IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF WALLS, PARTITIONS, FLOORS, AND Roofing of BuildINGS AND OTHER STRUCTUREB
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Philip Pope, of No. 8, King's Road,
Gray's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Architect and Surveyor,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF WALLS,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Philip Pope
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th January 1875.
I, ROBERT PHILIP POPE, of No. 8, King's Road, Gray's Inn, in the
County of Middlesex, Architect and Surveyor, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF
WALLS, PARTITIONS, FLOORS, AND Roofing of BuildINGS AND OTHER STRUCTUREB,”
to be as follows:-
I form walls for buildings and other structures by a combination of
concrete loam mixed with hop bines or other fibrous material and

page_text: Portland or other cement in the following manner :-First, I put in a
concrete foundation from a proper depth to 3 inches above the ground
line; I then form concrete angle piers and door piers and sometimes
window reveals of the required width in boxes having movable sides.
These piers are carried up any distance I decide upon, say about
18 inches; I then enclose the space between these piers with framework
of wood planking. This framework of wood planking has pin poles with
pins therein of 1½ inches or 2 inches or thereabouts diameter. The
framework being secured to uprights I then fill up the space with well
kneaded loam or such like material moistened with water and mixed
with hop bines, straw, or other fibrous material. I ram this loam or
such like material hardly and solidly into the space between the frame-
work. This being done I draw out the pins when the work is sufficiently
dry and then remove the wood framing onwards, so as to form a con-
tinuation of this loam wall. This loam wall I use as a corc, and I dry
it by exposure to the air, the pin holes above mentioned greatly aiding
the drying process. When the core is sufficiently dry I refix the
framing, but at a short distance, say about 2 inches more or less from
the core, and into this space I pour Portland or other cement, or I place
it in such a manner as to insure a coating to the loam core to the
required thickness, and a filling up of the pin holes. Each skin or
coating of cement will thus be thoroughly tied together. This process
is continued by the removal and refixing of the boarding before
mentioned until the required extent is completed; the framing is then
lifted and the loam core is raised again on the last layer below, the
cement inner and outer coating being also added as before. The
requisite openings for windows, doors, or otherwise are kept by framing;
the flues are formed in cement or brickwork or by pipes, as usually
done.
t.
て
In order to obtain a better bedding for plates, and also at other
intervals, I apply at such parts a layer of cement throughout the
thickness of the wall; I use the cement pure or mixed with sand.
In lieu of the fixed moulding frame I sometimes use a hinged flap or
flaps so as to give a wider opening for the putting in of the cement, and
facility for forcing it into the pin holes and against the sides. I also
use vertical drifts for the more effectually filling up of the pin holes.
I also form walls of cement and sand hollow
and

page_text: forms by temporary enclosing boards or surfaces applied to one or both
sides thereof. These temporary enclosing boards may for the time be
fixed so as to form a mould of the thickness and form desired to receive
the cement in a semi-fluid state, as in the formation of ordinary concreto
walls, or one or both may be capable of turning, as on hinges, so as to
fold up against the plastic substance, and thus compress it into a more
solid state and give it form. The facings thus obtained are strengthened
and held correctly together by the application of blocks or tie piecės at
intervals between them. The corner piers and door piers if greater.
strength is required are formed of concrete above described. I use
binding layers when and where necessary. The process of raising the
wall is similar to that already described.
I also further sometimes form hollow walls by cast cement bricks,
cast and compressed in iron moulds joined to each other by being laid
dry and grouted with liquid cement, or cement and sand, at the com-
pletion of each course of a required length. To facilitate the placing of
these cement bricks I use an outer and inner movable frame, somewhat'
similar to that described in relation to my loam core method. The
blocks are tied together transversely and longitudinally. The moulds
for this purpose are formed to be used for shorter or longer bricks or
blocks as required. Windows and door or other openings are arranged
as before.
For floor slabs, partitions, steps to stairs, roofs, and other surfaces I
proceed as follows:-I take hop bines or other similar woody fibre and
tear it into proper lengths; I then well mix them with asphalt and sand
or other similar bituminons binding material, and then subject them' to:
great pressure, so as to expel all superfluous asphalt or other binding
material; thus the liop bines or the similar fibrous material will form the
core or basis of such slab, and only such asphalt or other binding'
material will be used as will be necessary to hold the basis together.
When I require this basis to be cemented or plastered I press it with a
plate having raised, crossed, or other bars thereon forming the bed or
mould with a.similar plate; and further, I pierce the slab of hop bines
or such like material and asphalt with a number of holes, so that the
cement when applied on the sides will be held together by the cement.
passing through. The cement or plaster I either put on by hand or cast.
it in a mould and press it.

