IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR STRAINING AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION WINDING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward John Cowling Welch, of Liverpool, in
the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR STRAINING AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward John Cowling
Welch at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th September 1872.
I, EDWARD JOHN COWLING WELCH, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR
STRAINING AND WINDING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements which are calculated
to obviate the inconveniences which result from the arrangements for
straining and winding wires for fencing and other purposes previously

page_text: employed, and in which ratchet wheels and pawls have been ordinarily
used.
In the arrangements of mechanism which form the subject of the
present Invention, the ratchet wheel is placed on the end or any other
convenient part of and carried by the winding barrel. The frame by
which the barrel is borne or supported in suitable bearings is provided
with a fixed stop attached to or formed on the same, and against which
stop the teeth of the ratchet wheel catch. The bearing or aperture in
the frame through which the ratchet end of the barrel passes is elongated
in a direction furthest from the stop, so that as the ratchet is wound
the reaction of the teeth against the stop causes the barrel to be lifted
up in the elongated bearing or aperture, and the ratchet wheel drops
downwards as each tooth passes the stop, so as effectually to secure the
barrel from turning or unwinding in a contrary direction.
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In the case of what are known as "suspension winders," which simply 1
unite the two ends of the wire and at the same time tighten it up both
ways, and which are supported by the tightening of the wire itself, it
cannot at all times be certain that the suspended winders will remain in
the position in which the stop is at the lowest part, but they may some-
times turn partly round by reason of the torsion of the wire. In such 2
cases it is requisite to make the ratchet wheel to press against the stop
by other means than its own weight. This is effected by passing the two
ends of the wire through apertures formed in the end of the frame which
carries the barrel, and which apertures being at right angles to the barrel
and opposite to the centre line of the same, the angular direction of the 2
wire is then equal to half the diameter of the barrel, and is sufficient to
keep the ratchet wheel against the stop, the wire which would pass over
the barrel furthest from the stop being wound on that half of the barrel
nearest the ratchet wheel.
This Invention is applicable to winding nillam

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward John Cowling Welch in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOHN COWLING WELCH, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most 'Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward John Cowling Welch, Her
special licence that I, the said Edward John Cowling Welch, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward John Cowling Welch, my executors, 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 and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS
FOR STRAINING AND WINDING WIRE FOR FENCING AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward John Cowling Welch,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward John Cowling Welch, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements which are cal-
culated to obviate the inconveniences which result from the arrange-
ments previously employed for straining and winding wires for fencing
and other purposes, and in which ratchet wheels and pawls have been
ordinarily used.

page_text: In the arrangements of mechanism which form the subject of my
said Invention the ratchet wheel is placed on the end or any other
convenient part of and carried by the winding barrel. The frame by
which the barrel is borne or supported in suitable bearings is provided
with a fixed stop attached to or formed on the same, and against which 5
stop the teeth of the ratchet wheel catch. The bearing or aperturo in
the frame through which the ratchet end of the barrel passes is elongated
in a direction furthest from the stop, so that as the ratchet is wound up
the reaction of the teeth against the stop causes the barrel to be lifted
up in the elongated bearing or aperture, and the ratchet wheel drops 1
downwards as each tooth passes the stop, so as effectually to secure the
barrel from turning or unwinding in a contrary direction.
In the case of what are known as "suspension winders," which simply
unite the two ends of the wire and at the same time tighten it up both
ways, and which are supported by the tightening of the wire itself, it i
cannot at all times be certain that the suspended winders will remain in
the position in which the stop is at the lowest part, but they may some-
times turn partly round by reason of the torsion of the wire. In such
cases it is requisite to make the ratchet wheel to press against the stop
. by other means than its own weight. This is effected by passing the two
ends of the wire through apertures formed in the end of the frame which
carries the barrel, and opposite to the centre line of the same. The
angular direction of the wire is then cqual to half the diameter of the
barrel, and is sufficient to keep the ratchet wheel against the stop, the
wire which would pass over the barrel on the upper side, that is to say,
the side furthest from the stop being wound on that half of the barrel
nearest the ratchet wheel.
My said Invention is applicable to winding pillars for wire fences,
straining brackets, suspension brackets, and to the winding and straining
wire for any purpose.
I should here observe that the main feature of my said Invention is
the arrangement by means of which the whole of the tensile strains come
directly upon the barrel itself, and no part thereof upon the frame by
which the barrel is carried, the apparatus affording thus a very powerful
method of straining wire or other material; and as it is capable of
winding equally from both directions a very great length may be
strained by one winder.

page_text: Having thus declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that I do not claim the fixed pawl and loose ratchet sepa-
rately and apart from the rest of the apparatus; but what I consider
novel and original, and therefore claim as constituting the Invention
secured to me by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is, the combination and arrangement of parts and mechanism whereby
the whole strain is brought to bear on the barrel alone, and whereby the
ratchet is caused to engage with the fixed pawl in whatever position the
apparatus may stand without the use of springs and without throwing
any tensile strain on the frame of the apparatus, substantially as and for
the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward John Cowling Welch,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three
EDWARD J. COWLING WELCH. (L.s.)