Improvements in Tree and Analogous Guards.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tree and Analogous Guards.
I, CHRISTOPHER PEACEY, of Church Down, near Cheltenham, in the County of
Gloucester, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to guards or sheaths for protecting young trees from injury
by cattle and game, such as hares and rabbits.
The stems or trunks of fruit and other trees when planted and left naked in the
open, are liable to become "barked" and thereby injured either by the rubbing
against them of animals, or the nibbling away of parts by hares, rabbits and the
like.
Such injury to the bark, usually brings death to the tree or plant.
The object of my invention is to protect trees from such injury, by fitting or
providing their trunks or stems with a preferably close fitting defence or guard
capable, if necessary, of expanding with the growth of the trees.
According to one form of my invention, I make a guard from a blank of thin sheet
metal, having a length equal to the height of the guard to be made, and of a width
about equal to its circumference. The top edge of the metal may be serrated or
gapped at parts and when turned outwards to an angle, it forms a spiked collar,
which acts as a defence against the rubbing by cattle against the guard when in
use.
The lower or bottom edge is gapped or perforated with holes of a size sufficient
for the heads of birds to enter and secure slugs or insects at the base of the trunk,
or at the root of the tree, but insufficient for hares or rabbits to get under.
This sheet metal blank is turned up into a long and upright cylinder and the
edges may be fastened together by eyes formed from out of the metal of one side,
taking through suitable and corresponding holes or piercings formed in the other
side. The connection is or may be made by pins or wires passing through the
eyes when having passed through the holes.
The said lower edge is or may be provided with feet or prongs which enter the
ground and prevent the guard from moving when wrapped around, as it were,
the stem or trunk of a tree,
Such feet or prongs may be made separately and attached to, or they may be
made integral with, the block of metal of the guard.
.
In affixing the guard, open out the same sufficient to pass it over the trunk of
a tree, then close or gather in the same around the trunk, and when the edges
overlap or meet, then drop the wires in the eyes and the affixing is made.
The sides of the truncated defence may be pierced or not, and that when in use,
the bottom edge come preferable on a level with ground, and with the piercings for
the entrance of the heads or beaks of birds in seeking slugs and insects coming
above it.
The joining up of the opposed edges may be performed by hollow beading,
alternatively gapped and then passing wires or cotter pins through them, when

page_text: Instead of the guard being made all of a piece, it may be made from segments
or sections and connected together by jointings, hinges and the like.
Or the body of the guard may be made from long slips of sheet metal or other
material, with the top and bottom edges hollow beaded, or otherwise prepared
wherethrough wires or equivalents are passed for the connecting together of the
parts..
As a further form of my invention, the guard may be made from a length of
strip metal formed into an helix with the helical declivities sufficient to worm onto
or pass the trunk, and when on or applied, then the helix is or may be closed.
The meeting edges of the guards may not be fastened together but only be made
to overlap.
Dated this 13th day of December 1897
CHRISTOPHER PEACEY.
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicant.
I, CHRISTOPHER PEACEY, of Church Down, near Cheltenham, in the County of
Gloucester, Gentleman, 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:-
My invention relates to guards or sheaths for protecting young trees from being
injured by cattle, game, and vermin, and particularly by rabbits. The stems or
trunks of fruit and other trees, when planted in the open and left naked or unpro-
tected, are liable to become injured or barked, either by animals rubbing against
them or by the bark being nibbled or bitten away by rabbits, hares, and the like,
and which injury, particularly when the tree is young and tender, is frequently
sufficient to cause the death of the same.
The object of my invention is to protect young and growing trees, particularly
fruit trees, from injury by fitting or providing the trunks or stems of the same
with a defence or guard, which is made to surround the said trunk by first being
opened out or partially opened out sufficient for the tree to pass through, and
then being closed or wrapped around the said tree, with the opposed or overlapping
edges secured together.
According to one form of my invention, I make a tree guard from a piece of sheet
metal, of a length equal to the height of the guard to be produced, and of a breadth
equal to the circumference. The top edge of the metal may, if necessary, be
serrated or gapped out at parts, so that when turned outwards, it forms a spiked
ccllar or defence which prevents cattle from rubbing against the guard or the tree.
The lower or bottom edges of the guard when in use, may be perforated or gapped
at parts, both for ventilation and to admit of birds passing their heads through to
secure slugs and insects which usually locate themselves at or near the roots of trees,
but not of such a size as would allow rabbits or hares from getting their heads
under to nibble or eat away the bark.
The sheet metal blank is turned or bent up into a long and upright cylinder and
the opposed or overlapping edges, as the case may be, secured together by any
suitable means, such as screws, eyes and pins or their equivalent.
I propose that the lower edges should be fitted with feet or prongs which enter
the ground and keep the guard in an erect position and around the tree to be pro-
tected. These feet may be made separate from and be attached to the said guard,

