Fence connector
OwnerMalcolm E. Cammackinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fence connector and a method for connecting round wooden posts to round wooden rails to make a fence. The connector is a unitary sheet metal connector having a central bridge portion and a pair of connection flanges, one at each end of the bridge portion. The central bridge portion is apertured for fastening to the post or rail and the connection flanges are apertured for fastening to the other fence part (i.e. the rail or post). The connector may be preformed with its connection flanges formed into an arc about an axis parallel to the length of the connector to generally conform to the periphery of a rail or post or, in accordance with the method of the invention, the flanges may be bent around the rail or post to form the arc as the fence is being assembled.
Claims9
A fence connector for connecting round wooden posts to round wooden rails, comprising:
- a unitary sheet metal connector having a central bridge portion, a pair of connection flanges, one at each end of said bridge portion, and a second pair of connection flanges, one on each side of said central bridge portion and connected to said bridge portion by a short neck portion midway of the length of said bridge portion,
- said central bridge portion being narrower than said connection flanges at its ends to bridge between a post and a rail, and being apertured for fastening to a said round wooden post or rail, and
- each of said connection flanges at the ends of said central bridge portion being formed into an arc about an axis parallel to the length of said connector and each of said second pair of connection flanges being formed into an arc about an axis perpendicular to the length of said connector to generally conform to the periphery of a said round wooden rail or post, and each of said connection flanges being apertured for fastening to a said round wooden rail or post.
A fence connector for connecting a pair of round wooden rails to a round wooden corner post, comprising:
- a unitary sheet metal connector having a central bridge portion and a pair of connection flanges, one at each end of said bridge portion,
- each of said connection flanges being formed into an arc about an axis parallel to the length of said connector to generally conform to the periphery of a said round wooden rail, and each of said connection flanges being apertured for fastening to a said round wooden rail,
- said central bridge portion being narrower than said connection flanges at its ends to bridge between a post and a rail, being apertured for fastening to a said corner post and being arcuately bent through 90.degree. midway of its length about a radius generally the same as a said corner post to pass around a said corner post so that said connection flanges can be fastened to a pair of said rails meeting at 90.degree. to form a fence corner.
A method of making a fence utilizing round wooden posts and round wooden rails, comprising:
- providing a unitary sheet metal connector having a central bridge portion and a pair of connection flanges, one at each end of the bridge portion, the central bridge portion being narrower than the connection flanges at its ends to bridge between a post and a rail, and being apertured for fastening to a round wooden post or rail, and each of the connection flanges being apertured for fastening to a round wooden rail or post,
- fastening the central bridge portion to a post or rail,
- fastening each of said connection flanges to a rail or post, and
- bending each of said connection flanges arcuately about its rail or post to conform to the periphery of the rail or post.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.