AU2005211657A1 - Improvements to temporary fencing - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE

SPECIFICATION

FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: ADVANCED NATIONAL SERVICES PTY LTD Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention title: JOHN R.G. GARDNER SUITE 398 ALBERT AVENUE BROADBEACH QLD 4218 IMPROVEMENTS TO TEMPORARY

FENCING

Details of Associated Provisional Application No: 2004905459 filed 23 September 2004 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it know to me:- IMPROVEMENTS TO TEMPORARY FENCING Technical Field This invention relates to temporary fencing and in one aspect, relates to a base for temporary fencing. In another aspect the present invention relates to a gate and panel for temporary fencing.

Background Art Temporary fencing is currently known in which a base formed of concrete is provided with a pair of tubular sockets or holes in which the stiles of temporary fencing panels are inserted to be thereby supported by the base. Whilst this form of temporary fencing has proved effective, the concrete bases which support the fence panels tend to be damaged in use and therefore are not particularly durable and have a limited life.

Other bases of temporary fences are in the form of a hollow plastic vessel which is filled with water or other flowable material for use so as to have sufficient weight to support the fence panels. Bases of this form are unsuitable in some situations as they are required to be filed with water or other flowable material for use.

Panels of temporary fences normally include a pair of upstanding stiles and upper and lower rails between the stiles and an infill material such as a wire mesh.

Adjacent panels are connected by at least upper clamps to support the panels to each other. To form a gate, the clamp for one of the panels is not tightened to the stile so that the panel is free to pivot. This however lowers the panel at its free end such that to serve as a gate, the panel usually is required to be lifted above the ground. This is obviously inconvenient.

The infill material of panels for temporary fences usually comprise a wire mesh.

The mesh which is employed enables the fence panels to be easily climbed so that temporary fencing using these panels is not particularly secure.

Summary of the Invention The present invention aims to provide in one aspect a base member for a temporary fence which can be configured to effectively support at least one upstanding stile of a fence panel and which will be durable in use. The present invention aims in a further aspect aims to provide a gate for temporary fencing. In another aspect, the present invention provides a panel for temporary fencing. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

The present invention thus provides in a first preferred aspect a base member for temporary fencing, said base member comprising an outer skin formed of durable material and defining a side wall or walls of said base member surrounding a hollow interior of said base member, said base member being open its upper and lower sides whereby the interior of said base member may be filled from either the upper or lower sides with a settable material.

Preferably, the base member includes at least one tubular socket for receipt of the lower end of a stile of a fencing panel of the temporary fencing. The base member most preferably includes a pair of tubular sockets for receipt of the lower ends of the stiles of adjacent fencing panels. The tubular socket or sockets suitably extend substantially vertically when the base member is seated on a substantially horizontal surface.

Preferably the tubular socket or sockets are connected to the side wall or walls of the base member. Preferably the base member is of a generally rectangular configuration having a longitudinal axis and the side wall or walls comprise a pair of opposite side walls and a pair of opposite end walls of the base member. The socket or sockets are suitably positioned along the longitudinal axis of the base member.

Preferably supporting ribs extend between the tubular socket or sockets and the opposite side walls of the base member. The ribs suitably lie in a plane or plane extending substantially parallel to the axis or axes of the tubular sockets. The ribs may be at right angles to or angled other than at right angles relative to the longitudinal axis of the base member. Further ribs may extend transversely between the opposite side walls of the base member to provide support to the opposite side walls of the base member. Locating means may be provided on the further ribs for locating and/or supporting reinforcing members such as reinforcing rods. The locating means may be provided on the top and/or bottom edges of the further ribs. The locating means may comprise raised dimple-like projections on the top and bottom edges of the further ribs which define recesses for the reinforcing rods.

Preferably the ribs are formed integrally with the side walls and tubular socket or sockets. Preferably the ribs and tubular socket or sockets are integrally moulded with the side and end walls.

