US337638A - Fence - Google Patents

Description

v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. B. THIES; FENGE MAKING MACHINE.

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 9, 188 6.

N. PETERS FhuloLrthognpher, Washinglrm, u. c

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

J. B. THIES. FENCE MAKING MACHINE. v No.- 337,638 Patented Mar. 9, 1886.

a OZ TJVESSES I IJVVEWTOR I UNrran STATES PATENT @rrrcs.

JOHN B. THIES, OF DAYTON,-OHIO.

FENCE=MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 337,638, dated March 9, 1826. Appliaation filed December 15, 1885. Serial No. 185,767. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. THIEs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Making Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specificatiOn and in which-- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved fence-making machine with a part broken away. Fig. 2 same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the machine. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of the picket clamping and forcing mechanism; and Fig. 5 is a similar view of the upper end of the reel and its support, showing that end of the frame tilted upward.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Myinvention has relation to machines for making wire and picket fences of that classin which the picket is dropped between the ends of bifurcated twisters, which, by being revolved, twist the Wires, forming loops clamping the picket; and it consistsin theimproved construction and combination of parts of the same, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed;

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates a rectangular upright frame, which has two upright posts, B B, at its middle, which posts are formed with longitudinal horizontal bearings in which the twisters O are journaled, the twisters having sprocket-wheels D upon the portions between the posts, over which sprocket-wheels passes an endless chain, E, which also passes over a sprocket-wheel, O, journaled between laterally-projecting arms FF upon the posts, the shaft of which sprocketwheel is provided with a crank or handle, H, for revolving it, 'so that all the twisters may be revolved by revolving the crank or handle, the chain passing over the sprocket-wheels upon the twisters in a zigzag line.

The twisters and the means for operating them need no further description, as the means is a top View of the for operating the twisters have been described in Patent No. 316,849, granted to me on the 28th day of April, 1885, and the twisters, as shown in the drawings, have been described in a former application now pending before the Office. Two upright bars, I and J, have their upper and lower ends secured to the ends of flanges K upon two transverse castings, L L, which are formed with longitudinal slots M M, with which they slide upon bolts N, projecting from the top and bottom piece of the frame, the said bolts screwing into the said top and bottom pieces. The bar I of the upright bars is placed at one side of the bifurcated ends of the twisters, a short distance in front of them, and has its inner edge beveled at the side facing the twisters, as shown at O, and this beveled edge is faced with a metallic bar, P, which preferably projects with one edge beyond the face of the bar facing toward the twisters, and a similarly loose beveled bar, Q, having a similar facingbar, R, bears with its ends freely against the facing sides of the castings upon the top and bottom piece of the frame, resting against the flanges of the castings with its ends. These beveled bars have the beveled and metallicfaced portions facing the bifurcated ends of the twisters, so as to have the pickets forced between them, and the loose bar is provided with laterally-projecting arms or rods S, around which are placed coiled springs T, and the outer ends of the rods sllde in perforations Uin the bar J, the ends of the springs bearing against the beveled bar and against the rigid bar J, forcing the loose beveled bar toward the rigid beveled bar. The beveled edges of the two beveled bars are formed with notches V, in which the bifurcated or slotted ends W oftwo or more arms, X, may slide, and the other ends of these arms are pivoted to armsY, projecting from a vertical shaft, Z, journaled at its ends in the top and bottom piece of the frame to the rear of and slightly to one side of the rear ends of'the twisters. This shaft is provided with a leveror handle, A, by means of which it may be rocked, and itwill be seen that by rocking the shaft the slotted ends of the arms or bars may be forced forward and back in the notches in the beveled bars, forcing one picket forwardthrough the space between the beveled bars and coming back to receive another picket, which is dropped into the slots in the ends of the forcing arms from above. The-upper end ofthe rocking vertical shaftis provided with a crank, B, to the pin of which an ear, projecting from the connected ends of two parallel rods, D D, is pivoted, and the other ends of these pai'alel rods are connected by a perforated yoke, E, through which slides the end of a rod, F, having a cross-head, G, at its end, the notched ends of which crosshead slide upon the parallel rods. A spring, H, is wrapped around the rod and bears against the yoke and the cross-head, forcing them apart, the pitman formed by the parallel rods and the rod, together with the yoke, cross-head, and spring, being thus made yielding longitudinally. The other end of the rod or pit man is pivoted to a crank, I, upon the upper end of a short shaft, J, which is journaled in a vertical bearing in the outer end of a hinged bracket, K, upon the end of the top piece of the frame, and the upper portion of this short shaft is provided with a ratchet'wheel, L, secured upon the shaft below the crank, which turns loosely upon the shaft with its inner end. The outer end .of the crank is provided with a spring-pawl, M, which engages the ratchet-wheel, and a spring-pawl, N, is pivoted upon the upper side of the bracket and engages the ratchet-wheel. The lower end of the short shaft is formed with a polygonal box, 0", into which the upper end of the reel-shaft P fits and in which it may be retained by means of apin, Q, inserted through the wall ofthe box or socket into the end of the shaft, and the lower end of this shaft, upon which the fence is wound as it is woven or manufactured by the machine, is journaled in the projecting end of the bottom piece of the frame. It will be seen that the reel will be revolved when the lever which forces the feed-arms or forcingarms forward is tilted back, drawing the said arms in position for receiving another picket. The extensible pitman which operates the pawl being pivoted at its other end to the crank upon the rocking shaft, and the pitman being extensible and yielding longitudinally, the pawl upon the crank connected to the pitman will only move the reel sufficiently to take up as much fence as has been made without regard to the size of the roll wound upon the reel, so that the reel will not wind faster, and thus draw too heavy upon the fence when the roll is larger than when the roll has been started.

