IE42587B1 - Improvements in or relating to fencing systems - Google Patents

Abstract

1536546 Post and rail fencing MIDLAND EXTRUSIONS Ltd 31 March 1976 [2 May 1975] 18344/75 Heading EIB A fence is formed by plank-like rails 4 extending between posts each having outer walls 6, 8 enclosing an internal space with a slot extending along the length of at least one of the walls and through which the end of a rail extends into the space, there being at least one sharp-edged longitudinal projection 20 arranged on member 16 on the post to bite into and retain a side wall of the rail extending into the space within the post. The rails may be of aluminium, plastics or wood and if hollow may be reinforced with rectangular cross-section tubes e.g. of steel. If desired the rails may be tongued and grooved to engage one another along their longitudinal margins the posts may be of aluminium or plastics and caps of plastics may close the top of the posts while filler strips 22 (Fig. 5 not shown) may close off unused part of the slots in the posts.

Description

The present invention relates to fencing systems.

According to the present invention, there is provided a fencing system comprising n plurality of posts arranged, in use, to . extend upwardly from the ground, and rails arranged, in use, to extend between the posts, each said rail having opposed, parallel, side walls, and each said post being of extruded form and being of constant crosssection throughout its length, each said post having outer walls enclosing an internal space, an elongate slot extending along the length of at least one of said walls, the width of the slot being substantially equal to the thickness of the rails such that the end portion of said rail can extend through the slot into the internal space, and at least one sharp-edged longitudinal projection arranged to bite into and retain an adjacent side wall of a rail extending into the internal space of the post.

Embodiments of the invention wiii now he described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an elevation of a fence comprising vertical posts and rails extending between the posts; Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the fence shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a post of the fence; Figure JA shows, to an enlarged scale, a detail of the post of Figure 3; Figure A is a plan view of a corner post of the fence; Figure ϋ is a fragmentary perspective view of a filler strip fox· use with the posts of Figures 5 and 4; Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of a cap for use 2 5 8 7 with the posts of Figures 3 and 4; Figure 7 A is a fragmentary perspective view of one form of rail of the fence; and Figure 713 is a fragmentary perspective view of ar,oilier form of mil of the fence.

The fence shown in Figures 1 and 2 is formed from a fencing system comprising a series of spaced upright posts 2 and rails 4 of plank-like form extending between adjacent posts 2. Each post 2 (see Figure 3) is of extruded form of constant cross.-section throughout its length and comprising a pair of opposed side walls 6 and a pair of opposed end walls 8. In the embodiment shown each side wall 6 is composed of two relatively inclined wall portions 6a whereby the cross-section is generally of hexagonal form. The two side walls 6 are connected by means of a central web 10.

Each end wall 8 is composed of two aligned wall portions 8a which are laterally spaced to define a longitudinally extending slot arranged to receive the end portion of one or more rails 4, the width of the slot being substantially equal to the thickness of the rails 4. A respective channel 12, which defines a seat arranged to receive the end of the rails, faces the slot in each end wall 8 and is defined by two parallel lips 14 extending laterally from the central web 10, an inwardly directed bead 14a being formed on the outer edge of each channel 12. The spacing between the beads 14a of each channel 12 is slightly greater than the width of the end of the rail 4 and the beads act to substanitally prevent lateral movement of the rail 4. In - 3 4 2 5 8 7 an alternative arrangement (not shown) the beads 14 a. maybe omitted., A web 16 extends laterally from each side wall portion 6a between the end wall portion 8a and the web 10, and defines with the wall portion 8a a laterally directed channel 18. The two channels 18 associated with each end wall 8 face towards each other. The thickness of each web 16 progressively increases from its associated wall portion 6jj such that the width of each channel 18 progressively increases from the mouth of the channel towards its bane.

The inner longitudinal edge of each web 16 contains a laterally inwardly directed sharp projection or tooth 20 of barb-like cross-section which is shown in detail in Figure JA. From Figure JA it will be seen that the projection 20 has a leading edge 20a which extends from the web 16 with an inclination directed away from the plane of the slot in the end wall 8, and a trailing edge 20b which extends substantially parallel to the plane of the slot; by means of this construction, if a rail is pushed into the slot in a direction longitudinally of the rail, the projections will deflect as the rail moves past the p.rojactions. If, however, the rail is pulled in the opposite direction the projections will bite into the sides of the rail to resist this movement.

The two projections 20 are symmetrically located at opposite sides of a plane containing the axis of the slot in the end wall 8, and the axis of the channel 12, and are spaced by a distance slightly less than the thickness of the rails 4.

