Poly tape accessory for electric fence handle, electric fence gate handle with poly tape accessory and method of securing poly tape to electric fence gate handle using poly tape accessory

A poly tape accessory for an electric fence gate handle, the combination of the poly tape accessory and an electric fence gate handle configured to accommodate the poly tape accessory, and a method of securing the poly tape to the accessory is provided. The accessory is electrically conductive and includes a neck and a head with a plurality of slots through which the poly tape is woven to secure the poly tape while retaining adjustability. The neck of the accessory has a locating feature and a locking tab by which the accessory can be removably coupled to an electric fence gate handle through a quarter-turn motion of the accessory relative to the gate handle without the need for any tools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to the field of electric fencing and, more particularly, to an accessory for securing poly tape to an electric fence gate handle and method therefor.

Description of the Related Art

Electrically conductive poly tape is one form of barrier used in constructing electric fencing. To assist users in installing an electric fence with poly tape, a need exists for a user-friendly and inexpensive way of securing the poly tape to the gate handle without the need for any tools while also enabling the poly tape connection to be removed so that the gate handle can accommodate other styles of electric fencing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, the present invention is directed to a poly tape accessory for an electric fence gate handle, the combination of the poly tape accessory and an electric fence gate handle configured to accommodate the poly tape accessory, and a method of securing the poly tape to the accessory.

The poly tape accessory includes a generally planar head with a substantially rectangular perimeter and a narrowed neck having a locating feature and a locking tab. The head has three cutouts or slots formed therein that include two generally rectangular slots that are “closed” or enclosed on all four sides by the perimeter of the head, and a third generally rectangular “open” slot that is enclosed on three sides by the head perimeter but open on the fourth side. The locating feature on the neck is embodied as a boss with a projecting end that is configured to be inserted through a complementary elongated hole in the connecting arm of an electric fence gate handle and locked in place through a quarter-turn rotation of the accessory relative to the gate handle. The rotated orientation is secured by the locking tab on the accessory which has a generally U-shaped arm that forms an open-sided channel. The connecting arm is received within the channel when the accessory is rotated the quarter turn to prevent relative lateral movement between the accessory and the gate handle.

The combination of the electric fence gate handle and the poly tape accessory includes the foregoing poly tape accessory and an electric fence gate handle having a fence closure end and a poly tape connecting end. The fence closure end has a conventional hook for securing the gate handle to the fence when the electric fence gate is closed. The poly tape connecting end of the gate handle has a connecting arm with an elongated opening. The projecting end of the boss on the neck of the accessory has a T-shaped head that fits through the elongated opening on the gate handle connecting arm when aligned in a first orientation. Upon thereafter rotating the accessory a quarter-turn to a second orientation, the T-shaped head extends transversely to the elongated opening such that the projecting end of the boss cannot be pulled back through the gate handle connecting arm opening. Rotation to the second orientation also secures the gate handle connecting arm within the U-shaped channel formed by the tab arm on the accessory to prevent relative lateral movement between the gate handle and the accessory.

