AU2006201442B2

AU2006201442B2 - A fencing system

Info

Publication number: AU2006201442B2
Application number: AU2006201442A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter William Anderson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-15
Filing date: 2006-04-06
Publication date: 2013-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-06
Also published as: AU2006201442A1

Abstract

Abstract. In one aspect the present invention broadly resides in a one piece cbnnector for connecting a wire to a structural member, said connector has a wire retraining portion securable about an end of the wire and a member fastening portion fastenable to the member, said portions are at opposed ends. Preferably the one piece connector has no moving parts. More pretrably the one piece connector is a solid and hollow member. Preferably the wire retaining portion and the member fastening port bn are integral to form the one piece connector. Preferably the one piece connector is tubular and the opening at thO wire retaining portion is about or slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. Figure 1 -10 + -- 12 Figure 2

Description

A FENCING SYSTEM FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to fences, balustrades, barriers and partitions. 5 The present invention has particular but not exclusive application for pool fences and stainless steel fences and balustrades that are stylish and functional. The reference in the specification to stainless steel fences is by way of example and the invention is not limited to stainless steel fences. 10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Stainless steel fences have become popular for use as balustrades, pool fencing and stair railings. These fences comprise posts with or without horizontal top rail and a horizontal bottom rail between which vertical or horizontal wires are suspended to form a barrier. 15 Various methods have been developed to fasten wires to posts including the use of specific arrangements which stretch a wire between two adjacent posts. The fastening assembly disclosed in EP 1079143 has an outer case with an internal spring-biased clip that holds the wire in tension. The connecting assembly ilso includes a threaded cylindrical joiner that screws into a corresponding female 20 threaded inner casing surface. In use the joiner is attached to a bolt which fastens the wire to an upright post. The use of horizontal suspended wires however, is becoming less acceptable to many local building authorities due to safety concerns. As a consequence the use of vertical suspended wires is becoming a more popular alternative. 25 The stainless steel wire usually is a small diameter continuous stainless steel wire rope of about 3 to 5 mm diameter and is similar to the flexible wire assemblies -2 used in yacht rigging, Each suspended stainless steel wire is usually vertically spaced apart from each other by about 100mm. This spacing provides onlia minor obstruction to views and ventilation. The construction of the vertical wire rope stainless steel fences involves 5 erecting the posts, mounting of the upper and lower tubular rails, threading e wire rope continuously through lugs welded to the upper and lower rails and tensioning the wire rope. Alternatively individual wire ropes are fixed to the tubular rail by passing them completely through both sides of each rail and fitting a fasten r to the outside of the rail. This alternative method leaves untidy and unsightly prot usions 10 on the outside of the rails. The wire rope is made from multiple strands of single wires twisted together to form a structure which has high tensile strength but is also flexible. The number of strands may be from 7 to more than 130 depending on flexibility required. Typically vertical wire in fences needs to be very flexible to pass around the attachment lugs 15 and will have many strands (approximately 130 strands). Unfortunately stainless steel wire rope has large surface area and ai inherent crevice structure compared to solid wire (which has neither) and therefore uffers from 'crevice corrosion', which causes 'tea staining' (or rust) in the wire as mbly. Furthermore the stainless steel wire rope has a tendency to abrade between fixings. 20 in constructing the fence there is a requirement to have the ends swaged and weld lugs into the rails. The construction is a labour intensive process and ther are ongoing maintenance requirements with the periodic re-tensioning of the suspended wire rope and replacement of abraded wire rope.

