Improvements in Building Construction.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left 26th Oct. 1891-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Building Construction.
I, William HeNRY MUNNS, of Victoria Chambers, 55 and 56 Chancery Lane,
in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by George Fitch, of Lenox,
Massachusetts, U.S.A. Gentleman,) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in building construction.
By this invention the floor joists are longitudinally trussed, and provided with
longitudinal brace-pieces, and an independent ceiling joist is provided which has
also longitudinal braces, and is arranged between the floor-joists, and projects
slightly below the latter. The floor joists are isolated by suitable sound deadening
devices, for that purpose provided.
W. H. MUNNS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Building Construction.
1, WILLIAM HENRY MUNNS, of 106, 107, and 108, Victoria Chambers, Chancery
Lane, in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by George Fitch, of Lenox,
Massachusetts, U.S.A. Gentleman,) and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in the construction of buildings of various
kinds; and one of the objects of the invention is to so arrange the parts thereof
that they will not readily transmit shocks, jars, or noises from one apartment to
another.
A further object is to improve the structures so that the requisite strength can
be obtained at the slightest cost and at the same time the transmission of noises can
be prevented.
For the purpose of carrying out these objects my invention consists in the
various constructions and arrangements of parts hereinafter more particularly set
forth.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side view illustrating my floor-joist adapted to be applied to a
floor and ceiling of an apartment in a house.
Fig. 2 is a similar view at right angles to the first.
Fig. 3 shows my invention applied to a partition wall, and
Fig. 4 shows another and extended application of my invention.
Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the joist resting on the sills out of contact
with the side wall of the house.
It is well known that in the construction of buildings as usually made there is
great liability to annoyance from the transmission of sounds or noises from one
room to another, and especially is this true in the transmission of sounds from a
room above to a room below. To overcome this objection many devices and
arrangements have been suggested, all of which, so far as I am aware, embody a
considerable expenditure of money and time in their construction. More than that,
they usually result in making a thick partition-wall between the two rooms,
occupying considerably more space than the ordinary flooring, and consequently
TD 17

page_text: increasing the cost of the building. 1. avoid these objections to a great extent in
the construction herein described.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of my invention consists in a floor-joist
which is strengthened or trussed by braces secured to one or both sides thereof.
Thus in the drawings, A represents a floor-joist which may be of any suitable
width and thickness according to the length thereof and for the purposes for which
the building is to be used. It is common to use comparatively heavy floor-joists
which in themselves are strong enough to support the floor, and to stay them by
bridging or cross-braces from one joist to the other to prevent them from moving
laterally. I have found, however, that by applying the braces a to one or both
sides of the floor-joists in the manner shown that is, extending them diagonally
from edge to edge-I can use a very much lighter floor-joist to sustain the same
amount of weight than in the usual construction. Moreover, this construction is
very much cheaper than a joist having the same amount of strength cut in onc
piece. The braces running diagonally across the sides of the joists tend to
strengthen the joists, not only against vertical flexion, but to a great extent against
lateral flexion, and the ordinary bridging between the adjacent joists is therefore
avoided. Sometimes I bring the ends of the braces a adjacent to each other near
the middle of the joist, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, the other ends of the
braces extending to the lower edges of the joist near its ends. When, however,
the joist is long, I have found it convenient to apply a straight portion a to the
middle portion of the joist and to place the diagonal braces a at the ends of
the joist.
This construction of floor-joists not only aids in strengthening the joists, so as
to more properly support the floor, but admits of the second feature of my invention,
which consists in the use of similar joists B, preferably provided with the braces !,
for supporting the ceiling of the room below. These joists are arranged inter-
mediate between the floor-joists with their tops a little below the tops of the floor-
joists and their bottoms extending slightly below the bottoms of the floor-joists, so
that there is no communication between the floor-joists and the ceiling-joists. I
have found that in this construction it is not necessary to use as many ceiling-joists
as there are floor-joists, and the ceiling-joists may be arranged at equidistance apart
and in some instances at every other space between the floor-joists. They may
also be made thinner or of less width than the floor-joists, as they have but little
weight beyond their own to support and are entirely independent of the floor or
any weight that may be thereon, so that it is only necessary to make them of
sufficient strength to prevent sagging of the ceiling. These ceiling-joists may
extend an inch (more or less) lower than the floor-joists, so that but a trifle more
space is taken up by this combined arrangement than when the ceiling is secured
directly to the floor-joists.
In the drawings it will be seen that the ceiling-joists rest directly upon the cross-
bars C, secured to the studding G. The floor-joists, however, are preferably
separated therefrom by some sound-deadening device or non-conductor of sound,
as D, which may be a block of india-rubber or similar material, and the ends of
the joists should not come in contact with the covering of the house or any other
timber in the walls, and thus the floor-joists and the floor thereon are completely
isolated from the walls of the building, so that the sound will not be transmitted
from the floor thereto.
In some instances, especially where there is heavy and noisy machinery upon the
upper floor, I have found it desirable to lath and plaster on top of the furring of
the ceiling as well as on the under side. Thus in Fig. 2 the furring E is shown
applied directly to the ceiling-joists, and the laths e and el are applied on both
sides of the furring, and the plaster and f' is placed above and below the
lathing. It is evident that in this construction the ceiling will be less liable to
crack or become injured from any sagging or vibration transmitted to the floor
than when the ceiling is connected directly to the floor-joists.
In putting up the studding or partition-walls between the rooms the same general

page_text: principle may be carried out as illustrated in Fig. 3 in which alternate studs G G¹
are arranged slightly out of line with each other and the laths on each side are
attached to every alternate stud leaving a slight space between the intermediate
studs and the laths on each side. In this way there is no connection between the
two faces of the partition, and sound will not be transmitted thereby, there
being practically two separate walls between the two adjacent rooms, and the
thickness of the wall is only increased about an inch more than in the common
construction.
Sometimes it is desirable to have a double wall, providing space for a sliding
door H, as indicated in Fig. 4. In this construction the sliding door H is hung
upon one of the portions of the double partition, as 1, while the other portion J
may be provided with a swinging door K, and thus a complete double partition
separating the two adjacent rooms is furnished.
From the above description the general principles of my invention will be
understood, and it is evident that it may be applied in many and various ways to
adapt it to the general plan or construction of the particular structure in which
it is used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :
1. In a building, the combination, with the floor-joist provided with longitudinal
brace-pieces, of the independent ceiling-joist also provided with longitudinal braces
and arranged between the floor-joists and projecting slightly below the latter,
substantially as described.
2. In a building, the combination, with the longitudinally-trussed floor-joists, of
the independent ceiling-joists arranged between the floor-joists, the floor-joists being
isolated by sound-deadening devices, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of October 1891.
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicant.