Fence system with pultruded rail sections
A fence system includes hollow post structures and upper and lower rail structures each comprising a hollow rail and a rail mounting bracket for mounting the rail to each post structure. Hollow balusters may also extend between the upper and lower rail structures. At least one of the hollow structural members, preferably including each of the rails, includes a pultruded structure and preferably a topcoat which is co-extruded with the pultruded structure. The pultruded structure provides substantially increased strength and the topcoat a highly colorable and long-wearing decorative outer layer, the latter preferably formed of acrylic or polyvinyl chloride. The rail mounting brackets are preferably injection molded with a substrate and a topcoat which matches the topcoat of the structural members.
1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a fencing system or railing system. More particularly, the invention relates to such a system which includes hollow structural members including a pultruded structure. Specifically, the invention relates to such structural members wherein the pultruded structure serves as a substrate which is coated by an extruded decorative top coat.
2. Background Information
The field of fencing systems and railing systems includes configurations which include generally hollow members, in particular the posts and rails extending therebetween. This may also include balusters which extend between upper and lower rails. These various structural members are typically extruded and most often are made of various types of plastic materials. One of the drawbacks with such fencing systems is the difficulty in providing high-strength members, especially with regard to the rails. In addition, the decorative layers of such structural members is typically very thin and thus is easily scratched off or worn away. Alternately, the decorative outer layers have colors that fade in the weather, particularly with regard to degradation by sunlight. The present invention solves these and other problems, as will be discerned by the following description.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a fencing system comprising: a first post; a first rail mounted on the post; and at least one of the post and the first rail including a pultruded structure.
A preferred embodiment provides an extruded top coat on the at least one of the post and first rail.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the specification.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the fence system of the present invention is indicated generally at 100 in
Each post 102 (
Each upper rail 108 (
With reference to
Pultruded structure 134 includes a glass matting or mesh formed of any of a variety of glass fibers such as fiberglass embedded in a thermoset resin material. The matting and resin are pulled through a dye to produce the final configuration of pultruded structure 134. Top coat 136 is a plastic material which is most preferably an acrylic material or alternately a PVC polymer. An acrylic material is thus preferred because it may be colored to produce dark colors which are substantially non-fading in sunlight or other weather conditions. Preferably, top coat 136 is extruded and most preferably simultaneously with pultruded structure 134. It might be said that top coat 136 is co-extruded with pultruded structure 134, meaning that structure 134 is formed by pultrusion at the same time that top coat 136 is being formed by extrusion whereby top coat 136 is firmly bonded to pultruded structure 134 during this simultaneous formation process. Materials formed by this process may be obtained from Omega Pultrusions Incorporated of Aurora, Ohio.
In accordance with a feature of the invention and with reference to
In accordance with a feature of the invention and with reference to
With reference to
Each post 102 (
With continued reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With continued reference to
With continued reference to
The mounting of upper rail 206 and lower rail 216 on post 102 is substantially the same as that shown in
Thus, systems 100 and 200 provide a fence system in which at least one of the rails or posts are formed with a pultruded structure, preferably with a top coat mounted thereon and most preferably with the top coat being co-extruded with the pultruded structure as previously described. Most preferably, at least the rail or rails of the fence system include the pultruded structure as the rails of the previous art tend to be the most flexible portion of the fence system. However, using a pultruded structure for the posts alone also provides a substantial increase in strength with regard to the prior art posts. Any combination of the rails, posts and balusters being formed with a pultruded structure is within the scope of the present invention. Preferably, each of the members which includes a pultruded structure also includes a top coat and most preferably one co-extruded as described. In addition, it is preferred that the mounting brackets used include the substrate and top coat as described herein. This structure of the mounting brackets allows for accurate matching of the top coats used with the mounting brackets and the top coats used with the other structures which utilize the top coat. Most preferably, the top coat materials are the same, and thus are formulated to be used with extrusion as well as injection molding. As noted earlier, it is preferred that only the visible surface of the mounting brackets include the top coat, most particularly with regard to the more expensive materials such as an acrylic material.
It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that a variety of changes may be made to the embodiments shown and described herein which are within the scope of the present invention. For instance, as illustrated by the two different embodiments, the railings may have varying shapes and overall configurations. Most preferably, all of the structures have an extrudable shape and this is a requirement for those structures which are formed by pultrusion or extrusion.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed.
Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described.
Claims
1. A fencing system comprising:
- a first post;
- a first rail mounted on the post; and
- at least one of the post and the first rail including a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one of the post and the first rail includes a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers and an extruded topcoat which are integrally formed as a one-piece member.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the topcoat is an acrylic material.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein the topcoat is made of a PVC material.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the post and first rail includes a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers and an extruded topcoat which are integrally formed as a one-piece member.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein a rail mounting bracket is mounted on the post and supports a portion of the first rail whereby the first rail is mounted on the post; and wherein the rail mounting bracket includes a substrate and a topcoat.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein the topcoat of each of the first rail and the rail mounting bracket is an acrylic material.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein the rail mounting bracket has an outer surface which includes visible and non-visible surfaces when the bracket is mounted on the post and the rail is mounted on the bracket; and wherein the acrylic material forms the entire visible surface.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the non-visible surface is substantially free of the acrylic material of the topcoat of the rail mounting bracket.
10. The system of claim 6 wherein the rail mounting bracket has an outer surface which includes visible and non-visible surfaces when the bracket is mounted on the post and the rail is mounted on the bracket; wherein the topcoat forms the entire visible surface; and wherein the non-visible surface is substantially free of the topcoat.
11. The system of claim 2 wherein an injection-molded rail mounting bracket is mounted on the post and supports a portion of the first rail whereby the first rail is mounted on the post; and wherein the rail mounting bracket includes a substrate and a topcoat.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the substrate and topcoat of the rail mounting bracket are together a two-shot injection-molded member.
13. The system of claim 1 wherein the first rail includes a first pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers and a first topcoat which is integrally formed with the first pultruded structure; and wherein a second rail is mounted on the post and includes a second pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers and a second topcoat which is integrally formed with the second pultruded structure.
14. The system of claim 13 further including a plurality of balusters each extending between and mounted on the first and second rails; and wherein each baluster includes a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers.
15. The system of claim 13 wherein the first rail is an upper rail having first and second ends and being elongated between said ends; wherein the second rail is a lower rail having first and second ends and being elongated between said ends; wherein the upper rail defines a downwardly opening cavity extending from the first end thereof to the second end thereof; wherein the lower rail defines an upwardly opening cavity extending from the first end thereof to the second end thereof; and further including a plurality of balusters each having an upper end disposed in the downwardly opening cavity and a lower end disposed in the upwardly opening cavity.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the upper rail defines an interior chamber which is disposed above the downwardly opening cavity and which extends from the first end to the second end of the upper rail; and wherein the lower rail defines an interior chamber which is disposed below the upwardly opening cavity and which extends from the first end to the second end of the lower rail.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein the upper rail includes a separating wall which separates the interior chamber thereof from the downwardly opening cavity; and wherein the lower rail includes a separating wall which separates the interior chamber thereof from the upwardly opening cavity.
18. The system of claim 16 wherein the interior chamber of the upper rail is generally T-shaped.
19. The system of claim 1 wherein the first rail includes a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers.
20. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the post and the first rail includes a pultruded substrate comprising resin-embedded fibers.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 18, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 19, 2006
Inventor: Robert Platt (Mineral Ridge, OH)
Application Number: 11/108,499
International Classification: E04H 17/14 (20060101);