AU2007202177A1 - A load-bearing member and a safety barrier apparatus - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Standard Patent Applicant: CellTec Pty. Ltd.

Invention Title: A LOAD-BEARING MEMBER AND A SAFETY BARRIER APPARATUS The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method for performing it known to us: 2 Q) A LOAD-BEARING MEMBER AND A SAFETY BARRIER APPARATUS Field of the invention The present invention relates to a load-bearing member that is used in forming a structure.

_The present invention also relates to a safety barrier apparatus that has particular, although not Cl 10 exclusive, application to safety barriers for surrounding factory machinery.

Background of the invention For safety around hazardous machinery, safety barriers are utilised to keep personnel working about machines at a safe distance.

The layout of safety barriers for any given manufacturing plant depends upon the machinery and the layout of the machinery in plant. Accordingly, installation of safety barriers requires the barriers to be customised to a high degree. For example, the heights of the barrier may differ between different barrier sections and doors in the barrier are required to enable access to machinery, for example, for maintenance.

Typically, conventional safety barriers comprise upright posts fixed to a floor, and metal mesh panels that extend between the posts and that are supported by brackets fixed to respective posts.

The cross-section of a conventional barrier post is shown in Figure 1. The barrier post comprises a central tube with inwardly extending formations that interact with bolts or screws to fasten a post to a footing plate or the floor of the manufacturing plant. The formations also N\Melbourne\ase\Patent\60000-6999\P601O.AU\Specie\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 3 serve to strengthen the post to make up for the relatively small dimension of the central tube. The tube has outwardly extending formations that include arms that form slots for receiving mounting blocks. The mounting blocks engage metal mesh to form the mesh barrier between the posts. The mounting blocks are located in the slots and support the metal mesh. However, the mounting blocks are configured to enable metal mesh to extend only perpendicularly from the side of the post in which the blocks are located.

The barrier post also includes projections that extend outwardly from the central tubular core. The outwardly extending projections include holes to reduce the volume of material included in the post and, thereby, to reduce the weight of the post.

Another form of conventional safety barrier post is shown in Figure 2 and comprises an upstanding tube with a square profile.

In this form of conventional safety barrier, the posts are customised for a particular plant by cutting the posts to the required lengths and then drilling holes at respective ends of the post to receive bolts. The bolts fasten brackets to the post which support mesh barriers between the posts.

In order to customise posts in accordance with this conventional safety barrier. The posts are cut to a selected height. Holes at respective ends of the posts are then drilled and tapped to receive the bolts for support brackets. Then the posts are powder coated to provide a final finish.

This conventional safety barrier suffers the drawback of relatively high labour input for customising N;\Melborne\Case\Pten\600-6999\P6a1O .AU\Specie\P6010-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 4 post heights and holes for attaching brackets. The customisation takes place at the manufacturer's premises, rather than the customer's premises, thereby increasing the cost of the safety barriers and prolonging the time to complete manufacture of the safety barrier.

Additionally, square profile posts in accordance with that shown in Figure 2 require a foot plate to be fitted to the post prior to shipment to the customer.

Packaging and handling posts with the foot plate attached can be difficult and can result in the powder coating on a post being scratched during transport or during packaging by a foot plate fitted on an adjacent post.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a load-bearing member that alleviates one or more of the problems outlined above in respect of safety barrier posts.

It is also an object of the invention to provide the safety barrier that alleviates one or more of the problems outlined above.

The present invention provides an elongate loadbearing member comprising: a tubular frame formed by a plurality of longitudinal webs that are linked at respective longitudinally extending corners of the tubular frame; reinforcing elements for strengthening the tubular frame extending outwardly from at least two adjacent external corners of the frame, adjacent reinforcing elements defining a slot for receiving an engaging means at selective positions along the slot for N: \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\6OOOO-6O999\P6081O.AU\Specia\P60810bA LOAD.doc 15/05/07 5 fastening to the load-bearing member to support a load; and wherein the engaging means is fastenable to the frame by frictionally bearing against a web and the reinforcing elements for supporting a load at a selected position.

The location of the elements to extend outwardly of the corners serves a two-fold purpose. The elements simultaneously serve to strengthen the load-bearing member and form a slot for receiving support means on which loads are supportable. Accordingly, separate load supports and separate strengthening components are not required. This means that, by forming elements that serve both functions, less material is used in constructing the members and, consequently, the members weigh and cost less.

