IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Berry, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Warehouseman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
Sealed the 27th January 1854, and dated the 25th November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Berry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th November 1858.
I, JOHN BERRY, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
WIRE FENCING" to be as follows:-
Heretofore wire fencing has been made by hand, by the workman
plaiting or crossing the requisite number of strands and binding them
together with wire of a finer quality than the main strands, instead of
which I propose to convey the wire strands from a roller or cylinder to
a beam with a number of pins or projections on it, corresponding with
the width and the pattern of the required fence, and instead of con-

page_text: veying the said strands to the pins by hand, I use two segments of a
pinion or pully to act as guides or conductors, so that by their con-
tinual revolving motion they conduct the strands to the required
position on the beam, forming a perfect hexagon shaped fence with the
greatest facility, saving both time and labour to a very great extent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Berry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN BERRY, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Warehouseman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Berry, Her special
licence that I, the said John Berry, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Berry, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING WIRE FENCING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Berry, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW. YE, that I, the said John Berry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of making or manufacturing wire fencing by
machinery, instead of hand labour as heretofore, the said machinery to
be worked either by hand or power, which I accomplish as follows:-I
make a frame of the necessary dimensions, according to the required
width of the wire work, and fix to it two flat sliding bars of equal
thicknesses, and adjusted to slide in suitable recesses, parallel to each
other and in close though free contact, having a series of holes made
through thein at the edges when they join, so that one half of a circular
hole being cut out of each bar they form a complete circular hole
when close together. These holes are made at equal distances, so
that if one bar be drawn endwise until the half holes become opposite
the next ones in the other slide bar, the entire series, except a surplus
half at the end, will be found opposite each other, and to prevent them
being otherwise, or either bar being drawn too far, a shoulder or
stop is provided, against which each bar will strike at the required
distance. At the inner edge of these sliding bars a sufficient space is
made at one end to provide each bar with teeth, as a rack, so that a
pinion wheel working on a fixed upright stud between them gears into
cach of the bars. On the boss of the said pinion is fixed a lever which
when vibrated to and fro by hand or power causes the two sliding bars
to move endwise in contrary directions, the distance being from one of
the said half holes in the sliding bar to the next. In each of the round
holes so formed by the edges of the two bars being in contact is fitted
a pinion wheel, also made in halves, as if cut vertically through the
centre, having a neck or groove, which when the bars are drawn apart
or separated fit in between, so that each pinion has liberty to revolve
freely without being able to rise or fall. The upper part or collar of
each is made into a cog wheel of an even number of teeth; the lower
and deeper part is provided with two holes, one on each of the halves
vertically, and fitted with a fixed spindle; each half pinion has also a
small hole vertically through which the wire passes. On the upper sur-
face of one of the said sliding bars a full length rack slides in a suitable
guide parallel with the bar, the teeth of which gears into the whole

page_text: row of pinions, so that when the said rack is drawn endwise the whole
of the pinions revolve, and with them the whole of the spindles below,
in pairs. A separate and ordinary pinion works on an upright stud
fixed at the end of the rack, and similar to the one already described,
which pinion gears into the rack, so that if the said pinion be turned
either by hand or power it will cause the rack to slide, and thus com-
municate a rotary motion to all the pinions or half pinions. At the
back of the upper part of the frame I place, in suitable bearings, a
roller made of wood or any suitable material, extending the full width
of the frame, and provided with a series of pins slightly projecting from
the surface, the distance of the pins asunder being arranged to suit the
distance of the revolving half pinions, and so disposed as to form the
required pattern or mesh. The end of this roller is provided with a
notched or ratchet wheel of the necessary pitch, and a pall to secure
it at each movement. In order to produce wire fencing of an hexa-
gonal form of mesh, I draw a coil of wire previously wound on a
spindle so as to move loosely and freely on it in the form of a screw
on each of the spindles, and place them under the sliding bars and
pinions, each coil being made as large in diameter as will revolve freely
without touching the next one. The upper end of the wire is drawn
through the small hole, as previously described, in each half pinion, and
secured temporarily to the peg or pin on the pattern roller above, when
the whole of the wire ends are thus attached, and motion is given to
the winch handle, so as to give the required number of revolutions,
causing each succeeding two wires which have revolved round the same
axis to become twisted firmly together. The pattern roller is then
turned, drawing up all the wires through the pinions half the diameter
of a mesh, thus bringing the wire to the required form. The half
pinions, having finished the required twist, stop with their division or
inner surfaces at right angles with the joint between the two sliding
bars; the roller then takes up the twisted part, after which a half
revolution of the pinions brings the inner surfaces of the pinions in a
line with the inner surfaces of the slide bars; a lever is then moved,
which causes the two halves of the whole of the pinions to move in
contrary directions. along with the bar in which each half may at the

