AU2006200793A1 - Clip for a fence picket - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Markoch Pty Ltd Ben Kochanski and Brad March Address of Service is: SHELSTON IP Margaret Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 CCN: 3710000352 Telephone No: Facsimile No.

(02) 9777 1111 (02) 9241 4666 Attorney Code: SW Invention Title: Clip for a Fence Picket Details of Associated Provisional Application No. 2005900850 dated 24 February, 2005 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- -2- Field of the Invention The present invention relates to temporary fencing and in particular, to the attachment of a barrier to a picket.

Background of the Invention The invention has been developed primarily for use in erecting temporary fencing and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use.

It is known to erect cost effective temporary fences by stretching a flexible barrier of fabric, wire or tape between posts or pickets hammered into the ground. One commonly used picket has a generally shaped" cross-section, formed of steel and is well known as a "Star-Picket". The "Star-Picket" is named so because it has three flanges which extend generally radially from a central point in a three pointed star configuration. Two of the flanges are of equal size and a third is slightly longer and includes a series of holes along its length.

Depending on the purpose of the fence, the barrier stretched between the pickets may be a wire, tape, netting or thin sheet type material varying in composition, colour and dimensions. For instance, a high visibility brightly coloured fabric may be used for safety barricades; an open mesh fabric may be used if the fence is used as a control barrier or an electrified wire or tape may be used for animal control.

In the case of fabric sheets and netting, the barrier is secured to the picket with tie wire, fed through the sheet and one of the holes in the longer star-picket flange. The fabric is secured to the picket by twisting the wire with pliers. Excess wire may be trimmed.

-3- The system is cheap and simple however it does have some major drawbacks.

Because the fabric is pierced by the wire, there is a comparatively large loading on the fabric over the small contact area of wire. Over time, this can result in a breakdown of the fabric integrity as it is loaded with forces from wind and/or sediment build up.

In addition, tools are required during installation and removal to twist and cut the wire and the wire is generally not reused. Furthermore, the sharp ends of the wire can be a safety hazard to anyone or anything moving close to the fence.

Wire and tape fences may be constructed by threading the wire or tape through the holes in the pickets. However, this is time consuming and not particularly suitable for temporary fencing which may be erected and pulled down in relatively short periods. As with fabric, tie-wire may also be used to attach wire and/or tape to the posts. While this method rarely presents the same issue of damage to the barrier material, it shares the same disadvantages of waste of tie-wire.

One further major problem applies to electrified wire or tape fences. Some form of insulation must be provided between the electrified tape or wire and the post. Without an appropriate insulator, the electrified fence will short to ground.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention In a first aspect, the invention provides a clip for securing a strand of wire or tape to a picket, said picket including a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, one of said flanges including an aperture, said clip including: a body; -4a pair of mutually opposing arms extending from said body, said arms adapted to resiliently engage a pair of flanges on said picket; retaining means located on said body for retaining said strand; and a finger for engaging within said aperture for preventing movement of said clip longitudinally along said picket.

Preferably, the picket is a star picket having three generally radially extending, longitudinal flanges.

Preferably, the clip is formed of an electrical insulating material so that the strand may be electrified.

Preferably, the strand is a metallic wire or tape for conducting electricity and forming an electrified fence.

Preferably, the finger extends from the distal end of one arm and includes a barb for preventing withdrawal of the finger from the aperture.

Preferably, the retaining means includes a hook, the hook including a slot for locating the strand.

Alternatively, the retaining means includes an eyelet.

Preferably, the retaining means is disposed on a platform, and wherein said platform spaced from the body.

In another aspect, the invention provides a clip for securing a sheet of material to a picket, said picket including a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, said clip including: a body and a pair of mutually opposing arms extending from said body, said arms adapted to resiliently engage a pair of flanges on said picket; wherein said sheet of material is secured on said picket by locating a portion of said sheet between said picket and said clip and engaging said arms on said adjacent flanges.

Preferably, the clip is formed of a resilient material and one of said arms is in the form of a snap locking clip adapted for snap locking engagement with a corresponding flange of said picket.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of a clip in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the clip shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the clip shown in Fig 1 engaged with a starpicket; Fig 4 is a cross-sectional view of the clip shown in Fig. 1 partially engaged with a star picket; Fig. 5 is another cross-sectional view of the clip shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a clip for attaching a wire or tape strand to a picket in accordance with the invention; Figs. 7 and 8 are side and top views of the clip shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is an alternative embodiment of a clip used to secure a wire or tape strand to a picket; Fig. 10 is a top view of the clip shown in Fig. 9 engaged with a star picket; and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of Fig. -6- Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments In a first embodiment, the invention provides a clip 1 to be used to erect a temporary fence by securing a fabric sheet barrier 2 to a star-picket 3 having a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges. As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the clip 1 includes a body section 4 and a pair of mutually opposing arms 5 and 6, extending from said body.

