US3563205A - Balcony guard rail for knockdown metal birdhouse - Google Patents

Abstract

A balcony guard rail for a multicompartment birdhouse made of lightweight sheet metal. The compartments are arranged in rows which are stacked or tiered to provide multiple levels. The common floor for each row extends forwardly beyond the compartments to provide a balcony extending the length of a row of compartments. The balcony has a marginal upstanding flange its entire length and a plurality of like guardrail members are removably mounted on the flange end-to-end and releasably locked together to form a continuous guard railing along the length of the balcony. The balcony and guardrail members have cooperating slot and flange means for installing said rail members. The rail members have cooperating open-ended cylindrical formations at the upper end thereof for receiving an elongate locking rod member therein which interconnects the individual guard rail members to retain them in a continuous, rigid guardrail installation supported on the marginal flange of the balcony.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Arthur E. Vail 3,418,976 12/1968 Vail 1 19/23 Griggsville, Ill. 3,478,722 1 H1969 Falcone et al. 1 19/23 PP NO- 844,463 Primary Examiner-Aldrich F. Medbery [22] med 1969 Atlanta -Silverman & Cass [4s] Patented Feb. 16, 1911 y [73] Assignee Trio Manufacturing Co.

ABSTRACT: A balcony guard rail for a multicompartment birdhouse made of lightweight sheet metal. The compartments [54] BALCONY GUARD RAIL FOR KNOCKDOWN are arranged in rows which are stacked or tiered to provide METAL BIRDHOUSE multlple levels. The common floor i or each row extends forschimsannwhg Figs. wardly beyond the compartments to provide a balcony extend ng the length of a row of compartments. The balcony has "9/23, a marginal upstanding flange its entire length and a plurality of DES 30/3 like guardrail members are removably mounted on the flange Ill-n end-to-end and releasably locked together to form a continua 31/00 Aolk 31/12 ous guard railing along the length of the balcony. The balcony no u 1 and guardrail have cooperating slot and flange DES 30/3 means for installing said rail members. The rail members have 1 coo erating open-ended cylindrical formations at the upper [56] (was CM end thereof for receiving an elongate locking rod member UNITED STATES PATENTS therein which interconnects the individual guard rail members Re, 25,878 10/ 1965 Vail 1 19/23 to retain them in a continuous, rigid guardrail installation sup- 3,367,632 21196 8 Vail. ported on the marginal flange of the balcony.

BALCONY GUARD RAIL FOR KNOCKDOWN METAL BIRDIIOUSE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to knockdown metal birdhouses of multiple compartment construction and more particularly, to an improved guardrail construction for the balcony of such a birdhouse. I

2. Description of the Prior Art The guardrail embodying the invention engenders special advantages when used on birdhouses for purple martins, although same may be useful on birdhouses which attract other species of birds, as well. Martins, however, are recognized as such efficient and effective destroyers of garden insect pests that their presence in residential gardens to control insect population to the exclusion of insect sprays is very desirable. The martin is a gregarious'species and as is now known, will nest only in a multicornportment-type structure which is clean, namely, free from used nests, twigs and debris of other birds which may occupy a martin house after the martins have migrated for the winter. Consequently, in order to attract the returning martins year after year, it is necessary to maintain the martins birdhouse properly clean.

In returning each year to the birdhouse, the martin will propagate its species, raising its young in the birdhouse. Obviously, when the fledglings are on the balcony outside of the nesting compartment, it is necessary to have a protective barrier or fence at the margin or border of the balcony which will prevent the young birds from inadvertently falling from the balcony. It has been known to provide guardrail devices for such balconies which also serve as perches for mature birds. A common form of guardrail heretofore utilized consisted of an elongate perch rod attached to suitable upstanding posts in turn supported on the balcony. The open space between the rod and the balcony floor or an upstanding marginal flange, if the same was provided, was large enough, frequently, for a small bird to squeeze through and inadvertently fall from the birdhouse.

Frequently, prior fence or guardrail constructions required the use of mechanical fasteners for installing the same. These fasteners tended to become frozen in place after long exposure to the elements and hence, made it very difficult, if not impossible, to replace fence or rail sections without damaging or destroying the entire construction or even the birdhouse. Further, where multiple sections of fence or guardrail members were employed, it was very difficult to realize a sufficiently protective, continuous fence or guardrail which was adequately rigid and stable in its vertical installation on the balcony.

