AU2001100678A5

AU2001100678A5 - Decking strip

Info

Publication number: AU2001100678A5
Application number: AU2001100678A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Brian Proud
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-02
Filing date: 2001-06-01
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 2009-06-01
Also published as: AU5010101A; AUPQ793400A0

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Applicant(s): BRIAN PROUD Actual Inventor(s): BRIAN PROUD Address for Service: PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES 26 Ellingworth Parade Box Hill Victoria 3128 Australia Title: DECKING SRIP Associated Provisional Applications: PQ7934 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- DECKING STRIP This invention relates to a spacing means used for forming a slatted deck, paling or picket fence, or feature wall or the like. It is particularly relevant to a deck formed from wood but is not limited thereto.

Wooden decks or fences comprising two or more wooden joists or rails spanned by a series of parallel boards or slats or palings nailed to the joists or rails are typically constructed by driving nails through the exposed face surface of the boards, slats or palings into the joists or rails. A particularly time consuming aspect of forming such decking or fencing is to space the boards or slats or palings while maintaining them parallel. The best aesthetic appearance occurs when the spacing is consistent.

It is known such as in US 4,965,980 to provide an elongated longitudinally bent member with one longitudinal planar section which partially fits over a generally transverse member such as a joist. The elongated member has raised spacers formed by cut-outs of the top part of the material to provide spacing for attaching boards in a substantially parallel formation to a generally transverse member such as the joist. This system is primarily for concealed or "secret" fixing of the decking boards from beneath and therefore can only be used where there is suitable access from beneath. The system is time consuming to use. The fixing strip with the raised spacers is a relatively complex article to manufacture and use. The system also has a substantial disadvantage of forming water collection points on the tops of the joists where the nail holes and raised spacers are located.

Joists are preferably made from a hardwood which is able to withstand a substantial water presence. However, due to the cost and rarity of hardwood a multitude of deckings or the like are formed from a soft wood such as radiata pine. Such material can readily rot within a time 2 span of about ten years requiring full replacement of the decking at that time. A further approach is to paint all the joists formed of soft wood, but this substantially increases the time and costs of such a decking. It is known to use spacers which are formed with cut-outs or other projections. However, cut-outs leave the strip of material with a shallow hole that is more readily able to receive and hold water in a localised pool. With this occurring for each spacer means and at each and every cut-out location there is a substantial increase in the chance of water deterioration of soft wood joists which may mean that the decking does not even last the expected ten year life span.

It is to be noted that all statements and references to prior art herein are not statements or references or admissions as to common general knowledge in the field.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved spacing means for forming a slatted deck, paling or picket fence, or feature wall or the like, which is readily useable and which can provide protection to the joists, rails or posts against the weather.

According to the present invention there is provided a spacing means for spacing parallel elongated members on a base structure to form a deck, fence, feature wall or the like, the spacing means including: at least one elongated section fixable to the base structure and having an outer surface, and a plurality of protrusions provided on the surface and spaced along the section for locating the elongated members in a parallel arrangement on the surface; and wherein the outer surface of the section is substantially un-perforated so as to substantially completely cover the underlying part of the base structure.

Preferably the elongated section is shaped and sized to substantially completely cover the surface of the base structure facing the section thereby advantageously forming weather protection for that surface of the base structure.

3 In applications where the base structure is a rectangular or square joist or post the elongated section may include at least one elongated flange along an edge of the surface forming an L cross-section, to assist locating the spacing means on the base structure for fixing.

It is even more preferable that the elongate section includes two elongated flanges along both longitudinal edges of the section, forming a C cross-section, to further assist locating the spacing means on the base structure for fixing.

Preferably the elongated section is made of plastic and the protrusions are integral with the plastic elongated section. However the elongated section may be made of any suitable material that will serve the purpose for example, it may be metal with the metal protrusions welded on to the section.

Conveniently the elongated sections may be made of standard lengths and a plurality of elongated sections may be arranged end to end on the same base structure prior to fixing. In that case it is preferable each elongated section has at one end a male portion, and at the other end a female portion so that the male portion of one elongate section can engage the female portion of another elongate section to locate the two elongated sections end to end and maintain the required spacing of protrusions along the two elongated sections prior to fixing to the base structure.

