IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF ROOFS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Sharrock, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTION OF ROOFS."
Sealed the 15th June 1869, and dated the 3rd April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Sharrock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd April 1869.
I, SAMUEL SHARROCK, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Roors," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
sheet metal roofs.
In constructing roofs I form the covering of sheets of metal, using by
preference corrugated sheets so arranged as to be self-supporting, that is
to say, so that even for wide spans it shall not require the usual special
principals or frames with compression members to support it; I curve the
corrugated metal so as to arch over the width of the span. The radius

page_text: of the curve is made by preference about three-quarters of the span, and
the corrugations run from the spring of the arch on one side to the
corresponding point on the other side. Tie rods are fixed to the cor-
rugated metal covering and to each other at suitable intervals apart, and
the tie rods pass from the spring of the arch on one side to a corre-
sponding point on the other side. Examples are shown in the Drawings
annexed. Two, three, or more bars connect each tie rod to the corrugated
covering of the roof at suitable distances. In this way I form a thoroughly
braced roof, of which the corrugated covering serves as the compression
member, and which is adapted to carry a considerable load not only when
uniformly applied but also when applied wholly or mainly on one side,
so that this roof is little likely to be injured by heavy falls of snow or by
side wind.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Sharrock in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
SHARROCK, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Samuel Sharrock, Her special licence that I,
the said Samuel Sharrock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Samuel Sharrock, 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
Or Roors," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Samuel Sharrock, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, showed
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: 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 Samuel Sharrock, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The bars e, e,
Two, three, or
In the annexed Drawings a, a, are columns, and b, b, are beams
resting thereon and supporting the roof, they serve also as gutters. The
corrugated iron covering for the roof is marked c, it forms an arch, and
is fixed to angle irons on the upper flanges of the sides of the beams b,
which are suitably stiffened; d, d, are tie rods passing from the spring of
the arch on one side to a corresponding point on the other side; they are
attached to angle irons fixed to the sides of the beams b.
connect the corrugated covering c with the tie rods d.
more of these bars may be employed in connection with each tie rod d.
The Drawings Figures 1 and 2 represent four such bars in connection
with each tie rod, and the Drawings Figures 3 and 4 show six and eight
respectively. As a general rule as the span of the roof increases I employ
a greater number of the bars e. They are attached to angle irons fixed to
the corrugated covering c, and are jointed to the rods d, the depth of the
corrugations and the thickness of the metal of the covering sheets c may
advantageously be varied according as the span of the roof be smaller or
larger; thus for a span of 40 feet corrugations about one inch deep and
3 to 5 inches wide are very suitable, and the metal may be about
0.04 of an inch thick, whereas for the larger span of 60 feet it will be
desirable to increase the depth of the corrugations to about 1 inches,
and the width to five inches, thickness of the metal being about 0.05 of
an inch.
The distances between the tie rods and their substance or strength as
also the substance or strength of the rods d and e will be governed by
well understood rules applying to all roofs having similar parts.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim
is, the constructing roofs of corrugated sheet metal curved or arched in
such manner that the corrugations run from the spring of the arch on
one side to the corresponding point on the other side, such corrugated
sheet metal arch being combined through the medium of longitudinal

page_text: angle or tie-shaped bars called purlins, with tie rods passing from the
spring of the arch on one side to the corresponding point on the other
side, and with bracing bars, two, three, or more to each tie rod con-
necting the corrugated sheet metal covering with the tie rods and purlins
and in this manner enabling the sheet metal covering to be self-
supporting without the necessity of the usual special principals or
trusses.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Sharrock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
SAMUEL SHARROCK. (L.S.)