US560587A - Construction of fireproof buildings - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

. J. D. LAZELL.

GONSTRUGTION OF FIREPROOP BUILDINGS. No. 560,537. Patented May 19, 1896.

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UNITED STATES [PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES D. LAZELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONSTRUCTION OF FIREPROOF BUILDINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560, 587, dated May 19, 1896. Application filed March 2,1896; Serial No. 581,534. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES D. LAZELL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in the Construction of Fireproof Buildings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved form of lintel for insertion between the adjoining floor or roof beams in fireproof constructions, the object of my invention being to provide a lintel which, while possessing the necessary amount of strength, is extremely light and cheap and can be readily packed, transported, and applied.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my improved lintels. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the two parts of the lintel detached from each other. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of part of a structure, illustrating the application of the lintels to the beams. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan View illustrating two of my improved lintels applied to adjoining beams, and Figs. 6 and 7 are views illustrating certain modifications of my invention.

Lintels of the character to which my inven tion relates are intended to span the spaces between adjoining beams in fireproof structures, and are usually composed of a single piece of terra-cotta in the form of a hollow shell with transversely-arched top and flat bottom, the top of the lintel serving as a center for supporting the concrete filling between the beams when the same is applied andbefore it becomes set, so as to be self-supporting, while the lower portion of the lintel projects below the base of the beam or girder to which the lintel is applied and serves as a lath for receiving the plaster constituting the ceiling of the room or apartment below.

My improved lintel in its preferred form consists wholly of woven wire or perforated sheet metal, these two materials, so far as my invention is concerned, being substantial equivalents of each other. Hence the lintel is cheap and possesses the minimum of weight consistent with its desired strength.

The top portion or center of the lintel consists of a transversely arched or bowed strip A of a length dependent upon the space be tween adjoining beams in the structure to which it is to be applied, said transversely arched or bowed strip having at each side a projecting flange a, as shown in Fig. 2.

The lower portion or lath of the lintel consists of a strip 13 of a length dependent upon the distance between the centers of adjoining beams in the structure to which the lintel is to be applied, said strip having at each side a hooked flange I) for engagement with the opposite flanges a of the upper portion A of the lintel, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower portion of the lintel has also by preference a central upwardly-projecting rib cl, both rib and flanges being readily formed by bending the material of which the lintel is composed.

The upper portion A of the lintel is at each endrounded, as shown in Fig. 5, on a curve described from an axial point at the longitudinal center of the lintel, or otherwise so formed that the lintel can be introduced between the adjoining beams D while parallel with said beams or at such an angle that it will clear the flanges of the same and when in proper vertical position can be turned round to a position at right angles to the beams, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the top portion of the lintel will rest at the ends upon the lower flanges of the beams, as there illustrated.

The hooked flange b at the lower portion of the lintel is cut away at each end to accommodate the lower flanges of the beams D, said lower portion of the lintel projecting beneath each beam to or about the center line of the same, as shown in Fig. 3, the opposite ends of the central longitudinal rib d having a bearing against the under flange of each beam, as there shown, so as to stiffen the under part of the lintel and prevent upward deflection or distortion of the same by pressure from below.

The provision of the upper portion of the lintel with laterally-projecting flanges, to which the lower portion of the lintel is secured, insures the formation of spaces between adjoining lintels, so that the concrete filling interposed between the lintels and the floor above has a bearing upon the lower flanges of the beams D as well as upon the lintels. Hence the weight of the concrete when the same becomes set is not borne by the lintels alone, but by the lower flanges of the beams themselves.

IVhile I prefer to construct my improved lintel wholly of woven wire or perforated sheet metal'for the reasons before set forth, a composite lintel composed in part of woven wire or perforated sheet metal and in part of fire-brick, terra-cotta or imperforate metal might be made within the scope of my invention. For instance, in Fig. 6 I have illustrated a lintel composed of an upper portion or center A ofwoven wire or perforated sheet metal and a lower portion or lath B of terra-cotta, the latter having 011 the under side ribs for receiving and holding in place the plaster and having at each side hooked flanges b for engaging with the lateral flanges a, formed upon the upper portion A of the lintel, and in Fig. 7 I have illustrated another construction, in which the upper portion A of the lintel, composed of woven wire or perforated sheet metal, is combined with a lower portion B of terra-cotta, having upwardly-projeeting flanges D which are secured to the laterallyprojecting flanges a by means of nails, screws, or other available fastenings. I11 these cases the terra-cotta-lath portion or? the lintel is preferably composed of two or more sections, so that it can be made upon ordinary brick or tile machinery and can be burned without warping.

It will be evident that the parts composing my improved lintel can be readily formed into proper shape at the point where the building is being erected, or if made at a point remote from the building can be closely packed and readily transported, thereby overcoming 0bjections which are inseparable from the use of terra-cotta lintels. Moreover, my improved lintels can be made of any desired length, so as to permit of any required spacing of the beams or girders D, whereas terra-cotta lintels are necessarily of limited length and demand comparatively close spacing of said beams D.

I have shown my invention in the form of a lintel such as that set forth in Faweetts Patent No. $15,339, dated November 19, 1889, said lintel being constructed so as to provide air-spaces beneath the beams or girders as well as through the lintels, but it will be evident that the main features of my invention may be embodied in lintels in which this airspace beneath the beams is not provided for.

I wish it to be understood that I do not claim, broadly, a lintel composed of woven wire or perforated sheet metal, as lintels of such material, but differing in structural detail from mine, have heretofore been proposed. Hence I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The within-described lintel, adapted to span the space between the beams or girders of a structure so as to form a center for the concrete above and a lath for the plaster below it, said lintel comprising a transversely arched or bent top strip with lateral edge flanges and a bottom strip having portions secured to said lateral edge flanges, substantially as specified.

2. The within-described lintel, adapted to span the space between adjoining beams or girders of a building and to form a center for the concrete above and a lath for the plaster below it, said lintel consisting of a transversely arched or bent top strip with lateral edge flanges and abottom strip having hooked flanges for engaging with those of the top strip, substantially as specified.

3. The within-described lintel, adapted to span the space between adjoining beams or girders of a building, and to form a center for the concrete above and a lath for the plaster below it, said lintel consisting of a transversely arched or bent upper strip with lateral edge flanges, and a lower strip having portions secured to said lateral edge flanges, said lower strip projecting at each end beneath the lower flange of the beam to which the lintel is applied, substantially as specified.

4. The within-described lintel, adapted to span the space between adjoining beams or girders of a building and to form a center for the concrete above and a lath for the plaster below it, said lintel consisting of a transversely arched or bent upper strip with lat eral edge flanges and a lower strip having portions secured to said lateral edge flanges, said securing portion being recessed at each end for the reception of the lower flanges of the beams or girders, whereby said lower strip is permitted to project beneath said beams or girders, substantially as specified.

5. The within-described lintel, adapted to span the space between adjoining beams or girders of a building and to form a center for the concrete above and a lath for the plaster below it, said lintel consisting of a transversely arched or bent upper strip with lateral edge flanges and a lower strip having portions secured to said edge flanges, said lateral strip projecting at each end beneath the beam or girder on which the lintel is supported, and having an upstanding rib bearing against the under side of said flange, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES D. LAZELL. \Vitnesses:

FRANK E. BECI'ITOLD, Jos. l-l'. KLEIN.

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