MODULAR CONTAINMENT AND SCREENING SYSTEM
A construction method and apparatus used to form a surround, container or other structure. Posts have slots into which walls, which may be planks or made up of planks, are inserted and retained. Numerous posts may be used with numerous walls therebetween to form many and varied structures. The finished structure is modular, because the posts and walls are not damaged when the walls mount in the slots. Therefore, if more or fewer posts and/or walls are desired later, one need merely disassemble the structure and add the components desired to the existing structure. The walls may have fittings that attach to the inserted ends that cooperate with structures in the slots formed in the posts so the walls are held from being removed from the slots except along the length of the slots.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/281,938 filed Jan. 22, 2016. The prior application is hereby incorporated by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT(Not Applicable)
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT(Not Applicable)
REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX(Not Applicable)
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to containers and screening structures for outdoor use, and more specifically to structures and methods that permit one to combine components into containers and screening structures.
Deck boxes, planters, fences, and other outdoor containing and screening products have historically been made of wood, and more recently polymer, planks and posts. Fasteners, such as nails or screws, are used to mount the planks to posts that are either held vertically in the ground, or simply resting upon the ground, such as a deck or patio. The final result is useful for containing toys, tools, outdoor deck supplies, or to screen from view entire yards, pool areas, air conditioning units and trash receptacles, among other items.
One difficulty with such conventional products is that they are made with fasteners that damage the material when inserted and removed. Screws and nails work by being inserted into the objects to be fastened together, and when they are removed they leave holes and cracks. Furthermore, most outdoor items require some amount of maintenance, such as weather-proofing, in the case of wood and corrodible metals. Still further, even outdoor items that are weather-proof are made for their original purpose and cannot be repaired, expanded, or reduced in size without the repair, expansion or reduction being visible due to the damage caused by the removal and replacement of fasteners.
Therefore, the need exists for a system of components that permit one to construct such an item, and then later repair or modify that item to suit later needs without wasting the materials of the original item or making the repair or modification apparent.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONDisclosed herein are structures and methods of combining walls and posts to construct useful items. The structures and methods result in furniture and other useful items including, but not limited to, planters, raised beds, tables, storage containers, and screen walls. In general, the disclosed structures and methods include the use of two main components: walls and posts.
Each wall may be a plank, panel, slat and/or board, but may be any structure that, alone or combined, forms a mechanical or visual wall-like boundary on an item. The wall contains at least one end or side, or a plate or other fitting attached to an end or side, which fits into one slot in two or more cooperating posts. Each of the walls may be made of polymer, metal, wood, fiber-reinforced polymer composite or other rigid or semi-rigid material. The walls may be planks with a thickness of ⅛ inch or greater with a width of ½ inch or greater. Of course, these may be larger or smaller, depending on the circumstances. The walls may be hollow or solid panels that are from a foot or two wide and long to several feet wide and long. Elongated walls may be aligned horizontally or vertically.
Each post is an elongated member with at least one extruded or milled groove or slot into which the walls' ends and/or sides are inserted. The posts may be made of aluminum or other metal, polymer, fiber-reinforced polymer composite, wood, or any other suitable rigid or semi-rigid material. The posts may be solid or hollow.
The outer contours of the posts, when viewed in cross-section, may be square, rectangular, oval, circular or any other geometric or other shape. A given post may be used in a corner or along a long side in a series of posts, and therefore each post will typically have at least one longitudinal groove or slot into which a wall may be inserted. Furthermore, some posts may receive two, three, four or more walls, such as a T-shaped post that is used along a long wall, and permits the insertion of a wall that divides. At least one side of each post has a minimum width of about ¾ inch to accommodate each wall, and at least one side contains a receiving channel for the insertion of a wall.
The combination of two or more “posts” with one or more of the “walls” mounted in the slots therein makes a finished planter, table, storage container or other furniture piece, or a screen around an unsightly machine or item, all of which are highly functional, weather-resistant, require little to no maintenance, and may be modified or repaired later with other similar parts and no damage to the original components. The finished item is thus modular, so it can be expanded, reduced, or repaired by the addition or removal of one or more “walls” and/or “posts”.
Each of the wall and post components must be able to be lifted and manipulated by a typical human user. This may be a carpenter or other skilled tradesman, or a homeowner with little training or experience in skilled trades.
There may be stiffeners between the walls, particularly if the walls are made of multiple planks, and the stiffeners may function as decorative and/or strength-enhancing spacers. The stiffeners may be extruded, milled or molded aluminum or other metal, plastic, fiber-reinforced polymer composite or wood. A preferred stiffener thickness is less than the thickness of the planks to which they are attached, and so may be a width of ¼ inch or greater.
