Gate Upright

Abstract

A gate upright has a hold for a rail and one or more inner walls which can be coated with glue prior to the insertion of the rail. In a preferred embodiment, there are two inner walls, one of which is only a partial inner wall, which allows the user to coat the outside surface of the inner walls with glue, then insert the rail at an angle, to avoid screeding the glue toward the back of the gate upright, then rotate the rail onto the full inner wall, and slide the rail a short distance to lock it behind the partial inner wall. In another preferred embodiment, there is only one full inner wall, and the rail is inserted at an angle, then rotated against the inner wall. Glue beads at intersections between the rail and gate upright form an interlocking bracket for further support.

Claims

1. A method of constructing a fence gate, consisting of the steps of, first, obtaining an upright and a rail, wherein the upright has an opening into which the rail is inserted, wherein the upright has one full inner wall, wherein the full inner extends from a first upright side to a second upright side, and extends from an upright top to an upright bottom, wherein the one full inner wall creates an inner box beam.

2. The fence gate kit of claim 1, wherein a quantity of glue is applied to an outer surface of the one full inner wall, and wherein the rail is inserted into the opening at an angle, and then, once the rail is fully inserted, rotated such a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall.

3. The fence gate kit of claim 2, wherein the screeding of glue is minimized.

4. The fence gate kit of claim 2, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall.

5. The fence gate kit of claim 1, wherein the gate upright additionally comprises a partial inner wall, wherein the partial inner wall has a back section, wherein the back section intersects a back of the gate upright from the upright top to the upright bottom, and a front section, wherein the front section intersection a front of the gate upright only partially, leaving a gap, wherein the rail is inserted into the opening at an angle, wherein the rail is inserted into the gap, wherein the rail is then rotated such that a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall wherein the rail is then pushed until a rail end touches the back of the gate upright.

6. The fence gate kit of claim 5, wherein the screeding of glue is minimized, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall, creating an interlocking bracket of glue.

7. The fence gate kit of claim 6, additionally comprising a second upright, with at least two second upright openings, and one more rail, where the one more rail enters the gate upright at one of the at least two second upright openings, wherein there is an upper rail and a lower rail, where the interlocking bracket of glue stabilizes a fence gate.

8. The fence gate kit of claim 7, where four upper lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of two full inner walls, a gate upright back and a gate upright front, with a top surface of a top ran, and four lower lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of the two full inner walls, the gate upright back and the gate upright front, a bottom surface of a bottom ran, creating an interlocking bracket of glue, where each of the four upper lines of glue beads and each of the four lower lines of glue beads is thicker than the gap between the intersection of the rail and the gate upright.

9. A fence gate kit, comprising: an upright and a rail, wherein the upright has an opening into which the rail is inserted, wherein the upright has one full inner wall, wherein the full inner extends from a first upright side to a second upright side, and extends from an upright top to an upright bottom, wherein the one full inner wall creates an inner box beam.

10. The fence gate kit of claim 9, wherein a quantity of glue is applied to an outer surface of the one full inner wall, and wherein the rail is inserted into the opening at an angle, and then, once the rail is fully inserted, rotated such a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall.

11. The fence gate kit of claim 10, wherein the screeding of glue is minimized, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall.

12. The fence gate kit of claim 11, wherein the gate upright additionally comprises a partial inner wall, wherein the partial inner wall has a back section, wherein the back section intersects a back of the gate upright from the upright top to the upright bottom, and a front section, wherein the front section intersection a front of the gate upright only partially, leaving a gap, wherein the rail is inserted into the opening at an angle, wherein the rail is inserted into the gap, wherein the rail is then rotated such that a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall wherein the rail is then pushed until a rail end touches the back of the gate upright.

13. The fence gate kit of claim 12, wherein the screeding of glue is minimized, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall, creating an interlocking bracket of glue.

14. The fence gate kit of claim 9, wherein the gate upright comprises more than one opening to accommodate multiple rails, and wherein the gate upright comprises more than one rail, and, wherein each rail is inserted into an opening the create a gate frame, and wherein each rail has a plurality of rail openings through which a plurality of pickets are inserted.

