GB2387611A

GB2387611A - A fence post socket for use with different size posts

Info

Publication number: GB2387611A
Application number: GB0309013A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David J Yates
Original assignee: POLYMESH FIBRES Ltd
Current assignee: POLYMESH FIBRES Ltd
Priority date: 2002-04-17
Filing date: 2003-04-17
Publication date: 2003-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 2023-04-17
Also published as: CN2747358Y; GB2387611B; GB0309013D0; GB0208816D0

Abstract

A fence post socket (4) having a body of square cross section, with opposing corners of the body having slots (36, 38) extending downwardly from the top and means for drawing the corners together around a post, which in use is located in the socket. Preferably the clamping means include flanges (22, 26) extending from the edges of the slots and having apertures (30, 32) there through for receiving bolts (34) or the like. The base of the socket may be closed and have means for attaching an anchor device, such as a spike (6). The body may comprise two L shaped parts (14, 16) which are fixed together to form a unitary body.

Description

1, -- 238761 1

Fence Post Support 5 The present invention relates to fence post supports, and in particular to a fence post socket construction. A wide variety of fence post supports are known Typically the support comprises a generally square 10 socket which is mounted on top of an anchor member such -4 as a spike which is driven into the ground or onto a plate which is mounted, for example bolted, to a -

suitable foundation. -

The fence post is received in the socket and- -

15 clamped therein by suitable clamping means. In some constructions a separate clamping member is mounted to the socket-and tightened against the fence post to secure it in position. In others, a wall of the socket is provided with a slot and clamping means provided 20 which draw the walls of the slot together in order to clamp the post within the socket.

The problem with such arrangements is either that they are difficult to use, requiring two separate components, or they do not give effective clamping on 25 the post. The present invention seeks to provide an improved socket which overcomes these problems.

From a first aspect, therefore, the present invention provides a fence post socket comprising a generally square section unitary tubular socket body, 30 opposed corners of the socket body each having a slot extending downwardly from the upper edge of the socket over at least a portion of the height of the socket, and clamping means provided at those corners for enabling opposed edges of the slot to be drawn together thereby 35 to clamp a post arranged within the socket between the walls of the socket.

With such an arrangement, therefore, a unitary - 1 -

socket construction is provided in which clamping is provided at opposed corners of the socket. This allows a better distribution of the clamping load on the socket and also provides a simpler socket construction 5 requiring no assembly by a user.

Preferably the corner slots extend over just a proportion of the height of the socket Most preferably they extend over at least half the height of the socket, more preferably about two thirds of the socket height. -

10 Preferably the clamping means are arranged such that the clamping force is applied in orthogonal -

directions at opposed corners. This acts to draw the walls of the socket together effectively to provide good clamping. 15 Preferably the clamping means comprise a clamping flange which extends from one wall of the socket.

adjacent the slot. This flange preferably includes an -

aperture to receive a clamping bolt or the like.

Preferably the flange extends in the plane of the 20 wall. By forming the flange as an extension of the wall, easy access may be gained to a nut for tightening purposes. The clamping bolt, stud, or the like may be fixedly attached, for example welded, to an adjacent wall of the 25 socket so as to extend through the aperture in the clamping flange, and a clamping nut then tightened on the bolt against the flange to draw the edges of the slot together to effect clamping. Preferably, however, the adjacent wall section is provided with a second 30 flange with a mating aperture through which the clamping bolt may extend.

Preferably the second flange lies parallel to the first mentioned flange, whereby it preferably lies at right angles to the adjacent wall.

35 Preferably the clamping bolt or the like is provided at a location spaced from the upper edge of the socket, preferably adjacent the lower end of the 2 - i

= clamping flanges.

To facilitate clamping, the aperture in the respective flanges is such that the head of the clamping bolt may engage the wall of the socket-such that it 5 cannot rotate. The clamping may then be effected by tightening a nut against the first flange, thereby -

closing over the slot. Preferably, therefore, the clamping bolt has a Tshaped head.

