IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WROUGHT-IRON GIRDERS."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Homan, of the Grove, Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WROUGHT-IRON GIRDERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Homan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
October 1865..
I, JULIUS HOMAN, of the Grove, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WROUGHT-IRON GIRDERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
wrought-iron girders. Heretofore in constructing wrought-iron girders it has
been usual to construct the webs and flanges of sheet iron combined with
angle iron which are rivetted together, and which when using a given weight
of iron to produce a long and deep webbed girder the cost of the punching
and rivetting is very considerable, whilst the punching weakens the sheets and
the angle iron employed. Now my Invention has for its object the constructing
deep wrought-iron girders by employing iron rolled or formed into ordinary
:sections, and known as H and T iron; and my Invention consists in con-
.structing deep wrought-iron girders by combining two or more lengths of the
iron of the I section, one on the other, so that the flanges may be rivetted

page_text: together, thus, and the upper and lower flanges, or either of them, may be
strengthened by having one or more plates, rivetted thereto longitudinally,
thus
By these means very strong girders will be constructed, in each of
which there will be longitudinal ribs intermediate of the depth of the girder
where the flanges are rivetted together; these ribs may come to the central
line of the web of the girder, or by using sections of iron with different depths
of webs girders may be made having the projecting ribs at the sides away
from the centre of the depth of the web and more towards the top or bottom
flanges, thus . The iron may be rolled, with both flanges of the same
width and depth, or the flanges which are to form the top and bottom flanges
of a girder may be of a different width and depth than the other flanges
which in making a girder are to come and be rivetted together. In place of
using two irons of the I section in some cases in making a wrought-iron
girder one of such sections, and another of a section thus I may be used in
making a girder, thus . Generally a girder will consist of only two sections
of iron, one above the other, but more than two may be similarly used. It
is preferred, as far as may be, that there should be no vertical joints in a
girder, and that the iron should be rolled or formed of a length requisite for
the span where the girder is to be used, and it is preferred that where this
cannot be readily done that the ends of two or more lengths should be welded
together in order to obtain the requisite lengths of iron of the sections above-
mentioned; but in place thereof the ends may be connected by junction or
fish plates at the sides, and that the ends of the upper and lower lengths
should be arranged to break joint, and horizontal plates may be placed
between the flanges where they are rivetted to each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius Homan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
HOMAN, of the Grove, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, s
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Julius Homan, Her special licence that I, the said Julius
Homan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Julius Homan, 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 WROUGHT-IRON GIRDERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Julius Homan, 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 Julius Homan, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
wrought-iron girders. Heretofore in constructing wrought-iron girders it has
been usual to construct the webs and flanges of sheet iron combined with
angle iron which are rivetted together, and which when using a given weight
of iron to produce a long and deep webbed girder, the cost of the punching
and rivetting is very considerable, whilst the punching weakens the sheets and
the angle iron employed.
Now my Invention has for its object, the constructing deep wrought-iron
girders by employing iron rolled or formed into ordinary sections, and known
as H and. T iron, and my Invention consists in constructing deep wrought-iron
girders by combining two or more lengths of the iron of the I section, one on
the other, so that the flanges may be rivetted together thus +, and the upper
and lower flanges, or either of them, may be strengthened by having one or
more plates rivetted thereto longitudinally, thus, By these means very
strong girders will be constructed, in each of which there will be longitudinal ribs
intermediate of the depth of the girder where the flanges are rivetted together,
these ribs may come to the central line of the web of the girder, or by using
sections of iron with different depths of webs, girders may be. made having

page_text: the projecting ribs at the sides away from the centre of the depth of the web
and more towards the top or bottom flanges, thus . The iron may be
rolled with both flanges of the same width and depth, or the flanges which
are to form the top and bottom flanges of a girder may be of a different width
and depth than the other flanges, which in making a girder are to come and
be rivetted together. In place of using two irons of the I section, in some
cases in making a wrought-iron girder one of such sections and another of a
section thus may be used in making a girder, thus +. Generally a girder
will consist of only two sections of iron, one above the other, but more than
two may be similarly used. It is preferred as far as may be that there should
be no vertical joints in a girder, and that the iron should be rolled or formed
of a length requisite for the span where the girder is to be used, and it is pre-
ferred that where this cannot be readily done, that the ends of two or more
lengths should be welded together in order to obtain the requisite lengths.of
iron of the sections above mentioned, but in place thereof, the ends may be
connected by junction or fish plates at the sides, and that the ends of the
upper and lower lengths should be arranged to break joint, and horizontal
plates may be placed between the flanges where they are rivetted to each other,
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to debe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, shows an end elevation of a girder constructed according to my
Invention, consisting of two similar I-irons. a, a, two of their flanges being
rivetted together at b, and it is preferred that the rivets on either side of the
web should not come opposite to each other, but that the rivets in the two
rows should be interspaced. It is also preferred in all cases to fix one or
more plates of iron c on the top flanges longitudinally of a girder, and one or
more plates may with great advantage be fixed also at the. bottom flange of
the girder. When applying plates both at top and bottom of a girder I
usually employ twice the quantity at the top to what I apply to the bottom flange
of a girder, as is shown in Figure 1. By thus combining compound girders
of two bars of iron of this I section, one on the other, rivetted together very
greatly increased powers of sustaining weights are obtained, as compared with the
same two bars placed side by side or one on the other, and by applying plates
by rivetting them on the top and bottom flanges these powers of sustaining
weights are greatly increased, and the pressures of the loads applied are more
certainly retained and caused to act in the central vertical planes of the webs

page_text: of the girders, and this power of retaining the pressure of the loads in the
vertical central planes of the compound girders is materially assisted by the
ribs produced intermediate of the top and bottom flanges of a girder where
the bars of iron are rivetted together at b, b.
Figure 2 of the Drawing shows a beam where two bars of like iron, but
with different depths of webs are rivetted together to form a girder; and
Figure 3 shows a girder constructed by rivetting together the two flanges of
two bars of iron one of which only has two flanges whilst the other has but
one flange.
In the Figures of the Drawings above described the iron bars used in
constructing a combined or compound girder according to my Invention are
shown to have the flanges with like projection, and of like dimensions in their
cross sections, but the forms and dimensions of the flanges of the iron bars
may be varied, as for example, they may be of like projection, but those
flanges which come to the top and bottom of a combined or compound girder
may be made of more substance than the two which are rivetted together, as
shown in Figure 4, or the top and bottom flanges may be made to project to
a greater extent than the flanges which are combined together by rivetting,
as is shown in Figure 5, where great strength is given to the upper and lower
flanges a, a, as compared with the flanges a³ which are rivetted together,
and if desired the flange a¹ may be made of greater substance than the lower
flange a².
In the above description compound or combined girders according to my
Invention are shown to be composed of only two bars of I iron combined
together, one on the other, by rivetting their flanges, but where girders require
webs of considerable depths between the top and bottom flanges three or even
more bars of iron may be similarly made into a combined or compound girder
by rivetting their flanges together in the manner above explained, and as is
shown in Figure 6, and any desired strength of top and bottom flanges may
be obtained beyond what is presented by the solid flanges of the iron bars
used by fixing plates longitudinally by rivets on such flanges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Homan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JULIUS HOMAN. (L.S.)