NZ195388A - Wire strainer of insulating material - Google Patents

Description

NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION AFTER PROVISIONAL' NO. 195388 DATED: 28 October 1980 WIRE STRAINER I, WELBY ALBERT EDWARD WATSON, a New Zealand citizen of 25 Morgan Street, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to wire strainers, and has particular application to wire strainers suitable for use on electric fences.

Wire strainers for permanent mounting on electric fences have hitherto been cumbersome to manufacture and install, requiring many component parts and the need to carefully insulate the wire strainer from a standard or strainer post.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved wire strainer, or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

In one aspect, the invention provides a wire strainer including: a flanged reel mounted for rotation within a body, means for attaching wire to said reel, said body or said reel or both being formed of an electrically insulating material, and ratchet means to resist unwinding of said reel in use.

In another aspect, the invention provides a wire strainer including: a flanged reel mounted for rotation within a body, the flange or flanges of said reel having ratchet teeth thereon, an aperture in said reel to receive a wire, a spring biased detent mounted on said body and engaging 195388 said ratchet teeth to resist unwinding of said reel, wherein in use, one wire can be attached to said reel and another wire can be attached to said body.

Other aspects of this invention which should be considered 5 in all its novel aspects, will become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a partially cut away front elevation 10 of a preferred wire strainer.

Figure 2 illustrates a top plan view of the wire strainer of Figure 1.

A wire strainer 10 has a body 11, which is conveniently formed in two halves about a split-line 12. It will be 15 generally convenient to form the body of an electrically insulating material, such as a plastics material, whilst a reel 13 may be formed of metal or the like.

The body 11 has an aperture 14 therethrough, at one end thereof, adapted to receive a wire, which can thus be 20 attached to the wire strainer at this point.

A reel 13 has a pair of flanges 15 about a central portion 16, to contain wire wound onto the reel. The reel can be 195388 provided with means for attaching a wire thereto, and this conveniently takes the form of a slot or aperture 17, through which a wire may be inserted, and grouped as the reel is rotated.

Conveniently, the body 11 is provided with apertures 19, 20 on either side thereof through which portions of the reel 13 may protrude. A portion 21 of the reel may extend beyond the sides of the body, with provision for the reception of a winding tool. For example, this 10 portion 21 may have an aperture 22 therethrough for the reception of a screw driver or the like to enable the reel to be readily rotated.

The other side of the reel may be provided with a slot 23 for the insertion of a special winding tool, or a flat 15 bladed screw driver or the like.

The flanges 15 of the reel are provided with ratchet teeth 24, in the form of 4 stepped flats having shoulders 25 and flats 26. These ratchet teeth 24 co-operate with a spring biased detent 27 in the form of a flat bladed 20 spring 2 7 mounted within the body 11. The mounting of the flat bladed spring is preferably achieved by positioning it within a.cavity defined by the side walls of the body 195388 and provided with a series of pins 2 8 about which the flat bladed spring 27 may be positioned. As will be apparent from Figure 1, the spring 27 is bent in V-Formation so as to be retained within the body. One end of the 5 spring 27 faces towards and contacts the ratchet teeth of the reel so that the reel can rotate in the anti-clockwise direction as shown in Figure 1, but on winding in a clockwise direction is prevented by engagement of the end of the spring 27 with the shoulders 25 of the ratchet teeth.

It will be appreciated that the wire strainer of this invention can be formed as an insulated wire strainer utilising a body formed of plastics material in combination with a metal reel. For example, the reel may be formed of cast aluminium, and may be of the type described in my 15 earlier New Zealand Patent Applications 166369 and 187314 and my corresponding Australian Patent Applications. It will however be appreciated that other types of reels, or bodies may be utilised whether formed of metal or plastics. In the case of a wire strainer suitable for use 20 on electric fencing, it is desirable that either the reel or the body, or both, are formed of an insulating material. Nevertheless, it will be appreciated that this type of wire strainer can be formed of non insulating material, and used for applications other than electric fencing. 195385 Finally, it will be appreciated that various alterations or modifications may be made to the foregoing without departing from the scope of this invention as exemplified by the following claims.

Claims (7)

-7- WHAT I CLAIM IS: 195388

1. A wire strainer including: a flanged reel mounted for rotation within a body, means for attaching a first wire to said reel, anchoring means for attaching a second wire to said body, said body being formed of an electrically insulating material, and ratchet means to resist unwinding of said reel in use, wherein the flange or flanges of said reel have rachet teeth about the periphery thereof, and wherein said rachet means includes spring biased detent attached to the body and engageable with said rachet teeth.

2. A wire strainer as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said means for attaching wire to said reel includes an aperture in said reel.

3. A wire strainer as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said reel has a portion protruding from said body, said protruding portion being adapted for engagement with a winding tool.

4. A wire strainer as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the flange or flanges of said reel have a plurality of apertures therethrough for reception of a locking pin.

5. A wire strainer as claimed in any wherein said reel is formed of metal. _ preceding claim, N.Z,PATUriVr OPff&S 0 8 JAN3986 RECEfVED - 8 - 1953S8

6. A wire strainer including : a flanged reel mounted for rotation within an electrically insulated body, the flange or flanges of said reel having ratchet teeth thereon, an aperture in said reel to receive a wire, a spring biased detent mounted on said body and engaging said ratchet teeth to resist unwinding of said reel, wherein in use, one wire can be attached to said reel and another wire can be attached to said body.

7. A wire strainer substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. W A E WATSON By his Attorneys JAMES W PIPER & CO