IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINTING AND TIGHTENING WIRES, SUCH
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marcus Eustace, of Elmhurst, Glasnevin, in
the County of Dublin, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINTING AND TIGHTENING WIRES, SUCH AS
Sealed the 20th November 1874, and dated the 17th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marcus Eustace at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th September 1874.
I, MAROUS EUSTACE, of Elmhurst, Glasnevin, in the County of Dublin,
Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Imm
PROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINTING AND TIGHTENING WIRES,
SUCH AS ARE EMPLOYED FOR FENCES, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to means and apparatus for joining together
the different lengths of wire which are used in constructing fences, in

page_text: forming telegraph lines, and for other purposes, and for tightening up
such wires.
For the purpose of joining together the ends of wire I provide a
socket piece, into which the wires are inserted longitudinally side by
side from opposite directions, and are made fast by driving a taper key
or cotter through transverse holes provided in the sides of the socket, so
that the key or cotter passes between the two wires enclosed therein, and
partly by bedding itself in the bodies of the wires, and partly by pressing
Or the
them against the interior of the socket it secures them therein.
ends of the wires after being passed through the socket may be bent
into chases provided at each end, and cotters may be driven transversely
across the bent ends, so as to prevent the wires from unbending, thereby
securing the wires in the socket.
The socket instead of being of some length, with the wires inserted in
it in the line of its axis, may be a short cylindrical piece placed with
its axis transverse to the wires. In this case the ends of the wires are
inserted through holes on opposite sides of the periphery of the socket,
each of which holes is widened out towards its opposite end to allow
space for the ends of the wires to be bent therein after their insertion.
The wires being inserted, and their ends being bent in opposite directions,
a cotter is driven transversely through an oblique hole in the direction
of the axis of the socket or along a slot transversely to the axis between
the two bent wire ends; the effect of which is to grip the bent ends of
the wires firmly in the socket, and to prevent them from unbending, so
that they cannot be drawn out.
When the wire ends are inserted longitudinally in a socket, as first
described above, instead of driving a cotter through a transverse hole
in the socket cotters may be driven between the wires at each end of
the socket. Instead of making the socket continuous it may be made in
two short pieces or ferrules embracing the wires at some distance apart,
and a piece of metal grooved along each side may be inserted between
the wires, so as to bulge them in the space between the two ferrules.
Also a third or intermediate ferrule may be driven on the bulged parts
of the wires, so as to embrace them and the bulging piece.
For the purpose of tightening the wires I employ two plates of metal
similarly constructed. Each plate has near its outer end a hook clamp,

page_text: in which the wire is firmly held by tightening up a screw, the end of
the wire projecting through the clamp. At its inner end each plate is
turned up at right angles, and has a hole through the turned up part;
and near the middle of each plate is fixed a nut piece standing up from.
the plate and having through it a hole in line with the end hole. The
holes in the nut pieces are tapped, the one for a right and the other for
a left hand screw. A spindle, having each end screwed, the one right
and the other left handed, is passed through the end holes of the two
plates and entered in the nut holes. Being then turned by a wrench
applied to a square or polygonal part at its middle, or by a bar passed
through a hole at its middle in the manner of a vice pin, the spindle
working in the two nut holes causes the two plates to approach each
other, and thus the two wire ends, secured respectively to the clamps
of the two plates, are brought together side by side while the desired
strain is imparted to the lengths of wire. The wire ends thus brought
together can be secured to one another by any known method, such as
twisting them, or by the fastenings which I have described above; after
which, the clamps being released, the tightening apparatus can be
removed.
The spindle, instead of being screwed at both ends, may be screwed
only at the one end, the other end being provided with a collar behind
the nut piece of one of the plates, the hole of which in this case is not
screwed. The spindle being turned then screws into the one nut piece
and swivels in the other, causing the plates to be drawn together, as
above described.
Instead of employing two plates with one screw spindle a single plate.
with guide holes in turned up parts at each end, and with two nut
pieces, may be provided with two screw spindles, one of which projects
at each end of the plate. The wire ends being clamped to the outer
ends of those spindles, on turning the plate round the spindles they are-
caused to approach each other, straining up the wires. One of the
spindles instead of being screwed may be swivel jointed to the plate.
Also instead of employing spindles two rack bars may be fitted to
slide through guide sockets fixed on the plate, the rack teeth on their
edges gearing with those of a pinion mounted on the plate between them,
so that when the pinion is turned by a wrench or handle the bars are

