AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN JOINING FENCING WIRE, WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE JOINING OF WIRE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Henry Nettlefold, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN JOINING FENCING WIRE, WHICH IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE JOINING OF WIRE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Henry Nettlefold at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th July 1878.
"E
JOSEPH HENRY NETTLEFOLD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer. AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING FENCING WIRE, WHICH
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE JOINING OF WIRE
FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described in joining fencing wire and other wire, by which improvement or in-
provements a very secure junction is effected, and the wire may be so prepared
before it is supplied to commerce that the joining is effected without the use of
tools.
I prepare the ends of the wire to be joined in the following manner :-I fold
or double upon itself two or three inches of the end portion of the wire. The
folding or doubling is effected around a peg or mandrel, which forms a nearly
elliptical loop of about four times the diameter of the wire, the extreme end of
the folded portion of the wire being parallel with the portion of the wire unacted
upon, and separated therefrom by a distance equal to the diameter of the wire.
The elliptical loop described is bent into a plane making a very obtuse angle
with the parallel portions of the wire.
In connecting together two ends of wire bent as described, they are brought
Din C31

page_text: together in such relative positions that the straight portions of the two wires lie
parallel upon one another, each wire passing through the loop of the other wire.
The parallel parts terminating the loops also lie parallel upon one another. By
tightening the wires the extreme end of each wire enters the loop of the other
wire as the loops slide upon one another, and there is thus formed a junction some-
what resembling a sailor's knot, the parallel portions adjoining the loop of each wire
being situated in the loop of the other wire; the junction thus formed is exceedingly
strong.
The tighter the wires are stretched the more secure the junction becomes. This
junction has the further advantage that the two portions of wire joined are in the
same line.
.
The loops at each of the ends to be joined are, by preference, made on the same
side of the wire; they may however be made on opposite sides with nearly the same
effect. In this latter case however the two portions of the wire joined are not quite
in the same line.
Besides being applicable to the joining of fencing wire, my Invention is applicable
to the joining of wire for various purposes, such for example as telegraph wires and
signal wires.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Henry Nettlefold in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
January 1879.
"
JOSEPH HENRY NETTLEFOLD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer. AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING FENCING WIRE, WHICH
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE JOINING of Wire
FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described in joining fencing wire and other wire, by which improvement or im-.
provements a very secure junction is effected, and the wire may be so prepared
before it is supplied to commerce that the joining is effected without the use of
tools.
I prepare the ends of the wire to be joined in the following manner :-I fold
or double upon itself two or three inches of the end portion of the wire. The
folding or doubling is effected around a peg or mandril, which forms a nearly
elliptical loop of about four times the diameter of the wire, the extreme end of the
folded portion of the wire being parallel with the portion of the wire unacted upon,
and separated therefrom by a distance equal to the diameter of the wire. The
elliptical loop described is bent into a plane, making a very obtuse_angle with the
parallel portions of the wire.
In connecting together two ends of wire bent as described, they are brought
together in such relative positions that the straight portions of the two wires lie
parallel upon one another, each wire passing through the loop of the other wire.
The parallel parts terminating the loops also lie parallel upon one another. By
tightening the wires the extreme end of each wire enters the loop of the other
wire as the loops slide upon one another, and there is thus formed a junction some-
what resembling a sailor's knot, the parallel portions adjoining the loop of each wire
being situated in the loop of the other wire; the junction thus formed is exceedingly
strong.
The tighter the wires are stretched the more secure the junction becomes. This
junction has the further advantage that the two portions of the wire joined are in
the same line.
The loops at each of the ends to be joined are, by preference, made on the same
side of the wire; they may however be made on opposite sides with nearly the
same effect. In the latter case however the two portions of the wire joined are not
quite in the same line.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the.
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan and side elevation portions of two pieces or lengths
of wire, the ends of which are prepared according to my Invention for joining the
said pieces or lengths together, and to other similar pieces or lengths. The two
pieces or lengths of wire are marked respectively a and b. The ends of each piece
are similarly constructed, each end being formed with a nearly elliptical loop,
which is made by folding or doubling upon itself around a peg or mandril
about two or three inches of the end portion of the wire, the extreme or return
part of the loop being parallel with the portion of the wire from which the
said loop was made.
The loops at the ends of the length or piece of wire a are marked respectively
a², as, and the return or parallel ends of the wire near the said loops are marked res-
pectively a, a. The loops at the ends of the length of wire bare marked respectively
62, 63, and the return or parallel ends near the said loops are marked respectively
64, 65. The loops a², a³, and their return ends a', a³, and the loops 62, 63, and their
return ends 64, 65, are made on the same side of their respective wires a, b, as
represented.

