High security fence assembly

A high security fence and post assembly including a T-section post for installation in the ground and having an elongated, upwardly extending first plate portion defining a front surface and a rear surface and an elongated second plate portion projecting transversely from a longitudinally extending section of the rear surface. Also included is a first wire fence panel having a plurality of substantially parallel, spaced apart first wire members and a plurality of substantially parallel, spaced apart second wire members transversely intersecting and attached to the first wire members, the first panel having at one edge a marginal portion overlaying at least a longitudinally extending portion of the front surface; and a second wire fence panel having a plurality of substantially parallel, spaced apart first wire members and a plurality of substantially parallel, spaced apart second wire members intersecting and attached to the first wire members, the second panel having at one edge a marginal portion overlaying at least a longitudinally extending surface portion of the front surface. An elongated plate member overlays the front surface and together therewith straddles the marginal portions of the first and second fence panels; and a securing mechanism secures the plate member to the front surface so as to compress the marginal portions between the plate member and the front first surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to fence structures and, more 
particularly, to fence structures for enclosing areas requiring high 
security. 
High security fences are used extensively around confinement areas, 
prisons, and the like. Such fences also are frequently provided to exclude 
persons from areas for both the protection of the person, as at 
construction sites, and for protection of the site itself, as at 
industrial sites, secret installations, and even homes or residential 
areas. 
Typically, high security fence consists of multiple vertical posts 
projecting upward from a stable support base such as the ground. The posts 
support paneling or partitions which in the most common form consist of a 
continuous length of wire mesh. Such basic fences, while providing a 
barrier against any casual desire to move from one side of the fence to 
the other, do provide ready handholds and footholds and can be easily 
scaled by a determined person. 
In attempts to enhance the effectiveness of such fences, angled extensions 
of barbed wire are mounted to the upper ends of the posts to extend 
upwardly and inwardly toward one side of the fence. Such extensions are 
normally relatively short and permit access by a person having both a 
handhold and a foothold on the vertical fence itself. As such, the portion 
of the barrier which provides the maximum effectiveness, when considering 
a person of reasonable agility, is at the extreme top of the fence. 
An improved high security fence is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,166. 
The fence disclosed therein includes fence posts that angle inwardly 
toward the side of the fence to which a person is to be confined. The 
inward angling of the fence posts and retained wire mesh is effected by 
utilizing fence posts anchored to project vertically upwardly from the 
ground to a predetermined height from which they arcuately arch upwardly 
and laterally from the vertically positioned and anchored lower end 
portion. 
Because of the "overhang" nature of the fence throughout at least the major 
portion of the height thereof, the establishment of a foothold is 
precluded. Although improving security the angled fence disclosed in the 
patent exhibits various disadvantages such as high cost and labor 
intensive installation requirements. 
The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved high 
security fence which entails simplified relatively low cost assembly. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is a high security fence and post assembly including a 
T-section post for installation in the ground and having an elongated, 
upwardly extending first plate portion defining a front surface and a rear 
surface and an elongated second plate portion projecting transversely from 
a longitudinally extending section of the rear surface. Also included is a 
first wire fence panel having a plurality of substantially parallel, 
spaced apart first wire members and a plurality of substantially parallel, 
spaced apart second wire members transversely intersecting and attached to 
the first wire members, the first panel having at one edge a marginal 
portion overlaying at least a longitudinally extending portion of the 
front surface; and a second wire fence panel having a plurality of 
substantially parallel, spaced apart first wire members and a plurality of 
substantially parallel, spaced apart second wire members intersecting and 
attached to the first wire members, the second panel having at one edge a 
marginal portion overlaying at least a longitudinally extending surface 
portion of the front surface. An elongated plate member overlays the front 
surface and together therewith straddles the marginal portions of the 
first and second fence panels; and a securing mechanism secures the plate 
member to the front surface so as to compress the marginal portions 
between the plate member and the front first surface. The configuration of 
the assembly greatly simplifies joining of the post and fence panels and 
enhances rigidity and strength thereof. 
According to one feature of the invention, the first plurality of wire 
members are welded to the second plurality of wire members. The welded 
wires enhance the security provided by the assembly. 
According to other features of the invention, the first and second wire 
members form substantially rectangular and uniformly sized interstices 
having a first dimension D substantially greater than a second dimension d 
and, preferably, the second dimension is less than 1/2 inch and the first 
dimension is greater than 2 inches. Security is further enhanced by the 
limited interstice dimensions which restrict access of human limbs or bolt 
cutters. 
According to still other features of the invention, the securing mechanism 
includes a plurality of longitudinally distributed first threaded members 
extending between the plate member and a longitudinally extending first 
surface portion of the front surface, and a plurality of longitudinally 
distributed second threaded members extending between the plate member and 
a longitudinally extending second surface portion of the front surface. 
The threaded member simplify the construction of fence sections employing 
the post and panel assemblies. 
According to yet another feature of the invention, each of the first and 
second members is a self-tapping stud extending through an opening in the 
plate member and threadedly engaging an opening in the first plate 
portion. Fence construction is further simplified by this feature. 
According to a further feature, the invention includes a first retainer 
wire disposed between the first edge member and the securing members, and 
a second retainer wire disposed between the second edge member and the 
securing members. The retainer wire enhances security by preventing forced 
shearing of the welds on the wire edge members of the fence panels. 
According to an additional feature of the invention, the T-section post is 
shaped and arranged to have an upper end substantially horizontally 
displaced from a bottom end. The resultant overhang of the fence panels 
restricts climbing access to their upper edges. 
