for Flooring and Lining Iron and other Buildings.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 6th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 10th Feb., 1888
for Flooring and Lining Iron and other Buildings.
We, GEORGE FREDERICK HENRY CLARK, Gentleman, of 5 Saint James's Terrace,
Regent's Park, in the county of Middlesex and ROBERT INGHAM CLARK, Varnish
Manufacturer, of Leadenhall House, Leadenhall Street, in the city of London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to an improved method of covering iron decks with wood
planking or blocks whereby the said planking can if desired be fixed without
necessitating the use of bolts or the like through the planks; no bolts therefore need
appear in the upper surface of the wooden deck. The improvements are equally
applicable to other descriptions of flooring and for lining iron and other buildings.
In carrying out our invention in the case of a ship's deck we place across the deck,
at suitable intervals apart, solid cross bars or frames of iron, steel or hard wood, or
other suitable material, of a suitable width and with inclined or undercut sides, the
ends or other part of the planks being cut to fit the cross pieces so as to fit under the
inclined sides of the said lengths of iron, steel or hard wood, and over the top part
thereof.
Before putting down our cross pieces, planks, or blocks of wood we prefer to cover
the deck with prepared open canvas, felt, or similar substance, stuck on to the iron
deck with a suitable cement or composition preferably the improved cement or com-
position forming the subject of an application for a patent of even date with this
application; the cross pieces, planks, and the like are held down by the composition,
the only additional fastenings required being bolts which are passed through the rivet
holes in the iron deck and beam at intervals and screwed down tight with nuts the
whole being completely and firmly held to the iron deck; by passing the bolts through
Pins21

page_text: the rivet holes as described it is not necessary to make extra holes through the
iron deck.
If preferred the cross pieces of hard wood can be put down so that they will be
flush with the planking.
We find it advantageous to coat the underside of the wood planking with a suitable
preparation to prevent it absorbing the cement or composition and also for water-
proofing the planks.

page_text: Improvements in Covering Iron Decks with Wood, Applicable also
for Flooring and Lining Iron and other Buildings.
We, GEORGE FREDERICK HENRY CLARK, Gentleman, of 5 Saint James's
Terrace, Regents Park, in the county of Middlesex, and ROBERT INGHAM CLARK,
Varnish Manufacturer, of Leadenhall House, Leadenhall Street, in the city of
London, 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:
This invention relates to an improved method of covering iron decks with wood
planking or blocks whereby the said planking can if desired be fixed without
necessitating the use of bolts or the like through the planks; no bolts therefore
need appear in the upper surface of the wooden deck. The improvements are
equally applicable to other descriptions of flooring and for lining iron and other
buildings.
In carrying out our invention in the case of a ships' dock we place across the deck,
at suitable intervals apart, solid cross bars or frames of iron, steel or hard wood, or
other suitable material, of a suitable width and with inclined or undercut sides, the
ends or other part of the planks being cut to fit the cross pieces so as to fit under the
inclined sides of the said lengths of iron, steel or hard wood and over the top part
thereof.
Before putting down our cross pieces, planks or blocks of wood we prefer to cover
the deck with prepared open canvas, felt, or similar substance, stuck on to the iron
deck with a suitable cement or composition preferably the improved cement or com-
position forming the subject of an application for a Patent No. 5152 of even date
with this application; the cross pieces, planks and the like are held down by the
composition, the only additional fastenings required being bolts which are passed
through the rivet holes in the iron deck and beam at intervals and screwed down tight
with nuts, the whole being completely and firmly held to the iron deck; by passing
the bolts through the rivet holes as described it is not necessary to make extra holes
through the iron deck.
If preferred the cross pieces of hard wood can be put down so that they will be
flush with the planking.
We find it advantageous to coat the underside of the wood planking with a suitable
preparation to prevent it absorbing the cement or composition and also for water-
proofing the planks.
To enable our invention to be clearly understood we will describe how it may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice by reference to the accom-
panying drawing in which
Figure 1 is a plan of a piece of flooring constructed according to our invention.

page_text: Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same and
Figure 3 is a view of a detail drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but illustrating a modification of our
invention.
a indicates the flooring or the like to be covered, and 6 the covering.
care the cross bars which are placed at suitable distances apart and which are
attached to the floor a by screws d. These cross bars are undercut at their edges
or of dovetail shape, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, and are adapted to fit into corre-
sponding transverse grooves e in the boards or planks to be secured.
In laying the improved covering the cross bars c are laid in position and held
loosely in place by the screws d. The planks or boards of the covering are then
applied in such a manner that the grooves e slide along the cross bars c. As
the latter are only loosely secured the planks are allowed to slide. freely. After
the cross bars have been covered the screws d are tightened whereby the covering b
is firmly secured.
In practice we find it advantageous to make the cross bars c in short pieces
say three feet in length, the adjacent pieces having their ends abutting.
It is preferable that when end joints between planks are unavoidable the ends of
the boards or planks should abut over one of the cross bars as shown at fin
Figures 1 and 2. In this case one half of the groove e is formed in the end of one
plank and the other half in the end of the other plank.
In the modification of our invention shewn in Figure 4 the cross bars c are composed
of pieces of angle iron by the use of which the necessity of cutting away so much
of the plank as is required when using the solid cross bars shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
is obviated.
When using the angle irons we form two saw cuts g at an angle to each other
corresponding to the angle of the angle iron, the width of the said cuts being. also
large enough to pass over the said iron. The bars are secured by bolts passing
through the angle iron and the floor a or the like, the heads ¹ of the bolts being in
the angle of the iron and the nuts below the said floor. It will be noticed that a small
portion of the wood of the planks between the saw cuts g is removed as shewn at i,
so as to allow the planks to slide on the bars without any obstruction from the bolt
heads.
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 inproved method of covering iron decks, flooring iron buildings, and the
like with planks without the use of bolts or their equivalents passing through the said
planks, the said method consisting essentially in the employment of dovetailed or
undercut strips adapted to fit corresponding grooves or recesses in the underside of
the planking and to be secured to a suitable foundation, substantially as described.
2. A floor, deck-covering or the like applied substantially as described with
reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the drawing:
3. The modification of our invention wherein lengths of angle iron are employed,
substantially as described, with reference to Figure 4.
Dated the 6th day of January 1888.
'G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicants.