US3331587A

US3331587A - Wire stretcher

Info

Publication number: US3331587A
Application number: US543855A
Authority: US
Inventors: Guy D Jaquish
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-04-20
Filing date: 1966-04-20
Publication date: 1967-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 1984-07-18

Description

United States Patent 3,331,587 WIRE STRETCHER Guy D. Jaquish, Tamal, Calif. (Box W, Los Padres, Calif. 93401) Filed Apr. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 543,855 4 Claims. (Cl. 254-162) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire stretcher which includes a rigid elongate concave bracket, two chains and boomers for securing the bracket to one side of a post, a support bar extending from the back and proximate one end and one side of the bracket toward a point spaced rearwardly of the center of the bracket, a second support bar extending outwardly laterally from the bracket and to a point intermediate the ends of the bracket, a shaft rotatably carried on the distal ends of the support rods, a pulley on one end of the shaft for pulling a wire from the other side of the post and exerting the force from the wire substantially parallelly on the one side of the post and a crank on the other end of the shaft for taking up the wire on the pulley is disclosed.

This invention relates to a device for stretching wire in the building of a wire fence, and more particularly to a simple, compact, light weight wire stretcher for tensioning barbed wire, chicken wire, hurricane fencing and the like.

As conducive to an understanding of the instant invention, it should be noted that the installation of a wire fence usually requires the installation of a plurality of upstanding fence posts followed by an attachment of a plurality of single wires or a woven wire mesh to the fence posts. Prior to the attachment of the wire to the fence post, each strand or the mesh must be tightened to prevent sagging and to provide a neatly appearing fence.

The tightening of the wire prior to attachment to the fence posts is normally performed by devices known collectively as wire stretchers. The wire stretchers of the prior art generally comprise a large stable foundation, a means for grasping the wire to be tensioned, and means for pulling or rotating the attachment. Because of the requirement of a large stable base, the wire stretchers of the prior art are generally heavy and bulky and consequently preclude a single individual from moving the wire stretcher from place to place. Accordingly, the construction of a fence normally requires a number of people to perform all the tasks at hand.

It is accordingly an object of the instant invention to provide a wire stretcher of a simple, light weight and easily movable nature to allow a single individual to conduct the fence building operation.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a wire stretcher which does not require a large bulky base thereby allowing the construction of a light weight portable device.

Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a wire stretcher which is constructed and arranged to use the fence post as a support or base.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide a wire stretching device having a fence post grasping means so that the wire stretcher may easily be attached to the fence post.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention reside in the combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and features of construction, all as will be more fully pointed out hereinafter and disclosed in the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of this inventive concept.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the wire stretcher of the instant invention illustrated as aflixed to a fence post during the stretching of a single stnand of wire;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational View of an implement interconnecting the wire stretcher of the instant invention with a wire mesh fencing; and

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the wire attachment implement of FIGURE 3, certain parts being broken away for purposes of illustration.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein like reference characters designate like elements throughout the several views thereof, and more particularly to FIG- URES l and 2, there is indicated generally at 10 a wire stretcher made in accordance with the principles of the instant invention releasably secured to a fence post 12 tensioning a single strand of barbed wire 14. Wire stretcher 10 has as its major components a fence post grasping means shown generally at 16, a plurality of supports shown generally at 18 extending rearwardly from grasping means 16 and forming a pair of aligned bearings 20 on the end thereof, a wire engaging means shown generally at 22 rotatably mounted in bearings 20 and power mean-s shown generally at 24 for rotating wire engaging means 22. to tension strand 14. In the operation of wire stretcher 10, fence post grasping means 16 will be affixed to post 12 followed by the attachment of strand 14 to wire engaging means 22. Power means 24 will then be actuated to rotate wire engaging means 22 to tighten ,strand 14. After stnand 14 is sufficiently tight, a stapler (not shown) may be used to affix strand 14 to post 12 in a conventional manner.

Fence post grasping means 16 includes a concave bracket 26 receiving fence post 12 and is preferably made of an angled plate best seen in FIGURE 2. Each of a pair of elongate flexible member's shown generally at 28, illustrated as a chain having a plurality of interlocked links 30, is secured at one end thereof by a pin 32 to one side of bracket 26. Connecting the other end of each chain 28 to bracket 26 is a boomer shown generally at 34 having a pair of spaced apart links 36 fixedly secured to bracket 26 by a pivotal connection 38 and a handle 40 pivotally mounted between links 36 by a pin 42. The terminal link of chain 28 is releasably affixed to a pin 44 on handle 40 such that the pivotal movement of handle 40 to the position shown in FIGURE 1 acts to tighten chain 28. It should be apparent that links 36 are spaced rather widely apart to accommodate both handle 40 and links 3t) therebetween.

