IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION AND BUILDING OF PORTABLE COTTAGES OR HOUSES AND. OTHER BUILDINGS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Saunders, of Croydon, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION AND BUILDING OF PORTABLE COTTAGES OR HOUSES AND. OTHER
BUILDINGS."
Sealed the 3rd June 1864, and dated the 18th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Saunders at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th December 1863.
I, ROBERT SAUNDERS, of Croydon, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING OF PORTABLE COTTAGES OR HOUSES AND OTHER
BUILDINGS." to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in placing standards or uprights of wood or iron
groved or otherways so constructed as to receive the sections of the walls,
which sections I make of two sheets of iron fastened together, leaving a space
between them of one, two, or more inches, and that space I will fill or pack
with cocoa-nut husk or that part thereof which resembles cork dust after the
fibre is removed. With such sections thus packed or with other suitable
material for packing, and with the standards before described, I proceed to
build, and I would prefer, though I would not always use, the same description
of sections for roofing.

page_text: Although I would prefer using iron, I would sometimes use wood or any
other suitable material so put together and leaving a space for packing
between them, or with such grooved standards I would sometimes use single
slabs of stone or pieces of wood dropped into the grooves of such standards
or pillars.
I further claim as my Invention the use of said cocoa-nut husk or pulp as
a non-conductor packing material for all vessels or spaces filled with it with
the view of affording protection from heat, cold, or fire, bulkheads of steam
and other ships, as well as the decks of the same, their ice houses and other
rooms.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Saunders in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SAUNDERS, of Croydon, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Robert Saunders, Her special licence that T, the said
Robert Saunders, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Saunders, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING OF PORTABLE COTTAGES
OE HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Robert Saunders, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Saunders, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention consists in building structures of iron and wood combined
with other material so as to afford great convenience in construction, adap-
tation, and such other advantages as I now proceed to describe.
The foundations of such structures I prefer to be of cast iron, though I
would sometimes use stone, brick, or other available material, either level with
or raised considerably above the ground floor, and having arranged the
foundation, I proceed to fix into it the requisite number of standards or
uprights of wood or iron, grooved on both sides to receive the panels or
sections which form the walls. Such panels or sections I prefer to make of
two sheets of iron joined together by overlapping the edge of one sheet with
the edge of the other sheet, taking care to keep them some distance apart, so
as to allow room for a suitable thickness of packing either of cocoa-nut waste
or that part of the waste which resembles cork dust after the fibre is extracted,
or such other non-conducting material as may be preferred. In some instances,
however, I would use slate or other stone, wood, or other material combined
to form the panels. And I would sometimes prefer making the sheet iron or
other panels with one hollow or grooved edge so as to overlap the edge of the
panel next below it, and so on in succession throughout the building, and in
this manner they would be all joined together, kept rigid, and made air and
water tight, whilst the facility for building such structures and for removing
them from one site to another and the convenience for exportation must be
apparent to all. At the top of the standards I screw or otherwise fix on a
band which will bind and securely hold all the standards together; this band
I prefer to make of iron. If necessary I would introduce such other supports
as the height and magnitude of the structure may require. The roof I prefer
to make of the samo material and in a similar manner as the walls, supporting
the panels with angle or other iron in the most approved method and capping
the joints to prevent leakage.
Those structures may or may not be protected with verandahs or other

page_text: dotted lines, and Fig. 4 a plan of column, shewing panels inserted in
groove.
The advantages of my Invention consist in building structures which shall
be capable of affording a controlable temperature internally during the hottest
weather, and as all the parts are mechanically prepared and fitted at the
builder's factory, such structures can be put together in the shortest time by
unskilled labour and with great dispatch. Besides the foregoing advantages
over any other structures now in use mine may be removed from one site
to another with very little cost of labour or inconvenience beyond carriage
charges.
This Invention will be found well adapted for dairies, and for boats or
vessels conveying every sort of fresh provisions to market.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be carried into effect, I would observe in conclusio:
that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein given, or
to the structure shewn on the Drawings, as variations may be made without
departing from the general features of my Invention, this Invention being
applicable to various structures, such as churches and chapels, offices, and the
partitions of the same, stores and warehouses, seasoning rooms for butchers'
meat, and for protecting every description of fresh food, animal as well as
vegetable, from deleterious contact with warm air, for railway and other
carriages, two or more sheets of iron joined together and thus packed would
afford great protection to life and limb in case of collision or other accidents,
and may be adopted in any ordinary houses or rooms. Besides the foregoing
advantages such structures are rendered fire-proof; the temperature within
during the hottest weather can be kept under control, besides being portable
and easily removed from one site to another. But what I claim and desire to
be secured is, the improvements in the construction of portable cottages and
houses, substantially as herein-beforo described or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Saunders, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
ROBERT SAUNDERS. (L.s.)