US3356343A

US3356343A - Slat for chain-link fence

Info

Publication number: US3356343A
Application number: US503092A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Taylor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-10-23
Filing date: 1965-10-23
Publication date: 1967-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 1984-12-05

Description

Dec. 5, 1967 w. H. TAYLOR 3,356,343

SLAT Fc-R CHAIN-LINK FENC Filed oct. 23, 1965 2 SheetsSheet United States Patent O 3,356,343 SLAT FOR CHAIN-LINK FENCE William H. Taylor, Los Angeles, Calif. (5510 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, Calif. 90230) Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,092 4 Claims. (Cl. 256-34) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The combination of a chain-link fence and a fence slat received in a channel defined by the fence and having detent-type hooking and latching tabs integrally formed on the slat for engagement with a wire in the fence to lock the slat in place.

Chain-link fence has come into widespread use to satisfy-a variety of fencing requirements. Such fences are formed from a fabric of interwoven strands or heavy-gage wire, and are typically supported between a series of upright posts secured in the ground or in some other foundation. The intertwined-wire construction forms a fence having square or diamond-shaped apertures. Thus, while such fences are very strong, they do not provide privacy or serve as a windbreak due to the apertured construction.

To combine the desired structural characteristics of a chain-link fence with the vision-obstructing and windbreaking qualities of a conventional solid fence, several different styles of slats have been proposed for use with ychain-link fence. Typical designs are desc1ibed in U.S. Patents 2,760,759 and 3,069,142 which show a series of elongated slats engaged with the fence fabric to provide privacy and wind protection.

A fence slat used for this purpose should include some means for securing an end of the slat to the chain-link fence in order to simplify installation of the slat, and to prevent inadvertent dislodgment of the installed slat. The securing systems provided in existing slats, however, are unsatisfactory from several standpoints.

Some slats include a tab extending from one end, and the tab is bent around a strand in the fence to fasten the slat in place. The tab, however, is not anchored in place, and is easily bent out of position whereby the slat is no longer firmly secured to the fence strand. Alternatively, some slats may have bendable tabs stamped out of the body of the slat. Such known arrangements, however, do not incorporate means for conveniently locking the tab to the fence strand, and the slat may be inadvertently dislodged from the fence. Furthermore, many such existing tabs are slow and awkward to engage with the fence, increasing overall assembly costs.

The slat of this invention overcomes the objections to prior designs by incorporating a hooking tab and a latching tab which cooperate to form a detent fastener for securing an end of the slat to a chain-link fence. The term detent fastener is used in this application in the sense of describing a fastener having a resilient or compliant hooking tab which can readily be pulled into engagement with a fence strand, but which cannot be disengaged from the strand by simply reversing the direction of relative motion between the hooking tab and strand because egress from the hooking tab is blocked by a latching tab.

The hooking and latching tabs are quickly and economically stamped from the body of the slat in a single operation. The detent fastener provided by these two types of tabs allows the slat to be locking engaged with a strand in the chain-link fence by a fast and very straightforward installation procedure. Assembly cost of the fence is thereby reduced, and the slats present a uniform, attractive appearance in the finished fence.

Briefly stated, the invention includes an elongated slat ice which is receivable in a channel formed by intersecting wire strands in a chain-link fence. A hooking tab is integrally formed with the body of the slat and is spaced from one end of the slat. A latching tab is integrally formed on either the hooking tab or on the body of the slat. The tabs are positioned whereby the hooking tab may he readily engaged with a strand in the chain-link fence, and the latching tab restrains the strand from passing out of engagement with the hooking tab. The tabs thus combine to conform a simple detent fastener by which a slat is readily secured to a fence strand by a single motion of the slat across the strand.

