GB2293402A

GB2293402A - Guardrail fencing

Info

Publication number: GB2293402A
Application number: GB9424774A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Stanley Chalk
Original assignee: KELLY JOSEPH ALEXANDER; SMITH HAYDEN FRANCIS
Current assignee: KELLY JOSEPH ALEXANDER; SMITH HAYDEN FRANCIS
Priority date: 1994-12-07
Filing date: 1994-12-07
Publication date: 1996-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2014-12-07
Also published as: GB9424774D0; WO1996018011A1; AU4121596A; GB2293402B

Abstract

An assembly for constructing fences comprises: posts (10), rails; and at least one support means (22) for supporting, in use, a post on a support surface (18). The posts include means, e.g. collars (24), to enable rails to be supported therebetween and the collars are arranged on the posts such that, when the posts are arranged in respective first positions on the support surface, the rails are generally positioned on a support means side of said posts and when the posts are arranged in respective second positions, the rails are generally positioned on an opposite side of said posts to said support means side. The posts have a generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction. <IMAGE>

Description

AN ASSEMBLY FOR CONSTRUCTING FENCES The present invention relates to an assembly for constructing fences and, in particular, to an assembly for constructing guardrail fences around the roofs of buildings.

A number of assemblies are already known for constructing guardrail fences around the roofs of buildings. These generally comprise an assembly of posts, rails and support devices which are assembled together to provide a guardrail fence extending around at least a part of a periphery of a roof to reduce the possibility of persons working on the roof from falling from it due to trip hazards at roof level, for example. With the known assemblies, the guardrail fence is generally constructed by positioning posts around the periphery of the roof and supporting these extending generally upright from the surface of the roof by means of the support devices. Subsequently, rails are secured between the posts to thus form the guardrail fence. The guardrail fences so formed may be temporary or permanent and may be such that the posts are inclined inwardly from the roof periphery.However, a factor common to all the known assemblies is that the inclination of the posts and thus the positioning of the rails is determined by the form of the support devices. Thus, a problem can be encountered when a guardrail fence is to be constructed on a portion of a roof surface which slopes downwardly from the roof periphery whereby the inclination of the posts to the horizontal is less than intended thus reducing the effectiveness of the guardrail fence so constructed.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate and mitigate the aforesaid problem.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assembly for constructing fences comprising: posts; rails; and at least one support means for supporting, in use, a post on a support surface, wherein said posts include means to enable rails to be supported therebetween and said rail support means are arranged on said posts such that, when said posts are arranged in respective first positions on the support surface, said rails are generally positioned on a support means side of said posts and when said posts are arranged in respective second positions, said rails are generally positioned on an opposite side of said posts to said support means side.

Preferably, the posts are moved from their first positions to their second positions by rotating them through 1800 about their respective longitudinal axes.

Preferably, the posts each have a generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction.

Preferably also, the rail support means are arranged on middle and upper portions of the posts.

Preferably further, the arrangement of the rail support means on the posts is such that rails supported thereby are generally positioned outwardly by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail from a plane coincident with adjacent front edges of lower portions of the posts.

Alternatively, the posts may be generally straight with the rail support means arranged at ends of spars extending outwardly from the posts.

Preferably, the spars extend outwardly from the posts by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail to be supported by the posts.

The posts and rails may each be of a tubular construction.

The post support means may comprise a planar base member having a support member extending generally upwardly therefrom which, in use, engages a lower portion of a post.

The support member may comprise a socket into which a lower portion of a post is inserted for support.

The support member may be located on the base member adjacent one end thereof.

The support member may be inclined at an angle of less than 900 to the base member.

Alternatively, the post support means may comprise an elongate support member having a first end which, in use, rests on the support surface and a second end which engages an upper portion of a post.

The first end of the post support member may include an anchor block for anchoring the support member in position engaged with an upper portion of a post.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of constructing a guardrail fence around a periphery of a roof, said method comprising the steps of: placing a number of posts spaced apart around the periphery of said roof; assembling some of said posts with respective post support means such that said posts extend generally upwardly from said roof surface; supporting rails between said posts on support means fixed spaced apart along the lengths of said posts wherein said rail support means are arranged on said posts such that, when said posts are arranged in respective first positions on the support surface, said rails are generally positioned on a support means side of said posts and when said posts are arranged in respective second positions, said rails are generally positioned on an opposite side of said posts to said support means side.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a subassembly for use in the method according to the next preceding paragraph, said subassembly comprising a post and a support means for supporting, in use, said post on a support surface.

The foregoing and further features of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following description of preferred embodiments, by way of example thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is an enlarged exploded side elevational view of a subassembly according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the subassembly of figure 1 positioned on a building roof surface adjacent a parapet thereof with the post of said subassembly arranged in its first position; Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a portion of a guardrail fence constructed from the assembly of the first preferred embodiment; Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the subassembly of figure 1 showing the subassembly located on a building roof surface but with the post in its second position;; Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the subassembly of figure 1 located on an inwardly inclined portion of a building roof surface adjacent a parapet thereof with the post of the subassembly located in its second position; Figure 6 is a reduced scale side elevational view of the subassembly of a second embodiment of the invention showing an alternative form of support means; and Figure 7 is a reduced scale side elevational view of a subassembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention showing an alternative form of post.

