A brace of wire grippers

Abstract

A brace of wire grippers (110L, 110R) for use in wire straining is disclosed. Each gripper has four interconnected arms, one end of the first (101) and second arms (102) being pivoted to each other, one end of the third (103) and fourth arms (104) being pivoted to each other; and the other ends of the second (102) and fourth arms (104) being pivoted to each other and the other ends of the first (101) and third arms (103) being pivoted to each other. The pivoted arms (101, 102) are shaped to form a wire clamp which is closed by a spring (5). Two arms (101, 104) have elongate extensions which form handles (106, 107) which, when gripped, open the wire clamp; and one of the handles is a mirror image of the other.

Description

[0001] A Brace of Wire Grippers

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to straining the wires of rural fencing. Such wires to be strained can be individual wires, either a plain wire or barbed wire, or can be prefabricated wire mesh or netting typically formed from a plurality of vertical wires, termed pickets, and a plurality of horizontal wires.

[0004] Background Art

[0005] International Patent Application No PCT / AU2019 / 050939 (WO 2020 / 051630) to the present applicant, discloses a wire gripper or wire grabber having two handles which is useful in the straining of individual wires. International Patent Application No PCT / AU2020 / 050196 (WO 2020 / 176936) and International Patent Application No PCT / AU2023 / 050365 (WO 2023 / 215934) both to the present applicant, disclose tension boards which are useful in the straining of wire mesh. The tension boards incorporate a multiplicity of the wire grippers or wire grabbers each of which is engaged with a corresponding horizontal wire. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above prior art wire grippers can be used in either hand of the operator and are essentially “unhanded” as are a number of hand tools such as pliers, multi-grips, and the like. This is to be contrasted with “handed” prior art hand tools such as scissors or vernier callipers.

[0006] Fig. 1 illustrates how a conventional wire strainer utilising a chain and two pawls which walk along the chain, can incorporate two of the above-mentioned prior art unhanded wire grippers. Since the grippers are provided with a swivel, it is easy for the grippers to be operated by a single hand of the user who stands on one side of the fence. It is desirable when placing the wire clamp onto the wire, to bring the wire clamp up from below so as to be able to watch the wire into the gap of the clamp prior to releasing the gripper handles. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the “unhandedness” of the grippers enables this to be done. The wire clamps approach the wire from opposite directions but this is of no consequence when working on a single (typically broken) wire of a fence. However, from a consideration of Fig. 4 or Fig. 7 of the above-mentioned PCT / AU2020 / 050196, it will be appreciated that it can be a difficult task to place the grippers 10 onto the lowermost one, two or three of the horizontal wires 41 of the wire mesh or wire netting 42. This is because the handles of the grippers 10 when installed are effectively located in a vertical plane and there is not much room between these lowermost wires and the ground. In particular, the lowermost one of the wires 41 is essentially touching the ground. In addition, the horizontal distance between the tension board 30, 130 and the wire clamp of the wire gripper 10 is both limited and congested.

[0007] Genesis of the Invention

[0008] The genesis of the present invention is a desire to modify the prior art wire gripper 10 so as to increase the ease with which such modified wire grippers could be attached to wires and, in particular, the lowermost horizontal wires of wire mesh or wire netting such as wire netting 42.

[0009] Summary of the Invention

[0010] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a brace of wire grippers for use in wire straining and comprising two wire grippers, each of said grippers comprising four interconnected arms, one end of the first and second arms being pivoted to each other, one end of the third and fourth arms being pivoted to each other; the other ends of the second and fourth arms being pivoted to each other and the other ends of the first and third arms being pivoted to each other; one pair of pivoted arms being shaped to form a wire clamp; a spring extending between two of said arms and arranged to close said wire clamp; two of said arms having elongate extensions which form handles which, when gripped, open said wire clamp; and one of said handles being a mirror image of the other, whereby said brace comprises a left-hand gripper and a right-hand gripper.

[0011] In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a wire strainer incorporating a brace of wire grippers as defined above. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a pair of mesh tension boards each having a like plurality of wire gripper braces, each of said gripper braces being substantially as defined above.