Additionally, the provision of a slot that cooperates with support means to frictionally fasten the support means to the frame support is advantageous because the need for drilling holes into the frame to set a support means at a particular height is avoided. Drilling holes in a frame is a step of customising the frame to a particular application. This step requires time and labour and does not enable the location of the support means to be shifted to another location on the frame without drilling further holes.

Accordingly, the slot has the benefit of reducing the extent to which frames need to be customised to meet the specific needs of a customer. In a further benefit, customers can assemble the frame and support means, thus reducing the input and costs of the manufacturer.

Preferably, the reinforcing elements include at least one flange that defines a groove between the flange and the element and/or the web such that opposed grooves NA\Meborne\Casen\Patent\6OOO-6999P6081O.AU\Specis\P60810-A OAD.doc 15/05/07 6 on adjacent elements define the slot.

Preferably, engaging means is fastenable to the frame by frictionally bearing against a web and the flanges of grooves adjacent to the web for supporting a load at a selected position.

The reinforcing elements are, preferably, resiliently deformable such that a force associated with fastening an engaging means in the slot causes the elements to deflect and thereby frictionally bear against the support means.

The reinforcing elements preferably have a longitudinally extending bore for reducing the quantity of material, and thereby the weight of the load-bearing member, from which the load-bearing member is formed and for receiving fastening elements, for example, for fastening the load-bearing member to other structures.

The placement of bores externally of the tubular frame improves the stability of the load-bearing member when fastened to another structure because a force borne by the load bearing member is spread over a greater area.

The reinforcing elements may have an arrow-head profile with the flanges projecting substantially parallel to the webs and spaced from the webs to define grooves.

The load-bearing member is preferably an extrusion and, more preferably, is an aluminium extrusion.

The webs preferably have corner sections adjacent the longitudinally extending corners of the tubular frame, the corner section have a thickness that is greater than the thickness of a section of the web intermediate the corner sections.

N:\elboune\Caeas\Patent\60000-60999\P60lO.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOADdoc 15/05/07 7 The present invention also provides a load-bearing apparatus comprising: a load-bearing member as described above; and support means including a plate that is slideably retainable in the slot to enable placement of the plate at a selected location, the plate having fastening means for bearing on the web, thereby forcing the plate away from the web to frictionally engage the reinforcing elements that are adjacent the web.

The fasten means preferably comprises screws that pass through the plate to bear on the web. The screws may bear on the corner section or may bear on an intermediate section of the web such that longer screws can be utilised by virtue of a greater clearance between the flanges and intermediate section than the clearance between the flanges and the corner sections.

The present invention also provides a safety barrier apparatus comprising: a plurality of posts, each post having at least one slot formed externally on the post for receiving support means; support means for supporting a barrier member, the support means being co-operable with the slot such that the support means is selectively locatable at positions along the slot and being securable at a selected positions along the slot for supporting a barrier member; barrier members co-operable with the support means for support between adjacent posts to define a safety barrier; and N: \Melbourne\Caees\Patent6o00o- 60999\P60810 .AU\Specis\P60810-A LOADdoc 15/05/07 8 wherein the support means enables the angular disposition of the barrier members relative to the slot to be adjusted.

The selective location of the support means along the slot provides a degree of customisation of the load bearing apparatus. For example, the tube may be a post for a safety barrier and the load may be a metal mesh.

The vertical disposition of the mesh relative to the post can be tailored to specific applications. This is important in industrial applications because the configuration of machinery varies between factories and sometimes within factories for the same machinery.

Additionally, the angular disposition of the load relative to the slot enables a further degree of customisation.

Both degrees of customisation enable standard apparatus, components, for example post and barrier members, to fulfil a wider range of applications.

Therefore, the production of customer-specific components is reduced and greater economies of scale are used.

Preferably, the support means supports the load at a predetermined clearance from the post such that the load is positionable over a range of angles relative to the post without interfering with the post.

The post may be formed in accordance with the loadbearing member defined above.

The support means may include a pair of brackets, each bracket including a plate that is slideably retainable in a slot of the post to enable placement of the plate at a selected location, the plate having N: \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\P6o0l .AO\Specia\P60810-A LOADdoc 15/05/07 9 threaded apertures through which one or more screws pass and bear on the web, thereby forcing the plate away from the web to frictionally engage flanges of reinforcing elements that are adjacent to the web.