The foregoing, as well as other, disadvantages are alleviated by the herein invention, which provides a guardrail member formed of sheet metal capable of being removably mounted in vertical position on the birdhouse balcony in a stable, interlocked arrangement with a plurality of like guard rail members. The guardrail member has an upper cylindrical formation which provides a stable perchfor a bird. The cylindrical formation is open at opposite ends thereof so that a group of said members, arranged end to end, have their formations in registry to provide a continuous passageway into which may be inserted an elongate rod for releasably locking the guardrail members into a continuous guardrail or fence on the balcony. The guardrail members and balcony have releasable interlockable means for removably installing said rail members in operative position on the balcony.

Additionally, the guardrail member is: economical to manufacture by well'known mass production sheet metal working techniques to provide a sturdy and highly efficient guardrail or fence construction for such a knockdown metal birdhouse. Further, the guardrail member is easily and readily installed and removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elcvational view of a knockdown multicompartment metal birdhouse having a guardrail construction embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a birdhouse and partially exploded to show individual guardrail members of the invention installed.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and in the direction indicated generally.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. I, a birdhouse of generally knockdown sheet metal construction with which the guardrail embodying the invention is especially useful is designated generally by the reference character 10. The birdhouse 10 is mounted on a pole 12, shown partially, and as is known in the art, means for raising and lowering the birdhouse (not shown) can be provided for facilitating cleanout thereof. The illustrated house 10 has a pair of stacked or superimposed tiersl4 of nesting compartments and a peaked roof section I6 which may be removable for adding tiers of compartments, as desired.

The general construction of a tier [4, insofar as understanding the herein invention is concerned, includes a floor designated generally 18 which may be of one-piece construction or of a plurality of floor sections suitably fastened together. As seen in FIG. 1, each tier I4 is comprised of a row of three nesting compartments, the access door to each of which is designated 20. Each door20 has an access opening 22 to the interior of the compartment. In the case of the pair of stacked tiers 14 illustrated, the floor 18 of the uppermost tier also forms the ceiling for the nether tier of compartments. For purposes of clarity, the floor of the nether tier of compartments will be designated 18a Although not shown, it will be appreciated from said US. Pat. No. Re. 25,878 that there also may be provided a rowof nesting compartments facing in a direction opposite to the row of compartments of each tier 18, 18a illustrated, that is, a row of compartments back to back with each row shown in FIG. 1. Also. their can be a row of nesting compartments facing outwardly from each side of the birdhouse 10, that is, facing left and right, as viewed in FIG. 1 and a row may have more orless than three compartments.

In each instance, the floor 18 or 18a protrudes forwardly beyond each row of compartments in the tier 14 concerned such that a porch or balcony section 24 is provided, as seen in FIG. 2, which can be continuous around the perimeter of the birdhouse, or on less than all sides thereof, as desired. The margin of the floor section 24 is upwardly bent to provide an upstanding marginal or border flange 26 along the entire length of said floor and hence, substantially coextensive with the length of the row of compartments beyond which it protrudes. Spaced inwardly of the bend 28 is a row of uniformly spaced slots 30, of which one is seen in FIG. 2, there being at least one such slot 30 for each guardrail member embodying the invention which is designated generally by the reference character 32.

The guard rail member 32 preferably is a thin gauge sheet metal structure which can be stamped from continuous webs of sheet metal passed through a punch press or other mass production machine. The member 32 has a generally rectangular open-lattice body panel 33 having a continuous strip 34 along one longitudinal margin thereof. The opposite longitudinal margin has a cylindrical open ended formation 35 like a tube which may be integrally formed or otherwise provided thereon. The lateral edges 36 each have an inwardly facing right-angle flange 37 integral therewith and extending from the cylinder formation 35 to the marginal strip 34. There is an inwardly facing, right-angle flange 38 connected along the strip 34 for its entire length, said flange 38 having a tongue 39 integral therewith and intermediate the ends 40 thereof. As seen in FIG. 2, the body 33 is open except for the pair of crossed strips 44 in the open space thereof connecting the cylinder 35 to the strip 34. The crossed strips 44 cooperate to prevent a young bird from falling through the open body 33.