page_text: For the purposes of noors I use a veneer of wood thinner of CHICK,
¼ or ½ inch, rasping the surface to which the hop bines or such like
material and asphalt (so as to form a key) is to be applied. I indent
the under surface as before so as to make a key for the plaster or
cement;
; the whole is subjected to great pressure.
I sometimes use a centre or core of wood rasped as before; upon it on
either side I place the hop bines or fibre and asphalt, key the asphalte
as before, and drive holes so that the plaster or cement may have a
thorough tie.
I also sometimes use the following substances in making my amalgams
for the purpose of cementing hop bines and other similar substances
with wood, glass, or the material employed instead of using the asphalt:
Glue made liquid about the strength used by joiners, Venice
turpentine, linseed oil, varnish, litharge, or other oxide of lead, carbonate
of potash, rock alum, pitch, resin, sulphur. The combinations of these
substances and their quantities vary.
All the combinations are boiled, and have added when mixed Portland,
Roman, or other cements, or lime or plaster of Paris, to form a semi-fluid
substance, which is poured into a close iron frame upon the hop bines
or other woody fibre and on the veneer and then subjected to great
pressure, the object being to use no more of the amalgam than is
necessary. I form keys for such cement coat or coats and use. the
piercings as described for the asphalt.
If desired to make the hop bines less inflammable I steep them in and
subject them to a pressure of rock alum.
The following are some of the amalgams I use for the purpose of
combining the hop bines or other woody fibre :-
1 part liquid glue,
1
دو
linseed oil,
1 hard varnish,
1
"
دو
pitch,
'boiled together with a small quantity of litharge or other oxide of lead,

page_text: 1/2 rock alum,
combined with cement as before.
Another combination consists of,-
1 part of gluc,
1
hard varnish,
"
1
"
pitch,
1 linseed oil,
"
litharge as before, boiled as before together, and having brimstone added
to make it of the required hardness, then combined with cement, lime,.
plaster of Paris, or such like matter as before.
These combinations and ingredients may be otherwise varied.
In all these cases the plastic composition obtained is used for the
combination of hop bine or similar woody fibre; it is subjected to
hydraulic or other suitable pressure to mould it into the required blocks
for flooring, steps, roofing, slabs, or other surfaces, and to be used
separately or in combination with thin layers of wood or other material.
By these means inexpensive and durable structures and flooring may
be obtained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Philip Pope in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
PHILIP POPE, of No. 8, King's Road, Gray's Iun, in the County of
Middlesex, Architect and. Surveyor, send greeting.,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Philip Pope, Her
special licence that I, the said Robert Philip Pope, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Philip Pope, 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 FORMATION OF WALLS, PARTITIONS, FLOORS, AND ROOFING
OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Philip Pope, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: But that the Invention may be better understood I will by the aid of
the accompanying Drawings procced to describe means pursued by me in
carrying the same into effect.
According to one part of my improvements I form walls for buildings
and other structures by a combination of concrete loam mixed with hop
bines or other fibrous material and Portland or other cement in the
following manner :-I put in a concrete foundation from a proper depth
to about 3 inches above the ground line; I then form concrete angle.
piers, door piers, and window, reveals of the required width in boxes.
An arrangement, according to this part of the Invention, is shown by
plan view, Figure 1, in which a represents one of the angle piers, and.
b, a door pier, and b', a window reveal; c are the temporary boards
represented by dotted lines forming boxes in which these piers have
been formed. These piers a, b, and b₁ thus formed are carried up any
distance required, say about 18 inches. I then enclose the space between
these piers with framework, d, d, of wood planking. This framework of
wood planking has pin holes formed through it to receive pins e
therein of 1 inches or 2 inches or thereabouts diameter. The frame-
work being thus applied is secured to suitable uprights ff. I then fill
up the space between the planking and the piers with well-kneaded
loam, or such like material, moistened with water and mixed with liop
bines, straw, or other fibrous material. I ram this loam or such like
material hardly and solidly into the space between the said framework.
This being done when the work is sufficiently dry I draw out the pins e, e,
and then remove the wood framing d, d, onwards, so as to place it in
position for forming a continuation of this loam wall.
between the piers I use as a core, and I dry it by exposure to the
atmosphere, the pin boles above mentioned greatly aiding the drying
process. When the core is sufficiently dry I refix the framing d, but at
a short distance, say about 2 inches more or less from the core, as repre-´
sented by Figure 3, and into this space g¹ I-pour Portland or other cement,
or I place the framing in such position as to ensure a coating to the
loam core to the required thickness, and also a filling up of the pin
holes. Each skin or coating of cement will thus be thoroughly tied
together. This process is continued by the removal and refixing of the
boarding or planking before mentioned, and the raising of the core, until
the required extent in length of wall or partition is completed. The
This loam wall

