GB2250758A - Tent pegs - Google Patents

Abstract

A tent peg (2) has, projecting laterally from its shaft (1), a plate (3), whose broad face extends at an angle to the direction of insertion, in such a way as to cover the area ahead of the peg (2) in the direction of the dragging force, so that as the peg is driven into the ground (5) the plate (3) first contacts and then compacts the soil in front of the peg, so "healing" any fractures and restoring soil integrity. The plate (3) may be fan-shaped, and is integral with the shank or shaft of the peg, which may be of metal or plastics. <IMAGE>

Description

Tent Pegs This invention relates to tent pegs, and concerns in particular a novel structure of tent peg that is less easily dragged out of the ground by the guy rope.

The traditional means of securing tents, marquees and similar fabric building-like structures to their chosen site is by the use of guy ropes depending from the appropriate place on the tent (or whatever) and secured into place in the ground by pegs. A peg suitable for this purpose is generally a thin shaft- or shank-like body of some strong material, such as a metal like mild steel metal, a wood or even a structural plastic, of the order of 6 in (15 cm) to 18 in (45 cm) long, having at one end a point enabling it to be driven into the ground and at the other end some means, such as a ring, hook or notch, to which can be secured a loop of the guy rope. The cross-section of the peg body may be constant over the insertable length or it may increase (in one or both of the sectional dimensions) from the point towards the loop securing means.

Some types of peg, most notably the plastic ones, have I , H or T-shaped cross-sections to increase their strength, and have disposed along their length teeth (or similar barb-like elements, such as zig-zag or rippled edges to the peg body) to increase their resistance to being dragged out of the ground by the pulling forces in the guy rope. The majority of these devices for preventing the peg being dragged out operate in the direction of, or along the line of; insertion.

In use, however, pegs are commonly inserted at an angle of around 70" to the ground, with the guy rope pulling at an angle of around 50 to the ground in the opposite direction, and they thus fail - that is, pull out through forces which are applied more or less perpendicular to the line of insertion. Now, soil may be considered a brittle material, in that it is particulate in nature and stress cracks propagate in continuous lines away from the point of stress. The basic action of inserting a peg creates initial fractures, which tend to result in a weakened soil structure around the peg, and especially immediately above (and in front of) the peg shaft.Thus, failure primarily occurs when the perpendicular forces applied from the guy rope exceed the compressive strength of the soil holding the peg and providing the drag against which the guy rope is pulling, at which point a brittle fracture of the soil mass occurs, and a section of the soil in front of the peg is pushed forwards. None of the "pull-out" resistant pegs provide any significant amelioration of this problem, because they fail to address it properly.

The present invention stems firstly from an appreciation of the real factors underlying peg pull-out, and secondly from a scientific application of the conventional way of making a peg secure, and restoring the mechanical integrity of the soil, namely the treading and firming of the soil around the peg with the heel of the foot, so as to re-compact it and thus "mend" any fractures formed when the peg was hammered into place (although in the crude "heeling" method the cracks may well not be closed where they actually start, and so may readily reform under load).More specifically, the invention resides in a novel construction of peg having a laterally projecting plate-like structure whose broad face extends perpendicular to the direction of insertion, in such a way as to cover the area ahead of the peg in the direction of the dragging force, so that as the peg is driven into the ground the plate first contacts and then compacts the soil in front of the peg, so "healing" any fractures and restoring soil integrity.

In one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a peg suitable for securing a guy rope or the like, which peg has an elongate shaft- or shank-like body with a point at the in-use bottom end and guy securing means at the in-use top end, the body having projecting laterally therefrom adjacent the top end a plate-like protrusion extending in a plane substantially orthogonal to the line of the body.

The peg of the invention is suitable for securing a guy rope or the like as used to hold up a tent, marquee, and so on. As noted above, such a peg will generally have an elongate body - typically, it will be a long, thin rod - with a point at one end (so it can be driven into the ground) and guy retaining means, such as a hook, a notch or a ring, at the other (so the guy rope can actually be attached to it). Such a peg may be of almost any size - that chosen being the one best suited for the particular task; small for one- or two-man tents, but much larger for marquees - and so can be anything from around 6 in (15 cm) to 18 in (45 cm) long, and from 0.1 in (0.25 cm) to 0.75 in (2 cm) in sectional diameter, or even larger. The improvement in peg design provided by the invention can usefully be applied to any type and size of peg.

Adjacent the top end of the peg there is, projecting laterally of the elongate peg body - that is, to one side of, and away from, the elongate body - a plate-like protrusion. The plate is positioned along the body at a point such that the last few blows from a mallet, or the smooth pressing action of the hand or foot, cause the plate to come into contact with the soil - indeed, to be driven a little way into the soil - and thus cause it to exert a broad compressive force which is sufficient to create a column of compacted soil around the peg shaft, and especially just in front of the peg. Soil thus compacted has a much larger resistance to the initiation of fissures, which are the prime cause of pegs coming loose.In principle the plate may be anywhere along the elongate body such that by the time the peg has in use been driven into the ground to the point at which the plate contacts the ground there is already a sufficient length of peg in the ground to hold it firm (but for the brittle fracture problem the invention seeks to deal with), and a slight further movement into the ground causes the desired soil compaction. In practice, therefore, the plate will be positioned adjacent the top end of the elongate body it is usual for there to be chosen as suitable for use a peg that will provide the appropriate security when it has been driven- in to a depth equivalent to about two thirds, three-quarters, or even four fifths of its length - but exactly what this means will depend upon the particular circumstances in each case.For an 8 in (20 cm) peg the plate could be 2 in (5 cm) from the top; for a 6 in (15 cm) one it might be 1.5 in (3.5 cm) from the top.

