IMPROVEMENTS IN IRON WIRE CONTINUOUS FENCING. AND IN THE LAPPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN. AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUARDS AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF WIREWORK
Year: 1867

page_text: and Company, Limted, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturers of
Iron and Wire Fences, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN IRON
WIRE CONTINUOUS FENCING. AND IN THE LAPPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREIN. AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUARDS AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF
WIREWORK."
Sealed the 24th September 1867, and dated the 26th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Owen Greening
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th March 1867.
1. EDWARD OWEN GREENING, of the Firm of Greening and Company,
Limited, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturers of Iron and Wire
Fences, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN IRON AND WIRE CONTINUOUS FENCING, AND IN THE LAPPING MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUARDS AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS
OF WIREWORK," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in wire continuous fencing,
and consists in lapping the component wires of it together by machinery
herein-after explained, whereby a stronger fencing is produced and a better
finish is given to the work; and this Invention further relates to improve-

page_text: ments in continuous wrought-iron fencing, which consist in constructing it of
a different form of iron to that now in use, in order that the component parts
of such fencing may be more firmly secured together than has hitherto been
practicable, thus producing a stronger fencing and one much handsomer in
appearance. According to this Invention the top rail is formed of T iron or of
iron, cross sections of which may be illustrated thus
and the inter-
mediate or lower rails I prefer to form of square iron set on edge thus
or of any other suitable form of bar iron. The standards are of the ordinary
shape and material, but I form the top edge so as to grip the midfeather of
the T. or angular iron which forms the top rail, and I pass a bolt or rivet
through such forked part of the standard and midfeather of the top rail in
order to securely fasten them together; or this may be effected by small
cast-iron brackets. The lower portion of the standards I rivet to pieces of flat
sheet iron set at right angles to the railing, which upon entering the ground
serves to keep such standards steadier than the ordinary form of standard
feet. The intermediate rails require only to pass through such standards
without being fastened, and the joint standards are provided with cast-iron
sockets to receive the ends of such lower or intermediate rails.
Secondly, this Invention relates to improvements in the machinery or appa-
ratus for the manufacture of iron and wire continuous fencing, guards, and
other descriptions of wirework, and consists of a framework travelling upon
rails, in whica framework are mounted a number of hollow horizontal
"lappers," which can be arranged at different distances from one another to suit
the particular design of the fencing or wirework being manufactured; through
such "lappers the horizontal strained wires are passed, and such strained
wires are firmly secured at each end of the rails. Each of the lappers is
provided with two cranked arms, upon one of which a bobbin or reel of
lapping wire is mounted in a parallel line with the axes of such lappers, and
the other cranked arm is arranged with a small pulley. over which the
lapping wire passes in being guided to the extreme point of such cranked
arm where it commences to lap upon the cross wires of the fencing or other
wirework being manufactured. An endless chain passes alternately over
and under chain wheels mounted on each of the before-mentioned lappers,
thus causing them to revolve and lap the lapping wire upon the strained and
cross wires which form the wirework being manufactured. A driving shaft
worked by a winch handle at one side of the framework herein-before men-
tioned communicates the necessary motion to the endless chain for working
the lappers, and by means of bevilled gearing and a worm and worm wheel

page_text: Buch driving shaft also causes a drum to revolve round which a cord is passed.
which is secured at one end of the rails. in order that as such arum revolves
13
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Owen Greening in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
OWEN GREENING. of the Firm of Greening and Company, Limited, of the
City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturers of Iron
and Wire Fences, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign.
did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Owen Greening. Her special license that I, the said Edward Owen
Greening, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as J, the
said Edward Owen Greening, 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
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN IRON AND WIRE CONTINUOUS FENCING. AND IN THE
LAPPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN. AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUARDS
AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF WIREWORK," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Owen Greening, 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 1. the said Edward Owen Greening, 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:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in wire continuous fencing,
and consist in lapping the component wires together by machinery herein-
after explained, whereby a stronger fencing is produced and a better finish is