Each of supports 18 includes a generally tubular member 46 fixedly secured to bracket 26 at opposite ends thereof and a rod 48 fixedly mounted in tube 46 by a fastener 50, such as a set screw, pin or the like. It should be apparent, however, that each support 18 may be a solid member. Positioned on the end of rods 48 in aligned relation are a pair of bearings 20 having suitable grease fittings 52 for lubricating the surfaces between bearings 20 and a shaft 54 rotatably mounted therein.

Afiixed to the end of shaft 54 by a suitable key 56 or the like, is a wire engaging means 22 having a central web 58 supporting a circumferential concave band 69. Band 60 forms a pair of

transverse slots

62, 64 for afiixing strand 14 to wire engaging means 22. Strand 14 is secured to reel 22 by extending the terminus thereof through slot 62, then across the outer edge of band 60 and through slot 64 to underlie strand 14. It will be evident that a slight rotation of band 60 will bind the terminus of strand 14 under an intermediate portion thereof.

Releasably mounted on the other end of shaft 54, as by com ating splines and grooves or the like, is power means 24 illustrated as a crank arm 66 having a handle 68 mounted thereon in a conventional manner by a bolt 70 and nut 72. It will be apparent that a rotation of crank arm 66 will act to rotate reel 22 to tighten wire 14.

In order to prevent counter-rotation of crank arm 66 and circumferential band 60, a one-way brake shown generally at 74 is provided between shaft 54 and support 18. Brake 74 includes a toothed wheel 76 mounted on shaft 54 for rotation therewith and a spring biased catch shown generally at 73 for engaging toothed wheel 76 to preclude reverse rotation of crank arm 66. Catch 73 includes a dog 80 mounted on a collar 82 which is aifixed to bearing by a bolt 84. It should be understood that collar 82 includes a spring (not shown) rotatably biasing collar 82 and dog 80 toward toothed Wheel 76.

Since the teeth on wheel 76 include an angled face and a substantially vertical face, crank arm 66 and shaft 54 are allowed to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 2. An attempt at rotating wheel 76 in a reverse direction causes the juxtaposition of the vertical tooth face of wheel 76 and dog 86 thereby stopping inadvertent reverse rotation of shaft 54. When the individual desires to release tension on wire 14, as after the stapling of wire 14 to post 12, he may grasp collar 82 and rotate it against the spring force to release the engage ment between dog 89 and toothed wheel 76.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, an implement shown generally at 86 allows the use of wire stretcher 10 with a mesh fencing 88. Implement 86 is a two piece structure, preferably of metal, including a first plate 90 having a plunality of pegs 92 spaced therealong as shown in FIGURE 4 and a second plate 94 having a plurality of apertures 96 spaced to receive pegs 92.

In the assembly of implement 86 onto mesh fencing 88, first plate 90 will be positioned adjacent fencing 88 with pegs 92 extending through the mesh. Second plate 94 will then be positioned on the other side of fencing 88 such that pegs 92 are received in apertures 96. Plates 9%, 94 are then secured together by a pair of fastening means shown generally at 98, each of which include a bolt 160 affixed to plate 90 and extending through an aperture in plate 94 to present a threaded terminus on which is positioned a wing nut 102.

Securing implement 86 to wire engaging means 22 is a harness shown generally at 104 comprising a pair of hooks 106 on the end of each bolt 100, a loose wire 168 looped between hooks 106, a ring support 110 intermediate Wire 108 and a strand 112 interconnecting ring fastener 116 to circumferential band 60 in the manner previously described. Ring fastener 110 includes a toroidal structure 114 threaded on the inner side to receive a threaded wing bolt 116 for selectively afiixing wire 110 to toroidal structure 114.

There is one ditficulty apparent in the utilization of wire stretcher 10 of the instant invention with a wire mesh fencing. This resides in the construction and arrangement of fence post grasping means 16 and the utilization of fence post 12 in lieu of a base or foundation. If wire stretcher 10 were used on the fence post without necessary precautions and mesh fencing 88 were stapled to fence post 12, it would be quite difficult to remove elongate members 28 from around post 12. This may be alleviate-d in any number of manners, as by notching fence post 12 with a hatchet or by sequentially releasing elongate members 28 and threading them through mesh fencing 28 and reattaching them to bracket 26.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, there is a specific and important angular and spacial relationship between the support rods 18 and the bracket 26. One support rod ex- .tends from the rear of the elongate concave bracket 26 at a point proximate one end and one side thereof upwardly and slightly inw ardly toward a center line perpendicular to the bracket axes, that is the longitudinal and lateral axes. The upward direction is best shown in FIGURE 1 and the inward direction is best shown in FIGURE 2. The second support bar extends from the back of bracket 26 from a point proximate the other end and the other side of the bracket downwardly toward the center line longitudinally but divergingly outwardly therefrom laterally, the downward angular disposition being shown best in FIGURE 1 and the diverging lateral disposition being shown best in FIGURE 2. Thus, the bearings 20 are positioned so as to carry shaft 54 rotatably in disposition perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis and spaced intermediately of the ends of the bracket 26. The Wire engaging means on pulleys22 is mounted on the end of the shaft nearest the distal end of the first support rod so that a center line extending perpendicularly from the pulley axiswould pass closely adjacent the one side of the bracket. The crank 24 is secured to the other end of the shaft. This disposition of the pulley on one side of the bracket and the crank in substantially spaced relation on the other side of the bracket permits the force exerted by wire 14 extending from the other side of the post to be exerted substantially parallelly with the direction of the wire on the one side of the post by means of bracket 26. Thus, there is very little angular pull such as would tend to rotate the wire stretcher on the post and, more importantly, virtually all of the force exerted on the crank system 24 is transmitted to the Wire, which is not the case where this highly desired angular relationship does not exist.

