FENCE CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

A stringer for an off-set board-on-board fence having an inverted U-section elongated body having two mutually opposed sides depending from an intermediate adjoining portion having laterally off-set and longitudinally over-lapping first and second sets of spaced board slots extending flush with inside surfaces of the opposed sides for attaching fence boards of predetermined cross-section flush to the inside surfaces of the opposed sides of the stringer. The stringer has board fastening apertures in the opposed sides of the stringer to fasten the fence boards flush with the inside surfaces of the opposed sides. The stringer has a plurality of bracket attachment apertures, preferably square, arranged longitudinally from end to end, between the first and second sets of board slots for attaching post brackets at each end of the stringer. A stringer support of each opposing bracket is within range of one bracket attachment aperture at each end of the stringer.

Claims

1. A fence stringer comprising: an intermediate adjoining portion, wherein the intermediate adjoining portion includes a plurality of boards slots configured to receive fence boards; two mutually opposed stringer sides, wherein each of the opposed stringer sides extends from the intermediate adjoining portion, wherein each of the opposed stringer sides includes a plurality of board fastening apertures, and wherein each board slot of the plurality of board slots has at least two board fastening apertures aligned therewith.

2. The fence stringer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of board fastening apertures are configured to receive fasteners.

3. The fence stringer of claim 1, wherein an inside surface of the board slots is flush with one of the two mutually opposed stringer sides.

4. The fence stringer of claim 1, wherein the intermediate adjoining portion includes a plurality of bracket apertures, wherein the bracket apertures are positioned about an entire length of the fence stringer.

5. The fence stringer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of board slots includes a first set of board slots and a second set of board slots, and wherein the first set of board slots are located in offset arrangement to the second set of board slots.

6. A fence comprising: a fence stringer comprising: an intermediate adjoining portion having a first end and a second end, wherein the intermediate adjoining portion includes (i) a plurality of boards slots configured to receive fence boards and (ii) a plurality of bracket apertures positioned about a length of the intermediate adjoining portion; two mutually opposed stringer sides, wherein each of the opposed stringer sides extends from the intermediate adjoining portion, wherein an inside surface of each of the board slots in combination with one of the two mutually opposed stringer sides forms a planar surface; two fence posts, wherein a first of the two fence posts is located proximal to the first end and a second of the two fence posts is located proximal to the second end; and a first bracket including (i) a first enclosure portion, (ii) a first neck portion, and (iii) a first stringer support, wherein the first neck portion is located between the first enclosure portion and the first stringer support, wherein an upper surface of the first enclosure portion extends above an upper surface of the first stringer support and wherein the first bracket is secured to the fence stringer via one of the plurality of bracket apertures proximal to the first end; and a second bracket including (i) a second enclosure portion, (ii) a second neck portion, and (iii) a second stringer support, wherein the second neck portion is located between the second enclosure portion and the second stringer support, wherein a lower surface of the second enclosure portion extends below a lower surface of the second stringer support, and wherein the second bracket is secured to the fence stringer via one of the plurality of bracket apertures proximal to the second end.

7. The fence of claim 6, wherein the opposed stringer sides include a plurality of board fastening apertures, and wherein each board slot of the plurality of board slots has at least two board fastening apertures aligned therewith.

8. (canceled)

9. The fence stringer of claim 6, wherein the plurality of board slots includes a first set of board slots and a second set of board slots, and wherein the first set of board slots are located in offset arrangement to the second set of board slots.

10. (canceled)

11. A fence stringer comprising: an intermediate adjoining portion, wherein the intermediate adjoining portion includes a plurality of board slots configured to receive fence boards, wherein the intermediate adjoining portion includes a plurality of bracket apertures, and wherein the bracket apertures are positioned about an entire length of the fence stringer; and two mutually opposed stringer sides, wherein each of the opposed stringer sides extends from the intermediate adjoining portion, wherein each of the opposed stringer sides includes a plurality of board fastening apertures, and wherein two board fastening apertures are aligned with each of the plurality of board slots; wherein an inside surface of each of the board slots in combination with one of the two mutually opposed stringer sides forms a planar surface.

