Storage/shipping rack for fence section

A shipping and storage rack for modular sections of mesh wire fencing, including a support frame and a resting frame held in spaced relationship by spacers forming a radial slot about the perimeter of the racks for receipt of the tines of a forklift truck. The support frame and resting frame are preferably rectangular in shape and the support frame has cross bars and longitudinal bars to carry the modular sections of fences and to act as a resting lever for the tines of the forklift truck. Extending perpendicularly upwardly from the support frame are retaining stubs which hold the bottom portion of the modular sections of fencing in place. End frames are attached to the support frame to hold the fence sections in place on the rack. Retaining bars extend longitudinally on each side of the rack and are removably mounted on sleeves attached to the end frames. By this structure, the sections of fencing can be loaded onto the frame from either side and held in place by the retaining bars during storage, movement within a storage location and shipment to a construction site. The rack is of an open construction of steel pipe to provide substantial strength for the load that is being carried at a minimum weight.

APPLICATION FOR UNITED STATES LETTERS PATENT 
Be it known that I, Lee Roy Smith, a citizen of the United States, residing 
at 110 Two Rivers Court, Nashville, Tenn. 37214, have invented a new and 
useful "Storage/Shipping Rack for Fence Sections". 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to storage and shipping racks and 
more particularly to a storage and shipping rack designed for use in 
conjunction with modular sections of chain link fencing. 
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that wire mesh fencing 
has achieved substantial commercial success in both residential and 
commercial applications as well as uses in conjunction with public and 
private safety barrier systems and the like. Because of the success of 
wire mesh fencing, generally referred to as chain link fence, the product 
is sold and distributed in mass quantities throughout the world. The 
substantial market for chain link fencing makes the storage, movement and 
shipment of such fencing a significant cost factor in the selling price, 
particularly since the fencing itself is bulky and cumbersome to handle. 
Historically, chain link fencing has been sold and distributed in rolls. 
Specifically, the fencing itself has been rolled about a spindle, much the 
same as carpet and similar materials have been rolled for shipment. Large 
quantities of chain link fencing would be delivered to the job cite in 
this manner for installation. Metal posts are generally shipped as a part 
of the same shipping process, or separately, and posts are installed and 
the fence assembled by mounting it on the posts that have been installed 
in the ground. 
More recently, chain link fencing has been manufactured in modular 
sections. These sections are constructed generally using a rectangular 
frame of steel pipe or the like with mesh wire stretched over the frame 
and attached to the frame at various points about its perimeter. By this 
arrangement, the multiple modular sections can be connected in an 
end-to-end relationship to create a boundary or enclosure of the desired 
configuration. The section will generally be strapped to posts that have 
been driven in the ground to hold the sections vertically in position. 
The construction of wire fencing in modular sections allows much of the 
stretching and other tedious work associated with chain link fencing to be 
done at a manufacturing facility rather than in the field. Use of modular 
fencing has become particularly popular in applications which require the 
fencing to be moved periodically because the modular fencing can be 
disassembled in modules and moved to a different configuration or another 
location and reassembled without having to re-stretch the wire mesh over 
new fence posts; thus eliminating the substantial cost associated with 
that exercise. 
The development of modular sections of chain link fencing has, however, 
resulted in new and different problems associated with the storage and 
shipment of the product. Specifically, the traditional method of shipping 
chain link fencing in rolls is no longer possible since the modular 
sections are preassembled into panels that can be in the range of 3-10 
feet long and 4-8 feet high. 
Applicant's invention is designed specifically to facilitate the storage, 
shipment and delivery of modular sections of chain link fencing. Storage 
and shipping racks are not, per se, new. For example, a shipping rack for 
glass panels was the subject matter of a patent issued to Hansen on Jul. 
6, 1965, U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,093, and a shipping rack for folding chain 
was designed and patented by McCarthy in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,149. However, 
the shipping racks disclosed in these patents and other prior art shipping 
and storage racks are not readily adaptable to the problems associated 
with shipment of modular sections of chain link fencing. The size and bulk 
of modular sections of chain link fencing require a rack of extra strength 
and stability, one which will adequately hold vertically stacked modular 
sections of chain link fencing within the rack and prevent the sections 
from slipping off of the base of the rack, one that will allow easy access 
for loading and unloading modular sections of chain link fencing onto and 
off of the rack, and one that can be moved, stored, loaded and unloaded 
through the use of a conventional fork lift truck from any side and in any 
direction. Such a rack and storage system is presently lacking in the 
prior art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
My invention is a shipping and storage rack for modular sections of mesh 
wire fencing. The structure includes a support frame and a resting frame 
held in spaced relationship by spacers forming a radial slot about the 
perimeter of the racks for receipt of the tines of a forklift truck. The 
support frame and resting frame are preferably rectangular in shape and 
the support frame has cross bars and longitudinal bars to carry the 
modular sections of fences and to act as a resting lever for the tines of 
the forklift truck. Extending perpendicularly upwardly from the support 
frame are retaining stubs which hold the bottom portion of the modular 
sections of fencing in place. End frames are attached to the support frame 
to hold the fence sections in place on the rack. Retaining bars extend 
longitudinally on each side of the rack and are removably mounted on 
sleeves attached to the end frames. By this structure, the sections of 
fencing can be loaded onto the frame from either side and held in place by 
the retaining bars during storage, movement within a storage location and 
shipment to a construction cite. The rack is of an open construction of 
steel pipe to provide substantial strength for the load that is being 
carried at a minimum weight.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
My invention will be best understood by a review of the description of the 
preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with FIGS. 1-4 of the 
accompanying drawings that illustrate the preferred embodiment of the 
invention. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the modular fence section storage/shipping rack of my 
invention is illustrated. The storage/shipping rack 10 has as its primary 
components a rectangular support frame 20 mounted in spaced relationship 
via spacers 30 on resting frame 40. Extending vertically upwardly from 
opposing ends of the support frame 20 are end frames 50. Retaining stubs 
28 extend vertically upwardly from the sides of the rectangular support 
frame to hold fence sections in place. Retaining bars 60 are removably 
attached to side posts of end frames 50 so that modular sections of chain 
link fencing can be loaded from either side of the rack 10 and the 
retaining bars 60 can be replaced once the rack is loaded to hold the 
sections of fence in place. 
