AU2011100688A4 - Method of forming posts and associated components - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract A method of constructing wall or fence posts from constituent assemblies is described. Each post is formed from two elongate post constituent. Different constituent shapes can be interchanged to provide numerous different post 5 configurations. 34 34 -32 38 28 Fig. 1 28 I!pmmmumu:50 5 0 Fig. 2 10 10a 12-- 46' 46 12 12 12 30,, x30 3b 20 -60 Fig. 3 12 Fig. 4 10b 10 20 -160 12 -12 12- -52 "-60 E ,20 12 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 10d /20 10e 64 ,60 4 2 40 12 12 42 40 12 Fig. 7 Fig. 8

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION For an Innovation Patent Invention title: "METHOD OF FORMING POSTS AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS" Applicant: WALLMARK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD Associated provisional applications: The following statement is a full description of the invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 "METHOD OF FORMING POSTS AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS" Field of the Invention The present invention relates to posts used within fencing and walling 5 systems. Background to the Invention It is known to form fences, retaining walls and the like using posts spaced at intervals, with the posts having vertical slots within which fencing slats or 10 panels can be located. Adjacent posts are spaced with their respective vertical slots being parallel and aligned. This system of post and slat fencing requires the manufacture of a number of different styles of post. Where a post is to form a joint in the middle of a wall, it requires two slots, one on either side. Where a post is to form an end of a 15 wall, it requires a single slot. Where a post is to form the intersection of two walls, it may require two, three or four slots, depending on the configuration of walls being constructed. It will be appreciated that the manufacture of many different styles of post presents added complication in manufacture, and also inventory management 20 issues for both manufacturers and installers. One method of addressing this problem is to make posts having four slots spaced an 900 intervals, with covers being inserted to cover any unused slots when a wall is formed. This is an inefficient solution, and presents the potential for an unsightly result if the cover becomes damaged or dislodged 25 over time. Additionally, this could cause a significant weakening of the fence or wall. The present invention seeks to provide a method of constructing posts which is more satisfactory than the covering solution suggested above, used alone. The method has further advantages, such as the potential for angled joins, 30 which will become apparent.

3 Summary of the Invention According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a post constituent portion, the post constituent portion being elongate, the post portion having an outer side and an inner side, the outer side being arranged 5 to form a portion of a post exterior, and the inner side having coupling means, whereby a plurality of post constituent portions can be coupled together to form a single post. It is preferred that a post can be formed by the coupling of two such post portions. 10 The coupling means may comprise at least one elongate projection, whereby at least one elongate projection of a first post portion is arranged to engage with at least one elongate projection a second post portion. In a preferred embodiment, the coupling means includes two elongate projections, one of which includes a receiving portion for receiving an elongate projection of 15 another post portion. The outer side of the post portion may include opposed post corners. The post corners may include receiving means for receiving covering members used in conjunction with the present invention. It is considered desirable that the post portions be constructed in two forms: 20 an open one in which a slot for fencing slats or panels is open between the corners on the outer side of the post portion, and a closed one in which no slot is open between the corners on the outer side of the post portion. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of constructing a post, the method including the steps of providing at 25 least two elongate post constituent portions, each post constituent portion having an inner side including coupling means, and coupling the post constituent portions together to form a post. Brief Description of the Drawings 30 It will be convenient to further describe the invention with reference to two preferred embodiments of the post construction method of the present invention, one embodiment relating to square posts and one to round posts. Other embodiments are possible, and consequently the particularity of the 4 following discussion is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a cross section of a square closed post constituent portion in accordance with the present invention; 5 Figure 2 is a cross section of a square slotted post constituent portion in accordance with the present invention; Figures 4 to 9 are cross sections of different square posts formed by the combination of post constituent assemblies of Figure 1 and/or Figure 2; Figure 10 is a cross section of a round closed post constituent assembly in 10 accordance with the present invention; Figure 11 is a cross section of a round slotted post constituent assembly in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 12 to 17 are cross sections of different round posts formed by the combination of post constituent assemblies of Figure 10 and/or Figure 11. 15 Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Figure 3 shows a cross section of a square post 10 having two slots 12 on opposite sides. The post 10 is suitable for use as a joint in a section of a straight wall (not shown), with panels or slats extending away from the post 10 20 on the sides of the slots 12. The general outside shape of the post 10 is well known. In contrast to other posts of this general shape, the post 10 is formed from two square closed post constituent portions 20. The cross sectional shape of each such post constituent portion 20 is shown in Figure 1. 25 The post constituent portion 20 is elongate, having a constant cross sectional shape. It will be appreciated that the post constituent portion 20 may be formed by extrusion. The length of any given post constituent portion will be determined by the height of the fence or wall to be formed. The following description relates to the cross sectional characteristics of the 30 post constituent portion 20. It will be appreciated that the term 'length', used in this context, refers to a cross sectional dimension, not the arbitrary length of the post constituent portion referred to in the preceding paragraph.

