Improvements in Connecting or Joining Wires or Wire Ropes to the Parts of Structures or Things Made Mainly or in Part of Wire or Wire Ropes, and in Joining Wire and Wire Ropes for Various Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 24th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 29th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Connecting or Joining Wires or Wire Ropes to the
Parts of Structures or Things Made Mainly or in Part of Wire
or Wire Ropes, and in Joining Wire and Wire Ropes for Various
Purposes.
I HENRY JOHNSON of Trindle Road, Dudley, in the County of Worcester, Mining
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object principally to facilitate the joining of wires or wire
ropes to parts of structures or things made mainly or in part of wire or wire ropes.
My invention is also applicable to the joining of wires and wire ropes for various
purposes.
I will describe my invention as applied to the construction of a wire fence. The
aprights of the fence may either be made of bar iron or of wood. In order to
connect or join the wire to the upright I employ a holdfast or coupling-box constructed
in the following manner. The body of the said coupling-box consists of a strong
disc preferably of cast iron flat at back and having a raised or protecting rim at
front. The said disc has a central hole through which a screw-boit is passed to fasten
it to the upright. In the depression formed at front by the rim a plate or lid is fitted
which lid has a central hole through which the screw-bolt described passes and fixes
the said plate or lid in its place at the same time that it fixes the disc to the upright.
Crossing the depression in the front of the disc is a recess the ends of which have
a groove like figure of a size suitable to receive the wire of the fencing. One side
of this recess is straight but the other side is at its middle part nearly semicircular.
A straight wire is put into the recess described and the lid placed in the depression.
A pointed tool is driven through the hole in the lid into the hole in the disc. The
portion of the wire at the middle of the depression in the disc is by the said tool
deflected into the semicircular part of the recess. On the withdrawal of the pointed
tool the screw bolt is passed through the said lid and the disc and the upright fixed
by a screw nut; the wire is thereby secured in the coupling box and is incapable of
a sliding motion therein.
Instead of making one side only of the middle part of the recess semicircular both
sides of the said recess may be made semicircular near the middle and the outer
portions of a breadth suitable for the reception of two parallel wires. In this case
the driving in of the pointed tool deflects those portions of two wires situated in the
coupling-box into the semicircular portions of the recess respectively and both wires
are fixed.
Or the figure of the recess in the disc may be such that one of the wires may
incline in passing out of the coupling box at one or both sides or the wires may
be parallel at the marginal portions of the coupling box and be bent in any required
direction on emerging from the coupling. box.
Or the disc may have શ recess or recesses of any required shape to fit it for
different purposes. For example the said disc may have four or other number of angular
recesses into which angular wires may be fitted and fixed by a central pin rivet or
screw bolt. Or the disc may have six or eight or other number of angular recesses
In which angular recesses bent wires may be fitted and fixed in the way described.
In this way the bubs and spokes of metallic wheels may be conveniently formed.
In cases where it is inconvenient or undisirable to give the required deflection to
that part of the wire or wire rope which occupies the coupling-box by the driving of
pointed tool into the central opening I proceed as follows:-I make in the interior
f the coupling box a groove of a nearly semicircular figure the said groove being
nconnected with the central hole. I give to the portion of wire which is to occupy

page_text: -
the coupling-box a similar figure to that of the groove in the coupling-box. The
curved part. of the wire being placed in the curved groove, the lid is put in its place
..and fixed by the screw bolt or rivet passed through the central hole the curved part
of the wire is thereby not only retained in but pressed down firmly in the said
groove. Two or more curved grooves may be made in one coupling-box for the
reception of two or more, wires or wire ropes with curves and the whole secured by
the lid of the coupling-box.
•
.
