Improvements in Portable Buildings.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 7th Feb., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by CHRISTIAN FERDINAND CHRISTOPH and
CHRISTIAN RUDOLPH UNMACK, of Copenhagen, Denmark, Engineers.]
Improvements in Portable Buildings.
I, JOSEPH SINCLAIR FAIRFAX, of 433 Strand, in the County of London,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of portable, and sectional
buildings known as Dücker's system. The objects of the present improvements are
to enable such structures to be made with the greatest degree of lightness
compatible with the stiffness and stability required for resisting the weather in all
climates, and to enable the same to be put together, taken to pieces, or packed in
sections for transport, with the greatest facility.
The transport of a structure from one point to another is rendered especially easy,
inasmuch as its flooring is convertible into packing cases to contain other portions of
the said structure. These cases are composed of two sections, of equal size; one
forming the bottom and the other the top or cover. When divided and placed side
by side with similar sections, they form a complete floor for the structure.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation,
Fig. 2 a plan of the underside, and
Fig. 3 an end elevation of one of the said packing cases.
The bottom of each half case is formed of boards cut in the ordinary way. These
boards rest upon a solid frame forming the four sides of the half case, and the flooring
In addition,
is strengthened by wooden joists screwed or nailed to each board.
pivoted joists I, are arranged at suitable distances from each other, as shown in the
sections Figs. 15 and 16, and are kept in position by a swivelling button or latch K,
when required to support the flooring, when it is put together as in Fig. 18, the joists
are turned upon the pivot i, and the tongue i enters the recess k of the block L, and
secured solidly in place by turning the latch K against the joist, as shown by the
dotted lines in Fig. 16.
Figs. 17 and 18 show (by a section and elevation respectively) the supports
designed to keep the floor in position off the ground, and for connecting the half
cases during transport and storage. To the leg E, connected to the under side of
the case, is attached the vertically moveable foot F, together with the cross piece
or base. A long slot in the foot F is protected by a strengthening or guard
plate G and a bolt H extends through the slot and engages with a tapped plate or
nut g on the face of the leg E. The bolt H therefore is capable of securing the
foot F to the leg E at any point within the range of the slot in G through which it
passes, as indicated by the dotted lines thus enabling the supports or feet F to be
readily lengthened or shortened to suit the inequalities of the ground upon which
the structure is to be erected. When the structure is packed up in the cases, the
same bolt H serves to connect the free end of the leg E to the side piece of the
other half of the packing case (or section of flooring) as is shown in Fig. 16.
In forming the floor, the cases are placed side by side, as already described, and
in order to prevent their becoming displaced while the structure or hut is in use,
they are hooked together by hooks N, engaging with plates O, as indicated by
Figs. 4, 5 and 6. These fittings are shown as screwed to the side pieces or frames
of the cases in Figs. 1 and 3.
Other plates Pare fitted into the upper edge of those of the cases which form the

page_text: circumference of the hut. This edge is not covered by flooring and consequently
enables the catches q (Figs. 7, 8 and 9) to engage with the plates P.
The walls and the roof are formed of panels as uniform in size as the general
nature of the construction admits. Those panels are each formed of a wooden frame
strengthened by cross pieces or battens of the same material, as is shown in Figs. 19
and 20. This frame is covered by a facing of material prepared in a manner
specially invented by my foreign correspondents. The substance used consists of
two layers of felt paper or board of a very filamentous or stringy nature, in which
but little glue if any-is employed, and which, in consequence, is highly absorbent-
of liquids, and a good non-conductor of heat. The two sheets are cut to the size of
the frame to be covered, glued together throughout their entire length, and the
surfaces of the double sheet thus formed as well as their edges being impregnated
with boiling linseed oil. The oil penetrates thoroughly into the spongy substance
of the paper, and causes it to become compact and impermeable to water, while the
layer of glue in the centre stiffens the sheet, which becomes like a board.
The panels may have hinges as shown in Fig. 19 to facilitate the fitting up of a
structure, but this is not always done. At the bottom of the frame is a latch,
already described with reference to Figs. 7, 8 and 9 and the wall panels, and the
same type of fittings is also used for the roof.
The internal partitions of a hut are made of similar panels kept in position by a
small stud plate R which engages with the hole in the plate S, as in Fig. 10.
Pivoted hooks T, Figs. 11, 12 and 13, engaging with a suitably formed plate U
serve to connect the panels to one another.
Fig. 14 is a sectional perspective of joint designed especially for connecting the
roof panels together. A, A, are two contiguous panels with semi-circular grooves a
upon their edges to receive a bolt B. Two wooden ribs, C and D cover the joint
between the panels for the entire length and all are secured firmly together by the
bolts B. The under side of the upper rib C is slightly hollowed so as to fit closely
down upon the panels when the bolts are screwed tight, while the opposite side of
the panels are furnished with two grooves into which fit projections or mouldings d,
of the lower rib D, throughout the whole length of the joint.
Between the pro-
jections d, d, cavities d d are formed, thus leaving channels along the rib D, open
at the ends. While the bolt may vary in form, it is provided with a square under
the head, or other form, to prevent it turning round in its seat when the winged nut
is screwed up. These joint protecting ribs are of great value both in firmly securing
the panels and also in providing gutters d' for carrying away any water finding its
way through between the panels. I may also adopt the same method of joining
together the panels of the side walls or internal divisions with the same kind of ribs.
And it will be understood that any or all of the above named elements may be
employed in constructing buildings of the class described, as may be convenient or
required. For example, I may use boards for the sides instead of double felt paper,
or I may employ a single layer of felt paper thickened or strengthened by canvas,
or I may substitute the packing case flooring described by the ordinary kind of
flooring. Again I may fit up the structure by employing either connecting joints,
or metal fittings and fastenings, or a combination of the two; and thus vary the
construction in various ways within the scope of the invention to suit various
requirements.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In portable buildings, the construction of sectional flooring in the form of
packing case halves, and the adaptation thereof for containing other portions of a
structure during storage or transport, or for flooring of a structure when in position,
substantially as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated in Figs. 1,
2 and 3.
2. A packing case section of flooring having pivoted joists I adapted as a support

page_text: to the floor when in position as part of a structure, and to fold up beneath the
flooring when used as a packing case, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described and illustrated by Figs. 15 and 16.
3. A packing case section of flooring having legs or supports E, F, adapted to
support the structure in a level position upon uneven ground by the raising or
lowering of the leg F, and securing the same in position to the leg E by the bolt H
and nut plate g, substantially as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated
by Figs. 17 and 18.
4. The combination of two packing case sections of flooring secured together for
containing other portions of portable structures by a leg E, bolt H, and nut plate g,
substantially as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated by Fig. 16.
5. In portable buildings, panel coverings composed of two layers of felt paper
glued together throughout and saturated on both sides and edges with boiling oil,
substantially as and for the purpose herein described.
6. In portable buildings the combination of two adjacent panels with top and
bottom connecting ribs C and D, the under side of the top rib C being slightly
hollowed, and the inner side of the lower rib D having projections d, d (fitting into
recesses in the panels) and channels d', d', open at the bottom, the said ribs and
panels being secured firmly together by bolts B and tightening nuts, substantially
as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated by Fig. 14.
Dated this 15th day of December 1890
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicant.