IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE HOUS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Potter Burt, of 2, Charlotte Row, in
the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE HOUSne
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Efenry Potter Burt
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th May 1853.
I, HENRY POTTER BURT, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE HOUSES" to be as follows:-
I construct portable houses in the following manner:-A number of
uprights are formed, each of two angle irons bolted or rivetted together,
with a piece of wood between them. Several of these uprights of equal
length are placed at equal distances apart, and are connected by strong
angle irons at top and bottom fixed to. them by bolts or screws or
rivets. To these uprights are attached slates or weather boarding, or
sheets of copper or zinc or iron, either plain or corrugated, or any of
the usual coverings which may be readily fixed by nails or screws to the

page_text: wood of the uprights. In this way the wall of a house is formed.
Four such walls connected together at the corners, and covered by
similar combinations of angle irons and covering, form a house of one
Doors and windows are formed by leaving out a portion of the
outside covering, and inserting suitable frames. A house of this sort
may be divided into two or more rooms by partitions constructed in a
similar manner to the outer walls, and secured to the uprights of the
outer walls. Floors are constructed of angle irons bolted or rivetted
together, with wood between them, and covered with sheet iron, stone,
slate, or boards, or other suitable covering, nailed or screwed to them.
I also make joists and rafters for floors and roofs of two pieces of flat
bar iron, with a piece or flitch of wood between them. I make such
flitch of wood thickest in the centre of the joist or rafter, and I taper
it off to the ends. I secure the iron bars to the wood by means of
rectangular hoops or straps embracing the whole. I nail flooring or
roofing boards or other covering to the wood flitches. Walls may also
be constructed in a similar manner. Where wood is employed I prefer
to have it prepared with the chloride of zine or other chemical solution
which diminishes its combustibility. Houses constructed in this
manner are very casily put together. As many of the parts as possible
are made of the same dimensions, so that they may be interchanged one
for another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Potter Burt in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 10th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY POTTER BURT, of 2, Charlotte Row, in the City of London,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Henry Potter Burt, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Potter Burt, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as F, the said Henry Potter
Burt, 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 PORTABLE HOUSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Potter Burt, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Potter Burt, do hereby
leclare 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 following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:
The Invention relates to the construction of portable houses by the
combination of wood and metal in manner herein-after described.
Figure 1, Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, is a side view
partly in section of a portable house constructed according to my
Invention. Figure 2, is a plan of the same, with part of the roof and
flooring removed. Figure 3, Sheet II. is a transverse section of the
same. The same letters refer to similar parts in all the figures. The
walls of the house consist of a series of uprights A, A, covered with
sheets of corrugated iron B, B. One of the uprights is shown in section
on a larger scale in Figure 4. It consists of two angle irons a, a, with
a piece of wood b, placed between them, and the whole united by bolts
and nuts or rivets. The covering sheets B, are fixed to the flanges of
the angle irons by bolts and nuts.
nailed or screwed to the wood b.
C, is a lining of boarding which is
D, is a piece of tee-iron, which is

page_text: fixed by bolts and nuts or rivets to the upper ends of the uprights.
The web of the tec-iron is notched or cut away at each upright. D', is
a similar tee-iron, which unites the uprights at the middle of their
height. E, E, are pieces of angle iron which connect the lower ends
of the uprights together. Figure 5, is an enlarged plan of the base
of one of the uprights. Figure 6, is a side view of the same; and
Figure 7, is an edge view of the base plate. The wood is removed from
between the angle irons a, a, of the upright which are secured by three
bolts and nuts to the vertical webs f, f', of the cast iron base plate F.
The angle iron E, is bolted to the web f, of the base plate, and both
the angle iron E, and the base plate F, are fixed by screws or bolts
and nuts to a wooden cill W, (Figures 1, 2, and 3,) which rests
upon the ground or upon brickwork, or other suitable foundation. The
ground floor is made of joists X, and flooring boards Y, in the ordinary
manner.
G, is a pieco of tee-iron connecting the upper ends of the uprights in
the gable end of the house. The angle irons a, a, of the uprights
terminate at this tee-iron, but the wooden part b, is carried up to the
roof, and serves for the attachment of the covering plates, which form
the upper part of the gable end. Z, is a partition constructed with
uprights of angle iron and wood like the outer wall, and covered with
boarding nailed or screwed to the uprights.
Doors and windows, with suitable frames of wood or iron, are
inserted between the uprights, where required.
.
The roof may be constructed in a similar manner to the sides or walls
of the building, the rafters being each made of two angle irous, with a
piece of wood between them. The covering may be bolted, rivetted,
nailed, or screwed to the rafters.
'
:
In the Drawings I have shown another construction of rafter, which
consists of a piece of wood c, between two flat plates of wrought iron d, d.
The wood is made taper or thicker at one end than at the other, and a
number of rectangular iron hoops e, are driven on so as to bind the
whole together. The covering plates are fixed to the wood by nails or
screws, or bolts and nuts, and boarding may be nailed or screwed to the
underside of the rafters, if desired.