The plate may be formed such that the one or more screws pass through the plate to engage corner sections or the intermediate section of the web.

The support means includes a platform extending from the each plate, the platform including means for cooperating with a peripheral part of a barrier member to support the barrier member at a predetermined clearance from the web of a slot on a post.

The co-operating means may comprise a lug such that the lug of each bracket in a slot on a post engages a peripheral part of the barrier member.

The co-operating means may comprise a pivotable element such that the pivotable element of each bracket in a slot on a post engages a peripheral part of the barrier member and enables the barrier member to pivot about an axis defined by the pivotable member, for example, to form a door in the safety barrier.

The co-operating means may comprise one or more holes through which fastening means passes to secure a barrier member to the support means. In one form, the barrier member is framed by angle iron that may be secured to the co-operating means by the fastening means, thereby securing the barrier member to the post.

The barrier members preferably comprise a mesh web fixed within a peripheral frame, the frame comprising tubular elements such that the lugs or pivotable members of the support element are locatable within the hollow of N: \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\P6081O.AU\Specis\P6081O-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 10 a peripheral tubular frame element to support the peripheral frame and mesh web.

The posts may be mounted on foot plates that are fixed to a substrate, such as a floor of a factory, to stabilise the posts in an upright configuration.

The foot plates may be formed to provide middle, off-set or corner mounting of the post relative to the plate.

The posts are preferably fastened to the foot plates by fastening means that passes through the foot plate and into bores of the reinforcing elements of the post.

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: Figures 1 is a cross section of a conventional safety barrier post and a barrier coupled to the post.

Figure 2 is an isometric view of conventional safety barrier post.

Figures 3A to 3C are isometric views of an embodiment of an elongate load-bearing member in accordance with the present with three embodiments of support means in the respective figures.

Figure 4 is a cross-section of the load-bearing member in Figures 3A to 3C.

Figures 5A to 5E are isometric views of the load- N: \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\6081O.AU\Specia\P6810-A L)AD.doc 15/05/07 11 bearing members in Figure 3 joined with various brackets to form a right-angle connection between the load bearing members.

Figure 6 is an isometric view of a safety barrier apparatus in accordance with the present invention assembled to form a safety barrier.

Figures 7A to 7F are isometric views of mounting plates for mounting posts of the safety barrier apparatus in Figure 6.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment Referring to Figure 3A and Figure 4, one embodiment of the present invention is a load-bearing member in the form of a post The post 10 is an extrusion of aluminium, but may otherwise be formed of other suitable materials, for example steel, light weight metals, composites or plastics, and may be formed by other forming methods.

The post 10 comprises a tubular structure with a square profile. The tubular structure of the post 10 is formed by walls 20 joined at corners 30. It should be appreciated, however, that other profile shapes may be used in place of a square profile, provided the profile includes one or more straight sides for forming a slot.

The post 10 further comprises a ridge 40 extending from corners 30 to define slots 46 between ridges 40 on adjacent corners The walls 20 each include a center section 22 extending the length of the wall 20 that has a thickness that is less than the thickness of corner sections 24 of N:\Melbourne\Cases\Patent\6000060999\p6o8lo.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07

I

12 the walls 20 that are adjacent to the corners The ridges 40 are external of the tube formed by walls 20 and extend outwardly from corners 30 of the post 10. The ridges 40 have an arrow head profile and include a bore 44 drilled through the ridge to reduce the quantity of material contained in the post 10 and also to provide a bore in which screws and/or bolts can be located to fasten the post to a floor or other structure.

Each ridge 40 includes flanges in the form of lips 42 that extend a short distance from a ridge 40 toward an adjacent ridge 40 and define a groove 43 between the lip 42 and the corner section 22 and/or ridge 40. The combination of opposed grooves 43 define a channel or slot 46 bound by wall 20 and the ridges The ridges 40 and the corner sections 24 strengthen the post 10 and enable the post 10 to withstand greater loads than posts with reinforcing formations formed internally of the tubular structure formed by walls Posts 10 can be utilised as load-bearing members to form more complex structures than mere upright posts. For example a right angled structure comprising two posts each having a 450 bevel, can be formed with a right-angled bracket 80A (Figure 5A) that fits inside slots 46 of the respective posts 10. The right-angle bracket 80A is retained within the slots 46 by friction fit generated by the interaction caused by grub screws 54 contacting the corner sections 24 of the wall 20 and forcing the edges of the right-angle bracket 80A to contact the lips 42 (Figure 4A). The interaction between the slots 46, bracket 86A and grub screws 54 is described later in respect of a safety barrier.