The base member is suitably moulded such as by injection moulding of polypropylene or other plastics material.

Typically the settable material for forming the base member into a weighted base for temporary fencing comprises concrete.

The present invention in a further aspect provided a method of forming a weighted base for temporary fencing comprising supporting at least one base member of the above described type on a substantially horizontal surface such that either said upper or lower side thereof rests on said surface which substantially closes said upper or lower side of said at least one base member, and at least partially filling said base member through its uppermost side with a settable material.

In another aspect, the present invention provides temporary fencing comprising a plurality of fencing panels and a plurality of base members of the type described above, the interiors of said base members being at least partially filled with a settable material.

The present invention in a further preferred aspect provides a gate for temporary fencing of the type having a plurality of fencing panels, each said fencing panel having opposite end stiles and with the lower ends of adjacent stiles of adjacent fencing panels being received within respective sockets of base members of said temporary fencing, and including pivot means pivotally interconnecting said stiles at their upper ends such that one said fencing panel comprises said gate.

Preferably the pivot means includes a socket for rotatably receiving one stile of one fencing panel and means for securing the socket to the adjacent stile of another fencing panel. Preferably the securing means comprises clamping means for clamping the socket to the adjacent stile. The socket most suitably comprises a tubular socket.

The tubular socket has an internal diameter greater than the transverse dimension of one stile to enable rotatable movement of one stile relative to the socket.

In a further preferred aspect, the present invention provides a panel for temporary fencing, the panel having an infill mesh material comprising a plurality of spaced substantially vertical members and a plurality of spaced substantially horizontal members and wherein said members define therebetween a plurality of elongated substantially rectangular openings having their longitudinal axes extending substantially vertically in use.

Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein Fig. 1 and 2 are side and end views respectively of a base member for a temporary fence according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the base member along line A-A of Fig.

2; Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectionals view of the base member along lines B-B and C-C of Fig 3; Fig. 6 is an underside view of the base member; Fig. 7 illustrates the manner in which a temporary fence is formed using the base members of Figs. 1 to 6; Fig. 8 is a plan view of a base member filled with concrete; Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the region D of Fig. 7; and Fig. 10 is a front view of a panel for use in the temporary fence of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs. 1 to 6, there is illustrated a base member 10 for a temporary fence, the base member 10 being of elongated generally rectangular form (but which may be of any other shape) having an outer skin or skirt 11 which defines opposite side walls 12 and opposite end walls 13 of the base member so that the base member 10 has a hollow interior space. The top 14 and bottom 15 of the base member 10 however are open to the hollow interior space. The end walls 13 and side walls 12 may slightly extend around in a radius to the top 14 of the base member 10 as at 16 so as to protect the upper side edges of the base member The base member 10 further includes a pair of hollow tubular sockets 17 located between the side and end walls 12 and 13 with the axes of the sockets 17 being substantially at right angles to the top 14 and bottom 15 of the base member 10. The sockets 17 in this embodiment are arranged along the longitudinal axis X-X of the base member 10 and symmetrically on opposite sides of the transverse central axis of the base member 10. The sockets 17 are joined together by an interconnecting rib 18 which extends along the axis X-X and parallel to the axes of the sockets 17. Further undercut ribs 19 extend from the sockets 17 to the opposite side walls 12 at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis X-X of the base member 10. It will be noted that the ribs 19 have a central first portion 20 adjacent the sockets 17 of a depth substantially less than the length of the sockets 17 with the upper and lower edges of the rib portions 20 being located a substantial distance inwardly of the top 14 and bottom 15 of the base member The ribs 19 further flare outwardly from the central portion 20 as at 21 to join the opposite side walls 12 to provide increased support to the sockets 17. It will be noted also that the outwardly flared portions 21 of the ribs 19 extend from the inner edges of the radiused portions 16 which defines the outer boundaries of the top 14 of the base member Further transverse ribs 22 of similar configuration to the ribs 19 having flared end portions 23 extend between and join the opposite side walls 12 of the base member to support the side walls 12. The transverse ribs 22 have recesses 24 defined between dimple-like projections 25 and the flared end portions 23 and on the upper and lower edges of the ribs 22 for locating reinforcing rods 26 shown in dotted outline in Fig. The side and end walls 12 and 13, sockets 17, ribs 18, 19 and 22 are formed integrally in any suitable moulding process such as by injection moulding and from a durable plastics material such as polypropylene. The plastics is suitably UV stablilised.

