Insulator for electric fences

Claim 2

An insulator mountable on a fence post and capable of supporting and retaining an electrically conductive fence wire and withstanding repeated pushing and pulling on the fence wire by livestock without releasing the wire, comprising: an insulator body formed of insulative material and including fence post mounting means for mounting said insulator body on the fence post; said insulator body further including a face and an impact absorbing fence wire retaining hook fixed to and extending outwardly from the junction of said hook and said face and capable of receiving and retaining the fence wire therein, said hook being formed of elastically flexible material so as to be flexibly movable between a rest position adjacent said face and an extended position; said insulator body further including a reinforcing member fixed to and extending outwardly from said face, said member being closely spaced from and confronting said wire retaining hook when said hook is in rest position and at least partially encompassing said hook; said wire retaining hook contacting and bearing against said reinforcing member when said hook is in extended position and said hook and said reinforcing member cooperating to resist further movement of said hook toward said reinforcing member as force is applied to said hook by the wire when livestock exert force on the fence wires; and said wire retaining hook having a generally spiral configuration and extending outwardly, cantileverly from said junction and then returning toward said junction, with the terminal end of said spiral configuration being closely spaced from said junction of said hook with said face.

Claim 3

An insulator mountable on a fence post and capable of supporting and retaining an electrically conductive fence wire and withstanding repeated pushing and pulling on the fence wire by livestock, comprising: an insulator body formed of insulative material and including fence post mounting means for mounting said insulator body on the fence post; said insulator body further including a face and an impact absorbing fence wire retaining hook fixed to and extending outwardly from the junction of said hook and said face and capable of receiving and retaining the fence wire therein, said hook being formed of elastically flexible material so as to be flexibly movable between a rest position adjacent said face and an extended position; said insulator body further including a reinforcing member fixed to and extending outwardly from said face, said member being closely spaced from and confronting said wire retaining hook and at least partially encompassing said hook; said wire retaining hook contacting and bearing against said reinforcing member when said hook is in extended position and said hook and said reinforcing member cooperating to resist further movement of said hook toward said reinforcing member as force is applied to said hook by the wire when livestock exert force on the fence wire; and said wire retaining hook including a first segment fixed to and extending outwardly from said face, a second segment fixed to and extending transversely downwardly from said first segment, a third segment fixed to and extending transversely from said second segment and toward said face, and a fourth segment fixed to and extending transversely upwardly from said third segment, spaced from said face and ending in a terminal end with said terminal end closely spaced from said first segment to define a wire insertion slot between said terminal end and said first segment, said slot having a width less than the thickness of the wire to be retained to permit the fence wire to be forced through said slot and within said hook as said hook moves to said extended position.

Claim 4

An insulator mountable on a fence post and capable of supporting and retaining an electrically conductive fence wire and withstanding repeated pushing and pulling on the fence wire by livestock, comprising: an insulator body formed of insulative material and including fence post mounting means for mounting said insulator body on the fence post; said insulator body further including a face and an impact absorbing fence wire retaining hook fixed to and extending outwardly from the junction of said hook and said face and capable of receiving and retaining the fence wire therein, said hook being formed of elastically flexible material so as to be flexibly movable between a rest position adjacent said face and an extended position; said insulator body further including a reinforcing member fixed to and extending outwardly from said face, said member being closely spaced from and confronting said wire retaining hook and at least partially encompassing said hook; said wire retaining hook contacting and bearing against said reinforcing member when said hook is in extended position and said hook and said reinforcing member cooperating to resist further movement of said hook toward said reinforcing member as force is applied to said hook by the wire when livestock exert force on the fence wire; and said wire retaining hook including a first segment fixed to and extending outwardly from said face, a second segment fixed to and extending transversely downwardly from said first segment, a third segment fixed to and extending transversely from said second segment and toward said face, and a fourth segment fixed to and extending transversely upwardly from said third segment, spaced from said face and ending in a terminal end with said terminal end closely spaced from said first segment to define a wire insertion slot between said terminal end and said first segment, said slot having a width less than the thickness of the wire to be retained to permit the fence wire to be forced through said slot and within said hook as said hook moves to said extended position.

Claim 5

The insulator of claim 2 and further including support means extending between said face and said first segment to inhibit movement of said first segment in directions transverse to said first segment.

Claim 6

The insulator of claim 3 wherein said support means includes a pair of spaced apart generally upright gussets.

Claim 7

The insulator of claim 2 wherein: said terminal end includes a locking portion spaced from and confronting said first segment, the distance of separation between said first segment and said locking portion defining the width of said insertion slot; and said locking portion being angled relative to said first segment so as to cause the width of said insertion slot to decrease from one lateral side of said terminal end to the opposite lateral side of said terminal end with maximum width occuring at one lateral side and minimum width occurring at the opposite lateral side to thereby permit the fence wire to be more easily inserted through said insertion slot and into said hook by starting it at said maximum width side of said slot and moving it along said slot and toward said minimum width side as the wire is moved through said slot and into said hook, said hook moving from said rest position toward said extended position to increase the width of said insertion slot during insertion.

Claim 8

The insulator of claim 5 wherein said terminal end is generally arcuate to provide a ramp along which the fence wire may slide and roll when inserting the wire into and removing it from said wire retaining hook.

Claim 9

The insulator of claim 2 wherein said fence wire retaining hook is elastically flexibly movable between said rest position and a second extended position wherein said hook is moved against and contacts said face and is supported and reinforced by said face, said hook and said face cooperating to resist further movement of said hook toward said face as force is applied to said hook by the fence wire when livestock exert force on the fence wire, said width of said wire insertion slot being thereby reduced to better retain the wire in said hook.

Claim 10

The insulator of claim 2 wherein said reinforcing member includes: an elongated arm extending generally outwardly from said face and parallel to and spaced from said third segment of said hook; and a reinforcing bar extending transversely from said elongated arm and positioned parallel to and closely adjacent said second segment of said hook.

Claim 11

The insulator of claim 8 wherein: said reinforcing member includes combined guide and lock means on said reinforcing bar and extending toward said second segment; said guide and lock means of said reinforcing bar when in said initial position being spaced from said second segment of said wire retaining hook by a distance less than the thickness of the fence wire to thereby prevent movement of the wire past said guide and lock means and away from said insulator body; and said guide and lock means being contoured to define a ramp to permit rolling and sliding of the wire along and past said guide and lock means and thence between said hook and said reinforcing member.