Apparatus for forming a joint for wire cloth

Apparatus for joining two wire cloth ends to form a wire cloth joint, the ends each having a folded portion joined to its respective wire cloth by seams or the like, and the folded portion of one wire cloth having attached to its edge an endless wire screw extending along the wire cloth end and with said screw having loops lying freely outside the end, said apparatus comprising guide means for acting against the folded portions of the respective wire cloth ends for pressing free portions of the wire screw into spaces between warp wire loops along the edge of the end portion of the other wire cloth, said guide means comprising first upper and lower guide members spaced apart to accommodate said one wire cloth end therebetween and second upper and lower guide members spaced apart to accommodate said other wire cloth end therebetween, means interconnecting said first guide members with said second guide members and defining a passage for accommodating said warp wire loops in an opened-out condition, said passage having a depth greater than the spacing between the respective upper and lower guide members, and a substantially U-shaped bar longitudinally slidable into said passage for holding open said warp wire loops to maintain them in said opened-out condition for the insertion of a locking wire through said loops and through the pressed-in portions of the wire screw.