The forcing-arms have a series of perforatlons, R, at their'inner ends, so that they may be adjusted to the width of the pickets to be used, the perforations fitting upon pins S at the ends of the rocking arms, and it will be seen that when the rocking arms are tilted forward by means of the lever the slotted ends of the forcing-arms, in the slots of which the picket has been dropped from above into the loops of wire held spread by the twisters, will Iorce the picket into the forward end of the slot and between the beveled bars, which will drag upon the sides of the picket, forcing the wires close against the sides of the picket. \Vhen the slotted forcing-arms have forced the picket between the beveled bars, the said bars will close upon the wires at the rear ends of the loops to be formed by the twisters and hold the wires close together, causing the twisters to make a closer twist upon the wires at the edge of the picket, and thus doing away with one of the greatest drawbacks in the manufacture of woven-wire and picket fencesviz., looseness of the loops, which will allow the picket as it becomes seasoned and driedto drop out of the loops.

The beveled bars may be adjusted at any distance from the ends of the twisters by slid" ing the transverse castings with their slots up on the set-screws or bolts. thus regulating the length of the twisted portion and of the loop, which depends upon the width of the picket.

It will be seen that by having one of the beveled bars yielding the said bar may give to any thickness of picket and will draw the wire loops closely upon the sides of the picket, regardless of the thickness of the picket, the yielding beveled bar allowing a picket of a much greater thickness to pass immediately after or before a much thinner picket without interfering in the slightest with the tension'of the wire loop as the wire passes from the spools or reels, or with the secure hold of the loops upon the pickets.

When one reel is full, the pitman may be disengaged from the crank at the top of the reelshaft, and the hinged b acket supporting the short socketed shalt and the ratchct-wheel may be tilted back, allowing the reel shaft to be lifted out with its roll of fencing and to be withdrawn from the roll, when itmay be placed back again and another roll started.

Although I have shown and prefer to use the twisters which form the subject-matter of a former application, any other suitable form of twisters may be used with the forcing and clamping device, as well as with the reel-operating mechanism.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a fence-making machine, the combination, with a gang of wire-twisters, of a pair ofbeveled bars, one of which is yielding, facing the ends of the twisters with their beveled sides, and means for forcing the pickets between the said yielding bars, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a fence-making machine, the combination, with a gang of wiretwisters, of two bars, one of which is yielding, both having theirinner edges beveled. and having the beveled sides facing the delivery ends of the twisters, and reciprocating arms having slotted ends sliding in notches in the facing edges of the beveled bars, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

' 3. In a fence-making machine, the continua tion, with a gang of wire-twisters, of a rigid bar having its inner edge beveled and faced with a metallic strip, a bar having its edge facing thebeveled edge ofthe rigid bar beveled and faced with a metallic strip, and having at the opposite edge laterallyprojecting rods pro vided with coiled springs and sliding in bearings, arms having their longitudinally-slotted ends sliding in notches in the beveled edges of the bars, and means for simultaneously reciprocating the said arms, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

4. In afence-making machine, the combina tion of a rectangular upright frame having a vertical gang of wire-twisters, two transverse castings having flanges and longitudinal slots and adjustably secured by set-screws on the facing sides of the top and bottom piece of the frame, a bar secured to one end of the flanges of the castings and having itsinner edge beveled and faced with metal, abar secured at its ends in the other ends of the castings and having transverse perforations or bearings, a bar having its ends sliding against the castings and against their flanges, and having the edge facing the beveled edge of the rigid bar beveled and faced with metal, and provided with laterally-projecting rods sliding in the bearings in the perforated rigid bar, and having springs coiled around them bearing against the bars, and means for forcing the pickets between the beveled edges of the bars, the said edges facing the delivery ends of the twisters, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

5. In a fence-makingmachine, the combination ofa gang of wire-twisters,'a vertical rockshaft journ'aled to the rear of the t-wisters and having arms projecting from it, a pair ofyielding bars having their beveled facing edges formed with notches and placed registering with the delivery ends of the twisters, and picket-forcing arms pivoted at their rear ends to the arms upon the rock-shaft, and having their forward ends slotted longitudinally and slidingin the notches in the beveled bars, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

6. In a fence-making machine, the combination of a vertical rock-shaft operating the forcing-arms, and having a crank at its upper end, a reel'shaft having a ratchet-wheel upon its upper end and a pawl engaging the said wheel, a crank pivoted upon the upper end of the reel-shaft, and having a spring-pawl engaging the wheel at its outer'end, and a pitman composed of two parts having an interposed spring and pivoted to the two cranks, as and for the-purpose shown and set forth.

7. In a fence-making machine, the combination of the vertical rock-shaft operating the forcing-arms, and having the crank at its upper end, the reel-operating crank having a spring-pawl at its end, the ratchet-wheel upon the reel engaged by the pawl, the parallel rods having the ear pivoted to the rock-shaft crank, and having its ends connected by the perforated yoke, the rod pivoted to the loose crank and sliding in the yoke having a cross-head upon its end sliding with its notched ends upon the parallel rods, and thespring coiled around the rod and bearing against the yoke and against the cross-head, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

8. In a fence-making machine, the combination of the reel-shaft, the bracket hinged to swing upward upon the end of the top piece of the frame. the short shaftjournaled in the outer end of the bracket and formed with the socket at its lower end receiving the upper end of the reel-shaft, the ratchet-wheel upon the short shaft, and the rocking arm or crank upon the end of the short shaft having the spring-pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. THIES.

Witnesses:

WM. Sizer-Inn, LOUIS BAGGER.

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