Patent Application
20220090409
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The disclosure relates to fence post devices and more particularly pertains to a new fence post device for removing a top rail from a chain link fence without removing a fence post cap.
The prior art relates to fence post devices including a hand rail column that has a removable clamp for engaging a handle rail. The prior art discloses a coupling for coupling a pair of tubular structures at a right angle with each other. The prior art discloses a fence post cap that is bisected into a first portion that is pivotally coupled to a second portion thereby facilitating each of said first portion and said second portion to be closed around a fence post and a top rail. The prior art discloses a pipe coupling for attaching a top rail to a fence post of a chain link fence. The prior art discloses a fence post cat and a top rail loop that is removably attachable to the fence post cap. The prior art discloses a coupler for coupling sections of pipe together end to end.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cap that is positionable on a fence post of a chain link fence. A loop is coupled to and extends upwardly from the cap, and the loop includes a gate portion that is pivotally coupled to a fixed portion. The gate portion is positionable in an open position thereby facilitating a top rail of the chain link fence to be installed on the fixed portion. Conversely, the gate portion is positionable in a closed position thereby facilitating the gate portion and the fixed portion to encircle the top rail. In this way the loop facilitates the top rail to be attached to the fence post. A tab is coupled to and extends upwardly from the gate portion for gripped to urge the gate portion between the open position and the closed position.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A loop 29 is coupled to and extends upwardly from the cap 12. The loop 29 includes a gate portion 30 that is pivotally coupled to a fixed portion 32. The gate portion 30 positionable in an open position thereby facilitating a top rail 34 of the chain link fence to be installed on the fixed portion 32. The gate portion 30 is positionable in a closed position thereby facilitating the gate portion 30 and the fixed portion 32 to encircle the top rail 34. In this way the loop 29 facilitates the top rail 34 to be attached to the fence post 14. The fixed portion 32 is coupled to and extends laterally across the top wall 16 of the cap 12 such that the fixed portion 32 bisects the top wall 16. The fixed portion 32 has a first end 36, a second end 38 and an upper surface 40 extending therebetween, and the upper surface 40 is concavely arcuate between the first end 36 and the second end 38 to conform to curvature of the top rail 34.
The gate portion 30 has a primary end 42, a secondary end 44 and a lower surface 46 extending therebetween, and the lower surface 46 is convexly arcuate between the primary end 42 and the secondary end 44. The primary end 42 is pivotally coupled to the first end 36 of the fixed portion 32 and the secondary end 44 releasably engages the second end 38 of the fixed portion 32 when the gate portion 30 is in the closed position. Conversely, the secondary end 44 is spaced from the second end 38 when the gate portion 30 is positioned in the open position. The fixed portion 32 may have a notch 48 positioned on the second end 38 which extends toward the first end 36. The gate portion 30 may have a tooth 50 positioned adjacent to the secondary end primary end 42 that engages the notch 48 for releasably retaining the gate portion 30 in the closed position. Additionally, the gate portion 30 has a top surface 52 and the top surface 52 is co-arcuate with the lower surface 46.
A tab 54 is coupled to and extends upwardly from the gate portion 30. The tab 54 can be gripped for urging the gate portion 30 between the open position and the closed position. The tab 54 is positioned on the top surface 52 of the gate portion 30 and the tab 54 is aligned with an apex of the top surface 52. Additionally, the tab 54 tapers from the top surface 52 into a conical shape.
In use, the cap 12 is placed on the fence post 14, the gate portion 30 of the loop 29 is opened, the top rail 34 is laid on the fixed portion 32 of the loop 29, and the gate portion 30 is closed around the top rail 34. Moreover, the gate portion 30 of the loop 29 can be released from the top rail 34 when the cap 12 needs to be replaced or when the fence post 14 needs to be serviced. In this way the cap 12 or the fence post 14 can be removed or serviced without the need to completely remove the top rail 34 as is required with existing fence pole caps. Additionally, the top rail 34 can be removed from the chain link fence without requiring the cap 12 to be removed as well.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
