GB2332376A

GB2332376A - Fencing system for a tennis court

Info

Publication number: GB2332376A
Application number: GB9726841A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roderick Whinray Shepherd
Original assignee: ANGLIAN AND MIDLAND SPORTS SUR
Current assignee: ANGLIAN AND MIDLAND SPORTS SUR
Priority date: 1997-12-19
Filing date: 1997-12-19
Publication date: 1999-06-23
Anticipated expiration: 2017-12-19
Also published as: GB9726841D0; GB2332376B

Abstract

A fencing system comprises openwork uprights formed as fabrications of lengthwise rods or tubes and associated collars linking same, the arrangement being such that the openwork construction provides a substantially reduced light-interception profile while still having the requisite strength for adequately supporting an openwork fencing medium such as tennis netting.

Description

2332376 FENCING SYSTEMS AND UPRIGHTS THEREFOR This invention relates to

fencing systems and to uprights therefor. An example of the application of the invention is a fencing system for tennis courts.

In the case of tennis courts, there are particular factors which constrain the adoption of fencing systems and associated uprights.

Thus, one important factor concerning the uprights to be used for supporting the associated fencing medium of wire letting adopted in the case of tennis courts concerns the visual impact of the uprights and their associated netting on the overall surrounding environment. In recent times the adoption of tennis court facilities in increasing numbers of residential properties having relatively limited availability of land has meant that the tennis courts themselves have to be located otherwise that in a secluded location, and this has meant that frequently the tennis court is located in a prominent and highly visible location in the garden area of the property whereby the visual impact of the tennis court becomes a matter of prime concern to the owner of the property.

We have established that there is a considerable need for a fencing system suitable for tennis courts and related applications in which the visual aspects of the system are considerably improved as against existing systems, and notably in respect of the dominant profiles of the uprights used for supporting the tennis netting, which in existing systems lead to the problem that the uprights are unduly dominant and highly visible whereby the entire fencing system conveys the impression of a confinement area or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fencing system with associated uprights therefor whereby improvements are provided in one or nore of these respects.

According to the invention there is provided a fencing system and an upright therefor as defined in the accompanying claims.

In an embodiment of the invention as described below there is provided a fencing system comprising a plurality of supports or uprights and an associated mesh work or netting-format fencing medium in the form of tennis netting. The uprights comprise at least three longitudinal members extending generally lengthwise of the uprights. At least two longitudinally cross-spaced linking straps or members are provided for the longitudinal members and the latter are spaced apart by at least a distance corresponding to their own thickness.

As a result, the supports or upright have an open construction with substantial voids between the longitudinal members, such voids corresponding to the voids in netting and the like so that light can pass through this open construction throughout the majority of the length of the members and at multiple angles.

In the embodiments, the openwork construction is open throughout at least 75% and preferably 85% or 95% of the overall length of the longitudinal members. The exact percentage depends on the space occupied by the crosslinking straps or members which serve to form the longitudinal members into structurally-integral structures.

As a result of the structure described above, the uprights of the fencing system provide, in combination with tennis netting or the like, a light transmissibility in the case of the uprights which is comparable to that of the netting itself. So that, in use the uprights not only provide the mechanical bending strength of at least the sun, of their component longitudinal members but a 1 ight- interception profile from several directions of view which is substantially less that the sum of the interception profiles of the components parts of the uprights. In otherwords, because of the open construction of the uprights and the fact that their longitudinal members can be seen as in-line from several directions of view, the actual visual impact of the uprights in terms of light interception is substantially less than that of a conventional post or the like which has hitherto been provided for the netting-support function.

In the embodiments, the longitudinal members are in the form of rods or tubes and are formed into a fabricated structure with the associated cross-linking straps or members which are in the form of collars. The symmetrical format of the fabricated structure is such that the light interception profile of the assembly is significantly improved for several distinct directions of view.

The invention takes as its novelty starting point the conventional upright or support for tennis netting which is often in the form of a solid post or a length of angle section which, in both cases, present the visual effect of a solid discontinuity in the openwork and often green- coloured fencing medium whereby any attempt to achieve the effect of permitting the fencing system to merge into the surrounding environment of the garden is negated.

In accordance with the embodiments of the invention, a fencing system is provided with a structure, which, by virtue of its openwork nature has a substantially reduced light interception profile whereby it can complement the openwork netting which it supports while at the same time having the necessary strength and bend-resistance qualities requisite for the provision of adequate support for heavy duty metallic netting. This strength characteristic arises from the fabricated openwork nature of the uprights which provides a classic high-strength structure in which opposite structural portions are put into compression and tension according to the applied force direction.

A significant aspect of the invention relates to the particular visual aspects of the fencing system whereby it combines dual visual functionality. Specifically, by virtue of the openwork fabricated construction as discussed above, the embodiments have a reduced lightintercepting profile and are therefore rendered significantly less obtrusive and indeed less visible when seen from a reasonable distance. However, in combination with this desirable characteristic which serves to enable a fencing system, such as a tennis court surround to merge into the background of a garden environment, there is provided the additional feature that the uprights of the fencing system are of attractive construction in themselves, having a generally decorative format which lends itself to the garden environment and which can be complemented by the provision of decorative devices such as the ball shown in Fig 2 or a spike, or indeed other devices as may be desired. Indeed from a close-up inspection location the fencing uprights have a somewhat victorian format conveying the impression of an obelisk which, to the best of the applicant's knowledge is entirely novel in relation to the construction of fencing systems.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig 1 shows a perspective view of a fencing system surrounding a tennis court; Fig 2 shows, on a larger scale, an elevation view of a top portion of one support or upright of the fencing system of Fig 1, the direction of view being indicated by arrow II in Fig 1; Fig 3 shows a section through the upright of Fig 2, the section being taken on the line III in Fig 2.