Several embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a portion of a chain-link fence incorporating several fence slats according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a View along line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view along line 3-3 of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a presently preferred form of the fence slat of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the slat in locking engagement with a fence strand;

FIG. 6 is a view along lines 6 6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a first alternative form of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the Slat in locking engagement with a fence strand;

FIG. 9 is a view along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective View of a second alternative form of the invention;

FIG. 11 is aiview similar to FIG. 10 but showing the slat in locking engagement with a fence strand;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged View along line 12-12 of FIG. 1l;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a third alternative form of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the slat in locking engagement with a fence strand; and

FIG. 15 is a view along line 15-15 of FIG. 14.

Referring to FIG. l, a typical chain-link fence 10 is formed from a series of interwoven, generally vertically oriented pairs of

strands

11 and 12 of relatively heavy-gage wire. The ends of the two strands forming each strand pair are twisted together to form a row of barbs 14 along the top and bottom of the fence.

Strands

11 and 12 descend from the upper barb and extend away from each other to intersect and wrap around a respective strand in the adjoining strand pairs. After these intersections,

strands

11 and 12 converge toward each other to intersect and wrap around each other. The strands thereafter again diverge to intersect and wrap around respective strands in the adjoining strand pairs. The intersecting wire strands thus form a fence having a series of square or diamond-shaped openings 16.

The strand intersections and the strands extending between the intersections combine to form a series of diagonally oriented valleys or channels in the fence. Referring to FIG. 2, a first set of parallel channels 18 is formed by the intersections and strands, and these channels open toward the viewer and extend diagonally across the fence from upper right to lower left as viewed in FIG. l. Referring to FIG. 3, a second set of parallel channels 20 is formed by the intersections and strands, and these channels open away from the viewer and extend diagonally across the fence from upper left to lower right as viewed in FIG. 1.

The weaving process by which the fence is fabricated causes the strands forming the body of each channel to be slightly bowed away from the open side of the channel as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The strand intersections form a shallow groove 22 on each side of the channel, and parallel sets of linearly aligned intersections form a pair of inwardly turned longitudinal edges on each channel.

This type of fence also defines a third set of parallel channels which extend vertically, and a fourth set of parallel channels which extend horizontally. For example, if a single strand 11 is viewed from above, it defines a vertically extending channel. Similarly, the family of converging (or diverging)

strands

11 and 12 which lie along a horizontal line define a horizontal channel. These channels are narrower than

channels

18 and 20, and do not have an open face as they are closed by the strands which define them. The fence slat of this invention iS preferably used in the diagonally extending channels as slat installation is considerably simplified by using these open channels.

A fence slat means 30 constructed according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 4-6. The slat is preferably formed from an elongated piece lof thin, resilient or flexible sheet metal having a curved or arched crosssection. The slat is very similar in appearance to a venetian-blind lath, and can be formed from the same aluminum sheet stock used to fabricate such laths. The slat can be produced in any convenient length, depending upon the dimensions of the chain-link fence in which the slat is to be used.

A tab means such as a hooking tab 31 is positioned near an end 33 of the slat, and is formed by lancing a threesided cut through the body of the slat. Preferably, the cut is made so the longitudinal sides of the tab taper inwardly toward each other. The tab is bent upwardly from the convex surface of the slat and then downwardly toward an end 34 of the tab to form a nest 35 which receives a wire strand in the fence. Preferably, end 34 of the hooking tab is bent upwardly away from the convex slat surface to guide the wire strand into the nest.

A pair of latching tabs 37 are formed on the slat body on opposite sides of the hooking tab and in lateral alignment with nest 35. Preferably, the latching tabs are formed by lancing a pair of cuts through the slat body on opposite sides of the hooking tab, the cuts extending first laterally across the slat toward the hooking tab and then extending transversely away from slat end 33 and toward the center of the slat body. The resulting latching tabs are bent upwardly from the convex surface of the slat, and a lateral edge 38 on each latching tab is thereby positioned to engage and trap a wire strand of the fence in nest 35.

Preferably, longitudinal edges 40 on each side of the slat adjacent end 33 are tapered inwardly toward each other. A section of reduced width is thereby formed in the slat to simplify positioning of the slat in the chainlink fence channel during engagement of the hooking and latching tabs with a fence strand. The several tabs and the tapered longitudinal edges of the slat may be conveniently formed in a single stamping operation using conventional dies and stamping techniques.