The method of securing the poly tape to the accessory according to the present invention includes the steps of weaving the poly tape through the three slots in the accessory head. The free end of the poly tape is brought up through the first closed slot, and then looped back down through the second closed slot which is adjacent to the first slot so that the poly tape is folded back upon itself to effectively form two overlapping sections. Both sections of the poly tape are then brought-into the third slot through the open side thereof which serves to lock the poly tape and prevent it from pulling back out of the accessory while also allowing the overlap in the poly tape sections to be adjusted to remove any excess slack in the fencing.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an accessory for an electric fence gate handle that has a locating feature configured to be connected with a complementary structure on the fence gate handle and then rotated a quarter-turn to lock the accessory to the fence gate handle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an accessory for an electric fence gate handle in accordance with the preceding object in which the locating feature is embodied as a boss with a projecting end that is configured to be inserted through a complementary elongated hole in the connecting arm of an electric fence gate handle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an accessory for an electric fence gate handle in accordance with the preceding objects in which the accessory is locked to the gate handle connecting arm by a locking tab on the accessory that has a generally U-shaped arm that forms an open-sided channel into which the gate handle connecting arm is at least partly received upon the quarter-turn rotation of the accessory to restrain relative lateral movement between the accessory and the gate handle.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide an accessory for an electric fence gate handle in accordance with the preceding objects in combination with an electric fence gate handle having a fence closure end and a poly tape connecting end, the poly tape connecting end having a connecting arm with the elongated hole or opening that receives the projecting end of the accessory boss when aligned in a first orientation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the combination of an accessory for an electric fence gate handle and the electric fence gate handle in accordance with the preceding object in which the projecting end of the accessory boss has a T-shaped head that fits through the elongated opening on the handle arm in the first orientation but, upon rotating the accessory a quarter-turn to a second orientation, the T-shaped head extends transversely to the elongated opening such that the head of the boss cannot be pulled back through the opening in the gate handle connecting arm.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for securing a length of electrically conductive poly tape used in electric fencing to an accessory for an electric fence gate handle, the accessory having a head with first and second generally rectangular closed slots and a third generally rectangular open slot and the method including the steps of weaving the poly tape through the slots in the accessory head.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method in accordance with the preceding object in which the free end of the poly tape is brought up through the first slot, looped back down through the second slot which is adjacent to the first slot so as to be folded back upon itself to form two overlapping sections, and then both sections of the poly tape are brought into the third slot through the open side thereof which serves to lock the poly tape and prevent it from pulling back out of the accessory while also allowing the overlap in the poly tape sections to be adjusted to remove any excess slack in the fencing in order to keep the fence taut.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a poly tape electric fence gate handle accessory in accordance with the preceding objects that is user-friendly, inexpensive and easily installable and removable without tools.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a poly tape electric fence gate handle accessory in accordance with the preceding objects that is compatible with poly tapes ranging from 0.500″ to 2.000″ in width.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although only one preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiment is given by way of illustration only. It is not intended that the invention be limited in its scope to the details of construction and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Also, in describing the preferred embodiments, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. It is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

As shown inFIGS.1-4, the present invention is directed to a poly tape accessory generally designated by reference numeral10. The accessory10includes a head12and a neck14. As used herein, the neck is at the proximal end of the accessory, being so identified with respect to its proximity to the gate handle to which the accessory is to be connected, while the opposite end of the accessory is identified as the distal end of the accessory. According to the embodiment shown, the accessory is about 3.75″ long and 2.5″ wide, with a thickness of about 0.078″.

The head12is generally planar with preferably a substantially rectangular perimeter13and has a plurality of cutouts generally designated by reference numeral14that form slots that are used to secure the accessory to a length of electrically conductive poly tape used in electric fencing. The cutouts14are preferably generally rectangular, with a length that extends substantially parallel with the distal end face17of the head, and preferably include a first closed slot16, a second closed slot18, and a third open slot20. The “closed” slots are enclosed on all four sides by the head perimeter13while the “open” slot20, which is nearest the distal end, is enclosed on three sides but has an open fourth side22. The closed slots are preferably about 2.125″ in length, while the open slot is somewhat longer due to the open side22. All of the slots preferably have a width of about 0.200″. The accessory10is made of an electrically conductive material such as sheet metal, stamped/formed steel, laser cut steel and the like, with an electrically conductive protective plating such as bright zinc, hot dip zinc galvanized, aluminized, dacromet, geomet, nickel, etc, or any other suitable electrically conductive material known to those skilled in the art.

The neck14includes a locating feature generally designated by reference numeral24and a locking tab generally designated by reference numeral26positioned proximal to the locating feature. The locating feature24is embodied as a projecting boss30with a T-shaped head32. The T-shaped head32is configured to be inserted through a complementary elongated hole in the connecting arm of an electric fence gate handle as will be described hereinafter.

