AU737858B2

AU737858B2 - Surveyor's peg

Info

Publication number: AU737858B2
Application number: AU58347/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Paul Nuske
Original assignee: LAPSI Pty Ltd
Current assignee: LAPSI Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-03-11
Filing date: 1998-03-11
Publication date: 2001-08-30
Anticipated expiration: 2018-03-11
Also published as: AU5834798A

Description

if' P/00/01i1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 4

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "SURVEYOR'S PEG" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: This invention relates to a surveyor's peg and sighting means. The surveyor's peg and sighting means of the invention provides a marker by which a surveyor may leave a reference in a chosen location.

The sighting means is to provide a visual indication of the location of the surveyor's peg to enable someone to find an associated peg. For the sake of convenience the sighting means will be referred to herein as a post.

The invention encompasses a means that provides a visual marker to someone standing some way off from the peg.

Surveyors utilise pegs, often timber, which are driven into the ground as a means to make reference points. Timber pegs may be lost to termites and fungi. Metal pegs may corrode. Short pegs may be readily removed and their position lost accidentally.

0 go• o 0 0: It is common to associate a sighting means in the form of a post with a reference means or surveyor's peg. The common sighting post is the common steel 'star' picket. When mining companies and the like are working over country used for grazing, the star pickets are a source of injury to cattle. There is a need for an improved system, which does not result in injury to stock.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved surveyor's peg and sighting means which is more resilient and reliable in use and provides a sighting means, which can stand to the requisite height without constituting a hazard to stock and the like.

The invention achieves its object in the provision of a surveyor's peg and sighting means, the surveyor's peg having: a ground penetrating means; and a head presenting a substantially flat, blank end at which the peg may be struck, in use, to drive it into the ground; 15 the head detachably engaging peripherally with a support means fitted, in use, over the head; the support means operatively supporting the sighting means thereabove, in :0 use, to stand the sighting means above the surveyors peg.

The above defined surveyor's peg is ideally adapted to have a support :o 20 means in the form of a cap screwed thereon, effective to establish a releasable sighting means support, which cap stands a sighting means over the surveyor's peg.

In practice, what might be stood thereof is a peg, post or pole means, ideally flexible, S being the surveyor's sighting post, said sighting post being projected or oriented general!y vertically off, or coaxially with, said surveyor's reference peg. Ideally the poet is a le' of extruded plastic or the like.

25 -c isalII~~o xrddpatco h i The invention will now be described with reference to preferred embodiments, which are shown in the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a surveyor's peg in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; FIGS 2 to 4 are detailed end and side views of the peg of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are sectional and end views of a post support or end cap in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and FIGS. 8 to 9 are a sectional end view of another end cap.

In FIG. 1 is seen a side elevation of a reference means (hereinafter 10 referred to as a surveyor's peg or peg for convenience) in accordance with the invention. Peg 10 has a head or top end 11, above a ground engaging means 12 (hereinafter referred to as a shaft for convenience), leading to bottom end, point or tip 16. The shaft 12 is preferably formed with axial blades, flanges or wings, such as wing 13, which ideally may be perforated, holed, or recessed, such as the hole at 14. The holes or recesses, such as hole 14, have the advantage that when the peg has been driven into the ground, the soil which has been spread, to permit passage of the blade, to be compressed in the process, relaxes and fills back into the recess or hole, to bridge the hole in the blade for example, and resist its withdrawal. The holes also serve to reduce material requirements. The wing 13 tapers at 15 to point 16. The edge of the blades from the head 11 to the point at which the taper 15 to tip 16 begins, is preferably thickened or ribbed therealong to add a degree of strength against bending moments in the blade, which moments can arise in use to fracture the blade. The structure is designed to enable the peg to be driven into the ground. The head of the peg is preferably formed in a disk shaped body 17 which may be hollowed such as at hollow 19 to reduce the amount of material in the head, with helical flights 1 or ridges such as ridge 18 to act as a connector means, or screw or threaded engagement points, to be used as described below.