To install the slat in a chain-link fence, the slat is positioned with its convex side in the open side of one of the diagonally extending channels 18 in the fence, with end 34 of the hooking tab positioned immediately above the uppermost strand in the channel. The slat is then pulled downwardly, and the strand passes between the slat body and the hooking tab, moving upwardly over the ramplike surface of the latching tabs. When the strand reaches nest 35 of the hooking tab, it drops downwardly against the slat surface off the ramp-like surface of the latching tabs into engagement with edges 38. As shown in FIGS. and 6, the fence strand is urged against the slat body by the hooking tab, and is trapped in the nest of the hooking tab by latching tabs 37. The hooking and latching tabs thus combine to form a detent-type fastener which is readily engageable with the fence strand and which locks the strand securely in place against the slat body.

When the slat has been secured to the top strand in the fence channel, the slat is then pressed into the full length of the channel as shown in FIG. l. This is conveniently done by passing a roller along the length of the concave side of the slat, the edges of the slat yieldingly passing the longitudinal edges of the channel to snap into shallow grooves 22 on each side of the channel. The slat is thereby trapped by the inwardly turned longitudinal edges of the channel, and is prevented from moving longitudinal out of the channel by the detent fastener which is locked around the uppermost strand in the channel.

The slat may also be installed with its concave side toward the open face of the channel by manually compressing the slat edges toward each other so the slat can pass the inwardly turned longitudinal edges of the channel to engage grooves 22 at each strand intersection. Normally, however, the slat is installed with its convex side toward the open face of the channel as this makes possible the use of a roller to force the slat into engagement with the fence quickly and easily.

As shown in FIG. 1, sufficient slats may be installed in the fence to cover all the parallel, diagonally extending channels 18 in the area where privacy or a windbreak is desired. For decorative purposes, or to provide additional locking of the slats, a second set of spaced-apart slats may be installed in the fence to extend approximately perpendicularly to the already installed slats. Such locking slats must be threaded into channels 20 from the upper or lower edge of the fence as the normally open faces of channels 20 are now closed by the slats installed in channels 18. A slat need not be installed in each channel 20, the desired locking action being provided by installation of a slat in every fifth or even every tenth channel 20. The locking slats may be identical to slats 30 as installed in channels 18, and may be locked in place by securing the detent fastener on the slat around a fence strand when the threading operation is complete.

The specific form of hooking and latching tabs described above is especially advantageous in that slats carrying these tabs may be neatly nested together for compact storage and shipment. The ramp-like shape of the latching tabs and the tapered sides of the hooking tab minimize any tendency for adjacent slats in a nested stack to engage or hang up on one another. That is, individual slats are easily removed from the nested stack as the nested tabs on adjacent slats separate readily without tending to engage or adhere to one another.

A rst alternative form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7-9, and includes a slat 43 carrying a pair of laterally spaced-apart hooking tabs 44. The hooking tabs are formed in the same manner as tab 31 described above, and are located near the upper end of the slat. A lateral cut is made in the body of the slat between the two hooking tabs, and the side of the cut away from the end of the slat is bent upwardly away from the convex surface of the slat to form a latching tab 45. The side of the cut toward the end of the slat may be dished downwardly toward the concave surface of the slat to form a seat 46 for the fence strand adjacent latching tab 45. The latching tab is in lateral alignment with the nest area of the hooking tabs, and a fence strand 12 can be engaged in the detent fastener formed by these tabs in the manner described above and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

