AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ARCHES, ROOFS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS, AND WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ROBINSON PALMER, of Fludyer Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of November now
last past, did give and grant unto me, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, His
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry
Robinson Palmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times
thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ARCHES, ROOFS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS, AND
WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO OTHER USEFUL
PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and cause
the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited

page_text: Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Robinson Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and how the same is to be performed, is herein set forth and
ascertained by the following description, and also by the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My present Invention consists in combining, locking, or fastening together
plates of a curvilinear form, so as to produce either an arched, or waved, or
undulated surface, possessed of greater strength than a flat surface of the same
materials, which materials are clay or any other earthy compound or mixture
possessed of sufficient elasticity to admit of being moulded or otherwise
wrought into the required form or forms, and afterwards baked or otherwise
hardened, so as to give them that durability which is required for the purposes
intended, to the extent which has heretofore been produced in materials of the
same qualities or nature, also glass or any other vitriscent compound or
mixture which when .hot can be cast or moulded into the form or forms
required. The forms of the plates and other parts which are intended, when
combined, to constitute that which is my present Invention, are described as
follows, viz*:-
Fig. 1 represents a transverse section of a curvilinear plate. This curved
plate has on each side of it a flauch at A and B, which is for the connection
with the joint pieces or ribs hereafter described. C, D, represent projections,
which are intended to cover or protect the joint of the adjacent joint piece
or rib.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the curvilinear plate, in which the same letters refer to
the same parts as in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a curvilinear plate, seen also in connection
with another similar plate upon or against which it may rest. E represents an
overlap which covers the joint, and protects it from the admission of descending
water.
1
Fig. 4 represents a section of two curvilinear plates attached or connected
by a joint piece F. It is not necessary that the length of each joint piece be
defined, because it may be determined entirely by the convenience in forming
it. I, however, recommend that its length be one half that one of the
plates. The form or structure of the joint pieces may vary considerably,
according to taste, but their structure will generally correspond with one or
other of those which are represented in the Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, in which the
same letters refer to the same parts.

page_text: Fig. 8 represents the section of an arch or roof composed of a number of
curvilinear plates abutting against each other, and finally resting upon or
abutting against the copings or wall plates, or such other bearings as the
nature of the building or purpose of the arch may suggest. In the Drawing,
G, G, represents the upper part of two walls of a building; II, H, a course
of blocks composed of tile earth, and baked in the manner which is common
to blocks or tiles of similar dimensions. I, I, are courses similar to the
former, and composed of any of the most suitable of the materials described
in this Specification for the roof or arch itself, or they may be of stone or any
other material which the circumstances of its application may seem best
adapted. These upper courses, as shewn in the Drawing, are so moulded or
shapen as to have projections on the upper sides, as a, a, see also Fig. 11,
whose forms in the longitudinal direction correspond with the curvilinear or
waved or undulated form of the arch or roof which they are to support. The
upper side of each of the courses H, H, forms an obtuse vertical angle b, c, b;
and the under side of each of the courses I, I, forms an angle corresponding
with the former. The joints of the two courses are to be laid alternately,
and cemented together. d, d, represent bent straps or hooks of iron for
supporting the gutters, the shanks of which are inverted in the joint between
the two courses before described. The horizontal thrust of the arch may be
resisted, either by external buttresses or walls, or by internal ties. The former
being too common to need description, I shall only describe one means of
executing the latter. K, K, is a bar of wrought iron, having at each end
a dovetail shank, the plan of which is. represented in Fig. 9. These shanks
have projections on the upper and under sides, as e, e, e, e, and are to be
inserted between the two courses, in which proper recesses are to be prepared
for their reception. The number of these ties, and their dimensions, and the
materials of which they may be composed, may vary according to the circum-
stances; and it is obvious that although I have described one kind the parti-
culars are susceptible of a great variety of modifications. To construct an
arch or roof with the parts herein described, a frame or centreing will be
necessary, the form of which must correspond with that of the intended arch;
and I recommend that such frame or centreing be formed with grooves for the
reception of the joint pieces, which may be laid therein successively as the arch
is built. The length of the centreing need not extend through the whole
length of the arch to be erected, but only so far as to include so much of the
arch as will remain secure after the centering is removed. The centering will
therefore be removed as the successive portions of the arch are completed. I
do not require any particular dimension of the parts of which the roof or

page_text: arch is to be composed; but I recommend that the joint pieces be of such
lengths and so arranged that they shall break joint or alternate with the joints
of the curved plates. To secure all the parts permanently together, and to
render the arch or roof impervious to water, it will be necessary to use a
cement in all the joints, which should be of such a nature as to be affected
by heat as nearly as possible in the same degree as the materials to which
it may be applied. The cement which has an earthen basis will therefore
be preferable. That which I recommend is composed of lime and bullocks'
blood, the making of which is already understood.
Fig. 10 is a plan of an arch or roof constructed in the manner described.
The same letters refer to the same parts, as in the other Figures.
The other useful purposes to which my Invention is applicable are those
to which the combination herein described can be adapted, either with a view
to economy or beauty, but which form no part of arch or roof, but which
constitute the external or internal walls of buildings.
To apply my Invention to such purposes, the joint pieces and the corre-
sponding plates will be erected vertically, and, resting on a foundation wall or
sleeper, will be, enclosed in the general framework of the building, or between
piers or buttresses, so that the plates when combined, as before described, will
resemble or constitute panels in the general structure. The only difference
in the formation of the parts, the combination of which is thus applicable,
consists in the plates and joint pieces being made straight in the direction of
their length, instead of being made to correspond with the form of an arch..
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four