12. The fence stringer of claim 11, wherein two of the plurality of board fastening apertures are aligned with each of the plurality of board slots.

13. The fence stringer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of board slots includes a first set of board slots and a second set of board slots, and wherein the first set of board slots are located in offset arrangement to the second set of board slots.

14. The fence stringer of claim 13, wherein ones of the first of board slots and ones of the second set of board slots overlap.

15. The fence stringer of claim 13, wherein the bracket apertures are located between the first set of board slots and the second set of board slots.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] Certain embodiments of the invention are described by way of illustration, without limiting the scope of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0070] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a subject fence stringer in accordance with the present invention;

[0071] FIG. 2 is a sectional end elevation view of the subject stringer showing a portion of a fence board in secured relation with the stringer;

[0072] FIG. 3 is a sectional end view of a second embodiment of the stringer;

[0073] FIG. 4 is a sectional end view of a third embodiment of the stringer;

[0074] FIG. 5 is a fragmented sectional end view of a pair of stringers of a fourth embodiment with fence boards inserted into the board slots awaiting fastening to the stringers;

[0075] FIG. 6 is a fragmented sectional end view of the pair of stringers of the fourth embodiment with fence boards inserted into the board slots wherein initially inwardly angled stringer sides have been substantially vertically fastened to the adjacent fence boards;

[0076] FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an off-set fence post bracket with one stringer support;

[0077] FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the bracket of FIG. 7, in an unbolted condition;

[0078] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the fence post bracket of FIG. 7;

[0079] FIG. 10 is an end view of the fence post bracket of FIG. 7 showing the one offset stringer support;

[0080] FIG. 11 is a front elevation view of portions of a subject fence under construction;

[0081] FIG. 12 is a top plan view of an alternate fence post bracket with two stringer supports at 0 and 180 degrees;

[0082] FIG. 13 is a top plan view of an alternate fence post bracket with two stringer supports at 0 and 90 degrees;

[0083] FIG. 14 is a top plan view of an alternate fence post bracket with three stringer supports at 0, 90, and 180 degrees, with neck aperture bolts removed; and

[0084] FIG. 15 is a top plan view of an alternate fence post bracket with four stringer supports at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees, with neck aperture bolts removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0085] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 11, a fence stringer 10 is cut to length from stock, to extend between two fence posts 12. The stringer 10 is of inverted U-section, with opposed stringer sides 14 and intermediate adjoining portion 16. The intermediate adjoining portion 16 has two sets of board slots, 18, 19 a first set of board slots 18 and a second set of board slots 19 located flush with inside surfaces 15 of opposed stringer sides 14, such that the outermost sides 20 of the board slots 18, 19 are flush with the inside surfaces 15 of the stringer sides 14. A series of equi-spaced bracket attachment apertures 22 extend longitudinally along the intermediate adjoining portion 16, preferably along the longitudinal centre line of the intermediate adjoining portion, between the first set of board slots 18 and the second set of board slots 19, the bracket attachment apertures 22 being sized to receive a fastener, preferably a carriage bolt 23 (see FIG. 2).

[0086] Board screws 21 (FIG. 2) secure the fence boards 25 to the fence stringer 10, securing the fence boards 25 flush against the inside surface 15 of stringer side 14 of the fence stringer 10. FIGS. 1 and 2 show stringer 10 with a planer intermediate adjoining portion 16 and parallel opposing stringer sides 14 perpendicular to the intermediate adjoining portion 16.

[0087] FIG. 3 shows stringer 60 with intermediate adjoining portion 16 with first and second sets of board slots 18, 19 and depending outwardly bent stringer sides 62. Stringer sides 62 have free lower edges 58 and upper ends 59 and board fastening apertures 24. Stringer sides 62 are bent outwardly at an internal angle of between 90 degrees and 100 degrees from horizontal “B”. Stringer sides 62 are drawn substantially vertical when fastened to fence boards 25 by board screws 21 or other fasteners such as bolts. Metal stringer sides 62 must be resilient enough to be drawn substantially vertical when fastened to fence boards 25, for example, stringers made of aluminum of thickness between 0.062 inch to 0.125 inch.

