Iм- PROVEMENTS IN FENCES, RAILINGS, HURDLES, AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, Baronet, of Gairloch,
in the County of Ross, North Britain, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN FENCES, RAILINGS, HURDLES, AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 15th October 1869, and dated the 20th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Kenneth Smith
Mackenzie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
bis Petition, on the 20th April 1869.
I, KENNETH SMITH MACKENZIE, Baronet, of Gairloch, in the County
of Ross, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FENCES, RAILINGS, HURDLES, AND SIMILAR
STRUCTURES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object the obtainment of a strong neat
fencing in a simple and economical manner, and whilst the improve-
ments are more particularly designed for strained wire fencing they are
also applicable to other fences or railings and to hurdles and similar
structures.

page_text: The improvements consist in a mode of applying a top bar or railing
to strained wire fencing, which in other respects may be constructed and
arranged in any of the various modes in use.
In one modification the top bar is made of T iron rolled of any
convenient section, but by preference with the peculiarity that the
vertical web projecting downwards from the middle of the other web is
made thicker at its bottom edge than nearer to the other web. Counter-
part notches are formed in the tops of the fence standards, and when
these are in position the top bar is applied by threading its vertical web
horizontally through the notches, and the parts become tied together as
by a dovetail joint, whilst the horizontal web of the T-iron bar caps the
fence in a neat finished manner. Two angle-iron bars (1) combining
together to form an equivalent for the T iron may be substituted for it,
or a single angle-iron bar (5) may be used.
By another modification dovetail or equivalent heads are formed on
the tops of the fence standards, whilst the top bar is made with a
counterpart groove on its under side. The using of these improved top
bars admits of fencing being erected on curved lines more conveniently
than heretofore, whilst on either straight or ourved lines the required
strength can be obtained with the standards at greater than the ordinary
distances apart, so that fewer standards will be required.
What is herein-before described is a mode of uniting bars at
right angles to each other, and is obviously applicable in the
construction of various kinds of fences, railings, hurdles, and similar
structures.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Kenneth Smith Mackenzie in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 16th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, KENNETH
SMITH MACKENZIE, Baronet, of Gairloch, in the County of Ross, North 3
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, Her special
licence that I, the said Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Kenneth
Smith Mackenzie, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FENCES, RAILINGS, HURDLES, AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Kenneth Smith
Mackenzie, 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.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, 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 in writing, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the obtainment of a strong neat
fencing in a simple and economical manner, and whilst my improve-
ments are more particularly designed for strained wire fencing they
are also applicable to other fences or railings and to hurdles and similar
structures.
My improvements consist in a mode of applying a top bar or rail to
strained wire fencing, which in other respects may be constructed and
arranged in any of the various modes in use.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
by way of example a few of the various modifications of which my

page_text: improved mede of applying top bars is susceptible. The same reference
letters are used to mark the same or like parts in all the Figures, in all of
which the top bar is shown in cross section with the standard or vertical
bar in elevation.
In one modification, shown in Figure 1, the top bar A is made of
Tiron rolled of any convenient section, but with the peculiarity that the
vertical web B projecting downwards from the middle of the other web
is made thicker at its bottom edge than nearer to the other web.
Counterpart notches are formed in the tops of the fence standards C,
and when these standards are in position the top bar is applied by
threading its vertical web through the notches, and the parts become
locked together as by a dovetail joint, whilst the horizontal web of the
T-iron bar A caps the fence in a neat finished manner. Two angle-iron
bars combined or rivetted together, as shown in Figure 2, to form an
equivalent for the T iron may be substituted for it, or a single angle-iron
bar may be used, as shown in Figure 3.
By another modification dovetail or equivalent heads D are formed,
as shown in Figures 4 and 5, on the tops of the fence standards C, whilst
the top bar A is made with a counterpart groove on its under side so as
when applied by being run along the tops of the standards to be locked
down by the heads D. The using of these improved top bars admits of
fencing being erected on curved lines more conveniently than heretofore,
whilst on either straight or curved lines the required strength can be
obtained with the standards at greater than the ordinary distances apart,
so that fewer standards will be required.
What is herein-before described constitutes a mode of uniting bars at
right angles to each other, and is obviously applicable in the con-
struction of various kinds of fences, railings, hurdles, and similar
structures.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I
do not restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated;
but that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the In-
vention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is, the uniting of the top bars of fences to the standards, and generally

page_text: the uniting of the bars of railings, hurdles, and similar structures by
means of a dovetail joint, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
KENNETH S. MACKENZIE. (L.S.)
KENNETH S. MACKENZIE.
(L.S.)