A NEW CON- STRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF BUILDINGS."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Colton Dennett, of Nottingham, in the
County of Nottingham, Builder, for the Invention of "A NEW CON-
STRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF BUILDINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Colton Dennett at.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1857.
I, CHARLES COLTON DENNETT, of Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham,
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a construction of floors and ceilings which may be
executed at a saving of full twenty-five per cent. on any plan of construction of
a floor and ceiling at present in use in this country.
This Invention consists of arches composed of the sulphate of lime, and
an artificial pouzzolana, further strengthened with lamina of wood or iron,'
which arches form both floor and ceiling in one substance, resting upon brick
projections and walls, wood beams, or wrought or cast iron joists; in this latter
case it has the advantage of being a fire-proof construction.
By this Invention the cost of the dwellings for the working classes would bo.
materially reduced in the first place, and the cleanliness of the dwelling very'

page_text: much promoted in the second place, becase there would be no harbour for
vermin or filth as there is now between the floors and ceilings in the ordinary
construction now in use; and, lastly, such dwellings would be fire-proof as
regards the floors and ceilings without additional cost.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Colton Dennett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COLTON DENNETT, of Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham, Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give.and grant unto me, the said Charles
Colton Dennett, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Colton Dennett,
any executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Colton Dennett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "A NEW CON-
STRUCTION OF FLOORS AND CEILINGS OF BUILDINGS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Colton Dennett, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Charles Colton Dennett, 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:-
A new construction of floors and ceilings by the invention of a plastic arch,
which may be executed at a saving of full 25 per cent. on any plan of con-
struction of a floor and ceiling at present in use in this country. This
Invention consists of arches composed of the sulphate of lime and an

page_text: artificial pouzzolana of burnt clay or porous cinders, further strengthened with
Jamina of wood or iron, which arches form both floor and ceiling in one sub-
stance, resting upon brick projections and walls, wood beams, or wrought or
cast iron joists; in this latter case it has the advantage of being a fire-proof
construction.
By this Invention the cost of dwellings for the working classes would be
materially reduced in the first place, and the cleanliness of the dwelling very
much promoted in the second place. because there would be no harbour for
vermin or filth as there is now between the floors and ceilings in the ordinary
construction now in use; and, lastly, such dwellings would be fire-proof as
regards the floors and ceilings without additional cost.
Some of the uses of the economic plaster arch illustrated by the accom-
panying Diagrams.
A shews the most economic construction of a cottage floor and ceiling for a
room twelve feet wide with only one wood beam, and is fire-proof on the upper
side, and is much stronger than the ordinary construction; B shews the same
construction with an iron beam, thereby rendering it completely fire-proof;
C shews the same construction for a room seventeen feet wide; D shows the
construction of an ordinary floor and ceiling, in which the plastic arch is used
between the joists to prevent the communication of sound from one apartment
to another, supported by a strip of wood of an inch square nailed to the side
of the joists, and this construction would also have a great tendency to prevent
the rapid communication of fire from one apartment to another.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Colten Dennett, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 25th day of August 1857.
Signed,
CHARLES COLTON DENNETT. (L.s).