Patent Application
20140231739
Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to a bracket system for fence posts to attach various types of fencing materials or fence sections.
Difficulties may exist in installing fences when there is unequal spacing between fence posts. Unequal spacing between fence posts may happen by ground conditions, shapes of the overall fences, or other reasons. Currently, mounting bracket systems in the market are allows a little or no movement to fix this problem. Besides the difficulty in installing fences, unequal spacing between fence posts is not aesthetically pleasing. There have been attempts to solve the problem using various devices. However, these other devices have not been successful in adjusting uneven field fence installation to completely solve the problems. In addition, these devices may require additional components to install, and therefore require extra labor and create aesthetically not pleasing end-products. The current subject fence post attachment bracket system provides a solution because it is simple and elegant to install. Moreover, embodiments the present disclosure are universally adjustable to round or square metal fence posts, by bolting onto “off the shelf” non-adjustable fence post brackets for various fence materials such as metal fence sections or three rail metal fences.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to a bracket attachment system comprising of a first angled panel; and a second angled panel identical to the first angled panel, wherein each angled panel comprises a first end planar section comprising a first hole, an angled planar section, and a second end planar section comprising a second hole, wherein an edge of the angled planar section is also an edge of the first end planar section such that the first end planar section and the angled planar section form a first obtuse angle, wherein the opposite edge of the angled planar section is also an edge of the second end planar section such that the second end planar section and the angled planar section form a second obtuse angle that is substantially the same as the first obtuse angle, wherein the first end planar section and the second end planar section are substantially parallel, and wherein the first and second angled panels are oriented in a mirror image such that the first and second holes are aligned, and such that the space between the first end planar sections is narrower than the space between the second end planar sections. The second end planar sections of the first and second angled panels include at least one hole, in a preferred embodiment is in an oval shape elongated in an orientation lateral to the respective angled panels.
The present attachment system may use various means to connect the first and second angled panels. The first end planar section with a first hole of the first and second angled panels is mounted to a bracket attached to a fence post. The second end planar sections of the first and second panels are mounted to a fence, fence material, channel, rail or other parts of fence.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure address the problem of unequal spacing between fence posts used for various types of fencing, especially for mounting brackets for fence posts that are not adjustable to fix the unequal spacing between the fence posts in installing fence. As stated above, the common problem in installing fences is that there is usually unequal spacing between the metal fence posts and currently available mounting bracket systems does not allow enough movement to easily install the fence. An embodiment of the present disclosure solves this problem by providing easier installation of fences that use fence posts. An embodiment of the present disclosure is a bracket attachment system that adjusts the space between the fence posts that are uneven or unequal. Again, the subject bracket attachment system solves the problems by allowing the easy installation of various types of fencing using metal fence posts and by easily adjusting many uneven or unequal spaced posts for fencing installations. Throughout the present disclosure, the phrase “attached to” is used to broadly describe various embodiments. It is noted that “attached to” may also mean “joined to”, “fastened to”, “fixed to”, “connected to”, “linked to”, “secured to”, “appended to”, “coupled to”, “bound to”, “hitched to”, “riveted to”, or other equivalents thereof.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an improvement on what currently exists. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the subject bracket attachment system is better because of the ease of adjusting the height and width of the “off the shelf” bracket used to attach (or fasten or fix or mount) the fence section to round or square fence posts now typically used. Other currently available fence brackets have little adjustment for the installation of various types of fence sections and thus, make the fence installation more difficult when there is unequal spacing between the fence posts. An embodiment of the present disclosure is elegant, easy to install, and universally adjustable to round or to square metal fence posts, by being able to be attached to (or fastened to, or fixed to, or mounted to) this “off the shelf” non-adjustable fence post brackets. Also, an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable to various types of fences such as metal fence sections or three rail metal fences. In one aspect of the present disclosure, an embodiment prevents wearing off the fences due to weather conditions by allowing movement of fences for wind and storm and thereby, preventing fences from cracking or breaking apart. In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides more support for the fence material by holding the fence from the bottom, top, or sides. In yet another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure creates aesthetically more pleasing look by providing visually a similar or identical look for the front and back sides
In this embodiment, a connecting mechanism of a bolt 105 and a nut 107 is used. The bracket system front panel 101 includes at least two holes, first hole 103 and second hole 104. The bracket system back panel 102 also includes at least two bolt holes, first hole 103 and second hole 104. The bolt holes on the bracket system back panel 102 are located in identical or similar locations as in the bolt holes 103 and 104 in the front metal mounting panel 101. As stated above, these holes are oriented in a mirror image so the holes can align to each other. Threads may be included in the bolt holes. In this embodiment, the bolt hole 103 is in a circular shape and the bolt hole 104 is in an oval shape. In the preferred embodiment, the bolt hole 103 is used to attach the bracket attachment system 106 to the “off the shelf bracket,” and the bolt hole 104 is used to attach the bracket attachment system 106 to the fence material. The oval shape of the bolt hole 104 provides an extra space for the bracket attachment system 106 to adjust the unequal spacing between fence posts and allows movement of the fence material. In connecting the bracket attachment system 106 to the fence material, a connecting mechanism of bolt and nut as shown in 105 and 107 may be used through the bolt hole 104. The bracket system front panel 101 and the bracket system back panel 102 may be made of various materials including metal, steel, and other composite. Also the bracket system front panel 101 and the bracket system back panel 102 may be in various thicknesses depending on the user's need. Users may also coat the bracket attachment system 106 with materials that are water-resistant such as poly vinyl or wax to prevent the bracket attachment system 106 from corrosion.