15. The fence gate kit of claim 14, additionally comprising a second upright, with at least two second upright openings, and one more rail, where the one more rail enters the gate upright at one of the at least two second upright openings, wherein there is an upper rail and a lower rail, where the interlocking bracket of glue stabilizes a fence gate.

16. The fence gate kit of claim 15, where four upper lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of two full inner walls, a gate upright back and a gate upright front, with a top surface of a top ran, and four lower lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of the two full inner walls, the gate upright back and the gate upright front, a bottom surface of a bottom ran, creating an interlocking bracket of glue, where each of the four upper lines of glue beads and each of the four lower lines of glue beads is thicker than the gap between the intersection of the rail and the gate upright.

17. A gate upright, wherein the gate upright comprises an opening into which a rail can be inserted, wherein the gate upright has one full inner wall, wherein the full inner extends from a first upright side to a second upright side, and extends from an upright top to an upright bottom, wherein the one full inner wall creates an inner box beam.

18. The gate upright of claim 17, wherein a quantity of glue is applied to an outer surface of the one full inner wall, and wherein the rail can be inserted into the opening at an angle, and then, once the rail is fully inserted, rotated such a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall.

19. The fence gate kit of claim 18, wherein the gate upright additionally comprises a partial inner wall, wherein the partial inner wall has a back section, wherein the back section intersects a back of the gate upright from the upright top to the upright bottom, and a front section, wherein the front section intersection a front of the gate upright only partially, leaving a gap, wherein the rail is inserted into the opening at an angle, wherein the rail is inserted into the gap, wherein the rail is then rotated such that a rail side adheres itself to the outer surface of the one full inner wall wherein the rail is then pushed until a rail end touches the back of the gate upright.

20. The fence gate kit of claim 19, wherein the screeding of glue is minimized, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall, creating an interlocking bracket of glue, wherein the gate upright comprises more than one opening to accommodate multiple rails, and wherein the gate upright comprises more than one rail, and, wherein each rail is inserted into an opening the create a gate frame, and wherein each rail has a plurality of rail openings through which a plurality of pickets are inserted.

21. The fence gate kit of claim 21, where four upper lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of two full inner walls, a gate upright back and a gate upright front, with a top surface of a top rail, and four lower lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of the two full inner walls, the gate upright back and the gate upright front, a bottom surface of a bottom ran, creating an interlocking bracket of glue, where each of the four upper lines of glue beads and each of the four lower lines of glue beads is thicker than the gap between the intersection of the rail and the gate upright.

22. A fence gate kit, comprising: two uprights and two rails, wherein each of the uprights has two openings into which the rails are inserted, wherein the upright has two full inner walls, wherein the two full inner walls extends from a first upright side to a second upright side, and extends from an upright top to an upright bottom, wherein the two full inner walls create two inner box beams, wherein a quantity of glue is applied to an outer surface of each of the two full inner walls, and wherein the rails are inserted into the two openings, and then, once the rail is fully inserted, wherein a quantity of backfilled glue is inserted into two spaces between a rail side and an outer side of a full inner wall.

23. The fence gate kit of claim 22, wherein one or more lines of glue are applied to a top intersection between a rail top and the one full inner wall, and a bottom intersection between a rail bottom and the one full inner wall, creating an interlocking bracket of glue.

24. The fence gate kit of claim 23, additionally comprising at least one middle rail, where the at least one middle rail is inserted into at least one middle opening on each of the gate uprights.

25. The fence gate kit of claim 24, where four upper lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of two full inner walls, a gate upright back and a gate upright front, with a top surface of a top rail, and four lower lines of glue beads are laid down at the intersection of the two full inner walls, the gate upright back and the gate upright front, a bottom surface of a bottom ran, creating an interlocking bracket of glue, where each of the four upper lines of glue beads and each of the four lower lines of glue beads is thicker than the gap between the intersection of the rail and the gate upright.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0027] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this invention. One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] FIG. 1 is a series of views showing how a gate upright typical of this invention is organized. Of particular interest is the fact that one of the inner walls does not extend the entire length of the gate upright.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a series of views showing how a gate upright with only one full inner wall is organized.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a series of views showing how a gate upright with two full inner walls that extend the entire length of the gate upright is organized.