[0012] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013] A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0014] Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a prior art wire strainer incorporating two prior art wire grippers,

[0015] Fig. 2 is a perspective view from one side of one strainer of a brace of strainers in accordance with the preferred embodiment,

[0016] Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the strainer of Fig. 2 with the wire clamp open,

[0017] Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the other side of the strainer of Fig. 2,

[0018] Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the wire strainer of Fig. 1 fitted with two of the wire grippers of Fig. 2,

[0019] Fig. 6 is a perspective view similar to that of Fig. 5 but of the wire strainer of Fig. 1 fitted with a left and a right-hand wire gripper,

[0020] Fig. 7 is a perspective view of two tension boards of a first embodiment, one fitted with left hand wire grippers and the other fitted with right-hand wire grippers,

[0021] Fig. 8 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 7 illustrating two of the right-hand wire grippers,

[0022] Fig. 9 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 7 illustrating one of the left-hand wire grippers, and

[0023] Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing a plurality of right-hand wire grippers fitted to a tension board of a second embodiment.

[0024] Detailed Description

[0025] As seen in Fig. 1, a prior art wire strainer 11 takes the form of two pawls 12, 13 which are able to be walked along a chain 14 by reciprocating a handle 15. Two grippers 10 are provided, one of which is connected to the strainer 11 via a swivel 16, and the other of which is connected to the chain 14 via another swivel 16. The wire gripper 10 has an anvil arm 1, a concave arm 2, a third arm 3, and a fourth arm 4. The first or anvil arm 1 has a generally convex curve 21 which mates with a pair of spaced apart fasteners 22, 23 which form a concavity between the fasteners. The inter-engagement of the anvil curve 21 and the concavity between the fasteners 22, 23 forms a wire clamp in known fashion.

[0026] Because the wire gripper 10 is essentially unhanded, the swivels 16 enable the handles 6, 7 to be gripped by either hand of the operator who normally stands on one side of fence. By squeezing the handles 6, 7 together, the operator can bring the open gap between the anvil 21 and the fasteners 22, 23 up from beneath the wire 25 and thus watch the wire 25 enter the open gap. Once this entry is complete, the handles 6, 7 are released thereby closing the gap and operating the wire clamp which is maintained closed by the action of the spring 5.

[0027] As explained above, the wire grippers 10 are not so easy to operate in relation to particularly the lowermost ones of the horizontal wires of a wire mesh or netting. In particular, the distance between a tension board and the anvil 21, is limited and therefore the handles 6, 7 occupy space in this congested area. In addition, the handles 6, 7 are generally arranged in a substantially vertical plane and this therefore brings the lower handle into contact with the ground, especially in relation to the lowermost one of the horizontal wires. Furthermore, the operator normally holds the wire grippers 10 with the palm of the hand being substantially vertical. As a consequence, the fingers of the hand (normally a gloved hand) come into contact with the ground.

[0028] Turning now to Figs. 2 - 4, a wire gripper 110 of the preferred embodiment is illustrated. In the description of this embodiment, like parts to those of the prior art wire gripper 10 have a designation number which is increased by 100. Those parts of the arrangement which are unchanged retain the same designation number.

[0029] Thus, the wire gripper 110 has an anvil arm 101, a concave arm 102, a third arm 103, and a fourth arm 104. The spring 5 is essentially unchanged and extends between the arms 103 and 104. Whereas in the prior art gripper 10 the handles 6, 7 extended from the arms 3 and 4 respectively, in the wire gripper 110 as illustrated in Fig. 2, the handles 106 and 107 extend from the arms 104 and 101 respectively. That is to say, whereas the handles 6, 7 of Fig. 1 are essentially in line with the wire 25, the handles 106, 107 are essentially perpendicular to the direction of the wire 25 (not illustrated in Figs. 2 - 4). As a consequence of this arrangement, the gripper 110 has a “handedness” with respect to the wire clamp.

[0030] Turning now to Fig. 5, which replicates Fig. 1 but which utilises two of the wire grippers 110, it will be seen that several difficulties arise. First of all, if the fencer stands on the same side of the fence as the handle 15 of the strainer 11, which is logical if the handle 15 of the strainer is to be manipulated, then all four of the handles 106, 107 should lie to the same side of the fence. This enables the handles 106, 107 to be manipulated.

[0031] However, the difficulty with this arrangement is that whilst the grippers 110B on the right-hand side of Fig. 5 are the “right way” up so as to enable the wire 25 to be watched into the gap of the clamp as the grippers HOB are attached to the wire 25, the grippers 110A to the left-hand side of Fig. 5 are the “wrong way” up. That is to say, the grippers 110A are inverted relative to the grippers 110B and so it is not possible to watch the wire 25 enter into the gap of the wire clamp of the grippers 110A.

[0032] Alternatively, the wire gripper 110A could be rotated through 180° so as to enable the wire 25 to be watched into the gap of the open wire clamp, however, this would result in the handles 106, 107 of the gripper 110B being on the opposite side of the wire 25 to the handles 106, 107 of the gripper 110B. This would require the operator to bend his back and lean forwardly over the fence. This action places his torso over the wire 25 to be tensioned. Since the wire 25 may slip or break, this places the operator in some danger.

