BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Fences are important in many applications. Durability, safety, security, and aesthetics are important factors in fence design. Although sturdy metal fences may be durable and tough, them may suffer from poor or undesirable aesthetics, or may be insecure. What is needed is an improved design for a metal fence or a fence from a similarly sturdy material.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A fence may comprise posts and panels. A basic segment of a fence may comprise a panel secured at a first end to a first post and at a second end to a second post. The panel may have a front side and a back side.
Each end of the panel may have a turn-back bend that that turns the panel back behind the back side, where the panel terminates with a post adapter for securing the panel to the post. The post adapter may include holes for using one or more bolts or screws to secure that end of the panel to the corresponding post. In this manner, the securement hardware and/or mechanisms are not visible or accessible from the front side of the fence. The panel and posts may be made from ¼-inch steel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panels.
FIG. 2 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panels in a corner configuration.
FIG. 3 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panel in an end configuration.
FIG. 4 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence segment comprising two posts and three panels.
FIG. 5 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence segment comprising at least three posts and at least four panels.
FIG. 6 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence in a square or rectangular configuration comprising at least four posts and at least eight panels.
FIG. 7 shows a front/outside view of an exemplary fence.
FIG. 8 shows a back/inside view of an exemplary fence.
FIG. 9a shows a top down view, including the base and holes in the base, of an exemplary post and secured panels.
FIG. 9b shows a top down view, including the base and bolts or screws through the holes in the base, of an exemplary post and secured panels.
FIG. 10 shows a side view of an exemplary fence post.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/969,551, titled “Improved Fence Designs and Systems,” and filed on Feb. 3, 2020, the inventor of which is Matthew Moore, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A fence design and system is disclosed.
TABLE OF REFERENCE NUMBERS FROM DRAWINGS The following table is for convenience only, and should not be construed to supersede any potentially inconsistent disclosure herein.
Reference
Number Description
110a-n post
111 top of post
112a-n holes in post for bolts
115a-n post bases
117a-n holes in post base for securing to ground
120a-n panel(s)
121a-n first end of panel
122a-n second end of panel
123a-n hidden part of panel from back/inside view
124a-n hidden part of panel from back/inside view
125a-n holes in panel for bolts to secure panel to post
130a-n bolt(s) for securing panel to post
140a-n bolts for securing post base to ground
200 house
210 ground strip
220 length
230 length
300 corner post
320a panel
320b panel
400 end post
420 panel
As shown in FIGS. 1-10, a fence may comprise one or more panels 120 secured to one or more posts 110a-n.
Post 110a may be square or rectangular metal tubing, or may be tubing of another cross-sectional shape. In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1-10, post 110a may be ¼ steel (e.g., Corten). Post 110a may be made from a different material and the material may have a different thickness. Itis possible for a post to be solid instead of hollow, but using a solid-core post is generally undesirable because of the additional weight, cost of materials, and difficulty in moving, manipulating, and/or installing the post. As shown in FIGS. 1-10, post 110a is 4-inch square steel tubing made from steel having a thickness of ¼ inch. As is standard with many fences, post 110a may have a height of 6.0 feet. The height, cross section shape and size, material, and material thickness may be varied and/or adjusted within the scope of this disclosure.
In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7-10, post 110a may include a base 115 for securing post to the ground, e.g., to a concrete strip 210 as shown in FIGS. 7-8. The base may be made out of many different materials, and may be monolithic (with the post itself), or may be a separate piece of hardware secured to the post. In one embodiment base 115 may be monolithic with post 110a and may be therefore made from the same material as post 110a, e.g., ¼″ steel.
Base 115 may be a 7-inch by 7-inch square. In one embodiment, post 110a may be located toward the front of base 115, i.e., not centered. This may be desirable for aesthetics, e.g., to keep most of the visible portion of base 115 toward the back of the post and behind panel 120a as shown if FIGS. 1-10. Base 115 may have many shapes and sizes. Many approaches and solutions for securing a post to the ground or to a material secured to the ground are known in the art.
Base 115 may include one or more holes 117a-n for using bolts or screws (e.g., lag screws) 140a-n to secure base 115 to the ground, e.g., to concrete strip 210. Many different sizes, hole patterns, hole shapes, and numbers of holes may be used. For example, as shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b, holes 117a-d may be/2-inch diameter holes (or slightly larger to accommodate ½-inch diameter bolts or screws 140a-d). The respective centers of holes 117a-d may be approximately ¾ inch from the outside edges of base 115, 1 inch from the edge opposite the panel edge, and 1 inch from the panel edge. The locations and sizes of holes 117a-d may vary. In one embodiment ½ inch concrete anchors, screws, or bolts may be used to secure base 110 to concrete strip 210.
FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of panels 120a and 120b secured to post 110a using bolts 130a-f. Because FIG. 1 is a direct top down view, bolts 130c-f are obscured by bolts 130a and 130b.
