An Improved Wire Netting Machine.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 13th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 9th Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wire Netting Machine.
JOHN MILNES 66 Mellish Street Millwall E. and ALFRED ELGAR 43 Fernlea
Road Balham, S.W. do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
1st. To work a double set of pinion plates one above the other.
The top plates
to be worked by means of suitable cams, rollers, throw levers &c. and other
necessary gearing off the motion of the bottom plates. The bottom machine works
the lower plates and provides motive power for the upper plates, in which latter
any sized mesh may be worked interchangeable and simultaneously with the work
done on the bottom machine.
2nd. The interchangeable meshes worked on the top plates will be effected from
the ordinary tubes attached to the bottom pinion plates without the introduction of
additional tubes for smaller meshes.
3rd. Any sized meshed netting to be made to length of 100 yards without
stopping the machine to put up more wire.
These meshes will be regular throughout without holes to be mended or joins to
be made.
4th. Invented to make wire netting of various sized meshes on one machine
and to make wire netting of two different sized meshes at one & the same
time.
Dated this 10th day of December 1890.
JOHN MILNES.
ALFRED ELGAR.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wire Netting Machine.
We, JOHN MILNES, of 66 Mellish Street, Millwall, E. in the County of
Middlesex and ALFRED ELGAR, of 43 Fernlea Road, Balham, S.W. in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to improvements in that class of wire netting machines, in
most general use, wherein two sets of wires are employed to form the netting, one
set being supplied from bobbins or reels, and the other set being drawn out from
tubular holders in which the wire is contained in the form of close helical coils,
commonly known as "springs."
The mechanism for forming the twist consists of a row of pinions, each split
longitudinally with its axis into two equal parts.
The wires coming from the bobbins pass upwards through holes in one set of
half pinions, and the wires from the tubes pass upwards through holes in the other
set of half pinions. The said tubes are usually attached to their respective half
pinions, so that each tube with its half pinion practically forms one piece. The
bearings of the pinions consist of holes formed in two sliding plates, one half of
each hole being in one plate and the other half in the other plate. When the half
pinions in these plates coincide, a twisting motion is imparted by means of a rack,
the plates then slide, bringing the half pinions in one plate opposite the next half
pinions in the other plate, a twisting motion is again imparted by the rack, the
half pinions then return to their original position and this series of motions is

page_text: repeated. Each wire twists alternately with two adjacent wires, the twist being in
one direction on one wire, and in the opposite direction on the other wire.
The netting, as formed, is carried forward by a roller provided with studs or
pegs, which enter the meshes, and is then wound on to a plain second roller.
A machine constructed in the above manner can only produce netting of one
given size of mesh, such size being determined by the pitch of the pinions in the
sliding plates, thus a separate machine is required for each size of mesh. Again,
the diameter of the tubes containing the coils or "springs" is limited by the pitch
of the pinions, and when these are arranged to make netting of small mesh they
are so close together as to reduce the tubes to a size, which will only contain a
small supply of wire. The machine soon exhausts this supply, it has then to be
stopped, while fresh coils are inserted and their ends joined to the previous
wires. These frequently recurring joints disfigure the netting, while the operation
of joining is so tedious as to cause the machine to stand idle the greater part of the
time.
The object of our invention is to effect such improvements in the construction of
machines of the above class, as will, in the first place, enable netting of several
sizes of mesh to be made on one machine; secondly, will permit netting of two
different sizes of mesh to be made simultaneously on one machine; and thirdly will
allow netting of any sized mesh to be made in continuous lengths, of say 100 yards,
without stopping the machine to insert and join on fresh wire.
The accompanying three sheets of drawings represent a wire netting machine of
the class described, shewing our improvements applied thereto.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the top of the machine, partly in section.
Fig. 3 is a plan through Y Y in Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a plan through Z Z in Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the machine through zz in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a sectional end elevation, to an enlarged scale, of the sliding plates,
racks pinions, &c.
Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are plans, to an enlarged scale, of the sliding plates, racks,
pinions, &c.
Similar letters of reference denote similar parts throughout the drawings.
We will first describe those parts of the machine which are known and in
general use.
AAA are standards connected by tie bars B B B, supporting the various
moving parts. CC are the sliding pinion plates carrying the split pinions D D¹.
A second set of plates C2 C3 is placed below the plates CC, the plate C is rigidly
connected to the plate C3 by standards E E, and the plate Ci is similarly connected
to the plate C. The half D of each split pinion has affixed to it a tube F to
contain a coil of wire, which is inserted through the aperture F. The journal at
the lower end of the tube is split into two parts F" F, to correspond with the split
pinion D D. J J J, &c., are bobbins, or reels of wire, placed on fixed pins in any
convenient position. The wire K from each bobbin is taken round three
rollers L LL, to straighten it and give the necessary tension. From the rollers
the wire passes through a hole in the piece F, and then through a hole in the
half D of the split pinion. The wire H from the coil passes up through a hole in
the other half D. M is a rack sliding within the hollow plate C, and gearing with
the teeth of the split pinions D D'. N is a roller provided with pegs or studs (not
shewn) to carry forward the netting as made. A second roller P is driven from the
roller N, by means of the pulleys Q Q¹ and belt R, and the finished netting is
wound thereon.
The shaft S is driven
Motion is given to the machine in the following manner.
by a belt on the pulley T from any convenient source of power. A pinion U on
the shaft S drives a spur wheel on the shaft W. A second pinion U on the
shaft S drives through the pinion U³, worm U³, and worm wheel U* the roller N.
The pinion plates C C' are driven by cams X X on the shaft W, rollers aa being

