A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PORTABLE BUILDINGS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Chesterton, of Leicester, Jeweller, for the
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PORTABLE
BUILDINGS."
Sealed the 31st January 1861, and dated the 13th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Chesterton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th September 1860.
I, JOSEPH CHESTERTON, of Leicester, Jeweller, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING
PORTABLE BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the method herein-after explained of constructing
portable buildings, the said method of construction being particularly appli-
cable to buildings constructed of metal, but applicable also to buildings
constructed in part of non-metallic materials.
I construct the walls or vertical sides of the building of panels or plates of
iron or zinc or other material, to the vertical edges of which bars of angle
iron are attached by rivetting or otherwise. The said bars of angle iron are so
connected with the panels or plates, that when the edges of the said panels or
plates are brought together, and made to overlap the bar of angle iron on the
edge of one of the plates lies inside the bar on the adjoining plate; the said
bars of angle iron are secured together by screws and nuts.
of the plates or panels may be covered both internally and
The junctions
externally with

page_text: mouldings of wood or other material, so as to give the structure an ornamental
appearance. To the lower edges of the panels or plates a bar of angle iron
is fixed, on the horizontal part of which pins or spikes are situated. The
boarding of the room rests on the angle iron, and is secured by the said pins
or spikes. The inner sides of the panels or plates may be covered with felt
or other imperfect conductor of heat. I make the roof of panels or plates
connected by bars of angle iron, which said bars are in this case joined so as
to fix the alternating panels or plates on different levels. Panes of glass may
be inserted near the top or the base of the roof for lighting the room.
the room. The
roof may either be arched or angular.
Buildings constructed according to my Invention are readily put up and
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Chesterton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
CHESTERTON, of Leicester, Jeweller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Chesterton, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Chesterton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph Chesterton, my 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 "A
NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PORTABLE BUILDINGS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Chesterton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Chesterton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the new or improved method herein-after
explained, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of constructing
portable buildings, the said method of construction being particularly appli-
cable to buildings constructed of metal, but applicable also to buildings
constructed in part of non-metallic materials.
The essential novelty in my said Invention consists in the use, in the
manner herein-after described, of bars of angle iron for connecting together
the panels, sheets, or plates of which the walls or sides and roofs of the
buildings are composed, as well as supporting the rafters or joists of the
flooring and the roofs of the said buildings.
I construct the walls or vertical sides of the said buildings of panels, plates,
or sheets of zinc, iron, or other suitable metallic, or non-metallic material, the
said panels, plates, or sheets being either plain or corrugated, and to the
vertical and horizontal edges of the said panels or plates I attach, by rivetting
or otherwise, bars of angle iron.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents, in horizontal section, a
portion of a wall or side of a building constructed according to my Invention,
the said Figure 1 showing the method of connecting together the vertical
edges of the plates or sheets, forming a continuous side or wall of the building,
and also showing the method of connecting together the vertical edges of the
plates or sheets forming the angles or junction of two sides or walls of the
building.
a, b, Figure 1, represent portions of two plates or sheets, the edges of
which are to be connected together to form the continuous wall or side of the
building, and c, d, are two bars of angle iron fixed respectively to the edges of
the said plates or sheets a, b. The said plates or sheets a, b, are fastened
to the bars of angle iron c, d, by the rivets e, e, as represented, or in any other
convenient way.
The bars of angle iron c, d, are connected together in the manner repre-
sented, that is to say, the said bars are made to lie in one another, the edge of
the plate or sheet on one of the said bars being made to overlap that on the
adjacent bar, as represented. The said bars c, d, are then secured together by
the screw and nut g. The space between the bars of angle iron c, d, may
be filled with felt packing or other imperfect conductor of heat marked h. The
junction of the plates or sheets a, b, may be covered both internally and exter-

