Improvements in Parquetry Floors and like Surfaces.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 18th May, 1897-Accepted, 26th June, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Parquetry Floors and like Surfaces.
We, JOHN WHITE HEATON, Manufacturer, and CAROLINE A. HEATON,
Housewife, both of 265 Capital Avenue, North, Indianapolis, SAMUEL STEPHENS,
Manufacturer, of 319 South Alabama Street, Indianapolis, and ALEXANDER
CRAIGMILE AYRES, Lawyer, of 31 West Drive, Woodruff Place, all in the
County of Marion and State of Indiana, United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of said invention is to provide a means for securing thin parquetry
floors or surfacing in place, which shall not be exposed nor leave perforations in
the flooring material, and which shall be very simple and inexpensive in con-
struction. A fastener embodying our said invention will be first fully described
and the novel features thereof then pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and
on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the corner of a room where a second, thin or
parquetry floor is being laid;
Fig. 2 a detail cross-sectional view illustrating the means of securing the thin
floor upon the old or ordinary floor;
Fig. 3 a perspective view of one of the securing strips, and
Figs. 4 and 5 detail trausverse sectional views on the dotted lines 4 4 and 5 5,
respectively, in Fig. 3.
In said drawings the portions marked A represent the under or ordinary floor ;
B the strips of which the upper, thin or parquetry floor is composed, and Ċ metal
strips forming the uniting and fastening devices which embody our present
invention.
The floor A is or may be composed of any ordinary flooring, and, in practice,
is usually an old floor which it is desired to cover with a new thin hard wood or
ornamental floor.
The flooring strips B are the usual narrow thin flooring strips employed for
the purpose of covering common or rough floors, or old worn Hoors, and_differ
only from the strips usually used for this purpose in that they are grooved upon
both sides with the lower portions of the edges cut away somewhat to receive my
improved fasteners, instead of being grooved upon one side only and tongued upon
the other, as is common. The preferable form of cutting away the lower edges
and under sides of the strips is best shown in Fig. 2, where, as will be observed,
sufficient space is thus provided for the vertical portion of the fastening device
between the lower halves of the edges of the strips where they come together,
and also a recess or channel on the under side of one of them to receive the
lower horizontal projections of said fastening devices, so that the strips themselves
may thus lie flat upon the common or under floor, as shown.
The strips C, we make of sheet metal such as sheet steel. The edges of these
strips enter the grooves in the edges of the wooden flooring strips B, while the
vertical portions c extend from said grooves down to a point substantially flush
with the under side of said strips, and further projections & extend out horizontally
and rest upon the upper surface of the floor A. Through these last named
projections, c', nails or screws, a, are driven into the floor A.

page_text: It will be observed that these fastening devices in their primary condition are
simply plain straight strips of sheet metal; and that the fastening projections or
ears are simply portious formed by cutting into the, sides of these strips
and bending the same downwardly and outwardly. Such ears or projections
are thus taken principally from the body of the strip itself, which, of course,
results in a great economy of material in forming the fasteners C as a whole. By
means of this invention, we avoid both the disadvantages and unsightliness of nail-
holes in the floor or surface when finished, and secure an exceedingly light, neat and
inexpensive fastening, which is of great value in such work as that to which this
invention relates.
The method of laying floors where our improvements are employed is as
follows: A thin flooring strip or part, B, is first laid upon the old or. under
floor, A, and a suitable number of metal parts C inserted in the groove in the
edge thereof, with the projections c¹ extending to the front. Nails or screws a
are then driven through these projections into the floor A, after which another
strip B is put in place, the groove wherein passes onto the projecting edge of the
part C, and so on until the floor is completed.
While we have shown and described this invention as applied to floors, wherein
we expect it will be principally employed, it may of course be used in the putting
up of coverings generally, such as ceilings and wainscotings, and such a use is
obviously within the scope of our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The combination, in an upper or parquetry floor or surfacing, of the flooring
strips B having grooves in their edges, and the thin metal strips C having tongues
cut from their edges and bent downward at right angles with the plane of said
strips and thence outwardly parallel therewith and adapted to be secured to the
under floor upon which said upper floor is laid and thus secure said upper floor
thereto, the whole being constructed and arranged substantially as shown and
described.
2. A fastening for parquetry floors and such like structures, consisting of a
straight flat strip of sheet metal having projections or ears thereon, said projections
or ears being formed by cutting into the strip of metal from the side, and
bending the portion so cut downwardly at right angles to the plane of the strip,
and thence outwardly in a plane substantially parallel with the strip, substantially
as shown and described and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 16th d
of Mauch 1007
JOHN WHITE HEATON.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.