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support frame 20 
is rectangular in shape and is made of steel pipe or similar material. 
Sections of pipe 22 can be connected by conventional elbows 23, or they 
may be welded directly to each other at their extremities. 
As additional support for the rectangular perimeter of the support frame 
20, cross support bars 24 are welded along the length of the longer side 
of the rectangular support frame. Longitudinal support bars 26 are welded 
or otherwise connected to the intermediate cross support bars 24 to 
provide a leverage point for the tips of the tines of a forklift truck 
when the rack is moved by a forklift truck from the side. 
Vertical retaining stubs 28 project several inches upwardly from the sides 
of the support frame 20 in order to keep modular sections of chain link 
fence, when loaded on the rack, from slipping off of the rack. The stubs 
are limited in height, however, to make it convenient to load sections of 
fence over the stubs from the side of the rack. 
Resting frame 40 is connected to the support frame 20 by spacers 30 
extending about the perimeter of the rectangular support frame. The 
resting frame 40 is spaced a few inches from the support frame 20 by the 
spacers 30 so that the tines of a forklift truck can easily fit beneath 
the support frame 20 to make the movement of the rack convenient through 
use of such equipment. As can be seen from the illustration in FIG. 1, the 
tines of a forklift truck can be inserted beneath the rectangular support 
frame 20 from either side or either end, all which makes the handling of 
sections of fence stored on the rack 10 as convenient as is reasonably 
possible. 
At each end of the rectangular support frame 20 are end frames 50 
constructed of vertical end posts 52 and a horizontal bar 54. The 
horizontal bar keeps the modular sections of the chain link fence within 
the rack and prevents them from sliding out of the rack on either end. 
Attached to the outside of the vertical end posts 52 are sleeves 66. The 
sleeves 66 are generally cylindrical in shape and have an open center to 
receive depending arms 64 of rails 62. The rails 62 and the depending arms 
64 constitute the retaining bars 60 that are removably attached to each 
side of the rack 10. By the use of this structure, the rack can be 
conveniently loaded from either side simply by removing the retaining bar 
60 from the side of the rack where loading is to occur. Once the rack is 
loaded with the modular sections of chain link fence, the retaining bar 60 
can be reattached to the rack by inserting the depending arm 64 in the 
sleeves 66. 
FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the convenience of the rack of the present 
invention. FIG. 2 illustrates the rack being lifted by a tow motor 70 
which is shown in phantom lines in the drawings. The tow motor has a 
forklift type front end attachment 80 with horizontal tines 90 protruding 
from the forklift structure. The tines of the forklift device slip beneath 
the support frame 20 (and above the resting frame 40), and the rack, as 
filled with modular sections of chain link fence, can then be lifted for 
movement, loading, unloading and storage. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a tow motor in position to move the rack by inserting 
the tines 90 of the tow motor 70 beneath the support frame 20 and above 
the resting frame 40 from the side. FIG. 3 also shows an end view 
including (in fantom lines 100) several of the modular sections of chain 
link fence loaded on the rack of the present invention. Further, as can be 
seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the retaining bar 60 can be easily removed to 
allow loading and unloading of the modular sections of chain link fence 
from the rack 10. 
FIG. 4 is a top view of the rack of the present invention showing once 
again the tow motor 70 having a forklift front end loading attachment 80 
with a front end forklift loading device having tines 90 scooping up the 
rack 10 from the side. As indicated, the configuration of Applicant's rack 
allows the rack to be loaded from either side conveniently without having 
to lift the sections of fence over any substantial barrier height, to lock 
the sections of fence in place once they are loaded onto the rack and to 
conveniently move the rack from location to location through a 
conventional forklift truck. 
Although there have been described particular embodiments of the present 
invention of a new and useful storage/shipping rack for fence sections, it 
is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the 
scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims. 
Further, although there have been described certain dimensions used in the 
preferred embodiment, it is not intended that such dimensions be construed 
as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the 
following claims.