Patent Application
20220064985
The following relates generally to physical barriers, and more specifically, to a two piece temporary fence support.
Barriers often are required to be erected quickly or temporarily for, for example, construction sites, festivals, events, or the like. These barriers can be used for preventing entry or egress from a particular site, or for directing the flow of crowd traffic. An example of a conventional barrier is a temporary fencing. Conventional temporary fencing typically includes a series of posts interconnected by fence panels. Conventionally, temporary fencing is free standing, or otherwise self-supporting, without permanent attachment to the ground.
Conventional temporary fencing panels are supported by a support having a lateral base for placement along the ground and a vertical component incorporating one or more posts that support the panels. A vertical component would most commonly have two posts, each to support the end of one panel and jointly supporting adjacent ends of two panels. The support is most commonly made from metal, such as steel. In these cases, the vertical component is generally welded to the base to maximize strength and rigidity.
Due to the nature of the uses of temporary fencing, it is often the case that fence panels are moved frequently, whether intentionally or not. Unintentional contact with the panels will result in a shear force imparted upon the vertical component. Eventually, the vertical component will become bent or broken.
This problem of continuous breakage through normal wear and tear is simply accepted in the industry. The common method of repairing a base is by grinding off the damaged component and then welding on a new vertical component. The cost to grind and weld a new component could be approximately $7-10 (as of the date of this writing) if done by the fence supplier, plus the time, effort, skills and overhead required to do so.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fence support in which the above disadvantages are obviated or mitigated and attainment of the desirable attributes is facilitated.
In an aspect, a two piece temporary fence support is provided, the two piece temporary fence support comprising: a base having an aperture disposed therethrough; a plate having an aperture disposed therethrough; and a pair of posts extending vertically from the plate, each posts permitting a fence panel to be mounted thereon; wherein the base and the plate are fastenable by a fastener disposed through the aperture of the base and the aperture of the plate.
In another aspect, a two piece temporary fence support is provided, the two piece temporary fence support comprising: a base having a pair of apertures disposed therethrough proximate the midpoint of the base; a plate having a pair of apertures disposed therethrough in matching dimension to the base; a pair of posts extending vertically from the plate, each posts permitting a fence panel to be mounted thereon; and a pair of fasteners disposed through the apertures of the base and the apertures of the plate to fasten the plate to the base.
The base and the plate may be made of steel.
The base and the plate may be coated with an enamel.
The base may be a generally flat plate of metal that is longer than it is wide.
The base may be symmetrical relative its midpoint.
The base may comprise an aperture formed proximate the end of the base to permit the base to be fastened to a heavier or immovable structure.
The base may comprise a pair of apertures and the plate comprises a pair of apertures matching to those of the base.
The apertures of the plate may be non-circular.
The pair of posts may comprise a first post of square cross-section and a second post of circular cross-section.
These and other embodiments are contemplated and described herein.
The features of the invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:
Embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures. For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the Figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.
Various terms used throughout the present description may be read and understood as follows, unless the context indicates otherwise: “or” as used throughout is inclusive, as though written “and/or”; singular articles and pronouns as used throughout include their plural forms, and vice versa; similarly, gendered pronouns include their counterpart pronouns so that pronouns should not be understood as limiting anything described herein to use, implementation, performance, etc. by a single gender; “exemplary” should be understood as “illustrative” or “exemplifying” and not necessarily as “preferred” over other embodiments. Further definitions for terms may be set out herein; these may apply to prior and subsequent instances of those terms, as will be understood from a reading of the present description.
The following relates generally to physical barriers, and more specifically, to a two piece temporary fence support.
Referring first to
Beginning at the midpoint (106), disposed a short distance therefrom is a first aperture (108) preferably midway along the lateral axis of the base (102). In an alternative embodiment, a single aperture may be provided along the base (102) which preferably, but not necessarily, could be located at the midpoint of the base or a short distance therefrom. The apertures (108) may be circular but are preferably a non-circular shape and are designed to mate with a non-circular portion of a fastener to prevent relative motion between the fastener and the apertures (108), for reasons to be described later. The non-circular shape shown in the drawing is square but could be another suitable polygon shape such as hexagonal, octagonal, etc.
The base (106) is then generally solid. Optionally, an elliptical aperture (110) may be formed proximate the end of the base (102), again preferably midway along the lateral axis of the base (102). The elliptical apertures (110) permit the base to be fastened to a heavier or immovable structure (not shown), such as a concrete weight or the earth. Fastening in this manner could be accomplished by a fastener (not shown) such as a screw, nail, stake, or bolt, for example.
The vertical component (104) comprises a plate (112) from which two vertical posts (114, 116) arise. The plate (112) as shown is approximately square and comprises two apertures (118) that are matching to those of the base; that is, they are identically spaced apart as the apertures (108) of the base (102). These apertures (118) may be circular or any other shape permitting the fastener to penetrate therethrough. As with the base (102) there could be only one, or more than two apertures (118). Two or more such apertures provides benefits such as prevention of rotation between the plate (112) and the base (102).
Furthermore, the plate (112) may comprise just a single post (114, 116) arising therefrom. This may be beneficial for use of a terminal post at the end of a modular fence panel installation. In such cases, it is preferred that post (116) is used as opposed to post (114) for increased stability. Additionally, it is possible that more than two posts (114, 116) could be provided to facilitate more complex structures.
The plate (112) can then be fastened to the base (102) by use of a fastener. The fastener illustrated comprises two sets of bolts (120), washers (122) and nuts (124). In this manner, fasteners not only replace the weld of the prior art solution but permit much simpler replacement of broken or damaged vertical components (104). The use of two fasteners also prevents relative rotation of the plate (112) and the base (102).
As previously mentioned, the bolts (120) preferably comprise a non-circular portion along their length which is selected to mate with apertures (108) to prevent relative rotation therebetween. This permits a person to tighten nuts (124) without having to manually hold/secure the bolts on the bottom of the base (102) as the base (102) performs such function for them.
Referring now to
Vertical post (114) can then also be square in cross-sectional shape. However, as such a shape would permit adjacent fence panels to only be disposed in colinear or perpendicular arrangement, vertical post (114) is preferably circular so that one panel supported by vertical post (116) is held rigidly in place while adjacent panel supported by vertical post (114) may be rotated to a desired angle.
While vertical posts (114, 116) could both be circular in cross-section, this is not a preferred arrangement as relative rotation with both panels can result in the entire base being rotated so that it is no longer perpendicular to the panels, thus reducing stability.
Applicant recognized the intended advantages of the embodiments described herein; for example, the ability to more easily and cheaply repair damaged fence supports and the prevention of damage to the vertical supports. A replacement part for the foregoing embodiments may be approximately 25% (approximately $2.50) of the repair cost of prior solutions. Thus, Applicant's novel support is much more cost effective and solves the aforementioned problem by allowing for a quick change.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto. The entire disclosures of all references recited above are incorporated herein by reference.