page_text: given to the work and this Invention further relates to improvements in con-
tinuous wrought-iron fencing, which consist in constructing it of a different
form of iron to that now in use, in order that the component parts of such
fencing may be more firmly secured together than has hitherto been practicable.
thus producing a stronger fencing and one much handsomer in appearance.
According to this Invention the top rail is formed of T iron or of iron, cross
sections of which may be illustrated thus T↑, and the intermediate
or lower rails I prefer to form of square iron set on edge thus
. or of
any other suitable form of bar iron. The standards are of the ordinary shape
and material, but I form the top edge so as to grip the midfeather or vertical
part of the T or angular iron, which forms the top rail, and I pass a bolt or
rivet through such forked part of the standard and midfeather or vertical
part of the top rail in order to securely fasten ihem together; or this may be
effected by small cast-iron brackets. The intermediate rails require only to
pass through such standards without being fastened, and the joint standards
are provided with cast-iron sockets to receive the ends of such lower or
intermediate rails.
Secondly, this Invention relates to improvements in the machinery or
apparatus for the manufacture of iron and wire continuous fencing guards
and other descriptions of wirework, and consists of a framework travelling
upon rails, in which framework are mounted a number of hollow horizontal
lappers, which can be arranged at different distances from one another to suit
the particular design of the fencing or wirework being manufactured;
through such lappers the horizontal strained wires are passed, and such
strained wires are firmly secured at each end of the rails. Each of the
lappers is provided with two cranked arms, upon one of which a bobbin or
reel of lapping wire is mounted in a parallel line with the axes of such
lappers, and the other cranked arm is arranged with a small pulley, over
which the lapping wire passes in being guided to the extreme point of such
cranked arm, where it commences to lap upon the cross and strained wires
of the fencing or other wirework being manufactured. An endless chain
passes alternately over and under chain wheels mounted on each of the before-
mentioned lappers, thus causing them to revolve and lap the lapping wire
upon the strained and cross wires which form the wirework being manufac-
tured. A driving shaft worked by a winch handle at one side of the frame-
work herein-before mentioned communicates the necessary motion to the
endless chain for working the lappers, and by means of bevilled gearing and
a worm and worm wheel such driving shaft also causes a drum to revolve

page_text: round which a cord is passed, which is secured at one end of the rails, in
order that as such drum revolves the framework is caused to move along the
rails.
That this my said Invention may be the more readily seen and understood
I have hereunto annexed a Drawing illustrative of my improvements in iron
and wire continuous fencing, and in the lapping machinery employed in the
manufacture of wirework, like letters and figures being used to denoto
similar parts throughout the several views.
Fig. 1 represents a side view of wrought-iron continuous fencing constructed
according to this Invention. a sectional end view of which is illustrated by
Fig. 1a: Fig. 2 is a wrought-iron gate. an cnd view of which is seen at
Fig. 2a; Fig. 3 represents a side view. Fig. 4a front view, and Fig. 5 is a
plan of a lapping machine constructed according to this Invention; and Fig. 6
is a front view. partly in section, and Fig. 7 a plan of a portion of Figs. 3, 4, 5,
drawn to an enlarged scale to shew the construction and action of the parts
more perfectly.
In Fig. 1, A is the top rail formed of wrought iron, a cross section of which
is seen in Fig. 1a, having a curved top: or such top rail may be of T iron or
of the form illustrated in cross section by B to the right of la, the top
portion being of any convenient obtuse or acute angle. The standard C is of
the ordinary form, the top portion being forked so as to grip the midfeather
or vertical part D of the top rail A, and secured thereto by the cast-iron
bracket E, which may be fastened in position by means of cotters, pins, rivets,
or bolts and nails. The joint standard F is provided with a double bracket
(similar to E), which forms the means of joining the lengths of the top rails
together, and of securing them to such joint standard; and such joint standard
is further provided with cast-iron sockets G to receive the ends of the lengths
of bar iron constituting the intermediate rails, which in the Drawing are
formed of square iron set on edge and marked H, but may be of round or any
other convenient form of bar iron. The sockets G are bolted or riveted to
the joint standard F. and the intermediate rails simply pass through holes
corresponding in shape formed in the ordinary standard C without being
fastened in any way. It will be readily apparent that this fencing is very
simple in construction, that it may be manufactured almost together by
machinery, that it may be taken in pieces and packed in a small compass for
transport, and is very handsome in appearance.
In Fig. 2. 1 are cast-iron corners having holes "cored" in them to receive
the ends of the T, angular, or other iron forming the framework of the gate,
being secured in position in such corners by cotters which when in their

