Untitled record

Application filed November 16, 1885. Serial No. 183,018. (No model.}

To all whom it may concern: .

Be it known that I, William C. Gholson, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and 5 State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Fences, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in wire fences.

io The principal objections urged against the ordinary barbed-wire fences are that they are not plainly visible to the stock, the animals are liable to run against them, injuring themselves and breaking or damaging the fence, 15 and that in order to make the barbs, whether of wire or sheet metal, effective the wires must be twisted so tight as to lessen in a great measure the tensile strength of the metal, so that in a short time it becomes brittle and incapa20 ble of resisting a heavy strain or the jars to which they are subject in use.

The object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties and provide a. cheap, durable fence that is plainly visible, not liable to 25 injure stock, capable of turning either large or small animals, and resisting any force that is liable to come against it.

To this end my invention consists in the subject-matter as more fully described herein, 33 and specifically claimed.

The invention will be first fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly referred to, and pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are represented by similar referenceletters wherever they occur throughout the various views, Figure 1 represents part, of a fence embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, upon an enlarged scale, of my sheet-metal binding-clip.

The clip A, which is made of light sheet metal, has its longitudinal edges bent at a right angle to the body or central portion, and in 45 opposite directions. Each of the turned edges is perforated at a at the angle or bend, the body of the plate being tangent to the perforations, which are somewhat larger than the wires B, which pass through them. A flaring 50 V-shaped notch, c, is cut from the perforations a through the turned or flanged edge of the plate, to facilitate the entrance of the wires into the perforations as they are twisted to bear upon the flat sides of the plates A and confine them between the twisted wires. Two 55 or more of these wires B are twisted together around the ends, and through the notches of a series of these plates, confining the plates between them at equal distances apart, forming what I term my “wire-fence rail.” I pre- 60 fer to make these plates about four inches in length, and the central portion about one inch across, as I find this to be the most desirable size; but of course the size may be varied, depending somewhat upon the use for which it 65 is intended.

In Fig. 11 have shown a portion of a fourrail or board fence with the plates A in one rail opposite the space between the plates on the adjacent rails; and I think this is the best 70 arrangement. These rails may be made of any desired length, and any desired number of them may be.used to form a fence.

By reason of the peculiar shape of my plates and the notches in their edges, the wires may 75 be loosely twisted together, and may therefore be very tightly stretched without in any way fracturing or lessening their strength. For additional strength the fence may be provided at regular distances apart with a fence- 80 stay, and thus make a very strong fence at a comparatively small cost, as fewer posts are required than with the ordinary barbed-wire fences.

I find it best when using wires of a rather 85 heavy gage to make the twists about one in every three inches. When a two-wire strand or cable is used, smaller wires will of - course need to be twisted more; but as the wires of my fence may be drawn very tight there, is no 90 liability of the plates A becoming detached, and they are not easily displaced.

I am aware that “ warning-plates” are old, as shown and described, for instance, in the patent of Stubbe, No. 287,337, in which the 95 plate consists of aflat piece of metal cut diagonally at the four corners, and these corners bent from each other, in order that the strands of wire may be passed between them, and at the same time to form barbs; also, as set forth 100 in Gore’s patent, No. 294,612, which also has the plate cut, through whiph the wires pass to

353,129 form barbs. In both these cases the plates present a warning only directly in front of the fence. By my construction I avoid the use of barbs on the warning-plate, and at the same 5 time, by the construction heretofore described and shown in the accompanying drawings, my plate presents a warning that can be plainly seen from alongside of the fence or from any angle. Again, with my construction it is not ro necessary to twist the strands but slightly to apply the plate, the plate may be easily applied to wires already put up, and may be easily slid along the wires to any position desired. In those structures where it is neces15 sary to twistthe strands tightly and with several coils, the tensile strength of the wire is materially reduced and the strands are easily broken. I avoid this difficulty by my improvement.