US170850A - Improvement in fences - Google Patents

Description

4 tion of the foot-post and base.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrron.

/ THOMAS HARDING, or LA FAYETTE, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FENCES.

. Specification formin g part of Letters Patent No. 170,850, dated December 7, 1875; application filed October 23, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs HARDING, of La Fayette, in the county of Tippecanoe and State of Indiana, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Fences; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective elevation of my fence. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional eleva' My invention relates to the method of constructing an iron fence, and also to the footpost which supports the main post; and it consists, first, in pickets. constructed with bosses or enlargements at regular and proper intervals, arranged to retain the said pickets in place, and to dispense with the usual riveting, whereby the picket is permitted to extend below the lower rail, and to thesurface of the ground, when desired; second, in the form and construction of the foot-postwhich supports the main post.

That others may fully understand my invention, I will particularly describe it.

A A are the principal posts, constructed of cast or wrought metal, as may be preferred. B B are the rails, perforated, as usual, for the reception of the pickets G G. The rails B may be attached to the posts A by means of the angle-iron D, or by other means, as may be preferred. The lower rail may be made of angle-iron, if preferred. The pickets O are straight rods, of iron, pointed or ornamented at the top. Each of said pickets is formed with two enlargements or bosses, a a, one beneath the top rail and the other above the bottom or center rail, as may be preferred, and said pickets are thereby prevented from moving when the rails have been secured to the posts: If intermediate short pickets E E are employed a third or middle rail is used, and the bosses at, of long pickets, being above said middle rail, and those of the-short pickets below the same, said rail is held in place by the pickets, and the several parts of the panel are made to afford mutual support.

By constructing. the fence with pickets havingbosses, as above described, there is no necessity for riveting the pickets to the lower rail, and thereby leaving an open space beneath said rail for the whole length of the panel, through which small animals may come, but the pickets may extend to the ground, as shown.' Moreover, the panel is secured by the bolts which connect the rails to the post, and if, for any cause, it is desirable to remove a post of the fence it may be easily accomplished by the'removal of said bolts, and whenso removed from the posts the pickets and rails may be entirely separated. This is an advantage of great value, as the fence may be constructed and fitted at the manufacturing shop, but not secured together until it arrives upon the ground, where it is to remain permanently, instead of requiring to be transported in finished panels, as heretofore.

The bosses a may be formed in a variety of ways well-known in the art, but I prefer to construct them by upsetting the metal of the picket-rod, and for that purpose I have devised a machine which will form the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent.

The posts A may be set in base-blocksior supports of any suitable kind, but I prefer a metallic chair, G, formed with a flat plate in the shape of an inverted V, the horizontal plate 9 forming the base upon which the chair rests. At the apex there is a'tubular socket or sleeve, 1), through which the post A passes, and upon the upper side of the base-plate g, where is a socket-step, h, to receive and hold the foot of said post. The manner of attaching the post to the chair may, however, be considerably varied.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is-- g l. A metallic fence-picket, with enlargements or bosses a a, formed by upsetting the metal of the picket, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with metal pickets G, provided with bosses or enlargements a a, as

described, the perforated rails B B upon the upper and lower sides of said bosses, respectively, and the posts A, to which the ends of said rails are secured to form a metallic fence, as set forth.

THOMAS HARDING.

Witnesses ALEXANDER A. Bron, EDWARD BEAoH.

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