In FIG. 2 is seen an end view from tip 16 back to disk 17. In this embodiment there are four blades or wings 13, 21, 22 and 23. The number of blades might be varied. More will add to strength, but increase resistance to driving when being hammered into the ground. Fewer will 20 reduce material requirements, but will also reduce strength. Helical screw or ridge 18 is mirrored by ridge 24. The angle, number, and length of the helical ridges might be varied. What is illustrated provides a compromise between the need to achieve a design which is both readily moulded and efficient in use.

In FIG. 3 is seen an end view looking at the end 11 with flat surface 25 and ridges 18, 24 in view. The hollows such as hollow 19 are shown in phantom. They may be mirrored by hollows 25 across a diameter of the device to enable moulding as will be apparent to those skilled in that art.

In FIG. 4 is seen a further view of the head 11 of the peg seen rotated ninety degrees from the position in FIG. 1, with ridge 18 seen in full.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 is seen a sighter means or post, mounting means, a conduit, and the like, receiving or supporting mounting means or as it is called herein below, a cap (for convenience) 26 which, in use, is preferably wound or screwed onto the head or top of the peg 10 of FIGS.

1 to 4. The cap 26 has a peg engaging end 27 and a conduit supporting end 28. The peg engaging end ideally has complementary, generally helical ridges 31, 32 which, in use, engage in a screw like fashion with the ridges 18, 24 on the head 17 of peg 10 (in FIG. The conduit engaging end 28 preferably receives conduit therein and it can lock or hold it in place by means of connector means such as locking tabs or hooks 29,30 20 which, in use, ideally engage in complementary cavities, grooves or slots in the conduit to resist withdrawal. The conduit might be the familiar electrical conduit. Ideally it is a flexible extrusion with a star shaped section to reduce costs. The electrical conduit is usually in a material which has a degree of rigidity and it is preferable to form the conduit, tube, rod, or otherwise elongate post from a more flexible material. Tabs 29,30 may be formed as seen in FIG. 6 where tab 30 is established on an extension of arm 34 of material which may be created by a cut, groove, recess, channel or slot 30 in the wall of the conduit engaging means 29.

In FIG. 7 is seen an end view (from the bottom) of the end cap 26 (of FIGS. 5 and 6) with locking tabs 29,30 projected into hollow 35 of the conduit end. Also seen are the helical ridges 31,32 by which the end cap o.l S• 1o 26 is screwed to peg 10 (of FIGS 1 to 4).

The materials used in realizing the invention are ideally plastic for their .ooooi lightweight but any other material might be used with long-term stability in the field in mind, particularly materials that lend themselves to moulding processes. Moulding is an ideal means by which to manufacture the peg and cap parts required by the invention but it will be possible to implement the invention by use of other fabrication techniques. Extrusion of plastic is an ideal means of producing the sighting means.

Claims

1. A surveyor's peg and sighting means, the surveyor's peg having: a ground penetrating means; and a head presenting a substantially flat, blank end at which the peg may be struck, in use, to drive it into the ground; the head detachably engaging peripherally with a support means fitted, in use, over the head; the support means operatively supporting the sighting means thereabove, in use, to stand the sighting means above the surveyors peg.

2. A surveyor's peg and sighting means as claimed in claim 1 wherein the head is provided peripherally with a thread and the support O* e means is a cap which is able to be screwed thereto, which cap is detachably interacted with or receives therein or thereon, in use, a sighting means. oleo•

3. A surveyor's peg and sighting means as claimed in either one of 20o claims 1 and 2 wherein the sighting means is a flexible, upstanding, in use, means such as a flexible peg, post or pole, being, in use, a surveyor's sighting S. "i post, said sighting post being projected or oriented generally vertically off, and substantially coaxial with, said surveyor's peg.

4. A surveyor's peg and sighting means as claimed in claim 4 wherein the sighting post is a length of flexible, longitudinally extended, extruded material or a conduit or tube.

5. A surveyor's peg and sighting means as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the ground penetrating means includes at least one wing which is provided with at least one hole or recess through or into which soil may pass or engage to provide resistance to removal. **Dated this 25 April, 2001 Lapsi Pty Ltd. 10

6. A surveyor's peg and sighting means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. S S Dated this 25 April, 2001 15 Lapsi Pty Ltd. S •o5 S So