AU717079B3 - Fence rail - Google Patents

Description

P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: BHP Steel (JLA) Pty Ltd Actual Inventors: Steven Paul Halpin and Rodney John Gallaty Address for service in CARTER SMITH BEADLE Australia: Level 10, 189 Kent St Sydney, NSW, 2000 Australia Invention Title: Fence Rail Details ofAssociated Provisional Application: PP8499 filed 4 February 1999 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us 2 This invention relates to metal fences of the kind comprising a plurality of spaced apart, upright posts and, in respect of each pair of neighbouring posts, spaced apart top and bottom rails extending from post to post and an in-fill panel extending from rail to rail.

More particularly, the invention relates to such fences wherein at least the rails are formed from sheet metal, for example sheet steel coated with a corrosion resistant and/or decorative coating, [and] wherein each rail is in the form of an open-ended, elongated, rigid, essentially channel shaped member which has been roll-formed or folded from a strip of stock material, and wherein the end faces of each rail may abut an upright face of the respectively adjacent post. By "essentially channel shaped" it is meant that in all instances the rail may be described as comprising a central elongate web and two spaced apart flanges projecting from the longitudinal edges of the web and extending therealong.

However, the rail shape may range from a traditional channel section wherein the web and flanges are planar, perhaps with inturned lips at the free edges of the flanges and/or rounded junctions between the web and' the flanges, to more elaborate and ornamental shapes wherein the flanges are arcuate, segmented or otherwise shaped to provide ornamental or stiffening ribs, grooves or facets extending along the sides of the finished rail. Thus the finished rail may range from a conventional flat sided channel section to more elaborately shaped members including those in the nature of longitudinally split, tubular members.

In use, the top rail is inverted, that is to say its channel mouth is directed downwardly, and the in-fill panel has its upper and lower edge margins inserted through the mouths of the inverted top and non-inverted bottom rails respectively.

Usually the in-fill panel is a shaped metal sheet, but it forms no part of the present invention and in fences incorporating the invention may be of any conventional form, such as for example, a plurality of pickets, a sheet of lattice work or a sheet of expanded metal mesh.

As the bottom rail is necessarily disposed in a non-inverted orientation, that is A to say with its channel mouth directed upwardly, rain water and dirt may collect within the A This, in turn, promotes corrosion.

BODB:MO:#32877 8 December 1999 Thus it is usual for the bottom rail to be manufactured with a plurality of drain holes piercing its web. Those drain holes are normally punch formed, either in a sheet metal work piece before it is roll-formed or folded to rail shape, or in the otherwise finished rail itself. In either event the formation of the drain holes is a separate operation contributing appreciably to the cost of manufacture of the rail.

For aesthetic reasons it is undesirable for an inverted, conventional bottom rail to be used as a top rail because its then redundant drain holes would be fully exposed to view in the finished fence. Thus, it has been necessary for suppliers to manufacture and maintain stocks of two types of rail, with consequent undesirable increase in inventory and storage costs.

An object of the present invention is to alleviate the above indicated deficiencies by very simple means.

The invention resides in the appreciation that in actuality fence rails in an erected fence are virtually never perfectly horizontal and that effective drainage may be achieved provided the water may exit freely from the lower end of the rail.

The invention consists in a combination of a fence post having an upright surface, and a sheet metal, bottom fence rail, comprising an elongate web and two edge flanges extending therealong defining an upwardly open channel, extending from said post with an end face abutting or closely adjacent said upright surface of the post, characterised in that said end face of the rail is profiled such that a drainage space necessarily exists between a lower part of said end face and said upright surface, through which drainage space water may exit said channel, and in that said profiled end face and said post are such that the whole of said profiled end face is within the ambit of the post.

For ease of assembly on site it is preferred to provide rails wherein both end faces are profiled as aforesaid, so that a person assembling the fence is not required to decide which end of the rail is the lower in each instance.

In many instances, each end of the rail in an erected fence extends into the interior R, a hollow fence post or into a longitudinal groove or the like formed in a side of the post.

