IMPROVEMENTS IN COLUMNAR FOUNDATIONS FOR PIERS. QUAYS AND SIMILAR SADA
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Milroy, of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COLUMNAR FOUNDATIONS FOR PIERS. QUAYS AND SIMILAR SADA "
,
Sealed the 14th October 1873, and dated the 27th June 1873.

page_text: their interiors, by preference as described in the Specifications of Letters
Patent obtained by the present applicant, and dated 13 August 1870
(No. 2255), and of Letters Patent dated 13 June 1872 (No. 1788).
One of the improvements consists in constructing the curb or shoe of
each column with a cylindrical shell of iron united at its bottom edge to
an inner conical shell of iron, the angular space between the two being
filled with concrete or artificial stone.
By a second improvement when the columns are made in groups or
combinations of two, three, or more, the combined curb or shoe is con-
structed so as to correspond in plan to only the external parts of the set
of two or more, the parts which would otherwise cross the middle of
cach pair or group being, as it were, cut away, so that there is an open
communication between the bottoms of the columns composing each pair
or group. This improvement is advantageously applicable with curbs
or shoes as heretofore made, or with the improved kind herein-before
described.
If found desirable or necessary beams or bars may be fixed across the
SPECIFICATION, in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said John Milroy in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MILROY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, 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 successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Milroy,. Her special licence
that I, the said John Milroy, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Milroy, my executors,

page_text: 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 COLUMNAR
FOUNDATIONS FOR PIERS, QUAYS, AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said John Milroy, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Milroy, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object to cheapen the cost and facilitato
the operation of forming columnar foundations for piers, quays, and
similar structures.
In carrying out my Invention the columns or cylinders are made of.
brick, concrete, or stone, and are sunk by excavating the earth from
their interiors, by preference as described in the Specifications of carlier..
Letters Patent obtained by me, and dated 13 August 1870 (No. 2255),
and of Letters Patent dated 13 June 1872 (No. 1788).
And in order that my present Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a
Sheet of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and repre-
senting my improved arrangements. In these Drawings the same.
reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever
they are repeated.
One of my improvements consists in constructing the curb or shoe of
cach column, as shown in Figure 1, which is a vertical section of the
lower end of a column. The curb is made with an outer cylindrical
shell 17, and with an inner conical shell 18, both being of iron, and

page_text: united at their bottom edges, being cast together or otherwise joined ;
and the angular space 19 between the two shells 17, 18, is filled with
concrete or artifical stone.
In cases where boulders or other stiff materials are totally absent, and
where economy is an object, the curb may be made partly of iron and
partly of wood, or even entirely of wood.
By a further improvement when the columns are made in groups or
combinations of two, three, or more, the combined curb or shoe, 17, 18,
is constructed as shown in plan in Figures 2, 3, 4, so as to correspond in
plan to only the external parts of the set of two or more, the parts
which would otherwise cross the middle of cach pair or group being as
it were cut away, so that there is an open communication 20 between
the bottoms of the columns composing each pair or group. This im-
provement is advantageously applicable with curbs or shoes as heretofore
made, or with the improved kind herein described.
If found desirable or necessary beams or bars may be fixed across the
tops of the open communications 20 to support the bottoms of the
brickwork, concrete, or stone at those parts.
Figure 5 is a vertical section as at the line A-A, in Figure 4, and
shows the shape of the shoe at the part where the inwardly curved parts
unite. The arc-shaped portions of the curb are connected together by
junction pieces 21, the parts being bolted together by flanges on the inner
surface of the conical shell 18, and between it and the outer cylindrical
shell 17.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that
what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The constructing of the curbs or shoes for brick, concrete, or stone
columns to be sunk for forming foundations for piers, quays, and similar.
structures, substantially in the improved mode herein-before described
with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings,
2. The constructing of a combined curb or shoe for a group or com-
bination of two, three, or more foundation columns, so as to correspond

page_text: in plan to only the external parts of the set of columns, and so that the
bottoms of the columns of the set communicate with each other across
the middle, substantially as herein-before described.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Milroy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
thrcc.
こ
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN MILROY. (L.S.)