IMPROVEMENTS IN FENCES AND IN LATCHES OR FASTENINGS FOR THE GATES OF THE SAME, WHICH ARE APPLICABLE ALSO AS FASTENINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Kennan, of the City of Dublin, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FENCES AND IN LATCHES OR
FASTENINGS FOR THE GATES OF THE SAME, WHICH ARE APPLICABLE ALSO AS
FASTENINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 4th May 1869, and dated the 7th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Kennan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th December 1868.
I, THOMAS KENNAN, of the City of Dublin, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FENCES AND
IN LATCHES OR FASTENINGS FOR THE GATES OF THE SAME. WHICH ARE APPLICABLE
ALSO AS FASTENINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to certain improved means for securing
or fixing the wires or wire ropes of strained wire fences in the upright
standards or supports; secondly, to improved means for securing or
fixing the horizontal bars of continuous iron bar fences in their upright
standards or supports; and, thirdly, to an improved construction of latch

page_text: or fastening for gates to be used in iron or other fences, or for other
similar purposes.
According to the first part of my Invention I propose to secure the
wires or wire ropes to the uprights or standards of strained wire fences
by the aid of metal caps, rings, staples, or straps fitted in some cases
outside the standards, and in other cases where hollow standards are
employed inside the standards. A hole or holes is or are made hori-
zontally through the said caps, rings, staples, or straps so as to
correspond to another hole or holes made transversely through the
uprights or standards for the passage of the wire or wire rope. After
introducing the said wire or wire rope, and straining the same in any
suitable or well-known manner, it is gripped or held securely in its place
in the upright or standard by the action of one or more wedges, which
cause the cap, ring, staple, or strap to move slightly in or upon the
standard, and thereby nip the wire between the opposite inner surfaces
of the holes made respectively in the standard and in the cap or other
like attachment.
The second part of my Invention consists in securing the horizontal
bars of continuous iron bar fences into their standards or upright
supports by bending or cranking slightly the horizontal bars at the part
where they pass through the intermediate standards so as form on one
side of the bar without reducing the thickness or width thereof two
shoulders, between which the standard is situate. A wedge or key is
then driven into the same hole in the standard that receives the bar, but
on the opposite side of the bar to that on which the shoulders are
formed, whereby the bar will be forced and held firmly against one side
of the slot or opening in the standard, whilst the two shoulders will
effectually prevent any endway motion of the bar. I propose to secure
the ends of the horizontal bars in the joint or junction standards by
nipping them with a vice-like action between two metal jaws, the faces
of which are shaped to conform to the section of the bar. One of these
jaws has a notch made in its outer surface, into which notch fits the
metal of the standard, both jaws being inserted into an opening made
for that purpose in the said standard. By driving in a key or wedge
either above or below the jaws the two adjoining ends of the horizontal
bars will be firmly gripped between the jaws and held perfectly secure.
According to the third part of my Invention I so construct and
arrange the latch of a gate as that it shall be capable of acting both as a

page_text: lifting latch and as a sliding or locking bolt, and that the lifting action
shall be capable of being applied both by pushing and pulling from
either side of the gate as may be required. This latch or bolt has a slot
made therein and a semicircular notch at each end of such slot. One or
other of these notches, according as the bolt is drawn out or not, rests
upon a fixed pivot fulcrum in the lock case or frame, the latch or bolt
being free to be lifted or to turn partly on its fulcrum when used as a
simple latch. I propose to employ a double incline for lifting the latch,
such incline being suspended from a pin above the latch, and bearing
against the under side of such latch or passing through a hole therein, so
that whether the inclines are pushed inwards or drawn outwards the
latch will be lifted and the gate unfastened. When used as a latch the
front end of the slot is on the fulcrum pin, whilst to the opposite end of
such slot, which in this position protrudes beyond the case or frame,
there is applied a padlock which keeps the bolt in its proper position for
working as a latch simply. When however it is required to lock the
gate the padlock is removed, the bolt is shot out to the full range of its
slot so as to cause its outer extremity to enter a hole or recess in the gate
post or jambe, and the padlock is then re-applied by fitting it into a hole
made for that purpose in the bolt just in front of the frame or case, so
that the bolt cannot then be pushed back, and the gate remains con-
sequently locked. The combination of a sliding latch bolt with double
inclines for lifting the same when used as a simple latch constitutes the
essential feature of this part of my said Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Kennan in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
KENNAN, of the City of Dublin, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Kennan, Her special license, that
I, the said Thomas Kennan, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: or such others as I, the said Thomas Kennan, my executors, adminis
trators, or 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 FENCES AND
IN LATCHES OR FASTENINGS FOR THE GATES OF THE SAME, WHICH ARE APPLICABLE
ALSO AS FASTENINGS FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Kennan, my executors or adminis-
tiators, by an instrument 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
-NOW-KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Kennan, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates, firstly, to certain improved means for
securing or fixing the wires or wire ropes of strained wire fences in the
upright standards or supports; secondly, to improved means for securing
or fixing the horizontal bars of continuous iron bar fences in their
upright standards or supports; and, thirdly, to an improved construction
of latch or fastening for gates to be used in iron or other fences or for
other similar purposes.
According to the first part of my Invention I propose to secure the
wires or wire ropes to the uprights or standards of strained wire fences by
the aid of metal caps, rings, staples, or straps fitted in some cases outside
the standards, and in other cases where hollow standards are employed
inside the standards. A hole or holes is or are made horizontally
through the said caps, rings, staples, or straps so as to correspond to
another hole or holes made transversely through the uprights or
standards for the passage of the wire or wire ropes. After introducing
the said wire or wire rope and straining the same in any suitable or well
known manner it is gripped or held securely in its place in the upright
or standard by the action of one or more wedges, which cause the cap,
ring, staple, or strap to move slightly in or upon the standard and