5 The post constituent portion 20 has an inner side 22 and an outer side 24. Two post corners 26 are located on the outer side 24, at spaced sides. Each post corner 26 is substantially square, with a side length slightly greater than one quarter of the width of the post constituent portion 20. Each post corner 5 26 therefore has four outwardly facing sides: a first side 28 representing a portion of the outer side 24 of the post constituent portion 20; a second side 30 opposite the first side 28 and thus facing towards the inner side 22 of the post constituent portion 20; a third side 32 facing away from the other post corner 26 and a fourth side 34 facing towards the other post corner 26. 10 The two post corners 26 are joined by a cross member 36 and an outward facing member 38. The cross member 36 represents a continuation of the second sides 30 of the post corners 26, connecting the respective second sides 30 of the two post corners 26. The outward facing member 38 represents a continuation of the first sides 28 of the post corners 26, 15 connecting the respective first sides 28 of the two post corners 26. When viewed from the outer side 24, the two first sides 28 and the outward facing member 38 combine to form a single, smooth outer face of the post constituent portion 20. The post constituent portion 20 includes coupling means in the form of a first 20 elongate projection 40 and a second elongate projection 42. These extend away from the cross member 36 towards the inner side 22 of the post constituent portion 20. Each of the elongate projections 40, 42 represents a continuation of a fourth side 34 of a post corner 26. Each of the elongate projections is of a similar length to the respective fourth side 34 of the 25 corresponding post corner 26. The first and second elongate projection 40, 42 differ at their innermost ends, that is the ends remote from the cross member 36. It is this difference which prevents the post constituent portion 20 from being symmetrical. The first elongate projection 40 is straight along its entire length. The second elongate 30 projection 42 has a 'dog leg' bend 44 about three quarters of the distance from the cross member 36 to the inner end of the second elongate projection 42. The bend 44 is such that the inner most quarter of the second elongate projection 42 is laterally spaced towards the first elongate projection 40 by the 6 width of the elongate projections 40, 42. This represents a receiving portion of the second elongate projection 42. The post 10 can therefore be formed by taking two post constituent portions 20; turning one to face the other so that their inner sides 22 are facing; 5 aligning the first elongate projection 40 of one with the second elongate projection 42 of the other; and bringing them together so that the inner end of each first elongate projection 40 abuts the bend 44 in the aligned second elongate projection 42. It will be appreciated that the post 10 thus formed has two smooth opposed 10 post exterior sides, formed by the respective outer faces of the post constituent portions 20. The slots 12 on the other two faces are formed by the second sides 30 of opposed post corners 26, together with a back wall 46 formed by the first elongate projection 40 of one post constituent portion 20 coupled to the second elongate projection 42 of the other post constituent 15 portion 20. The second sides 30 of each post corner 26 include a groove 50 located near the third side 32 of the post corner 26. The groove 50 is sized and shaped to receive an edge of a covering member 52, and represents a receiving means for the covering member 52. 20 A covering member 52 may be simply a flat portion of post material having tongues 54 arranged to locate within two grooves 50. Such a covering member may be located between opposed grooves 50 on one side of the post 10, in order to covert the post 10 to a square end post 1Oc, as shown in Figure 6. 25 Figure 2 shows an alternative post constituent portion, being a square open post constituent portion 60. The open post constituent portion 60 differs from the closed post constituent portion 20 in two respects: it is formed without the outward facing member 38; and it includes grooves 50 located on each fourth side 34 of each post corner near the first sides 28, in addition to the grooves 30 50 located on the second sides 30. Post constituent portions 20 and 60 can be combined to achieve different posts. Figure 4 shows a T-junction post 10a, formed by coupling one closed post constituent portion 20 to an open post constituent portion 60. This post 1Oa has three slots 12 spaced at 900 intervals: the two of the joint post 10 and 7 a third formed by the fourth sides 34 of the post corners 26 and the cross member 36 of the open post constituent portion 60. Figure 5 shows a four-junction post 10b, formed by coupling two open post constituent portions 60. This post 10b has four slots 12 spaced at 900 5 intervals: the two of the joint post 10 and one formed by the open outer side of each of the post constituent portions 60. Figure 7 shows an elbow-junction post 10d, formed in the same way as the T junction post 10a but with a covering member 52 closing off one of the slots formed between the two post constituent portions 20, 60. 