page_text: Figure 8, is an enlarged view of portions of one of the principals of
the roof. d, d, are the flat iron plates of the rafters, and e; e, are the
rectangular hoops. The upper ends of the plates d, d, are bent, as
shewn in the plan Figure 2, and are bolted to, a flat iron bar H, which
forms the ridge piece of the roof. I, is a flat iron bar or tie rod, which
enters between the lower ends of the plates d, and with them is secured.
between the upper ends of the angle.irons a,. of the uprights by a single
bolt and nut. J, is a flat iron bar or king post, which is inserted,
between the upper end of one of the rafters and the ridge piece. H;
and secured by the same bolt or bolts which secure the rafter. The
lower end of the bar J, is twisted so as to bring its flat side against
the tie rod I, where it is fixed by a bolt and nut.
.
The covering which, I prefer to employ is galvanized sheet iron
corrugated to the form shewn in the Drawings. The sheets are made
to lap over one another, and are secured by small bolts and nuts or
rivets, as shewn at g; and h, in Figure 8. The exterior ridge of the
roof is formed by a piece of galvanised sheet iron K, bent over so as to
embrace the edges of the sheets of corrugated iron, and secured by small
bolts and nuts* .
"The joists of the upper floor are shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and on
a larger scale in Figure 9. They are constructed of two flat iron bars I, 1,-
with a tapering piece of wood m, between them. The piece of wood. is
made thickest in the centre, and tapers off to the ends. The whole is
secured by rectangular hoops'n, n, driven on from each end. The ends
of the joists enter between the angle irons, of the uprights, where they
are secured by two bolts and nuts. The wood of the uprights is cut
away or removed at the parts where the joists enter. The flooring
boards M, are nailed or screwed to the wood of the joists.
Figure 10, is a horizontal section of one of the corners of the house.
B, B, are the corrugated covering plates; and N, is the corner upright,
made of one strong angle iron. O, is a wooden corner pöst, which fills
up the space at the ends of the covering plates B, B. P, is a bent
plate of iron, which embraces and covers the corner of the building, and
is secured by bolts and nuts p, p, and straps Q. Figure 11, is a plan;
and Figure 12, is a sile view of the base plate at the-corner of the
.
:
"
•

page_text: house. R, is the base plate of cast iron, having a web 1, to which the
corner upright N, is secured by bolts and nuts or rivets. 3, is another
web cast upon the base plate, and serving to confine the lower end of
the corner plate P, shewn in Figure 10.
Although I have mentioned corrugated galvanized iron as being
employed for the outer covering of the house, and boarding as being
employed for the inner covering or lining, and for the floor, it is
obvious that other suitable materials, such as ordinary sheet iron or
copper or zinc, either plain or corrugated, or slate or stone, may be
employed for such purposes.
By constructing the uprights and the rafters and joists of wood and
iron combined, as herein-before described, great facility is afforded for
attaching boarding or other covering to them, and at the same time
they are rendered stronger and stiffer than they would be if the wood
were removed.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
what I claim is,-
Firstly, the construction of portable houses with uprights and joists,
composed of flat pieces of wood placed between two angle irons in
manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction of portable houses with rafters and joists,
composed of tapering pieces of wood placed between two flat bars of
iron, and secured by hoops in mauner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Potter Burt, have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane.
H. P. BURT. (LS.)