AU650157B2

AU650157B2 - Fence dropper

Info

Publication number: AU650157B2
Application number: AU20939/92A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Alan Henry Walter
Original assignee: GLADYS MARY WALTER
Current assignee: GLADYS MARY WALTER
Priority date: 1992-08-11
Filing date: 1992-08-11
Publication date: 1994-06-09
Anticipated expiration: 2012-08-11
Also published as: AU2093992A

Description

650157

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

S. Name of Applicants: ALAN HEN Actual Inventors: ALAN HEN] Address for service in Australia: Parade, Camberwell, Victoria, 3124, RY WALTER and GLADYS MARY WALTER RY WALTER CARTER SMITH BEADLE, Qantas House, 2 Railway Australia, Attorney Code CD Invention Title: FENCE DROPPER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: -1- -2- FENCE DROPPER Field of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in fence droppers, which are used to keep the several wires of a wire fence at a fixed spacing with respect to each other.

Background of the Invention Fence droppers are widely used in the pastoral industries to maintain a substantially fixed spacing between the wires of a wire fence between the fixed ground engaging fence posts. A typical wire fence may have from 10 about three to about seven wires which are fixed to ground engaging posts spaced at intervals of about eight to twenty meters along a fence line, with the ends of the wires being attached to straining posts at the corners of a fenced area.

Since the distance between ground engaging posts may be quite large, 15 there is a need to hold those portions of the wires extending between the ground engaging posts at a fixed spacing with respect to either other to prevent stock pushing through the fence thereby causing stock loss and damage to the fence.

The most commonly used fence dropper comprises a length of wood having spaced holes through which the wires of the fence are passed during installation of the fence. It is both costly and time consuming to fit such droppers to a fence although such droppers are still in relatively widespread use. It is clearly preferable to be able to use a fence dropper which can be fitted to the fence wires after the fence has been erected.

To this end, a number of forms of bent wire droppers have been tbspo.002 waltor.spo Ir -3proposed, and the following examples may be found in the Patent literature: Australian Patents Nos. 295995 Goodall, 402867 National Nail Pty. Ltd, 403826 Structures Pty Ltd. and 610748 Rayner.

Droppers have also been formed from pressed metal, but such droppers have the disadvantage of being expensive to manufacture, heavy to use and additionally require the fitting of separate holding clasps to retain the dropper on the fence wires.

Bent wire dropper's of the type described in the above Patents have not found widespread acceptance in the pastoral industries, presumably because they do not provide sufficient support for the wires to prevent spreading of the wires and damage to the droppers as a result of human and animal contact. While the droppers described in 402867 and 403826 do not require any separate retaining means, such as that shown in 295995, the droppers described are relatively easily distorted and may be pushed along the fence wires to reduce the spacing effect provided by the wire-engaging bends in the droppers.

Summary of the Invention and Object It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fence dropper in which the spacing between the wires of a fence is able to be 0 0 S 20 maintained in a more positive manner by means'of a dropper which may be 0* Go o O quickly and conveniently fitted to the fence after it has been erected.

The invention provides a fence dropper comprising an ebngaie rigid *0 0': support member having a first free end, a handle member extending laterally *0 from a position at or adjacent the opposite end of the support member, apnl 4 25 a holding or locking member extending laterally from the handle member in tnb:dmw:#11489.spg 24 Marcn 1994 r 11l

*OSS

S S S S 9* 0

S

S S

*S

SO

5055

S

**5O S. S S S 5*

S

*SSS

S @5 S 05 0 -4the same general direction as the support member, an array of fence wire engaging hooks which are open in the direction of the support member, said hooks being positioned at varying angular positions with respect to the handle member such that when the hooks engage the wires and the handle member is rotated to engage the holding or locking member over the uppermost fence wire, the wires of the fence are progressively placed under approximately the same amount of tension from the lowermost wire to the uppermost wire by the torque applied to the support member by rotation of the handle member against the engagement between the hooks and the wires.

In one form of the invention, the elongate rigid support member comprises a length of high tensile steel rod, the handle and locking members being formed by bending the steel rod, the hooks being provided by separate hook elements welded at the desired angular positions along the length of the support member. If desired, the rod and hooks may be galvanized to protect 15 the dropper against rust, or the dropper may be dip or powder coated with a suitable plastics material. Alternatively, the dropper may be moulded from a plastics material of suitable strength. The holding or locking member is preferably bent slightly from the plane of the handle and the support member to cause the uppermost fence wire to be retained in engagement with the locking member.

Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the invention may be more readily understood, a preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fence dropper embodying the 5

S

50 0 S S 5a 'Ic Ni tnb:dmw:#1 1489.spg 24 March 1994 invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the fence dropper of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged elevation of the top end of the dropper of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan view from above of the dropper of Figure 1; Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of the fence dropper of Figure 1 being attached to a wire fence; Figure 7 is a plan view from above of the dropper being attached to the top wire of the fence; 10 Figure 8 is a similar plan view of the lowermost end of the dropper as it is applying tension to the lower wire of the wire fence; Figure 9 is a plan view from above of the dropper locked in position on the top wire, and Figure 10 is a plan view of the lowermost wire showing the tension 15 applied thereto by the dropper.

Description of Preferred Embodiments !Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, the improved fence dropper embodying the invention comprises an elongate rigid support member 1, in this embodiment made from high tensile steel rod, having a free end 2, a handle member 3 extending laterally from the opposite end of the support member 1 and having a short locking member 4 extending laterally from the handle member 3 in the same general direction as the support member 1. In the present embodiment, the handle member 3 and the locking member 4 are formed by bending end portions of the rod defining the support member 1, although these portions may be provided by separately attached members of tbspe.002 walter.sp(! -6any suitable kind. The locking member 4 is preferably bent slightly from the plane of the support member 1 and the handle member 3 as shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings, to reduce the likelihood of the wire engaged by the locking member 4 becoming disengaged from the locking member 4 once it is in the locked position.

The support member has attached thereto an array of wire engaging hooks spaced along the length of the support member 1, and comprising a lower wire-engaging hook 5 intermediate hooks 6 to 13 and a top wireengaging hook 14 attached to the support member 1 at the position of the 10 handle 3. Each of the hooks 5 to 14 extends laterally from the support member 1 and has an end portion spaced from the support member 1 to allow the easy insertion of a fence wire into one of the hooks 5 to 14.

As seen most clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings, the lower wire engaging hook 5 extends at a small acute angle to one side of the direction O15 of the handle 3 while the top wire engaging hook 14 extends at a similar small acute angle to direction of the handle in the opposite direction, the intervening hooks 6 to 13 gradually changing in angle between the bottom and top hooks 5 and 14.

The spacing of the hooks 5 to 14 is selected so that the lower wire engaging hook 5 and the top wire engaging hook 14 e positioned suitably to engage the lower wire WL and the top wvhe W

T

r of a typcal fence. The intermediate hooks 6 to 13 are spaced to engage the intermediate wires at their usual various spacings, whic: depends on the number of wires used ana the purpose of the fence. The spacing between the hooks 5 to 14 may of course be selected to suit any desired wire spacing, and if the dropper is tbspe.002 waller.spe -7made for a particular type of fence having a particular number of wares with a particular spacing, only the required number of hooks at the required spacing would be provided. Thus, the present embodiment is to a certain extent a universal dropper which should suit a wide range of fences commonly in use.

When selected ones of the hooks 5 to 14 engage the wires W of a fence in the manner shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, the handle 3 is held generally perpendicularly to the plane of the wires W so that the wires W S pass freely between the ends of the hooks 5, 7, 9, 12 and 14 until the hooks 10 rest on the tops of the wires W. The handle is then rotated in an anticlockwise direction, or in a clockwise direction if desired, until the locking member 4 is level with the top wire WT whereupon the top wire WT is displaced downwardly, by a suitable tool if necessary, until the locking member 4 engages on the opposite side of the wire W in the manner shown in Figure 6 of the drawings. In most cases, the handle 4 is able to be rotated manually to apply the desired torque to the support member 1 to place the wires W under approximately equal tension. However, an extension arm (not shown) may be attached to the handle 3 if desired to increase the mechanical advantage provided by the handle 3 in applying torque to the support member 1.

As shown in Figure 7, as the handle 3 is rotated towards the top wire WT, the lowermost wire WL is L-lmost immediately placed under tension by the hook 5 engaging the opposite side of the wire to the support member 1, as shown clearly in Figure 8. When the handle member is in the locking position shown in Figures 6 and 9 of the drawings, the lowermost wire WL is as shown tbspo.002 waltor.spe -8most clearly in Figure 10 of the drawings, but is under about the same tension as the remaining wires due to twisting of the support member 1 as torque is applied thereto through the handle 3.