[0088] FIG. 4 shows stringer 70 with intermediate adjoining portion 16 with first and second sets of board slots 18, 19 and depending inwardly bent stringer sides 72. Stringer sides 72 have free lower edges 58 and upper ends 59 and board fastening apertures 24. Stringer sides 72 are bent inwardly at an internal angle of between 80 degrees and 90 degrees from horizontal “A”. Stringer sides 72 are drawn substantially vertical when fastened to fence boards 25 by board screws 21 or other fasteners such as bolts. Metal stringer sides 72 must be resilient enough to be drawn substantially vertical when fastened to fence boards 25, for example, stringers made of aluminum of thickness between 0.062 inch to 0.125 inch.

[0089] FIG. 5 shows stringers 80 each having a horizontal intermediate adjoining portion 16 with central bracket attachment apertures 22 and first and second sets of board slots 18, 19, and one depending vertical stringer side 82 and one inwardly angled stringer side 84 for holding fence boards 25 in place while stringer sides 84 are fastened to fence boards 25. Both stringer sides 82, 84 have free lower edges 58 and upper ends 59 and board fastening apertures 24. Typically fence boards, especially of wood, vary slightly in width and the width of fence board slots 18, 19 are sized for the largest predetermined width of standard fence boards 25. FIG. 5 shows the location of gaps 88 between the width of board slots 19 and the minimum predetermined thickness of standard fence boards before inwardly bent stringer sides 84 are fastened to the fence boards 25.

[0090] Accordingly, in order to ensure that all predetermined thicknesses of fence boards 25 are held in place for fastening to the stringer sides 84, a free lower edge 58 of at least one stringer side 84 of at least one stringer 80 should be bent (biased) inwardly from vertical a distance of greater than the difference between the width of the board slots 19 less the narrowest predetermined thickness of the fence boards 25 to be inserted into the board slots 19 sufficient for holding the fence boards 25 in place while attaching the fence boards 25 to the stringers 80. Although FIG. 5 shows only one profile of stringer 80 wherein upper and lower stringers 80, 80 are reversed such that each fence board 25 is held in place for fastening by only one inwardly angled stringer side 84, both opposing stringer sides of both stringers are preferably inwardly angled to increase the holding power of the free lower edges 58 and reduce the pressure required by each stringer side 84 to hold the fence board 25 in place for fastening. In this embodiment metal stringer sides 84 need to be rigid enough to hold fence boards 25 for fastening and resilient enough to be able to be drawn substantially vertically and flush when fastened to fence boards 25 to provide structural rigidity to the fence section. For example, stringers made of aluminum of thickness between 0.062 inches to 0.125 inches where the free lower edges 58 of both opposing stringer sides 84 of both the upper and the lower stringers are bent inwardly a distance of 1/16 inch greater than the difference between the width of the board slots 19 less the narrowest predetermined thickness of the fence boards 25 to be inserted into the board slots 19 are believed to be sufficient for holding the fence boards 25 in place while attaching the fence boards 25 to the stringers.

[0091] FIG. 6 also shows stringers 80 each with intermediate adjoining portion 16 and is identical to FIG. 5 except that inwardly bent stringer sides 84 have been attached to fence boards 25 by board screws 21 through board fastening apertures 24 to draw stringer sides 84 into substantially vertical flush supporting frictional engagement with fence boards 25 which eliminates gap 88 between the outside surface of fence boards 25 in board slots 19 and the inside surface 15 of stringer sides 84, which gap is shifted to gap 90 between the inside surfaces of fence boards 25 in board slots 19 and the innermost sides 35 of board slots 19, and which gap 90 is then substantially the same as gap 86 with respect to fence boards 25 in board slots 18 adjacent vertical stringer sides 82.