Furthermore it is preferable the male portion of each elongated section comprises one of said protrusions, and each female portion includes an aperture for receiving the protrusion constituting the male portion of the adjacent elongated section during engagement of two sections, wherein the protrusion extends through the aperture and protrudes sufficiently that it serves not only to locate the two sections relative to each other for fixing on the base structure but also to locate a respective elongate member on the outer surface.

4 Possible and preferred features of the present invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. However it is to be understood that the features illustrated in and described with reference to the drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wooden deck that can make use of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an overhead plan view of a portion of a first embodiment of a decking strip in accordance with the invention.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view through A-A of the embodiment in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a preferred second embodiment of a decking strip in accordance with the invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment in Figure 4 applied to a joist and board of a deck.

Figure 6 is an overhead plan view of a third embodiment of a decking strip in accordance with the invention Figure 7 is an overhead plan view of a fourth embodiment a decking strip in accordance with the invention.

Figure 8 is an overhead plan view of a fifth embodiment a decking strip in accordance with the invention.

Figure 9 is an overhead plan view of a sixth embodiment of a decking strip in accordance with the invention.

The preferred embodiments of the spacing means 21 illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 have application to the deck 10 in Figure 1 as a decking strip to facilitate construction of deck 10. As previously mentioned the invention may have other applications such as in construction of picket or paling fences, or feature walls or the like. However by way of example only, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to application as a decking strip.

The portion of the timber deck 10 in Figure 1 is formed from a series of parallel boards or slats 11 spanning between adjacent parallel joists 14 and perpendicular to the joists 14. The slats 11 are spaced by distance S in accordance with building requirements and building standards and to achieve an aesthetic look for the deck. The parallel slats 11 are fixable to a top surfaces 15 of the joists 14 by conventional techniques known in the art.

The portion of the decking strip shown in Figures 2 and 3 includes a spacing means 21 which can be fixed on the top surface 15a of the joist 14a and a second decking strip similarly fixed to a top surface 15b of an adjacent joist 14b in order to facilitate the location and arrangement of the boards 11 in a parallel fashion and with the required spacing S between boards 11. The spacing means 21 in Figure 2 and 3 includes an elongated strip having a flat continuous unperforated top surface 22. From this top surface 22 extends a plurality of first protrusions 23, 23' (two only being shown) and a plurality of second protrusions 24, 24' (two only being shown) spaced along the length of the top surface 22 in an alternating manner as shown. Protrusion 24 and protrusion 23' are spaced at a distance W apart which corresponds with the width of the parallel boards 11 to be used in forming the deck 10. The distance between the outwardly facing surfaces of protrusion 23 and protrusion 24, and between the outwardly facing surfaces of protrusion 23' and protrusion 24' is a distance S corresponding with the spacing to be achieved between the parallel boards 11 on deck During construction of deck 10, a decking strip 21 can be located and fixed on top surface of joist 14a, and a similar decking strip 21 would be located and fixed on top surface 15b of 6 adjacent joist 14b. The two decking strips now act as location guides for the boards 11 between the two joists 14a and 14b during thc remainder of the constructions of the deck 10. Board 11 is located between protrusion 24 and protrusion 23' on the decking strip fixed to joist 14a, and similarly located between the corresponding protrusions 24 and protrusion 23' on the decking strip fixed to joist 14b. The next adjacent board I Ia fits in between protrusion 24' and protrusion 23" (not shown) on the decking strip fixed to joist 14a and similarly located between the corresponding protrusions 24' and protrusion 23" on the decking strip fixed to joist 14b, consequently the two boards 11, 11 a being easily located and spaced on the joists 14a and 14b with a gap of distance S apart.

An alternative embodiment of decking strip shown in Figure 5 has the protrusion pairs 23 and 24 in Figures 2 3 effectively replaced by a single protrusion 23 having a thickness equal to distance S and a gap between consecutive protrusions 23 equal to a distance W in which the boards 11 can be located for fixing. In this embodiment the protrusions 23 act as solid spacers between boards 11.

