Improvements in Wire Mats.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 27th Nov., 1391-Accepted, 27th Feb., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPIEGITIGATION.
Improvements in Wire Mats.
1, SEYMOUR ROGERS of Beaver Falls, in the County of Beaver and State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America, Mechanic do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to produce a woven-wire fabric consisting of a
series of primary coils of spiral wire intercoiled upon a parallel plane, and a
secondary series of spiral wires intercoiled with each other upon a parallel plane,
and with the primary series at a right angle with their plane; to lock the free ends
of the several coils of both series upon the outer edges of the mat in such a
manner as shall leave the fabric flexible yet firm, and to construct upon such a mat
a border or edge which shall be simple, effective and economical.
There may be any approved number of coils in each series, each coil being made
of wire in the form of an elongated spiral, and intercoiled with the others in the
manner common in the art of making mats of this description.
Heretofore, a mat of the prescribed size, having been constructed, the operator
would seize the projecting ends of a primary coil, and of a secondary coil, cut them
off to a proper length and bend them upon each other. This process is tedious
and expensive, there is a lack of uniformity in the tension under which each spiral
wire end is bent and made fast, and the product is a mat not uniformly flexible
and from the unequal tension of its coils, liable to "buckle'
or twist.
In the construction of these mats, any ordinary spiral forming machine is used
and the elongated spiral from such a machine is run out upon a table from the
machine to the desired length. The first spiral is cut off at that length and a
second from the machine is intercoiled with the first and so on continuously, each
new spiral intercoiling with the last previously formed spiral until a fabric of the
desired size is obtained. This fabric is a series of "primary intercoiled coils;
and it is reversed and a new series of coils are intercoiled therewith from the
machine in the same manner as the primary series were formed. This secondary
series, however have their axis at a right angle with those of the primary series,
and while they intercoil, each with its parallel neighboring coil or spiral, they also
intercoil with the spirals of the primary series and so form a fabric of which each
member is intercoiled or interwoven with its neighboring members upon each side.
The point of contact and crossing of a primary and a secondary spiral upon the
edge of such a mat is their only point of contact and, in this Specification is called
their adjuting point and the two ends are the adjuting ends."
By my improvement the fabric may be woven of any desired length and may be
finished as one mat or divided into several; in either case, a broad blunt die is
pressed along the coil and crushes that coil down. By this means the terminal coil
of each secondary spiral is flattened down to a point where it embraces the end of
the next secondary spiral on the one side, and of the next primary spiral on its
other side; a broad shear blade operating in the same direction as the blunt die
shears off these projecting ends leaving a mat with a uniformly locked edge having
a uniform tension upon each spiral number of both primary and secondary series
and consequently uniform flexibility.
It will be seen that as the old process or method necessitated the bending of each
end separately, uniformity must be accidental; that the motion of the spirals was
limited by the closeness of the bends of their adjuting ends and that a strain was
brought upon the edge of such a mat, tending to "buckle" the fabric, to cause it to lie
"waved" or unevenly, and to render it stiff and non-flexible to a great extent;
along the edge, the tension is uniform and the adjuting ends of the several spirals

page_text: are free to adjust themselves to the motion caused by tension of the spirals or
rolling up of the fabric, while they easily allow the mat to lie level upon the floor
or to assume the contour of the surface upon which it is placed. At the same
time it will be evident that the spirals are effectively locked against displacement
in any direction; that the crushed spiral prevents side motion at once of the other
spirals and is, at the same time, held in place by those spirals.
Where it is desirable to furnish such mats with smooth borders a spiral of wire
is woven in the usual manner of the art within the edge left by this process of
finishing. It will be seen that an edge made in this way furnishes a uniform series
of convolutions for the admission of such a spiral, and that this uniformity will
permit the mat to lie level upon the floor without the twisting or crooking incident
to a mat having its edge twisted or locked by hand in the usual way. It will be
seen further that the compression of the coil may be made to such a degree as to
raise the mat from the floor when the border spiral is woven into place or to depress
the border spiral below the level of the ridges as desired.
The crushing and shearing of the edges is best accomplished by means of a press
and shear of ordinary construction, in which the die and knife are operated at an
angle with the plane of the fabric body, but it will be obvious that these steps in
the process may be effected by any device in which the compression of the coil
by the die, or its equivalent, may be regulated and the shearing of the ends
effected.
When the edge of a mat has been locked by hand, according to the old methods,
there exists a lack of uniformity in the spaces left by the locked ends of wire and
the operator is forced to stop the process of weaving the border coil within this
edge, to adjust the border coil to the irregularities caused by the unequal hand
locking and to stretch or compress the leading coil to meet the continually changing
spaces in the hand locked edge; the result is that the mat, already stiff and non-
flexible from the unequal tension of its edge is rendered more so by the additional
tension of the border coil within and upon this hand locked edge.
By my improvement the edge is a series of flexible loops of exactly similar
contour and size, and a border coil of the proper "pitch" runs continuously and
easily from the machine upon these loops, and forms with them a flexible mat in
which the tension is equal upon each member of the mat and upon each coil of the
border.
Dated 071 f W1001
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Mats.
I, SEYMOUR ROGERS, of Beaver Falls, in the County of Beaver and State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America Mechanic 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 :---
The object of my invention is to produce a woven-wire fabric consisting of a
series of primary coils of spiral wire intercoiled upon a parallel plane, and a
secondary series of spiral wires intercoiled with each other upon a parallel plane,
and with the primary series at a right angle with their plane; to lock the free ends
of the several coils of both series upon the outer edges of the mat in such a manner
as shall leave the fabric flexible yet firm, and to construct upon such a mat a border
or edge which shall be simple, effective and economical.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a view of four primary coils A, B, C, D intercoiled upon a parallel
plane.
Figure 2 is a view of four secondary coils a bed intercoiled with each