The plate may be of any suitable shape, bearing in mind that it is required to extend away from the peg body and compress the soil primarily in front of the peg. One simple and convenient shape is that of a partly open fan - a quadrant, or a sextant, of a circle - with its narrow end secured to the peg body and its wide end distant therefrom, while another, which is particularly convenient for use with a peg the body of which has an I , H or T-shaped cross-section, is a plain rectangle of a width appropriate to the corresponding dimension of the peg body section. Such pegs are described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying Drawings.

It will be understood that the size of the plate, while of little substantial importance, needs nevertheless to be that appropriate to the plate's purpose; if it be too small then the area of earth compacted around and in front of the peg - the extent of soil compaction - will be insufficient to prevent easy stress crack propagation, while if the plate be too large then despite the forces driving the peg - and the plate - into the ground the degree of soil compaction will likewise be insufficient. It is difficult to provide any hard and fast rules about plate size, in the same way as it is difficult so to do about plate position, but in general the plate should be long enough (in the direction away from the peg body) to reach out a distance extending over that lower portion of the peg body driven into the ground - or, to put it mathematically, a distance l.cos a, where 1 is the length of peg under the plate (and thus driven into the ground) and a is the angle the peg body makes to the horizontal (the ground surface). Such a reach of plate should re-compact most, if not all, of the soil disturbed as the peg is driven into the ground.

By way of example, for a six inch peg with its plate two inches from the top - and thus with four inches of peg body beneath the plate - to be driven in at an angle of 20 to the vertical (70 to the horizontal) a suitable plate extent is thus about 1.5 in (4 cm), but slightly smaller or larger extents are acceptable.

The plate may be attached to the peg body in any suitable way appropriate to the materials from which plate and body are made. Thus, where originally a separate portion it may be brazed or welded to the body, or it can be formed as an integral part thereof.

The plate extends from the peg body "generally orthogonal" thereto. Since the most beneficial insertion angle of a peg is typically at around 20 to the vertical, the plate is conveniently inclined at a similar angle - thus, at such an angle to the peg shaft, being about 70" to the shaft - as to be parallel with the ground, and so contact it fully, when the peg is driven in at the former angle. However, peg insertion is always a rough and ready affair, and plate angles of anything up to around 60 to the shaft are generally satisfactory.

The peg of the invention may be made of any suitable material able to withstand the forces involved in being repeatedly driven into, and subsequently pulled out of, the ground. Metals such as mild steel (possibly galvanised) or brass or bronze (for corrosion resistance) may be appropriate, as may some of the tougher plastics (such as the higher density polyethylenes and polypropylenes).

It will be seen that in general concept the inventive peg is a combination of a long thin section the shaft, shank or body - suitable for being hammered or forced into the ground together with a generally laterally protruding plate-like section suitable for compacting the ground when forced into contact therewith as the long thin section is driven in. The plate is positioned a suitable distance along the body and in such a way as to act upon the ground immediately around the body, and especially that in front thereof.

Two embodiments of the invention are now described, though by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying Drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a top perspective view of one embodiment of peg according to the invention; Figures 2A & B show the peg of Figure 1 emplaced in the ground; and Figures 3A & B show in front and side elevation a second embodiment of peg of the invention.

The embodiment of Figures 1 and 2A & B is a long, thin metal pin or rod (generally 1; the bottom end is not shown) suitable for forcing into the ground. It bears a soil-compacting fan-shaped plate (3) protruding therefrom adjacent its top (4: this carries a loop-like hook to which may be attached a guy rope), such that when the peg is pushed or hammered into the ground (5) the plate 3 comes into contact therewith. The initial driving of the peg into the ground is likely to result in fractures in the soil structure in front of the peg, and concomitant soil weakness (Figure 2A). However, subsequent driving force is translated by the plate 3 into a compressive force that, while insufficient to cause further significant penetration of the peg into the ground, is yet sufficient to cause the desired compression of the soil around and in front of the peg.

This "heals" the fractures, and much of the original soil strength returns (Figure 2B).

The plate 3 is inclined at an angle (6) to the horizontal which allows the plate fully to contact the ground when the peg is inserted at a slight backwards leaning angle (7) to the vertical.

The majority of the plate's area, and hence the majority of the compressive forces is focused on the ground immediately in front of the section facing the direction of the pull-out force (8) coming from the guy rope (not shown).

The peg embodiment of Figures 3A and 3B is made of a tough plastics material. The peg is in principle the same as that of Figures 1 and 2, save that its shaft (31) has a T-cross section, and the lateral "fins" (32) of this T extend forwards, at the top, to provide an integral rectangular soil-compression plate (33). The angle (34) of this plate 33 is (as in Figure 2), about 70" to the shaft 31.

Claims (7)

1. A peg suitable for securing a guy rope or the like, which peg has an elongate shaft- or shank-like body with a point at the in-use bottom end and guy securing means at the in-use top end, the body having projecting laterally therefrom adjacent the top end a plate-like protrusion extending in a plane substantially orthogonal to the line of the body.

2. A peg as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plate is positioned adjacent the top end of the elongate body from one third to one fifth of its length down from the top.

3. A peg as claimed in either of the preceding Claims, wherein the plate has a fan shape or a plain rectangular shape.

4. A peg as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the size of the plate is such that the plate is long enough (in the direction away from the peg body) to reach out a distance extending over that lower portion of the peg body driven into the ground.

5. A peg as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the plate is integral with the peg body.

6. A peg as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the plate extends from the peg body at an angle of up to 600 to the shaft.

7. A peg as claimed in any of the preceding Claims and substantially as described hereinbefore.