The arms 5 and 6 extend from the body 4 at acute angles a and 3 respectively.

Referring to Fig. 3, the arms 5 and 6 captively resiliently engage a pair of flanges 7 and 8 of the star-picket 3. As can be appreciated, with the fabric 2 sandwiched between the clip 1 and picket 3, the fabric is secured to the picket. By arranging several such pickets in a line, and securing fabric between them a fence-line may be formed.

The clip is intended to be used with a star-picket of the type having a generally "Yshaped" cross-section. That is the star-picket includes three flanges 7, 8 and 9 extending from a central point 10 and extending longitudinally along the picket. Commonly one of the flanges of the star-picket extends marginally further than the other two and includes a linear, array of holes. When constructing a fence, the pickets are aligned so that the longer, holed flange extends perpendicular to the fence line and the barrier abuts the shorter flanges.

However, whilst the invention is described herein with reference to the star-picket, it will be appreciated that the invention may be applied to different but similar configurations of picket. For instance pickets with a different shape or number of flanges.

Returning to Fig. 3, as can be seen the arms 5 and 6 of the clip engage and partially encircle two adjacent flanges 7 and 8. As such, the clip securely captures and is attached to the post with the fabric trapped therebetween.

-7- To aid in positive engagement between the post and the clip, the arms are biased into contact with the flanges to provide a tight gripping fit. This is achieved by including a resilient section within the clip and forming the clip so that the resilient section experiences slightly elastically deformation when it is in position on the picket.

In addition, as will be seen, the resilient section elastically deforms as the clip is attached to, and removed from the picket. In this embodiment, the whole clip is fashioned from a resilient material however, in other embodiments, only a section of the clip, such as the arms and/or body may be of a resilient material.

Referring to the figures, it can be seen that the two arms 5 and 6 are configured differently. The longer of the arms, long arm 6 is configured to hook over and behind one of the flanges 8. The other arm 5 is shorter and configured as a snap lock catch to allow the clip to be readily attached to and removed from the picket. This catch arm 5 is only long enough to allow the clip to be snapped onto the picket. It includes an obliquely cut end 11 to act as a wedge or ramp so that the catch is driven outward and the end of the flange 7 guided into position as the clip is pressed onto the picket.

It will be appreciated that the dimensions and configuration of the picket, largely dictate the dimensions and configuration of the clip. That is in most cases, the clips will be specifically sized to correspond to a particular picket type. However, other factors such as the thickness of the fabric and the properties of the material used to manufacture the clip may impact the clip dimensions.

One design of clip shown in Fig. 5 is manufactured from a high density plastic.

The body section is 4mm thick adjacent the catch end 12 reducing to a thickness of adjacent the hook end 13. The internal length 14 of the clip is 33mm with a long arm 15 and a 12mm catch arm 16. The catch and long arms extend at -8respective angles a and 3 of 700 and 350 from the body section. The width of the clip is around 40mm in this embodiment.

While this embodiment specifies that the clip be manufactured from high density plastic, other material and plastics may also be used. For instance rubber or metal may be used in place of plastic. In the present embodiment the plastic includes UV resistant additives so that the plastic does not break down with exposure to sunlight. In addition, the clip may be coloured depending upon application. For instance, if the fence were to be used as a safety barrier it would be preferable to produce the clip in bright easily visible colours. It may also include a reflective strip on the body of the clip to enhance the clips visibility in road applications, after dark. In other cases, it may be preferable that the clip and fence blend in the surroundings. In such cases a more subdued coloured clip should be used.

Manufacture of the clip will depend upon the material chosen but in this embodiment is extrusion or injection molding.

In use the clip is used to attach a fabric barrier to a star picket. Generally the picket is one of many fence posts, hammered into the ground to form a fence line.

Ideally, the pickets in the fence line are arranged so that the shorter flanges 7 and 8 are aligned with the fence line.

The fabric of choice is rolled out on the ground next to the pickets. To attach the material to a picket, it is positioned adjacent the two smaller flanges 7 and 8 of the picket. The arm 6 of the clip 5 is pushed over one of the flanges 8 with the fabric sandwiched between the clip and picket. Then the body of the clip is pressed towards the picket so that the oblique surface 11 on the catch 5 engages with the adjacent flange -9- 7 of the picket. In this position the oblique surface 11 is disposed such that further pressure tends to deform the resilient section of the picket until the clip snaps into place.

Several clips may be required to secure the fabric to a picket. The fabric is then stretched to the next picket and the process is repeated.

Removal of the clips may be accomplished by forcing the catch 5 of the clip over the flange of the picket in the reverse manner to installation. This may be done by hand or more effectively with the aid of a tool such as a screwdriver.

Another embodiment provides the clip with an integral handle to enable easy attaching and removal of the fence from the picket. The handle can be an extension of the body of the clip adjacent the catch, such that when removing the clip, the handle provides a point to gain purchase and no tool is required.