In making some structures according to my invention such for example as wire
or wire rope ladders the coupling-box may be made in one piece by casting the
required internal shape of the hole in the interior being made by the use of a core
as is well understood. The wire or wire rope constituting the sides or uprights of the
ladder are passed through the coupling-boxes which are placed at the proper distances
apart the wire or wire rope having been deflected by the use of a pointed tool the
ends of the rods constituting the steps of the ladder are passed through the holes
in the coupling-boxes and rivetted the rungs or steps of the ladder being thus
securely fixed to the wire or wire rope sides of the ladder.
When a ladder of a single wire rope with steps projecting on each side is to be
made I form the steps and the coupling-box in one piece preferably by casting.
The wire rope having been passed through the series of coupling-boxes and the
said boxes arranged at the required distance apart, the pointed tool is driven
through the holes in the coupling boxes and rivets afterwards fixed therein.
Qr the steps may be formed and secured to the box and the wire rope within the
box deflected by constructing the step of a bar of iron or steel and passing the same
partly through the hole in the box and securing it in that position.
Dated this 26th day of July 1888.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Connecting or Joining Wires or Wire Ropes to the
Parts of Structures or Things Made Mainly or in Part of Wire
or Wire Ropes, and in Joining Wire and Wire Ropes for Various
Purposes.
I, HENRY JOHNSON, of Trindle Road Dudley in the County of Worcester, Mining
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My invention has for its object principally to facilitate the joining of wires or
wire ropes to parts.of.structures or things made mainly or in part of wire or
wire ropes.
My invention is also applicable to the joining of wires and wire ropes for various
purposes.
I will describe my invention as applied to the construction of a wire fence. The
uprights of the fence may either be made of bar iron or of wood. In order to connect
or join the wire to the uprights I employ a hold-fast or coupling box constructed in
the following manner. The body of the said coupling box consists of a strong dise,
preferably of cast iron, flat at back and having a raised or projecting rim at front.
The said disc has a central hole through which a screw holt is passed to fasten it to
the upright. In the depression formed at front by the rim, a plate or lid is fitted
which lid has a central hole through which the screw bolu described passes and fixes
the said plate or lid in its place at the same time that it fixes the disc to the upright.
Crossing the depression in front of the disc is a recess the ends of which have a
groove like figure of a size suitable to receive the wire of the fencing. One side of
this recess is straight but the other side is at its middle part nearly semicircular.
A straight wire is put into the recess described and the lid placed in the depression.
A pointed tool is driven through the hole in the lid into the hole in the disc. The
"

page_text: portion of the wire at the middle of the depression in the disc is by the said tool
deflected into the semi-circular part of the recess. On the withdrawal of the pointed..
tool the screw bolt is passed through the said lid and the disc and the upright fixed
by a screw nut; the wire is thereby secured in the coupling box and is incapable of a
sliding motion therein.
Instead of making one side only of the middle part of the recess semi-circular
both sides of the said recess may be made semi-circular near the middle and the outer
portions of a breadth suitable for the reception of two parallel wires. In this case
the driving in of the pointed tool deflects those portions of the two wires situated in
the coupling box into the semi-circular portions of the recess respectively and both
wires are fixed.
Or the figure of the recess in the disc may be such that one of the wires may.
incline in passing out of the coupling box at one or both sides; or the wires may be
parallel at the marginal portions of the coupling box and be bent in any required
direction on emerging from the coupling box.
Or the disc may have a recess or recesses of any required shape to fit it for.different
purposes. For example, the said disc may have four or other number of angular
recesses into which angular wires may be fitted and fixed by a central pin, rivet or
screw bolt. Or the disc may have six or eight or other number of angular recesses
in which angular recesses bent wires may be fitted and fixed in the way described.
In this way the hubs and spokes of metallic wheels may be conveniently formed.
In cases where it is inconvenient or undesirable to give the required deflection to.
that part of the wire or wire rope which occupies the coupling box. by the driving
of a pointed tool into the central opening i proceed as follows. 1 måke in the.
interior of the coupling box a groove of a nearly semi-circular figure the said groove
being unconnected with the central hole. I give to the portion of wire which is to.
occupy the coupling box a similar figure to that of the groove in the coupling box:
The curved part of the wire being placed in the curved groove the lid is put in its.
place and fixed by the screw bolt or rivet passed through the central hole. The
curved part of the wire is thereby not only retained in but pressed down firmly in.
the said groove. Two or more curved grooves may be made in one coupling box for
the reception of two or more wires or wire ropes with curves and the whole secured
by the lid of the coupling box.
