AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GIRDERS USED IN THE GUIDE FRAMING OF GAS-HOLDERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Horton, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GIRDERS USED IN THE GUIDE
FRAMING OF GAS-HOLDERS."
Sealed the 1st June 1858, and dated the 26th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Horton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
March 1858.
I, JOSHUA HORTON, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GIRDERS USED IN THE GUIDE FRAMING.
OF GAS-HOLDERS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in constructing the girders used in the guide
framing of gas-holders of wrought iron and cast iron combined in the following
manner :-
I make the upper edge or top of the girder as well as the lower edge or
bottom of the girder of two bars of angle iron, the said bars being placed
together so as to form a T shaped figure in cross section. The said angle iron
is made of wrought iron.
I make the body of the girder of plates of cast iron, which plates may be of
an ornamental character. The said plates are inserted between the opposed
surfaces of the angle iron used for the top and bottom of the girder respectively,

page_text: and the said plates and angle iron are secured together by bolts or rivets.
By my method of constructing the girders of the guide framing of gas-holders
the web of the said girders may be composed of cast-iron plates much shorter
than the girder, and great economy is effected in the manufacture of the said
girders. The said short cast-iron plates are placed end to end, and secured to
the angle iron as described, so as to form a girder of the required length.
Instead of angle iron, plates of iron bent into the form of angle iron may be
employed; I sometimes use T shaped iron instead of angle iron, but I prefer
the method first described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joshua Horton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
HORTON, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joshua Horton, Her special licence that I, the said Joshua
Horton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joshua Horton, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GIRDERS USED IN THE GUIDE
FRAMING OF GAS-HOLDERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joshua Horton, 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 Joshua Horton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists in constructing the girders used in the guide
framing of gas-holders of wrought iron and cast iron combined as herein-after
particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a girder for the guide framing of gas-
holders constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents a
transverse vertical section of the same.
I make the upper edge or top of the girder as well as the lower edge or
bottom of the girder of two bars of angle iron, marked a in Figures 1 and 2,
the said bars a being placed together so as to form a T shaped figure
in transverse section, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 2.
The said angle iron a is made of wrought iron.
.
I make the body of the girder of plates of cast iron, marked 6 in Figures 1
and 2; the said plates may be of an ornamental character. One of the said
plates 6 is represented separately in elevation in Figure 8. The said plates b
are inserted between the opposed surfaces of the angle iron a used for the top
and bottom of the girder respectively, the upper edge of the plates 6 being
flush with the horizontal surfaces of the angle iron a, a, as seen in Figure 2.
The angle iron a and plates bare secured together by bolts or rivets, marked
c in Figures 1 and 2. The plates b are in close contact laterally as seen at
the junction of the said plates d, Figure 1. Figure 4 represents in elevation
the cast-iron plates which I employ, where the girder is jointed to the covering
plate e, Figure 1. The said plates, Figure 4, are marked f in Figure 1, the
said plates f being nearly similar in form to one half of one of the plates b.
Besides serving to complete the ornamental pattern which is repeated in the
girder, the said plates f being without any piercing are more convenient for
connection to the covering plate e than the end of one of the plates b.
By my method of constructing the girders of the guide framing of gas-
holders, the web of the said girders, that is to say, the part lying between the
upper and lower edges, may be composed of cast-iron plates much shorter
than the girder, and great economy is effected in the manufacture of the said
girders.
Instead of angle iron of the kind represented in Figure 2, and known
in commerce by the name of angle iron, plates of strong sheet iron bent into
the form of the angle iron a may be employed.
Instead of two bars of angle iron placed together in the manner illustrated
in Figure 2 with the cast-iron plates between them, I sometimes use one bar
of T shaped iron, and connect the plates 6 by rivetting or bolting to one side

page_text: of the bars of T shaped iron in the manner illustrated in Figure 5, but I prefer
the method first described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Having now described the nature of my said 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 improvement or improvements in the construction
of the girders used in the guide framing of gas-holders herein described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said
girders of wrought iron and cast iron combined, the upper and lower edges
of the girder being made of angle iron or T shaped iron, and the web of the
said girder being made of plates of cast iron, bolted or rivetted to the bars of
angle iron or T shaped iron, as described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Horton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
JOSHUA HORTON. (L.S.)