IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOF FLOORS OR PLATFORMS FOR WAREHOUSES, BRIDGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Westwood, junior, of London Yard
Iron Works, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOF FLOORS OR PLATFORMS FOR WAREHOUSES,
BRIDGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 17th March 1874, and dated the 1st November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Westwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on:
the 1st November 1873.
I, JOSEPH WESTWOOD, junior, of London Yard Iron Works, Poplar,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREPROOF FLOORS OR PLATFORMS FOR WARE-,
HOUSES, BRIDGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fireproof floors or.
platforms for warehouses, bridges, and other structures. For these,
purposes I employ corrugated iron laid flat and strengthened by:
tmissing
}

page_text: When the width of the floor or platform of a warehouse or other
place admits of a single span the corrugated plates are riveted or bolted
together so as to form a sheet covering the entire area. The two sides
of the sheet rest upon L irons and two T irons are riveted or bolted to
the under side of the sheet across the corrugations and parallel to the
side supports at such distances as to divide the span into three equal or
nearly equal sections. Truss rods are arranged at intervals underneath
the sheet, their ends pass through the side Lirons and are secured by
nuts. Forked struts from the truss rods support the intermediate T irons.
The struts are of cast iron and are forked at both ends to embrace both
the truss rod and the flange of the T iron.
Sometimes in place of the L irons I fix flat bearing plates on the two
sides of the corrugated iron sheet, and then in order to fix the ends of
the truss rods I rivet or bolt cast-iron brackets to the under side of the
sheet at the points where the attachments are required. Where the
truss rods are of round iron they pass through the brackets and are
secured by nuts beyond, but where they are flat or of any other section
they are riveted or bolted to the brackets.
Where heavy loads have to be carried I support the forked struts
by diagonals passing from their lower ends to the T irons at points at a
distance from the trusses, or, where necessary, I form complete lattice
girders.
On the top of the corrugated sheet I place concrete to cover the
undulations, and any suitable paving may be laid upon the concrete, or
if a boarded floor is required I lay bearing- strips in the hollows of the a
corrugated sheet and fix then by screws passing through the sheet
from the under side; to these bearing strips the flooring boards aro
nailed.
Sometimes to obtain additional strength in the upper member of the
truss I double the corrugated iron sheet, riveting or bolting ridge to a
ridge, so as to enclose a number of tubular cells between the two surfaces,"
or they may be placed one within the other.
For a floor which is too wide to be conveniently laid as a single span
I divide it into two or more spans by a longitudinal girder supported
upon columns or by other means; the corrugated iron sheet is con- a
tinuous over the intermediate girders or supports and may be secured to.
them if necessary, and brackets are fixed to the corrugated iron sheet on

page_text: either side of the girder or support to receive the ends of the truss
rods.
Bridges of small span I form similarly with the corrugations running
in the direction of the span, and if necessary I increase the number of
struts between the truss rod and the corrugated sheet for bridges of
larger spans.
Where the plates are laid transversely so as to form the floors or
platforms between the main girders they are constructed in the manner
already described in respect to the floors of warehouses and other
places.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Westwood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH.
WESTWOOD, junior, of London Yard Iron Works, Poplar, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
•
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Westwood, Her special
license that I, the said Joseph Westwood, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Westwood, 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 FIREPROOF FLOORS OR PLATFORMS FOR WAREHOUSES, BRIDGES,
AND OTHER STRUCTURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Westwood, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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

page_text: 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 Joseph Westwood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be porformed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in fireproof floors or
platforms for warehouses; bridges, and other structures. For these
purposes I employ corrugated iron laid flat and strengthened by
trussing.
When the width of the floor or platform of a warehouse or other
place admits of a single span the corrugated plates are riveted or bolted.
together so as to form a sheet covering the entire area. The two sides
of the sheet rest upon L irons and two T irons are riveted or bolted to
the under side of the sheet across the corrugations and parallel to the
side supports at such distances as to divide the span into three equal or
nearly equal sections. Truss rods are arranged at intervals underneath
the sheet, their ends pass through the side L irons and are secured by
nuts. Forked struts from the truss rods support the intermediate T irons.
The struts are of cast iron and are forked at both ends to embrace both
the truss rod and the flange of the T iron.
Sometimes in place of the L irons I fix flat bearing plates on the two
sides of the corrugated iron sheet, and then in order to fix the ends of
the truss rods I rivet or bolt cast iron brackets to the under side of the
sheet at the points where the attachments are required. Where the
truss rods are of round iron they pass through the brackets and are
secured by nuts beyond, but where they are flat or of any other section
they are riveted or bolted to the brackets.
Where heavy loads have to be carried I support the forked struts by
diagonals passing from their lower ends to the T irons at points at a,.
distance from the trusses, or, where, necessary I form complete lattice
girders.
On the top of the corrugated sheet I place concrete to cover the
undulations and any suitable paving may be laid upon the concrete, or
if a boarded floor is required I lay bearing strips in the hollows of the