[0031] FIG. 4 is two views of two different aspects of the invention, where one aspect has two inner walls that extend the entire length of the gate upright, and the second has one inner wall that does not extend the entire length of the gate upright.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a series of views of the embodiment of the invention with two walls that extend the entire length of the gate upright, showing how the glue is screeded away from the sides of the rail and pushed to the end of the receptacle in the gate upright.

[0033] FIG. 6 is a series of views of the partial inner wall embodiment of the invention with one inner wall that does not extend the entire length of the gate upright, showing how the glue can be applied to the sides of the rail, then the rail can be inserted at an angle, when the rail is straightened out and fully inserted into the receptacle, effectively preventing the screeding seen in FIG. 5.

[0034] FIG. 7 is a series of views of how a rail can be inserted into a gate upright with only one full inner wall to avoid the screeding seen in FIG. 5.

[0035] FIG. 8 is a series of views showing how a rail that is inserted between two full inner walls causes screeding of glue.

[0036] FIG. 9 is perspective and a close-up perspective view of a gate upright with two full inner walls where the glue has been screeded away.

[0037] FIG. 10 is series of views of a glue gun being used to backfill the space between a rail and a full inner wall.

[0038] FIG. 11 is a perspective view and a close-up view of a glue gun backfilling the space between a rail and a full inner wall.

[0039] FIG. 12 is a perspective view and a close-up view of a glue gun backfilling the space between a rail and a full inner wall.

[0040] FIG. 13 is a top view of a glue gun building up a glue bead on top of a rail that has been inserted into a gate upright.

[0041] FIG. 14 are a series of side views of glue beads being used to provide upper and lower bracket support to a rail.

[0042] FIG. 15 is a front view of a gate panel where glue beads across the upper surface of the top rail, and the lower surface of the bottom rail to form an interlocking bracket of glue, which only adds to the structural rigidity of the squareness of the corners of the gate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0043] Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with references made to the drawings below. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the components of the present invention. Moreover, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several views in the drawings. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in their application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments of the invention are capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0044] FIG. 1 is a series of views showing how a gate upright 1 typical of this invention is organized. Of particular interest is the fact that one of the inner walls, a partial inner wall 4 does not extend the entire length of the gate upright while the other inner wall, a full inner wall 3. An inner box beam 5 is formed by the backside of the full inner wall and the inner wall of the gate upright. On the other side of the gate upright, however, the partial inner wall 4 does not form an enclosed box beam. This fact will become more important in later figures, as we illustrate the problems of keeping the glue between the sides of the rail and the inner walls.

[0045] FIG. 2 is a series of views showing how a gate upright with only one full inner wall 3 is organized.

[0046] FIG. 3 is a series of views showing how a gate upright with two full inner walls 3 that extend the entire length of the gate upright is organized.

[0047] FIG. 4 is two views of two different aspects of the invention, where one aspect has two full inner walls 3 that extend the entire length of the gate upright, and the second has one partial inner wall 4 that does not extend the entire length of the gate upright. In this figure, a glue gun 7 is applying glue to the top of the rail 2, but the differences in how well glue already placed on the inner walls is retained will be vastly different, as will be seen in later figures.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a series of views of the embodiment of the invention with two full inner walls 3 that extend the entire length of the gate upright, showing how the glue 9 is screeded away from the sides of the rail 2 and pushed to the end of the receptacle in the gate upright. Prior to being inserted into the gate upright 1, the inner surfaces of the inner walls are coated with glue. It is optimum to have that glue remain between the rail and the inner wall. However, in this figure, with two full inner walls 3, the ends of the rail push or screed the glue into the back of the gate upright, thereby minimizing its effectiveness is securing the sides of the rail to the inner walls.

