CA2306197A1

CA2306197A1 - Gate corner bracket

Info

Publication number: CA2306197A1
Application number: CA002306197A
Authority: CA
Inventors: George Meyer
Original assignee: Royal Capital Stamping and Tooling Ltd
Current assignee: Royal Capital Stamping and Tooling Ltd
Priority date: 2000-04-19
Filing date: 2000-04-19
Publication date: 2001-10-19

Abstract

A gate-corner is made from a plurality of flat metal legs. These legs include first and second legs which form the outside corner of the gate corner and third and fourth legs which form a T-member to the inside of the gate corner. The third leg has welded centrally of and is at a right angle to the fourth leg which in turn has one end welded to the first leg with the first and fourth legs being perpendicular to one another. The end welding of the third and fourth legs allows them to be deflected in the event that the gate corner is fitted with irregular shaped pieces of lumber.

Description

S~-10493 TITLE: GATE CORNER BRACKET
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a metal gate corner which is used with wooden boards and other gate corners in forming an overall gate construction.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional metal gate corner which is used with lumber pieces in forming an overall gate comprises two lengths of flat metal bar which are bent into two U-shaped brackets. The base of one of the brackets is then welded to the leg of the other bracket.
The above construction is extremely rigid and has essentially no flexibility to fit with anything other than a completely rectangular board of a size to fit snugly within either bracket. However, it is often the case that the boards are odd sized and odd shaped making gate construction using conventional corner brackets very difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides a metal gate corner which is very adaptable for working with odd shaped pieces of lumber in forming an overall gate construction.
More specifically, the gate corner of the present invention comprises a plurality of flat metal legs comprising first and second legs meeting end to end and being perpendicular with one another. Typically, these first and second legs are formed from a single strip of flat metal bent at 90°.

S~-1043 The gate corner further comprises a third leg having one end welded centrally of a fourth leg with the third and fourth legs being at generally right angles to one another. The fourth leg in turn, has one end thereof welded to the first leg and lies essentially parallel to the second leg of the gate corner.
The key to the present invention lies in the end welding of the third and fourth legs in the gate corner construction allowing these two legs to be deflected if necessary to comply with odd shaped lumber pieces within the gate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above as well as other advantages and features of the present invention will be described in greater detail according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention in which;
Figures 1 and 2 show respectively a pair of brackets and the assembly of those brackets used in a prior art gate corner construction;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of an overall gate assembled using gate corners according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 4 is an enlarged side view of one of the gate corners from the gate of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the gate corner of Figure 4;
Figures 6 and 7 are side views showing further features of the gate corner of Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
OF THE PRESENT INVENTION IN WHICH:

Figures 1 and 2 show a prior art gate corner construction formed from a first metal bracket 3 and a second metal bracket 5. Both of these metal brackets are made from a single flat metal bar bent to the U-shapes shown in Figure 1. The base 6 of the second bracket 5 is then welded to the arm 4 of the first bracket 3 to form a metal gate corner generally indicated at 7 in Figure 2.
Wooden boards are then slid into and secured within the brackets. However, as is often the case, the boards are not perfectly shaped to fit the interior confines of the two brackets and the brackets themselves have essentially no flexibility to conform to the boards.
In accordance with the present invention, a gate corner generally indicated at 13, as best seen in Figure 5 of the drawings, does have such flexibility or adjustability. The features of the gate corner providing this flexibility will be described later in detail.
Figure 3 of the drawings shows an overall gate construction using two of the gate corners 13 and two other gate corners 15. The only difference between gate corners 13 and gate corners 15 is that corners 13 include hinges 35 not present on the corners 15. These hinges are used for a swinging mount of the gate.
Gate corner 13 best seen in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings comprises a first flat metal bar with a right angle bend 23 in the bar to form first and second legs 19 and 21 which are perpendicular to one another. These legs form a rigid outside corner of the member.
Provided to the interior area of the gate corner is a T-shaped member generally indicated at 25. This T-shaped member comprises a third flat metal bar 27 forming the stem of the T and a fourth flat metal bar 29 forming the head of the T. Bar 27 is welded at its interior end 31 centrally of bar 29 such that these two bars are essentially perpendicular to one another. Bar 29 is then welded at its interior end 33 to bar 19.
Bar or leg 29 lies parallel to and spaced from leg 21 of the gate corner.
Figures 4 and 5 show that the overall construction comprises a pair of U-shaped bracket members with each bracket member having one leg attached to its respective bracket by welding. These two brackets then receive boards 37 and 39 which are secured in place by screws fitting through each of the brackets.
In a gate corner construction, it is important to have the boards at 90° or at least essentially at 90° to one another. Furthermore, it is important that they be tightly secured within the two brackets. As earlier described, this can often be difficult because of the irregularities in the boards themselves. Examples of this are shown are shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings.
Figure 6 shows bracket 13 fitted with a board 41 which is supposed to completely fill the bracket between legs 19 and 27 as is the case with board 39 in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings. However, board 41 is undersized and does not fill the bracket which would be a problem with the relatively inflexible prior art gate corners.
In accordance with the present invention, board 41 is first screwed into the bracket by the screws penetrating through leg 19. This leg, which determines the 90°
positioning of board 41 relative to board 37 is not flexible and will hold its shape.

The securing screws are then fitted through leg 27 into board 41 and as the screws thread into the board, they pull leg 27 causing it to deflect towards the board at its relatively flexible welded base 31. Therefore, the lower end of leg 27 is drawn tightly up against leg 41 as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings.
Figure 7 shows a situation in which the bracket defined between legs 21 and 29 also receives an undersized board 43. In this case, the screws are first passed through leg 21 to assure that board 43 is at right angles to board 41 and thereafter the screws are fitted through leg 29 causing this leg to deflect at its welded base such that the outer end of leg 29 is drawn tightly against and secures board 43. The rigid leg 19 continues to hold board 41 with a further deflection of leg 27 occurring at its relatively flexible base 31.
Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A gate corner made from a plurality of flat metal legs comprising first and second legs meeting end to end with and being perpendicular with one another, a third leg having one end welded centrally of and being at a right angle to a fourth leg, the fourth leg being parallel to and spaced from the second leg with one end of the fourth leg being welded to the first leg.

2. A gate corner as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said first and second legs are part of a single elongated piece of flat bar material with a right angle bend where the first and second legs meet end to end with one another.

3. A gate corner as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said legs form a pair of U-shaped brackets perpendicular to one another, each bracket having a single wall base and one leg secured thereto by a weld attachment.

4. A gate corner member comprising first and second legs forming an outside corner region of said member, said first and second legs being formed from a single strip of metal bar bent to an L-shape, and third and fourth legs forming an interior part of said member, said third and fourth legs being arranged in a T-shape having a stem which is said third leg and a head which is said fourth leg, said third leg having one end thereof welded to said fourth leg and said fourth leg having one end thereof welded to said first leg, all of said legs cooperating to provide two U-shaped brackets at 90° to one another.