It is now seen that there is herein provided an im proved Wire stretcher which accomplishes all of the objects and advantages of the instant invention and others, including many advantages of great practical utility and commercial importance.

Since many embodiments may be made of the instant inventive concept, and since. many modifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown and described, it is to be understood that the foregoing is to be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A wire stretcher which comprises:

a rigid elongate concave bracket adapted to engage one side of a fence post in substantially parallel relation thereto;

an elongate flexible member secured at one end to the bracket;

means on the bracket for securing the flexible memher around the post;

a first support bar extending from the back and proximate one side and one end of the bracket toward a center line perpendicular to the bracket axes;

a second support bar extending from the back and proximate the other side and the other end of the bracket toward said center line vertically and diverging outwardly therefrom laterally;

beiring members on the distal ends of said support ars:

a rotatable shaft extending through said bearing members perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the bracket in intermediate spaced relation thereto;

a pulley having at least one wire receiving slot therein on the shaft adjacent the distal end of the first support bar such that the center line perpendicular to the pulley axis passes closely adjacent the one side of the bracket; and

power means on the other end of the shaft, said power means and said pulley being disposed on opposite sides of the bracket with the power means being spaced a substantial distance beyond the side of the bracket such that in use the force exerted by .a wire extending from the other side of the post is exerted substantially parallel to said wire on the one side of the post by said bracket.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein each of the support rods comprise:

a first hollowed segment fixedly secured to said bracket in said angular relationship therewith;

a second segment secured by means of said bearing members to said shaft for being received in said first segment; and

means for securing said second segment in said first segment.

3. The invention of claim 2 further comprising:

a toothed Wheel secured on the shaft between and bearing on the second support rod and the power means; and

a dog selectively engageable with said toothed Wheel for selectively preventing rotation of the shaft in one direction.

4. The invention of claim 3 further comprising:

a second elongate flexible member and a second securing means on the bracket; and wherein the securing means are boomers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Forbes 254-161 X Andrew 254-161 X Reese 254-161 X Kinsella 254-83 Riley 254-162 Gleason 254-162 Kidd 254-162 Mundt 254-162 Noel] 254-163 Wagoner 254-162 Harmony 254-186 X 15 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON S. MEHR, Examiner.

Claims

1. A WIRE STRETCHER WHICH COMPRISES: A RIGID ELONGATE CONCAVE BRACKET ADAPTED TO ENGAGE ONE SIDE OF A FENCE POST IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARELLEL RELATION THERETO; AN ELONGATE FLEXIBLE MEMBER SECURED AT ONE END TO THE BRACKET; MEANS ON THE BRACKET FOR SECURING THE FLEXIBLE MEMBER AROUND THE POST; A FIRST SUPPORT BAR EXTENDING FROM THE BACK AND PROXIMATE ONE SIDE AND ONE END OF THE BRACKET TOWARD A CENTER LINE PERPENDICULAR TO THE BRACKET AXES; A SECOND SUPPORT BAR EXTENDING FROM THE BACK AND PROXIMATE THE OTHER SIDE AND THE OTHER END OF THE BRACKET TOWARD SAID CENTER LINE VERTICALLY AND DIVERGING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM LATERALLY; BEARING MEMBERS ON THE DISTAL ENDS OF SAID SUPPORT BARS; A ROTATABLE SHAFT EXTENDING THROUGH SAID BEARING MEMBERS PERPENDICULARLY TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE BRACKET IN INTERMEDIATE SPACED RELATION THERETO; A PULLEY HAVING AT LEAST ONE WIRE RECEIVING SLOT THEREIN ON THE SHAFT ADJACENT THE DISTAL END OF THE FIRST SUPPORT BAR SUCH THAT THE CENTER LINE PERPENDICULAR TO THE PULLEY AXIS PASSES CLOSELY ADJACENT TO ONE SIDE OF THE BRACKET; AND POWER MEANS ON THE OTHER END OF THE SHAFT, SAID POWER MEANS AND SAID PULLEY BEING DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE BRACKET WITH THE POWER MEANS BEING SPACED A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE BEYOND THE SIDE OF THE BRACKET SUCH THAT IN USE THE FORCE EXERTED BY A WIRE EXTENDING FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POST IS EXERTED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID WIRE ON THE ONE SIDE OF THE POST BY SAID BRACKET.