page_text: caused to slide in opposite directions, straining the wires which are
clamped to their outer ends. One of the rack bars may be dispensed
with, the one wire being clamped to the plate. The pinion or rack is
provided with a pawl to prevent it from running back.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Marcus Eustace in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARCUS
EUSTACE, of Elmhurst, Glasnevin, in the County of Dublin, Ireland,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Marcus Eustace, Her special
license that I, the said Marcus Eustace, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Marcus Eustace, my exe-
cutors, administrators, 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 MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR JOINTING AND TIGHTENING WIRES, SUCH AS ARE
EMPLOYED FOR FENCES, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Marcus Eustace, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say :-
This Invention relates to means and apparatus for joining together
the different lengths of wire which are used in constructing fences, in
forming telegraph lines, and for other purposes, and for tightening up
such wires.-
For the purpose of joining together the ends of wire I provide a
socket piece, into which the wires are inserted longitudinally side by
side from opposite directions, and are made fast by driving a taper key
or cotter through transverse holes provided in the sides of the socket, so
that the key or cotter passes between the two wires enclosed therein,
and partly by bedding itself in the bodies of the wires, and partly by
pressing them against the interior of the socket, it secures them therein.
Or the ends of the wires after being passed through the socket may be
bent into chases provided at each end, and cotters may be driven trans-
versely across the bent ends, so as to prevent the wires from unbending,
thereby securing the wires in the socket.
The socket instead of being of some length, with the wires inserted in
it in the line of its axis, may be a short cylindrical piece placed with its
axis transverse to the wires. In this case the ends of the wires are
inserted through holes on opposite sides of the periphery of the socket,
each of which holes is widened out towards its opposite end to allow
space for the ends of the wires to be bent therein after their insertion.
The wires being inserted, and their ends being bent in opposite directions,
a cotter is driven transversely through an oblique hole in the direction
of the axis of the socket, or along a slot transversely to the axis between
the two bent wire ends, the effect of which is to grip the bent ends of
the wires firmly in the socket, and to prevent them from unbending, so
that they cannot be drawn out.
When the wire ends are inserted longitudinally in a socket, as first
described above, instead of driving a cotter through a transverse hole in
the socket, cotters may be driven between the wires at each end of the
socket. Instead of making the socket continuous it may be made in
two short pieces or ferrules embracing the wires at some distance apart,

page_text: and a piece of metal grooved along each side may be inserted between
the wires, so as to bulge them in the space between the two ferrules.
Also a third or intermediate ferrule may be driven on the bulged parts
of the wires so as to embrace them and the bulging piece.
For the purpose of tightening the wires I employ two plates of metal
similarly constructed. Each plate has near its outer end. a hook clamp,
in which the wire is firmly held by tightening up a screw, the end of the
wire projecting through the clamp. At its inner end each plate is
turned up at right angles and has a hole through the turned up part,
and near the middle of each plate is fixed a nut piece standing up from
the plate and having through it a hole in line with the end hole. The
holes in the nut pieces are tapped, the one for a right and the other for
a left hand screw. A spindle, having each end screwed, the one right
and the other left handed, is passed through the end holes of the two
plates and entered in the nut holes. Being then turned up by a wrench
applied to a square or polygonal part at its middle, or by a bar passed
through a hole at its middle in the manner of a vice pin, the spindle
working in the two nut holes causes the two plates to approach each
other, and thus the two wire ends, secured respectively to the clamps
of the two plates, are brought together side by side while the desired
strain is imparted to the lengths of wire. The wire ends thus brought
together can be secured to one another by any known method, such as
twisting them, or by the fastenings which I have described above,
after which, the clamps being released, the tightening apparatus can be
removed.
The spindle instead of being screwed at both ends may be screwed
only at the one end, the other end being provided with a collar behind the
nut piece of one of the plates, the hole of which in this case is not screwed.
The spindle being turned then screws into the one nut piece and swivels
in the other, causing the plates to be drawn together, as above described.
Instead of employing two plates with one screw spindle a single plate
with guide holes in turned up parts at each end, and with two nut
pieces, may be provided with two screw spindles, one of which projects
at each end of the plate. The wire ends being clamped to the outer
ends of those spindles, on turning the plate round the spindles they are
caused to approach each other, straining up the wires. One of the
spindles instead of being screwed may be swivel-jointed to the plate.

