IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Howard, of Berners Street, Oxford Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING."
66 IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION of ParquET FLOORING."
Sealed the 8th October 1867, and dated the 24th May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Howard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th May 1867.
I, GEORGE HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Cabinet Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARQUET FLOORING," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the construction of parquet flooring
has for its object to construct parquet flooring in such a manner that it may
be stronger, more durable, less liable to warp or get out of condition, and be
produced at less cost that heretofore. To this end I form the foundation of the
flooring of two or more sets of laths or bars of wood arranged crosswise of
each other and glued firmly together, and on this I place and firmly glue
thereto the parquet or ornamental flooring which is intended to form the
surface.
In carrying out my Invention I first take any convenient number of bars
of wood of the dimensions and thickness required to produce the intended
thickness and size of piece of flooring. These bars are to be glued to each

page_text: other by their edges, and on them, but crosswise, that is, with the grain running
at right angles to the lower set; I place a second set of wooden bars which
are not only to be glued together by their edges but are also to be glued on
to the lower set; a third set of bars may if desired be glued in like manner
on the second, and when the desired thickness is obtained I cover the
whole with the ornamental parquet flooring which is to be glued on to the
foundation. When this has been done, and while the glue throughout the
mass is still soft I place the piece of flooring under a powerful press and
submit it to considerable pressure, whereby all extraneous glue is squeezed
out and the several pieces of wood brought into almost perfect contact. After
a short time the piece of flooring may be removed from the press, and set up
on edge to get dry and hard.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Howard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HOWARD, of Berners Street, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Cabinet
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Howard, Her special licence that I, the said George
Howard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said George Howard, 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 PARQUET FLOORING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Howard, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Howard, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Parquet Flooring"
has for its object to construct parquet flooring in such a manner that it may
be stronger, more durable, less liable to warp or get out of condition, and be
produced at less cost than heretofore. To this end I form the foundation
of the flooring of two or more layers of boards or thin bars of wood arranged
crosswise of each other, by preference at right angles, and I glue them firmly
together, and to this I secure by gluing the parquet or ornamental flooring
which is intended to form the surface of the floor.
The mode I adopt for carrying out my Invention will be best understood
by referring to the accompanying Drawing in which Fig. 1 represents a plan
of a piece of parquet flooring constructed according to my Invention, some of
the upper part of the floor being cut away in order to show the arrangement
of the layers of boards which form the foundation; Fig. 2 is a transverse
vertical section of the same.
In carrying out my Invention I first form the foundation in blocks or pieces
of a size suitable for the press which I employ in the manufacture of the
flooring, and to this end I take any convenient number of boards (using in
general for that purpose thin deals, measuring, for example, nine inches in
width by three-sixteenths in thickness) to produce the first layer of the
foundation; this first layer is marked a, a, in the Figures. These thin
boards I glue together at their edges, and over them I place crosswise, that
is, with the grain running at right angles thereto, or nearly so, a second set of
boards of similar size and thickness, marked b, b; these boards I not only
glue together at their edges, but I also secure them by glue to the lower
layer a. A third set or layer of boards c may if desired be glued in like
manner on the second, and when the desired thickness for the foundation is
obtained, and while the glue throughout the mass is still soft, I place the block
or piece of foundation flooring so composed between hot cauls, and submit
the whole to the action of a powerful press, whereby all extraneous glue is
squeezed out, and the several pieces of wood composing the foundation are
brought into close contact. After a short time the block may be removed
from the press and set up on edge in racks to get dry and hard; the thin
parquet flooring wbich has been previously prepared in the usual way I then
glue upon this compound foundation, and submit the whole again to pressure

page_text: (between hot cauls), after which I set up the flooring again to dry, and leave
it to barden and season thoroughly. Blocks thus prepared may be laid down
with facility, the blocks being connected together by tongues and grooves and
made fast to the joists by screws or otherwise.
I would remark that in the Drawing I have shewn the boards which form
the layers of the foundation as crossing each other diagonally with respect to
the pattern of the ornamental surface, but it will be obvious that the joints of
the boards may be parallel with the sides or ends of the blocks, and indeed
this latter arrangement is the one which I propose generally to adopt. By this
process or mode of combining the pieces of wood to form the floor a parquet
flooring of immense strength is produced, and such floor will have no tendency
to shrink or warp, and can be laid with more facility and economy than the
parquet flooring hitherto used.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Parquet Flooring," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,
forming the foundation or backing for the parquet or ornamental surface of
the floor of any convenient or suitable number of layers of wood arranged
and combined as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Howard, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
WM. NEWTON,
66, Chancery Lane.
GEO. HOWARD. (L.S.)