Abstract:
A fencing member is disclosed for use in a typical picket fence structure in which rail members span between posts for supporting picket members thereon. When used as a rail member, the fencing member permits concealment of the fastening means used to secure the picket members to the rail members. This is accomplished by forming the rail members into portions selectively separable from one another in which each defines a portion of a perimeter wall of an assembled hollow member.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a fencing member for use in a fence structure having posts and rails, and to a method of forming the fencing member for concealing fastening means used to secure the fencing member to the fence structure.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     In the construction of fences, a typical configuration involves rails which span between spaced apart post in the ground, wherein pickets or planking material is provided to vertically span the rails at spaced positions therealong between the posts. In one example the members forming the fence are formed of plastic which has been extruded. When assembling such a fence structure it is known to be desirable to conceal the mechanism used to fasten the members of the fence together.  
         [0003]     Examples of fences formed of plastic materials in which the fasteners are intended to be concealed include U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,278 to Grayber, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,376 to West, U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,174 to Tsai, U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,090 to Edgman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,438 to Blouin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,307 to De Zen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,944 to McCarthy and U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,193 to DeSouza. In each instance however a complex arrangement of brackets or notching of the fence members are required so that the members may be fastened together. In such instance, the fencing members require particular formation for fitting the brackets, for example the formation of key holes and the like. Such configurations are costly to form due to the complexity and large number of parts, and are time consuming to install as well.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a fencing member for use in a fence structure having posts, rail members spanning the posts and picket members spaced along the rail members, the fencing member comprising either a rail member or a picket member of the fence structure and including: 
        a mounting portion for securement to the fence structure by suitable fastening means; and     a cover portion for securement to the mounting portion to conceal the fastening means;     the cover portion and the mounting portion being selectively separable from one another;     each of the cover portion and the mounting portion defining a portion of a perimeter wall of an assembled hollow member.        
 
         [0009]     According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a fencing member in a fence structure having posts, rail members spanning the posts and picket members spaced along the rail members, the fencing member comprising either a rail member or a picket member of the fence structure, the method comprising: 
        extruding a mounting portion and a cover portion of the fencing member which are selectively securable to one another, each defining a portion of a perimeter wall of a hollow member;     securing the mounting portion to the fence structure by suitable fastening means; and     securing the cover portion to the mounting portion to conceal the fastening means.        
 
         [0013]     According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a fence structure of extruded material, the method including: 
        forming a rail member by extruding a mounting portion and a cover portion of the rail member which are selectively securable to one another, each defining a portion of a perimeter wall of a hollow member;     extruding a plurality of picket members;     securing the picket members at spaced positions along the mounting portion of the rail member by suitable fastening means; and     securing the cover portion to the mounting portion to conceal the fastening means.        
 
