IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS, AND IN THE PANELLING OF WALLS AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Howard, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in
the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS, AND IN THE PANELLING OF
WALLS AND OTHER SURFACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Howard at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th April 1880.
GEORGE HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS, AND IN THE
PANELLING OF WALLS AND OTHER SURFACES."
This Invention relates to the extended application of the improvements for which
I obtained provisional protection bearing date the 25th day of November 1879,
No. 4810.
In the Provisional Specification filed I have described a mode of providing for
the swelling and the contraction of parquet flooring, such node offering great
facilities for the laying of ornamental floors of this character.
I now find that my improvements are equally applicable (with suitable
modifications) to the laying of ordinary Boor boards, and to the construction of
wood ceilings and to the panelling of walls and other surfaces.
To this end I construct slabs or panels of any given length of board, and secure
such boards together by means of dog nails, battens, or equivalent means, and I
fit the same between fixed guides which allow the slabs or panels to shrink
laterally or expand if exposed to damp, without offering any obstruction to the
lateral movement consequent thereon, and at the same time provide a means for
retaining the slabs or panels in position.
To allow for the swelling of the panels or slabs, I fix the central portion of the
slab or one end only making that end in this case abut against a fixed surface.
This abutting end I make fast by screws or otherwise, leaving the remainder of
the slab to expand or contract according to the atmospheric influence to which
it is exposed. When the slab has contracted the space to be made good is filled
by a strip of wood corresponding to that composing the slab In covering the

page_text: floor of a small apartment according to my Invention with ordinary flooring boards,
I may conveniently proceed as follows:-
I first divide up the space by a central board or boards which will extend
across the floor from one wall to the other. I then provide two slabs composed
of flooring boards of a length sufficient to reach across the narrow width of the
apartment or transversely of the joists, the breadth of the slabs being sufficient to
cover the floor. These slabs I set in place, making them fast by screwing down or
otherwise fixing to the joists those boards which are brought in juxtaposition with
the central board.
The flooring thus constructed will have its edges covered by the skirting, and it
will be free to expand laterally under the skirting, and also to contract without
exposing any gap requiring to be filled.
For the floors of apartments of larger dimensions it will be necessary to provide
fixed guides, which will intervene between the lines of slabs, and lic, say, some six
feet or more apart according to the length of planking which it will be convenient
to use in making up the slabs. As in large apartments several slabs set end to
end will be required to reach from wall to wall in the direction of the shrinkage,
the use of filling pieces must be adopted, and to provide for their insertion short
lengths of fixed guides must be introduced to permit by their temporary removal
of the insertion of the filling pieces.
In my parquet flooring these fixed guides form part of the floor surface, and by
their use an ornamental character is imparted to the floor. For ordinary floors
made of pine or other cheap wood, I propose to substitute for these guido pieces
strips of iron, which will enter grooves cut in the end edges of the boards, such
strips being secured to the joists by nails or screws, spacing collars being interposed
between the strip and the joist. The edges of the slabs will also be rebated to
allow of the slabs being slidden over the metal strips into place. Thus the sides of
adjacent slabs will form butt joints, the metal strips serving to hold them securely
in place.
In applying the Invention to the covering of walls, I propose to form panels of
any required height. The panel which is to fill the space between two styles and
the top and bottom cross pieces constituting the panel frame may be fixed at the
middle of its width so as to allow of its contracting laterally at its opposite
edges and to cover the contraction spaces; I form the styles with deep rebates.
For panelling ceilings I use substantially the same contrivances, that is to say,
the picces constituting the panel aro secured together by dog nails or their
equivalent; the centre of the panel is made fast to the underside of the joists, and
the framing for the panel is arranged so as to allow for the free contraction of the
panel and for the hiding of the space caused by the contraction.
This mode of covering wall and ceiling surfaces is particularly applicable to the
fitting up of floating structures which are exposed to great varieties of climatic
influences, ample provision being made for the lateral contraction and expansion
of the panels.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Howard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th October
1880.
GEORGE HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS, AND IN THE
PANELLING OF WALLS AND OTHER SURFACES."
This Invention relates to the extended application of the improvements for which
I obtained provisional protection bearing date the twenty fifth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy ninc, No. 4810.
In the Complete Specification subsequently filed under my Patent of the twenty
fifth day of November Ono thousand eight hundred and seventy nine, I described
a mode of providing for the swelling and the contraction of parquet flooring,
such mode offering great facilities for the laying of ornamental floors of this
character.
Before, however, filing the complete Specification, I found that my improvements
were equally adapted (with suitable modifications) to the laying of ordinary floor
boards, and to the construction of wood ceilings and to the panelling of walls and
other surfaces, and it is in the extension of the application of my original Invention
in these directions, and in modifications consequent thereon that my present
Invention consists.
In Sheet I of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 iB
an end section of the floor of a small compartment laid down in the simplest manner
of which my Invention is susceptible. In these Figures a is a flooring board
placed transversely of the joists A, and extending from wall to wall. This board
is placed in such a position as to divide up the floor into two equal parts, or two
or more boards secured together may occupy this central position. The board or
boards a I make fast to the joists by screws, or otherwise using the same as a
fixture towards which the flooring as it shrinks will be drawn; b, b, are two slabs
composed of flooring boards of a length sufficient to reach across the narrow width
of the apartment or transversely of the joists the breadth of the slabs being
sufficient to cover the floor space, but not to touch the walls of the apartment.
These slabs I set in place making them fast by dog nails to the central board a.
The end boards of the slabs which abut against the fixed board or boards a I
prefer to connect with these boards in the manner shewn on an enlarged scalo
at Fig. 2. Thus I rebate the two contact edges, and by means of dognails I
secure the boards together filling the rebate with a strip b*, which will lie flush
with the upper surface of the floor.
The flooring thus constructed will have its edges covered by the skirting c, c, and
it will be free to expand laterally under the skirting, and also to contract without
exposing any gap required to be filled.
This will be clearly understood by reference to the end section Figure 2 which
shews a space between the wall and the end of the slab, such spaco being hidden by
the thickness of the skirting.
The slabs are composed of boards set side by side so as to form butt joints,
and secured together by dognails applied to the back or underside of the boards.
For the floors of apartments of larger dimensions it will be necessary to provide
fixed guides which will intervene between the lines of slabs and lie, say, some six
feet or more apart according to the length of boards or planking which it will be
convenient to use in making up the slabs.
As in large apartments several slabs set end to end will be required to reach
from wall to wall in the direction of the shrinkage, the use of filling pieces as
explained in the Specification of my above mentioned Patent must be adopted,