3 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative fence assembly that overcomes at least in part one or more of the above mentioned problems. 5 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was developed by adapting solid wire for use In a fence structure in a manner that would simplify fence construction and avoid the disadvantages associated with wire rope. In contrast to rope wire, solid wire is made 10 from one strand of wire and has a smooth surface. Solid wire also has a relatively higher tensile strength and less flexibility than rope wire of the same diameter. In one aspect the present invention broadly resides in a one piece connector for connecting a wire to a structural member, said connector has a wire retaining portion securable about an end of the wire and a member fastening portion 15 fastenable to the member, said portions are at opposed ends. Preferably the one piece connector has no moving parts. More pref rably the one piece connector is a solid and hollow member. Preferably the wire retaining portion and the member fastening portion are integral to form the one piece connector. 20 Preferably the one piece connector is tubular and the opening at th wire retaining portion is about or slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. Preferably the connector is elongate. Preferably the connector is substantially cylindrical. Preferably the wire retaining portion is tubular with an internal bore that 25 narrows towards its opening. More preferably the wire retaining portion has a -4 substantially truncated cone shape with a narrowing internal bore near its tr ncated end. The connector is locatable on the wire and is preferably retained wherj the free wire end is widened or mushroomed so that it abuts the peripheral surface jf the internal bore of the retaining portion near the end where the internal bore narrows. 5 With this preferment the fastening portion has an internal bore correspondirL to the bore of the retaining portion to accommodate the wire. Alternately the conr actor can be secured to the wire by subsequent narrowing or crimping of the retaining portion so that it abuts and clamps to the wire. The fastening portion is preferably fastenable to the structural memb r by 10 means of complementary threaded sections_ With complementary threaded sections the tension in the wire can preferably be tightened to a desired level. Preferably the wire is a solid wire. Preferably there is a plurality of s 'lid wires of predetermined length with the construction of a fence. Preferably the me mber is a hollow tube. 15 In another aspect the present invention broadly resides in a one piece connector for connecting a wire with an enlarged section to a structural meInber, said connector is a hollow tubular member with an opening at a first end, said first end opening has a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the wire but arrower than the diameter of the enlarged section; said connector has a second end with 20 fastening means for fastening to the structural member, wherein the wire is retainable within the connector where the enlarged section abuts an internal surface substantially adjacent the first and opening. The fastening means is preferably a threaded section. The fastening means is preferably a threaded section that forms a male fastener part that is fastenable 25 with a nut or a complementary threaded portion on or in the structural member.

-5 The structural member is preferably an upright post. Preferably the first end opening is slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. The enlarged section of the wire is preferably near or adjacent one e id of the wire. The enlarged section may be a mushroomed portion or a section with a 5 welded or crimped member. In an alternative embodiments the connector is suitably shaped for a particular application. In a different embodiment, the connector may have threaded section which is longer and has varying thread types to suit fasten ng to different material types. In another embodiment, the connector may have a retaining 10 portion that could vary in length (longer or shorter) and taper from the maxii um diameter to the bore diameter (for example between 5mm to 20mm). Alternative embodiments may include different drive methods for rotating the connector. In the preferred embodiment there are two opposing flat surfaces for tightening with a wrench on the connector. Alternate embodiments may include a 15 recess for a specific tool for tightening. This embodiment may be used to resist tampering. For example the tightening recess may be a hexagonal recess (hex drive), twelve point recess (double hex drive), round recess (pin drive), slot ecess (slot drive) or a triangular recess (triangular drive). The invention in another aspect broadly resides in a fencing system including 20 a plurality of posts; a plurality of upper rails attachable to said posts; a plurality of wire sections for suspending from said upper rails to a rail or base: and -6 a plurality of connectors as described above for connecting the wire sections to the upper rails wherein each wire section is connected to said upper rails by said connectors. The wall or base preferably includes a floor, vertical wall, slab, platfo m, 5 footing or other suitable structure. Preferably the rails are tubular in shape. The invention in another aspect broadly resides in a fencing system i cluding a plurality of posts; a plurality of upper and lower rails attachable to said posts; 10 a plurality of wire sections for suspending between said upper and loNer rails; and a plurality of connectors as described above for connecting the wire sections to the upper and lower rails wherein each wire section is connected to said pper and lower rails by said connectors. 15 Preferably the rails are tubular in shape. Preferably each of said connectors has a fastening portion being a threaded section that is fastenable to a complementary threaded section in the rail. Alternatively a threaded nut may be used to secure the connector to the rail. Where there are threaded sections, the wire may be tightened to a desired tension 20 The connector is preferably retained on the wire by a widened or mushroomed free end of the wire abutting a narrowed internal surface of th p connector. Preferably there are two connectors locatable on each of the wi e sections. The connectors may be located on the wire section at the factory or on site. 25 Preferably the wire sections are solid wire rods.

