AU2004101097B4 - Fencing system - Google Patents

Description

File Note The following specification is for an Innovation application and not a Standard application as stated on the following cover page.

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P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "FENCING SYSTEM" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: O1 o TITLE: FENCING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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1. Field of the Invention THIS INVENTION relates to a fencing system.

In particular, the invention relates to a method of erecting a post-and-rail fence, and the fence erected by the method.

S2. Prior Art 0 There are many requirements for restricting vehicle or animal 0 access to areas such as parks, environmentally-sensitive areas, eg., wetlands, sporting fields and the like.

0 Metal post-and-rail fences can include rails secured to respective posts by D- or J-shaped brackets (passing through aligned pairs of holes in the posts) or sections of rails welded to opposite sides of the posts. Where the rails are secured by the brackets, unauthorised access may be obtained by, eg., pushing against the rails with a vehicle and deforming the rails until at least one end of the rails is released from the brackets (or the brackets may be simply unbolted from the post). Where the rail sections are welded between adjacent posts, erection of the fence can be slow as the rails are usually cut to preselected lengths and cannot be easily secured to the posts if the latter are not positioned at exactly the required spacings.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a fencing system where the resultant fence is strong and resists deformation.

It is a preferred object to provide such a fencing system where the spacing between adjacent posts is not critical.

It is a further preferred object of the present invention to provide such a system where support brackets for the rails may be fitted to the posts on-site or be prefabricated to the posts prior to installation.

It is a still further preferred object to provide a fencing system where the rails are welded to the support brackets so that the resultant fence system is very strong and deforming loads on one section are at least partially transmitted to adjacent sections to minimise unwanted deformation or damage to the fence.

Other preferred objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

Preferably, the present invention, in one aspect, resides in a method of erecting a post-and-rail type fence including the steps of: erecting a plurality of fence posts at desired intervals; welding rail support brackets to the post at desired vertical spacings; laying respective rails on the rail supports of adjacent posts; and welding the rails to the support brackets; wherein: a forward face or end of each rail support bracket is spaced rearwardly of the outermost extremity of the rail which it supports, to minimise injury, by the support bracket, on contact with the fence.

(The term "welding" will include all types of welding, including gas, arc-, TIG-, and MIG- and similar methods such as "brazing".) While the rail support brackets may be welded to the posts insitu, it is preferred that the rail support brackets are welded to the posts in a factory, or off-site, so that the posts are ready to receive and support the rails.

Preferably, the ends of adjacent lengths of the rails are welded together to enable the transfer of loads along the rails.

Preferably, the support bracket, for the lowermost rail, is provided on the post, above the lowermost rail, to minimise obstruction below the lowermost rail.

In a second aspect, the present invention resides in a fence erected by the method.

Preferably, the posts and rails are formed from circular section steel (or other suitable metal).

Alternatively, the posts and/or rails may be formed of square, 3 O rails may be provided with a corrosion-resistant coating, eg., galvanising, powder-coating, paint or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: O FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a section of a fence having 0three rails; 0 FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 2 on a 0larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The fence 10 has three vertical posts 20 provided at selected intervals and secured in the ground 100 by concrete footings (not shown).

The top of each post is sealed by a metal or plastic cap 21. In this embodiment, the posts 20 are formed from circular section galvanised steel, but it will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the crosssection of the post, the selection of metal and the selection of decorativeand/or corrosion-resistant coatings may be varied to suit the particular intended installation.

The fence 10 has three vertically spaced rails 30, 31, 32, provided at selected vertical spacings, where the rails are also manufactured from circular section galvanised steel tube.

The respective ends of adjacent sections of the rails 30-32 are welded together along the length of the fence so that any force applied to any rail 30-32 will tend to be transmitted (usually as a tensile force) along that/those rail(s).

Each rail 30-32 is mounted on a respective post 20 via a rail support bracket 40 to be hereinafter described in more detail.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, each rail support bracket is of substantially triangular shape with a rearward side wall 41 welded to 1- 4

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o the external face of the post 20 by welding deposition 51. The rail 30-32 is "cradled" in a concave upper face 42 and is secured thereto by a welding deposition 52.

Itwill be noted that the inclined frontface43 of the post bracket 40 terminates at a forwardmost point (or face) 43a which is spaced a distance d from the outermost extremity of the rail 30-32. When any person, 0 animal or article contacts the rail 30-32 at or adjacent one of the posts 0 the point of contact will be with the rail, and not with the post support bracket 040, to minimise the likelihood of injury due to the relatively thin crosssectional thickness of the rail support bracket 0 It will be noted that in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lowermost rail 32 is mounted on the post 20 via an inverted post support bracket 40 to minimise obstruction between the lowermost rail 32 and the ground 100. This, eg., allows easy mowing or cutting of grass or weeds along the fence line below the lowermost rail 32. It will be noted, however, that the lowermost rail 32 may be mounted to the post 20 with the post bracket 40 below the rail 32, ie., as for rails 30 and 31.

The number of rails can be varied to suit the particular intended application, as can the vertical spacing(s) between adjacent rails and the horizontal spacing(s) between adjacent posts As hereinbefore described, the post support brackets 40 will be preferably welded to the posts in a factory for prefabricated manufacture.

The posts will then be transported on-site and placed at the desired spacings and located in concrete footings. The rails are then laid on the post support brackets 40 of adjacent posts 20 and are secured to the post support brackets by the welded deposition 42.

The resultant structure is very strong and any loads applied to the rails, tending to deform or damage the fence, will be transmitted along the rails to share the loads to adjacent posts, thereby minimising the likelihood of deformation or damage to the fence. As adjacent ends of the rails are welded together, the tensile loads are not limited to transmission within a particular rail section, but along the rail as a whole. This 0 0 transmission of loads tend to oppose any deforming or bending force which may be applied to the fence, eg., by a vehicle which may attempt to push the

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fence over.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the invention provides a fencing system where the fence may easily and quickly be erected and the resultant fence has maximum strength for the materials 0 for the posts and rails selected.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the 0embodiments described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. A method of erecting a post-and-rail type fence including the steps of: erecting a plurality of fence posts at desired intervals; welding rail support brackets to the post at desired vertical spacings; laying respective rails on the rail supports of adjacent posts; and welding the rails to the support brackets; wherein: a forward face or end of each rail support is spaced rearwardly of the outermost extremity of the rail which it supports, to minimise injury, by the support bracket, on contact with the fence.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, where the rail support brackets are welded to the posts in-situ; or are welded to the posts in a factory, or off-site, so that the posts are ready to receive and support the rails.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein: the ends of adjacent lengths of the rails are welded together to enable the transfer of loads along the rails.

4. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein: the support bracket, for the lowermost rail, is provided on the post, above the lowermost rail, to minimise obstruction below the lowermost rail.

5. A fence erected by the method of any of Claims 1 to 4. DATED this twenty-second day of June 2006. NORTHSIDE FENCING (QLD) PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys FISHER ADAMS KELLY