Along the opposite longitudinal edge 45 of the strip 34, is provided a channel formation defined by an L-shaped flange 46. Said flange has a short leg 47 which is connected to the strip 34 and a longer leg 48 which is spaced from and parallel to said strip 34, giving rise to the channel 50 opening toward the flange 38.

Referring to FIG. 3, the rail member 32 is mounted on the floor section 24 by engaging the flange 46 over the edge 45 of the strip 34 so that the rail member 32 is supported on the upper edge 45. The tongue 39 can be engaged through the slot 30 from the bottom face of the floor section 24, it being necessary to crimp the tongue 39 medially as indicated at 51 so that the lead rounded end 52 of the tongue is engaged flush on the upper face of the floor section 24, thereby locking the rail 32 in position.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that a row of such rail members 32 are installed end to end along the marginal flange 26 of the floor section 24. Each adjacent pair of rail members 32 will have abutting lateral flanges 37 which assist in rigidifying the structure. Further, to lock the rail members in their installed position, there is provided an elongate cylindrical locking bar 54 which can be matingly engaged through the aligned open ends of the cylinders 35 of the rail members 32 arranged end to end on the floor section. Obviously, where it is desired to remove a rail member for any reason, one will withdraw the locking rod 54, bend back the lead end 52 ofthe locking tongue 39 so that the tongue can be withdrawn from the slot 3O and the rail member 32 thereafter lifted from the marginal flange 26. As seen in FIG. 3, the spacing between leg 48 and edge strip 34 is slightly larger than the thickness of the edge strip 34 so that the marginal flange 26 is tightly received in the channel 50.

It is believed that the invention has been sufficiently described to enable the skilled artisan to practice the same. Minor variations in the construction and proportion of the parts of said guard rail may occur to the skilled artisan within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

lclaim:

1. In a multicompartment birdhouse made of lightweight sheet metal in which compartments are arranged in stacked rows and there is a floor for each row of compartments which extends beyond the compartment row to provide a balcony, said balcony having an upstanding marginal flange at right angles thereto, a plurality of like guardrail members mounted end to end on said marginal flange to provide a continuous upstanding guard railing, said balcony having a'row of spaced slots adjacent the marginal flange, each guardrail having a longitudinal strip along one marginal longitudinal edge thereof having a right-angle flange and an L-shaped flange secured along opposite edges thereof all facing in the same direction,

said L-shaped flange forming a channel opening toward the right-angle flange, said right-angle flange having a protruding tongue intermediate the ends thereof, each rail having an open ended enlarged formation extending the length thereof along its opposite marginal longitudinal edge, the marginal flange being engaged in said channel formations and the tongues removably secured in said slots with the enlarged formations aligned one with the other in a continuous row, and a locking bar removably secured in said row of formations for rigidifying I the plurality of guardrail membersin their installed position.

2. In a birdhouse as described m claim 1 in which said en-

Claims (5)

1. In a multicompartment birdhouse made of lightweight sheet metal in which compartments are arranged in stacked rows and there is a floor for each row of compartments which extends beyond the compartment row to provide a balcony, said balcony having an upstanding marginal flange at right angles thereto, a plurality of like guardrail members mounted end to end on said marginal flange to provide a continuous upstanding guard railing, said balcony having a row of spaced slots adjacent the marginal flange, each guardrail having a longitudinal strip along one marginal longitudinal edge thereof having a right-angle flange and an L-shaped flange secured along opposite edges thereof all facing in the same direction, said L-shaped flange forming a channel opening toward the right-angle flange, said right-angle flange having a protruding tongue intermediate the ends thereof, each rail having an open ended enlarged formation extending the length thereof along its opposite marginal longitudinal edge, the marginal flange being engaged in said channel formations and the tongues removably secured in said slots with the enlarged formations aligned one with the other in a continuous row, and a locking bar removably secured in said row of formations for rigidifying the plurality of guardrail members in their installed position.

2. In a birdhouse as described in claim 1 in which said enlarged formations are cylindrical in configuration.

3. In a birdhouse as described in claim 2 in which each guardrail member has an open lattice configuration between said enlarged formation and the strip thereof.

4. In a birdhouse as described in claim 1 in which said tongue is deformable and has a portion thereof on opposite sides of said balcony.

5. In a birdhouse as described in claim 2 in which said locking bar is a cylindrical rod.

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