IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cheetham Hill, of Stalybridge, in the County
of Lancaster, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS."
Sealed the 11th February 1862, and dated the 17th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cheetham Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
August 1861.
I, HENRY CHEETHAM HILL, of Stalybridge, in the County of Lancaster,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in making the beams, girders, columns,
and other parts employed in the construction of buildings, hollow, for the
purpose of containing water or other liquid, and in connecting these beans,
girders, columns, and other parts so that the water or other liquid with which
they are filled may circulate therein or be renewed when required. By this
means, in case of fire in the building the main supports can never become so
hot as to be injured or weakened by the results of heat.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cheetham Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CHEETHAM HILL, of Stalybridge, in the County of Lancaster, Manager,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Cheetham Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Cheetham
Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Cheetham Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
tine 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 CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS,"
upon the condition (aniongst
others) that I, the said Henry Cheetham Hill, my executors or adminis
trators, 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 Henry Cheetham Hill, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in making the beams, girders, columns,
and other parts employed in the construction of buildings, hollow, for the
purpose of containing water or other liquid, and in connecting these beams,
girders, columns, and other parts so that the water or other liquid with which
they are filled may circulate therein or be renewed when required.
By this
means, in case of fire in the building, the main supports can never becomo so
bot as to be injured or weakened by the results of heat.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means persued by me, reference

page_text: being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through part of a fire-proof building to which
my improvements are applied. a, a, are hollow beams or girders, which are
made of cast or wrought iron and are supposed to be supported at each end in.
the outer walls of the building. At one end or in any other convenient part,
these beams are connected by the branch pipes-b, b, to the vertical pipes c, c,
which are supplied with water or other liquid by the service pipe d. At or
near the other ends of the beams a, a, are the branch pipes e, e, shewn in one
place in dotted lines. These branch pipes connect the beams a, a, to the
vertical pipes f,f, the upper ends of which are open and discharge the surplus
water into the gutter of the roof or other convenient place. From this
arrangement of hollow beams and pipes it will be apparent that a complete
circulation is effected, and that in case of a fire occurring in the building, the
beams can never become so hot as to be injured or weakened.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of part of a fire-proof building constructed
according to my improvements. In this arrangement the hollow beams a, a,
are supported at one end by the columns g, which are supplied with water by
the service pipe d. The columns are connected to the beams a, a, by the
branch pipes h, h, the ends of the beams near the side walls are connected by
the pipes f, f, the beams of the upper storey being provided with discharge
pipes opening into the gutter of the roof or otherwise to allow for the
overflow.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a fire-proof building constructed according to
another modification of my improvements. In this case the hollow beams a, a,
are supported by the side walls as in Fig. 1, and the partition walls i, i, are of
brick or other materials, in which the door frames k, to be hereafter described,
are built; the water is supplied to the beams a, a, and door frames k, k, by
suitable pipes connected to the service pipe d.
Fig. 4 is a front view, Fig. 5 an edge view, and Fig. 6 a section of a fire-
proof door or shutter constructed according to my improvements, such doors
or shutters being suitable for the partitious shewn in Fig. 3, or in any other
situation. The frame k consists of hollow, cast, or wrought-iron posts and sills
furnished with water through the supply pipe l, and provided with a discharge
pipe f. The door itself is marked m, and is also hollow to contain water,
which is supplied to it in the following manner :-The hinge is a pipe n, the
ends of which pass through stuffing boxes o, o, in the chambers p,p, both of
which are screwed to the door frame and in connection with it by holes, so
that the water from the door frame can pass through the chambers p, p, to the

page_text: pipe n, and thence to the door m through the passages q. The hinge pipe n passes
through the sockets r, r, which may also be made hollow to receive water
from the door frame k, and a shoulder is formed on or fixed to the pipe n,
near the lower socket, to support the door when open. Or the stuffing boxes o, o,
may act as hinges by making holes in the sides of the pipe n, and allowing its
lower end to bear on the bottom of the lower chamber p, thus dispensing with
the sockets r, r.
Fig. 7 is a section partly in perspective, of a fire-proof chamber (or safe of
large dimensions constructed according to my improvements, and furnished
with a fire-proof door similar to that shewn in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The partitions
or walls are hollow to contain water, which is supplied through the pipe l, and
allowed to flow off at f.
It will be apparent that in fire-proof buildings constructed according to my
improvements, the pipes, columns, beams, girders, or other parts through
which the water circulates may, by the application of taps, also be used for
supplying water where required, and in some cases, by supplying the service
pipe with hot water, the building may be heated, thus dispensing either wholly
or partially with the ordinary water pipes and the steam pipes hitherto
employed for heating.
Other modifications might be given to illustrate my Invention, but the fore-
going will be sufficient, as it will be seen that the main feature consists in so
connecting the hollow beams, girders, columns, doors, shutters, and other parts
of buildings, that a perfect circulation of water or other liquid may be estab-
lished therein, by which means, in case of fire, the main supports of the
building can never become so hot as to be injured or weakened by the
results of heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Cheetham Hill, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
HENRY CHEETHAM HILL. (L.S.)