US2879808A - Wire repairing and tightening means - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1959 B. L. MALLORY WIRE REPAIRING AND TIGHTENING MEANS Filed Jan. 5, 1956 INVENTOR. Bow/WE Z. .MALLORY BY WW 2,879,808 WIRE REPAIRING AND TIGHTENING MEANS Bonnie L. Mallory, Huntington Woods, Mich.

Application January 3, 1956, Serial No. 556,972

3 Claims. (Cl. 140-1235 This invention is an improved means primarily intended for reconditioning and repairing wire fences, although other applications of the invention will be obvious from this disclosure.

Fence wires invariably stretch and become slack, and sometimes break from one cause or another, not infrequently during cold weather because of the accumulation of ice or snow thereon, especially when subjected to heavy winds. Keeping wire fences in repair is highly important if the fences are to properly serve their purpose, and heretofore the task has been a time consuming and relatively expensive one, especially where considerable fencing is involved, as on large argricultural and stock farms and ranches.

The primary purpose of my invention is to provide a wire fence repairing meansthatwill minimize the trouble and expense of maintaining wire fences in proper condition, and which is applicable to fences comprising single wire strands, wire mesh, or barbed wire.

Another object is to provide a wire tightener that is simple, cheap and effective, and that is capable of being operated by means of a simple tool to produce and lock,

a reverse bend or kink in the wire, such as will take up the slack and thus render the wire taut, and which, in the operation of applying it, automatically and securely attaches itself to the wire. Hence, my invention obviates the use of the conventional wire pullng equipment and makes it unnecessary to disturb the connections between the wire and fence posts or other supports.

With respect to the mending of broken wires, I propose to provide along with the tightener very simple means, desirably consisting of bite type couplers, for easily and quickly joining the ends of a splicing wire to the separated ends of a broken wire, while the wires are in slack condition, which circumstance greatly facilitates the operation; and, with the ends of the broken wire connected in this way, one of the aforesaid tighteners is applied to one of the wires-for instance, the splicing wireand the tightener operated in the manner above described to remove the slack and cause the bite type couplers to increase their hold upon the wires.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like parts are designated by like reference characters throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved wire tightener;

Fig. 2 and 3 are similar views, respectively, of the tool for operating the wire tightener, and of one of the bite type couplers;

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating the manner in which the ends of a splicing wire are initially connected to the separated ends of a broken wire by means of two bite type couplers, and with the wire tightener applied to the splicing wire;

Fig. 5 is a view, similar to Fig. 4, showing the condition United States Patent 0 "ice of the parts after the tightener has been operated and the repair completed, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bite type coupler for use with barbed wire.

The wire tightener, designated generally by the reference numeral 1, includes a body portion 2. Reversely arranged hooks 3 and 4 extend laterally in the same direction from the opposite ends of the body portion, and members having laterally extending abutments, or, more limitedly and as illustrated, headed studsS and 6 are carried by and project from the body portion in the same general direction as the hooks 3 and 4, each member or stud being located adjacent the open side or notch of one of the hooks.

. The tightenerwhich I have just described is desirably made from strip metal, with the body portion 2 in the form of a flat plate. In the production of the tightener, the hooks 3 and 4 are punched from the strip and then turned laterally; and the studs 5 and 6 are desirably riveted in holes in the body portion 2. It is to be observed that the outer edges of the hooks 3 and 4 diverge with respect to the plane of the body portion toward the open ends of the hooks, and this is for a purpose that will presently appear. a

Each of the bite type couplers shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, and it consists of a flat plate or disc of sheet metal that is provided with so-called terminal eyes 11, and intermediate eyes 12, said eyes consisting of holes that are punched or otherwise formed in the plate or disc.

The tool for operating the wire tightener is designated 15 and it is desirably constructed from a single piece of strap metal, offset at 16 between its ends, to define a head 17 and a handle 18. Studs 19 and 20, similar to the studs 5 and 6 of the tightener, are riveted in the head 17 and extend laterally therefrom and the studs are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the body portion 2 of the tightener.

