US277687A

US277687A - Earthen fence

Info

Publication number: US277687A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 1900-05-15

Description

(No Model.)

A. DELFFS.

BARTHEN FENCE.

Patented 'May 15,1883.

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ARNOLD DELFFS, OF BEDFORD, TENNESSEE.

EARTHEN FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 277,687', dated May 1.5, 1883.

Application filed December 1, 188:2.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, ARNOLD DELFFS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bedford, in the county of Bedford and State of'lennes see, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Earthen Fences; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to that class of fences or walls which are composed of a body or core of tamped earth and an exterior coat ing of cement or other hard protecting material.

The object of the invention is to provide a cement or bton coated earth fence which combines cheapnesswith durability of construction, and can be built with ease and dispatch, so as to be virtually water-proof and not liable to crack.

To these ends the invention consists in making the fence or wall in sections ot' tamped or hard-packed earth coated with cement on the sides, ends, and top, fissures or channels be ing left between' the various sections for surface drainage and to guard against the cracking` of the fence by the settling thereof in loose soils.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective viewot' a section-fence builtin accordance with.

The letter A designates a body or core of tamped or irmly-packed earth having sloping sides and a vflat or arched topin other words, said lcore or earthen body presents a pyrami- (No model.)

dal shape. It is coated on its sides, top, and

ends with a layer, B,of cement-,btoln asphalt, or other material or composition capable of being applied in a plastic state and possessing the property of hardening by exposure to the air. The fence or wall shown by the figures of the drawings is composed of a series of aligned sections, which are placed so as to leave iissures or channels@ between adjoiningsections for providing means i-'or the passage of rainwater and removing all liability of the cracking ofthe wall by reason ot' the settling thereof in certain kinds of soil. .A continuons wall of tamped earth coated with cement has heretofore been proposed, but is objectionable, because it provides no outlet for surface-water, and is, moreover,liable to crack and bulge out from unequal settlin g.

rlhe method of building my improved fence or wall is as follows, viz: A mold or framecomposed of two pyramidal end boards, A2, shittable side planks, B2, connected therewitlnand loose strips G2 and D?, placed, respectively, against the side planks and end boards, havingbeen placed upon the surface of the ground, the space within the mold is filled with earth and stones and solidly packed down by asuit able ramping implement. As shown in Fig. 2, the parts ot' the mold are in the positions they occupy when building the lowest or base layer or tier of the wall. The pyramidal end boards, A2, are provided with eyes or sockets a. on their edges, which receive hooks b or other fastening devices on the ends ofthe side planks, B2. These eyes or sockets care arranged along the edges of the boards from the tops to the bases thereof, so as to permit the side planks to be shifted or raised as the work progresses. Loose strips G2, of the same length and height as the side planks, B2, rest against said side planks and serve to form spaces between said planks and the sides of the body of earth packed down into the mold. The loose strips D2, placed against the end boards, conform in shape or size with the pyramidal or sloping shape of said end boards and serve to form spaces between the ends ot' the body of earth and the end boards. After a layer or stratum of earth has-been packed in the mold the loose sides and end strips, (PD2, are removed,leav

IOO

ing a space around the sides and ends of the body ot' earth, which space is then lled with a plastic composition, such as cement, bton, asphalt, or artificial-stone composition. This having been done, the side planks are shifted and raised to the next set of eye or staples, iu order to bring the bot-tom edges ofthe side boards on a level with the top of thc preceding stratum of earth, as is shown in Fig. 3. The loose side and end strips are then again set in place, shorter end strips corresponding with the diminished width ot' the pyramidal boards A2 being used, and the operation of filling in the stratum ot' earth and coating of cement again takes place, as already described. After a section of the fence or wall has been erected, the mold is shifted and brought in line with the end of said completed section, and the work of building another section takes place in the same manner as with the preceding section. The mold may be shifted slightly l each time a section is completed, so as to leave of the sections will prevent the bulgingout of the sides thereof, since they act as stays for binding each section into a rm, homogeneous body. The fissures left bythe boards A2, if desired, maybe filled in with cement, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, either with or Without leaving cross-channels E at the bottom for the drainage or passage of surface-Water, in

which case a continuous unbroken cementcovered earth wall is formed, with partitions of cement at regular intervals, which connect or tie together the cement coatings of the sides. The top of the'wall is preferably coated with cement, though it may be omitted if the core is ot" a character of earth that will allow it.

I reserve the right to file a separate application for patent for the mold or devices for building thefence herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention,WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y 1. A cement-covered earthen fence or wall, made in sections and having vertical fissures or Water-Ways between adjoiiiingsections,substantially as herein set forth.

2. An earthen fence or wall made of a series of aligned sections having their sides and ends covered with a hard and rigid. material, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARNOLD DELFFS.

Witnesses:

JAMES A. WARDER, T. A. MoN'rGoMnRY.