IMPROVEMENTS IN GILLE CONSTRUCTION. OR WIDE FENCING WHICHI TADROVEMENTS 47677 LLCO
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William James Smith, of the Town and County of
Inverness, North Britain, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GILLE CONSTRUCTION. OR WIDE FENCING WHICHI TADROVEMENTS 47677
LLCO
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William James Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd August 1881.
WILLIAM JAMES SMITH, of the Town and County of Inverness, North Britain,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIRE FENCING, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention, which relates to improvements in wire fencing, has reference to
the means whereby the horizontally arranged wires are held in position to the
intermediate vertical supports or droppers which are employed to support the wires
between the standards of the fencing; and the object of one part of my Invention is
to secure the said wires to the droppers by means at once simple, secure, and
economical to manufacture, the essential feature of my improvements in this respect
being to attain these objects without the use of keys or wedges, which have been
employed hitherto in the construction of wire fencing, to which this part of my
Invention relates.
The improvement consists in constructing the droppers of metal rods or tubes of
an oval, angular, or other section in combination with fasteners of any convenient
design, such, for example, as single or doubled metal links for attaching the wires
to the droppers, and by virtue of the oval, angular, or other shape given to the said
droppers, which forms the essential feature of my improvements when the droppers
are passed through the loop or loops of the fasteners, the said fasteners being
already upon the wires, by simply imparting a motion of partial rotation to the
droppers a wedging action is produced by forcing the wider portion of the droppers
between the wires and the inner surface of the back of the fasteners when a rod or
tube of oval section is employed, for example, and thus the wires are rigidly
[Prine £17

page_text: attached to the droppers without the necessity for employing keys or wedges, a
further advantage being also secured by this improvement in that the several
horizontal wires are secured to their dropper simultaneously.
The turning round of the droppers may be effected by a toothed gripper or by
any other suitable means. By constructing the droppers as herein before described
they may be also employed as standards in the construction of wire fencing and
for other purposes.
My improvements in wire fencing further consist in the construction of the
standards. I construct the lower portion or base as a screw with a hollow centre,
and into the said hollow portion when the screw is driven into the ground one end
of the upright of the standard is inserted and held securely therein by wedges
driven in between the upright of the standard and the inner portion of the top of
the screw base. The height of the upright is thus capable of being adjusted within
the hollow base according as desired. The top portion of the screw base is formed
square, or of other suitable shape, to enable the screw to be driven into the ground.
The head of the screw may also be provided with a flat or cup shaped collar, but
which may be of a spiral or other convenient shape in order to steady the screw
when secured in the ground.
My improved construction of standard is applicable to different varieties of
fencing, and it may be also conveniently employed for other purposes than sup-
porting wire fencing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William James Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st February 1882.
WILLIAM JAMES SMITH, of the Town and County of Inverness, North Britain,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIRE FENCING, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in wire fencing, has reference,
firstly, to the means whereby the horizontally arranged wires are held in position
to the intermediate vertical supports or droppers which are employed to support
the wires between the standards of the fencing; and the object of this part of
my Invention is to secure the said wires to the droppers by means at once simple,
secure, and economical to manufacture, the essential feature of my improvements
in this respect being to attain these objects without the use of keys or wedges,
which have been employed hitherto in the construction of wire fencing to which
this part of my Invention relates.
The improvements consists essentially in the construction of the droppers of.
metal rods or tubes of such a section that in combination with fasteners or
buckles of any convenient design the wires are rigidly fixed to the droppers. By
virtue of the peculiar section of the droppers, whether of an oval, angular, or
other section, which forms the essential feature of my improvements when tho said
droppers are passed through the loop or loops of the buckles, the said fasteners
being preferably already upon the wires, by simply imparting a motion of partial
rotation to the droppers a wedging action is produced, whereby the wires are
rigidly attached to the droppers without the necessity for employing separate keys
or wedges, which have been rendered necessary hitherto in the construction of
wire fencing to which my Invention relates, a further advantage being also
secured by this improvement in that the several horizontal wires can be secured
to their dropper simultaneously.