page_text: 5
or they may be formed integral with the metal blank from which the guard is
made.
Figure 1 of the accompany drawing represents my improved tree guard in
use.
Figure 2 is an elevation, upon an enlarged scale, of the said tree guard and
Figure 3 is a section of the same.
Figure 4 is a cross section of Figure 3, upon the dotted line a.
Figure 5 is a like section as Figure 4, but with the edges of the guard opened
out to admit of the passage of the said guard around the trunk of a tree to be pro-
tected.
Figure 6 represents an enlarged sectional view of one of the nut and bolt con-
nections employed for securing together the meeting edges of the guard.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the said Figures 1
to 6.
a is the cylindrical body of the guard, which, as previously described, is prefer-
ably made up or fashioned out of sheet metal, with the meeting and overlapping
edges a¹, secured together (after the guard has been placed around a tree) by a
series of connections such as b, each comprising a screwed pin b', which is passed
through a hole a², near the one edge and into a nut 62, soldered preferably upon
the inner side of the other edge, in which a hole a³, is made coincident with the
screwed eye b³, of the nut. The top edge of the guard is serrated at a*, each point
being turned outwards to form a ring of spikes for the purpose previously specified,
and the bottom edge a³, is fitted with a suitable number of feet such as c, which are
forced into the ground and retain the guard in an erect position around the tree to
be guarded, but with the said edge a, preferably being supported a sufficient
distance above or clear of the ground to admit of the access of air to the root of
the tree as to allow of birds removing insects or slugs therefrom, whilst the body
of the guard is pierced with a number of holes such as a, for ventilating the trunk.
Figure represents an elevation of a part of a tree guard in which the edges
are secured together by a modified form of connection."
Figure 8 is a cross section of Figure, 7 upon the dotted line a¹.
is the guard and a¹ the overlapping edges thereof, one of which has a series
of staples or eyes such as a², formed integrally out of, or attached to; it, and which
are passed through corresponding holes such as a³, made in the other and outer
edge and are there secured by passing split collars such as b, or pegs or equivalent
through the eyes, upon the outer side of the guard.
Figure 9 is an elevation representing another modification of connection for the
overlapping edges of the guard.
Figure 10 is a cross section of Figure 9 upon the dotted line 2.
In this arrangement, a series of hooks such as a², are formed out of the outer over-
lapping edge a¹, of the guard and these are made to engage into a corresponding
series of holes a³, formed in the other and innermost edge a².
The tree guard may be made in vertically-separated sections which are hinged
together, and admit of being closed around a tree and the meeting edges secured
together by a suitable series of connections.
Or the edges of the guard may be left open and without any connection between
them, in which case the joint would be closed to the required extent by the feet
entering the ground.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:.
:
:-
First A tree guard, or protector for the trunks and stems of trees, made of
an upright tubular figure with a joint capable of being opened out and passed
around a tree and then again closed, with the edges secured together, if necessary,
substantially as herein described and set forth.
Secondly: A guard or protector for the trunks and stems of trees, made of an

page_text: upright tubular figure with the joint capable of opening out to pass around a tree
and then for the edges to be secured together if necessary, with the top having a
spiked collar whilst the bottom is provided with suitable feet or supports, sub-
stantially as described and set forth."'
Thirdly-In a tree guard or protector as referred to in the preceeding claims,
securing together the meeting edges by a series of screws and nuts, substantially as
in Figures 3 to 6, or by eyes or staples on the one edge taking through holes in
the other edge as in Figures 7 and 8, or by hook and hole arrangements as in
Figures 9 and 10.
Dated this 23rd day of June 1898.
CHRISTOPHER PEACEY,
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.