As shown in Fig 1 a fencing system 10 comprises a plurality of supports or uprights 12 and an associated meshwork or netting format fencing medium 14 in the form of tennis netting, the fencing system forming the surround of a tennis court 16 and having access gates 18, 20.

i The netting 14 and the supports 12 therefor are higher at the end portions 22, 24 of court 16 than in the central region 26 thereof, in accordance with the nature of the tennis game and the predominant trajectories of the ball paths which are caused during a game of tennis. The corresponding heights of the supports 28 in the central region 26 are likewise reduced in accordance with the reduced height of the fencing medium or netting 14 at that portion of the fencing system.

It can be seen in Fig 1 that the supports 12 comprise an openwork assembly of longitudinal members 30 together with associated cross- linking straps or members in the form of collars 32, of which (collars) there are 3 in the tall supports 12 and only 2 in the shorter supports 28. The longitudinal members 30 carry netting connection means (not shown) to enable the weight of the netting to be carried thereon. Such provision can be in the form of integral welded hook members or the like.

Details of the structure of individual supports or uprights 12 will now be described with reference to Figs 2 and 3. As shown in Figs 2 and 3 supports 12 comprise groups of 4 longitudinal members 30 together with associated collars 32 forming a welded structural assembly. As can be seen in the drawings, the longitudinal members 30 are disposed symmetrically around the collars 32 and are welded thereto. At the top of each support 12 the longitudinal members are curved inwards to form generally U-shaped structures which are inter-welded as a structural assembly.

it will be seen that the above-described construction produces substantial voids, 34 between the longitudinal members so that light can pass through the open construction throughout the majority of the length of the uprights and at multiple angles. At the top of each support or upright 12 is a decorative device in the form of a ball 36, but many alternative such devices could be provided.

It can be seen that the light-interception profile of support or upright 12 as viewed from the direction of arrow II in Fig 3 comprising the voids 34, is very substantially less than that of a corresponding conventional solid post or the like.

In Figs 2 and 3, the welded joints are indicated at 38.

Fig 3 shows the coherent nature of the fabricated structure and Fig 2 shows the inherent nature of the voids within it and thus the relatively modest value of the light-intercepting profile of the structure.

In particular cases, modifications can be made, of course to suit local conditions. For example where greater strength is called for, there can be provided an extra longitudinal member, or greater strength may be provided in these. Their constructional format may be solid or tubular. If necessary a non-circular crosssectional shape may be preferred. Likewise, in the case of the collars 32, or other cross-linking structure, a non-circular format may be adopted in particular cases, together with modifications to the inter-collar spacing, and the number of collars'which are provided.

At the upper ends of the longitudinal members 30, as shown in Fig 2 these are merged or joined in pairs so that the embodiment effectively has two generally U-shaped rod-format structures which are joined at their upper ends and surmounted by a decorative device in the form of ball 36. For the latter, many available options exist including the traditional spike device.

For the purpose of connecting the netting to the uprights there may be provided integral connectors (not shown), these being welded-on lateral projections on the general structure of the uprights at a convenient location on the longitudinal members on the collars. Alternatively provision may be made in the form of separate connectors, whether of wire or in the form of specific connector structures.

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Claims

1. A fencing system comprising a plurality of supports or uprights and an associated meshwork or netting-format fencing medium, such as tennis netting, said plurality of supports or uprights each comprising:

a) at least thee longitudinal members extending generally lengthwise of said uprights; b) at least two longitudinally-spaced crosslinking straps or members for said longitudinal members; C) said longitudinal members being spaced apart by at least a distance equal to their own thickness or transverse dimensions; d) said upright thus having an open-format construction with substantial voids between said longitudinal members, corresponding to the voids in netting, so that light can pass through said open construction throughout the majority of the length of said upright members at multiple angles; and e) whereby in combination with said fencing medium such as tennis netting or the like the lighttransmitted by said uprights is comparable to that of said netting whereby in use -said uprights have a bending strength of at least the sum of the bending strengths of the component longitudinal members, but a light interception profile from several directions of view which is substantially less that the sum of the interception profiles of said longitudinal members.

2. A support or upright for a fencing system comprising a plurality of supports or uprights and an associated fencing medium, said support or upright comprising longitudinal members and associated crosslinking members disposed in an open construction with substantial voids between the members so that light can 8_ pass through them at multiple angles.

A fencing system according to claim 1 characterised by said longitudinal members being in form of rods.

4. A fencing system according to claim 1 or claim 3 characterised by said cross-linking straps or members being in the form of collars.

5. A fencing system according to anyone of claims 1 or 3 or 4 characterised by said longitudinal members being disposed symmetrically with respect to said crosslinking members.

6. A fencing system according to anyone of claims 1 or 3 to 5 characterised by said longitudinal members being disposed in generally parallel relationship.

7. A fencing system according to anyone of claims 1 or 3 to 6 characterised by said uprights being surmounted by decorative devices such as ball devices and/or spike devices.

8. A fencing system substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. An upright for a fencing system substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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