Improvements in Coiled Wire Fabrics.
Year: 1897

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coiled Wire Fabrics.
I, JAMES WARREN SNEDEKER, of 143, South Main Street, in the City of Adrian,
Lenewee County, Michigan, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
This invention relates to that class of fabrics formed by joining wire coils
together, and the invention consists in the peculiar way of weaving the coils into
a fabric whereby the fabric may be used as a useful article of manufacture for door
mats and other structures to which it may be adapted, all as more fully hereinafter
described and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a mat made in accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a section of the corner of the mat.
Fig. 3 is a section on line ca in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 is a section of a mat showing
a slightly modified construction for the purpose of joining several sections of the
fabric together.
My invention will be best understood by describing the construction of the
mat shown in the drawings.
A A are a series of folds of coiled wire made by folding a continuous coiled wire
to and fro with the folds in parallel relation to each other. Bare a series of stays
inserted between the folds in such manner that each stay connects the coils
of one fold with the coils of the adjacent fold by passing through the overlapping
ends of said coils. C are longitudinal stays which extend through the fabric
at right angles to the folds and serve in connection with the bars D as spreader
bars to keep the fabric extended in longitudinal direction. The bars are inserted
in the ends of the folds of the fabric and are preferably made of sheet metal, bent
hollow and of a size to admit and confine the ends of the stays C.
The spreader stays C may be placed at regular intervals or be arranged in groups
of two or more, or in any other manner fancy or design may dictate, they are
also preferably so placed in the fabric that a portion of them presses above the
stays B and another below said stays whereby the different stays become interlocked
with each other and are less liable to be accidentally displaced.
In folding the coiled wire the natural arrangement of the coils at the bends is
not disturbed and they are left to project freely along the longitudinal edges of the
fabric and form thereby a pleasing ornamental border E which adds much to the
finished appearance of the article.
The construction of this fabric is so simple that it will not be necessary to describe
the mode of constructing it in detail. A simple manner of making it is first to
prepare the wire by coiling it and winding it on a reel from which it is drawn as
needed, the workman then begins folding the coiled wire on a table which has
suitable means for holding the folds temporarily and as each fold is made he
secures it to the preceding fold by inserting one of the stays B. While thus
weaving the fabric it is preferably kept under tension and when the required
number of folds are thus secured together the spreader wires are introduced after
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page_text: first introducing one of the hollow bars D, and then the other to lock the stay wires
in place. If this is done by placing a suitable tension on the fabric, the parts
will become firmly interlocked without the use of any other means.
For making larger work I construct it in sections and join the same together.
To this end I prefer to construct the fabric in the slightly modified form shown
in Fig. 4, which shows one of the bars D inserted into the fold next adjacent to
the outer fold. Two similarly constructed sections may thus be joined in the same
manner as the individual folds of the fabric and by securing the bars D on both
ends in this last described manner other sections may be joined at both ends and
thus form a hinge joint which permits of using the fabric for building structures
of all kinds and sizes.
It is obvious that while I have shown the wire coil to be of the usual description
it may be of other forms such as produced by coiling the wire around a polygonal
or other shaped mandrel. It is also evident that instead of wire a metal band may
be used and when I say wire, I thereby intend all forms such as galvanized, tinned,
nickel plated or other wire and its equivalent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is: :―
1. The mode of folding a continuous piece of coiled wire and weaving it into
a fabric by the employment of the stays B and C and the bars D.
2. The employment of the stays B and C and bars D in the manner described
a series of parallel strands of coiled wire into a mat.
for joining
3. A wire mat composed of the wire coils A, stays B and C and bars D, sub-
stantially as shown in Figure 1.
4. Forming the strands or coils A from a continuous piece of coiled wire in the
manner described to form a fabric characterized by having the coil border E on the
longitudinal edges of the fabric.
5. Constructing the mats capable of being hinged together in sections in the
manner described and shown in Fig. 4.
Dated Nawam on 17th 1907
JAMES WARREN SNEDEKER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.