-7 In an alternative embodiment the wire may be fastened by a connector to an upper tubular rail but slot into an opening in a lower tubular rail. With this embodiment only one connector is required. With this embodiment the wir cannot be tensioned between the rails and the integrity of the fence relies on the rigidity of 5 the wire. With respect to this embodiment, the wire is preferably a solid wire rod. Preferably there are one or more compression posts positioned bet een the upper and lower rails to counteract the compression from the tensioned wirb sections. More preferably the one or more compression posts are position at an interval of approximately 500mm apart. 10 Preferably the wire rods are 3mm to 5mm in diameter while the tubular rails preferably vary in diameter between 1.5 inches to 2 inches in some embo iments, the width of the wire may be greater than 5mm to suit a particular application. Preferably the wire rods are spaced apart from each other by a regular inte al of 100mm but may vary preferably between 75mm and 110mm. 15 Preferably the compression post Is a round tube with a diameter of 16mm. Preferably there is a post or a compression post located at regular interval . More preferably there is a post or a compression post spaced after every four wi e rods. Preferably the upper rail is a 65mm x 34mm D-shaped tube, the lowb r rail is a round tube with a 38mm diameter, mounted posts are 48mm x 25mm oval Lhaped 20 tubes and the compression posts are 25mm x 16mm oval shaped tubes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyin drawings 25 wherein: -8 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the preferred embodime t of the connector Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the connector attached to a solid 1ire rod; Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views of the solid wire rod conn noted to a 5 tubular rail; and Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are photographs of fence section showing solid wire rods suspended between upper and lower rails. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 10 With reference to Figure 1 there is shown a connector 10 having a raining portion 11 and a fastening portion 12. The retaining portion 11 has a subst ntially cylindrical section 13 and a truncated cone section 14 near its free end. Th connector 10 also has an internal bore 15. The internal bore 15 has a narr w section 17 formed by peripheral internal surface 18 about the truncated cone section 15 14. The retaining portion 11 serves to retain a wire rod. The fastening port on 12 has an external threaded section 16 for securing to a complementary threa ed section in a rail. With reference to Figure 2 there is shown a connector 10 located ab ut a wire rod 20. The wire rod 20 is located within the internal bore 15 of the connec or 10, 20 The wire rod 20 has a widened or mushroomed end 21. The connector 10 lides along the wire rod 20 and the peripheral internal surface 17 abuts the wider ed end 21. The peripheral internal surface 17 remains abutting the widened end 2 when the connector 10 is fastened to a rail. Figures 3 and 4 show the attachment of the connector 10 to the rail 5. The 25 rail 25 is a cylindrical tubular rail and has a threaded opening 26 in which the complementary threaded connector 10 is inserted and fastened. The wire r d 20 is held in tension when it is suspended between two rails 25 and connected tc each of the rails 25 by a connector 10. The tension in the wire rod 20 is increased 'hen the connector 10 at one or both ends are tightened. The connectors 10 can be tightened 5 without the wire rod 20 being twisted because the wire rod 20 is merely cap ured by the connector 10 and not fixed in position, In this way the wire rod 20 rema ns in a position substantially without moving while the connector 10 rotates as it is ightened. With reference to Figures 5 to 11 there is shown an assembled fenc having stainless steel posts 30 mounted in the ground with upper and lower stainless steel 10 rails 31 and 32 respectively attached to the posts 30. The fence assembly iso has a plurality of stainless steel wire rods 33 fixed in position by connectors 34- The wire rods 33 are tensioned by tightening the connectors 34 to the upper and low r rails 31 and 32 respectively. In the preferred embodiment the wire rods are preferably 3mm to 5rr m in 15 diameter while the tubular rails 31, 32 have a diameter of 50.8mm. In som embodiments, the width of the wire is greater than 5mm to suit a particular application, The tubular rails generally vary in diameter from 1.5 inches to inches. In the preferred embodiment the wire rods 33 are spaced apart from each dther by a regular interval of 100mm. The spacing between the wire rods may vary d pending 20 on the application. Preferably, the wire rods are spaced from each other between 75mm and 110mm. In the preferred embodiment there is a compression post 36 position ed between the upper and lower rails 31 and 32 respectively at an interval of approximately 500mm apart to counteract the compression from the tensioned wire 25 rods 33. In the preferred embodiment, the compression post is a round tutle with a diameter of 16mm. In the preferred embodiment there is a post 30 or a corlpression post 36 located after every four spaced wire rods 33. In the preferred fence panel, the upper rail is a 65mm x 34mm D-sh ped tube, the lower rail is a round tube with a 38mm diameter, mounted posts are 48r m x 5 25mm oval shaped tubes and the compression posts are 25mm x 16mm o 81 shaped tubes. ADVANTAGES An advantage of the preferred embodiment of the fence assembly is that it is 10 quick and easy to assemble and does not require specialized tools o qualified tradespersons to construct and install. Furthermore, the fence assembly id relatively low maintenance as the solid wire rods have a smooth outer surface which is less likely to rust and do not require constant re-tensioning compared with wire ropes. In addition, the simplicity of the connectors and using the connectors to ere:t a fence 15 provides the advantage of quick installation with lower likelihood of component breakdown. VARIATIONS It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of 20 illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth. Throughout the description and claims this specification the word comprisee" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not i tended to 25 exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