[0049] FIG. 6 is a series of views of the partial inner wall embodiment of the invention with one partial inner wall 4 that does not extend the entire length of the gate upright 1, showing how the glue can be applied to the outer sides inner walls, then the rail 2 can be inserted at an angle 11, and when the rail is straightened out and fully inserted into the receptacle, it effectively prevents the screeding seen in FIG. 6. Notice how in this figure the glue 9 remains between the side of the rail 2 and both of the inner walls. This creates a substantially better bond than can be seen in FIG. 5, where the only glue securing the sides of the rail to the inner walls is a thin film of glue left over after the main body of glue has been screeded to the back of the gate upright.

[0050] This is a significant improvement over the prior art. Previous gate uprights were often multi-piece contraptions that required additional assembly and often used welds, which destroyed the powder coating. Other prior art relied upon the glue along to withstand lateral pressure, while this embodiment provides inner walls the resist later pressure.

[0051] FIG. 7 is a series of views of how a rail can be inserted into a gate upright with only one full inner wall to avoid the screeding seen in FIG. 5. In this embodiment of the invention, the gate upright 1 has only a single full inner wall 3. Glue has been placed on the outer surface of the inner wall, and a rail is inserted at an angle to avoid screeding the glue to the end of the gate upright. After the rail 2 has been inserted fully, it is rotated back against the outer surface of a single full inner wall 3, such that the glue 9 remains between the side of the rail and the inner wall.

[0052] FIG. 8 is a series of views showing how a rail that is inserted between two full inner walls causes screeding of glue. As the rail 2 is pushed into the gate upright, the glue that has been applied earlier is pushed to the back of the gate upright through a process known as screeding. The screeded glue 10 provides limited support because it has been pushed back from the sides of the rail.

[0053] FIG. 9 is perspective and a close-up perspective view of a gate upright with two full inner walls 3 where the glue has been screeded away. The screeded glue 10 is shown by tiny dots, which are very spaced out, indicating that most of the glue has been pushed back.

[0054] FIG. 10 is series of views of a glue gun 7 being used to backfill the space between a rail 2 and a full inner wall 3. Here, the glue gun is being used to backfill the glue between the sides of the rail and outer surface of the full inner wall.

[0055] FIG. 11 is a perspective view and a close-up view of a glue gun 7 backfilling the space between a rail and a full inner wall. The backfilled glue 12 slowly fills in the gaps between the small particles of screeded glue 10 that have been left after the rail has been inserted and pushed most of the glue back to the back of the gate upright.

[0056] FIG. 12 is a perspective view and a close-up view of a glue gun backfilling the space between a rail and a full inner wall. Here, the backfilling is complete, and there is a nice layer of backfilled glue 12 between the side of the rail and the outer surface of the inner wall.

[0057] FIG. 13 is a top view of a glue gun 7 building up a glue bead 13 on top of a rail 2 that has been inserted into a gate upright 1. As a final touch of security, a glue bead 13 is laid down on the intersection of the rail edge and the outer surface of the inner wall. The glue bead 13 extends laterally across at least a part of the rail, offering additional support.

[0058] FIG. 14 are a series of side views of glue beads being used to provide upper and lower bracket support to a rail 2. In this figure, a glue bead 13 has been laid over the lower surface of the bottom rail, and over the upper surface of the upper rail.

[0059] FIG. 15 is a front view of a gate panel where glue beads 13 across the upper surface of the top rail, and the lower surface of the bottom rail to form an interlocking bracket of glue, which only adds to the structural rigidity of the squareness of the corners of the gate.

[0060] It should be noted that a preferred embodiment calls for the glue to be applied to the outer side of the inner wall(s) of the gate upright, but it is also contemplated that the glue can be applied directly to the rail prior to its insertion.

[0061] It should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional configurations can be utilized to implement the desired features of the present invention. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.

[0062] Although the disclosure herein is described in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0063] All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved.

REFERENCE NUMBERS USED

[0064] 1. Gate upright [0065] 2. rail [0066] 3. full inner wall [0067] 4. partial inner wall [0068] 5. inner box beam [0069] 6. Gap. [0070] 7. Glue Gun [0071] 8. Impact pressure [0072] 9. Glue [0073] 10. Screeded glue [0074] 11. Angle [0075] 12. Backfilled glue [0076] 13. Glue bead