The locking tab26has a generally U-shaped arm27with a free end34that extends above and generally parallel with a base28of the neck so that the free end34of the arm27and the neck base28form an open-sided channel36(seeFIG.4).

As shown inFIG.5, the accessory10is configured to be coupled with an electric fence gate handle generally designated by reference numeral40. The electric fence gate handle40has a fence closure end42and a poly tape connecting end44. The fence closure end42has a conventional hook46for securing the gate handle40to the fence (not shown) when the electric fence gate (not shown) is closed as during use of the fence.

The poly tape connecting end44has a connecting arm48with an elongated opening50. The opening50has a specific geometry corresponding with that of commercially available gate handle part number F14019 from Woodstream Corporation. As indicated by the arrow52inFIG.5A, when the accessory and the gate handle are properly aligned, the T-shaped head32on the projecting end of the boss30on the neck14of the accessory10is configured to be inserted through the elongated opening50on the gate handle connecting arm48to be coupled in a first orientation as shown inFIGS.5B and6.

To secure the accessory10to the gate handle40, the accessory is then rotated a quarter-turn, in the clockwise direction of arrow54shown inFIG.7, to a second orientation shown inFIGS.8-11. In the second orientation, the T-shaped head32extends transversely to the elongated opening50such that the head32of the boss30cannot be pulled back through the opening50in the gate handle connecting arm48.

Rotation to the second orientation also secures the gate handle connecting arm48within the U-shaped channel36formed by the arm27of locking tab26on the neck14of the accessory10to restrict relative lateral movement between the gate handle and the accessory.

The poly tape accessory may also be easily removed from the gate handle by reversing the quarter-turn motion to rotate the accessory in a counter-clockwise direction with reference to the assembled orientation shown inFIG.8. By removing the accessory, the gate handle can accommodate other styles of electric fencing such as wire, poly wire, poly rope and the like. The user also has the option of making the accessory installation permanent with the use of a crimping hand tool as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG.12is a photograph of an accessory10coupled to a fence gate handle40as held by a user60and a length of poly tape70to be secured to the accessory. The steps of weaving the poly tape through the slots16,18,20in the head12to secure the poly tape70to the accessory10are shown in the subsequent photographs ofFIGS.12A-12E.

The first step according to the method is to bring the free end72of the poly tape70up through the first slot16as shown inFIG.12A. The free end72is then looped back down through the second slot18as shown inFIG.12B, and then folded back upon itself in a layered relationship including an upper section74on top of a lower section76in the hand of the user60as shown inFIG.12C. Both sections74,76of the poly tape70are then brought into the third slot20through the open side22as shown inFIG.12D. The poly tape70when secured to the accessory is shown inFIG.12E.

The foregoing steps of weaving the poly tape through the slots serves to lock the poly tape and prevent it from pulling back out of the accessory while also allowing the overlapping sections of the poly tape to be adjusted within the accessory slots. For example, more of the lower portion may be drawn up through the accessory, effectively lengthening the upper section74, to remove any excess slack in the poly rope fencing70.

The poly tape electric fence gate handle accessory as described herein is user-friendly, inexpensive and easily installable and removable without tools, enabling the poly tape connection to be removed so that the gate handle can accommodate other styles of electric fencing. As shown, the accessory is compatible with poly tapes ranging from 0.500″ to 2.000″ in width, but other poly tape sizes could be accommodated through appropriate modification of the dimensions of the accessory slots.

The foregoing description and drawings should be considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. The invention may be configured in a variety of shapes and sizes and is not limited by the dimensions of the preferred embodiment. For example, the accessory may have more than three slots or may, if a suitable locking mechanism is provided, have only two slots. Therefore, it is not desired to limit the invention to the specific examples disclosed or the exact construction and operation shown and described. Rather, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.