Similar right angle joints can be formed to retain N:\Melburne\Case\Patent\60000-60999\P6oaloAU\Speci\P6081 0 .A LOAdoc 15/05/07 13 posts 10 by joint plate 80B (Figure 5B) which includes a catch plate that rests in the slot 46 and by L-bracket (Figure 5D), both of which engage slots 46 of respective posts 10 for a friction fit by interaction of grub screws 54 with slots 46.

An alternative form of right angle joint between posts 10 is L-bracket 80C (Figure 5C). The L-bracket differs from the L-bracket 80D by engaging ends of respective posts 10 and is secured to the ends of posts by screws that located within bores 44 of the ridges In another form of structure, two posts 10 can be joined to form a contiguous structure (Figure 5E). The posts 10 are joined by a junction plate 80E that fits in respective slots 46 of posts 10 for a friction fit by virtue of grub screws 54 engaging the slots 46 in the same manner as the friction fit of right-angle bracket 8A with respective posts An embodiment of a safety barrier in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in Figure 6. The safety barrier comprises a series of posts 10 fitted with brackets 50 (Figure 3A) that support mesh panels between adjacent posts.

The mesh panels 90 comprise hollow perimeter frame members 92 that are formed of metal tube and a web of metal mesh located within the perimeter defined by frame members 92. The mesh is typically welded to the frame members 92 to provide strong mesh panels The hollow frame members 92 have a square profile with a side length of 25 mm and receive lugs 60 or plugs 74 of respective brackets 50 or Support means in the form of brackets 50 are N:\Melbourne\Caaes\Patent\60000-60999\P601 O.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOAD~doc 15/05/07 r 14 locatable in the slot 46 and slid along the slot 46 to a desired location.

Each bracket 50 includes a plate 52 that fits in the slot 46. The plate 52 has shoulders (not shown) that extend into the grooves 43 of adjacent ridges 40 to retain the bracket 50 slidably moveable within the slot 46 (Figure The plate 52 includes tapped holes (not shown) through which grub screws 54 extend.

SThe plate further includes an arm 58 extending CI outwardly from the plate away from the wall 20 to define a platform on which a lug 60 is mounted. The lug 60 engages the hollow of a peripheral frame member 92 of a metal mesh panel 90 forming a barrier. The frame member 92 is engaged by opposed lugs 60 such that the frame member 92 is pivotable on the lugs and can be located at a chosen angle relative to the post 10. Accordingly, the post and brackets 50 enable a safety barrier to be customised with mesh panels 90 that extend perpendicularly from posts or at other angles from posts Hinge brackets 70 (Figure 3B) replace brackets 50 to hingeably mount a mesh panel 90 on a post 10 to form an access door in a safety barrier.

The hinge brackets 70 include the same post engaging plate 52 and grub screws 54. Additionally, the arm 58 of hinge brackets 70 includes a bolt 72 and a plug 74 pivotally mounted on the bolt 72 to provide a hinge. The plug 74 engages a hollow of a peripheral frame member 92 of a mesh panel 90'. To enable access to areas cordoned off by the safety barrier, a mesh panel 90' may be hung from hinge brackets 70 to form a door in the safety barrier (Figure 6).

The lugs 60 and plugs 74 are spaced from the walls N:\Melbourne\Case\Patent\6OOOO-60999\P6O81O.AU\Specia\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 15 by a distance such that when a vertical frame member 92 of a mesh panel 90 and 90' is located on respective upper and lower lugs 60 or plugs 74 of brackets 50 and respectively the mesh panel 90, 90' is able to pivot about an axis defined between the respective lugs 60 such that the panel can be located at a range of angles relative to the upright post 10. That is, to extend perpendicularly from the post 10 relative to the wall 20 or nonperpendicularly from the post 10 relative to the wall The angular disposition of the mesh panels 90 and relative to the posts 10 is enabled by a clearance defined between the lugs 60 and the walls 20 of a post The clearance enables a vertical frame member 92 to pivot about the axis defined between the respective lugs without being impeded by walls 20 of the posts In applications requiring that mesh panels 90 and have greater strength, brackets 64 (Figure 3C) are used. The brackets 64 include a plate 52 that is drilled and tapped to receive grub screws for mounting the brackets 64 to the posts 10 in the same manner described above with respect to brackets 50 and The bracket 64 further includes an arm 58 in which three holes 66 are drilled. The holes 66 are aligned parallel to the post 10 when the bracket 64 is mounted to the post 10. The particular number and configuration of holes 66 will vary depending on the requirements for a particular application.

