EP0141750B1 - Modular fence with sections comprising at least one horizontal rail between two round posts - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A modular fence comprising at least one fence portion (21) with at least one substantially horizontal rail (21a, 21b) between two substantially vertical posts (11, 12), the fence portion (21) being fixed with respect to the posts (11, 12) by connecting means (121a, 121b, 221a, 221b) comprising in cooperation end members which are fixed by interengagement to the ends of the rail (21a, 21b) and collars encircling the posts, characterised in that each connecting means (121a, 121b, 221a, 221b) comprises in one piece a rigid sleeve (1, 51) which fits to the post, and a projecting end portion (7, 8, 9; 57, 58, 59) on the sleeve, clamping means immobilising the sleeve (1, 51) on the post.

Description

The invention relates to a modular fence, comprising at least one fence section with at least one substantially horizontal rail between two vertical posts, the fence section being secured to the posts by connection means comprising in cooperation ends fixed by interlocking at the ends of the stringer and of the collars encircling the posts.

Conventionally, the assembly of the fencing grids on site is carried out, after sealing the posts in suitable locations, by fixing between these posts of assembled sections of grid and adjusted in length in the workshop, by usual operations in locksmithing: riveting, welding, bolting, etc. This type of assembly requires shaping at the request of the attachments of the grid sections on the posts, in particular during changes in level or direction.

Other types of fences, similar to grids, are produced by the same process, such as welded mesh fences stiffened by one or two beams, stadium handrails, wire handrails for railings. In all these types of fencing, the resistance of the assembly is obtained by fixing the horizontal rails to the vertical posts. What will be said of the grids will therefore be transposable to all these types of similar fences.

It has been proposed to manufacture modular grid sections, comprising profiled tubular beams joined by a bar, the lengths of sections being obtained by sawing the beams between two bars. For mounting, the ends of the rails are fitted with end caps which end in a flat projection pierced with a hole and oriented in the general grid plane. Strip or flat iron collars are tightened on the posts, and the end caps are bolted to the wings of the collars. These collars are prepared in the workshop for the profile of the post but must be adjusted during assembly, especially in the presence of changes in the direction of the grid. The tightening of the collars, which are liable to deform, causes the tightening bolts to work in poor conditions, especially in bending, which risks causing them to break. This relative fragility of the attachment members makes it easier to maliciously deteriorate the grids (US A 3,022,044).

The subject of the invention is a modular fence which is easy to assemble, without the need for any adjustments other than adjustments in position of elements during assembly, allowing significant changes in direction, the installation of which requires only a reduced number. of editors.

To this end, the invention provides a modular fence comprising at least one fence section with at least one substantially horizontal rail between two substantially vertical posts, in the form of cylindrical tubes, the fence section being secured to the posts by connection means comprising in cooperation of the end pieces fixed by interlocking at the ends of the heald and of the collars encircling the posts, characterized in that each connection means comprises in one piece a rigid sheath matching the post, and a protruding end of the sheath, clamping means immobilizing the sheath on the post.

The sheaths, rigid, can be mounted precisely on the posts, do not have a preferred orientation on the cylindrical tubular post and do not practically deform during assembly, and also resist malicious manipulation. The absence of a preferred orientation of the sheath on the post allows significant changes in direction, as well as slight variations in the alignment of the fence. The only adjustment during assembly consists in adjusting the height of the sleeves on the posts, to ensure the horizontality of the beams, and the vertical adjustment of the posts, which are sealed after the assembly of the fence.

The sheaths can be secured to the posts by radial screws engaged in the sheath and bearing at the end on the post. Preferably the sleeves have, on at most a third of their circumference, a slit between two cheeks parallel to a plane passing through the axis of the sheath, and symmetrical with respect to this plane. A bolt squeezes the two cheeks towards each other.

In a preferred arrangement, the end piece is symmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the sheath, and the latter extends axially on one side of this plane. This allows to have two tips at the same height on the post, one of the sleeves being above and the other below the planes of symmetry of the tips.