In making some structures according to my invention such for example as wire
or wire rope ladders, the coupling box may be made in one piece by casting, the
required internal shape of the hole in the interior being made by the use of a core
as is well understood. The wire or wire rope constituting the sides or uprights of
the ladder are passed through the coupling boxes which are placed at the proper
distances apart; the wire or wire rope having been deflected by the use of n
pointed tool the ends of the rods constituting the steps of the ladder are passed
through the holes in the coupling boxes and rivetted; the rungs or steps of the ladder
being thus securely fixed to the wire or wire rope sides of the ladder.
When a ladder of a single wire rope with steps projecting on each side is to be
made I form the steps and the coupling box in one piece preferably by casting. The
wire rope having been passed through the series of coupling boxes and the said boxes
arranged at the required distance apart, the pointed tool is driven through the holes
in the coupling boxes and rivets afterwards fixed therein.
Or the steps may be formed and secured to the box and the wire-rope within
the box deflected by constructing the step of a bar of iron or steel and passing
the same partly through the hole in the box and securing it in that position.
1 will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan (with the lid or cover removed) and cross section a
holdfast or coupling box constructed according to iny invention, to which box a
single continuous wire of a wire fence (or other article) is to be connected or joined ;
Figure 2 represents in plan and side elevation the said coupling box with the lid er
cover rivetted to it.

page_text: a is the coupling box consisting of a strong circular disc having a raised or
projecting rim at front, thereby forming a circular depression 6 at the said front of
the box. The said coupling box a has also a central hole c through which the stem of the
fixing rivet d (or screw bolt) is passed to fasten it to the upright of the fence and to
fasten the two parts of the coupling box together; or the coupling box may be fixed
in other ways to the upright of the fence: e is the lid or cover having a central hole
for the passage through it of the fixing rivet (or screw bolt) and the pointed
deflecting tool. The lid or cover e fits in the circular depression b at the front of the
coupling box a. Crossing the said depression 6 in the front of the coupling box is
a groove or recess of for receiving the wire of the fence. The said groove is
nearly straight at its ends and semi-circular at its middle on one side as represented
in the plan Figure 1. The sides of the coupling box a opposite the straight ends of
the groove are open for the passage of the wire y through the said open sides of
the box.
In connecting or joining the continuous wire to the coupling box a, a straight wire
is put into the straight part of the groove or recess and the lid or cover e
in the front depression b.
placed
A pointed tool is next driven through the axial hole c in
the lid and thereby made to force the middle portion of the wire into, the semi-
circular part of the recess or groove / as seen in Figure 1. The pointed tool having
been withdrawn the rivet d (or screw bolt) is passed through the lid and the disc or
coupling box and the two parts fastened together by forming a head on the said rivet
as seen in the Drawing. The continuous wire thus secured in the coupling box a is
incapable of an end or sliding motion therein. In the Drawings I have represented
a short rivet for fastening the two parts of the coupling box together but when the
coupling box is to be fastened to the upright by a rivet the latter must have a length
sufficient to pass through the upright as well as through the two parts of the coupling
box. When the two parts of the coupling box are connected together by a short
rivet as shewn in the drawing the coupling box may be fixed to the upright of the
fence by a clip.
Figure 3 represents in plan (with the cover or lid removed) and cross section and
Figure 4 in plan and side elevation. with the lid or cover rivetted in its place, a
coupling box constructed according to my Invention for joining or connecting to it
two continuous wires crossing it at right angles, the coupling box having a recess in
each side for receiving the wires-and also a lid or cover at each side.