Although it is reasonable to suppose that the wire tightener will be used more frequently for taking up slack in unbroken wires, I have illustrated it in Figs. 4 and 5 as used in mending a broken wire. Obviously, the manner of using the tightener will be the same in both instances. In the views just referred to, the sections of a broken wire, on opposite sides of a gap therein, are designated 22, and a splicing wire, of a length somewhat greater than that of the gap, is designated 24. Each end of the splicing wire 24 is first extended through a terminal eye 11 of the correspondng coupler 10 and a hook 25 is formed in the wire and the end thereof is passed in a reverse direction through one of the intermediate eyes 12 of the coupler. In like manner, the end of each section 22 of the broken wire is passed through the other terminal eye of the appropriate coupler and formed into a hook 26, the end of which is then passed through the other intermediate eyes 12 of the coupler. A pair of pliers or other suitable implement may be used for forming the hooks 25 and 26.

The operation of inserting the splicing wire is performed while there is enough slack in the broken wire to make the work easy. After the ends of the broken wire are thus initially connected together, a wire tightener 1 is engaged with one of the wires-the splicing Wire, as presently illustrated. Either before or after the tightener is applied to the wire, it is engaged with the tool 15 by inserting the body portion 2 of the fastener between the studs 19 and 20 of the tool, in the manner shown in Fig. 4. In the initial position of the tightener, the wire passes between the studs 5 and 6 and through the open ends of the hooks 3 and 4. Now by turning the tightener 1 in the plane of its body portion 2, by swinging the handle 18 of the tool 15 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, substantially through a reverse bend .or .kink'i's formed in the splicing wire (as illustrated in Fig. 5), the adjacent portions of the wire during such operation traversing the inclined edges of the hooks 3 and 4 and then overriding the ends of the hooks and finally coming to-rest within the notches of the hooks when the hold on the tool is relaxed. The tightener thus becomes securely fastened to the wire in a position to maintain the wire taut, afterwhich the tool may be easily and quickly detached from the tightener.

In the course of this operation, the couplers assume acute angular relation to the connected wires and take a hold thereon which increases in intensity as the wire is tightened and which is very effective in securing the ends of the wires to one another and against slipping with respect to thecouplers.

When using the invention in connection with barbed wire (which, as generally known, is characterized by strands, each made of two twisted wires) a coupler-isuch as that illustrated in Fig. 6 is employed,.the same being designated '10. It .is shown as an elongated plate having terminal eyes .11 and intermediate eyes 12 The tightener 1 is adapted for use, without change, with barbed wire.

While I have described the present preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that such modifications and changesmay be made as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A wire tightener comprising a plate, two hooks extending laterally in the same general direction therefrom, one being located at each end of the plate, each hook being reversed with respect to theother and the terminal of the hook beingsubstantially in the plane of the longitudinal axis of the plate, the edge of the hook remote from the plate being inclined outwardly from the plate toward the open end of the hook thereby to serve as a cam for deflecting a portion of a wire engaged therewith outwardly as the plate is turned in its own plane in an appropriate direction about its longitudinal center, and studs carried by and extending from the plate in substantially the same direction as the hooks, each stud being located adjacent the open end of one of said hooks, the studs having heads spaced from the plate a distance somewhat less than the aforesaid outer edges of the hooks.

2. A wire tightener comprising a substantially parallelogrammic plate, two books integral with the plate and extending. laterally therefrom in the same direction'and at right angles to the plane and longitudinal edges of the plate, one book being located at each end of the plate, each hook being reversed with respect to the other and the terminal of the hook being substantially in the plane of the longitudinal axis of the plate, the edge of. the hook remote from the plate being inclined outwardly from the plate toward the open end of the hook thereby to serve as a cam for deflecting a portion of a wire engaged therewith outwardly as the plate is turned in its own plane in an appropriate direction about its longitudinal center, and studs carried by and extending from the side of the plate in substantially the same direction as the hooks, each stud being located adjacent the open end of one of said hooks, the studs having heads spaced from the plate a distance somewhat less than the aforesaid outer edges of the hooks.

3. A wire tightener comprising a body portion consisting of a fiat substantially rectangular metal plate,

.twoidentical wire receiving hooks integral with thevbody portion and extending laterally therefrom in the same general direction, one located at each end of the body portion and disposed transversely thereof, each hook being reversed with respect to the other and having its closed end approximately'in the plane of one side edge of the bodyportion and its open end spaced inwardly a substantial distance from the plane of the opposite edge, and two wire engaging members rigidly connected to and extending laterally from the body portion in the same direc- .tion as the hooksand spaced apart lengthwise of the body portion with the member adjacent each hook located on the opposite side of the longitudinal axis of the body portion from said hook.

References Cited in the file of this patent

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