10 Figure 8 shows an angled joint post 10e. The angled joint post 10e is formed by two open post constituent portions 60, together with an inner covering member 62 and an outer covering member 64. The inner and outer covering members 62, 64 are formed similarly to the covering member 52, but the inner covering member 62 is smaller than the 15 covering member 52, and the outer covering member is larger than the covering member 52. The two post constituent portions 60 are located with their respective inner sides disposed at an angle to each other. This means that the respective first and second elongate projections 40, 42 located at the 'wide' end of the post 20 10 are not coupled, with only the elongate projections 40, 42 at the 'narrow' end of the post being coupled. The inner covering member 62 locates between grooves 50 of the respective second sides 30 of the post corners 26 at the narrow end, while the outer covering member 64 locates between grooves 50 of the respective second sides 30 of the post corners 26 at the 25 wide end. The relative angles of the slots 12 formed by the open outer sides 24 of the post constituent portions 60 can thus be set by appropriate choice of the sizes of the inner and outer covering members 62, 64. Figures 9 to 15 show closed and open round post constituent portions 70, 72 corresponding to the closed and open square post constituent portions 20, 60. 30 The differences between the square post constituent portions 20, 60 and the round post constituent portions 70, 72 are that the first and third sides 28, 32 of each post corner have been replaced with a single part-cylindrical corner portion 74, and the outward facing member 38 of the closed post constituent portion 20 has been replaced with a part-cylindrical outward facing member 8 76 in the closed post constituent portion 70. Similarly, the straight covering members 52 have been replaced with part cylindrical covering members 78. The effect is the same, with the square posts configurations 10 shown in Figures 3 to 7 corresponding to round post configurations 80 shown in Figures 5 11 to 15. Figure 16 shows a T-junction post 82 formed by a combination of a closed square post constituent portion 20 and an open round post constituent portion 72. Other such combinations will be apparent to a skilled addressee. It is noted that each post 10, 80, 82 will require capping, and that this capping 10 may assist in coupling of the respective post constituent portions to each other. It will be apparent to a skilled addressee that many forms of capping could be used to achieve this task, and the precise nature of the capping is outside the scope of the present application. Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are 15 deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. A post constituent portion, the post constituent portion being elongate, the post portion having an outer side and an inner side, the outer side being arranged to form a portion of a post exterior, and the inner side having 5 coupling means, whereby a plurality of post constituent portions can be coupled together to form a single post.

2. A post constituent assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a post can be formed by the coupling of two such post portions.

3. A post constituent assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein 10 the coupling means comprises at least one elongate projection, at least one elongate projection of a first post portion being arranged to engage with at least one elongate projection a second post portion.

4. A method of constructing a post, the method including the steps of providing at least two elongate post constituent portions as claimed in any 15 preceding claim, and coupling the post constituent portions together to form a post.

5. A post constituent portion as hereinabove described with reference to Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 9 or Figure 10. 20 WALLMARK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys ARMOUR IP P2051AUO0 25