IMPROVE- MENTS IN BEAMS APPLICABLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES, AND ALSO FOR THE FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF HOUSES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho, of 61,
Moorgate Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BEAMS APPLICABLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES, AND OTHER
STRUCTURES, AND ALSO FOR THE FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF HOUSES."
Sealed the 4th December 1860, and dated the 5th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Antonio Joaquim Pereira
de Carvalho at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition on the 5th June 1860.
I, ANTONIO JOAQUIM PEREIRA DE CARVALHO, of. 61, Moorgate Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BEAMS APPLICABLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND
OTHER STRUCTURES, AND ALSO FOR THE FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF HOUSES," to be
as follows:
This Invention has for its object improvements in beams applicable in the
construction of bridges and other structures, and also for the floors and
ceilings of houses. For these purposes I form a chain of a series of links of
wrought iron or other material. On the upper side of each link or on a number
of links placed side by side a block of wood or other material is fixed. These
links are connected together side by side and end to end by rods passing
through the ends of the links.. The blocks mounted on the links are
of such a size that their ends come in contact and bear the one on the other

page_text: when the chain is laid out flat so that if the ends of a chain so constructed
be laid on two bearings with a space between them, the chain will remain as
a beam or girder spanning the interval between the bearings. Ou a beam so
formed a paving may be laid, or a structure erected, or for the floors of houses
or pavement of bridges the blocks attached to the links of the chain and
which fit closely together may form the finished surface of the floor or pave-
ment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 5th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTONIO
JOAQUIM PEREIRA DE CARVALHO, of 61 Moorgate Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho, Her special licence that I, the said
Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho,
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
BEAMS APPLICABLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND OTHER STRUCTURES,
AND ALSO FOR THE FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF HOUSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho,
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 Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof (that is to say):-
This Invention has for its object improvements in beams applicable in the
construction of bridges and other structures, and also for the floors and
ceilings of houses. For these purposes I form a chain of a series of links of
wrought iron or other material on the upper side of each link, or on a number
of links, placed side by side, a block of wood or other material is fixed; these
links are connected together side by side, and end to end, by rods passing through
the ends of the links. The blocks mounted on the links are of such a size
that their ends come in contact and bear the one on the other when the chain
is laid out flat so that if the ends of a chain, so constructed, be laid on two
bearings with a space between them, the chain will remain as a bearer or
girder spanning the interval between the bearings. On a beam so formed
a paving may be laid or a structure erected; or for the floors of houses, or
pavement of bridges, the blocks attached to the links of the chain, and which
fit close together, may form the finished surface of the floor or pavement.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, and have attached to these presents two Sheets of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and marked with numeral figures and letters
of reference corresponding with the following description:
:-
The mechanism is composed of similar pieces having the external appearance
of large chests of which Figure No. 1 is a view of the sides, and Figure No. 2
is the front view. These pieces should have a necessary resisting force
whether they be made of iron, wood, or any other material. When I say iron
or wood it should be understood any material whatever which can be employed.
Two or more frames are placed inside Figure No. 3 which must be exactly alike
and firm, and a part of the extremities of their cross pieces A, A, A, A, Figure
No. 3, should enter into the lateral and interior part of the pieces or chests, so
that the beams may be placed upon the upper and lateral part of the frames.
These beams, one of which is exhibited at Figure No. 4, should fill up on each
side the space unoccupied between the chest and the rest of the extremities
of the cross pieces of the frames A, A, as at Figures Nos. 2 and 5. If the
frames are of wood, the notches should be less deep, but wider as at Figure
No. 6, A, A. If the frames be of iron, as at Figure No. 3, they may have the
quantity of cross pieces A, A, A, A, at Figure No. 3, and of props B, B, at
Figure No. 3, that is preferred in any convenient form, leaving in the beams
the necessary mortices for the upper cross pieces of the frames to be inserted
in them. The interstices of the cross pieces should be furnished with tubes