Those portions of the longitudinal slot in the end wall 8 which do not contain a rail 4 can be closed by means of a filler strip 22 (Figure 5)· The longitudinal edge portions - 4 4 2 5 8? 22α of the filler strip 22 ore engaged in the facing channels 18 and are of complementary section to that of the channels with the result that the filler strip acts to prevent laterally outwards movement of the facing channels and thus of the side walls 6.

In use, a plurality of such posts 2 are erected at suitably spaced intervals, with the lower end portion:’, of the posts 2 being embedded in concrete or otherwise anchored, and with the end walls 8 of the adjacent posts 2 in facing relationship. A length of filler stx'ip 22 is inserted into the upper end of each pair of facing channels 18 and is slid downardly along the post 2 until the lower' edge of the strip 2? engages the ground and is prevented from further downward.: movement; the upper edge of the i:tri,> can servo to provide a fixed datum. A second strip cut to a v-ngth to position the lowermost rail at a selected height above the datum is then slid downwardly along the channels 18 until its lower edt e rests on the upper edge of the first length of filler strip. This process is repeated for each post.

A rail 4 cut to the required length is located above each pair of posts 2 and is moved downwardly such that its end portions are engaged within the slots in the facing end walls 8 of the two posts and its end edges are engaged within the adjacent channels 12; the rail 4is then moved downwardly along the slot until it engages the second length of filler strip to he supported thereby. jDuring this downwards movement, the sharp projections 20 of the webs 16 cut into the lateral faces of the rail 4 to form vci-tical grooves therein. The projections 20 co-operate with these grooves to securely retain the - 5 4 2587 rail within the posts. Further lengths of filler strip are then inserted into the facing channels 18 of the posts to act as spacers by which a second rail is supported, from the first rail. This process is re5 peated until the fence is assembled with the required number of rails. Alternatively, the filler strips between adjacent rails can he omitted vzith the result that the adjacent rails are in contact and a solid or close hoarded fence is formed. A filler strip is also *10 • used to close the outer unoccupied longitudinal slot of the posts at each end of the fence for aesthetic purposes in order to shield the interior of the section from view, and to prevent ingress of water.

The fence may alternatively he assembled by inserting 15 the rails horizontally into the slots in the end walls 8.

The projections 20, being of barb-like form as described earlier, deflect to permit the rails to pass into the section, and tend to dig into the lateral walls of the rails if a horizontal force is applied to withdraw the rails.

When the fence is assembled, a cap 24 (Figures 2 and 6) can he fitted at the upper end of each post in order to provide a neat appearance and to prevent the ingress of water, the cap 24 having a depending skirt 26 which engages around the section. The cap 24 also prevents inadvei’tent removal of the filler strip 22 and the rails 4 from the post 2 or may be removable to permit subsequent removal of the filler strips 22 and rails 4 so that a rail may be replaced or the design of the fence may be altered for example by adding further rails. Preferably the cap is moulded from PVC or other _ 6 _ 3 5 8 7 suitable plastics material.

Preferably the posts 2 are in the form of aluminium extrusions painted, or otherwise coated to prevent corrosion of tlie extrusion. Alternatively, the posts 2 may he in the form of a plastics or other suitable extrusion. l'he rails 4 may be in the form of conventional wooden planks, or may be in the form of hollow plastics or metal extrusions having internal reinforcing webs as shown in Figures 7A and 7B· The number of internal reinforcing webs is selected to provide the required degree of reinforcement; the rail shown in Figure 7A has four internal webs and the rail shown in Figure 7-B has two internal webs. If additional stiffening is required this can he provided hy One or more tubes of steel or other suitable material which extend along the length of the rail between adjacent webs, and which are inserted into the rail through one end; advantageously such tubes are of square or other rectangular cross-section. The rails can have plain edges (Figure 7A), or tongued-and-grooved interlocking edges (Figure 7B).· Tlie rails 4 have parallel side walls and nre of constant thickness throughout their length.

The filler strips 22 can be in the form of plastics, aluminium, or other suitable extrusions.

A corner post for securing one or more rails at right angles is shown in Figure 4. The post to one side of a central web 10 is identical in construction to that of the post 2. At the other side of the web 10 lip 14 and web 16 extend from the web 10 and the adjacent end wall 0 and co-operate with a longitudinal slot in one of the side wall portions 6a, this side wall portion being _ 7 _ set back in relation to the adjacent side wall portion.