[0033] In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, this difficulty is overcome by the provision of a brace of wire grippers 110 in which there is a lefthand wire gripper 110L and a right-hand wire gripper 110R, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

[0034] In accordance with this arrangement, the right-hand wire gripper 110R can have its handles 106, 107 grasped by the right-hand of the user, who is able to watch the wire from above as it enters the gap of the wire clamp of the right-hand wire gripper 110R. Similarly, the left-hand wire gripper 110L can be grasped by the left-hand of the user who is again able to watch the wire 25 from above as it enters the gap of the wire clamp of the left-hand wire gripper 110L. This arrangement enables all the handles of the wire grippers and the handle of the wire strainer to be on the same side of the fence as the operator. Also, both wire clamps are “right way” up.

[0035] Turning now to Fig. 7, in relation to a pair of tension boards 30, 31 as used with wire mesh 42, it is possible to use wire grippers 110L and 110R in respect of the left-hand tension board 31 and the right-hand tension board 30 respectively. Since the distance between the wire clamp and the swivel 16 of each wire gripper 110 is quite short, the grippers 110L and 110R do not cause interference in the congested space adjacent the side of the tension board 30, 31 closer to the wire grippers. Also, the handles 106, 107 of the wire grippers 110L and 110R can be held in a substantially horizontal plane whilst the grippers 110L and 11 OR are engaged with the horizontal wires, and particularly the lowermost horizontal wires, of the wire mesh 42. Furthermore, at all times all the handles 106, 107 of all the grippers 110 are on the same side of the fence.

[0036] Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively enlarged portions of Fig. 7 which respectively illustrate the tension boards 30 and 31 to which are connected the right-hand wire grippers 110R and the left-hand wire grippers 110L respectively. It will be seen that the handles 106, 107 lie generally in an approximately horizontal plane thereby reducing their engagement with the wire mesh 42 which gives rise to a less cluttered arrangement. A similar less cluttered arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 10 in respect of a different type of tension board 32.

[0037] A particular manufacturing advantage of the above-described arrangement is that the anvil arm 101 of the left-hand gripper 110L is the same article as the anvil arm 101 of the right-hand gripper 110R, but flipped over during assembly. That is, no different parts are required for arm 101, all that is required is a different assembly technique. The same does not apply to arm 102 which must be bent in opposite directions to supply both left and right handed grippers. However, the ability to use arm 101 for both grippers enables costs to be kept to a minimum. The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the fencing arts, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the features and advantages disclosed in one facet of the invention may be utilised, mutatis mutandis, in other facets of the invention. For example, wire clamps other than those illustrated above such as the wire clamps of the above-mentioned patent specifications, can be used for the wire grippers 110. The term “comprising” (and its grammatical variations) as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of “including” or “having” and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of’.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A brace of wire grippers for use in wire straining and comprising two wire grippers, each of said grippers comprising four interconnected arms, one end of the first and second arms being pivoted to each other, one end of the third and fourth arms being pivoted to each other; the other ends of the second and fourth arms being pivoted to each other and the other ends of the first and third arms being pivoted to each other; one pair of pivoted arms being shaped to form a wire clamp; a spring extending between two of said arms and arranged to close said wire clamp; two of said arms having elongate extensions which form handles which, when gripped, open said wire clamp; and one of said handles being a mirror image of the other, whereby said brace comprises a left-hand gripper and a right-hand gripper.

2. The brace as defined in claim 1 wherein for each said gripper, said spring extends between said third and fourth arms.

3. The brace as defined in claim 2 wherein for each said gripper, said spring is a helical tension spring.

4. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-3 wherein for each said gripper, said wire clamp is formed between said first and second arms.

5. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-4 wherein for each said gripper, one of said arms is fabricated as a single unit.

6. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-4 wherein for each said gripper, all of said arms are each fabricated as a single unit.

7. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-6 wherein for each said gripper, one of said handles extends from the third arm.

8. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-7 wherein for each said gripper, the other one of said handles extends from the fourth arm.

9. The brace as defined in any one of claims 1-9 wherein the pivot between said third and fourth arms incorporates a swivel.

10. A wire strainer incorporating a brace of wire grippers as defined in any one of claims 1-9.

11. A pair of mesh tension boards each having a like plurality of wire gripper braces, each of said gripper braces being substantially as defined in any one of claims 1-9.

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