page_text: places may be riveted over: such corners may be provided with brackets J. to
which in the larger sizes of gates truss rods may be secured in order to hold
the framework in shape, and the hinges are formed as illustrated by projections
from the back corner pieces. This gate is sometimes covered with corrugated
iron, and we prefer to form the top rail of the same shaped iron as that
illustrated and described for continuous fencing in Fig. 1. In Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7, K represents the framework of the lapping machine mounted upon
the wheels L and running upon the rails M; N are the lappers, shewn
enlarged in Figs. 6 and 7, consisting of hollow spindles O working in bearings
in the face plate P, upon each of which spindles is mounted a chain wheel R,
provided with teeth which engage in the links of the flat endless chain S. and
thus have motion communicated to them; T is a cranked arm fixed on each
of the hollow spindles, upon each of which is located a reel or bobbin U of
lapping wire U, which lapping wire passes round the small pulley or wheel V
and through a hole at the end of the arm T¹ in its passage to the extreme
point of the hollow spindles 0; W are the strained wires which pass through
the hollow horizontal spindles O, the ends of which are secured at each extremity
of the rails. The endless chain S passes under the guide wheels X and Y,
the former of which is made adjustable in the rack X' (as illustrated in
Fig. 4), thence it passes over the driving chain wheel Z, and alternately over
and under each of the lappers. The chain wheel Z is mounted upon the
driving shaft a, which has a pinion 1 at one end gearing into the large spur
driving wheel b, and at the other end of such driving shaft is mounted a
bevilled wheel c, gearing into a similar bevilled wheel d keyed upon an inter-
mediate shaft e, which by means of the worm and worm wheel g commu-
nicates motion to the drum h revolving upon the drum shaft i, which can be
made to turn with it by tightening 'the set screws. The framework K can be
bolted together in any convenient manner, and is surmounted by a shelf or
tray (shewn broken in Fig. 5), conveniently situated for holding the supply
cross wires 1, cut in proper lengths to be placed by hand upon the strained
wires, which together form the wirework m being manufactured. n is a cord
or chain, one end of which is fastened at the end of the rails to any convenient
fixed point, and the other wound round and fixed to the drum h, so that as
such drum revolves the whole machine is caused to travel along the rails, and
as it proceeds the cord or chain is taken up upon the drum h; o is the winch
handle for working the machine.
The practical operation of this lapping machine may be thus described:--
The strained wires are first passed through the lappers and securely fastened
at each end of the rails; the ends of the lapping wires should then be fixed to

page_text: the strained wires to be ready to lap upon them; this done a cross wire may be
placed by hand on the top of such strained wires close up to the points of the
hollow spindles of the lappers. and the machine should then be set in motion
by turning the handle o; the driving spur wheel b gearing into the pinion 1
upon the driving shaft a by means by means of the driving chain wheel Z and
endless chain S will then cause the lappers N to turn round, and the bevilled
gearing c and d, worm f, and worm wheel g will communicate revolving motion
to the drum h, and thus wind the cord or chain upon it, causing the machine
at the same time to travel along the rails; the lapping wire U will thus be
drawn of the reel or bobbin U and be lapped around the strained wires W
and across the wirework, securely binding the component wires together; and
when the machine has advanced sufficiently it may be stopped and another
cross wire placed in the same position upon the strained wires W at the proper
distance from the other to suit the design of the wirework being manufactured;
the machine
may then be set in motion again, and the operation
repeated ad libitum. When the machine has arrived at the end of the rails
the set screws J in the drum h may be loosened, and the machine may then
be brought back to the starting point. It will thus be perceived that the
lappers in this machine all work together, and that any degree of tightness
in lapping the wirework together may be obtained, and it will be further
apparent that the length of wirework to be manufactured can only be limited
by the length of the strained wires, as the manufactured wirework may be
folded up at the end of the rails as it is finished, and the supply of strained
wires may be wound upon rollers or wheels at the other extremity of the
rails, and be unwound as it is required. In this machine any number of
lappers may be used, according as the fineness of the wirework requires them,
and it may be used for lapping any strength of wirework, which it accomplishes
in a firmer and more regular manner than is practicable by hand.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my
said Invention, together with the best methods with which I am acquainted
for carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details, relative proportions,
or dimensions, as the same may be considerably varied without departing from
the Invention; but what I do claim is,-
Firstly, the use and application of cast-iron brackets and sockets in the
manufacture of continuous wronght-iron fencing, together with the forms of
top rails, cross sections of which are illustrated by Fig. 1, and marked with
the letter B, and the method of applying square bar iron (as illustrated by

page_text: Fig. 1) in the manufacture and construction of continuous wrought-iron
fencing. substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
Secondly, the use and application of cast-iron corners in the construction
of wrought-iron gates, substantially as herein-before illustrated and described.
Thirdly, the arrangement of mechanism for lapping the component wires
of continuous wire fencing and other descriptions of wirework together. as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, or any
mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof. I, the said Edward Owen Greening, have hereunto
set my hand and affixed my seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
JOHN G. WILSON,
Office for Patents,
Imperial Chambers,
Manchester.
(L.s.) EDWARD OWEN GREENING.