[0092] Turning to FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10 post brackets 26 are illustrated as having an enclosure portion 28, for a square fence post, preferably a 3″×3″ hollow aluminum fence post, although other sectional shapes, and other dimensions and materials for fence posts are contemplated. Fence posts may be hollow, such as in the case of metal fence posts or solid in the case of wood or composite fence posts. However it will be understood that the enclosure portion 28 of brackets 26 may also conform to other shapes, including circular form, sized to fit standard sized circular-section steel fence posts.

[0093] The enclosure portion 28 has an off-set neck portion 30 with opposed neck apertures 32, at least one of which is preferably square for receiving a carriage bolt 33, to tighten and secure the enclosure portion 28 firmly to a fence post 12. A stringer support 34 of rectangular tube form extends from the neck portion 30, the stringer support having an upper surface 37 and lower surface 39, each of which having a corresponding stringer aperture 40, to receive a carriage bolt 23.

[0094] The upper and lower surfaces 37, 39 of the stringer support 34 are illustrated as preferably having a series of grip ridges 41, to better secure stringer support 34 to stringer 10.

[0095] The off-setting of the stringer support 34, best seen in FIG. 8, enables the post brackets 26 to be inverted, so that a pair of the brackets 26 can be mounted together in mutually adjoining relatively reversed relation upon a fence post 12, to extend each of two stringer supports 34 in mutually horizontal aligned relation with the associated stringers 10 also being in mutually horizontal aligned relation, due to the inversion of one of the brackets 26 (see FIG. 11). A pair of brackets 26, with off-set stringer supports 34, when in inverted relation can extend two stringer supports for a fence post 12 of square section, either at 90 degrees (not shown) or 180 degrees (shown in FIG. 11).

[0096] The bracket attachment apertures 22 of fence stringers 10 and stringer apertures 40 of stringer supports 34 of bracket 26 are preferably attached with carriage bolts 23. Alternatively, other types of bolts may be used.

[0097] In use, the stringers 10 are cut to length for the desired fence, and may initially be used as ‘meter rods’ for locating the post holes, and setting the fence posts 12 in place in the ground. With the posts 12 securely embedded in the ground, usually in concrete, the post brackets 26 are oriented to a desired configuration, such as 180 degrees as shown in FIG. 11, and readily slid down and tightened in gripping relation to the two end fence posts 12 at the respective desired stringer heights and bracket orientation to ensure the respective stringers 10 being mutually level.

[0098] A first lower bracket 26 for a first post 12 is secured at a predetermined distance, such as 6 to 8 inches above grade, and a second lower bracket 26 for a second post is then initially loosely installed at the predetermined distance, to permit ready adjustment when subsequently leveling the associated stringer.

[0099] A first end of a lower stringer is then mounted and loosely secured to the first lower bracket of the first post.

[0100] A second end of the lower stringer is then mounted to the second lower bracket of the second post, and the second lower bracket is adjusted along the second fence post to level the stringer, and the second lower bracket is then tightened in place around the second post.

[0101] The first end of the lower stringer is then tightened to the first lower bracket which is in turn tightened around the first post and the stringer re-checked for levelness.

[0102] The upper brackets are usually positioned such that the upper projecting portion of the fence boards will be the same length as the portion of the fence boards extending below the lower stringer, i.e. some six to eight inches.

[0103] The foregoing procedure can be accomplished by an individual working singlehandedly. FIG. 11 also shows cap 48 to divert water.

[0104] Installation and attachment of the fence boards can then proceed, as described above.

[0105] It will be evident that installers working in pairs can proceed much more rapidly.