The base members 10 described above are used to support fence panels 27 of a temporary fence 28 shown in Fig. 7. The base members 10 for this purpose are initially filled with a settable material such as concrete after placement of reinforcing in the base members 10 such as the reinforcing rods 26 if required. The base members 10 are placed on any substantially horizontal supporting surface such that the base 15 is closed by the supporting surface. Concrete or other settable material 29 (see Fig. 8) is then poured into the interior of the base members 10 from the open top 14 between the side and end walls 12 and 13. The settable material 25 is deposited usually up to the top 14 of the base member 10 where it can be screeded off level with the upper edge of the base member Filling of a base member 10 with settable material may be accomplished with the base member 10 in the position of Figs. 3 to 5 sitting on a flat base or alternatively the base member 10 may be inverted and seated on a flat support surface for filling through the open bottom 15 with in this case the inverted top 14 being substantially closed by the flat base. As the base members 10 are open at the top any identifying markings can be made in the top surface of the concrete 29. Thus the weighted formed bases may be identified with a particular user by the marking which is used.

Alternatively or additionally the concrete or other settable material may be coloured so as to be identified with a particular user. Similarly the undersides may be marked.

The fence panels 27 includes opposite end stiles 30 of tubular form, the lower ends of which define spigots 31 for neat receipt within the tubular sockets 17 of the base members 10. Adjacent stiles 30 of adjacent fence panels 27 received within the sockets 17 of one base member 10 are clamped together by means of clamps 31 at their upper ends such that the erected temporary fence 28 is continuous and stable in use.

To enable one fence panel 27' to act as a gate, a tubular sleeve 32 is located freely over the upper end of the stile 30' as shown in Fig. 9. The tubular sleeve 32 is then clamped by one or more clamps 33 to the stile 30 of an adjacent fence panel 27 to form a hinge. The panel 27' then can act as a gate with the lower end of the stile being supported rotatably in a socket 17 of a base member 10 and the upper end of the stile 30 being supported rotatably in the tubular sleeve 32 which is clamped to the upper end of the stile 30 of the adjacent fence panel 27. The clamp or clamps 33 can be adjusted around the stile 30 of the panel 27 to which it is clamped to lift the lower free end 34 of the panel 27' above the ground to facilitate pivoting of the gate.

The fencing panels 27 in addition to the opposite end stiles 30 has upper and lower rails 35 and 36. A mesh infill material 37 (see Fig. 10) is fixed to the stiles and rails 35 and 36. To resist the possibility of climbing over the panel 27, the mesh material 37 comprises a plurality of upright elements 38 and a plurality of crossing horizontal elements 39. The elements 38 and 39 are arranged relative to each other such that the distance between adjacent upright elements 38 is substantially less than the distance between adjacent horizontal elements 39. Thus the crossing elements 38 and 39 form a plurality of elongated rectangular openings 40 having their longitudinal axis extending parallel to the upright elements 38. The width of the openings 40 is such as to minimise the risks of persons being able to gain a foothold on the mesh material 37.

Typically the openings 40 are of 50mm width and 208 mm in height. These dimensions however may be considerably varied. The elements 38 and 39 in the illustrated embodiment are formed of 4mm wire however again the elements may be of different dimensions. The elements 38 and 39 are joined at crossing points as by welding.