Figures 5 and represent plans, (with and without the lid) a cross section and a
side elevation of a coupling box to be employed when a straight continuous wire and
a continuous wire inclined to the straight wire are required to be fixed in the same.
coupling box.
Figures 7 and 8 represent plans (with and without the lid) a section and a side
elevation of a coupling box for fixing two parallel continuous wires to it, the said
wires being deflected in opposite directions in being fixed in the box.
Figures 9 and 10 represent another coupling box constructed according to my inven-
tion for fixing two sets of parallel continuous wires situated at right angles. In this
coupling box there is a lid or cover at front and back and two sets of recesses at front
and back for receiving the two pairs or sets of parallel wires, one set of wires being
deflected into the curved parts of the recesses at the front of the box by passing the
pointed tool through the front lid and the other set of wires being deflected into the
curved parts of the recesses at the back of the box by passing the pointed tool
through the back lid as will be understood by an examination of the section of
Figure 9.
Figures 11 and 12 represent plans (with and without the lid) a section and a side
elevation of a coupling box arranged to receive a continuous straight wire and two
continuous inclined wires. In this modification one of the wires is situated at one
side of the box and the other wires at the other side of the box, the lid or cover and
the box at the side where the two wires are situated having the modified figure shown
in the cross section of Figure 11.
Figure 13 represents plans (with and without the lid) and a cross section of a

page_text: coupling box with double recesses on each side of the box for receiving and fixing
four wires inclined to one another so as to form eight radial arms or spokes. This
arrangement is applicable to the joining of wire spokes to hubs for the construction
of velocipede wheels and other articles having radial wire arms.
Figure 14 represents plans (with and without a lid) and a cross section of a
coupling box with sets of recesses, one set being at right angles to the other set for
receiving and fixing two sets of six wires each, one set crossing the other set at
right angles.
Figure 15 represents in plan (with the cover reinoved) and cross section a
coupling box for a single wire in which the lid has a dovetail figure and is
secured in a dovetail or "undercut recess in the coupling box, as best seen in the
sectional view.
Figuro 16 represents in plan (with the cover or lid removed) and cross section, a
coupling box in which the recess into which the wire is deflected has a corrugated or
undulated figure. The lid or cover may be fixed by screwing it into the box.
Figure 16 represents in plan with the cover removed and in cross section another
form of coupling box constructed according to my invention. In this modified
coupling box the groove into which the continuous wire is deflected to fix it is not
open to the rivet (or bolt) hole, but is situated on the side thereof, the lid being
employed to produce side pressure only after the wire has been properly bent and
placed within the recess in the coupling box.
Figure 16 represents the same construction of coupling box as last described but
adapted for fixing two continuous parallel wires in the box.
Figures 17. 18. 19. 20 and 21 represent the application of the coupling boxes
constructed in the several ways herein before described to fences when tubular posts
or uprights are employed.
Figure 22 represents an unclimable or pointed fence to which coupling boxes
constructed according to my invention are applied.
The coupling boxes may be fixed to tubular posts or uprights by clips.
Figure 23 represents in side elevation the application of the coupling boxes to
fencing where wood posts are employed, and Figure 24 represents a portion of the
same drawn to a larger scale. In this case the deflection of the wire is effected by
the stem of a long screw bolt which is passed through the wooden post or upright
and fixed by a screw nut as seen in Figure 24.
Figure 25 represents the application of my improved coupling boxes to the
construction of wire netting.
Figure 26 represents in side elevation, plan vertical section and horizontal section,
a portion of a ladder constructed according to my invention; h. h are the wire rope
sides of the ladder and i. i are the solid coupling boxes to which the wire rope sides
are fixed, the said boxes having the construction best seen in the sections of
Figure 26. The wire rope sides of the ladder are deflected into recesses in the solid
coupling boxes by means of the iron bar, step or rung k which is driven into the said
boxes, the ends of the bar, step or rung being rivetted to the pair of coupling boxes,
in the manner shown in the drawing.