An embodiment of the present disclosure includes:
1. A front metal mounting adjustable bracket panel 1 for metal fence posts;
2. A rear metal mounting adjustable bracket panel 2 for metal fence posts;
3. Two or more steel threaded bolts, varying thickness and length;
4. Two or more steel nuts for item #3 bolts.
5. Two or more steel washers for item #3 bolts
In an embodiment, the relationship between the components of the bracket attachment system is as follows: the bracket system front panel 101 is bolted to the bracket system back panel 102 through the first hole 103 in the narrow end of the bracket panels 101 and 102 using a steel bolt 105 through the “off the shelf” bracket 108 (already installed around a steel fence post 110) using two steel washers and tightened down with two steel nuts 107 on the ends of the bolts, with the wider angled subject brackets ends to allow movement of the bolt when bolting the subject brackets to the metal or wood fence sections to meet the variable needs of fence building in the field where posts may not be perfectly plumb or equally spaced and need some adjustment at the post attachment. In this embodiment, the two subject bracket systems per post with two bolts and bolts for each two subject bracket piece system are used to perform that adjustment with the oval larger second hole 4 in one side of the bracket system at the fence section. The subject bracket system 6 is bolted to a metal fence post “off the shelf” readily available typical bracket 8. The subject bracket system of two angled brackets is used to attach a metal or wood fence section to the “off the shelf” bracket 8 (which is already bolted around the post). The front and rear subject brackets panels are drilled with bolt holes with an adjustable oval hole in the wider angled ends to allow movement of the bolt when bolting the subject brackets to the metal or wood fence sections to meet the variable needs of fence building in the field where posts may not be perfectly plumb or equally spaced and need some adjustment at the post attachment. The two subject bracket system per post with two bolts and bolts for each two subject bracket piece system are used to perform that adjustment with the oval larger bolt hole in one side of the bracket system at the fence section. The wider side of the subject bracket metal pieces is used to attach the fence section of pickets by bolting together the fence section to the adjustable wider ends of the brackets. The subject brackets can also be turned 90 degrees to act as a receiving saddle for a three rail appearance fence. The brackets hold up the weight of the metal fence rail pieces with the open end up versus to the side with the normal full fence section. In one embodiment, there would be three brackets per fence post with the three rail system versus, two as with the normal fence section.
How to make the bracket attachment system: According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a fence builder/installer would first set the steel fence posts needed for the metal wood fence sections with the proper spacing between the posts. Installer would bolt on the “off the shelf” post brackets around the post using the typical two bolts and curved bracket system sold at retail stores now. The bracket attachment system would then have the front and rear angled metal brackets panels bolted at the narrow end single round hole section to the “off the shelf” post bracket so the subject bracket system's wider end with the oval adjustable hole end could accept the fence section which would then be bolted to the subject brackets. In a preferred embodiment, there can be two subject bracket systems, one at the top and one at the bottom of the fence section, for attaching the fence section to the post. If using the three rail system of metal fencing vs. the normal full fence section, then there would be three brackets per posts to hold the three rails, with the brackets being installed open end up to support a portion of a horizontal rail, then bolted to the rail piece with the same type bolts as above. Lock bolts or lock washers could be used to make the bolting attachments more secure. The single round hole in the narrow end of the subject brackets where they are bolted to the “off the shelf” post bracket, could be larger, but may negatively impact the secure attachment of the subject bracket to the “off the shelf” bracket at that point.
How to use the bracket attachment system: A person would use the subject bracket system to attach the fence section to an already installed “off the shelf” metal post bracket, by bolting the subject brackets to the fence section at the adjustable ends. This would allow the person to adjust the width and height of the attachment point of the fence section if there was uneven spacing or out of plumb fence post conditions existing in the field.
Also, it can create: the subject fence metal bracket attachment system can produce fences and fencing systems that require an adjustable installation. Also the brackets allow a three rail metal fencing application as well as a full 6′ or 8′ high typical full metal fence section.
This Application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/762,089, filed on Feb. 7, 2013, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61762089 | Feb 2013 | US |