         [0018]     The method may further include forming a pair of rail members each including a respective mounting portion and a respective cover portion; securing the picket members at spaced positions on the mounting portions by suitable fastening means to span between the mounting portions of the rail members; and securing the cover portions on the mounting portions respectively to conceal the fastening means.  
         [0019]     The fencing member disclosed herein forms a fencing structure which suitably conceals the fastening means while permitting efficient use of material that is readily manufactured and installed as each of the cover portion and the mounting portion may comprise a simple extruded part.  
         [0020]     Each of the cover portion and the mounting portion preferably extends substantially a full length of the fencing member.  
         [0021]     When the hollow member formed by the mounting portion and the cover portion has a rectangular cross section, the mounting portion and the cover portion preferably join each other at seams extending along opposing sides of the rectangular cross section. Furthermore, the seams preferably extend along the short sides of the rectangular cross section respectively.  
         [0022]     Each of the cover portion and the mounting portion would accordingly comprise one side and a portion of two adjacent sides forming the rectangular cross section of the hollow member.  
         [0023]     The mounting portion and the cover portion may be identical in configuration to one another.  
         [0024]     The mounting portion and the cover portion may be securable to one another by snap fitting connectors formed at the perimeter wall of the hollow member; by tongue and groove connectors at the perimeter wall of the hollow member; or a combination thereof. The tongue and groove connectors preferably include a textured gripping surface formed thereon.  
         [0025]     Preferably, the cover portion and the mounting portion are extruded of plastic material to form either a rail member or a picket member of the fence structure. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0026]     In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention:  
         [0027]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an assembled fence structure including the fencing member according to the present invention.  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is an exploded sectional view along the line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1  prior to assembly of the fencing member.  
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 2 , but in an assembled position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0030]     Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a fencing member generally indicated by reference numeral  10 . The fencing member is typically used as either a rail member  12  or a picket member  14  in a fencing structure  16  of the type having posts  18  supported in the ground at spaced positions between which the rail members  12  span. The picket members  14  are then mounted to span between an upper and lower one of the rail members  12  in a vertical orientation generally parallel to the posts  18  spaced along the rail members. The fencing member  10  comprises a rail member  12  in the illustrated embodiment.  
         [0031]     The fencing member  10  includes a cover portion  20  and a mounting portion  22 . The cover portion  20  and the mounting portion  22  are each formed of extruded plastic material identical in configuration to one another. The cover portion  20  and mounting portion  22  are suitably arranged to be selectively coupled to one another to each define a portion of the perimeter wall of an elongate hollow tube member which is assembled having a rectangular shaped cross section in which each of the cover portion and mounting portion extend the full length of the assembled hollow tube member.  
         [0032]     Each of the portions  20  and  22  of the fencing member has a profile which is generally U-shaped including a base portion  24 , a long connector  26  along one side of the base portion projecting perpendicularly therefrom and a short connector  28  along an opposing side of the base portion  24  also projecting perpendicularly from the base portion.  
         [0033]     The long connector  26  includes a wall portion which defines a portion of the perimeter wall of the assembled tube member and a tongue  30  at a free end thereof. The short connector  28  comprises a pair of flanges  32  which define a groove  34  in the space therebetween. The groove  34  is sized to receive the tongue  30  of the opposing one of the portions  20  and  22  of the fencing member.  
         [0034]     The tongue  30  lies parallel to the wall portion of the long connector  26  offset inwardly therefrom the width of an outer one of the flanges  32  forming the groove  34 . The flange on the outer side which forms the groove  34  of the short connector  28  is flush with the corner of the assembled hollow tube member such that when the tongue is received within the groove, the wall portion of the long connector and the outer flange of the short connector lie flush with one another to define a smooth exterior surface at the perimeter wall.  
         [0035]     The tongue  30 , the flanges  32  and the remaining wall portion of each of the cover portion and mounting portion of the fencing member all have a substantially identical thickness. The inner width of the groove  34  is approximately equal to the thickness of the tongue for snugly receiving the tongue therein.  
         [0036]     An inward facing surface  36  of the tongue includes ridges formed thereon for gripping connection in the assembled position. The mating surface  38  of the inner one of the flanges  32  of the groove  34  includes similar ridges for engaging the ridges of the tongue  30  of the opposing one of the portions  20  and  22  of the fencing member when assembled.  
         [0037]     Each ridge includes a sloping first side  40  and a substantially perpendicular second side  42  with the first and second sides being oriented such that the first sides of opposing connectors confront one another before insertion to permit opposing ridges to ride over each other in a caming action which is permitted due to some minimal resilence permitted by the material forming the fencing member. Once inserted, the second sides  42  of opposing ridges engage one another in an interlocked configuration to assist in restricting removal of the cover portion from the mounting portion.  
         [0038]     The orientation of the ridges on the surfaces  36  and  38  and the slight resilience of the material forming the fencing member cause the ridges to act as a snap-fit connection as the cover member is slid into place into the mounting portion. A free end  44  of the tongue is sloped and tapered to provide some self-alignment as the tongues are inserted into the respective grooves.  
         [0039]     Once assembled the mounting portion and the cover portion form a rectangular perimeter wall having short sides  46  and wide sides  48 , which are wider than the short sides. The base portions  24  are suitable sized to form the wide sides  48  of the rectangular perimeter so as to locate the seams at the junction of the mounting portion and cover portion on opposing short sides  46  of the assembled hollow tube members.  
         [0040]     When one of the wide sides is mounted onto the fence structure, the seams are thus somewhat hidden from view while the opposing wide side is an uninterrupted surface being displayed. In the assembled hollow tube member, each of the portions  20  and  22  of the fencing member forms one side and a portion of two others of the rectangular cross section.  
         [0041]     In use, the fence structure is first assembled by inserting the posts  18  into the ground at spaced positions in an upright orientation. Upper and lower rail members are provided to span horizontally between each adjacent pair of posts  18  at vertically spaced positions. The mounting portion  22  of each rail member is first attached to the posts by securing a fastener through an interior side  50  of the mounting portion. In other configurations heat may be applied at the interior side  50  to form a welded joint, (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) between the mounting portion and the posts.  
         [0042]     The interior side of the mounting portion  50  remains accessible as long as the cover portion  20  remains removed. Vertically oriented picket members  14  each span between the upper and lower rails by securement to the respective mounting portions  22  at spaced positions along the rails. Fastening is accomplished either by using a fastener or applying heat to form a welded joint as accessed from the interior side  50  of the mounting portion similar to mounting onto the posts  18 . The picket members themselves may alternatively comprise fencing members  10  formed in two sections so that fasteners may be accessible from an interior side of the picket members.  
         [0043]     Once fastening is accomplished, the cover portion  20  is attached to the mounting portion using the snap connection of the tongue and groove connectors located at the perimeter wall of the assembled hollow tube members. Attachment of the cover acts to conceal the fastener heads or weld marks used for fastening the picket members onto the rail members. In an alternative order of construction, the pickets may be secured to the rail members to form a prefabricated fencing section. In this arrangement the prefabricated section can then be later attached to posts inserted in the ground later.  
         [0044]     In further embodiments the connection of the mounting portion and cover portion may be accomplished by connectors which are separate from the perimeter wall. Furthermore various types of connectors may be provided either at the perimeter or at partition walls within the hollow interior of the assembled tube members. Various shapes can be extruded to form a variety of designs of picket members, rail members or posts in which the members are secured to one another either by various types of fasteners or welding in which the plastic material is heated for attachment by slightly melting and bonding the plastic material together.  
         [0045]     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.