page_text: and to provide for their insertion I attach to the underside of the end board of
the slab (or I may fix between the joists) a fillet which will underlie any space
that may occur through shrinkage, and provide a support for the filling piece.
In the case of the parquet flooring 1 used fixed guides which formed part of the
floor surface, and gave an ornamental character to the floor.
In place of these guide pieces I now employ for my ordinary floor the arrangement
shewn in plan view at Fig. 3, Sheet II., of the Drawings; Fig. 4 is a cross section
of this floor taken on the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a cross section on the
line 3, 4, of the same Figure.
d, d, are strips of iron forming guide pieces for the slabs; these guides, as will i
be best seen in the enlarged section and plan views, Figures 6, lie within the grooves
cut in the end edges of the boards composing the slabs b, and they are secured to
the joists A by nails or screws, spacing collars & being interposed between the
strips & and the joist. The edges of the slabs are rebated below the grooves to
provide the requisite clearance for sliding past the collars into place.
In this arrangement the flooring (see Fig. 3) is composed of eight slabs b, the
flooring space being divided up into two equal parts by fixed boards a secured to
the joists A by screws or otherwise. The sides of adjacent slabs will form close
joints, the metal strips or guides & serving to hold them securely in place. These
slabs are made fast as before described to the fixed boards a, and they will thus be
free to expand or contract laterally as above explained.
Figures 7 shew the mode which I have described for supporting the filling piecos
used when shrinkage occurs.
In covering walls or parts of walls and ceilings of apartments with panelling
according to this Invention I proceed in the manner illustrated at Figures 8 and 9,
Sheet I., where Fig. represents in elevation a portion of a wall panelling, and
Fig. 9 a horizontal section of the same.
In these Figures g, g, are the panels constructed as before described with
reference to the slabs of Fig. 1. These panels are fitted into rectangular
framework h, h, in such a manner as to leave them free to expand or contract
therein laterally.
The panels which are inserted in the rectangular spaces in the framework from
the back, while the work is still in course of construction are fixed at the middle
of their width to the adjacent cross pieces. This will allow of the panels expanding
or contracting laterally at their opposite edges. To cover the spaces formed by the
contraction of the panels I construct the styles with deep rebates, as shewn at
Fig. 9, and I thus allow for considerable shrinkage of the panels when set up in
place without the use of filling strips being required.
For panelling ceilings I use substantially the same contrivance as that just
described, that is to say, the pieces constituting the panels are secured together by
dog nails or their equivalent. The centre of each panel is made fast to the cross
pieces, and the framing for the panels is arranged so as to allow for the free
contraction of the panels, and for the hiding of the spaces caused by their
contraction.
This mode of covering wall and ceiling surfaces I would remark is particularly
applicable to the fitting up of floating structures which are exposed to great
varieties of climatic influences, ample provision being thereby made for the lateral
contraction and expansion of the panels.
In applying the Invention to the saloons of steam vessels, I proceed as explained
with relation to the panelling of apartments.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Floors and Ceilings, and in the Panelling of Walls and other
Surfaces," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to
be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First. The mode of constructing floors of small apartments as described with
reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings, whereby the covering of the spaces
required for the lateral expansion or created by the contraction of the flooring, and

page_text: the holding down, of the ends of the floor boards will be provided for by the
skirting boards of the apartment.
Secondly. The mode of constructing flooring of slabs composed of boards
connected together as above explained, and held in place upon the joists by guide
strips as described with reference to Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, such slabs being so
fastened as to allow of their swelling or shrinking freely, their contracted lengths
being made good by filling pieces.
Thirdly. Constructing the panelling for walls, ceilings, and other surfaces as
described with reference to Figures 8 and 9 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Howard, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord, One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
GEORGE HOWARD. (LS.)