GB2244500A

GB2244500A - Post supports

Info

Publication number: GB2244500A
Application number: GB9010904A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Stephen Parish
Original assignee: PARKES PRODUCTS Ltd
Current assignee: PARKES PRODUCTS Ltd
Priority date: 1990-05-16
Filing date: 1990-05-16
Publication date: 1991-12-04
Also published as: GB9010904D0

Abstract

A support member 10 comprises a square socket 16 provided with lateral flanges 24 having slots 32 curved about the post support centre, whereby the support member can be angularly adjusted when fixed down to a flat supporting surface such as the top plate of the spiked member 12. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in Post Supports This invention relates to a support for posts, especially but not exclusively timber fence posts.

Post supports comprising a post socket surmounting a spike intended to be driven into the ground are well known. It is also a known disadvantage of these post supports that, when driven into the ground, a degree of twisting is liable to occur. Given a square-section socket intended to receive a square-section post, the twisting effect means that the socket and thus the post fittec therein is sometimes not installed in the correct orientation with respect to the line of the fence or other structure being erected. An object of the present invention is to make possible a solution to this problem.

According to the invention, there is provided a post support member having a socket for receiving the bottom of a post, said socket having a bottom al and the support member being provided at least on two opposite sides with outward lv profectiro f~- e~ lying in or parallel ts the pane of the bottom wall, said flanges each having a means whereby the support member can be fixed down to a flat surface with the socket facing upwardly, wherein the fixing means is so formed as te enable the angular orientation of the support member to be adjusted when being fixed down to said flat surface.

Apreferred fixing means comprises bolt holes in tnt flanges, each bolt hole being in the form of an elongate slot curved at least approximately about the centre of the socket.

The said post support member forms one part of E two part post support which additionally comprises a member having a spike to be driven into the ground, said spike being surmounted by a flat plate which provides the flat surface to which the socket member can be bolted down. Thus, if the spiked member twists when being driven into the ground, this can be compensated for by turning the socket member in the opposite rotational sense when it is being fixed down to the flat plate, thereby to ensure that the socket, and the post fitted or to be fitted therein, assumes the correct orientation relative to the line of the fence or other structure being erected. The invention therefore primarily relates to the combination of the socket and spiked members.

However, when erecting a post on a flat concrete ground surface or the like, the socket member may be used on its own, the elongate curved bolt holes enabling compensation to be effected, when necessary, in respect of errors in the position ing of the bolt-receiing holes formed in the concrete.

The socket of the socket member, generally of square crosssection, preferably has inwardly stamped Frs in each of its side walls, for biting into and gripping the bottom of a timber post fitted into the socket, thereby te ensure that said post is tightly located centrally in the socket.

In addition, the bottom wall preferab v has a scare formation of four inwardly, i.e. upwardly, directed prongs, for biting into the bottom face of the post and also for forming a drainage aperture in the bottom of the socket.

The top plate of the spiked member preferably has boltreceiving apertures spaced apart to match the diametrica spacing of the elongate curved slots in the flanges cf the socket member, and said top plate has welded nuts on its underside to provide a fastening for the bolts employed to fix down the socket member to the spiked member. .kddwticn- ally, this top plate has central drainage apertures which generally align with the drainage aperture in the bottom of the socket.

A practical embodiment of post support will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of a complete post support; Figures 2 and 3 diagrammatically indicate the manner of use of the post support; Figure 4 is a plan view of the socket member; Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the socket member; Figure 6 is an underside view of the spiked member; and Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the spiked member.

The illustrated post support comprises a socket member 10, spiked member 12 and bolts and washers 14 for fixing the two members together.

The socket member 10, made of steel of 2.5 mm thickness, comprises a square-section socket 16 welded at 18 te a rectangular bottom plate 20 which both forms a bottom wall 22 te the socket and forms outwardly directed flanges 24 on opposite sides of the socket.

The socket side walls are formed with inwardly stamped prongs 26 for centralising and gripping the bottom end of a square-section timber post inserted into the socket, and the socket bottom wall 22 has a square formation of four upwardly stamped prongs 28 for biting into the bottom face of the post and, at the same time, for forming a drainage aperture 30.

The flanges 24 are formed with respective bolt holes 32, constituted by diametrically opposed elongate slots curved generally about the centre of the socket. The total arcuate extent of the slots is about ten to fifteen degrees, sufficient to enable the socket member to be turned thorough any angle up to this extent, about the centre of the socket, when it is being bolted down.

The spiked member 12, also of 2.5 mm steel, has a spike formed by three webs 34 at 12C degrees angular spacing, welded at 36 to a rectangular top plate 38 of the same size as the bottom plate 20 of the socket member.

The top plate 38 of the spiked member 12 has two bolt holes 40 spaced apart equally te the spacing of the bolt holes 32 in the bottom plate of the socket member, these bolt holes 40 being associated with nuts 42 welded in position on the underside of said top plate.

The top plate 38 also has central drainage apertures 44.

The spiked member can be driven into the ground in the manner indicated in Figure 2, using a timber offout pad if the ground is unusually hard. The use cf a special driving tool is not necessary. When being hammered into the ground, the spiked member is liable to twist to some extent.

h'hen the socket member, to which a post may or may not already have been fitted, is bolted down to the spiked member in the ground, the socket member may be turned, as indicated in Figure 3, to compensate for any twisting of the spiked member which has taken place, thereby to ensure that the post is correctly orientated relative to the line of the fence or other structure being erected.

Various modifications of the above-described and illustrated post support are possible within the scope of the invention hereinbefore defined. One possible modification is the use of a clamping bolt on the socket to cause the post to be tightly gripped after its insertion. In this case, the internal prongs, especially those on the side walls of the socket, are not required.

Claims

1. A post support member having a socket for receiving the bottom of a post, said socket having a bottom wall and the support member being provided at least on two opposite sides with outwardly projecting flanges lying in or parallel to the plane of the bottom wall, said flanges each having a means whereby the support member can be fixed down to a flat surface with the socket facing upwardly, wherein the fixing means is so formed as to enable the angular orientation of the support member to be adjusted when being fixed down to said flat surface.

2. A post support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing means comprises bolt holes in the flanges, each bolt hole being in the form of an elongate slot curved at least approximately about the centre of the socket.

3. A post support as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said post support member forms one part of a two part post support which additionally comprises a member having a spike to be driven into the ground, said spike being surmounted by a flat plate which provides the flat surface to which the socket member can be bolted down.

4. A post support as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the socket of the socket member is generally of square cross-section.

5. A post support as claimed in claim 4, in which said socket has inwardly tamped prongs in each of its side walls, for biting into and gripping the bottom of a timber post fitted into the socket, thereby to ensure that said post is tightly located centrally in the socket.

6. A post support as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, in which the bottom wall of said socket has a square formation of four inwardly, i.e. upwardly, directed prongs, for biting into the bottom face of a timber post and also for forming a drainage aperture in the bottom of the socket.

7. A post support as claimed in claim 3 or any claim appendant to claim 3, in which the top plate of the spiked member has bolt-receiving apertures spaced apart to match the diametrical spacing of the elongate curved slots in the flanges of the socket member, and said top plate has welded nuts on its underside to provide a fastening for the bolts employed to fix down the socket member to the spiked member.

8. A post support as claimed in claim 3 or any claim appendant thereto, in which the-top plate of the spiked member has central drainage apertures which generally align with the drainage apertures in the bottom of the socket.

9. A post support substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.