US429995A - Fastening for gates - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

L. E. BRADFORD. FASTENING FOR GATES. i

No. 429,995. Patented June 10, 1890.

TH: uonnls versus no, mb'ro-umm, wlinmurnu, n. c.

" UNITED-i STATES PATENT. OFFicE.

LEWIS E. BRADFORD, OF HOWARD, KANSAS.

FASTENING FO'R GATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,995, dated 'June 10, 1890.

Application filed January 25, 1890. Serial No. 338,039. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS E. BRADFORD, of Howard, in the county of Elk and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastenings for Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in fastenings for gates, the object being to provide a light and inexpensive fastening for wire gates, comprising few parts, capable of being easily operated, and having such mechanism and construction that the sagging of the gate is absolutely prevented and the gate is kept taut at all times.

With this end in View the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aview in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the lever which fastens the gate.

A A represent the posts of the gate, and B B B are a series of wires which constitute the body of the gate. These wires may be a continuation of the wires of the fence, or they may be separate wires. In either event they are rigidly secured to the post A. At the opposite ends these wires are fastened to a cross-bar 1, which forms the outer end of the gate.

The following means are provided for fastening the gate and keeping the Wires of which it is composed taut. Hand-lever 3 is connected by means of a wire 7 with the cross-bar 1, the wire being secured at each end and passing loosely through the lever a short distance from its fulcrum. The lever is furnished with an eye 5 at one end, by which it is loosely mounted on a hook or pintle 5 on either side of the post A. By thus mounting this lever and swinging it around into the position shown in Figs. land 2 the gate is fastened and held taut. Now, as a means for taking up any slack in the wires which is liable to result from their stretching, the following is'provided: The body of the hand-lever is slotted, as shown at 8, and the wire 7, in-

round, as shown, opposite the position of the stead of having a fixed connection with the lever, passes through a hole 9 in a movable block 10, mounted in the slotted portion of the lever. A screw 11 extends through the hand-lever and is swiveled therein at its outer end, and its threaded end registers with a correspondingly-threaded screw-hole in the end of the slide-block, so that when the screw is turned the block 10 is moved in one direction or the other. The screw is provided on its outer end with an eyelet or hook 12, by which it is turned or by which it may be hung up, if desired.

In operating the fastening in closing the gate the pint-1e 5 of one of the hooks that extends upward is put through the hole in the end of the lever 3, the lever being brought to the hook in the post, and the lever is swung 7o gate. As the wire in the gate becomes stretched or the gate sags, the screw-bolt 11 is turned to the right, and the slide-block 10 is thereby moved outward to tighten the wires in the gate again. This may be repeated as often as is required to keep the gate taut. By the two hooks 2 2, driven in opposite sides of the post A, the gate may be fastened to either side of the post.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction herein set forth; but,

Havingfullydescribed my invention, whatI 85 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with posts and wires, of a lever adapted to have pivotal connection with one of the posts, said lever having a movable block or equivalent device connected therewith, to which the wires are connected, whereby slack in the wires may be taken up, or they may be loosened by changing the po- Y sition of the block, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a pair of posts, wires permanently secured to one post, and a cross-bar attached to the free end of the wires, of a hook secured to the post, and a lever having a movable block therein with which th cross-bar of the gate has connection, said leve' adapted to be fulcrumed on the hook for t into the slide-block for operating the latter, said bolt having a loop formed in its outer end, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 15 ing witnesses.

LEWIS E. BRADFORD. lVitnesses:

JOHN MARSHALL, GEO. R. HEWITT.

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