GB2096663A - Fencing pin - Google Patents

Abstract

A fencing pin comprising a rod to be in use driven into the ground and a pair of mutually spaced eyes 7 located intermediate the ends of the rod and coplanar with the rod axis in use to support reflective tape extending therethrough. Each of said eyes is defined by part of the rod itself and by additional first and second wire-like parts secured to the rod, all said parts being coplanar. The first wire-like part 9 extends from the rod outwardly and upwardly and the second wire-like part 8 extends from the rod outwardly and downwardly towards the first wire-like part, thereby to provide a gap 10 between the facing ends of said adjacent first and second wire-like parts, which permits lateral insertion of reflective tape in a direction transverse to the tape's longitudinal extent, the width of said gap entrance being less than the width of the tape to be employed. Conveniently said gap is defined by overlapping adjacent end faces of the first and second wire-like parts, said end faces being at angles other than 90 DEG to the extending direction of the respective end portions of said wire- like parts.

Description

SPECIFICATION Fencing pin This invention relates to fencing pins, i.e. metal rods driven into the ground at spaced intervals round the perimeter of roadworks, earthworks and the like, the rods having support members to support elongate flexible means serving to mark out and/or provide a boundary or "fence" around said perimeter.

In the past it was common practice for the elongate flexible means to consist of ropes supported by so-called rope hooks that generally consisted of open U-shaped members welded by one limb to the upper end of the rod. In such arrangements, the rope was generally heavy enough to remain in situ and not be wind-blown out of the rope hook. More recently, safety considerations and/or legislation has required that reflective tape be employed to mark out said perimeters. This tape is flimsy and light in weight, and is thus easily wind-blown whereby it can readily jump out of the rope hooks. This happens even where the rope hook or support member employed has a generally helical configuration with a wide spacing between consecutive turns (to accommodate a rope as well as a tape).

Furthermore if both an upper and a lower band of reflective tape is to be provided around said perimeter (e.g. for the safety of children as well as adults), then the single support provided at the top of each rod can only support an upper band and, to provide rod-locations for the lower band of tape, the tape must be wound around each rod.

Unfortunately, such windings seldom remain taut and eventually the lower band falls to the ground.

Another disadvantage of prior art fencing pins is that the single support member provided is located, e.g. by welding, at the very top of the rod where it is in considerable danger of damage due to the hammering of the rod into the ground.

It is therefore considered desirable to provide a fencing pin for use with reflective tape and minimising if not totally obviating at least some of the above-mentioned and/or other disadvantages or shortcomings of prior art fencing pins.

According to this invention there is provided a fencing pin comprising a rod to be in use driven into the ground, the rod having secured thereto intermediate its ends an eye in use to support reflective tape extending therethrough, said eye comprising a first portion extending from the rod outwardly and upwardly, a second portion extending from the rod outwardly and downwardly, and means to provide a narrow entrance to the eye for lateral insertion of reflective tape in a direction transverse to the tape 5 longitudinal extent, the width of said entrance being less than the width of the tape to be employed.

As used herein, the term "eye" is to be interpreted as including within its meaning inter alia a loop-like construction that is almost, but not completely, closed; a selectively closeable construction in the manner of a dog-lead clip; and a construction that is not everywhere in the same plane as the rod.

Preferably the eye comprises part of the rod.

Advantageously said first and second portions are welded to the rod. In one preferred embodiment, the said entrance to the eye is provided by a gap between the ends of said first and second portions. Advantageously'said gap is defined by overlapping end faces of the first and second portions, said end faces being at angles other than 900 to the extending direction of the respective portions at said ends.

In an alternative embodiment, the first and second portions are linked to one another and extend somewhat helically around the rod, the said entrance comprising a gap between the rod and the upper end of said second portion.

Preferably at least two said eyes are provided intermediate the ends of the rod and spaced apart longitudinally of the rod.

By way of non-limiting example, embodiments of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fencing pin according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front elevation taken in the direction of arrow II of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Ill-Ill of Fig. 1.

The fencing pin 1 of Fig. 1 comprises an iron rod 2 having two loops 3 welded to it (as at 4) at spaced intervals intermediate the flat upper end 5 of the rod and the pointed lower end 6 of the rod.

Conveniently the rod 2 is approximately 4' 6" long and of 43 diameter. Each of the two loops 3 is conveniently formed by welding to the rod 2 iron wire portions 8, 9 of 111 diameter and approximately 5" aggregate length such that part 7 of the rod, approximately 3" long, forms part of each loop 3. The two loops 3 are vertically in line with one another and conveniently have their widest portions spaced respectively 8" and 28" from the top end 5 of the rod.

Each portion 8 of a loop 3 extends initially downwardly alongside rod 2, then downwardly and outwardly away from rod 2 such as to terminate in an end face that, see Fig. 1, is at an angle other than 900 to the extending direction of its adjacent end. Each portion 9 is somewhat S-shaped such as to extend initially upwardly aiongside the rod 2, then upwardly and outwardly away from rod 2, and finally upwardly alone or upwardly and slightly inwardly to terminate in an end face that, -see Fig. 1, is at an angle other than 900 to the extending direction of its adjacent end.

The two end faces overlap one another and define a narrow entrance to the loop, the gap between them being substantially narrower than the width of the reflective tape to be used. Such reflective tape may be at least half-inch wide and perhaps no more than one millimeter thick, whereas the gap between the end faces of portions 8, 9 would be approximately $".