Droppers constructed as hereinbefore described may also be employed as
standards in the construction of wire fencing, and for other purposes.
Secondly, my improvements in wire fencing consist in the construction of the
standards in which the screw base is formed with a central hollow portion, into
which when the screw is driven into the ground the lower extremity of the
upright of the standard, which may be of any convenient section is inserted and
held securely therein by wedges driven in between the upright of the standard
and the inner portion of the top of the screw base. The height of the upright is
thus capable of being adjusted within the hollow base accordingly as desired. The
top portion of the screw base may be formed square, hexagonal, or of other
suitable shape to enable the screw to be driven into the ground. The head of the
screw may also be provided with a flat or cup-shaped collar, but which may be of
a spiral or other convenient shape in order to steady the screw when secured in
the ground.
My improved construction of standard is applicable to different varieties and parts
of fencing, and it may be also conveniently employed for other purposes than
supporting wire fencing.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
Figures 1 and 2 represent in plan partly in section and in side elevation
respectively one modification of the first part of my said Invention; Figures 3

page_text: to 10 are further modifications of the same hereinafter referred to; Figures 11
and 12 represent my improved screw base, which is the subject of the second part
of my Invention.
With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the horizontal or continuous wires of the
fencing are represented at a. B represents one of the vertical droppers constructed
according to my said Invention to support and separate the parallel wires a;
C represents one of the buckles, one of such buckles being placed upon each of the
wires of the fencing in order that the series of wires may be secured rigidly to the
vertical dropper. The dropper B, as represented in this modification, consists of a
metal rod with two heads b, b', and formed along the length of the said rod, and
with a central narrow portion 62. The one head b may be formed as a smaller
segmental portion to that of the opposite head, and is such that when the said
rod B is applied to the two opposite apertures of the buckle C, the wire a being
already within the fold of the said buckle, the said dropper can be readily inserted
through the said apertures, but when after the dropper has been thus inserted a
motion of partial rotation is imparted to the said dropper, the dropper acts as a
wedge by clamping the wires a rigidly within the buckle. The turning of the
droppers may be effected by a wrench, toothed gripper, or by any other suitable
means. In the case of several parallel wires a being employed in the construction
of the fencing when the droppers B have been passed through the holes in the
buckles C, and the requisite vertical space apart between the wires is determined,
the whole series of the wires are by my improved form of dropper simultaneously
secured to the said dropper; I thus avoid the employment of a large number of
separate wedges or keys, one for each buckle, which has been the arrangement
hitherto employed for producing this tightening, and thus economy in the time
occupied in putting up the fencing, and also economy in material is effected. Any
section of dropper may be employed which will act as an eccentric, and cause a
wedging action between the buckles and the wires, but I have only shewn those
sections which I have found to produce the best results.
The buckle C, which I have shewn in this modification, is constructed of a piece
of sheet metal punched with holes c, through which, when the said plate is doubled
up from its central part the droppers are passed, the open ends of the said buckle
receiving the wire of the fencing, but any other form of buckle may be employed
which will permit my improved dropper being put into operation in accordance
with my said Invention.
Figures 3 and 4 represent in plan, partly in section and in side elevation
respectively, a modification of my said Invention in which the dropper B is of a
segmental-section-3-at-its-one-side,-and-formed-with-a-tongue-or-continuous-ribbed-
portion b at its other side, or that side which is in contact with the wire a. The
said dropper thus formed can be readily inserted between the loop of the buckle
and the wire a, but which, when a motion of partial rotation is given to the said
dropper, a wedging action is produced, the ribbed or tongued portion of the dropper
by this action being clamped against the wire a.
