Patents of Interest to Builders.

Progress, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 1 October 1917, Page 44

Patents of Interest to Builders.

Reinforced Concrete Pile, Driving. —A patent No. 38,605 has been taken out by E. A. Clark of Waihi, Auckland. According to this invention, the pile' is* constructed with the concrete stopping short of the reinforc'iiig-rbds, at the upper end of the pile; anil means are provided comprising a series of perforated blocks,

which are removably fitted over the exposed portions of the rods, and rigidly connected together, for the purpose of enabling the pile to be driven without in any way injuring or displacing the reinforcement.

Reinforced Concreting. —A patent No. 2,385 has been taken out by W. G. Davis of Victoria. To form ornamental rustic railings, fences, bridges, parapets, &c, rough-cash concrete is built up around a skeleton framing' of reinforcing tubes and rods laid in a mould formed in the ground. The frame of a fence panel, formed of tubes A and B, rods

C, arid wires F, is placed on the ground which is scooped out to form the mould bed. The frame is then removed and the mould

is lined with concrete and the wire netting I, and the frame being replaced the concrete and netting are built up as required. Cramp for Flooring Board.A patent No. 38,974 has been taken out by Richard A. Tyler of Broadwater, N.S.W. carpenter, for a cram]). The improved cramp consists of a combination of three main parts, viz.: (1) A clamp having a toothed or serrated member or limb that will be temporarily secured

obliquely to a joist; (2) a lever connected to the clamp by (2) a link. The rear side of the lever will be provided with an articulated spike, which will prevent the lever from receding from its position when it butts against the edge of the last flooring-board. In giving effect to the invention the clamp will

be laid obliquely under (or over) the joist at a point a few inches back from the edge of the last board laid, and in such a position that the lever shall be nearly upright, impinging against the edge of the last board laid. The lever will then be pushed or pulled inwards towards the section of flooring that is being laid, the eye on the lever (to which the link is articulated, connecting the lever with the clamp) being the fulcrum, thus making the lever one of the second class. The clamp will be made adjustable to the varying sizes of joists to which it may be applied. The implement may be used with flooring-boards, ceiling-board, match-boarding, and the like. Building Block.— [latent No. 38,896 has been taken out by Win. Lewis Packman, motor engineer, and Jas. Lewis of Pembroke Street, gasfitter, both of Carterton. The block is made with a plurality of vertical compartments or apertures, preferably four in number, and around the top of each aperture is a lip or projecting rim forming a rebate, which lip or rim fits into the bottom of the aperture of a superposed block. The partitions at each end of the block have an aggregate thickness equal to the thickness of the intermediate partitions of the block. Both sides of each partition and the inferior sides of

the block are sloped to permit the ready withdrawal of the cores whereby the apertures are formed. The outer sides of the end partitions are also sloped, forming a tapering gap for the reception of cement, which is poured therein for the purpose of uniting the ends of adjacent blocks. The lips around the top of the apertures are sloped so that, when a superposed block is in position, a channel is formed for the reception of cement, which is poured down the sides of the compartments. The exterior of the sides of the block is divided into two panels, so that when the blocks are laid with one compartment at the end of each block overlapping a compartment of another block the bond is preserved throughout the structure.