A second alternative form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 10-12, and includes a slat 50 carrying a single hooking tab 51 adjacent one end thereof. The surface of the hooking tab is lanced to form a latching tab 52 which is bent to extend toward the end of the slat under a nest 53 in the hooking tab. As shown in FIGS. 11 and l2, the slat is engaged with strand 12 in the fence by drawing the hooking tab downwardly over the strand until the strand is trapped in the nest of the hooking tab by latching tab 52 A third alternative form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 13-15, and includes a slat 60 which carries a pair of oppositely oriented hooking tabs 61 and 62. The hooking tabs are positioned adjacent an end 63 of the Slat, with tab 61 opening away from the slat end and tab 62 opening toward the slat end. A latching tab 64 is formed in each of the hooking tabs. The slat is initially positioned at an angle -to fence strand 12 (as shown in phantom in FIG. 14) with the strand passing under the open ends of the hooking tabs. The slat is then rotated counterclock- Wise as viewed in FIG. 14 whereby the strand is locked under the hooking tabs by latching tabs 64 as shown in FIG. 15.

Although the invention has been described with reference to installation in diagonally extending channels in a chain-link fence, it is also usable in vertical and horizontal closed channels which are formed by the fabric of this type of fence. Installation in the open diagonally extending channels is preferred, however, as the slats can be snapped into place without threading except for whatever locking slats may be used. Other forms of the hooking and latching tabs which form the detent fastener on the slat will suggest itself to those skilled in the art, and it is intended that all such forms fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a chain-link fence, the fence being woven of intersecting wire strands and forming a series of channels, the improvement comprising slat means formed from a resilient material and being elongated, transversely arched, and received in one of the channels, a hooking tab means cut from and integrally secured to the body of the slat and spaced from one end of the slat in engagement with one of the fence strands, and a latching tab cut from and integrally secured to one of said means and positioned to restrain the strand from moving out of engagement with the hooking tab means.

Z. In combination with a chain-link fence, the fence being woven of intersecting wire strands and forming a series of channels, the improvement comprising a slat formed from a resilient material and being elongated, transversely arched, and received in one of the channels, a hooking tab cut from and integrally secured to the body of the slat and spaced from one end of the slat in engagement with one of the fence strands, and a latching tab cut from, integrally secured to, and extending from the hooking tab to restrain the strand from moving out of engagement with the hooking tab.

3. In combination with a chain-link fence, the fence being woven of intersecting wire strands and forming a series of channels, the improvement comprising a slat formed from a resilient material and being elongated, transversely arched, and received in one of the channels, a resilient hooking tab cut from and integrally secured to the body of the slat and spaced from one end of the slat in engagement with one of the fence strands, and a latching tab cut from, integrally secured to, and extending from the slat ladjacent the hooking tab to restrain the Strand from moving out of engagement with the hooking tab.

4. In combination with a chain-link fence, the fence being woven of intersecting wire strands and forming a series of channels, the improvement comprising a slat formed from a resilient material and being elongated, transversely arched, and received in one of the channels, a resilient hooking tab cut from and integrally secured to the body of the Slat and spaced from one end of the slat in engagement with one of the fence strands, and a pair of latching tabs cut from and integrally secured to the slat on opposite sides of the hooking tab and positioned to restrain the strand from moving out of engagement with the hooking tab.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 113,872 4/1871 Gill 256-48 X 417,077 12/1889' Osborn et al. 256-48 X 644,938 3/1900 Orr 256-48 X 1,070,390 8/ 1913 Becker 256-48 1,210,541 1/1917 Ryker 256-47 1,631,821 6/1927 Jackson 256-34 3.069,142 12/ 19162 Kessler 256-34 DAVID I. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A CHAIN-LINK FENCE, THE FENCE BEING WOVEN OF INTERSECTING WIRE STRANDS AND FORMING A SERIES OF CHANNELS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING SLAT MEANS FORMED FROM A RESILIENT MATERIAL AND BEING ELONGATED, TRANSVERSELY ARCHED, AND RECEIVED IN ONE OF THE CHANNELS, A HOOKING TAB MEANS CUT FROM AND INTEGRALLY SECURED TO THE BODY OF THE SLAT AND SPACED FROM ONE END OF THE SLAT IN ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE OF THE FENCE STRANDS, AND A LATCH-