AN IMPROVED PORTABLE FENCE FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE PENS OR FOR OTHER ENCLOSURES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Robert Johnston, of the Grove, Yoxford,
in the County of Suffolk, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PORTABLE FENCE FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE PENS OR FOR OTHER ENCLOSURES."
Sealed the 29th December 1863, and dated the 10th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Robert Johnston
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th July 1863.
I, ALEXANDER ROBERT JOHNSTON, of the Grove, Yoxford, in the County
of Suffolk, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PORTABLE FENCE FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE PENS OR FOR OTHER
ENCLOSURES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the so constructing fences for sheep and
cattle pens or other enclosures of a similar nature as that they can be readily
folded or packed up, and thus be made more portable than hitherto for removal
from place to place.
It is proposed to construct this improved portable fence chiefly of links or
rings of metal, which may be made of any convenient size or thickness according
to the description and strength of fence required, and such links or rings are
to be connected together either by smaller links or rings or by other suitable
means, so as to admit of the fence being readily folded up when required to
be moved out of the way, or transported from place to place on a farm or in a

page_text: park or other locality. The links or rings may be made either round, square,
oblong, triangular, or of any other convenient shape or design, and it is
proposed to galvanize or paint, color, or coat them with any suitable color or
coating in order to preserve the links or rings from the effects of exposure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Robert Johnston in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
ROBERT JOHNSTON, of the Grove, Yoxford, in the County of Suffolk, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Robert Johnston, Her special licence that I, the-said Alexander
Robert Johnston, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alexander Robert Johnston, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully.
night make, use, exercise,.and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PORTABLE FENCE FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE PENS OR FOR OTHER
ENCLOSURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Robert Johnston, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their,; or, one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Robert Johnston, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that
is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the so constructing fences for sheep or
cattle pens, or other enclosures of a similar nature, as that they can be readily

page_text: folded or. packed up, and thus be made more portable than hitherto for removal
from place to place..
It is proposed to construct this improved portable fence chiefly of links or
rings of metal, which may be made of any convenient size or thickness,
according to the description and strength of fence required, and such links or
rings are to be connected together either by smaller links or rings, or by other
suitable means, so as to admit of the fence being readily folded up when
required to be moved out of the way or transported from place to place on a
farm, or in a park, or other locality. The links or rings may be made either
round, square, oblong, triangular, or any other convenient shape or design,
and it is proposed to galvanize or paint, color, or coat them with gas tar or
with any suitable color or coating, in order to preserve the links or rings from
the effects of exposure to the weather."
The improved portable fence is intended to be used as a substitute for and.
applied and supported in a similar manner to the rope or wire netting now
used for folding or peaning, sheep or cattle, being much neater in appearance
and very much more durable, as well as more convenient to place & displace
than other iron fencing.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "An Improved
Portable Fence for Sheep and Cattle Pens, or for other Enclosures," I will
now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be
or niay be performed or carrie:l into practical effect. And in order that the
same may be distinctly understood, I bave annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and
letters of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation
thereof (that is to say) :-
In the annexed Drawings Figure 1 represents a short length of my improved
portable fence made from straight links with meshes of a square form drawn
about one-fourth size; and Figure 2 shows a similar length of the same made
with circular links or rings.
In Figure 1 each mesh is formed of four straight links a, a, a, a, having an
eye at each end, as shown in the detached view, and these links are connected
together at the corners of each mesh by small rings 6, 6, 6, 6, larger rings c, c, c, c,
are placed at intervals along the upper edge of the fence for the purpose of
passing a rope or wire through, by means of which the fence is attached to and
supported by wooden stakes or iron uprights driven into the ground at suitable
distances apart.
In Figure 2 each mesh is made of one circular link or ring a, a, a, a, and
these links are connected together by smaller links b, b, b, b, and the upper

page_text: edge of the fence is also provided with rings c, c, c, c, to pass a rope or wire
through for supporting the same, as above described.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for "An
Improved Portable Fence for Sheep and Cattle Pens or for other Enclosures,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that although
I have above particularly described and shewn in the annexed Drawing only
two forms of mesh or link for the sake of illustration, it will be evident that
the form of the links and other details of construction may be varied con-
siderably without departing from the main feature of my Invention, which I
hereby declare to consist in, and I claim as my Invention, constructing an
improved portable fence for such purposes by means of metallic links, so
connected together that the same can be readily folded up and packed into a
small compass, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Robert Johnston, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Sol. & Patent Agent,
1, Serle St., Lincoln's Inn.
A. R. JOHNSTON. (L.S.)