page_text: inserted in the aforesaid cross piece of iron. On the lower part, and in the
lateral spaces which the frames leave between them, small beams should be
placed on each side as at Figure No. 8, to produce the counter pressure and
resistance of the aforesaid frames. If bars of iron be placed in the middle
of the frames in this case small beams must also be placed there at the height
of the lower cross pieces. The small beams should be fixed to the lower cross
pieces of the frames to receive or present the counter resistance against the
iron bars. When the frames are of wood the small beams must be shorter
and have at their extremities the shape that is seen in Figure No. 19. The
extremities of the props of the frames may be simple, or hooks may be applied
to them as at A, Figure No. 7 with a ring B to receive the cross pieces of
the braces, of which mention will be made further on. On the lower and
lateral part of the pieces, and also in the internal centre of them, if desirable,
and under the lower cross pieces of the frames, bars of iron should be placed
as at Figure 9, forming a hinge, and in a quantity proportionate to the strength
which it is desirable to give to the structure. These iron bars may have at their
extremities either holes as at Figure 21, or curvatures as at Figure 9, so that
they may be respectively jointed together, and longitudinally, either by means
of screws or bolts or any other instruments serving as the pin or fulcrum of
the hinge. The pieces or chests should be held together by external braces
of which the pieces at Figure No. 10 have to be placed on the sides, and
the others at Figure No. 20 above and below. These pieces joined together,
four by four, form the braces. If the frames be of iron different forms may
be given to their respective props, as for instance is seen in the Figures
No. 3, 11, 12, or 24, in order to introduce into the holes not only the cross
pieces of the frames, but also those of the braces. In this manner the pieces
or chests, and their different constituent parts, are held together as is seen by
combining Figures Nos. 1, 2, and 3. The curved ends of the iron bars A, A,
at Figure No. 9, should be placed facing the upper part of the pieces in order
that they may embrace the lower and external part of the frames against the
small beams applied to the aforesaid frames. The centre of the holes in the
iron bars should coincide with the lower part of the pieces and beams as fat
Figures No. 1, 4, and 6, when the structure is to be horizontal or diagonal.
By this means if the lower part of the chests be of the same length as the
beams they will shew each by itself half of the holes of the iron bars which
are applied to the pieces B, B, B, at Figure No. 1. The shapes of the
pieces joined together will depend upon the shape of the aforesaid pieces,
that is to say, the structure may be either rectilinear or curvilinear, or have
auy other different form according to the angles that the extremities of each

page_text: a
of their constituent pieces may form whether such angles be right, acute, or
obtuse. Figures Nos 5, 18 and 14, united shew a conjoined shape of three
pieces constructed with right angles. The second piece, Figure No. 13, shuts
against the first, Figure No. 5; the third, Figure 14, shuts against the second
Figure No. 13; and so on to the end. If the construction cannot be continued in
right line it will be necessary to raise pillars in number equal to the different
directions to be followed, and also when the structure is of great length. I
call the structure a jointed architrave, and I can vary their number according
to the width of the edifice, aqueduct, bridge, or other building to be constructed;
and upon this may be placed, the pavement tubes, and in short all the
apparatus necessary for the said building. If it be desirable to give more
solidity to the jointed architraves, and above all, when the structure requires it,
one or more cables of copper or of any other material; or chains of iron may
be placed in the central and upper interstice of the frames A at Figure No. 2,
and said cables should pass under the upper cross pieces of the frames.
These cables or chains do not sway because they should rest upon a bed
which should be placed there for that purpose. The cables or chains should
be attached to pillars placed at the extremities of the structures, only leaving
exposed the necessary part to attach to horizontally; the same organization
is to be adopted with respect to intersectional directions. Underneath at the
sides, in the centre, and in whatever part of the pieces it may be deemed
desirable by means of the cross pieces of the frames, and braces, flat bars
represented at Figures Nos. 21 and 22 may be intertwined so as to give more
strength to the mechanical architraves, as for instance is represented in the
Figures Nos. 5, 13, and 14. In the same manner they may be arranged
diagonally as is for instance also represented in Figures Nos. 26 and 27. The
lower edges of the extremities of the pieces may be made either square
or bevilled as at Figure No. 1, c, c, to facilitate the introduction of the
bolts which form the pins of the hinges, but if the pieces are rectan-
gular it will be necessary to have supporting bars with the curvatures
alternately reversed as at Figures Nos. 17 and 18; Figure No. 16, is a
supporting bar. In this manner the perfect union of the pieces will be made
without the least obstacle, since the holes of the suspension bars are completely
free from the body of the pieces, thus producing a supplementary hinge solely
for suspension by which the placing of the mechanical architraves will be
effected in sections. By section is to be understood junction of several pieces
previously united the one to the other, seeing that one of the joined architraves
may be placed and formed of one or many sections.
In structures where great solidity is desirable, the pieces of the extremities