The base of the socket may be closed, for example 10 by an anchor plate welded thereto. Alternatively, it may be suitably attached to a spike. In a preferred - embodiment, the bottom edges of the socket are provided with inwardly extending flaps which locate between and are attached to the ribs of an X-sectioned spike.

15 It will be appreciated that the invention also À extends to a fence post support comprising a.socket in accordance with the invention and an anchor component, for example an anchor plate or spike.

Preferably the anchor component acts at least in 2P part as a support for the fence post introduced into the socket. Preferably the socket is made from two generally L shaped components which are welded or otherwise fixedly joined together.

25 In the preferred embodiment, the first component is provided with respective clamping flanges extending in plane from its opposite ends and the second component is provided with clamping flanges extending generally at right angles from its opposite ends thereof. The slots 30 in the socket may then easily be formed by providing respective recesses in opposed ends of the second component. Preferably the two components are folded from flat blanks and welded together, preferably along their 35 mating edges below the slots.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in - 3 -

which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a fence post support in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of the support of Figure 5 1; Figure 3 shows a view of a blank for forming one half of the socket of Figure 1; and Figure 4 shows a blank for forming the other half of the socket of Figure 1.

10 - With reference to the Figures, a fence post support 2 comprises a fence post socket 4 for receiving a square fence post and a spike 6 for driving into the ground to anchor the socket 4.

As is conventional in the art, the spike 6 is 15 tapering and comprises a pair of angled members 8, 10, which are welded together at locations along their.

lengths to form the spike 6. The top of the spike 6 extends generally to the level of the base 12 of the socket. 20 The socket 4 is made from first and second L-shaped components 14, 16. The first component 16 is folded up from a blank 18 (Figure 3) and the second component 16 from a blank 20 (Figure 4). Typically the blanks 18, 20 and the spike 6 are made from 2 mm thick steel sheet.

25 The first component 14 is provided at its upper end with a pair of clamping flanges 22 each flange 22 extending in the plane of the side wall 24 to which it is attached. Similarly, the second component 16 is provided with a pair of mating clamping flanges 26, 30 which each extend outwardly at right angles from the walls 28 to which they are attached. As can be seen most clearly from Figure 2, the flanges 22, 26 are arranged generally parallel to one another. The clamping flanges 22, 26 are provided with aligned holes 35 30, 32 at their lower ends for receiving a T headed bolt 34. The holes 30, 32 are arranged about one third down the height of the socket 4.

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As can be seen in Figure 1 and 2, respective slots 36, 38 are provided at opposed corners of the socket 4.

The slots 36, 38 extend approximately two thirds down the socket 4 from the upper edge 40 of the socket 4.

5 The slots 36, 38 are formed by providing respective recesses 42 on opposite sides of the second component blank 20 which leaves a gap between the edge 44 of the second component 16 and the opposed wall 24 of the first component when the two components are joined together.

10 The two elements 14, 16 are welded together along weld lines 46 below the slots 38.

As can be seen in Figures 3 and 4, the blanks 18, 20, for the members 14, 16 are provided with flaps 50 at their lower ends. These are used to attach the socket 4 15 to the spike 6. In particular, once the blanks 18, 20 mare folded around the hinge lines 52, 54, 56 to form the.

L-shaped components 14, 16 which are then welded together, the flaps 50 are folded inwardly by about 60 to 70 about the hinge line 58 and then welded to the 20 ribs 60 of the spike 6 along their common edges 62. The ribs 60 of the spike 6 extend above the angled flaps 50 to lie in the plane of the socket bottom 12.

In use, a square fence post is inserted in the socket 4, with its lower end resting on the upper ends 25 of the ribs 60 of the spike 6. T headed bolts 34 are then inserted through the aligned apertures 30, 32 and nuts 64 then tightened onto the bolts 34 so as to draw the flanges 24, 26 closer together thereby pulling the opposed edges of the slots 36, 38 together and clamping 30 the fence post in place. The nuts 64 are easily accessible as the flange 22 lies in the plane of the wall 40 of the member 14. Furthermore, the fence post is clamped in orthogonal directions leading to improved clamping and gripping on the fence post.