Because of the flexibility of the design, the present invention can be used in varied ways to create containers and screens of various sizes and shapes. The posts form the corners and mid-span supports for walls that are fixed in the posts. Thus, in any circumstances in which a post can be mounted, walls (made of planks and/or sheets) are mounted between the posts to form the large surface area that screens something from view or holds back items. An advantage of the materials described herein is that they are weather-proof. By installing polymer decking boards as walls into extruded aluminum posts, as an example, there are virtually no requirements, such as staining, painting or sealing, to maintain the system to keep it functional. Furthermore, the system can be disassembled at a later time and any parts that have become broken or worn can be replaced. The method disclosed herein requires no removal or damage to the components, as would be the case if nails were used in a wooden or polymer product. Thus, subsequent modification or repair is not apparent.
The system for containing or screening is highly modular and may be distributed in a kit of pre-cut pieces, or may be distributed by raw materials that are cut to length by the end user. In a preferred embodiment, posts may be extruded aluminum, pultruded composite or other materials that resist bending and form a strong foundation for individual planks or sheets to extend as walls between two or more such posts. The planks or sheets hold back soil if the system is used as a planter box, or form sides that contain items such as toys or tools, or form fences that screen something from view. The system can be used to form a deck box or a planter, or to screen an HVAC unit from view, for example. A foraminous or perforated grid can be mounted to the rear of the system to allow plants growing in soil held by the planks to climb up the grid. This grid may be mounted to the wall or the posts, as described below in detail.
Because the system is modular, other walls and posts may be added to the constructed item at a later time without damage to the original components. Such walls and posts match the appearance of the originals so that the added components do not have the appearance of a later modification. Because of how the components are attached, there is no damage to the components during original construction or later modification.
In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific term so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, the word connected or terms similar thereto are often used. They are not limited to direct connection, but include connection through other elements where such connection is recognized as being equivalent by those skilled in the art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONU.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/281,938 filed Jan. 22, 2016, which is the above claimed priority application, is incorporated herein by reference.
One example of the structure described herein is the surround 8 shown in
The corner posts 10-16 may be vertically oriented as shown in
The planks may be mounted at their ends to the posts and form walls, in the example shown and described, that may serve to contain items, such as toys or tools, within the surround 8, and/or may serve to screen from view one or more items within the walls, such as an air-conditioning unit or a pool pump. The posts maintain the vertical orientation of the planks, and the planks screen from view, or restrain, items within.
As shown in
A section view through the line A-A of
Other similar stiffeners are attached to, and stiffen, all adjacent pairs of planks. Thus, just as the planks 20a and 22a each receive a tongue 30a and 32a, respectively, of the stiffener 34 as shown in
As shown in
The ends of each of the planks 20a and 20d may insert into longitudinal slots or channels 50a and 50d that are formed in adjacent sides, and along the entire length, of the post 10. The channels may be integrally formed in the post 10, such as during manufacture, and the post 10 may be made of aluminum extruded through a mold having a void cross section similar to the shape of the post 10 shown in
Alternatively, each plank may have a fitting removably or integrally (such as by simultaneous molding during manufacture) mounted to each end thereof, with each fitting cooperating mechanically with structures that define the channels 50a and 50d. It is contemplated that two or more planks may be mounted to or within a single fitting, and the fitting mounted in a channel in a post.
In a preferred embodiment, the fittings 60a and 60d are mounted to the respective ends of the planks 20a and 20d, and similar fittings are mounted to all other plank ends that are retained within channels in the posts 10-16. The fittings 60a and 60d, which may be generally U-shaped in cross-section, mount to the ends of the planks 20 and 20a, respectively, by inserting the end of the plank into the void formed therein. A respective fastener, such as the screws 62a and 62d, extend through the fittings 60a and 60d into a respective end of each of the planks 20a and 20d. Any fastener is contemplated, but screws, adhesive and rivets are examples. The ridges 52a,d and 54a,d project inwardly from the respective channels 50a and 50d, defining pairs of ridges with tips spaced apart substantially equal to, or slightly greater than, the thickness of the planks 20a and 20d, but less than the width of the fittings 60a and 60d. The distance between a pair of tips is referred to as the ridge gap.
