AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LAYING WOOD FLOORS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Bellis, of the City of Chester, Builder, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LAYING WOOD FLOORS."
Sealed the 9th May 1862, and dated the 12th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Bellis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
November 1861.
I, ROBERT BELLIS, of the City of Chester, Builder, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LAYING WOOD FLOORS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in fixing at one side of the joists on which the floor
is to laid angle iron, one face of which is made to project from the joist below
the level thereof, and in inserting into the under side of each deal or board
composing the floor, T-headed screws, one arm of which, on the boards being.
laid, becomes engaged under the projecting flange of the angle iron. The
ends of the boards are wedged up against the side of the room or building
being floored. Should it be desired to remove or take up any one or more
of the boards, the wedges are removed, the board is pushed forward when the
T-screws become released from the angle irons, and the board can be lifted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Bellis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BELLIS, of the City of Chester, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Bellis, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Bellis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Bellis, executors, administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF LAYING WOOD FLOORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Bellis, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 I, the said Robert Bellis, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in fixing at one side of the joists on which the floor
is to be laid, angle iron, one face of which is made to project from the joist
below the level thereof, and in inserting into the under side of each deal or board
composing the floor T-headed screws, one arın of which on the boards being
laid, becomes engaged under the projecting flange of the angle iron. The
ends of the boards are wedged up against the side of the room or building
being floored.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a section, and Figure is a
plan of the under side of so much of a floor as will be necessary to illustrate
the manner in which I carry my Invention into effect. a, a, a, are the joists

page_text: to which the angle irons b, b, b, are secured by screws as shown in
Figure 1 or otherwise; c, c, c, are the T-headed screws, screwed into the
under side of the boards, the heads of which become engaged under the pro-
jecting flange of the angle iron, as shown; d, d, are the wedges inserted
between the ends of the boards, and the side or end of the room; e is a skirt-
ing for hiding the wedges. Though I recommend T-headed screws as being
most convenient, yet screws with one shoulder instead of two may be employed.
Should it be desired to remove or take up any one or more of the boards,
the wedges d, d, are removed, the board is pushed forward when the T-screws
c become released from the angle irons b, and the board can be lifted.
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 as my improved
method of laying wood floors," the employment of angle irons on the joists,
and T or other flanged screws on the under side of the boards, together with
wedges for securing the floor, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Bellis, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two.
ROBERT BELLIS. (L.S.)