Referring to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention as depicted in figures 1 to 5, it can be seen that the assembly of this embodiment comprises a combination of various components from which a safety guardrail fence can be constructed.

It is the intention of the invention to provide an assembly for constructing a safety guardrail fence around a periphery of a roof surface of a building to provide a means of preventing persons working on the roof from falling therefrom.

The assembly in accordance with the first preferred embodiment comprises posts 10, rails 12 and at least one support device 14. The posts 10 are of generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction, i.e. generally "S"-shaped. As such, each post 10 comprises lower middle and upper portions (10a, 10b, 10c) which are each inclined with respect to an adjacent portion. In use, a lower portion 10a of a post 10 locates within a socket member 16 of a support device 14 such that said post 10 can be located on a roof surface 18 adjacent a parapet 20 thereof and supported to be extending generally upwardly therefrom.

In a preferred form, the support device 14 comprises an elongate planar base member 22 with the socket member 16 located adjacent one end thereof extending upwardly therefrom. The socket member 16 is inclined with respect to the base member 22 such that it leans slightly towards the end of the base member 22 farthest from its point of attachment to said base member 22 and makes an angle of slightly less than 900 with the base member 22.

Consequently, the posts 10 are supported by support devices 14 with their lower portions 10a inclined with respect to the base member 22 and thus the roof surface 18 at a similar angle of inclination.

On the middle and upper portions (lOb, 10c) of each post are located collars 24 which, in use, enable rails 12 to be supported between adjacent posts 10 in a conventional manner, as is better illustrated in figure 3. The form of the posts 10 is such that, when in a first position (as shown in figure 2), rails 12 supported between the posts 10 are generally positioned on a support means side of the posts 10, i.e. on an inner side of the posts relative to the roof parapet 20. Thus, the fence so constructed can be generally inclined inwardly from the parapet 20 in a conventional manner thus providing the same level of protection afforded by the known systems.

The form of the posts 10 and the arrangement of the rail support collars 24 thereon is such that said posts can be rotated from their first conventional positions through 1800 about their longitudinal axis to occupy second positions supported by the support devices 14. Figure 4 illustrates this and shows that, in this case, an axis passing through the centre of the support collars 24 and thus, in use, the centre of supported rails 12 makes an angle of 900 with the base member 22 of a support device 14. The rails 12 are then supported in positions on an outer side of the posts 10 relative to the roof surface 18.Thus, it can be seen that the assembly of the first preferred embodiment can, without requiring any additional components, allow a guardrail fence to be constructed in which, in one case, the fence inclines inwardly from the roof periphery or, in another case, the fence is generally perpendicular to the roof surface 18, assuming, of course, that the roof surface is itself horizontal. This is useful where there is limited space on the roof due to other installations such as air conditioning etc.

When the posts are located in their second positions relative to the support devices, the guardrail fence still provides the degree of safety required of such a fence.

A further distinct advantage of the present invention is better illustrated by figure 5 in which it can be seen that a guardrail fence has been constructed on an inclined portion 18a of a roof surface 18. In this case, the posts 10 can be placed in their second positions relative to the support devices 14 to counter the angle of inward incline of the sloping roof portion 18a thus still providing an effective guardrail fence. It will be appreciated that the safety of the guardrail fences of the known systems having an inclined form would be compromised by a further inward incline due to their being constructed on an inwardly inclined sloping roof portion since their vertical height would be reduced.

It can be seen better from figure 1 that the dimensions of the posts 10 of the first preferred embodiment are such that, with the rail support collars 24 arranged on the middle and upper portions (lOb, 10c) of said posts 10, supported rails 12 are spaced outwardly from the lower portion 10a of the posts 10 by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail. In fact, in figure 1 the distance A illustrating this is approximately one and a half times the diameter of a rail 12 and this has been found to provide the degree of incline required for a fence of conventional height when the posts 10 are arranged in their respective first positions and yet allow a fence which has rails 12 supported generally one above each other in a plane perpendicular to the support surface when the posts 10 are arranged in their respective second positions.

Figure 6 shows a subassembly of an assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Like numerals are used to denote like parts. This comprises, in addition to a support device 30 and posts 10 shown in the figure 1, rails (not shown) to be supported between adjacent posts 10. In this embodiment, the support device 30 is of a different form to that of the first embodiment and comprises an arcuate support member 32 having at a first end an anchor block 34 which rests upon the roof surface 18. A second end of the support member 32 engages a post 10 to support it in a generally upright position. In this embodiment, the posts 10 are also of serpentine form although they are arranged such that, when supported on the roof surface 18, the lower portions 10a thereof are normal to said surface 18. It will be appreciated that the posts 10 can occupy first positions as shown in the figure and can be rotated through 1800 to occupy second positions (not shown).As such, it is preferable in this embodiment that the rail support collars 24 are arranged on only the upper portions 10c of the posts 10. The upper portions 10c are longer than the corresponding portions of the posts 10 of the first embodiment. The figure shows the subassembly in its normal arrangement on a horizontal building roof surface but it will be appreciated that, on an inwardly sloping roof surface 18 the posts 10 can be arranged in their second positions to provide an inwardly inclined guardrail fence without the addition of further components to the assembly.

