Recent Building Patents

Progress, Volume XII, Issue 5, 1 January 1917, Page 855

Recent Building Patents

Window Construction. —A patent, No. 37,824, has been taken out by Julia Hannah Crook and John E. Crook, both of Remuera, Auckland. It consists in hinging each sash at one side of the window (preferably the left hand), the hinges employed being of a special construction and having formed on their inner ends runners adapted to be slid upwards and downwards in vertical guides recessed into the window-style. The styles on both sides of the windows are specially formed, so as to avoid the necessity of employing separate outer stops and parting-slips, while the inner stops are hinged to open inwards. When weights are employed they are provided at the hinged side only of the window and operate in the usual manner. The means for raising and lowering and locking the sashes when weights are not used do not in any way interfere with the hinging of the sashes. Said means consist of two screwed rods recessed

into the style on the same side of the window as the hinges and extending the full length of the frame. In this case the hinges, of which there are preferably two to each sash, have formed at their inner ends sockets or bosses screwed internally to work on the screwed rods, the hinges of the upper sash being mounted on the rear rod, and the hinges of the lower sash on the front rod. By means of a crankhandle mounted through the inner facing, and toothed gearing between said crank-handle spindle and the screwed rods, either of the latter can be revolved as required to force the hinges carrying the sash upwards or downwards. Casement windows are hung from the window-frame by means of double-knuckled hinges secured to the outside of the top and bottom bars of each sash. The sashes swing outwards in the ordinary way on the first or usual knuckles, and when it is desired to get at the outside of the window, same can be reversed on the second knuckles, which are situated about midway of the top and bottom bars, the hinges not being permanently fastened to the bars, between the knuckles.

Pipe Lagging. — patent, No. 1,021, has been taken out by Mr. Bertwistle and E. Jones of New Zealand. To fasten heat-insulating material on steam pipes, &e., studs or hooks 3 are riveted along the edges of the material, which is then secured by lacing.

The circumferential joints on small pipes are covered by straps IS, while on large cylindrical surfaces these joints may be laced. Fibrous Plaster Sheets. —A patent, No. 18,116, has been taken out by A. C. White of South Australia for treating fibrous plaster sheets. To glaze the surface and render the sheets pliant for fixing, dextrine or casein, cream of tartar, borax, and alum are dissolved in water and added to the plastic plaster of paris. The face and back gauges are mixed separately; the former consists of 15-lbs. of plaster of paris to 9 pints of water, the latter to be of somewhat thicker consistency. 2-lbs. of dextrine, H-ozs. of cream of tartar, and J-oz. each of borax and alum are dissolved in a gallon of boiling water, and 2 to 2|-ozs. of the solution is added to the plaster for the face gauge, SJ-ozs. being used for the back gauge. When one gauge only is required 8-ozs. are used to 66-lbs. of plaster and 37 pints of water.

The sheets are formed upon a smooth or moulded surface and backed with flexible material comprising flax and hessian, and the back gauge is then applied. No drawing, 7 claims. Metal Reinforcement. —A patent, No. 208, has been taken out in New South Wales by J. Day for Metal Reinforcements To form a support for concrete or plaster work double transverse slits are made across the ridges and furrows of corrugated iron sheets, and the strips thus formed are bent outwards to act as keys.

Pins D may be passed through the strips to lock theoverlapping edges of two sheets together. The slits may be made along the corrugations, when the outwardly bent tongue on one sheet will interlock with the slots in the edge corrugation of the other sheet.

Septic Tank. —A patent, No. 781 has been taken out by S. Somen and J. W. Taylor of New South Wales for a septic tank in which the sewage flows into a disintegrating chamber and then is distributed through perforated pipes over a filter-bed.

The sewage upon entering the chamber A meets the baffles F and G and is broken up and dissolved. It then flows through the perforated pipes H on to the filter-bed B composed of broken bricks or coke, &c., from which the clear filtrate drains away through the outlet 0. The baffles F and G have a series of flushing nozzles R controlled by the valve Q, and the perforated pipes H have cleaning caps K. Building Slabs.— patent, No. 37,759, has been taken out by Daniel Jas. Knight, or Pehi, Street, Wanganui for a building slab. _ According to this invention, the slab is composed of a mixture of soft Ine sand, cement, and pulped paper mixed in suitable proportions with water, and reinforced with oxhair, tow, or any other preferred reinforcing means. Coke-

breeze may, if desired, be used to take the place of sand, and in this respect is an equivalent thereto. One side of the slab is provided with a specially formed roughened surface in order to form a key for plaster, while the opposite side is smooth in order to present a surface that can be papered or treated in any desired manner. The ingredients arc moulded into the required size and shape in suitable moulds. The roughened surface on one side of the

slab is obtained by the shape of the bottom of the mould, while the other side is preferably made smooth. The preferred manner of making the roughened surface is by the employment, in the bottom of the mould, of a layer of scrim. Into this mould the mixture in the desired proportions is placed, and the upper surface rendered smooth in the ordinary manner. Upon the removal of the slabs from the mould the scrim is easily taken from the slab, leaving a roughened surface which forms an excellent key for plaster.

Roofs, Walls and Covering with Overlapping Sheets A patent No. 37,798, has been taken out by Albert A. Buss of Manchester, England which consists in fixing each sheet of the first course with one oi its sides overlapping and its

top cut corner lying on the adjacent sheet, and in fixing each sheet of the successive course with its lower end overlapping the sheet below it and its bottom cut corner lying opposite to and in the same plane as the top cut corner of the sheet adjacent to the sheet below it. [4 figures, 3 claims.] Pumice Crusher. A patent, No. 38,003, for a pumice crusher has been taken out by Messrs Collett and Son Ltd., of Dannevirke, The invention comprises rollers made up of disks having teeth of varying size and operating in front of a sloping grid. The shorter teeth take off pieces from the pumice or

other stones, and the longer teeth force the detached pieces through the grid. A second and finer roller and grid are provided below the first roller and grid for the purpose of still further reducing the pumice or other stones. [4 figures, 8 claims.]