35 It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the construction without departing from the scope of the invention.

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For example, whilst the socket 4 is shown attached to a spike 6, it may of course be attached to a planar anchor plate for use in mounting a fence post on a concrete or other solid floor. In this case, for 5 example, the lower edge 12 of the socket 4 may be welded directly onto such a anchor plate.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that not both of the flanges 22, 26 are required. It would be possible, for example, to fixedly attach a stud or bolt 10 to the wall 28 of the member 16 rather than retain such an element behind the flange 26.

The socket will be sized to receive a particular fence post size. In the particular embodiment shown, for example, for receiving a 75 mm square fence post, 15 the height of the socket is about 150mm, the width A of the slot 36 and the width.B of the the slots 36, 38 are both 10 mm, with the distances C, D between opposed walls both being 78 mm.

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Claims

Claims

i. A fence post socket comprising a generally square section unitary tubular socket body, opposed corners.of 5 the socket body having a slot extending downwardly from the upper edge of the socket over at least a portion of the height of the socket, and clamping means provided at those corners for enabling opposed edges of the slot to be drawn together thereby to clamp a post arranged 30 Dolphin the socket.

2. A socket as claimed in claim 1 wherein the corner slots extend over just a proportion of the height of the socket. 3. A socket as claimed in claim 2 wherein the slots extend over at least half the height of the socket, more preferably about two thirds of the socket height.

20 4. A socket as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the clamping means are arranged such that a clamping force is applied in orthogonal directions.

5. A socket as claimed in any preceding claim wherein 25 the clamping means comprise a clamping flange which extends from one wall of the socket adjacent the slot.

6. A socket as claimed in claim 5 wherein the flange includes an aperture to receive a clamping bolt or the 30 like.

7. -A socket as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the flange extends in the plane of the wall to which it is attached. S. A socket as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein the clamping bolt, stud, or the like is fixedly attached to - 7 hi.

an adjacent wall of the socket so as to extend through the aperture in the clamping flange.

9. A socket as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein an 5 adjacent wall section is provided with a second flange with a mating aperture through which the clamping bolt may extend.

10. A socket as claimed in claim 9 wherein the second 10 flange lies parallel to the first mentioned flange.

11. A socket as claimed in claim 10 wherein the second flange extends at right angles from the adjacent wall.

15 12. A socket as claimed in any of claims 6 to 11 wherein the clamping bolt or the like is provided at a location spaced from the upper edge of the socket.

13. A socket as claimed in claim 12, wherein the 20 clamping bolt or the like is adjacent the lower end of the clamping flange(s).

14. A socket as claimed in any of claims 6 to 13 wherein the head of the clamping bolt or the like is 25 arranged to engage the adjacent wall of the socket such that it cannot rotate.

15. A socket as claimed in claim 14 wherein the clamping bolt has a T head.

16. A socket as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base of the socket is closed.

17. A socket as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bottom 35 edges of the socket are provided with means to attach the socket to an anchor device.

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18. A socket as claimed in claim 17 wherein the attachment means comprise inwardly extending flaps which locate between and are attached to the ribs of an X-

sectioned spike.

19. A socket as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the socket is made from two generally L- shaped components which are welded or otherwise fixedly joined together. 20. A socket as claimed in claim 19 wherein the first component is provided with respective clamping flanges extending in plane from its opposite ends and the second component is provided with clamping flanges extending 15 generally at right angles from its opposite ends thereof... 21. A socket as claimed in claim 19 or 20 wherein the two components are folded from flat blanks and welded 20 together.

22. A socket as claimed in claim 21 wherein the components are welded together along their mating edges below the slots 23. A fence post support comprising a socket in accordance with the invention and an anchor component.

24. A fence post support as claimed in claim 23 wherein 30 the anchor component acts at least in part as a support for the fence post introduced into the socket.

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