• la fig. 1 A est une élévation schématique d'une clôture selon l'invention;
• la fig. 1 B est une vue en plan de la clôture de la fig. 1A;
• la fig. 2 est une vue en plan d'un moyen de raccordement d'une lisse à un poteau;
• la fig. 3 est une vue en élévation du moyen de raccordement de la fig. 2;
• la fig. 4 est une vue en plan d'une variante de moyen de raccordement.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• fig. 1 A is a schematic elevation of a fence according to the invention;
• fig. 1 B is a plan view of the fence of FIG. 1A;
• fig. 2 is a plan view of a means of connection of a heddle to a post;
• fig. 3 is an elevational view of the connection means of FIG. 2;
• fig. 4 is a plan view of an alternative connection means.

According to the embodiment chosen and shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the modular fence is made up of grid sections 21, 22, 23, 24, arranged between posts 11, 12, 13, 15. Each grid section 21- 24 has two horizontal rails, upper 21 a-24a and lower 21 b-24b joined by a bar 21 c-24c. It is recalled that barreaudage is a trade term to designate all of the grid bars mounted between the beams. The healds 21 a-24a and 21 b-24b are tubes of rectangular section whose horizontal faces are wider than the vertical faces. Posts 11-15 are cylindrical tubes.

The beams 21 a-24a and 21 b-24b are connected to the posts 11-15 by means of connection of a part 121 a, 221 a, 222a, 322a, 323a, 423a, 424a, 524a, and 121 b-524b . The reference is expri mée with the figure of hundreds corresponding to the unit figure of the pole references, while the numbers of tens and units, and the literal reference are those of the corresponding rail. The connection means will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

The connection means comprises a cylindrical sheath 1, internally bored to the diameter of the post, plus a soft friction game. The sheath is cut, parallel to its axis, by a slot 2 which extends over an arc of approximately 45 °, and is limited by cheeks 3 and 4, the opposite faces of which are parallel to a plane passing through the 'axis of the sheath, and symmetrical with respect to this plane. In these cheeks are made, perpendicular to the plane of the cheeks, aligned holes 5, 6, which terminate on the side of the outer faces of the cheeks 3, 4 by the housings with square section.

The cylindrical holes 5, 6 are provided to pass a bolt (not shown) with a hexagon head, and a hexagonal nut. The square end housings have a depth such that the bolt head is fully embedded, and a square side side between the diameter on edges and the flat diameter of the hexagonal nut, so that this nut can penetrate the housing without turning freely.

The cheeks 3 and 4 extend, tapering to a transverse sole 7, which forms a bridge between the cheeks. From this soleplate leave two flanges 8, 9 substantially parallel to the cheeks 3, 4. The distance between the outer faces of the flanges 8 and 9 corresponds to the transverse internal dimension of a stringer.

To complete the end piece which will be inserted inside the end of a heddle, the sole 7 carries projections, which extend between the roots of the flanges 8 and 9, which will come to bear on the interior faces. horizontal of the boom.

Note in fig. 3 that the sole 7 has symmetry with respect to a horizontal plane, perpendicular to the axis of the sleeve 1, while the cheeks 3, 4 and the sleeve 1 are arranged entirely on one side of this plane. This makes it possible to set up two connection means on a post, with inversion of the position of the sheath 1 relative to the plane of symmetry of the sole 7, so that the heddles which fit onto the end pieces are at the same level. This is visible in fig. 1A for posts 11, 12 and 15.

It will be understood that the tightening of the bolt which passes through the holes 5, 6 tends to close the sheath on the post and therefore immobilize it in place. However, the tightening of the bolt also tends to cause the sole 7 to bend, which bulges outwards. This bending tends to spread the ends of the flanges 8 and 9, which are applied to the side faces of the heddle, and eliminate any play in the interlocking.

To mount a fence, the grid sections are placed substantially in their place, they are provided with end caps at the connection location and the post is threaded; the assembly is wedged by adjusting the horizontality of the beams and the verticality of the railing plane and of the post; we tighten the bolts moderately, and we go to the other end of the grid section to put the rail and the next post, and so on. When the fence is fully in place, correct the adjustment imperfections, and tighten the tightening bolts. In principle, care will be taken to arrange the bolt heads towards the inside of the site to be closed, to increase the difficulty of malicious intervention. The posts will be sealed after the grid has been fully assembled.