As another alternative, the decking strip 21 in Figure 5 may provide the protrusions 23 spaced apart a distance W S so that the actual gap between consecutive protrusions is W S less the thickness of the protrusions. This alternative is also illustrated by the embodiment in Figure 6. In this case the boards 11, 1 la etc. are located in a justified manner against the protrusions 23 as shown in Figure 6 leaving a gap of distance S between adjacent boards 11, Ila.

Advantageously the decking strip may be made of metal, plastic or any other material that will provide sufficient rigidity to enable location and arrangement of the boards 11 on the joist 14 during construction of the deck. The protrusions can be formed by welding metal protrusions 7 on a metal decking strip or by integrally forming plastic protrusions on a plastic decking strip leaving the top surface 22 of the strip 22 unperforated.

Advantageously the decking strips can be fixed to the joists 14 by conventional means such as nailing or screwing or the like and the decking strip 21 can include mounds (not shown) around the nailing positions so as to reduce the chance of the nail itself forming a water collection point.

Preferably the decking strip 21 has a width corresponding to the entire width of the upper surface 15 of the joist so that the upper surface 15 of the joist is not visible or exposed to the elements. Thus the strip can form a protective shield, as can be seen in Figure 5. Preferably the decking strip includes side edges which overhang the sides of the top surface 15 of the joist and with suitable ridges can assist in the location and mounting of the decking strip on the top surface 15 of the joists 14. Alternatively the decking strip may include side extensions or flanges 34 as can be seen for example in Figure 5, which may allow for fixing of the decking strip to the joist from the side of the strip rather than the top, avoiding piercing of the top surface 22 during such fixing.

Preferably the decking strip is provided in standard lengths for stocking, handling transporting convenience and one or more lengths can be used on a single joist 14 as required.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a preferred embodiment of a finite length decking strip that is configured to be mounted end to end with one additional finite length decking strip (shown in broken line) while maintaining continuity in the requisite gaps between consecutive protrusions 23, including those that span a joint between adjacent finite length strips. The decking strip shown in Figures 4 and 5 includes a spacing means 21 having at one end a male portion 35, and the other end a female portion 36 so that the male portion 35' of one decking strip (shown in 8 broken line) can engage the female portion 36 of another decking strip to locate the two elongate sections 21 relative to each other prior to fixing to the joist 14.

As can be seen in Figure 4 the male portion 35 comprises a protrusion 32, and the female portion 36 includes an aperture 33 for receiving the protrusion 32' from another male portion (as shown in Figure 5) during engagement of two decking strips.

Referring to Figure 5 the gap between protrusion 32 and the adjacent protrusion 23 on the same strip is the same as the gap between adjacent pairs of other consecutive protrusions 23.

Similarly the gap between aperture 33 and the adjacent protrusion 23 on the same strip is also the same as the gap between adjacent pairs of other consecutive protrusions 23. During engagement of two strips, the protrusion 32' on one strip extends through the aperture 33 on the next strip and protrudes sufficiently that it serves not only to locate and engage the two strips relative to each other for fixing on the joist 14 but also to locate the respective board 11 (not shown) on the strip and joist 14. Therefore protrusion 32 acts like any other protrusion 23 for locating the boards 11, and also provides a means for joining two decking strips together end to end.

By the appropriate dimensioning of the gaps between the protrusion 32, protrusions 23 and aperture 33 along each strip, then continuity for the spacing between boards 11 will result when strips are joined together end to end along the joist 14.

