GB2052953A

GB2052953A - Wire support member

Info

Publication number: GB2052953A
Application number: GB7911871A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Visick & Sons Ltd W
Current assignee: Visick & Sons Ltd W
Priority date: 1979-04-04
Filing date: 1979-04-04
Publication date: 1981-02-04
Also published as: EP0017490A1

Description

1

GB2 052 953A 1

SPECIFICATION Wire support member

5 This invention relates to wire support members. The invention has particular, but not exclusive, reference to wire support members used for supporting wires from fence posts, for example in vineyard cultivation or for other 10 agricultural uses.

A common means of attaching wire to wooden support posts is to use wire staples which are driven into each post to clamp the wire to the post. This method of attachment 1 5 of wires to fence posts proves inconvenient when it is necessary to replace the wire, as frequently occurs in vineyard cultivation. In order to remove a wire it is necessary to prise each staple out of the fence post before 20 placing a fresh wire in position and hammering in a fresh staple. Not only is this a time consuming operation, but the process of removing each staple and hammering in a fresh staple inevitably loosens the post anchorage 25 in the ground.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wire support member of suitable construction which can be used for the attachment of wires to support structures such as 30 posts, as an alternative to the previously used staples.

According to the invention a wire support member comprises a plate formed with integral spikes upstanding from one side of the 35 plate and adapted to be driven into a support structure, and further formed with a lug which in use of the member projects beyond the support structure, the plate having a hole passing through the lug and a fissure or slot 40 extending from the hole to the periphery of the lug so that a wire can be located in the hole by bending the lug so as to open up the fissure or slot.

The plate can be afixed to a support struc-45 ture such as a wooden post by hammering the spikes into the structure. Since the wire can be located in the hole after attachment of the plate to the support structure it is possible to affix the plate before offering up the wire. For 50 example, when a number of wires are to be attached to a wooden support post, the wire support members can be hammered into the post before the post is erected and anchored. Once the wire support members are in posi-55 tion it is not necessary to remove them in order to release a wire, for example in order to replace it, since the wire can be released by simply bending the lug so as to open up the fissure or slot sufficiently to allow removal of 60 the wire from the hole. After insertion of a wire in the hole in the lug is simply bent back so that it is essentially coplanar with the remainder of the plate, thereby effectively trapping the wire in the hole.

65 Preferably the hole in the lug is circular and passes through the centre of the lug. Furthermore, the fissure or slot preferably tapers in width from the periphery of the lug to the periphery of the hole, so that the hole and the 70 slot together form a keyhole shape.

Preferably the plate is elongate and is formed with the lug at one end, the fissure or slot extending from the hole to one lateral edge of the lug.

75 The spikes in the plate may be arranged in at least one row extending transversely across the plate, the spikes in the or each row preferably being staggered relatively to each other.

80 The wire support member of the present invention, being of essentially simple structure, is easily fabricated from sheet metal by feeding a strip through a punch or succession of punches so that the spikes, the lug, the 85 hole and the incision or slot in the lug are formed in one or more punching operations.

An embodiment of the invention will be further described by way of example only,

with reference to the accompanying purely 90 diagrammatic drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates part of a fence post provided with a wire support member according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the wire support 95 member shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross section of the wire support member, taken on line Ill-Ill in Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is an end view of the wire support 100 member shown in Fig. 2, and

Figure 5 illustrates diagrammatically the sequential steps in the punching of wire support members according to the invention from a sheet metal strip.

105 Referring first to Fig. 1, there is shown part of a vertical wooden support post 1 used, for example, to support parallel horizontal wires 2 for use in vine cultivation. Only one of the wires 2 is shown in Fig. 1, and for the 110 purpose of attaching the wire to the post 1 a wire support member 3 according to the invention is employed. The wire support member 3 comprises a plate 4 (Fig. 2) formed with integral spikes 5 (Figs. 3, 4) which are up-115 standing from one side of the plate 4 and which are formed with pointed tips 6. The spikes 5 are disposed perpendicularly to the plane of the plate 4 and are punched out of the plate 4, leaving elongate slots 7 in the 120 plate 6. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 the plate 4 is formed with two rows of parallel slots 7 and integral spikes 5, the spikes 5 associated with each row of slots 7 being integral with alternate ends of the adja-125 cent slots 7 in each row, so that the spikes 5 are staggered, as shown in Fig. 3.