Claims

1. A one piece connector for connecting a wire with an enlarged end section to a structural member, said connector has a wire retaining portion at one end and a member fastening portion at an opposite end, said connector has an internal bore that narrows adjacent an opening at the wire retaining portion end and where the internal bore narrows the peripheral surface of the internal bore is adapted to abut the enlarged end section, said member fastening portion has a threaded outer surface that is fastenable to the structural member; wherein in use the wire retaining portion is positioned proud of the structural member and retained on the wire by the peripheral surface of the internal bore abutting the enlarged end section of the wire while the member fastening portion is fastened within the structural member, thereby enabling the tension in the wire to be adjusted by turning the wire retaining portion to tighten or loosen the fastening of the connector to the structural member.

2. A one piece connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connector is a hollow tubular member.

3. A one piece connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the wire retaining portion and the member fastening portion are integral to form the one piece connector.

4. A one piece connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the opening at the wire retaining portion end is about or slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. - 12

5. A one piece connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the wire retaining portion has a substantially truncated cone shape with a narrowing internal bore near its truncated end.

6. A one piece connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the member fastening portion is fastenable to the structural member by means of complementary threaded sections.

7. A one piece connector for connecting a wire with an enlarged section to a structural member, said connector is a hollow tubular member with an opening at a first end, said first end opening has a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the wire but narrower than the diameter of the enlarged section; said connector has a second end with a threaded outer surface for fastening to the structural member, wherein in use the first end is positioned proud of the structural member and retained on the wire where the enlarged section of the wire abuts an internal peripheral surface substantially adjacent the first end opening and the second end with the threaded outer surface is fastened within the structural member, thereby enabling the tension in the wire to be adjusted by turning the first end to tighten or loosen the fastening of the connector to the structural member.

8. A one piece connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first end opening is slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. - 13

9. A one piece connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 7 and 8, wherein the connector has an extended threaded section.

10. A fencing system including a plurality of posts; a plurality of upper rails attachable to said posts; a plurality of wire sections for suspending from said upper rails to a wall or base; and a plurality of connectors as claimed in any one of the preceding claims for connecting the wire sections to the upper rails wherein each wire section is connected to said upper rails by said connectors.

11. A fencing system including a plurality of posts; a plurality of upper and lower rails attachable to said posts; a plurality of wire sections for suspending between said upper and lower rails; and a plurality of connectors as claimed in any one of the preceding claims for connecting the wire sections to the upper and lower rails wherein each wire section is connected to said upper and lower rails by said connectors.

12. A fencing system as claimed in claim 10 or 11 wherein the wire is fastened by a connector to an upper tubular rail but slots into an opening in a lower tubular rail. -14

13. A fencing system as claimed in claim 10 or 11 wherein there are one or more compression posts positioned between the upper and lower rails to counteract the compression from the tensioned wire sections

14. A fencing system as claimed in claim 13 wherein the one or more compression posts are positioned at an interval of approximately 500mm apart.

15. A one piece connector as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

16. A fencing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.