US451572A

US451572A - Portable roof

Info

Publication number: US451572A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1891-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 1908-05-05

Description

' (No Model.)

B. RANKIN, Jr. PORTABLE ROOF.

Patented May 5, 1891.

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q vi/bwaooea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND RANKIN, JR,

OF. LINCOLN, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE ROO F.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,572, dated May 5, 1891. Application filed fa'eptemher 11,1890. Serial No. 364,672. (No model.)

T0 to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND RANKIN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Logan and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Roofs, Sheds, &c., of which the following is a specification,-reference being had therein to the accompanvi ng drawings. U

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of one form of my roof or shed, a portion of the roof lug-boards and one of the gable ends being removed for the purpose of better showing the invention; Fig. 2, a side view of a pair of rafters of a slightly-different form from those shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a detail perspective view of one of the supports for the side or roofing boards.

The invention, briefly speaking, is designed to provide a portable shed or roof that will be very simple and substantial in construction, and which may be readily erected and taken down withont the employment of .bolts, nails, or other fastening devices, as will more fully hereinafter appear.

- In the drawings annexed, A designates curved metallic rafters or supports for the boarding or planking. These rafters curve 1n toward each other at their upper ends and are there pivoted together. Two pairs or more of these rafters may be employed, according to the length of the structure desired; but I find that two pairs, as shown in Fig. 1, are usually sufficient. The rafters or supports of each pair are braced with respect to each other by horizontal connecting-braces B B, each of which is composed of a pair of arms pivoted to the beams at their outer ends and to each other at their inner overlapped ends, one of the arms of each pair being provided with a lug a to hold them in alignment when once set. To adjust the pitch of the roof, one of the arms of each pair may be provided with a series of holes for the reception of the pivotal connecting-bolt b, by which means the supports may be spread or drawn in, as the exigencies of the case may require. These braces or stays connect the rafters near their upper ends. The upper portions of the supports form the rafters of the roof and the lower straighter portions form the vertical studding of the side of the structure.

- The supports are connected together and held in a vertical position by the boards G, secured on their outsides by means of depending pivoted metallic. hooks D. These boards are uniform in width and thickness confined in the U shaped port-ions of thehooks. In erecting the shed thelower planks are first placed in position in the lower hooks. Then the next hooks are turned down over the upper edges of the lower planks, these hooks and all those above the lower ones being provided with shoulders adapted to set over the upper edges of the planks and form abutments to hold them in position.- The next planks are then placed in position with their lower edges in the second hooks, and so on up until all the boards are in position and the sides of the roof or shed are completed. By forming the shoulders in the hooks the hook portions thereof are brought down in boards below, thereby not only holding them in place, but also causing the upper boards to lap over the upper edges of the boards next below, so as to shed and carry off the water. The hooks are shown pivoted in Fig. 1, so that they may be readily turned down over the upper edges of the planks as fast as the latter are put in place; but it is evident that the hooks may be made rigid and the planks inserted endwise, or they may be provided with vertical slots D, so that they may be lifted or swung around out of the way while the planks next below are being put in position, as shown in Fig. The ends of the structure may or may not be closed, as the exigencies of the case may require. The end boards are supported and held in place in the same way, the only difference being that they become shorter toward the top, as shown at one end of Fig. 1.

Instead of constructing the supports as shown in Fig. 1that is to say, plain metallic beams provided with shouldered hooks-the rafters or supports may be constructed of wood and formed with shoulders to overset the upper edges of the boards, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case the hooks D need not be provided with shoulders, as shown. In this and length, and their lower edges rest and are front of the figure also the beams or rafters are shown straight instead of curved.

It is obvious that this invention may be used fora great variety of purposes. It may be used to cover hay and grain in stacks, for sheltering stock, fruit, and garden produce, for covering farm machinery and vehicles of all kinds, and as a poultry-house. It may also be used as a tent or portable cabin or house and also as a cover or shed for protecting green brick in piles and various other purposes. By employing longer planks the structure may be lengthened and its capacity greatly increased. lVhen employed to cover hayor grain stacks, the braces at the top will rest on the hay, forming a ventilating-charm her in the top of the roof.

Its great advantages are its simple and substantial construction and the ease and dispatch with which it may be erected and taken down and removed from place to place as oocasion may require.

Having thus fully what I claim is 1. The combination of metallic hooks described my invention,

supports, dependin secured thereto and bent outwardly and downwardly to form shoulders, and boards restingin these depending hooks, the shouldered portions of the said hooks setting over and embracing the upper edges of the boards, whereby the latter will be caused to overlap each other when put in place, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with supports, of hooks pivoted to the said supports and overlapping boards adapted to rest in the said hooks, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the supports or rafters pivoted together at their upper ends, a jointed brace pivotally connecting the supports, and hooks secured to the outside of the supports for thereception of removable planks, substantially as described.

-l. The combination of the I hooks pivotally supports and the connected to and vertically adjustable thereon, substantially as described. In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses. EDMUND RANKIN, JR.

Witnesses:

'l. T. BEACH, Luwrs J. SIMS.