page_text: The loop at each end of the wire is bent into a plane, making a very obtuse
angle with the parallel portions of the wire (see side elevations of Figure 1). The
loops at the opposite ends of each length or piece of wire are not bent in the same
direction, but the loop at one end of the wire is bent downwards, while the loop
at the opposite end of the wire is bent upwards as represented. The ends of the
two wires a, b, to be joined together are arranged with respect to each other in the
manner represented in Figure 1, that is, the turned up loop a² of the wire a is
brought to the turned down loop 62 of the wire b.
.
In joining or connecting together the ends a², 62, of the two wires a, b, they are
first brought and engaged together in the manner represented in plan and side
elevation in Figure 2. This is effected as follows:-The wire a, Figure 1, is taken
hold of and its loop a² inverted, and the said loop inclined downwards, and the
straight part a of the wire passed between the fork or parallel parts 64, 6º, of the
wire b, so that the said wire a is engaged on the upper side of the loop 62; the
wire à is now raised into the same plane as the wire b. The straight part b of
the wire is now situated in the loop a², while the forked parts a, a, of the wire a
are situated on either side of the wire b. The wire a is next turned through a
semicircle upon the stationary wire as a centre until the return end a' of the
loop a is in a line with the return end 6 of the loop 62, and the straight parts a, b,
of the two wires are nearly in the same line. By this semi-rotation of the wire a
upon the wire b the loop a² is looped to or engaged with the upper side of the
wire b, the parts having the respective positions represented in Figure 2. The parts
are now ready to be locked together. This is effected by sliding the loop a² of the
wire a towards the loop 62 of the wire b. As the said loops approach one another
the return end at of the wire a enters and bears against the upper side of the
loop 62, and at the same time the return end 6 of the wire benters and bears
against the under side of the loop a², as illustrated in Figure 3. By tightening the
wire a upon the wire b by the further sliding of the wire a, the parallel parts a', aº,
slide through the loop 62, and the loop a² slides upon the parallel parts 64, 6º, of the
wire b until the shoulders of the two loops abut against one another, when the ends
of the two wires are locked or joined together, as illustrated in Figure 4, the
greater the tension put upon the joined wires the tighter the junction becomes.
The junction thus formed somewhat resembles a sailor's knot, the two portions
a and b of the joined wires being in the same line, as seen in the plan of Figure 4.
The preliminary engaging of the end of one wire with the end of the other wire,
and the bringing of the straight or parallel parts of the two wires into the same
line ready for the sliding motion by which they are finally engaged and locked
together may be varied, but the method I have described and illustrated in the
Drawing answers well in practice and is simple and efficient.
Figure 5 represents in side elevation and edge view two pieces or lengths of wire
in which the loops and return parts at the ends of the wire are made on opposite
sides of the wire instead of on the same side as before described and illustrated;
Figure 6 represents the preliminary engaging of the ends of the wires prior to
the formation of the junction by the sliding motion herein-before described,
and Figure 7 represents the joined wires effected by the sliding of one of the
loops so as to cause the return end of one loop to engage with the other loop.
'
In this arrangement of my Invention the semicircular motion of one end of the
wire upon the other to effect the preliminary engaging together of the two ends is
unnecessary.
In effecting the junction of the two wires e, f, their ends are brought together so
that the return parts e³, fs, of the loops e², f2, are on opposite sides of the respective
wires e, f. The end of the wire f is now brought over the end of the wire e, and
dépressed thereon so that its loop f2 drops upon the wire e, and the wire fenters
and rests upon the loop e², the two wires fitting between the respective forked parts
of the two looped ends, as represented in Figure 6. The return ends e³, fs, of the
two loops are by this means brought into a line with the straight parts e, f, of the
two wires, and by sliding the loop f2 of the wire f towards the loop e² of the wire e,

page_text: the said return ends es, f³, enter and pass through the respective loops f² and e²,
and thereby join the two ends of the wire together, as illustrated in Figure 7.
In this method of joining the lengths of wire, the joined pieces e, f, are not in
the same line (see the plan of Figure 7).
Although the shape of the loops and the length of the return ends represented in
the Drawings answer well in practice, yet the figure of the loops and the length of
the return ends may be varied without affecting the efficiency of these parts.
Besides being applicable to the joining of fencing wire, my Invention is applicable
to the joining of wire for various purposes, such for example as telegraph wires and
signal wires.
By my Invention the joining of the ends of fencing and other wire is effected
without the use of tools, the ends of the wire being prepared as herein-before
described, ready to form secure junction when the said ends are engaged together in
the ways before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be perforined, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention the im-
provement or improvements in joining fencing wire and other wire herein-before
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, joining the
ends of fencing wire and other wire without the use of tools by constructing at
the ends of the wires to be joined loops and return ends of the kinds described and
illustrated, the ends of the wires thus prepared for joining being engaged together
and tightened by a sliding motion so as to forin a strong and secure junction, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Henry Nettlefold, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
Witness,
CHARLES STEER,
Birmingham.
J. H. NETTLEFOLD. (L.S.)