page_text: of the jointed architraves, and also the pieces that are placed at the required
distances in the different intersectional directions must be of solid iron, stone,
or other material of great tenacity, the necessary bed being made for placing
the bars of iron beneath, such pieces requiring to be braced by braces that will
not allow the bars of iron to get out of their respective bed. By the same
principle of binges I can also employ beams united by means of braces and
iron bars, and to avoid the sliding of the beams, stops will be placed or
mortices will be made for the necessary firmness. Jointed or mechanical
architraves can only be used in a skeleton form, which then are very much
simplified, and offer a very superior resistance. For this it is only necessary
to employ the pieces seen in detail in Figures Nos. 4, 9, 11, 20, 21, 22, 24,
and 25, and with their respective dimensions will be employed to obtain every
possible combination and permutation, as for instance two are seen in Figures
Nos. 26 and 27. The beams at Figure No. 4 are placed upon the two
upper cross pieces in their lateral spaces in the manner seen in Figures Nos.
2, 5, 12, and 14, and with the indeterminate quantity of holes in the props
or uprights are to be made the aforesaid combinations and permutations
in the structures, or jointed or mechanical architraves. The beams at Figure
No. 4 instead of being of solid wood may be substituted by hollow or artificial
beams as is seen in the Figures Nos. 26 and 27. Two boards or plates of iron
are placed on edge and parallel to each other at the lateral extremity of the
spaces which ought to be occupied by the beams. These boards or plates
can be attached to the cross pieces by holes A, A, at Figure No. 23 or by
mortises as is seen at A, A, Figure No. 4. In these boards or plates holes
should be made to receive the cross pieces of the small supplementary braces
which should be placed in the boards or plates at convenient distances. Both
the large and small holes should be placed in such a manner that a right line
drawn over the upper arc of the holes of each board or plate A, A, at Figure
No. 23 may form a tangent to all the holes. This arrangement is necessary
since upon the large and little cross pieces at the height of the tangent and
between the boards or plates on edge another plank is to be placed to serve as
a bottom which will have to support small boxes, tubes or any combination
which may answer the purpose of sustaining another board or plate forming
the lid of the other three, fitting perfectly into the two lateral ones, and thus
forming a regular parallelopiped which may be embraced without leaving in
the joints the least gap. The board or plate which forms the lid must have
at its extremities a folding flap which must shut down upon the ends of each
artificial beam, closing the ends of the united planks and extending a little
beyond them, so that when the pressure acts upon the jointed architraves it

page_text: may be supported by the general meeting of all the pieces, and by the con-
tinuous resistance of all the ends against each other.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my
said Invention of improvements in beams applicable in the construction of
bridges and other structures, and also for the floors and ceilings of houses,
together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I hereby declare my
Invention to consist in, and I claim the mechanical arrangement and com-
bination of parts or pieces above described and represented by the accom-
panying Drawings with its possible permutations, and especially I claim the
hinging together of the said parts or pieces so as to form an articulated
compound beam or mechanical architrave up to the present time unknown,
which is capable of supporting a considerably greater weight than simple
beams or other similar supports as heretofore constructed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antonio Joaquim Pereira de Carvalho,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
ANTONIO JOAQUIM PEREIRA DE CARVALHO. (L.S.)