The rails are retained in the corner post in the same manner as in the posts 2. It will be apparent that the section can be used to form a cornea· post of opposite hand to that shown in Figure 4 by inverting the section.

The fencing system particularly described is versatile and the rails in each section of the fence can be arranged as desired independently of the arrangement in other sections; for example, the rails in adjacent . sections may be in horizontal alignment or may be staggered, and different numbers and/or vzidths of rail can be provided in each section. The fence can be erected on sloping ground with the posts extending vertically and with the rails extending horizontally in a stepped configuration; alternatively, the rails may be inclined to extend generally parallel to the ground, the ends of the rails being cut at an angle in order to extend parallel to the webs 10. Two lengths of fencing may be arranged at right angles in a generally T-shaped manner by locating an end post of one length of fencing adjacent an intermediate post of the other length of fencing; in this case, it will be appreciated that the two adjacent posts must be spaced slightly in order to permit the caps 24 to be located on each of these posts.

In the system described the rails do not require cutting to a very accurate length, provided that their length is sufficient to enable each end of the rail to be engaged in the channel 12; it is however desirable for a small gap to remain between the end of the rail and the base of the channel 12. Also it is not necer.sai’y for· the ρο. I,;: 2 5 8 7 to be aligned with great accuracy since some misalignment between the posts can be taken up by slight flexing or bending of the rails.

A hinged gate for the fencing can be formed by using 5 two channel sections as uprights, with cross rails extending between the uprights and hinge means connecting one of the uprights to an adjacent post of the fencing.

The extruded sections and rails can also be used to form structures other than fencing; for example they may be used to form a solid wall for a so-called carport or other structure, the extruded sections being used as uprights at each end of the wall with the rails extending between the uprights and being in contact.

Although in the embodiment shown, the extruded section;· 2 have an external profile of generally hexagonal form, the sections may have any other suitable profile for example rectangular.

Claims (11)

1. A fencing system comprising a plurality of posts arranged, in use, to extend upwardly from the ground, and rails arranged, in use, to extend hetween the posts, each

2. A fencing system according to claim 1, wherein each post has a longitudinally-directed seat located in the internal space, said seat facing the slot and serving to receive and locate the end of a rail extending through the slot. 20

3. A fencing system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each said post comprises a pair of said projections spaced by a distance slightly less than the thickness of the rails. 4. 2 5 8 7 4 2 5 8 7

4. A fencing system according to claim 3, wherein 25 the projections are defined by edges of oppositely disposed webs located within the internal space. 5. Least one said projection is associated with each said slot. 5 said webs, the opposite walls of a longitudinal channel which extends along the post adjacent an edge of the slot, the mouth of each said channel facing towards the mouth of the other channel in the direction of the slot, said system further comprising an elongate filler strip for closing the 1q slot at selected positions along the length of the post, the filler strip having opposed longitudinal edge portions each arranged for engagement in a respective one of said channels.

5. A fencing system according to claim 4, wherein the slot divides the said one outer wall into two outer wall portions each lying at a respective side of the slot, and each of said wall portions defines, with a respective one of 5 said rail having opposed, parallel, side walls, and each said post being of extruded form and being of constant crosssection throughout its length, each said post having outer walls enclosing an internal space, an elongate slot extending along the length of at least one of said walls, the width Iq of the slot being substantially equal to the thickness of the rails such that the end portion of said rail can extend through the slot into the internal space, and at least one sharp-edged longitudinal projection arranged to bite into and retain an adjacent side wall of a rail extending into the 15 internal space of the post.

6. A fencing system according to claim 5, wherein the opposite walls of each said channel diverge in a direction 15 away from the mouth of the channel, and the longitudinal edge portions of the filler strip have a divergent crosssection complementary to that of the channels.

7. A fenching system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein in each post, the or each projection is of 2Q barb-like cross-section so arranged as to permit insertion of the end portion of a rail into the internal space in a direction longitudinally of the rail, but to resist withdrawal of the rail in a direction longitudinally of the rail.

8. A fencing system according to any one of the claims 25 1 to· 7 wherein in at least some of said posts, a said slot is formed in each of a pair of opposite outer walls of the post, and at least one said projection is associated with each said slot. _ 11 ..

9. A fencing system according to claim 8, wherein in others of said posts, a said slot is formed in each of two outer walls of the post, one of said two walls facing in a direction transversely of the other of said two walls, and at

10. A fencing system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising caps for mounting at the upper end of the posts, each cap having a skirt engageable around the upper end portion of a said post. IO

11. A fencing system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.