page_text: Figure 1 is a transverse section, and Figure 2 is a plan of a single
span floor or platform constructed according to my Invention; Figures 3.
and 4 shew similar views of a double span of similar construction.
.
a, a, is a corrugated iron sheet laid flat and covering the entire area
of the floor or platform, it is composed of a number of plates of con-
venient size riveted together; b, b, are L irons resting upon side walls
and supporting the edges of the corrugated sheet a; c, c, are T irons
riveted or bolted to the under side of the sheet a across the corrugations;
d, d, are truss rods, their ends pass through the L irons and are
"

page_text: secured by nuts d', as is shewn to a larger scale at Figure 5; e, e, are.
struts of cast iron, they are forked at each end; the strut in each case
embraces both the flange of the T iron c, to which a bolt connects it,
and also the truss rod d, as is more clearly seen at Figures 6 and 7.
In place of using the L irons 6 I sometimes employ flat bearing 5
plates and secure the ends of the truss rods by brackets g riveted to.
the corrugated sheet a, as is shewn at Figures 8 and 9, or a cast shoc
resting on the abutment may be substituted for the L iron b, as is shewn
at Figure 10.
In the case of a double span the corrugated sheet is supported midway 1
of its width on girders, as in Figures 3 and 4. The girders are supported
on columns and the ends of the truss rods adjacent to the girders are
held by brackets fixed to the corrugated sheet, as is shewn in detail at
Figures 11 and 12.
In place of forming the truss rods of round iron I sometimes, 1
especially for heavy loads, form them of other sections, as is illustrated
by the Figures 13 and 14, Figure 15, Figure 16, and also Figures 17
and 18. Also where heavy loads have to be carried I introduce diagonals
between the struts e, e, as is shewn at h, Figure 19, or if the load
requires it I go further and connect the struts and diagonals with other 2
parts so as to form with them a complete lattice girder, as is shewn at
Figure 20, or in a slightly different form at Figure 21.
· Different ways of fixing the truss rod to the lattice girder are indicated
at Figures 22, 23, 24, and 25.
Figure 26 shews the manner in which I form a level surface to the 2
floor or platform by filling the corrugations of the sheet a with concrete,
and I pave or lay asphalte over the concrete; or for a wooden floor
I lay wooden bearing strips i, i, in the corrugations, fill in between them
with concrete and lay boards over all, nailing them to the filling pieces,
as is shewn at Figure 27.
Figure 28 shews a right and left hand screw coupling for the
adjustment of round iron truss rods.
3
Where additional strength is required in the upper member of the
truss I lay two sheets of corrugated iron, flat, one on the other, and fix
them together, forming cells between them, as is shewn at Figure 29, or 3

page_text: the corrugations of the two sheets may be made to enter the one in the
other, as is shewn at Figure 30.
1
The application to form a bridge of a stiff flat floor or platform, con-
struction according to my Invention is shewn in elevation at Figure 31,
3 and in transverse section at Figure 32. In other cases such a structure
is applied, not for the main span of the bridge, but as a flat floor or
platform between main girders, thus Figure 33 is an elevation of a truss
girder bridge, and Figure 34 is a transverse section of the same to a
larger scale. The main span depends on the girders, and the load is
borne between the girders by a sheet of corrugated iron laid flat and¨
trussed on the under side, the corrugations of the sheet running from
main girder to main girder across the bridge. Figure 35 is a portion of
a side elevation, and Figure 36 is a transverse section to a larger scale of
a triangulated girder bridge with a platform consisting of a trussed
corrugated sheet with a flat or level surface. The sheet is fixed to the
under side of the main girders and project so as to form a footway, the
projecting portion does not require to be trussed, or where the full
headway beneath the bridge is required the platform may be supported
on the top of the lower flange of the girder, as is shewn at Figure 36*.
Figure 39, and a
Figure 41 is an
Figure 37 is a half elevation of a Warren girder bridge, and Figure 38
a transverse section of the same to a larger scale. In this case the
platform is carried on the top of the girders as it is also in the arched
girder bridge, of which a half elevation is shewn at
transverse section to a larger scale at Figure 40.
clevation and Figure 42 a half section to a larger scale of a plate girder
bridge with the platform carried on brackets on the side of the
girders or it might be fixed beneath them, as is shewn in respect to the
lattice girder bridge represented in elevation at Figure 43 and in
transverse section at Figure 44.
Figure 45 is a half elevation of a bowstring bridge; in this case the
platform may be hung immediately beneath the girders. Figuro 46
is a half elevation of a suspension bridge, and Figure 47 is a transverse
section of the same to a larger scale; light lattice girders are here
suspended from the chains of the bridge and the trussed corrugated sheet
forming the platform and providing a flat surface for the road and
footway is fixed beneath the girders.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that