Fastening means in the form of bolts 68 pass through holes 66 in the bracket 64 and through a frame member 92 of a mesh panel 90 having frame members 92 formed of angle iron, optionally 40x40mm or 50x50mm angle iron.

The brackets 64 also enable extrusions, for example, N \Melbourne\Casea\Patent\60000-60999\P6081 .AU\SpeciB\P60810-A LCAD.doc 15/05/07 16 in the form of the extrusion in Figure 1 to form frame members of a panel in the safety barrier. The extrusion in Figure enables a cladding material, such as polycarbonate sheet, toughened glass or safety glass to form part of the safety barrier. The extrusion in Figure 1 allows mounting of these cladding materials by inserting the cladding material into a tee slot in which the mounting block in Figure 1 is located. The cladding material is held in the tee slot by a rubber glazing wedge.

Each post 10 is mounted on a foot plate 94 that is fastened to a floor by bolts 96.

Customisation of the safety barrier can be achieved by cutting posts 10 to the desired lengths and then fitting mesh panels 90 at desired heights along the length of the posts by utilising brackets 50 and 70 to locate the mesh panels at desired heights.

The brackets 50 and 70 frictionally engage with slots 46 of the posts by increasing the extent to which grub screws 54 extend from a rear side of plate 52 to engage wall 20 of the post 10. Increasing the extent to which the grub screws 54 extend beyond the plate 52 causes the grub screws to contact the wall 20 and thereby push the plate 54 away from the wall 20. Movement of the plate 52 away from the wall 20 is impeded by lips 42 of respective adjacent ridges 40 such that the plate 52 frictionally engages the lips 42 and securely holds the bracket 50 or 70 at a desired location along slot 46 of the post 10. The same secure frictional fitting applies with right angle 80A joint plate 80B, L-bracket 80D and junction plate Supplying safety barrier components to meet customer-specified requirements is simplified by providing a range of standard mesh panel 90 sizes and cutting N: \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\P6081O.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 17 Slengths of posts 10 to fulfil the requirements.

As the distance between the opposing sides of the posts 10 is 86 mm and when brackets 50 are applied to the posts 10, the lugs 60 on brackets 50 that are located on opposite sides of a post 10 are spaced by 100 mm.

Therefore, the task of determining the necessary mesh panel 90 sizes is facilitated by determining the number of posts required and subtracting a multiple of 100 mm from the overall length of the safety barrier required to Sprovide the length of mesh panels 90 required to fulfil CI the needs of a customer.

Depending on the placement of a post 10 relative to walls or machinery, a suitable foot plate 92 is selected.

The range of footplates 92 includes a corner mount foot plate 92A (Figure 6A), middle mount foot plate 92B (Figure 6B), offset mount foot plate 92C (Figure 6C), narrow foot middle foot plate 92D (Figure 6D), raised offset foot plate 92E (Figure 6E) and raised middle foot plate 92F (Figure 6F).

Raised footplates 92E and 92F are spaced from the floor by bosses 94 formed integrally with the foot plates 92E and 92F and which space the mounting plate above the level of a floor on which the bosses 94 are located.

Each foot plate 92A to 92F includes four apertures 96 through which bolts or screws may be passed to engage bores 44 formed in ridges 40 of the posts 10 and thereby secure a post 10 to a foot plate 92A to 92F.

Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other country.

N:\Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\P6081OAU\Specis\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 18 Many modifications may be made to the preferred Sembodiment of the present invention as described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that the term "comprises" or Sits grammatical variants as used in this specification and claims is equivalent to the term "includes" and is not to CI 10 be taken as excluding the presence of other features or 0 elements.

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Claims (21)

1. An elongate load-bearing member comprising: a tubular frame formed by a plurality of longitudinal webs that are linked at respective longitudinally extending corners of the tubular frame; reinforcing elements for strengthening the tubular frame extending outwardly from at least two adjacent external corners of the frame, adjacent reinforcing elements defining a slot for receiving an engaging means at selective positions along the slot for fastening to the load-bearing member to support a load; and wherein support means is fastenable to the frame by frictionally bearing against a web and the reinforcing elements for supporting a load at a selected position.

