IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORTIFICATIONS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Brown, Chairman of the Firm of John Brown
and Company, Limited, of Sheffield, in the County of York, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORTIFICATIONS."
Sealed the 29th October 1867, and dated the 2nd May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Brown at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd May
1867.
I, JOHN BROWN, Chairman of the Firm of John Brown and Company,
Limited, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORTIFICATIONS,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the construction of land and sea
batteries, by simplifying the combination of the armour plates by which
they are faced in such wise that a same section of stab or plate may be
used for fortifications differing in shape or magnitude, and that all the usual
modes of attaching armour plates such as screws, bolts, and rivets are
dispensed with, the result of these improvements being increased strength and
great economy.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing forming part of this my Provisional
Specification, Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of part of a fortification con
structed according to my Invention, and Fig. 2 a vertical section. at
A, B, Fig. 1; A, indicating armour plates; B, beams receiving armour

page_text: plates; C, à glacis or deflection plate; D, embrasure. I propose to form the
beam B (by rolling or otherwise) with grooves c, d, which may be
rectangular or beveled to suit the shape of the proposed fort or battery,
whether polygonal, circular, oval, or other.
The armour plates or slabs A will according to my proposed method of
construction in no case require any curvature, the end hitherto attained by the
curvature of the plates being in this Invention obtained by the grooves in the
beams B. Any degree of inclination or batter may be given to the structure
by beveling either the edges of the plates or tapering the beams, and by
reversing the taper of a beam at intervals, and driving this beam of reversed
taper downwards a great degree of rigidity may be produced in the structure
without the use of bolts. The object of the plate C is to deflect any shot
which might otherwise strike the concrete forming part of the bomb-proof
roof in a land fortification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st
October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN BROWN,
Chairman of the Firm of John Brown and Company, Limited, of Sheffield, in
the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Brown, Her special licence that I, the said John Brown,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Brown, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF FORTIFICATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Brown, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing 'under 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

page_text: 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 John Brown, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawing, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the construction of land and sea
batteries by simplifying the combination of the armour plates by which they
are faced, in suchwise that a same section of slab or plate may be used for
fortifications differing in shape or magnitude, and that all the usual modes of
attaching armour plates, such as screws, bolts, and rivets are dispensed with,
the result of these improvements being increased strength and great economy.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing Figure 1 is a horizontal section
of part of a fortification constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2
a vertical section of the same at A, B, Figure 1.
A, indicating armour plates; B, beams receiving armour plates; C, a glacis
or deflection plate; D, embrasure. I form the beams B (by rolling or other-
wise) with grooves c, d, which may be rectangular or beveled to suit the shape
of the proposed fort or battery whether polygonal, circular, oval, or other.
The armour plates or slabs A will according to my method of construction in
no case require any curvature, the end hitherto attained by the curvature of
the plates being in this Invention obtained by the grooves in the beams B.
Any degree of inclination or batter may be given to the structure by beveling
the edges of the plates, or by tapering the beams and by reversing the taper
of a beam at intervals, and driving this beam of reversed taper downwards a
great degree of rigidity may be produced in the structure without the use of
bolts. The beams B are set in and backed with concrete, or connected with
the masonry of the fort or the timbers of the floating battery in any suitable
manner, and the plates A driven down the grooves c, d, as in pile driving, or
set in the grooves in any convenient manner, and may be further tightened up
by reversing the taper of one or more beams, as already described. The object
of the glacis plate C is to deflect any shot which might otherwise strike the
concrete forming part of the bomb-proof roof in a land fortification.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly understood that
I do not confine myself to any particular sections of plate or beam, nor to any
precise spacing of the beams, or to any particular form of groove, neither do
I employ any special backing whether for land or sea batteries, or any special

page_text: quality or description of metal for plates or beams; but what I claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
the combination of the armour plates of land and sea batteries by wedging
them in grooved beams, the formation of the grooves being regulated by the
section of the plates and the shape to be given to the proposed fortification,
by which method a same section of plate may be used for fortifications differing
in shape or magnitude and all the ordinary fastenings are dispensed with, and
I further claim the exclusive use of the glacis or deflection plate C, for the
purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Brown, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JOHN BROWN, KNT. (L.S.)