page_text: thereby nip the wire between the opposite inner surfaces of the holes
made respectively in the standard and in the cap or other like
attachment.
The second part of my Invention consists in securing the horizontal
5 bars of continuous iron bar fences into their standards or upright
supports by bending or cranking slightly the horizontal bars at the part
where they pass through the intermediate standards so as to form on one
side of the bar without reducing the thickness or width thereof two
shoulders between which the standard is situate. A wedge or key is
then driven into the same hole in the standard that receives the bar, but
on the opposite side of the bar to that on which the shoulders are formed,
whereby the bar will be forced and held firmly against one side of the
slot or opening in the standard, whilst the two shoulders will effectually
prevent any endway motion of the bar. I propose to secure the ends of
the horizontal bars in the joint or junction standards by nipping them
with a vice-like action between two metal jaws, the faces of which are
shaped to conform to the section of the bar. One of these jaws has a
notch made in its outer surface, into which notch fits the metal of the
standard, both jaws being inserted into an opening made for that
purpose in the said standard. By driving in a key or wedge either
above or below the jaws the two adjoining ends of the horizontal bars
will be firmly gripped between the jaws and held perfectly secure.
According to the third part of my Invention I so construct and
arrange the latch of a gate as that it shall be capable of acting both as
a lifting latch and as a sliding or locking bolt, and that the lifting action
shall be capable of being applied both by pushing and pulling from
either side of the gate as may be required. This latch or bolt has a slot
made therein and a semicircular notch at each end of such slot. One or
other of these notches, according as the bolt is drawn out or not, rests upon
a fixed pivot fulcrum in the lock case or frame, the latch or bolt being
free to be lifted or to turn partly on its fulcrum when used as a simple
latch. I propose to employ a double incline for lifting the latch, such
incline being suspended from a pin above the latch and bearing against
the under side of such latch or passing through a hole therein, so that
whether the inclines are pushed inwards or drawn outwards the latch
will be lifted and the gate unfastened. When used as a latch the front
end of the slot is on the fulcrum pin, whilst to the opposite end of such
slot, which in this position protrudes beyond the case or frame, there is

page_text: applied a padlock which keeps the bolt in its proper position for working
as a latch simply. When however it is required to lock the gate the
padlock is removed, the bolt is shot out to the full range of its slot so as
to cause its outer extremity to enter a hole or recess in the gate post or
jamb, and the padlock is then reapplied by fitting it on to a hole made for
that purpose in the bolt just in front of the frame or case, so that the
bolt cannot then be pushed back and the gate remains consequently
locked. The combination of a sliding latch bolt with double inclines for
lifting the same when used as a simple latch constitutes the essential
feature of this part of my said Invention.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to-the-several-Figures-on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
corresponding Figures.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, shew the fastening applied to standards of an H or
girder section. In Figures 1 and 2 the staple cap A is fitted on the top
of the standard B, and a hole is made through both A and B for the
wire C to pass through freely, another hole is made in the standard B
close to the bottom of the cap A, so that when the wedge D is driven
therein it forces the cap A upwards and thereby causes the wire C to be
firmly gripped by the opposite edges or inner surfaces of the holes in
the cap A and standard B through which it has been passed. Figures 3
and 4 shew the wedge D applied between the top of the standard B
and the cap A so as to draw the cap upwards and thereby effect the
same result as that obtained by the arrangement shown at Figures 1
and 2.
Figures 5 and 6 shew the improved fastening applied to a flat bar
standard, and the same explanation refers thereto as for Figures 1 and 2.
A is an-shaped clip; B, the flat bar standard; C, the wire; and D, the
wedge driven in below the clip.
Figures 7 and 8 shew the same arrangement of fastening applied to a
flat bar standard, but with the wedge D on the top of the standard, the
action being the same, as in Figures 3 and 4.
Figures 9 and 10 shew the improved fastening applied to the upright
edge or side of a standard instead of to the top as in previous Figures.
A is
shaped clip; B, the flat standard; C, the wire; and D, the