Figure 7 shows a side elevational view of a subassembly for an assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention which, in addition to the posts 40 and support devices 14 shown in the figure, comprises rails (now shown) In this embodiment, the support devices 14 are of similar form to those of the first embodiment although the sockets 16 of the support devices 14 are preferably at right angles to the base members 22. The posts 40, however, are of a different form comprising straight posts with spars 42 extending outwardly therefrom and having rail support collars 24 at their outer ends. As shown in the figure, the posts 40 are in their first positions relative to the support devices 14 and a guardrail fence constructed therefrom would have a conventional form.However, by rotating the posts 40 to their respective second positions relative to the support devices 14 a guardrail fence can be constructed in which the rails are supported outwardly of the roof to provide more room for workers on the roof. This would be more useful in the case where the guardrail fence is to be constructed on an inwardly sloping portion of a roof surface 18 and, whilst the support collars 24 are shown to lie in a plane perpendicular to the base members 22 of the support device 14, it will be appreciated that the distance of the respective support collars 24 from the posts 40 can be arranged to provide a degree of inclination for a fence so constructed.

It will also be appreciated that an assembly according to the invention may comprise any combination of the various components of described embodiments. For example, an assembly might comprise the posts of the third embodiment with the support devices of the second embodiment together with rails.

Claims

1. An assembly for constructing fences comprising: posts; rails; and at least one support means for supporting, in use, a post on a support surface, wherein said posts include means to enable rails to be supported therebetween and said rail support means are arranged on said posts such that, when said posts are arranged in respective first positions on the support surface, said rails are generally positioned on a support means side of said posts and when said posts are arranged in respective second positions, said rails are generally positioned on an opposite side of said posts to said support means side.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the posts are moved from their first positions to their second positions by rotating them through 1800 about their respective longitudinal axes.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the posts each have a generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction.

4. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rail support means are arranged on middle and upper portions of the posts.

5. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the arrangement of the rail support means on the posts is such that rails supported thereby are generally positioned outwardly by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail from a plane coincident with adjacent front edges of lower portions of the posts.

6. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the posts are generally straight with the rail support means arranged at ends of spars extending outwardly from the posts.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the spars extend outwardly from the posts by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail to be supported by the posts.

8. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the posts and rails are each of a tubular construction.

9. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the post support means comprises a planar base member having a support member extending generally upwardly therefrom which, in use, engages a lower portion of a post.

10. An assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the support member comprises a socket into which a lower portion of a post is inserted for support.

11. An assembly as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the support member is located on the base member adjacent one end thereof.

12. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the support member is inclined at an angle of less than 900 to the base member.

13. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the post support means comprises an elongate support member having a first end which, in use, rests on the support surface and a second end which engages an upper portion of a post.

14. An assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first end of the post support member includes an anchor block for anchoring the support member in position engaged with an upper portion of a post.

15. A method of constructing a guardrail fence around a periphery of a roof, said method comprising the steps of: placing a number of posts spaced apart around the periphery of said roof; assembling some of said posts with respective post support means such that said posts extend generally upwardly from said roof surface; supporting rails between said posts on support means fixed spaced apart along the lengths of said posts wherein said rail support means are arranged on said posts such that, when said posts are arranged in respective first positions on the support surface, said rails are generally positioned on a support means side of said posts and when said posts are arranged in respective second positions, said rails are generally positioned on an opposite side of said posts to said support means side.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said posts each have a generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction.

17. A method as claimed in claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the arrangement of the rail support means on the posts is such that rails supported thereby are generally positioned outwardly by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail from a plane coincident with adjacent front edges of lower portions of the posts.

18. A method as claimed in claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the posts are generally straight with the rail support means arranged at ends of spars extending outwardly from the posts.

19. A subassembly for use in the method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein said subassembly comprises a post and a support means for supporting, in use, said post on a support surface.

20. A subassembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein the post has a generally serpentine form in a lengthwise direction.

21. A subassembly as claimed in claim 19 or claim 20, wherein rail support means are arranged on the posts such that rails supported thereby are generally positioned outwardly by a distance greater than the diameter of a rail from a plane coincident with adjacent front edges of lower portions of the posts.

22. A subassembly as claimed in claim 19 or claim 20, wherein the posts are generally straight with the rail support means arranged at ends of spars extending outwardly from the posts.

23. An assembly as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1 to 5 of the drawings.

24. An assembly as hereinbefore described with reference to figure 6 of the drawings.

25. An assembly as hereinbefore described with reference to figure 7 of the drawings.

26. A method as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1 to 5 of the drawings.

27. A method as hereinbefore described with reference to figure 6 of the drawings.

28. A method as hereinbefore described with reference to figure 7 of the drawings.

29. A subassembly as hereinbefore described with reference to figure 2 of the drawings.