It will be appreciated that as a result of the difference in angular position of the hooks 5 to 14 depending on their vertical position on the support member 1, the lowermost wires of the fence are placed under greater tension first with the tension in all wires being about equalized when the locking member 4 is engaged with the top wire WT, ensuring that the dropper remains in its desired vertical orientation and is less likely to be displaced sideways as stock engage the fence. In thWs way, the fixed spacing between the adjacent wires maintained and the dropper inhibits undesired spreading of the wires.

While the presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been described as having been manufactured from high tensile steel rod, the *r \15 dropper may be made from other grades of steel or other suitable metal. If desired, the dropper may be moulded from a strong plastics material to thereby avoid the problems of corrosion and to possibly reduce the cost of the dropper. Where the dropper is made from steel other than stainless steel, which is probably prohibitive in cost, it is preferably galvanized or otherwise protected against rust, for example by painting or by a suitable plastics coating.

While the preferred embodiment has been described to require the hooks to be generally open downwardly, the invention would work almost as effectively if the hooks were oriented in the opposite direction, requiring engagement with the wires by an upward movement rather than a downward tbspo.002 waltor.spo -9movement.

I I ~1 I. I. I. *1 I I it. I

I

tbspe.002 walter. spe

Claims

1. A fence dropper comprising an elongate rigid support member having a first free end, a handle member extending laterally from a position at or adjacent the opposite end of the support member, and a holding or locking member extending laterally from the handle member in the same general direction as the support member, an array of fence wire engaging hooks which a-e open in the direction of the support member, said hooks being positioned at varying angular positions with respect to the handle member such that when the hooks engage the wires and the handle member is rotated to engage the holding or locking member over the uppermost fence wire, the wires of the fence are progressively placed under approximately the same amount of tension from the lowermost wire to the uppermost wire by the torque applied to the support member by rotation of the handle member against the engagement between the hooks and the wires.

2. The dropper of claim 1 wherein said array of fence wire engaging hooks comprise a lower wire engaging hook and an upper wire engaging hook and at least one further intermediate wire engaging hook, said upper and lower wire engaging hooks being angularly oriented on opposite sides of said support member.

3. The dropper of claim 2, wherein said lower wire engaging hook is positioned from 5 to 15 degrees to one side of the position of the handle member while the upper wire engaging hook is positioned from 5 to degrees of the other side of the position of the handle member.

4. The dropper of claim 3, wherein the angular position of each wire engaging hook varies progressively from the lower wire engaging hook to the ~o a,

5 *J 5* 4* 4 pTLi tnr:dmw:#11489.spg 24 March 1994 I t 11 upper wire engaging hook. The dropper of any preceding claim, wherein said locking member is bent slightly from a plane in which the support member and handle member are disposed in a direction opposite to the direction of intended rotation of the handle member to enhance locking engagement with the wire.

6. The dropper of any preceding claim wherein the support member is formed from a metal rod and the handle and locking members are defined by *bent end portions of the rod, said hooks being formed from or attached to the support member at the desired angular and spaced positions. e* 10

7. The dropper of claim 6, wherein said metal rod is protected against rusting by galvanizing pain t i ng or by plastics coating.

8. The dropper of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the support member, handle member, locking member and hooks are moulded from a suitably rigid S plastics material.

9. A fence dropper substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DATED this

11 August, 1992 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: ALAN HENRY WALTER and GLADYS MARY WALTER tbspe.002 waltor.spe I

12- ABSTRACT A fence dropper comprising a support member 1 having a handle member 3 extending laterally from one end of the support member 1, the handle member having a short locking member extending laterally from the hanle member 3 in the same general direction as the support member 1, and array of wire engaging hooks 5 to 14 spaced along the length of the support member and secured thereto, the hooks 5 to 14 having a varying angular orientation with respect to the handle member 3 such that when the handle member is turned to engage the locking member to one side of the uppermost wire of the wire fence, the lowermost wire of the wire fence is placed under the greatest tension to resist displacement of the dropper with respect to the wires, *ass tbspo.002 walter.spe