page_text: nally with mouldings or pilasters of iron, wood, or other material i, i, so as to
give the structure an ornamental appearance. The method of connecting
together the plates k; 1, Figure 1, forming the adjacent sides of the building
is essentially the same as that described with respect to the plates a and b,
Figure 1, and will be readily understood by an inspection of the Drawing.
I construct the angles of the building where a window is required to be made
in the manner represented in horizontal section in Figure 2 of the Drawing.
To the bar of angle iron m, to which the edge of the plate or sheet n is
rivetted I connect a second bar of angle iron o, by the screw and nut p, as
represented, the said bar o forming one side or upright of the frame of the
window. To the said bar or frame o small bars or plates 9, 9, are rivetted,
the said bars or plates q, q, forming guides against which the sashes r, s, work,
as will be understood by an inspection of Figure 2. The junction of the parts
is concealed by the mouldings t, t, and the space between the bars of angle
iron m and o may be occupied by the sash weight u for the window, and
also by a gas pipe v.
Figure 3 represents in horizontal section my method of connecting the
plates or sheets where a central window is required, that is, a window not
situated near the angle of the building. The window of the said Figure 3
is constructed essentially in the same way as that described with reference to
Figure 2.
The upper and lower horizontal edges of the plates or sheets constituting
the walls of the building are connected together in the manner represented
in vertical longitudinal section in Figure 4 of the Drawing, the said Figure 4
also representing the method of fixing the rafters or joists for supporting the
flooring of the building; w, x, are the two bars of angle iron fixed to the
lower and upper edges respectively of the panels, plates, or sheets w², a², the
horizontal limbs or sides of the said bars w, x, being brought together in the
manner represented. Between the said bars felt or other packing material y,
is placed. The said bars of angle iron w, x, run round the whole of the
structure and support at the required distances apart the beams or joists for
supporting the flooring of the room. To the under side of each end of the rafter
or joist z, a plate 2 is fixed by the screws 3, 3. The end of the rafter
or joist is placed upon the bar of angle iron w, and
screw and nut 4, the said screw and nut also binding
zontal limbs or sides of the Lars of angle iron w, x.
rafter or joist z, is fixed in a similar manner. The boarding 5 is fixed to
the rafter or joist in the ordinary way.
fixed thereto by the
together the two hori-
The opposite end of the
In order to give stability to the flooring I sometimes support the rafters or

page_text: joists by fastening to the bars of angle iron strip or hoop iron, the said iron
passing under the rafters from end to end, as well as support the said rafters
by strip or hoop iron passing under them at right angles. This method of
supporting the rafters will be readily understood by reference to Figure 5,
which represents the under side of a portion of a flooring drawn to a smaller
scale than that of Figure 4, supported in the way described; 6, 7, are the
bars of angle iron running round the building, and 8, 8, are the strips of hoop
iron fixed to the bar of angle iron 7, and passing under the edge of the rafters
or joists; 10, 10, are other strips of hoop iron fixed to the bar 6, and passing
under the strips 8, 8, at right angles and giving support thereto. I fix the
angle iron attached to
or plate of the building to the foun-
dation of the said building and also fix the foundation rafters or joists in the
manner represented in Figure 6.
the lowest panel
I make and support the roof in the manner represented in Figures 7 and 8,
Figure 7 representing a vertical section of a portion of a roof and method of
supporting the same, and Figure 8 a transverse section of a portion of the
roof, taken through the line a, Figure 7. I make the roof of double bars of
angle iron 11 and 12, (best seen in the section, Figure 8,) the said bars being
joined together by screws and nuts 13, and of panels or plates 14, 14, fixed to
the said bars 11, 12, by the rivets 15, 15. Or when the room is required to
be lighted from the roof, plates or panes of glass, one of which is shown at 16,
Figure 7, may alternate with the panels or plates 14, 14; or the panes of
glass may be continuous where required. The bars of angle iron 11, 12, and
plates 14, 14, forming the roof are supported by the bar of angle iron 17, the
latter being fixed to the bar of angle iron 18, on the upper edge of the top
panel or plate 19. The method of fastening the whole of the parts 19, 18, and
17 together, and the part 17 to the roof will be readily understood by referring
to Figure 7. The roof may be supported at different heights, and at the
required intervals, in the manner represented in Figure 7. The manner of
fixing the panes or sheets of glass in the roof made as described with respect to
Figures 7 and 8 is best seen in Figures 9 and 10 of the Drawings, Figure 9
representing a side elevation of a single girder, the pane of glass being shown
in section, and Figure 10 representing a cross section of two girders. The two
opposite edges of the pane of glass 20 are supported upon the lower bars of the
angle iron of two adjacent girders, as shown in Figure 10, one of the other
edges of the said pane 20 being fixed under the raised edge of the metal sheet
or plate 21, and the other edge resting upon the edge of the sheet or plate 22.
The said pane of glass 20 is fixed by putty in the usual way. Near the end of
the girder I fix a curved bracket 23 (Figure 9), by which the gutter or

page_text: trough 24 for carrying off the water is supported. Figure 11 represents in
cross section, on a smaller scale, a roof made according to my Invention, the
said Figure 11 showing the method of tieing and supporting the girders by
means of the ordinary tie beam and rods. The roof may either be arched or
angular. The inner sides of the panels, plates, or sheets, constituting the
walls or sides and roof of the building may be covered with felt or other
imperfect conductor of heat.
Buildings constructed according to my Invention are readily put up and
taken down.
Having now described the nature of my Invention; and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention the new or improved method of constructing portable buildings
herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say, constructing the walls and roofs of the said buildings of panels, plates,
or sheets connected or joined to each other and to the foundation of the
building by means of bars of angle iron, and supporting the rafters or joists as
well as the roofs of the said buildings by means of bars of angle iron, essen-
tially in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Chesterton, have. hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOHN PEBWORTH,
Kempester.
JOSEPH CHESTERTON. (L.S.)