6 January 2000 Thus the bottom rail's profiled end face may then abut an upright inside surface of the post or the upright floor of the groove as the case may be. In all such instances the said profiled end face is such that notwithstanding said drainage space the whole of the profiled end face is within the ambit of the post. This ensures that the drainage space is at least partially hidden by the post.

The reference to a profiled end face does not exclude a planar face provided it is tilted or oblique to the substantially horizontal longitudinal direction of the rail so that an upper part of the end face may contact the post surface while its bottom part is still spaced therefrom. However, to provide for a more substantial contact area between the rail's end face and the surface of the post, it is preferred that the, or each, drainage space results from at least a part of the, or each, end face of the web of the rail being recessed relative to the adjacent end faces of the rail's flanges.

An advantage of the invention is that the, or each, profiled end face may be formed simultaneously with a shearing operation whereby either a work piece for the manufacture of a fence rail, or the formed rail itself, is cut to length.

Thus, channel sectioned, bottom fence rails intended for use in combinations according to the invention may be made by cutting a sheet metal work piece to length, simultaneously cutting a bight or bights in an end face of the work piece destined to become a bottom part of an end face of the rail and then forming the work piece into said rail.

Alternatively the rail may be made by continuously roll forming a sheet metal strip into the rail cross-section, cutting the roll formed strip into rail lengths and simultaneously ensuring that at least part of an end face of the web is recessed relative to the end faces of the adjacent edge flanges.

By way of example, an embodiment of the above described invention is described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an end portion of an inverted, prior bottom fence rail.

6 January 2000 Figure 2 a view similar to figure 1 of an end portion of a bottom fence rail suitable for inclusion in a combination according to the invention.

The inverted bottom fence rail illustrated by figure 1 comprises a roll formed sheet metal section comprising a channel web 3, two faceted channel flanges 4 with two inturned lips 5 defining a channel having a mouth 6. As seen in the figure the rail is in an inverted position, as it would be if it were in use as a top rail. This has been done to make more evident the cosmetic deficiency that would result from such use. In actuality the noninverted rail would be inserted into the groove of a channel sectioned fence post or, more usually into the groove of a channel sectioned part of such a post, near ground level and secured by through fasteners such as self-tapping screws or blind rivets. The mouth 6 would then be directed upwardly to receive a lower edge margin of an in-fill panel.

This prior art rail is formed with a plurality of drain holes 7 piercing the web 3. It will be apparent that if the rail of figure 1 were to be used as a top rail it would be disposed as seen in figure 1 and the then redundant holes 7 would be prominent and unsightly.

The rail illustrated by figure 2 is structurally similar to the figure 1 rail and corresponding parts bear corresponding reference numerals and are not further described herein.

However, the prior art drain holes 7 are absent and drainage is guaranteed by the profile of the end faces of the rail. In the illustrated embodiment each profile includes a bight 8 formed in the respective end faces of the web 3.

As illustrated, the bights 8 are formed within the width of the web 3, but this is not essential, the bights may be equal in length to the width of the web, or, indeed may even obtrude slightly into the adjacent flanges 4.

It will be apparent that the bights 8 are not nearly as obtrusive as the holes 7 would be in the event that the rail of figure 2 is used, in an inverted orientation, as a top rail.

Furthermore it is customary for the tops of sheet metal fence posts to be capped, and the AL4i ps would further conceal the presence of the bights.

6 January 2000 Although no particular benefit would flow from having more than one bight at each end of the rail, it will be appreciated that the invention would embrace such a variation.

In practice, the spacing between neighbouring posts in a fence may not be so accurate as to ensure that each end of each rail abuts a post surface. Thus the invention does not require the end face of the rail to be in actual abutment with the post surface. The object of the invention is attained in that rails in combinations in accordance with the invention ensure that if and when abutment does occur, drainage from the end of the rai9l channel is not impaired.

'NT O"ecs\32877 6 January 2000

Claims (1)

1. 2. A combination according to claim I wherein said profiled end face results from at least a part of an end face of the web being recessed relative to adjacent end faces of the flanges. DATED: 6 January 2000 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: BHP STEEL (JLA) PTY LTD 6 January 2000