The base member 10 whilst shown to be of an elongated generally rectangular configuration may be of any other configuration. Additionally, the tubular sockets 17 may be arranged in orientations other than that illustrated. For example the sockets 17 may be aligned along an axis extending transversely of the base member. Other forms of support for the sockets 17 may also be provided Furthermore, the base member may also include only one socket 17 or more than two sockets 17 for example additional sockets at opposite ends of the base member The pivot arrangement for forming a gate whilst being particularly suited to the described application may be used in any other application. Similarly the described infill panel may be used in other applications.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative embodiment of the invention, all such variations and modifications thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (24)

1. A base member for temporary fencing, said base member comprising an outer skin formed of durable material and defining a side wall or walls of said base member surrounding a hollow interior of said base member, said base member being open its upper and lower sides whereby the interior of said base member may be filled from either the upper or lower sides with a settable material.

2. A base member as claimed in claim 1 and including at least one tubular socket for receipt of the lower end of a stile of a fencing panel of said temporary fencing.

3. A base member as claimed in claim 2 wherein said base member includes a pair of said tubular sockets for receipt of the lower ends of the stiles of adjacent fencing panels.

4. A base member as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein said tubular socket or sockets extend substantially vertically when the base member is seated on a substantially horizontal surface.

5. A base member as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein said tubular socket or sockets are connected to the side wall or walls of the base member.

6. A base member as claimed in claim 5 wherein said base member is of a generally rectangular configuration having a longitudinal axis and the side wall or walls comprise a pair of opposite side walls and a pair of opposite end walls.

7. A base member as claimed in claim 6 wherein supporting ribs extend between the tubular socket or sockets and the opposite side walls of the base member.

8. A base member as claimed in claim 7 wherein said ribs lie in a plane or plane extending substantially parallel to the axis or axes of the tubular members.

9. A base member as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein said ribs are angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the base member.

A base member as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein further ribs extend between the opposite side walls of the base member.

11. A base member as claimed in claim 10 and including locating means on the further ribs for locating and/or supporting reinforcing members for said base member.

12. A base member as claimed in claim 11 wherein said locating means are provided on the top and/or bottom edges of the further ribs.

13. A base member as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12 wherein said ribs are formed integrally with the side walls and tubular socket or sockets.

14. A base member as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 13 wherein said ribs and tubular socket or sockets are integrally moulded with the side and end walls.

A base member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and moulded of polypropylene or other plastics material.

16. A method of forming a weighted base for temporary fencing comprising supporting at least one base member of the type defined in any one of the preceding claims on a substantially horizontal surface such that either said upper or lower side thereof rests on said surface which substantially closes said upper or lower side of said at least one base member, and at least partially filling said base member through its uppermost side with a settable material.

17. Temporary fencing comprising a plurality of fencing panels and a plurality of base members of the type defined in any one of claims 1 to 15, the interiors of said base members being at least partially filled with a settable material.

18. A gate for temporary fencing of the type having a plurality of fencing panels, each said fencing panel having opposite end stiles and with the lower ends of adjacent stiles of adjacent fencing panels being received within sockets of base members of said temporary fencing, and including pivot means pivotally interconnecting said stiles at their upper ends such that one said fencing panel comprises said gate.

19. A gate as claimed in claim 18 wherein said pivot means includes a socket for rotatably receiving one stile of one fencing panel and means for securing the socket to the adjacent stile of another fencing panel.

A gate as claimed in claim 19 wherein said securing means comprises clamping means for clamping the socket to the other stile.

21. A gate as claimed in claim 20 wherein said socket comprises a tubular socket having an internal diameter greater than the transverse dimension of the stile to enable rotatable movement of the stile relative to the socket.

22. A base member for temporary fencing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

23. Temporary fencing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

24. A gate for temporary fencing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this twenty-third day of September 2005 ADVANCED NATIONAL SERVICES PTY LTD By Their Patent Attorney SJOH1 R G GARDNER