page_text: framing is then lifted, and the loam core therefor is formed as before,
and on the layer below the inner and outer coating of cement being also
added as before. The requisite openings for windows or otherwise
are kept by piers, as described, or by other suitable framing. The flues
are formed in cement or brickwork, or by pipes as is usual.
In order to obtain a better bedding for plates of timber, and also at
other intervals, I apply at such parts a layer of cement throughout
the entire thickness of the wall. I use the cement pure or mixed with
sand.
In lieu of the moulding frame referred to in respect of Figure 3
I sometimes use a hinged flap or flaps, so as to give a wider opening for
the putting in of the cement, and facility for forcing it into the pin
holes and against the sides. I also use vertical drifts for the more
effectually filling up of the pin holes.
I also form hollow walls of cement and sand, and obtain the desired
forms by temporary enclosing boards or surfaces applied to one or both
sides thereof. These temporary enclosing boards may for the time be
fixed so as to form a mould adapted to the thickness and form of the
desired wall, which is obtained by the cement being poured thércin in a
semi-fluid' state, as in the formation of ordinary concrete walls, or one or
both of these enclosing boards may be capable of turning as on hinges,
so as to fold up against the plastic substance, and thus compress it into
a more solid state, and give it form, as already stated. The facings thus
obtained are strengthened, and held correctly together by the application
of blocks or tie pieces at intervals between them. The corner piers and
door piers, if greater strength is required, are formed of concrete, as-
above described. I also use binding layers when and where necessary.
The process of raising these walls is similar to that already described. I
also form hollow walls by enclosing boards and the use of internal cores,
as indicated by the sectional plan views, Figures 4 and 5, where h repre-
sent the internal cores or the places of them and i the cement wall.
The enclosing boarding or case used in its formation is represented by.
the dotted lines d. The form of the cores, and consequently of the
tie parts of the wall, may be varied at discretion. The angle spaces and
the spaces against window and door reveals and angles I sometimes fill
up with ordinary lime or other rough concrete.
I also further sometimes form hollow walls by the use of cast cement
bricks, such bricks being cast and compressed in iron or other suitable

page_text: moulds, and joined to each other by being laid dry and grouted with
liquid cement, or cement and sand, at the completion of each course
of a required length. To facilitate the placing of these cement bricks I
use an outer and inner moveable frame somewhat similar to that already
described. The blocks are tied together transversely and longitudinally
by the respective blocks being formed with dovetail or scarfed joints
adapted to facilitate the binding of one to the other or otherwise.
Windows and door or other openings are arranged as before.
For the manufacture of floor slabs, partitions, steps to stairs, roofs,
and other surfaces I proceed as follows:-I take hop bine or other
similar woody fibre and tear it into pieces, and of proper lengths. Com-
paratively thin strands of from one to two inches in length I find to answer
well, though I do not confine myself thereto. I then well mix these
strands with asphalt or other similar bitumenous binding material and
sand, and then subject the compound to great pressure, so as to expel as
much as possible all superfluous asphalt or other binding material.
The hop bines or the similar fibrous material will thus form the core or
basis of such slab, and only such quantity of asphalt or other binding
material will be used as will be necessary to hold the basis together.
When I require this basis to be cemented or plastered I press it with a
plate having raised, crossed, or other bars or grooves or recesses thereon
forming the bed or mould with a similar plate; and, further, I pierce
such slab with a number of holes, so that the cement when applied on
the sides thereof will be held together by the cement passing through.,
The cement or plaster I either put on by hand in the usual way or cast
it in a mould and press it.
For the purpose of floors I use a veneer of wood thicker or thinner,
quarter or half an inch, rasping the surface to which the hop bines or
such like material and asphalt is to be applied, so as to form a key.
I then indent the under surface as before, so as to make a key for the
plaster or cement; the whole is then subjected to great pressure.
I sometimes use a centre or core of wood rasped as before; upon it
on either side I place the hop bines or fibre and asphalt, and I key the
asphalt as before, and drive holes so that the plaster or cement may
have a thorough tie.
I also sometimes use the following substances in making my amalgams

page_text: litharge as before, boiled as before together, and having brimstone
added to make it of the required hardness, then combined with cement,
lime, plaster of Paris, or such like matter as before.
These combinations and ingredients may be otherwise varied.
In all these cases the plastic composition obtained is used for the
combination of hop bine or similar woody fibre, and it is subjected to
hydraulic or other suitable pressure to mould it into the required blocks
for flooring, steps, roofing, slabs, or other surfaces, and it is used
separately or in combination with thin layers of wood or other
material.
By these means inexpensive and durable walls, partitions, flooring,
and roofing may be obtained, and such formations are also applicable
in the production of sea and river walls, paving, and other structures.
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details referred to, as they may be varied;
but what I claim is, the improvements in the formation of walls, par-
titions, floors and roofing of buildings, and the adaptation thereof to the
formation of other structures, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Philip Pope, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
DADT
תזזזחת
התבנד
ROBT. PHILIP POPE. (L.S.)