It is desirable the male portion 35 and each female portion 36 are complementary in shape for example as shown in Figure 5 so when the two are in an engaged relationship the joint does not interfere with the flush mounting of boards 11 across the joint. Furthermore it is also highly desirable that the male portion 35 is also shaped so that it can accommodate the flush mounting of a board 11 even if it is not engaged with a complementary female portion 36 on another strip, for example as shown by the board 11 in Figure The decking strip embodiments shown in Figure 2 to 6 are suitable for use on joists 14 in a deck 10 where the boards 11 are arranged and fixed perpendicular to the respective joist 14. In contrast the decking strip embodiments in Figures 7 to 9 have protrusions configured to accommodate arrangements where the boards 11 are to be fixed on the joist at an angle other than at 900 relative to the joist. Such applications may include patterned decks where the boards are laid askew to the general orientation of the deck. Or in the case of the embodiment in Figure 9, the strip may be employed in a deck that extends around a building corner where a joist extends at 1350 relative to both walls at the corner, and the orientation of the boards are required to change as the deck goes around the corner. In that case boards from each side may be orientated 900 apart with the ends mitred to meet on the joist.

To achieve this, a first set of protrusions 53 extends along one longitudinal half of the decking strip 51 at an angle such as 450 so that the plurality of boards can be mounted parallel at the same consistent 450 angle and with the required spacing between the parallel boards. A second set of protrusions 55 extends along a second elongated half of the decking strip 51 located so as to pair with one of the first protrusions 53 and to be at a complementary angle so as to form a symmetrical decking strip 51. In this way a plurality of second boards can be mounted at a respective 450 angle and meet at an internal central longitudinal line of the decking strip 51.

Advantageously, decking strips may be manufactured in a range of predefined standard lengths and the protrusions may be spaced to accommodate industry standard timber widths and spacing for decking applications. Furthermore the protrusions may be orientated in a range of angles to give the finished pattern of the boards required relative to the underlying joist.

Therefore once the board 11 width is selected for an application, and the desired decking pattern identified, then corresponding decking strips may also be selected for those boards and in accordance with the desired pattern.

It will be seen that the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an easily used and effective system for accurately locating decking boards or the like. The system can provide weather proofing for the joists to prolong the life of the construction. Compared to the prior US patent discussed earlier, the present system is time and labour saving as well as providing the weather proofing advantage.

It is to be understood that various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be made to the features of the possible and preferred embodiment(s) of the invention as herein described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A spacing means for spacing parallel elongated members on a base structure to form a deck, fence, feature wall or the like, the spacing means including: at least one elongated section fixable to the base structure and having an outer surface, and a plurality of protrusions provided on the surface and spaced along the section for locating the elongated members in a parallel arrangement on the surface; and wherein the outer surface of the section is substantially un-perforated so as to substantially completely cover the underlying part of the base structure.

2. A spacing means in accordance with claim 1 wherein the elongated section is shaped and sized to substantially completely cover the surface of the base structure facing the section thereby forming weather protection for that surface of the base structure.

3. A spacing means in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein the base structure is a rectangular or square joist or post and the elongated section includes at least one elongated flange along an edge of the surface forming an L cross-section, to assist locating the spacing means on the base structure for fixing.

4. A spacing means in accordance with claim 3 wherein the elongate section includes two elongated flanges along both longitudinal edges of the section, forming a C cross-section, to assist locating the spacing means on the base structure for fixing.

A spacing means in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the elongated section is made of plastic.

6. A spacing means in accordance with claim 5 wherein the protrusions are plastic protrusions integral with the plastic elongated section.

7. A spacing means in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the spacing means includes a plurality of elongated sections fixable to the base structure arranged end to end prior to fixing. 12

8. A spacing means in accordance with claim 7 wherein each elongated section has at one end a male portion, and at the other end a female portion so that the male portion of one elongate section can engage the female portion of another elongate section to locate the two elongated end to end and maintain the required spacing of protrusions along the two elongated sections prior to fixing to the base structure.

9. A spacing means in accordance with claim 8 where the male portion of each elongated section comprises one of said protrusions, and each female portion includes an aperture for receiving the protrusion constituting the male portion of the adjacent elongated section during engagement of two sections, wherein the protrusion extends through the aperture and protrudes sufficiently that it serves not only to locate the two sections relative to each other for fixing on the base structure but also to locate a respective elongate member on the outer surface. A spacing means for spacing parallel elongated members on a base structure to form a deck, fence, feature wall or the like, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 31st day of May 2001 PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES Attorneys for BRIAN PROUD