US502345A

US502345A - Court-house

Info

Publication number: US502345A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1893-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 1910-08-01

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1.

- D, BRYAN.

FENCE AND STAY.

No. 502,345.. Patented Aug. 1, 1893.

ll "mm (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. BRYAN.

5 FENCE AND STAY. N0. 502,345.- Patented Aug. 1, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DARIUS BRYAN, OF WASHINGTON COURT-HOUSE, OHIO.

FENCE AND STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,345, dated August 1, .1893.

Application filed June 2,1892. Serial No. 485.2%. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DARIUS BRYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington Court-House, in the county of Fayette and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fences and Stays; and I do 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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to fences and its object is to enable a fence to be set up without digging a hole for each post and furthermore, to provide a stay for a fence post or a fence wire which is quickly and easily set up, and which is firm and unyielding. A large part of the labor in building a fence consists in digging post holes. Moreover, the difficulty of properly anchoring and staying the posts is well known, and many expedients have been adopted for rendering these matters more easy of execution and more reliable in results.

My invention consists in a fence post and a stay for the same.

It also consists in an abutment or tension frame for a wire fence.

. It also consists in a method of anchoring a stay wire for fence posts or fences.

I set the posts on suitable foundations, pref erably flat stones, and brace them by stay wires or guys, the ends of which are secured to blocks of suitable material, beveled off at the lower end to a wedge shape and having the stay wire attached to its thin end and led up the adjacent inclined face of the block. When the block has been driven into the ground, any strain put upon the wire tends to cant 0r overturn the block and to jam it tightly in the hole, thereby forming a firm and unyielding anchor for the wire.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a fence embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a fence post, and my improved stay attached thereto and dropped into a hole in the ground. Fig. 3 shows the hole filled up and the position the block assumes when a strain is put upon the wire.

In building a fence according to my invention, the posts D are set upon suitable foundations, preferably fiat stones E, resting on the ground. A stay wire B is attached to the top of each post, preferably by straining it over the top of the post, and its ends are carried away from the post on either side of the line of the fence, and firmly anchored in the ground at a suitable distance from the post. A wire I) is then fastened across from one stay to the other at about midway of the length thereof. By twisting this wire a strain can be put upon the stays should they become slack by the settling of the postor otherwise.

The stays may be anchored in any suitable manner,but I prefer to use the device shown, consisting of a wedge-shaped block A secured to the end of the wire and buried in the earth. The block A may be round, square or of any suitable cross section. Its length should not be too great, but from two to four times its diameter according to the nature of the soil. The lower end of the block is preferably beveled off forming an inclined surface a and a wedge-shaped point. The stay Wire 13 is attached to this wedge-shaped end and is led up along the inclined face a and the adjacent vertical side of the block.

A hole 0 may be dug, bored, driven or otherwise formed to receive the block A, or the block may be forced into the ground by a rod and mallet, forming its own hole. The hole may be vertical, as shown, or at an angle, as indicated in dotted lines. When the block has been placed a sufficient distance below the surface of the ground, it is covered with earth well tamped. A strong pull on the wire, tends to turn the block into the position in which it appears in Fig. 3, jamming it firmly and irremovably in the hole.

When a line of posts has been set, the panels can be formed of wire, as shown, or of plank or of pickets, or in any other suitable way. If of wire the anchor blocks A can be used to secure the ends of the strands before beginning to stretch them along the line of posts. I prefer however to use the device shown in Fig. 1, in which a post D is set firmly in the ground, and its top is connected by a strut D with the top of the next post D. A diagonal wire stay B is carried from the top of the posts D to or near the bottom of the post D. The two posts, the strut, andthe stay form astrong stiff abutment to withstand the tension of the fence wire F. This abutment or frame may be used when the fence panels are made of other material than wire if desired. It may be used also when a corner is reached, or a gate opening is to be left 111 the fence. Or, a post may be set in the ground, and stayed with wire 3, as shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An anchoring device for fence wires, consisting of ashort block having a wedge-shaped lower end, and a wire fastened to said end and led up alongside the block-substantially as described.

2. An anchoring device for fence-wires, consisting of a block A having its lower end beveled off to form an inclined surface a, and a wire B, fastened to the sharp lower end of the block and led up said inclined face and the adjacent vertical side of the block, substantially as described.

3. The mode of anchoring a rope or wire In the earth which consists in fastening it to a comparatively short block at one end of the longer axis thereof, placing the block entirely below the surface of the ground, with that end lowermost to which the rope or wire is attached, and with the rope or wire lying lengthwise of the block, and then partially upsetting the block by putting a strain on the rope or wire and thereby increasing the surface which resists the strain, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Iaflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DARIUS BRYAN.

Witnesses:

FRANK A. CHAFFIN, C. A. CAVE.