Figures 5 and 6 represent in plan and side elevation respectively a modification
of my Invention in which the dropper B2 is formed of an oval section, and which
when applied to the buckle C2 in a sideway position can be readily inserted
therein, but which when inserted through the loops of the buckle and turned
round to a position having its larger axis at right angles or nearly so with the
wire a, the said dropper is clamped between the wire a and the back of the buckle.
The buckle employed in the modification consists of an oblong piece of sheet metal
formed with a slot corresponding in width to the diameter of the wire a, and in
length to the diameter of the dropper, the said piece of metal being doubled
afterwards, as shown.
Figures 7 and 8 represent in plan and side elevation respectively a modification
of my Invention in which the dropper B³ is formed of a cross-shaped or four ribbed
section. When the said dropper applied to the buckle C³ with one of its ribbed
portions at an angle other than a right angle to the wire a, the said dropper can

page_text: be readily inserted through the apertures in the ends of the buckle C³, but when a
motion of partial rotation is given to the said dropper, so that one of the ribbed
portions is brought at right angles or nearly so to the wire a, the said dropper can
be clamped up tightly against the wire a. The buckle C3 in this modification may
be of a similar form to that described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 9 and 10 represent in plan and side elevation respectively a further
modification of my Invention, in which the dropper B consists of a rod of oval
section, which acts upon the wire a in combination with a buckle or tube C', which
is formed as a tube extending the length of the dropper; or the tube C may be a
post fixed in the ground and formed with slots c, one for each wire a of the
fencing, into which slots the wires are inserted, and when the tube C is thus in
position relatively with the wires of the fencing the dropper B' is passed down
through the tube between the wires a and the inner side of the tube, upon which
side the slots c are formed. In this modification the dropper B' may be formed
with an ornamental head, by which the said dropper can have the required
motion of partial rotation imparted to it to effect the clamping action against the
wires a.
With reference. to the second part of my said Invention, Figures 11 and 12
represent in side elevation and plan respectively my improved screw base, which
is shown with the standard of the wire fencing applied to it. The upper part or
stem d of the screw D is formed with a hollow portion or socket d'. The said
stem is formed at its top with a head or squared portion d², immediately beneath
which is formed an inverted cupped portion d³. The said squared head d² is for
the purpose of turning the screw D into the ground, the cupped portion d³ serving
to support and steady the top portion of the screw when it is fixed in the ground.
I do not limit myself to the precise form of support d³, as it may be of a spiral
or other form. As shown in the Drawing the whole of the screw base when in
use is entirely, or nearly so, embedded in the ground F. The screw base being in
position, as shown in Figure 11, the lower extremity of the standard E is inserted
to the required extent within the socket d' of the screw base, and the said standard
is fixed within the said socket at the required height by driving in wedges d' of
wood, metal, or other material. The part of the standard inserted within the
socket may be of any suitable section, but preferably of a double headed rail
shaped section, as shewn in plan, Figure 12, in order that the wedges may be
readily driven in at the sides of the standard.
The said improvements in fixing the standards adjustably to the screw base, as
applied as hereinbefore described to wire fencing, are equally applicable for many
other similar purposes, and I do not limit myself to the precise application herein-
before described of my improvements in the mode of securing the wires a to the
droppers, as the said improvements are equally applicable for other similar
purposes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or
may be used or practically 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 hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,—
"
First. In the construction of wire fencing and for other similar purposes the
supports or "droppers" of an angular, oval, or other such section as will render
the said supports or "droppers" in combination with buckles or fasteners capable
of acting in themselves as wedges or clampers in securing the parallel wires of the
fencing to the said supports or droppers" without the necessity of employing
separate or additional keys or wedges for each wire, substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. In the construction of wire fencing and for other similar purposes the
employment of a screw base with a central hollow portion to enable the base of
the standard or other similar support to be adjustably fixed within the said screw

page_text: base, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 11 and 12
of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William James Smith, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
WILLIAM JAMES SMITH. (L.S.)