In addition, another embodiment of the clip shown in Fig 6, is for securing a strand of tape or wire, W, perpendicular to a picket to form a fence line. This clip 1 includes retaining means 17 disposed on the body 4 of the clip for receiving the strand of wire or tape.

The retaining means 17 may be in the form of an eyelet or aperture so the strand may be threaded through, or, as shown in the drawings, a shaped hook 18 so that the strand may be slipped into the hook through an opening 19, rather than threaded through from the end.

While this clip may be used to support any wire or tape it has been specifically designed in the construction of electric fences. When manufactured from an insulating material, such as a suitable insulating plastic, the clip electrically isolates the wire from the post. In this way, the clip allows an electrical charge to be run through the wire so that it can be used as an electrical fence.

To aid in electrically isolating the wire from the post, the retaining means may be spaced from the body of the clip by the platform, 20. The spaced platform helps prevent moisture on the surface of the clip forming an electrical connection to the metal picket.

The hook shown in Fig. 7 includes slots 21 for locating the strand and, at its distal end, an angled catch 22 to prevent the strand unintentionally disengaging from the hook.

The hook is resiliently biased toward a closed position to restrict the width of the opening 19.

As can be seen in Fig. 6, in this clip, the distal end of the long arm 5 tapers and extends to a finger 23. This finger is configured to engage with an aperture in one of the flanges of the picket and thereby prevent the clip from sliding along the length of the picket when attached. The finger may include a barb 24 to be inserted into the hole in the picket to prevent extraction of the finger.

Fig. 9 is an illustration of a further embodiment of the clip, in this embodiment, having an alternative barb configuration. This clip is shown attached to a picket 3 in Figs 12 and 13. The drawing clearly shows the finger and barb engaged with the aperture in one of the flanges of the picket.

From inspection of Fig. 10, it will be noted that the long arm and finger extend from the body to be located in the aperture at an angle of around 45*. This geometry change is necessary to allow the finger to locate in the aperture on the picket but is ultimately dependant on the configuration of the picket.

In use, the clip is attached to the picket in much the same way as explained for the fabric sheet clip. However, it is necessary to select and align the finger with an aperture on the picket. The catch arm may then be snapped in place thereby securing the clip to the picket. A strand of wire, tape or the like may then be engaged in the hook.

-11- It will be appreciated that in a first aspect, the invention provides a clip for securing a fabric to a star-picket. The clip is cheap, easy and quick to install, and reusable. Furthermore, the clip causes little impact on the integrity of the fabric relative to other attachment methods. In a second aspect, the invention provides a clip for securing a strand of wire to a picket to construct a fence. This embodiment is particularly useful when constructing electrified fences. In all these respects, the invention represents practical and commercially significant improvement over the prior art.

The present invention has been described herein by way of example only. Skilled workers in this field will readily recognise many variations and modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the broad inventive concept.

Claims (9)

1. A clip for securing a strand of wire or tape to a picket, said picket including a s plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, one of said flanges including an aperture, said clip including: a body; a pair of mutually opposing arms extending from said body, said arms adapted to resiliently engage a pair of flanges on said picket; retaining means located on said body for retaining said strand; and a finger for engaging within said aperture for preventing movement of said clip longitudinally along said picket.

2. A clip according to claim 1 wherein, the finger extends from the distal end of one arm.

3. A clip according to claim 1 or 2 wherein, the finger includes a barb at its distal end for preventing withdrawal of the finger from the aperture.

4. A clip according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the retaining means includes a hook. A clip according to claim 4, wherein the hook includes a slot for locating the strand.

6. A clip according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the retaining means includes an eyelet.

7. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the retaining means is spaced from the body.

13- 8. A clip according to claim 7, wherein the retaining means is disposed on a platform, and wherein said platform spaced from the body. 9. A clip for securing a sheet of material to a picket, said picket including a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, said clip including: a body and a pair of mutually opposing arms extending from said body, said arms adapted to resiliently engage a pair of flanges on said picket; wherein said sheet of material is secured on said picket by locating a portion of said sheet between said picket and said clip and engaging said arms on said adjacent flanges. 10. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims, further including a resilient section. 11. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein, one of said arms is in the form of a snap locking clip adapted for snap locking engagement with a corresponding flange of said picket. 12. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein, the clip is formed of a resilient material. 13. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein, the clip is formed of an electrical insulating material.

14. A clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein, the picket is a star picket having three generally radially extending, longitudinal flanges. A clip for securing a sheet of material to a picket, said picket including a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, said clip being substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 14-

16. A clip for securing a strand to a picket, said picket including a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges, one of said flanges including an aperture, said clip being.substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED this 2 4 th Day of February, 2006 Shelston IP Attorneys for: Markoch Pty Ltd