In use, rods 2 are hammered into the ground at spaced intervals around the perimeter of the area to be provided with the marked boundary, e.g. the earthworks, roadworks or the like. The depth of insertion into the ground is approximately 3 to 4 inches to position the lowermost eye 3 of each rod approximately 23" above ground level. Two bands of reflective tape (not shown) are then inserted into respectively the upper and lower eyes 3 of each rod so as to extend substantially horizontally through the eyes and encompass the area defined by the locus of "points" provided by the spaced rods 2, at two levels.Insertion of the tape into each eye 3 is preferably not by threading through the eyes in the length direction of the tape (a timeconsuming operation), but rather by passing the tape laterally inwards, i.e. in its width direction transverse to the tape's longitudinal extent, through the entrance 10 to each eye. By thus providing two bands of encompassing tape held in position and bounding the required area, a "fence" that is clearly visible at more than one level (e.g.

by both adults and children) is readily erected and, due to the substantially close nature of the eyes 3, is retained against accidental or wind-caused dislodgement. Nevertheless, if all or part of the "fence" is to be temporarily taken down, the tapes can be readily removed from the eyes by passing them laterally outwards through the entrances 10 (again in the tape's width direction).

It will be apparent that the counteraction to accidental tape removal from eyes 3 is primarily due to the overlapping skew-type parallel formation of the end faces of portions 8, 9 providing the narrow entrance 10. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the eye-form illustrated and its welded-iron construction serves to provide a robust item that can withstand, without damage, the rough handling frequently encountered on building sites. Also, since the two eyes 3 are both intermediate the ends of rod 2, there can be no danger of the eyes being damaged whilst the rods are hammered into the ground.

Other embodiments of this invention will be apparent to those skilied in the art and are to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the following Claims.

Claims (10)

1. A fencing pin comprising a rod to be in use driven into the ground, the rod having secured thereto intermediate its ends an eye in use to support reflective tape extending therethrough, said eye comprising a first portion extending from the rod outwardly and upwardly, a second portion extending from the rod outwardly and downwardly, and means to provide a narrow entrance to the eye for lateral insertion of reflective tape in a direction transverse to the tape's longitudinal extent, the width of said entrance being less than the width of the tape to be employed.

2. A fencing pin according to Claim 1, wherein said entrance comprises a gap between the ends of said first and second portions.

3. A fencing pin according to Claim 2, wherein said gap is defined by overlapping end faces of the first and second portions, said end faces being at angles other than 90" to the extending direction of the respective portions at said ends.

4. A fencing pin according to any preceding claim, wherein said portions are coplanar with one another and with the axis of the rod.

5. A fencing pin according to Claim 1 , wherein the first and second portions are disposed somewhat helically around the rod.

6. A fencing pin according to Claim 5 wherein the first and second portions are linked to one another and said entrance comprises a gap between the rod and the upper end of said second portion.

7. A fencing pin according to any preceding Claim, wherein the eye comprises said first and second portions and part of the rod.

8. A fencing pin according to any preceding Claim, wherein the rod, said first and second portions are all of metal, the first and second portions being welded to the rod.

9. A fencing pin according to any preceding Claim, wherein at least two said eyes are provided intermediate the ends of the rod and are spaced apart longitudinally of the rod.

10. A fencing pin substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

10. A fencing pin according to Claim 9, wherein said two eyes are in a common plane.

11. A fencing pin substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claims filed on 5th March 1982.

Superseded claims 1-11.

New or amended claims: CLAIMS

1. A fencing pin comprising a rod to be in use driven into the ground and an eye located intermediate the ends of the rod in use to support reflective tape extending therethrough, characterised in that a) said eye is defined by part of the rod itself and by additional first and second wire-like parts secured to the rod, b) the first wire-like part extends from the rod outwardly and upwardly and the second wire-like part extends from the rod outwardly and downwardly towards the first wire-like part, c) adjacent portions of said first and second wire-like parts are in alignment with one another, and in that d) a narrow entrance is provided into the eye for lateral insertion of reflective tape in a direction transverse to the tape's longitudinal extent, the width of said entrance being less than the width of the tape to be employed.

2. A fencing pin according to Claim 1, wherein said entrance comprises a gap between the facing ends of said adjacent first and second portions.

3. A fencing pin according to Claim 2, wherein said gap is defined by overlapping end faces of the adjacent first and second portions, said end faces being at angles other than 900 to the extending direction of the respective portions at said ends.

4. A fencing pin according to any preceding claim, wherein said wire-like parts are coplanar with one another and with the axis of the rod.

5. A fencing pin according to Claim 1, wherein the first and second wire-like parts are disposed somewhat helically around the rod.

6. A fencing pin according to Claim 5, wherein the first and second wire-like parts are linked to one another and said entrance comprises a gap between the rod and the upper end of the said second wire-like part.

7. A fencing pin according to any preceding Claim, wherein the rod and said first and second wire-like parts are all of metal, the first and second wire-like parts being welded to the rod.

8. A fencing pin according to any preceding Claim, wherein at least two said eyes are provided intermediate the ends of the rod and are spaced apart longitudinally of the rod.

9. A fencing pin according to Claim 8, wherein said two eyes are in a common plane.