The plate 4 is substantially rectangular, but is formed at one end with an integral semicircular lug 8 which, in the fixed position of 130 use of the support member (Figs. 1, 2) pro

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GB2 052 953A

2

jects beyond the support structure, in this case the post 1. The lug 8 is formed with a central circular hofe 9 of a diameter sufficient to receive the wire 2 to be supported. A slot 5 10 is formed in the plate 4 and extends from one lateral edge of the lug 8 to the periphery of the hole 9. The slot 10 tapers in width towards the hole 9, having a width at the periphery of the hole 9 which is very small 10 compared with the diameter of the hole 9. In the fixed position of the support member 4, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the slot 10 extends vertically upwardly from the hole 9.

In order to attach a wire 2 to the support 15 member 3 the portion of the lug 8 on the side of the slot 10 remote from the remainder of the plate 4 is twisted in order to open up the slot 10 sufficiently to admit the wire 2. After the wire 2 has been located in the hole 9 the 20 lug 8 is twisted back so that it is again coplanar with the rest of the plate 4, thereby re-closing the slot 10 and effectively trapping the wire 2 in the hole 9. in Fig. 2 the portion of the lug 8 which is twisted in order to open 25 up the slot 10 is shown shaded at 12, and this portion is shown in broken outline in Fig. 3 in its twisted position for insertion or removal of a wire 2.

The support member 3 is conveniently 30 made by punching a sheet metal blank, preferably in strip form. Fig. 5 illustrates a sequence of punching operations which may be performed on a sheet metal strip, typically a strip of CR4 galvanised sheet steel of 20 35 gauge thickness. The strip, indicated 13 in Fig. 5, is fed in the direction of arrow A through a succession of punches which first punch out the holes 9 and slots 10, and then punch out the slots 9 with the integral spikes 40 5, and finally punch out the lug 8 while at the same time severing the completed support member 3 from the strip. In the version illustrated in Fig. 5 there is a single row of staggered slots 7 and integral spikes 5. 45 In a typical wire support member of the invention the plate 4 would have a width of 28 millimeters, a length of 40 millimeters and a thickness of 0.9 millimeters, each spike 5 having a length of 10 millimeters.

50

Claims

1. A wire support member comprising a plate formed with integral spikes upstanding from one side of the plate and adapted to be

55 driven into a support structure, and further formed with a lug which in use of the member projects beyond the support structure, the plate having a hole passing through the lug and a fissure or slot extending from the hole 60 to the periphery of the lug so that a wire can be located in the hole by bending the lug so as to open up the fissure or slot.

2. A wire support member as claimed in Claim 1, in which the hole is circular and

65 passes through the centre of the lug.

3. A wire support member as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the fissure or slot tapers in width from the periphery of the lug to the periphery of the hole.

70

4. A wire support member as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, in which the plate is elongate and is formed with the lug at one end, the fissure or slot extending from the hole to one lateral edge of the lug.

75

5. A wire support member as claimed in Claim 4, in which the spikes are arranged in at (east one row extending transversely across the plate.

6. A wire support member as claimed in

80 Claim 5, in which the spikes in the or each row are staggered relatively to each other.

7. A wire support member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the plate is fabricated in sheet metal, the spikes,

85 the lug, the hole and the incision or slot in the lug, being formed by one or more punching operations.

8. A wire support member substantially as herein described with reference to and as

90 shown in Figs. 1 to 4 or Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd.—1981.

Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings,

London, WC2A 1AY, from which copies may be obtained.