Note that, after the posts have been sealed, dismantling the grid becomes extremely difficult; unless the healds are cut, dismantling the grid sections requires practically all the sections to be removed simultaneously, due to the interlocking of the connection means. Disassembly for repair, for example, will begin with the loosening of the posts that limit the section to be repaired.

It goes without saying that the cylindrical tubular posts will be capped with a conical or domed cap to avoid water infiltration inside, and perfect the aesthetics of the grid.

According to the variant shown in fig. 4, the sheath 51 is entirely circular, and the sole 57 is adjacent to this sheath. The sole 57 carries flanges 58 and 59 which form toecap to fit into a stringer. The sleeve 51 will be immobilized on a cylindrical tubular post by two bowl screws 55 and 56, housed in practical threads 53 and 54, diametrically opposite, in the sleeve 51.

This variant connection has not been shown in elevation; but the relative arrangement of the sheath and the sole 57 is identical to that of the sheath 1 and the sole 7, in order to allow the reverse juxtaposition of two connection means.

Both the connection means of FIGS. 2 and 3 as well as that of FIG. 4 are made by casting of aluminum alloy.

It has been understood that the connection of the horizontal rails to the vertical posts is independent of the type of fence which is carried by the rails; the fence sections can be, as well sections of grid with a railing between two beams, as sections of welded mesh, handrails of stadium, handrails mesh for railings.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the housings 5 and 6 for the head and the nut of the tightening bolt are shown square; but they could be rectangular, with a width corresponding to the dimension between the flats of the nut, or hexagonal. Likewise, it was indicated that the connection means were produced by casting of aluminum alloy; it is clear that they can be made of any suitable material, and in particular of plastic.

Claims (8)

1. A modular fence comprising at least one fence portion (21) with at least one substantially horizontal rail (21 a, 21 b) between two substantially vertical posts (11, 12), the fence portion (21) being fixed with respect to the posts (11, 12) by connecting means (121 a, 121 b, 221 a, 221 b) comprising in cooperation end members which are fixed by interengagement to the ends of the rail (21 a, 21 b) and collars encircling the posts, characterised in that each connecting means (121 a, 121 b, 221 a, 221 b) comprises in one piece a rigid sleeve (1, 51) which fits to the post, and a projecting end portion (7, 8, 9; 57, 58, 59) on the sleeve, clamping means immobilising the sleeve (1, 51) on the post.

2. A fence according to claim 1 characterised in that the clamping means are screws (55, 56) which are engaged in radial screwthread means (53, 54) of the sleeve (51) and which bear endwise against the post.

3. A fence according to claim 2 characterised in that the screwthread means (53, 54) are diametrally opposed.

4. A fence according to claim 1 characterised in that, over a third at most of its circumference, the sleeve (1) comprises a slot (2) between two side portions (3, 4) which are parallel to a plane passing through the axis of the sleeve (1) and symmetrical with respect thereto, a bolt which is perpendicular to the side portions (3, 4) clamping them towards each other.

5. A fence according to claim 4 characterised in that the end portion (7, 8, 9) is mounted in a bridge relationship between the two side portions (3, 4) beyond the clamping bolt, starting from the sleeve (1).

6. A fence according to claim 5 characterised in that the end portion which is mounted on a base plate (7) disposed perpendicularly to the side portions (3, 4) comprises two separate plates (8, 9) which are parallel to the side portions 3, 4).

7. A fence according to any one of claims 1 to 6 characterised in that the end portion (7, 8, 9; 57, 58, 59) is symmetrical with respect to a plane perpendic- ularto the axis of the sleeve (1,51), the latter extending axially on one side of the plane of symmetry of the end portion.

8. A fence according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterised in that the fence portion (21) is a grid composed of two parallel rails (21 a, 21 b) of rectangular section, and a bar assembly (21 c) between the rails (21 a, 21 b).

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