Patent Application
20230383569
The present invention relates generally to fences and insulators for holding electric wires, and in particular, to devices for securing fence wires to fence posts and other structures.
Electric fences are commonly used to create fenced in areas for livestock and pets. A typical electric fence includes at least one fence wire extending along one or more sides of the fenced in area, and a plurality of fence posts supporting the fence wire at spaced locations along the length of the fence wire.
Electric fence post insulators are used to secure the fence wire to the fence posts. The insulators also serves to electrically insulate the fence posts from the fence wire.
A conventional fence post insulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,490, which includes a plastic body that slides over a vertical fence post and has a threaded plastic nut to tighten the insulator to the fence post. The insulator has a pair of arms with opposing recesses for holding the fence wire.
A common problem with the conventional fence post insulator is that when a vehicle or animal runs into the fence, the insulator often breaks or pops off of the fence post and goes flying. The insulators are often lost or damaged when that occurs, making it difficult to fix the fence quickly and easily.
A need exists for an improved fence post insulator to overcome the problems with the conventional plastic fence post insulator.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fence wire securing device that is easy to use, durable, releasable and reusable after an animal or vehicle runs into the fence, economical to manufacture, capable of accommodating various fence post diameters and fence post materials, capable of being used in a wide range of temperature extremes, and has a long useful life.
To accomplish these and other objects, the present invention provides a fence wire securing device for securing an electric fence wire to a fence post. The device includes a body having first and second ends and a through bore for receiving a shaft of the fence post. A resilient flexible strap extends from the second end of the body. The flexible strap is moveable between an open configuration in which a fence wire can be placed against an outer sidewall of the body, and a closed configuration in which an opening in the flexible strap is placed over a protruding free end of the fence post. The fence wire is trapped by the flexible strap against the sidewall of the body in the closed configuration. The securing device can also be used in another mounting configuration with a separate fastener to attach a fence wire to a different type of mounting surface, such as a wooden post.
According to one aspect of the invention, a fence wire securing device is provided, comprising: a body having first and second ends and a through bore extending between the first and second ends for receiving a shaft of a fence post; and a resilient flexible strap extending from the second end of the body. The flexible strap has a first opening therein and is moveable between a first open configuration in which a fence wire can be placed against an outer sidewall of the body, and a second closed configuration in which the first opening in the flexible strap is placed over the shaft of the fence post adjacent to the first end of the body with the fence wire trapped by the flexible strap against the sidewall of the body.
According to another aspect of the invention, a fence wire securing device having multiple mounting configurations is provided, comprising: a body having first and second ends and a through bore extending between the first and second ends; and a resilient flexible strap extending from the second end of the body. The flexible strap has at least one opening therein for securing the flexible strap in a closed configuration for holding a fence wire between the flexible strap and the body.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method for securing a fence wire to a fence post is provided, comprising: providing a securing device having a body with first and second ends and a through bore extending between the first and second ends, and a resilient flexible strap extending from the second end of the body and having a first opening therein; placing the body onto a fence post with a shaft of the fence post received in the through bore and a free end of the fence post protruding from the first end of the body; placing a fence wire against an outer sidewall of the body; and bending the flexible strap and placing the first opening of the flexible strap over the free end of the fence post protruding from the first end of the body with the fence wire trapped by the flexible strap against the sidewall of the body.
Numerous other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described embodiments of the present invention, simply by way of illustration of some of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious aspects without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
The present invention will become more clearly appreciated as the disclosure of the invention is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
A fence wire securing device 10 according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to
The fence wire securing device 10 includes a body 11 with a first end 12, a second end 13, and a through bore 14 extending between the first and second ends 12, 13 for receiving a shaft of a fence post 15. The through bore 14 has a substantially triangular cross section to allow the body 11 to expand to accommodate various shaft diameters of fence posts 15. The triangular cross section allows for expansion of the size of the through bore 14 without creating excess friction when the device 10 is slipped onto larger diameter fence posts 15, while maintaining enough friction to also secure the device 10 to smaller diameter fence posts 15.
The body 11 has an outer sidewall 16 with first and second projections 17, 18 that extend outwardly from the body 11 at first and second ends 19, 20 of the sidewall 16, respectively. The sidewall 16 is substantially planar between the first and second projections 17, 18. The first and second projections 17, 18 are each in the form of a raised rib that spans a width of the sidewall 16. The first and second projections 17, 18 have beveled outer surfaces 21, 22.
A resilient flexible strap 23 extends from the second end 13 of the body 11. The flexible strap 23 and the body 11 are made as a single integral molded article of nonconductive material, such as a polymer alloy. The polymer alloy can be a blend of rubber and plastic to provide the desired flexibility and resilience through the desired temperature range, as well as the strength and durability needed to operate effectively.
The resilient flexible strap 23 has a first opening 24 and a second opening 25. The flexible strap 23 is movable between a first open configuration (
The flexible strap 23 has a third projection 27 that extends toward the sidewall 16 between the first and second projections 17, 18 when the flexible strap 23 is in the second closed configuration. The third projection 27 extends from the flat facing surface 26 of the flexible strap 23 approximately the same distance as the first and second projections 17, 18 protrude outwardly from the sidewall 16 of the body 11.
The third projection 27 is adjacent to the first projection 17 at the first end 19 of the sidewall 16 when the flexible strap 23 is in the second closed configuration. A closed space 28 for accommodating the fence wire W when the flexible strap is in the second closed configuration is defined between opposing faces of the outer sidewall 16 and the flexible strap 23 and opposing faces of the second projection 18 and the third projection 27.
The third projection 27 and the first projection cooperate 17 with each other to create a releasable barrier on one end of the closed space 28 when the flexible strap 23 is in the second closed configuration. The releasable barrier created by the third projection 27 interlocking with the first projection 17 prevents the wire W from moving above the first projection 17 where it might make contact with the end 33 of the fence post 15 above the body 11 and short out the electric fence. The wire W is held securely within the closed space 28 during normal use, including occasions when an animal hits or strikes the wire causing the fence post 15 to be bent over, and challenging terrain where the fence post is placed in a low spot and the fence wire imparts an upward force on the securing device 10.
When extreme forces are imparted to the wire W, the releasable barrier created by the third projection 27 and the first projection 17 will allow the wire W to separate from the securing device 10. If the fence wire W is pulled in an axial direction of the fence post 15 with sufficient force, the flexible strap 23 can be pulled off of the shaft of the fence post 15 to release the wire W. For example, when an animal charges through the fence or a vehicle runs into the fence, the fence wire W will be automatically released from the fence wire securing device 10 without destroying the fence W or the securing device 10.
The securing device 10 can also be used in mounting configurations other than the first mounting configuration on a vertical round fence post 15 as described above. For example, the securing device 10 can be attached to a wooden post or plank or other stationary surface 29 using the second mounting configuration shown in
A fence wire securing device 10 according to the present invention has been described above. A method of using the fence wire securing device 10 to secure a fence wire W to a fence post 15 or other stationary surface 29 will now be described.
In the case of a vertical round fence post 15, the securing device 10 is used in the first mounting configuration illustrated in
In the case of a wooden post or plank or other stationary surface 29, the securing device 10 is used in the second mounting configuration illustrated in
As used in this application, the term “fence wire” should be understood as including all types of fence wire, including but not limited to galvanized steel wire, aluminum wire, high-tensile wire, woven wire, barbed wire, and poly fencing (e.g., polywire, polyrope and polytape).
While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.