page_text: Also instead of employing spindles two rack bars may be fitted to slide
through guide sockets fixed on the plate, the rack teeth on their edges
gearing with those of a pinion mounted on the plate between them, so
that when the pinion is turned by a wrench or handle the bars are
caused to slide in opposite directions, straining the wires which are
clamped to their outer ends. One of the rack bars may be dispensed
with, the one wire being clamped to the plate. The pinion or rack is
Also instead of employing spindles two rack bars may be fitted to slide
through guide sockets fixed on the plate, the rack teeth on their edges
gearing with those of a pinion mounted on the plate between them, so
that when the pinion is turned by a wrench or handle the bars are
caused to slide in opposite directions, straining the wires which are
clamped to their outer ends. One of the rack bars may be dispensed
with, the one wire being clamped to the plate. The pinion or rack is
provided with a pawl to prevent it from running back.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of one of the arrangements
above described for securing together the ends of line wires. It consists
of a socket A, which is preferably a little bellied in the middle; the ends
of the wires B and C are inserted into the socket side by side, and a key
or wedge D is then driven through slots in the side of the socket
between the wires, bulging them apart and partly bedding itself in
them. According to the form shewn in longitudinal section in Fig. 2 the
socket A is made with two chases through it, into which the ends of
the wires B, C, are inserted. After insertion their ends are bent, and
transverse keys D, D, are driven through slots in the socket to keep
them from unbending.
In the form shewn in section at Fig. 3, the socket A is of the form
of a short cylinder, with chases for the reception of the wires B and C,
the ends of which are bent, and the bends secured by a transverse
key D.
Fig. 4 is a section shewing the mode above described of securing the
wires by ferrules. The wires B and C are bent over a saddle piece E, and
ferrules F and G are driven on to them. A middle ferrule H may also
be used, as shewn in dotted lines.
Fig. 5 is a side view in perspective of the apparatus for drawing up
and tightening the wires, shewing how it is applied when the wires,
after being tightened, are to be secured by the clip or fastening described
above in reference to Fig. 8; K is a spindle, with a right and a left hand
screw thread, working in bracket nuts formed on two plates L and M.
These plates have each a screw clamp or vice l´and m. The one wire
end B, having already been inserted in the socket A, and bent round in

page_text: its chase, is secured to the plate L by the clamp 1, the other wire C having
its end passed through the other chase of the socket A, is secured to the
plate M by the clamp m. The spindle K is then turned by means of
the vice pin k, so as to cause the plates L and M to approach one
another, thus tightening the wires B and C. When they have been
sufficiently tightened the end of C is bent, as shewn at c, and the
transverse key is driven into the socket A, whereupon the clamps
and m are released, and the apparatus is removed from the wires, which
are held together by the fastening at A. The surplus of the wire at c
is cut off close to the socket. Although I have shewn the screw spindle K
as being screwed at both ends with threads of opposite hands it is obvious
that it might be made with only one of its ends screwed, as for example,
that which acts on the plate L, the other end being made to swivel in
the brackets of the plate M.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
-
First. The use for joining together different lengths of wire of a
socket A with transverse key D, constructed and operating sub-
stantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Second. The use, for the purpose referred to above, of the socket A
and transverse key D acting in combination with the bends of the
wires, substantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Third. The use, for the purpose referred to above, of the modified
form of socket A with a single transverse key D operating in combination
with the bends of the wires, substantially as herein described in reference
to Fig. 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The method of joining together the ends of wires by bulging
them over a saddle piece E and securing them by ferrules F and G,
substantially as described in reference to Fig. 4 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Fifth. The use for tightening wires of a pair of plates L and M, to
which the wires are clamped, caused to approach each other by means

page_text: of a screw K, substantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 5 of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marcus Eustace, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.