Figure 27 represents a portion of a ladder constructed according to my invention
in which a single wire rope upright is employed, the deflection of the wire rope
upright in the cooling boxes being effected by forcing the straight steps or rungs m
through the coupling boxes, the ends of the steps or rungs being afterwards
bent up.
Figures 28 and 29 represent portions of ladders also constructed according to my
invention. These arrangements are similar to those represented in Figures 26 and 27
excepting that the coupling boxes and steps are cast in one piece and the deflection of
the wire rope upright or uprights of the ladder is offected within the boxes by the
cross pins or rivets p. p.
Figures 30 and 31 represent coupling boxes constructed according to my invention
which I use for fixing the ends of hanging scaffold ladders, a double wiro rope
upright as in Figure 30, or two double wire rope uprights as in Figure 31 being

page_text: used. In this modification the coupling boxes qq are constructed substantially in
the ways herein before described with respect to the joining of wires for fencing, but
the shape of the boxes is somewhat varied; that is to say, the coupling box is
provided with one pair or two pairs of recesses into the curved parts of which the
wire rope or. ropes is or are deflected by the rivets r. r driven through the
coupling boxes and lids of the same and rivetted as seen in the sectional views of
Figures 30 and 31.
Figure 32 represents a ladder made according to the method represented in
Figure 26 or Figure 28, that is, composed of wire rope uprights, rungs or bars and
coupling boxes and Figure 33 represents a ladder made according to the method
represented in Figure 27 or Figure 29, that is, composed of a single wire rope
upright and rungs or bars. The said ladders Figures 32 and 33 are represented as
fixed from floor to floor of a warehouse or building. These constructions of ladders
may also be used for ships' rigging and for ladders generally.
Figure 34 reprosents a fire escape ladder made according to the method shown in
Figure 26 and having a hanging end made according to the method shown in
Figure 30 or Figure 31.
Figure 35 represents a banging scaffold ladder constructed according to my invention.
This ladder is composed of four wire rope uprights affixed to the coupling boxes, the
wire ropes being deflected and fixed in the said boxes by means of straight treads or
supports passed through the said boxes and afterwards bent into a circular figure and
their ends rivetted together by a coupling box or by welding or otherwise.
Figure 36 represents another form of single upright ladder in which the steps are
cast onto the coupling boxes which have the cruciform figure seen in the sectional
view of Figure 36 the wire rope upright being connected to the coupling boxes by
being deflected therein by means of a pin driven through the said coupling box as
described with reference to Figure 29. These steps may also be formed of bar iron
of the kind represented in Figure 27 the bar iron steps being deflected within the
coupling boxes twice and at a right angle.
Although I have only described and represented my invention as applied to the
connecting or joining of continuous wires for fencing to the uprights of the fencing
and to the construction of wheels and articles having radial wire arms and also to
the construction of ladders having one or more wire rope uprights yet my said
invention may also be applied for the joining of wires or wire ropes to parts of other
structures and things made mainly or in part of wire or wire rope and to the joining
of wire and wire ropes for various purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as my
invention :-
First. Connecting or joining continuous wires or wire ropes to the parts of structures
or things made mainly or in part of wire or wire ropes by the use of holdfusts or
coupling boxes, each holdfast or coupling box consisting of a solid disc preferably
centrally pierced having at one or both sides a lid or cover also preferably centrally
pierced, the face or faces of the said solid disc being furnished with a recess or
recesses into which a portion of the continuous wire or wire rope or portions of the
series of continuous wires or wire ropes is or are deflected to join or connect the
said wires or wire ropes to the said coupling box substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 25 both inclusive of the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly. The modified coupling boxes to be used in the construction of ladders
and analogous articles made principally of wires or wire ropes hereinbefore described
and illustrated in Figures 26 to 36 both inclusive of the accompanying Drawings; and
the application of the said coupling boxes to the construction of other structures or
things made mainly or in part of wire or wire ropes.
Dated the Eighteenth day of April 1889.