page_text: Omer
one primaries A, D, G, D at a right angle with said primary
coils A, B, C, D.
Figure 3 is a view of the edge of a mat constructed in this manner and with
the ends of the adjusting spirals fastened by hand in the manner heretofore
practised.
Figure 4 is a view of the edge of a mat fastened in the improved manner.
Figure 5 is a view of the same at right angles to Figure 4; and
Figure 6 is an edge view of the same showing the relation of the convolutions
or ridges to each other and the relation of the spiral border to the mat.
A B C D denote the primary coils, and a bed the secondary coils of a wire-
woven mat. There may be any approved number of coils in each series, each coil
being made of wire in the form of an elongated spiral, and intercoiled with the
others in the manner common in the art of making mats of this description.
Heretofore, a mat of the prescribed size, having been constructed it has been
usual for the operator to seize the projecting adjuting ends of a primary coil as D,
and of a secondary coil, as d cut them off to a proper length and bend them upon
each other as shown at J, Figure 3. This process is tedious and expensive there
is a lack of uniformity in the tension under which each spiral wire end is bent and
made fast, and the product is a mat not uniformly flexible and from the unequal
tension of its coils, liable to "buckle" or twist.
By my improvement the fabric may be woven of any desired length and
may be
finished as one mat or divided into several; in either case, a broad blunt die as
at K Figure 5, is pressed along the coil H and crushes that coil down as shown in
Figures 4 and 5. By this means the terminal coil of each secondary spiral is
flattened down to a point where it embraces the end of the next secondary spiral on
the one side, and of the next primary spiral on its other side; a broad shear
blade operating in the same direction as the blunt die shears off these projecting ends
leaving a mat with a uniformly locked edge having a uniform tension upon each
spiral number of both primary and secondary series and consequently uniform
flexibility.
It will be seen by reference to Figures 3 and 4 that the old process or method
necessitated the bending of each end separately, and that uniformity must be
accidental; that the motion of the spirals was limited by the closeness of the bends
of their adjuting ends and that a strain was brought upon the edge of such a mat,
tending to buckle" the fabric, to cause it to lie "waved" or unevenly, and to
render it stiff and non-flexible to a great extent; in the edge illustrated in
Figure 4 it will be seen that the tension is uniform and the adjuting ends of the
several spirals are free to adjust themselves to the motion caused by tension of the
spirals or rolling up of the fabric, while they easily allow the mat to lie level upon
the floor or to assume the contour of the surface upon which it is placed. At the
same time it will be evident that the spirals are effectively locked against displace-
ment in any direction; that the crushed spirale for instance, prevents side motion
at once of the other spirals d and b, and is at the same time, held in place by those
spirals.
Where it is desirable to furnish such mats with smooth borders a spiral of wire
is woven in the usual manner of the art within the edge left by this process of
finishing. It will be seen that an edge made in this way furnishes a uniform series of
convolutions for the admission of such a spiral, and that this uniformity will permit the
mat to lie level upon the floor without the twisting or crooking incident to a mat having
its edge twisted or locked by hand in the usual way.
It will further be seen that the
compression of the coil may be made to such a degree as to raise the mat from the
floor when the border spiral is woven into place or to depress the border spiral
below the level of the ridges h h, as desired.
The crushing and shearing of the edges is best accomplished by means of a press
and shear of ordinary construction, in which the die and knife are operated at an
angle with the plane of the fabric body, as shown at K, Figure 5, but it will be
obvious that these steps in the process may be effected by any device in which the

page_text: compression of the coil H by the die K, or its equivalent, may be regulated and
the shearing of the ends L effected.
When the edge of a mat has been locked by hand, according to the old methods,
there exists a lack of uniformity in the spaces left by the locked ends of wire and
the operator is forced to stop the process of weaving the border coil within this
edge, to adjust the border coil to the irregularities caused by the unequal hand
locking and to stretch or compress the leading coil to meet the continually changing
spaces in the hand locked edge; the result is that the mat, already stiff and non-
flexible from the unequal tension of its edge is rendered more so by the additional
tension of the border coil within and upon this hand locked edge.
By my improvement the edge is a series of flexible loops of exactly similar
contour and size, and a border coil of the proper "pitch runs continuously and
easily from the machine upon these loops, and forms with them a flexible mat in
which the tension is equal upon each member of the mat and upon cach coil of
the border.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. In the manufacture of a wire-woven fabric of the class described, the
herein described method of locking or "tying" the edge of such fabric by first
crushing or compressing the terminal coils of the secondary spirals so that they are
caused to embrace the ends of the adjuting primary spirals, and then shearing off
the projecting ends uniformly whereby each spiral is caused to retain in place its
neighbouring spiral upon either side and is itself retained by them and the locked
ends are permitted to slide or play, thereby retaining the flexibility of the fabric as
shown and described.
Second. A wire-woven mat consisting essentially of a parallel series of primary
intercoiled spirals of wire, and a secondary series of like spirals intercoiled with
each other in a parallel plane and with the primary series at a right angle to their
parallelism, the two series being locked together by the crushing of the terminal
coil of each secondary spiral upon the terminal coil of each primary adjuting
spiral and the shearing of the projecting ends, whereby the locked ends are per-
mitted uniformly to slide or "play" and the flexibility of the mat is retained as
shown and described.
Third. The combination, with the herein described crushed and sheared edge of
a wire-woven mat of the class described, of a spirally coiled border of wire inter-
coiled with and upon such crushed and sheared edge, as shown and described.
Fourth. As a new article of manufacture, a wire mat, the edge of which is
crushed and sheared and provided with a spiral coiled border of wire intercoiled
with and upon such crushed and sheared edge as shown and described.
Dated this 27th day of Navambor 1901
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.