EP0808969A2

EP0808969A2 - A temporary fencing panel

Info

Publication number: EP0808969A2
Application number: EP97303353A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Laurence David Payne
Original assignee: Crownlea Plant (hire & Sales) Ltd
Current assignee: Crownlea Plant (hire & Sales) Ltd
Priority date: 1996-05-22
Filing date: 1997-05-16
Publication date: 1997-11-26
Also published as: EP0808969A3; GB2313384A; GB9610705D0

Abstract

A temporary fencing panel (10) comprising a frame consisting of upright end struts (11) and upper and lower horizontal struts (13,14) and a mesh or wire infill (15) welded or otherwise attached to the frame. Fixed to one upright strut (11) is a pair of horizontally extending plates (20) with aligned bolt receiving apertures (21) such that two adjacent panels (10) may be clamped together by introducing the adjacent upright strut (11) of the next adjacent panel (10) between the two plates (2) and retaining same by means of fixing bolt (22). Such an arrangement avoids the need for clamping means consisting of loose and separate parts.

Description

THIS INVENTION concerns temporary fencing of the kind often found, for example, on a construction site to prevent unauthorised access thereto. Such fencing comprises a series of individual fencing panels each consisting of a pair of spaced upright end struts forming a generally rectangular frame usually with upper and lower horizontal struts, and a mesh or wire infill welded or otherwise attached to the frame. Each upright strut has a lower extension beneath the bottom horizontal strut, which can be located in spaced sockets placed at ground level. Such sockets are usually provided as a pair of side-by-side vertical recesses within a concrete block or fabricated metal or plastics foot.
For stability in assembly, the adjacent upright struts of two aligned panels are joined usually in their upper regions conventionally by a two-piece detachable coupler consisting of a pair of clamping plates fixed together around the upright struts by a bolt passing through the plates between the struts. In practice, the assembly of such couplers is a time consuming exercise and the individual separate parts often become lost leaving assembly personnel with insufficient parts to complete the work.
To overcome these difficulties and in accordance with the present invention there is provided a temporary fencing panel comprising a frame including spaced upright struts, the lowermost extremities of the upright struts being intended for location in spaced sockets placed at ground level; characterised in that the frame includes fixed means extending outwardly therefrom to engage an upright strut of a next adjacent panel in a series of temporary fencing panels, and clamping means for removable sattachment of said fixed means to the next adjacent panel.
Preferably, the fixed means comprises a pair of plates welded to one upright strut and extending horizontally therefrom in spaced apart relationship thus to receive between them an upright strut of the next adjacent panel, and aligned apertures are provided in the free end regions of said plates to receive the clamping means to captivate and clamp consecutive panels together.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a part of a conventional temporary fence;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of an upper region of a temporary fencing panel made in accordance with the invention;
Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof; and
Fig. 4 is a similar plan view showing an adjacent pair of upright struts of two fencing panels assembled in accordance with the invention;

Referring now to Fig. 1, in a typical temporary fence a pair of galvanised steel fencing panels 10 are shown with adjacent upright struts 11 located side-by-side within a concrete support block 12. Each panel is made up as a frame consisting of two upright struts 11, upper and lower horizontal struts 13 and 14 and a parallel wire infill 15. The fencing panel is assembled by welding.
In a line of temporary fence, several such panels are typically clamped together, each adjacent pair by a coupler consisting of a pair of clamping plates 16 and a fixing bolt 17 passing through and attaching together the plates 16. Once the bolt 17 is tightened the two adjacent fence panels are rigidly attached together but may be dismantled once the bolt is removed.
Conventionally, the plates 16 consist of two separate members the respective ends of which may be bent partially around the adjacent upright fencing struts thus to grip and clamp them together upon tightening of the bolt. Each of these couplers therefore consists of four separate parts i.e. the two plates, the bolt and a nut, and in practice it is found that these parts become lost and are difficult to assemble rapidly.
Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and in accordance with the invention, at one end of each fencing panel 10 the upright strut 11 has welded usually to the upper region thereof a pair of spaced clamping plates 20 extending outwardly and horizontally from the upright strut. Aligned apertures 21 adjacent the free ends of the two plates 20 are adapted to receive the fastening means which in this example is a fixing bolt 22. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 3, and in Fig. 4 there can be seen the further upright strut 11 of the next adjacent fencing panel in a line, being located between the plates 20 and retained by the bolt 22. By an arrangement as described the assembly of a temporary fence is facilitated by the omission of separate clamping plates.
It is not intended to limit the invention to the above example only, many variations being possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, instead of providing two spaced plates 20 extending from one end upright strut of each panel, in an alternative arrangement each upright strut may be provided with a single plate on one side thereof, another being provided on the opposite side of the next adjacent panel strut. In this case a fixing bolt may pass through aligned apertures in the respective plates of the two adjacent panels. In a still further arrangement a single plate may extend centrally from an upright strut at one end of each panel and be received within a slot in the upright strut of the next adjacent panel and again adapted to receive a fixing bolt. For ease of assembly, all bolt receiving apertures may be elongated in case of slight misalignment of two adjacent panels. The bolts may be replaced by other locking means to retain the two panels in mutually clamped relationship.
Since temporary fences are often erected on uneven ground where parallelism or alignment of two adjacent upright struts cannot be guaranteed, the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, & 4 provides considerable tolerance in the relative positioning of the adjacent upright struts.

Claims

A temporary fencing panel comprising a frame including spaced upright struts, the lowermost extremities of the upright struts being intended for location in spaced sockets placed at ground level; characterised in that the frame includes fixed means extending outwardly therefrom to engage an upright strut of a next adjacent panel in a series of temporary fencing panels, and clamping means for removable attachment of said fixed means to the next adjacent panel.
A temporary fencing panel according to Claim 1, wherein the fixed means comprises a pair of plates welded to one upright strut and extending horizontally therefrom in spaced apart relationship thus to receive between them an upright strut of the next adjacent panel.
A temporary fencing panel according to Claim 2, including aligned apertures provided in the free end regions of said pair of plates to receive the clamping means to captivate and clamp consecutive panels together.
A temporary fencing panel according to any preceding claim, wherein the clamping means comprises at least one fixing bolt.
A temporary fencing panel according to Claim 1, wherein the fixed means comprises a single plate welded to one upright strut of the panel and extending horizontally therefrom on one side thereof, another such plate being similarly provided on the upright strut at the opposite end of said panel and on the opposite side thereof such that a fixing bolt may pass through aligned apertures in the respective plates of two adjacent panels in a line of temporary fencing.
A temporary fencing panel according to Claim 1, wherein the fixed means comprises at least one plate extending centrally from an upright strut at one end of each panel to be received within a corresponding slot in the opposite end upright strut of the next adjacent panel, said clamping means being adapted to prevent inadvertent removal of the plate from the slot.
A temporary fencing panel according to any preceding claim, wherein the clamping means includes a fixing bolt adapted to pass through an aperture in the or each fixed means, the or each aperture being elongated thus to tolerate slight misalignment of two adjacent panels.