IMPROVEMENTS IN IRON GIRDERS, BEAMS, TRUSSES, AND SUPPORTS, AND IN RENDERING THE FLOORS OF BUILDINGS FIREPROOF BY THE USE OF IRON
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENDERSON PORTER, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of March, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henderson Porter, Her especial licence that I, the said John
Henderson Porter, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henderson Porter, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and also in all. Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN IRON GIRDERS, BEAMS, TRUSSES, AND
SUPPORTS, AND IN RENDERING THE FLOORS OF BUILDINGS FIREPROOF BY THE USE
OF IRON;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said John Henderson Porter, by an instrument in writing, under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Henderson Porter, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
to consist,-
First, in the application of what is called corrugated iron (whether the
corrugations be in curved lines or in angular lines, forming parts of cylinders
or tubes, and resisting compression in the direction of their length) to the
formation of beams, girders, trusses, or supports generally; and,
Secondly, in the particular application of the said corrugated iron (in which
the corrugations are placed both vertically and horizontally) to the rendering
of floors of buildings fireproof, as herein-after described.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John Henderson
Porter, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be per-
formed, by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon; that is to say:-
First, with reference to beams, girders, trusses, and supports generally.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is the side elevation of a beam made on the principle of my said
Invention, and Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same, and similar letters
are used to denote similar parts in these two Figures. In Figure 1 the letter
A denotes a plato of corrugated iron, with the caps or frames B, B, (shewn on
a larger scale at Figure 13) placed over its top and under its bottom edge,
and rivetted to it in two or three places just to hold all together while the
bands C, C, are shrunk upon them. The caps or frames B, B, are made of
wrought angle iron, and the bands C, C, are also of wrought iron driven
on tight while hot, so that the shrinking while cooling may draw all the
parts of the beam firmly together, and so form the beam, to complete
which rivets may be passed through the frames B, B, and the bands
C, C, where it may be thought desirable. It is scarcely necessary to say, that
such a beam becomes a beam, girder, truss, or support, according as it is used
for one purpose or the other in the construction of a building; and instead of
the angle iron, cap, or frame B, B, I sometimes use a bar of wrought T iron,
in which case two plates of corrugated iron are used, and of course the
corrugated plates do not touch each other by the thickness of the T iron
between them. An example of this is shown at Figure 3, where a beam so
constructed is shown in elevation, and at Figure 4, where the same beam
is shown in section, the letters D, D, in both Figures representing the
T iron.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a girder constructed upon the Patent
principle, with the addition of a third thickness of corrugated iron, placed, as

page_text: regards the line of corrugation,-horizontally between the two vertical plates
formerly described, and rivetted or bolted to them.
Figure 6 is a part plan and part longitudinal section of the same on a
larger scale; and Figure 7 is a transverse section of the same girder. The
girder in this case, it will be seen at Figure 5, is supported upon two pillars,
made also upon the principle of my said Invention, as shown in section at E,
in elevation at F, and in plan at Figure 8; and such pillars may be made
the supports of light-house lanterns or of windmill sails, thus forming the
main body of the one or the other kind of building; chimney shafts, it is
evident, may be made on the same principle.
Figure 9 is the side elevation of an arched girder. The lines of corrugation
may be made, as here shown, to radiate from the centre of the circle of which
the under side of the girder is an arc, or the lines of corrugation on one side
may be placed in the reverse direction to those on the other side, as shown
at G, and the bands D, D, may be drawn tight by riuts and screws, as here
shown, instead of being shrunk on, as before described, though. I prefer the
latter method:
"
And now, secondly, with reference to fireproof floors of buildings :-
Figure 10 represents in section two beams; such as are herein-before
described, supporting a floor upon and between them. H, H, is an arching of
corrugated iron, sustaining, by means of the blocking pieces or bearers I, I, I,
horizontal plates of corrugated or other iron J, J, which lie on the beams. I
prefer to use corrugated iron (as shown in the Drawing) for these horizontal
plates, and upon these may be. laid the conrete, asphalte, cement, or any
other. such like material, to form. the even surface of the floor. The thrust
of the arch may be counteracted, where necessary in large buildings, by
wrought-iron tie rods of any convenient form. I have shown at K, K,
Figure 10 in the Drawing, tie rods or bars of flat iron a few inches above
the springing of the arch through which they are passed, and keyed up on
both sides of the beams with the tie bars of the adjoining arches. I propose
also to oppose a useful obstruction to the progress or spread of fire by the
introduction of horizontal plates of corrugated or other iron at the bottom
of the beams, as shown by the untinted lines at L. These plates may be
stiffened by a bar of angle iron laid across the corrugations, and rivetted to
them, and may be supported by suspending bolts from the arch.
Figure 11 is a sectional elevation on the line M, N, of Figure 10; and
Figure 12 shows partly in elevation, and partly in section, another curved rib
or beam sustaining a level floor, or in the event of its being applied to
bridges, a level roadway by means of corrugated plates placed in the span-
drills of the arch.

page_text: Now whereas it is evident that the corrugated iron of which my said
Invention is constructed may be galvanized or painted, or that the corrugated
or other parts of my said Invention may be made of other suitable metal,
without affecting the principle of my said Invention. For whereas I claim as
my Invention,-
First, the application of corrugated iron (the corrugations resisting
compression in the direction of their length) to the improving of the con-
struction of iron girders, beams, trusses, and supports generally, as herein-
before described. And,
Secondly, the improved application of corrugated iron in manner herein-
before set forth, in order to render the floors of buildings fireproof, in both
which applications or improvements great lightness of material is obtained,
with proportional increased strength...
And such my Invention being, to the best. of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in the Islands of Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, nor in any of Her Majesty's Colonies or
Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the
same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in
all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the
said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained. Wherefore I
hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henderson Porter, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, the Eighth day of September, in the year of