page_text: time rest, and which fourth movement produces part of the figure;
each sliding bar or plate is then made to slide in the contrary direction,
and the wires again twisted together in the space between where the
last twisting took place, and which last movement finishes the form of
the mesh in a more correct and firm manner than can possibly be pro-
duced with plyers by hand in the ordinary manner. It is evident that
the different motions of the sliding bars, the rack to give the twist to
the wire, and the pattern roller, may be obtained by a winch handle
with the necessary gearing, but I prefer working the machine or appa-
ratus by power, which may be accomplished in any convenient manner.
The details of this Invention will be clearly understood by reference
to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which the same letters of
reference are used to represent similar parts in all the Figures. Fig. 1,
is a front elevation of the said machine or apparatus; Fig. 2, an end
elevation, shewing the pattern roller in its bearings or brackets; Fig. 3,
a plan thereof, shewing the pinion in halves in gear with the rack;
Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, are views, shewing the various movements
of the pinion during the process of weaving or making the wire work;
Figs. 10 and 11, are views of a coil of wire on the mandril, shewing
how the wire is taken off on its passing through the pinion to the
roller. a, represents the parallel sliding bar, having nineteen holes in
it for the eighteen teethed wheels or pinions 6 in halves, the odd or
remaining one having half of one working in it; these holes, and conse-
quently the teethed pinions, are all at equal distances from each other,
the said distances varying according to the size of the mesh required.
In the bosses c of each half pinion are fixed the bars or mandrils d, which
have a coil of wire around cach of them. The ends of each coil pass
through a small hole in each half of the pinion to the pattern roller e,
and made fast to it by the pins f, fixed or arranged upon the roller,
so as to guide the wire according to the pattern required. g repre-
sents a winch handle (but, as already stated, other means may be
adopted for turning the machine), which when turned causes the
sliding bars a to slide parallel in opposite directions, by means of the
pinion working into teeth cut into each end of the bars. When each
half of the pinions in each sliding bar has been moved half the distance

page_text: between their centres, and in contrary directions, the roller e is then
moved round a portion of its revolution, which draws the wire, already
formed into an angular shape by the movement of the sliding bars, a
distance from the face of the pinions equal to the length of one of the
sides, together with the depth of the angle. Another winch handle i
is then turned round three times, making the twisted side equal to the
untwisted side, which is necessary to form an' hexagonal figure, having
the pinion j attached to it to work into the teeth upon the end of the
rack k in gear with the pinions b, which causes them to revolve a few
times, according to the number of twists required to sustain the sides
of the figure. 1, are the bearings or brackets of the pattern roller ;' ทา
the holes through which the wires o pass to the said roller; n; the
division of the pinions in Fig. 4, which are at right angles with or in a
position contrary to those shewn in Fig. 3. The said wires o pass
through the pinions and are taken on the roller a distance equal to the
length of one of the sides of the figure, including the depth of the
angle, and are made fast to the pins. The next process, seen at Fig. 5,
shews the two wires o twisted together, after which the 'work is drawn
up by the roller a distance equal to three fourths of the diameter of the
figure, measuring from angle to angle, as seen at Fig. 6, the position of
the pinion 6 remaining the same as seen in Fig. 4, while the work is
being taken up. The next stage or process is seen at Fig. 7, where the
two wires o are brought together, forming a corresponding angle; the
pinion b, in this case, has made half a turn from the one in Fig. 6; which
allows the bars a to slide the halves of "the pinions to their respective
positions in contrary directions. The taking up of the wire is shewn
at Fig. 8, and Fig. 9 shews it twisted. In Fig. 10, the coil of wire
p is shewn passing off the mandril d through the pinion to the roller.
q, represents the twisted-wire'; r, the small flanged pully upon the stud
s; let into the mandril da small distance below the boss of the pinion
into which they fit, and the wire o is carried from the coil p, round a
portion of the pully, and then passes upwards through the pinions
to the roller, as already described. I have here described and shewn
in the Drawings the mode or method of making the meshes an hexa-
gonal form only, but it is evident that any form or size of, mesh may

page_text: be made by arranging the pins or projections on the roller to the
required form or size.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details herein particularised, as such may be varied
or modified without departing from the principle thereof; but I claim
substantially the arrangement of mechanism, or any modification
thereof, for weaving or making wire fencing, as herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Berry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN BERRY. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named John Berry in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.