As shown in FIGS. 1-9b, the shape and bend of panels 120a-n results in a no-hardware look from the outside of panels 120a-n, while still allowing for reliably and easily securing panels 120a-n to posts 110a-n. In one embodiment, panel 120a may be made from the same material as post 110a, e.g., ¼-inch steel. Panel 120a may be made from other materials having varying thicknesses and other properties. The important characteristic for panel 120a is its amenability to bending or shaping so that it covers, as viewed from the outside of the panel side of post 110a-n, the gap between panel 120a and post 110a that is secured with bolts or screws 125a-n.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-9, panels 120a-n may be ¼-inch steel sheet (e.g., Corten). Distance 220 may be 1.5 inches, and distance 230 may be 2.25 inches.
Panels may have varying lengths and heights. As shown in FIGS. 1-9, for 6.0-foot-high fence posts 110a-n, panels 120a-n may have height of 5 feet 8 inches. In one embodiment, the length of panels 120a-n may be approximately 8.0 feet, which is often a standard for fence design and installation. The length of a panel 120a may vary depending on design considerations, strength of posts 110a-n, engineering considerations, usability for installation and other manipulation, safety issues, and any other consideration that may be known in the art.
In one embodiment, panel 120a may be secured to post 110a by three bolts or screws 125a, 125c, and 125e. As shown in FIG. 10, post 110a may include three holes 112a-c for use in securing panel 120a to post 110a. Holes 112a-c may be pre-tapped (i.e., pre-threaded) so that screws 130a-c may be secured to holes 112a-c. In one embodiment, holes 112a-c in post 110a may be circular and have a diameter of ⅜″ inch or slightly larger to accommodate ⅜″ screws or bolts 130a-c. Holes 125a-c in panel 110a may correspond to holes 112a-c in post 110a to be compatible with holes 112a-c.
Different numbers of screws/bolts 130a-c may be used and may be spaced or located in many different ways that will be apparent to a person of skill in the art. In one embodiment, holes 112a and 125a may be located approximately 6 inches from the top of panel 120a, holes 112c and 125c may be located approximately 6 inches from the bottom panel 120a, and holes 112b and 125b may be located in the middle of and equidistant between holes 112a/125a and 112c/125c.
FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment for a corner post 300 secured to panels 320a and 320b. Although post 300 is shown as a square tube, it could be other shapes. For example, to accommodate a particular turn angle in a fence design, post 300 may have a shape that facilitates a specific angular offset (e.g., instead of a 90-degree angle) between panel 320a and panel 320b. Alternatively, a post could be a circular tube and panels may be shaped to have a curve that complements the shape of the circular tube, thereby allowing any angular offset between two panels as long as holes are appropriately placed in the post and/or another securement mechanism is used.
FIG. 3 shows how a panel 420 may be secured to an end post 400 that may terminate a run of fence next to, e.g., a house 200.
FIG. 4 shows a top-down view of a complete panel 120b secured to posts 110a and 110b, as well as segments of panels 120a and 120c secured to posts 110a and 110b respectively, as described herein. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 shows a top-down view of four panels 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d secured to posts 110a, 110b, and 110c as may occur in a straight run of fence. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 shows a top-down view of a square or rectangular fence configuration using at least panels 120a-h and posts 110a-d. Other posts, panels, and/or other features may be included in the breaks as shown in FIG. 6 according to the invention described herein. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 6.
FIG. 7 shows a front or outside view of a fence according to the disclosure herein. As shown in FIG. 7, none of the screws/bolts that secure panels 120a-c to posts 110a-d are visible from the front/outside view.
FIG. 8 shows an exemplary back or inside view of a fence according to the disclosure herein. As shown in FIG. 8, bolts/screws 130a-f for securing panel 120a to posts 110a and 110b are visible from the back/inside view.
FIGS. 9a and 9b each show a top-down view of a post 110a and panels 120a and 120, similar to FIG. 1, except that FIG. 9a shows base 115a with holes 117a-d for securing post 110a to the ground and FIG. 9b shows base 115b with screws/bolts 140a-d through holes 117a-d. Holes 17a-d and bolts screws 140a-d may be used for anchoring post 110a to the ground, e.g., to a concrete strip 210.
FIG. 10 shows a side view of an exemplary post 110a without a secured panel 110a. Post 110a in FIG. 10 includes exemplary holes 112a-c in exemplary locations on the side of post 110a.
In one embodiment, two panels may be secured between two posts, i.e., a front panel and a back panel, thereby creating a cavity and/or void between the two panels. This cavity may be used for several things. For example, a speaker may be placed inside the cavity. The speaker may be a waterproof speaker for outdoor applications. In another embodiment, the fence may include or be a water feature, and the cavity may be used to store parts of the water feature (e.g., pipes, pumps, etc.).
