured below, and the
proper means taken for maintaining them in a vertical position, as will be well
understood by 'all builders.
Having now' described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into.effect, I would observe, that although various metals may be employed for
constructing roofs and other parts of, buildings upon my improved plan, I
prefer to construct all the metal parts of galvanized iron, as I am, by the
employment of this article, enabled to produce a strong, light, and durable
building in a very economical manner; and I claim, as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, constructing roofs
and other parts of buildings, and preparing the materials of which the same
are composed, in the manner above set forth and described, so as to be quickly
ápplied for the protection of hay, corri, or other agricultural produce.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Malins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
A. H. LYNCH.
WILLIAM (L.s.) MALINS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighteenth day of May,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Malins came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same: Eighteenth day of Mor in the woox chos