IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIREPROOF CEILINGS AND FLOORS."
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Moore, of Watford, in the County of Hertford,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FIREPROOF CEILINGS AND FLOORS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Moore at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th August 1877.
JAMES MOORE, of Watford, in the County of Hertford, Gentleman.
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIREPROOF CEILINGS AND FLOORS."
"IMPROVE-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of fireproof ceilings
and floors, and its object is to provide better, cheaper, and more secure fireproof
ceilings and floors than those constructed according to the systems hitherto used.
In carrying this Invention into practice I dispense with all the wood or iron
trausverse laths or framing hitherto used in the construction of fireproof ceilings
and floors, and in which the iron forms an element of danger and weakness (which
it is desirable should be eliminated) on account of its expansibility, under the
influence of heat, and its liability to give way with the whole floor or ceiling, and
in lieu thereof I nail or otherwise suitably secure triangular or other suitably shaped
fillets of wood or other suitable material to the sides of the ordinary wood joists so
as to project therefrom and support and maintain the fireproof material in position.
This material (which consists of Portland cement, mixed with coke breeze, or other
calcined materials of a suitable nature and water), is applied as usually, and may be
formed either concave, convex, or flat at the top, the soffit or underpart of the
ceiling face forming a surface ready for the usual finishing.
In forming a ceiling only the usual flooring boards are then nailed to the joists..
In forming a combined floor and ceiling I make the joists of a less depth than
usual, and completely encase them and their fillets in the fireproof material, finishing
both the top and bottom of the latter so as to form the floor and ceiling surfaces as
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Moore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
February 1878.
JAMES MOORE, of Watford, in the County of Hertford, Gentleman. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIREPROOF CEILINGS AND FLOORS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of fireproof ceilings
and floors, and its object is to provide better, cheaper, and more secure and reliable
fireproof ceilings and floors than those constructed according to the systems hitherto
used.
In carrying this Invention into practice I dispense with all the wood or iron
transverse laths or framing hitherto used in the construction of fireproof ceilings
and floors, and in which the iron forms an element of danger and weakness (which
it is desirable should be eliminated) on account of its expansibility under the
influence of heat, and its liability to give way with the whole floor or ceiling; and
in lieu thereof I nail or otherwise suitably secure triangular or other suitably-
shaped longitudinal fillets 1 of wood or other suitable material to the sides of the
ordinary wood joists 2 so as to project therefrom, as shown in the transverse sec-
tional views, Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and support
and maintain the fireproof material 3 in position. This material (which consists of
Portland cement mixed with coke or other breeze, or other calcined materials of a
suitable nature and water) is applied as usually, and when only a ceiling is being
formed, as shown in Figure 1, its top may be shaped concave, as at 4, flat, as at 5,
or convex, as at 6, its "soffit" or under part 7 of the ceiling face being formed with
a surface ready for the usual finishing. When the material is thoroughly set the
usual flooring boards are nailed to the joists 2; but when forming a combined
floor and ceiling, as shewn in Figure 2, I make the joists 2 of a less depth than
those shown in Figure 1, and completely encase them and their fillets 1 in the fire-
proof material 3, finishing both the top 9 and bottom 7 of the latter so as to form
the floor and ceiling faces as required. The natural shrinkage of the fireproof
material 3 in setting, forms spaces 10 about the fillets 1 and joists 2, and allows of
air circulating freely, and thus preventing dry-rot from attacking the wood.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention the construction
or making of fireproof floors and ceilings by nailing or otherwise suitably securing
longitudinal fillets of wood or other suitable material of a triangular or other suit-
able section to the sides of the ordinary wood joists, and by applying thereto suit-
able fireproof material in such a manner that it encases and is supported in position
by the said wood fillets, and so that it partially or entirely encases the said wood
joists, substantially as herein-above described, and as illustrated on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Moore, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.