Patent Application
20210260748
The first example of an early Gothic arch in Europe is in Sicily in the Greek fortifications of Gela. The semicircular arch was followed in Europe by the pointed Gothic arch or ogive, whose centreline more closely follows the forces of compression and which is therefore stronger. The semicircular arch can be flattened to make an elliptical arch, as in the Ponte Santa Trinita. Parabolic arches were introduced in construction by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, who admired the structural system of the Gothic style, but for the buttresses, which he termed “architectural crutches”. The first examples of the pointed arch in the European architecture are in Sicily and date back to the Arab-Norman period.
Conventional tools available for constructing elliptical arches are cumbersome and impractical. There is a need in the market for an elliptical arch master which is easy to use and accurate.
A disclosed elliptical arch scribbing system includes a first flatstock arm comprising a lengthwise slide for a first vertex pivot and comprising a first end. The system also includes a second flatstock arm comprising an angle indicia proximal a first end and comprising a lengthwise slide for a second vertex pivot. The system additionally includes an axis configured to interlock the two flatstock arms proximal respective first ends in a fixed angular relation based on the angle indicia. The system further includes an elliptical arch template blank comprising a first and a second vertex pivots and a co-vertex pivot fixed on the elliptical arch template blank.
A disclosed method includes fixing an axis between a first flatstock arm comprising a lengthwise slide for a first vertex pivot and comprising a first end and a second flatstock arm comprising an angle indicia proximal a first end and comprising a lengthwise slide for a second vertex pivot, the axis configured to interlock the two flatstock arms proximal respective first ends in a fixed angular relation based on the angle indicia. The method also includes scribbing a first half of an elliptical arch on an elliptical template blank via a scribbing point proximal the axis by sliding the first flatstock arm along the lengthwise slide on the first vertex pivot and sliding the second flatstock arm along the lengthwise slide on a co-vertex pivot. The method additionally includes scribbing a second half of the elliptical arch on the elliptical template blank via the scribbing point proximal the axis by sliding the first flatstock arm along the lengthwise slide on the co-vertex pivot and sliding the second flatstock arm along the lengthwise slide on the second vertex pivot.
Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of the principles of the disclosure herein.
Throughout the description, similar and same reference numbers may be used to identify similar and same elements in the several embodiments and drawings. Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
Throughout the present disclosure, the term “slide” refers to the ability of a component of the disclosure to move past or move around a pivot. Also throughout the present disclosure, the term “vertex” is a conventional geometrical point on an ellipse at the elongated curves thereof near the focii. The co-vertex is that point on the top of the ellipse in the middle or equidistant to both the first and the second vertex.
The Elliptic Arch Master consists of the following two (2) items: 1) Tracing Arms and 2) Connecting Bolts. The main purpose of the Elliptic Arch Master is to simplify the process of constructing elliptic arches by providing carpenters with a tool for quickly and accurately drawing the outline of any desired elliptic arch onto the working material. Elliptical arches are commonly used in many architectural situations, such as doorways or area dividers, and the sides of these arches are typically cut straight from a sheet of plywood.
The problem every carpenter faces is that of trying to accurately draw the outline of the intended arch onto the plywood. There is no existing tool designed specifically for this job, so the carpenter is forced to improvise. The various methods carpenters have developed over the years for this purpose all tend to be complicated and time-consuming, and the carpenter is often frustrated by less than perfect results. Ingenious and practical, the Elliptic Arch Master overcomes these problems by providing carpenters with a tool that can quickly draw any size of elliptic arch with total precision.
The Elliptic Arch Master consists of two arms that are bolted together at one end. Each arm has a primary section and an extending section, so that the size of the Arch Master can be adjusted as needed. The two sections of each arm are connected together by a tongue and groove system. Where the surfaces of the two sections come together, one surface will have two grooves cut along the length of the section and the other surface will have two protruding tongues along the length of the section that exactly match the shape and size of the two grooves. In this way the two sections of each arm are kept perfectly aligned at all times.
The two sections of each arm are also connected by a screw bolt, and the heads of these connecting bolts are countersunk so that they are flush with the surface of their respective sections. These connecting bolts are secured with butterfly nuts to facilitate quick and easy loosening and re-tightening. In order that these bolts can move freely when the length of the arms is being adjusted, each of the extending sections has a slot cut along its center line, stopping just short of the ends. The width of this slot matches the width of the connecting screw bolt. Where the two arms of the Arch master are bolted together the connecting surface of each arm must be roughened. This will create friction between the two surfaces. This is done so that after the two arms are screwed together, no movement between the arms will be possible and the angle between the arms cannot accidentally change.
When an elliptic arch is to be drawn, the carpenter will first mark the width of the base of the arch on the plywood by drawing a straight line of the required length. At each end of that line he will hammer a wire nail into the plywood, leaving two inches of each nail projecting upwards. At the midway point in that base line the carpenter will then draw another line perpendicular to the base. The length of the perpendicular line will exactly equal the vertical height of the arch apex from the arch base. At that apex point the carpenter will drive in a third nail.
The carpenter will now draw a line from the apex nail to one of the base nails and measure the angle between that new line and the base line. This angle will now be transferred to the Elliptic Arch Master. On the surface of one of the tracing arms a series of gradient lines are marked, all originating from a point on the edge of the tracing arm adjacent to the connecting bolt. To transfer the angle, the butterfly nut is loosened and the upper tracing arm is rotated until the end of the upper arm lines up exactly with the appropriate gradient line on the lower tracing arm. The butterfly nut is retightened and the Arch Master is ready to use.
Although the operations of the method(s) herein are shown and described in a particular order, the order of the operations of each method may be altered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse order or so that certain operations may be performed, at least in part, concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructions or sub-operations of distinct operations may be implemented in an intermittent and/or alternating manner.
Notwithstanding specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims and their equivalents included herein or by reference to a related application.