page_text: affixed to the plates to receive the thrust of the cams. bis a vertical shaft carried
in bearings c c c and furnished with a cross arm d, to which the plates C Care
attached by links e e, so that the said plates are compelled to move and are held in
proper relation to each other. The rack M is driven from a crank pin fin the
disc g on the shaft W by means of a connecting rod h. A slot is provided in the
disc to receive the crank pin, so that the length of throw can be regulated as
required.
The connection of the rod to the rack M, will be presently described.
A machine constructed as above set forth will only make netting of one size of
mesh, and if the mesh be small, only short lengths can be made without joints in
the wire; the machine requiring to be frequently stopped to insert fresh coils in.
the tubes F.
Our improvements consist in the following additions and alterations.
We preferably arrange the plates C C' and their pinions, to make netting of a
large or moderately large mesh, so that the tubes F shall be of sufficient size to
contain a large supply of wire, enough to make netting in an unbroken length of
say 100 yards, or thereabouts.
At some distance above the plates CC), we place a second set of plates i i¹,
provided with split pinions and a rack k. These pinions are simply short
pinions without any tubes for coils, and each half is provided with a vertical hole
for the wire. The plates are driven from the shaft 6 by means of a cross arm!,
and links m m, while the rack k is operated by the connecting rod h. This rod is
connected to the racks M and k in the following manner.
p
The rod imparts a continuous reciprocating motion to the cross head n, which
slides on the two front upper tie bars B B. A slot is formed in the pinion
plate C and a similar slot p¹ in the plate i, a stud 9 is fixed in the rack M, and a
similar stud q in the rack k, these studs project through the aforesaid slots and also
through slots n¹ n² formed in the ends of the cross head n. A pair of screw
stops rare provided at each end of the cross head to strike the said studs q and q¹
and so impart motion to the racks M and k, the amount of motion in each case
being regulated by adjusting the stops.
are
The various parts are so adjusted, that while the pinion plates C C¹ and
being moved by the cams X X the racks M and kare stationary, and while the
said racks are being moved the pinion plates are stationary.
The upper plates are for the purpose of making netting of smaller mesh than
the lower plates C C¹, and they are supplied with wire from the bobbins J and the
coils in the tubes F belonging to the lower plates. As shewn in Fig. 1 a portion
of the plates C C' is occupied in making netting of large mesh, which is wound off
by the pegged roller N, the remainder of the wires being taken upwards, where
they converge, and enter the split pinions in the upper plates i i¹, and are by them
formed into netting of smaller mesh, which is wound off by a small pegged roller s,
driven by spur gears ttt from the roller N. The completed netting is coiled on a
roller U, driven from the rollers by wheels vv and a belt w.
The upper plates i, with their split pinions, can be readily removed and a fresh
set of plates and pinions inserted to make netting of a different size of mesh,
another pegged roller of the proper size being also substituted for the roller s. By
this means our improved machine is capable of manufacturing netting of different
sizes of mesh on the upper plates, and it has already been shewn how two different
sizes of mesh can be made simultaneously.
The netting made on the upper plates, however small the mesh, can be turned
out in continuous lengths of 100 yards or thereabouts, because the wire is taken
from the large tubes F belonging to the lower plates, instead of from the
necessarily small tubes accompanying small mesh machines made in the ordinary
way.
It will be obvious, that, if required, the whole of the wires can be employed to
make wide netting on the roller N, or the roller s, or two widths can be made on N
and one on, or vice versa.

page_text: As the travel of the plates, is always less than that of the plates C C¹, a
slot is formed in the end of each link m, and screw stops y y are provided to
adjust the length of the travel of the upper plates. In place of this arrangement
slots may be formed in the cross arm land studs provided, which can be fixed in
the said slots at any required distance from the shaft b, the ends of the links m
being pivoted on the said studs.
As the wires converge towards the plates ii', they necessarily enter those plates
at varying angles, and to avoid any friction arising from such cause, we may affix
guide plates, pierced with bell-nouthed holes, under each plate it, so that the
wire passes over a rounded surface and is guided straight into the hole in the
pinion.
The free exposure of the wires between the plates and C C₁, gives great
facility for making joints rapidly and neatly, if it be required to make netting of
greater length than that due to the amount of wire in the tubes F, or in the event
of breakage of a wire.
It will be seen that the lower pinions D D₁ give the necessary counter twist to
those wires which pass to the upper pinions i .
We do not confine ourselves to the particular mechanism shewn and described
for giving motion to the various parts of the machine, as the same may be varied in
any suitable or convenient manner.
We lay no claim to those parts of the apparatus which are known and in general
use, but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim, is :-
:―
1. In a wire-netting machine of the class described, a second set of pinion
plates i, plain half pinions, supplied with wire from the tubes and bobbins of
the ordinary plates C C¹, a rack k, and rollers, substantially as set forth.
2. In a wire netting machine of the class described, the combination with pinion
plates C C¹, half-pinions D D', tubes F, a rack M, bobbins J and roller N, of
pinion plates i, plain half-pinions j j', a rack 'k and roller s, substantially as set
forth.
3. In a wire netting machine of the class described, the combination of pinion
plates C C and ii', a shaft b, cross-arms d and l, links e e and links m m furnished
with an adjusting device, so that the plates i¹ are driven by the plates C C¹,
substantially as set forth.
4. In a wire netting machine of the class described, the combination of pinion
plates C C¹ and ii, racks M and k and a cross head n, with adjusting devices, driven
from a crank pin f, substantially as set forth.
5. In a wire netting machine of the class described, the combination of pegged
rollers N and s and a train of gears ttt, substantially as set forth.
6. In a wire netting machine of the class described, the combination with the
upper pinion plates of guides for receiving the wires from the lower plates C C¹,
substantially as set forth.
7. The improved wire netting machine constructed substantially as described
and shewn with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 13th day of November 1891.
AMBROSE MYALL,
21, Cockspur Street, London, S.W., Agent for the Applicants.