page_text: wedge driven in between the side or edge of the standard and the end of
the clip.
Figures 11 and 12 show a similar arrangement, but with the clip A
made double or in the form of a loop, the wedge D being driven in on
either edge of the standard.
Figures 13 and 14 shew the improved fastening applied to a tubular
or hollow standard or fence post. A is the cap or block placed partly
within the standard B and having a hole through which the wire C is
passed; the wedge D when driven through the holes provided for it in
the standard forces the cap upwards so as to bind the wire in the manner
already described.
In applying my Invention the several cups or clips or blocks A, in
Figures 1 to 14 inclusive, may have holes for the wedge D made above
the wire C if preferred, or in any other position, provided the action of
the wedge is to cause the part A to move in or upon the standard B so
that the wire C shall be secured by the opposite inner surfaces of holes
in A and B. The part A may be made annular so as to embrace the
outside of the standard, the tightening of the wire C being effected
substantially as already described. The wedge D may be made in two
or more parts if desired, and the thinner end may be bent, as shewn at a
in Figures 17, 19, and 20 (herein-after referred to), in order to prevent
its being accidentally withdrawn.
The second part of my Invention, which consists of an improved mode
of securing the horizontal flat, round, or square bars of continuous iron
fences to their standards, is illustrated by Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
and 21 of my Drawings. Figures 15 and 16 show the mode of securing
continuous horizontal flat bars C to the standards B. The flat bars C
are bent in the form shewn at b (Figure 15) at the parts which fit into
the upright standards B, and are secured by wedges D which are driven
on one side of the bars into an oblong hole made in the standard B in
such a manner as to force the shoulders of the bent part 6 of the bar C
against the edges of the hole in the standard B, which is thus prevented
from moving sideways on the bar C. Figures 17, 18, and 19 shew a
mode of securing the round bars of continuous iron fences to their
standards; and Figures 20 and 21 shew the same method applied to
square bars. The horizontal bars C, C, (whether round or square) meet
at the standard B between two metal picces E and E', which together
with the bars C, C, fit into a hole made in the standard B, as shewn:

page_text: The proximate faces of E and E' are shaped so as to fit the bars C, C,
and a notch is formed on the piece E' which fits against the one end of
the hole in the standard B, as shewn clearly in Figure 19, so that when
the wedge D is driven between E' and the opposite end of the hole in
the standard B the pieces E and E' are tightened on the bars C, C, and
all are secured to the standard B.
The third part of my Invention is illustrated by Figures 22, 23, 24,
and 25. A is the case or frame of a latch which may be of any con-
venient form or made plain or ornamental, provided that the requisite
bearings are preserved for the parts B and C, or those parts may
attached to the frame of a gate or door without a special casing. In
the Drawings the case A is bolted to the front bar E of an iron gate.
The bolt D. has a slotted hole & made therein at or near one end-which-
works on the stud or pin C so that it can be moved backwards.or
forwards or upwards whilst still playing thereon. The piece B is hung|
on the pin or bolt b, and by moving it either backwards or forwards the
inclined surfaces.c, c, will raise the outer end of the bolt D. When the
raising piece B is moved either backwards or forwards the bolt D will be
lifted whether the fulcrum c be at one end or the other of the slot d.
Figures 22 and 24 shew the bolt drawn back so that a padlock may be
hung in the protruding end d' of the slot d, and it is then used only as
a latch; Figure 25 shews the bolt pushed forward so that it may be
inserted in an eye or hole in the fastening pillar or jamb of the gateway
and secured from being withdrawn by a padlock or other fastening
passed through a hole & for that purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The peculiar modes of securing or fixing the wires or wire ropes
of strained wire fences in their upright standards or supports, as herein-
before described and illustrated by Figures 1 to 14 inclusive of the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Second. The peculiar mode of securing or fixing the horizontal flat
bars of continuous iron fences in their upright standards or supports, as
hercin-before described and illustrated by Figures 15 and 16 of the
Drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: Third. The peculiar mode of securing or fixing the horizontal bars of
continuous iron fences in their upright standards or supports, as hercin-
before described and illustrated by Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fourth. The peculiar construction of latch or fastening for gates or
doors, as hercin-before described and illustrated by Figures 22, 23, 24,
and 25 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Kennan, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the First day of June One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
THOS. KENNAN. (L.S.)