The fittings 60a and 60d are the same width or are narrower than the portions of the channels into which they are inserted in an operable position, but are at least as wide as the ridge gaps, which are the spaces between the tips of the ridges 52a,d and 54a,d. This relationship causes the fittings 60a and 60d to be retained in the channels 50a and 50d, respectively, on the opposite side of the ridges from the remainder of the planks. In the embodiment illustrated, the end of the plank may be considered a leg with the fitting considered a foot that forms an enlarged portion that prevents the wall from coming out of the channel along the plane of the wall, other than along the length of the channel. This configuration permits the fittings and their respective planks to be slid along the length of the channels 50a and 50d into place in the post 10 during installation and removal. Typically, this is a tight fitment that allows sliding along the length of the channels 50a and 50d under the force of average human strength, but prevents substantial movement of the planks relative to the posts in any direction except along the lengths of the channels. Once the planks are in position, they remain there due to the requirement for deliberate sliding along the channels for removal. Each wall end that is mounted in a post slot may have a fitting that provides a leg portion and a foot portion.
Thus, a method of constructing the surround 8 may include the positioning of each post 10-16, preferably spaced from one another, and each of the planks being placed with one end in one channel and an opposite end in a facing channel of another post. This process is repeated until the surround is complete. If desired, a fitting may be mounted to the end of each plank, and the insertion step carried out by inserting the leg portion and foot portion at a side of a slot or channel, and then forcing the wall along the slot's length with the foot portion deeper than the leg portion, until the wall is in the desired longitudinal position in the slot. In a contemplated method, the first, typically lowest, layer of planks is inserted into the channels of opposing posts, and a stiffener is placed on the exposed top edge of each plank, if needed. Then another plank is placed on top of the first (lowest) plank with its slot receiving the stiffener. This process is repeated for the entire second layer of planks. This process of inserting a stiffener is repeated by placing a stiffener in the slot on a top edge of the second layer of planks, and a third layer of planks is installed with slots in their lower edges receiving the top of the second stiffeners. This can continue for each desired layer. Top and bottom planks typically do not have a stiffener on top and bottom sides, respectively, but each plank that is adjacent two other planks may have a stiffener on both of its sides. A floor or cover may be mounted to one or more of the posts or planks, and such cover may be hinged. A clasp or other structure that permits locking of the surround 8 may also be used in a conventional manner.
It is contemplated that a single fitting may be mounted to two or more planks and one or more stiffeners. Thus, a method of constructing a surround may include the positioning of each post, preferably spaced from one another. Each of the planks is placed with one end in a first fitting and an opposite end in a second fitting. In a contemplated method, the first, typically lowest, plank is inserted into the fittings, and a stiffener, if needed, may be placed in a slot on the exposed top edge of the first plank. Then a second plank is placed on top of the first (lowest) plank with the second plank's slot receiving the stiffener. This process of inserting a stiffener is repeated by placing a stiffener in the slot on a top edge of the second plank, and a third plank is installed with the slot in its lower edge receiving the top of the second stiffener. Once the fitting is mounted to all the planks (and stiffeners, if desired), the fittings at opposite ends of the wall may be mounted in the post channels by inserting the first and second fittings at sides of slots or channels in the posts. The entire wall is then forced along the slots' lengths with the foot portion deeper than the leg portion, until the wall is in the desired longitudinal position in the slots.
If the span between corner posts is too long for the strength of the planks, even if stiffeners are used, one or more mid-posts, such as the mid-post 70 shown in
The surround 8 is shown and described above in relation to
The member 80 may also be used as a top and/or bottom rail that extends horizontally between vertical posts, as shown in the fence 500 of
With regard to the embodiment shown in
Alternative posts are shown in
Another alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in
This detailed description in connection with the drawings is intended principally as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the designs, functions, means, and methods of implementing the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and features may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention and that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the invention or scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A modular construction system comprising:
- (a) an elongated first post having at least a longitudinal first slot formed in a side, the first slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a first slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a first ridge gap, wherein the first slot width is greater than the first ridge gap;
- (b) an elongated second post spaced from the first post a predetermined distance, the second post having at least a longitudinal second slot formed in a side, the second slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a second slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a second ridge gap, wherein the second slot width is greater than the second ridge gap;
- (c) a first wall with a length about equal to the predetermined distance and a first end with: (i) a first leg portion no wider than the first ridge gap extending into the first slot between the ridge tips of the first slot; and (ii) a first foot portion no narrower than the first ridge gap extending deeper into the first slot than the first leg portion; and
- (d) the first wall having a second, opposite end with: (i) a second leg portion no wider than the second ridge gap extending into the second slot between the ridge tips of the second slot; (ii) a second foot portion no narrower than the second ridge gap extending deeper into the second slot than the second leg portion.
