AN IMPROVED MODE OF SECURING THE PLASTERING OF CEILINGS AND WALLS."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts
"man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF SECURING THE
PLASTERING OF CEILINGS AND WALLS."A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July 1856:
1.3
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the, County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF SECURING THE
PLASTERING OF CEILINGS AND WALLS," to be as follows:
The object of this Invention is to prevent the falling of the plaster of the
ceilings and walls of rooms, by causing the first layer of plaster to adhere as
firmly to the laths, as the second layer. is caused to adhere to the first, by
reason of the scoring of the plaster (while soft) with the trowel, as usually
adopted by plasterers. To this end, laths or grooved boards having bevilled or
inclined edges are used to receive the mortar, the inclined edges forming an
angle with the surface to be covered. The mortar being spread on in the
usual manner,, tongues of that plastic substance will be formed between.the
interstices of the laths, or in the grooves of the boards, and thus a secure
holding will be obtained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton,, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF SECURING THE PLASTERING OF CEILINGS AND WALLS," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
}
It has hitherto been a desideratum with plasterers so to construct the'
ceilings and walls of rooms as to prevent the falling of the plaster. The
well-known plan of lathing and then applying the plaster upon the laths is
the only mode heretofore known, but it cannot be denied that even-with the
utmost care such accidents as the fall of the ceiling are of very frequent
occurrence. The plaster applied to the laths on the ceiling of a room in the
usual way is there held (in addition to the attraction of cohesion) by the
portions of the plaster which are forced by the hand of the operator between
and through the interstices of the laths, but this is frequently insufficient to

page_text: prevent falling, as the tongues of plaster which are forced between the inter-
stices of the laths in the act of plastering are very small, and when hard are
easily drawn out by the weight of the ceiling. According to the plan
ordinarily pursued, after the first layer or coating of plaster has been applied
to a ceiling or wall the operator invariably scores it, while yet soft and moist,
with his trowel, thereby forming angular grooves to receive, when the next
layer of plaster is applied, tongues of plaster, which serve to hold the two
layers together, and, as a consequence, they (the two layers) rarely, if ever,
separate. But in this plan, which has the advantage of uniting the two
layers, the additional weight brought to bear upon the small and irregular
tongues of plaster, which are forced through the interstices of the laths in
applying the first coating or layer, causes them to give way or be drawn
through, and the whole frequently falls.
Now, the object of the present Invention is to remedy this evil, and to cause
the first layer of plaster to adhere as firmly to the laths as the second layer
does to the first, and for that purpose it consists in applying to the joists or
girders, or to a ceiling of boards, laths having inclined edges, formning an angle
with the horizontal plane of the floor to which the mortar is to be applied,
and spread on in the usual manner, so that the tongues of mortar which pass
between the interstices of the laths form an angle with the horizontal plane
of the floor, and overlap the tops, and are clinched thereto, whereby the
mortar is held and prevented from falling.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in cross vertical section the
mode of carrying out this Invention, and Fig. 2 is a modification of the same.
a represents the joists or girders, to which are nailed the laths b, having
inclined edges, forming an angle with the horizontal plane of the floor. The
mortar is spread on in the usual way with a trowel, taking care to work
or spread it in the direction of the arrow (see Fig. 1). This is not essential,
but experiments have shewn that the mortar is more easily applied when
working in the direction of the arrow, and the tongues of mortar lap over, and
take a better hold of the laths. By the common method of applying the
mortar to the laths of the usual construction, the ceiling is weakest at the in-
tersections of the laths with the joists, because the joists prevent the mortar
from being pressed through, and consequently no lap is given to the tongue of
mortar. But by this improvement the ceiling is strongest at the joists, the
mortar being compressed in the inclined groove, as at f; when it becomes
hard it will be found almost impossible to remove.
If thought desirable, a ceiling of boards e, Fig. 2,
joists, and then these boards overlaid by the laths b.
may be applied to the
By this arrangement

page_text: the compression of the mortar before referred to will take place all over the
surface, and great strength will be obtained, but at an increase of expense...
...It is obvious, that instead of using laths with bevilled edges, as described,
they may be modified
having one edge inclined, and the other forming a
right angle with the horizontal plane; or both edges may be concave, or both
convex, or one concave and one convex, and that it may be applied to the
walls as well as the ceilings. I, therefore, do not mean to limit myself to any
particular form of the lath, but consider that the Invention extends to any
form of lath applied so as to insure the lapping of the tongues of mortar
(with or without compressing it) over the laths, whereby the ceiling is held
and prevented, from falling..
It is also obvious that the advantages of the Invention may be obtained by
using a wooden ceiling which has been previously prepared with under cut, or
round cut, conical, or other shaped holes or grooves, extending in part or in
whole across the ceiling, by which a back is still preserved, and the mortar,
*compressed in the holes or grooves, as before described. By this plan the
expense of the laths is saved, and all the essential advantages of the Invention
preserved:
t
Having now set forth the nature, of the Invention of "An Improved Mode of
Securing the, Plastering of Ceilings and Walls" as communicated to me by my
foreign, correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood, that, under the above in part, recited Letters
Patent, claim, applying the plaster to the ceilings and walls of rooins by the
use of laths or undercut surfaces, such, as herein, described, that the tongues
of mortar, which are forced through, the interstices between the laths by the
act of applying the mortar may, form an angle with the plane of the, ceiling or
wall, and lap over the laths, and be clinched thereto, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
$
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set niy land and seal, the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
NEURON
...
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
NEURON
TOTALIT
}