WIRE FABRIC AND APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME

• US 3,667,509 A
• Filed: 02/12/1970
• Issued: 06/06/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/1967
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Herbert E. Rohrbacher
• Original Assignee: Herbert E. Rohrbacher
• Inventors: Rohrbacher, Herbert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Larson, Lowell A.
• Application Number:
  US05/010,885
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 140/1,3,3C,92.3,92.4,92.5,92.6,92.7 72/17,196,197,199,137,206,366 226/44 245/6,8
• US Class Current: 140/3.00C
• CPC Class Codes: B21F 27/005 Wire network per se
• CPC Class Codes: B21F 27/04 Manufacturing on machines with rotating blades or formers
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 59/38 by regulating speed of driving mechanism of unwinding, paying-out, forwarding, winding, or depositing devices, e.g. automatically in response to variations in tension
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 17/04 characterised by the use of specially adapted wire, e.g. barbed wire , wire mesh, toothed strip or the like; Coupling means therefor

Abstract

This disclosure describes a wire fabric of open construction including a plurality of wires each of which is formed into a coil. The several coils are interlinked and secured together to form a wire fabric of open construction. The wire is of noncircular cross section and provides a wire fabric of increased strength.

Claims

1. In a machine for processing wire to produce a wire fabric of open construction, the combination of:

a rotatable reel for having the wire wound thereon;

motor means for rotating said reel to unwind the wire therefrom, the wire unwound from said reel passing from said reel to a control station;

processing means for forming said wire into a plurality of interwoven coils to form a wire fabric of open construction, said processing means including means for pulling said wire from said control station through said processing means;

control means at said control station responsive to the demands of the processing machine for wire for controlling the speed at which said motor means drives said reel to thereby control the rate of feed of wire from said reel to said control station, and roll means mounted intermediate said reel and said processing means for forming a generally longitudinally extending rib in the wire.

2. In a machine for making a strong wire fabric of open construction from elongated wire of deformable material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces, and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the combination of:

first and second rolls, each of said rolls having a circumferentially extending peripheral surface;

means for mounting said rolls for rotation with the circumferentially extending peripheral surfaces thereof being in closely adjacent confronting relationship;

said peripheral surface of said first roll having a shallow circumferentially extending groove therein extending completely around said first roll;

said second roLl having a projection on the peripheral surface thereof extending circumferentially and continuously around said second roll, said projection confronting said groove and being sized to coact therewith whereby upon passing of the wire between said rolls the projection and groove form a continuous longitudinally extending bead in one of said faces to form reinforced wire; and

means downstream of said rolls for forming the reinforced wire into a plurality of individual coils, and means for interweaving said coils to form a wire fabric of open construction.

3. A combination as defined in claim 2 wherein one of said rolls has a circumferentially extending channel formed in the peripheral surface thereof, said channel having a width sized to receive the relatively wide faces of the wire, said channel extending continuously completely around said one roller.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3 wherein said one roller is said first roller and said second roller is positioned above said first roller.

5. In a method of making a strong wire fabric of open construction from an elongated continuous wire of deformable locally rigid material having a pair of generally opposed relatively wide faces and a pair of relatively narrow edges, the steps of:

deforming the wire at a first station to form a generally longitudinal groove in one of said pair of said relatively wide faces and a generally longitudinal projection on the other of said relatively wide faces to define a longitudinally extending reinforcing bead on said wire;

passing said wire as a continuous strand from said first station to a second station; and

forming said wire at said second station into a plurality of interlinked coils arranged to define a wire fabric of open construction.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said step of deforming includes passing the wire through coacting rollers having coacting bead forming faces with said pair of relatively wide faces engaging said bead forming faces.

7. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein the wire is wound on a reel which is rotatably mounted about a generally horizontal axis and including unwinding the wire from a reel by rotating the reel and passing the unwound wire as a continuous strand from the reel to the first station.

8. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein said projection and groove extend for substantially the full long-itudinal length of the wire.