2. The construction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first foot portion mounts integrally to the first leg portion and the second foot portion mounts integrally to the second leg portion.
3. The construction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first foot portion removably mounts to the first leg portion and the second foot portion removably mounts to the second leg portion.
4. The construction system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:
- (a) an elongated third post spaced from the first and second posts having at least a longitudinal third slot formed in a side, the third slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a third slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a third ridge gap, wherein the third slot width is greater than the third ridge gap;
- (c) a longitudinal fourth slot formed in a second side of the first post, the fourth slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a fourth slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a fourth ridge gap, wherein the fourth slot width is greater than the fourth ridge gap;
- (c) a second wall, which is transverse to the first wall, having a third end with: (i) a third leg portion no wider than the third ridge gap extending into the third slot between the ridge tips of the third slot; and (ii) a third foot portion no narrower than the third ridge gap extending deeper into the third slot than the third leg portion; and
- (d) the second wall having a fourth, opposite end with: (i) a fourth leg portion no wider than the fourth ridge gap extending into the fourth slot between the ridge tips of the fourth slot; and (ii) a fourth foot portion no narrower than the fourth ridge gap extending deeper into the fourth slot than the fourth leg portion.
5. The construction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first wall is made of at least first and second substantially parallel and co-planar planks, the first plank having a first groove formed in a lateral edge and the second plank having a second groove formed in a lateral edge that is adjacent the first groove, and further comprising a stiffener with members inserted in the first and second grooves.
6. A modular construction system comprising:
- (a) an elongated first post having at least first and second longitudinal slots;
- (b) an elongated second post spaced from the first post, the second post having at least third and fourth longitudinal slots;
- (c) an elongated third post spaced from the first and second posts, the third post having at least fifth and sixth longitudinal slots;
- (d) an elongated fourth post spaced from the first, second and third posts, the fourth post having at least seventh and eighth longitudinal slots;
- (e) a first wall with a first end extending into the second slot, and a second, opposite end extending into the third slot;
- (f) a second wall with a first end extending into the fourth slot, and a second, opposite end extending into the fifth slot;
- (g) a third wall with a first end extending into the sixth slot, and a second, opposite end extending into the seventh slot; and
- (h) a fourth wall with a first end extending into the eighth slot, and a second, opposite end extending into the first slot.
7. The construction system in accordance with claim 6, further comprising a foraminous grid extending from attachment to at least one of the walls.
8. The construction system in accordance with claim 6, further comprising a foraminous grid extending from attachment to at least one of the posts.
9. The construction system in accordance with claim 6, wherein the first wall is made of at least first and second substantially parallel and co-planar planks, the first plank having a first groove formed in a lateral edge and the second plank having a second groove formed in a lateral edge that is adjacent the first groove, and further comprising a stiffener with members inserted in the first and second grooves.
10. A construction method comprising:
- (a) spacing an elongated first post from an elongated second post with a gap therebetween, wherein: (i) the first post has at least a longitudinal first slot formed in a side, the first slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a first slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a first ridge gap, wherein the first slot width is greater than the first ridge gap; and (ii) the second post has at least a longitudinal second slot formed in a side, the second slot defined by slot sidewalls spaced apart a second slot width, and a pair of ridges extending toward one another from the slot sidewalls and terminating in ridge tips forming a second ridge gap, wherein the second slot width is greater than the second ridge gap;
- (b) extending a first end of a first wall into the first slot, the first end having a first leg portion, which is no wider than the first ridge gap, that is disposed between the ridge tips of the first slot, and a first foot portion, which is no narrower than the first ridge gap, that extends deeper into the first slot than the first leg portion;
- (c) extending a second, opposite end of the first wall into the second slot, the second end having a second leg portion, which is no wider than the second ridge gap, that is disposed between the ridge tips of the second slot, and a second foot portion, which is no narrower than the second ridge gap, that extends deeper into the second slot than the second leg portion; and
- (d) displacing the first and second ends of the first wall lengthwise along the first and second slots, respectively.
11. The method in accordance with claim 10, further comprising the step of mounting the first and second foot portions to the first and second ends, respectively, of the first wall.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 18, 2017
Publication Date: Jul 27, 2017
Inventors: James E. Cullinan (Dublin, OH), Brian P. O'Riordan (Ashville, OH), Peter A. Gaydos (Hilliard, OH)
Application Number: 15/408,516