According to an important feature of the invention, the marginal portions 
of the first and second fence panels are overlapped between the front 
surface of the post and the plate member. This feature enhances strength, 
rigidity and security of the assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A high security fence 11 is formed by a plurality of horizontally 
distributed fence and post assemblies 12 extending above a ground surface 
13 (FIG. 1). Each assembly includes a T-section post 15 and first and 
second wire fence panels 16, 17. In each assembly 12, the first and second 
fence panels 16, 17 are attached to the T-section post 15 by a securing 
mechanism 19. The T-section posts 15 are curved (FIG. 2) so as to have an 
upper ends 21 substantially horizontally displaced from bottom ends 22 
embedded in the ground surface 13. To preserve clarity in FIG. 2, the 
fence panels 16, 17 are not shown. 
Each of the fence panels 16, 17 is formed by a plurality of parallel, 
vertical and spaced apart first wire members 24 and a plurality of 
horizontal, parallel and spaced apart second wire members 25 transversely 
intersecting and attached to the first wire members 24. Preferably, the 
intersections of the first and second wire members 24, 25 are attached by 
a welding process. As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second wire members 
24, 25 form uniformly sized rectangular interstices having a horizontal 
first dimension D substantially greater than a vertical second dimension 
d. The first dimension D preferably is greater than 21/2 inches and the 
second dimension d is less than 1/2 inch and in a particularly preferred 
embodiment, the first dimension D is approximately 2.84 inches and the 
second dimension d is approximately 1/3 inch. In addition, the first and 
second wires 24, 25 are dimensioned to have a gauge of at least 6 and, 
preferably, 8 or greater. 
The T-section post 15 (FIG. 6) includes an elongated upwardly extending 
first plate portion 31 defining a front surface 32 and a rear surface 33, 
and an elongated second plate portion 35 projecting transversely from a 
longitudinally extending mid-section of the first plate portion 31. Also 
included in the securing mechanism 19 of each assembly 12 is an elongated 
plate member 37 overlaying the front surface 32 of the first plate portion 
31 and together therewith straddling, respectively, adjacent overlapped 
marginal portions 41, 42 of the first and second fence panels 16, 17. 
Forming the edges of the marginal portions 41, 42 are, respectively, first 
and second edge members 44, 45 of the first vertically oriented wires 24. 
The overlapped marginal portions 41 and 42 of the first and second fence 
panels 16, 17 overlay the front surface 32 of the first plate portion 31. 
Also included in the securing mechanism 19 are a longitudinally distributed 
plurality of threaded first stud members 51 extending between the plate 
member 37 and a longitudinally extending first surface portion 47 of the 
front surface 32 and a longitudinally distributed plurality of threaded 
second stud members 52 extending between the plate member 37 and a 
longitudinally extending second surface portion 48 of the front surface 
32. Each of the self-tapping studs 51, 52 extends through an opening 53 in 
the plate member 37 and threadedly engages an opening 54 in the first 
plate portion 31 of the T-section post 15. The second stud members 52 are 
disposed between the first wire edge member 44 of the first fence panel 16 
and longitudinal first edges 56, 57 of, respectively, the first plate 
portion 31 and the plate member 37. Similarly, the first stud members 51 
are disposed between the second wire edge member 45 of the second fence 
panel 17 and second longitudinal edges 58, 59 of, respectively, the first 
plate portion 31 and the plate member 37. A vertically oriented first 
retainer wire 61 is positioned between the first wire edge member 44 of 
the first fence panel 16 and the second stud members 52 and a vertically 
oriented second retainer wire 62 is positioned between the second wire 
edge member 45 of the second fence panel 17 and the first stud members 51. 
The retainer wires 61 and 62 longitudinally distribute any lateral force 
applied to the fence panels 16, 17 and thereby prevent shearing of the 
welds on the wire edge members 44, 45 during any attempt to withdraw the 
panels from the assembly 12. 
During assembly of the security fence 11, the T-section posts 15 are 
embedded in the ground 13 along a perimeter of an area A (FIG. 2) to be 
secured. The spacing between the T-section posts 15 is determined by the 
lengths of the first and second fence panels 16, 17. At each assembly 12, 
marginal portions 41, 42 of the fence panels 16, 17 are positioned over 
the front surface 32 in an overlapped, juxtaposed relationship. Next, the 
first and second retainer wires 61, 62 are located adjacent to, 
respectively, the first and second wire edge members 44, 45 and the 
elongated plate member 37 is placed over the overlapped marginal portions 
41, 42 of the first and second fence panels 16, 17. During placement, the 
openings 53 in the plate member 37 are aligned with the openings 54 in the 
first plate portion 31 of the T-section post 15. Finally, the first and 
second stud members 51 and 52 are inserted through the openings 53 in the 
plate member 37 and tapped into the openings 54 in the first plate portion 
31. The stud members 51, 52 are tightened against the plate member 37 to 
compress the marginal portions 41, 42 of the first and second fence panels 
16, 17 between the plate member 37 and the front surface 32 of the first 
plate portion 31. Because of the significant mass provided by the 
overlapped marginal portions 41, 42, the rigidity and strength of each 
assembly 12 is enhanced allowing a reduction in the thickness required for 
the first and second plate portions 31, 35 of each T-section post 15. 
After assembly, the fence 11 establishes a high degree of security for the 
secured area A. Because of the inward curvature of the T-section posts 15, 
climbing access to the top edges of the fence panels 16, 17 is severely 
restricted. Climbing of the fence panels 16, 17 is restricted further by 
the narrow dimension d of the interstices 27 which prevent access of a 
climber's limbs. A further security feature of the narrow dimension d of 
the interstices 27 is an ability to prevent the access of bolt cutters of 
a size sufficient to sever the heavy gauge metal wires 24, 25. 
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are 
possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood, 
therefore, that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as 
specifically described.