[0106] Alternatively, with respect to FIGS. 12, 13, 14, and 15, non-offset brackets 50 with enclosure portions 52 may be used wherein the stringer supports 34 are not off-set. Stringer supports 34 are connected to enclosure portions 52 by neck 54 which is tightened to fence posts (not shown) by carriage bolts 34. FIGS. 12 and 13 show (square) non-slotted stringer apertures for use with slotted bracket attachment apertures (not shown) in stringers 10. FIGS. 14 and 15 show stringer supports 34 with slotted stringer apertures 40. In this case different brackets with different numbers of stringer supports are required. Bracket 50 may be configured with one stringer support (not shown), for the end of a run of fence. FIG. 12 shows bracket 50 with two stringer supports 34 at 180 degrees for an intermediate post in a run of fence. FIG. 13 shows bracket 50 with two stringer supports 34 at 90 degrees for a corner fence post. FIG. 14 shows bracket 50 with three stringer supports 34 for a fence post supporting three runs of fence. FIG. 15 shows bracket 50 with four stringer supports 34 for a fence post supporting four runs of fence. Accordingly, for a four sided fence post a different bracket is required for each of one, two, three, and four stringer supports, usually at 90, 180, 270 and 360 degrees. Further such non-set-off brackets are required for applications requiring three or four stringer supports as the off-set reversed brackets 26 only provide level stringer supports where two stringer supports are required.

[0107] The subject fence is readily maintained, with broken or damaged boards readily removed and replaced. Damaged stringers can also be readily replaced. In the case of damage or fracture of a fence post, an intermediate sleeve enables a replacement post to be connected to the remainder of the original post footing. Usually the sleeve will be internal to the damaged original fence post in the ground and the new post placed thereover, however the sleeve can be external if enough of an undamaged stub projects from the ground, in which case the new post is inserted into the sleeve (although the external sleeve is typically less visually pleasing,

[0108] It shall be understood by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments are only examples of the invention and other embodiments of the subject invention which fall within the scope of the invention and the appended claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

PARTS LIST

[0109] 10. Fence stringer [0110] 12. Fence posts [0111] 14. (opposed) Stringer sides [0112] 15. Inside surfaces (of stringer sides) [0113] 16. Intermediate adjoining portion (of stringers) [0114] 18. First set of board slots [0115] 19. Second set of board slots [0116] 20. outermost sides (of board slots) [0117] 21. Board screws [0118] 22. Bracket attachment apertures [0119] 23. Carriage bolt (for connecting stringers to bracket) [0120] 24. Board fastening apertures [0121] 25. Fence Boards [0122] 26. Post brackets [0123] 27. Partial fence board (for partial slot) [0124] 28. Enclosure portion (of post brackets) [0125] 30. Offset neck portion (of bracket) [0126] 32. Neck apertures [0127] 33. Carriage bolt (for tightening enclosure portion about fence post) [0128] 34. Stringer Support [0129] 35. Innermost sides (of board slots) [0130] 37. Upper surface (of stringer support) [0131] 39. Lower surface (of stringer support) [0132] 40. Stringer aperture [0133] 41. Grip ridges [0134] 46. Endless tensioned band [0135] 48. Fence post cap [0136] 50. Non off-set bracket [0137] 52. Enclosure portion (of non off-set bracket) [0138] 54. Neck (of non off-set bracket) [0139] 56. Non-slotted stringer aperture [0140] 58. Free lower edge (of stringer sides) [0141] 59. Upper end (of stringer sides) [0142] 60. Stringer with outwardly bent stringer sides [0143] 62. Outwardly bent stringer sides [0144] 70. Stringer with inwardly bent stringer sides [0145] 72. Inwardly bent stringer sides [0146] 80. Stringer with one vertical stringer side and one inwardly bent stringer side [0147] 82. Vertical stringer side [0148] 84. Inwardly bent stringer side [0149] 86. Gap between width of board slot and width of smallest fence board [0150] 88. Location of gap between width of board slot and fence board adjacent inwardly angled stringer side before fence board is fastened vertically to stringer side [0151] 90. Location of gap between width of board slot and fence board adjacent inwardly angled stringer side after fence board is fastened vertically to stringer side [0152] A. Internal angle of inwardly bent stringer sides from horizontal [0153] B. Internal angle of outwardly bent stringer sides from horizontal