2. An elongate load-bearing member as defined in claim 1, wherein the reinforcing elements include at least one flange that defines a groove between the flange and the element and/or the web such that opposed grooves on adjacent elements define the slot.

3. An elongate load-bearing member as defined in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the engaging means is fastenable to the frame by frictionally bearing against a web and the flanges of grooves adjacent to the web for supporting a load at a selected position.

4. An elongate load-bearing member as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing elements are resiliently deformable such that a force associated with fastening an engaging means in the slot causes the elements to deflect and thereby frictionally N\Melbourne\Casea\Patent\6D000-60999\P60810 AU\Specia\P60810-A LOAD.doc 15/05/07 20 bear against the support means.

An elongate load-bearing member as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing elements have a longitudinally extending bore for receiving fastening elements to fasten the load-bearing member to other structures.

6. An elongate load-bearing member as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing elements have an arrow-head profile with the flanges projecting substantially parallel to the webs and spaced from the webs to define grooves.

7. An elongate load-bearing member as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the load-bearing member is an extrusion.

8. A load-bearing apparatus comprising: a load-bearing member as defined in any one of the preceding claims; and engaging means including a plate that is slideably retainable in the slot to enable placement of the plate at a selected location, the plate having fastening means for bearing on the web, thereby forcing the plate away from the web to frictionally engage the reinforcing elements that are adjacent the web.

9. A safety barrier apparatus comprising: a plurality of posts, each post having at least one slot formed externally on the post for receiving support means; support means for supporting a barrier member, N:\Melbourne\Cases\Patent\6OOOO.60999\P6081O.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOAf.doc 15/05/07 21 the support means being co-operable with the slot such that the support means is selectively locatable at positions along the slot and being securable at a selected positions along the slot for supporting a barrier member; barrier members co-operable with the support means for support between adjacent posts to define a safety barrier; and wherein the support means enables the angular disposition of the barrier members relative to the slot to be adjusted.

A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the support means supports the load at a predetermined clearance from the post such that the load is positionable over a range of angles relative to the post without interfering with the post.

11. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein each post is a load-bearing member as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7.

12. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the support means includes a pair of brackets, each bracket including a plate that is slideably retainable in a slot of the post to enable placement of the plate at a selected location, the plate having threaded apertures through which one or more screws pass and bear on the web, thereby forcing the plate away from the web to frictionally engage flanges of reinforcing elements that are adjacent to the web.

13. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the plate is formed such that the or each screw passes through the plate to engage corner sections or an intermediate section of the web. N:\Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60OO.60999\P6O81O.AU\Specis\P60810-A LOADdoc 15/05/07 22

14. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the support means includes a platform extending from the each plate, the platform including means for co-operating with a peripheral part of a barrier member to support the barrier member at a predetermined clearance from the web of a slot on a post.

A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the co-operating means comprises a lug such that the lug of each bracket located in a slot on a post engages a peripheral part of the barrier member.

16. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the co-operating means comprises a pivotable element such that the pivotable element of each bracket in a slot on a post engages a peripheral part of the barrier member and enables the barrier member to pivot about an axis defined by the pivotable member to form a door in the safety barrier.

17. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein the co-operating means comprises one or more holes through which fastening means passes to secure one of the barrier members to the support means.

18. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the barrier members comprise a mesh web fixed within a peripheral frame, the frame comprising tubular elements such that the lugs or pivotable elements of the support element are locatable within the hollow of a peripheral tubular frame element to support the peripheral frame and mesh web.

19. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in any one of claims 9 to 17, wherein the posts are mounted on foot plates that are fixed to a substrate, such as a floor of a N \Melbourne\Cases\Patent\60000-60999\P601O.AU\Speci\P60810.A LOAf.doc 15/05/07 23 factory, to stabilise the posts in an upright configuration.

A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 19, wherein the foot plates are formed to provide middle, off- set or corner mounting of the post relative to the plate.

21. A safety barrier apparatus as defined in claim 19 or and claim 11, wherein the posts are fastened to the foot plates by fastening means that passes through the foot plate and into bores of the reinforcing elements of the post. N:\Melbourne\Caoes\Patent\60000-60999\P6081O.AU\SpeCi 8 \P60810-A LOAndOC 15/05/07