Rail fence bracket

A post and rail assembly uses a channel shaped bracket to secure the rails to the post. The bracket has a channel bottom portion which is attached directly by fasteners to a flattened portion on the post and two rail ends abut each other and are received within the channel. The channel has extensions along the back vertical surface of the rails with fasteners extending through these extensions horizontally into the rail and other fasteners extend from the top and bottom flanges of the channel vertically into the rail ends which cover the fasteners holding the bracket to the post.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
 This invention relates generally to fences and more particularly to a novel
 bracket for rail fences to provide faster, more accurate, and stronger
 attachment for the rails to a post.
 One of the most common types of fences uses a post and rail arrangement
 either for the complete fence or as a basic support arrangement for more
 decorative design fences. The construction of these fences involves
 assembling a number of vertical posts usually all of the same height by
 embedding them in the ground or otherwise providing a firm base support.
 The post may be round, square, rectangular and cross-section and generally
 extend upward from the ground at least as high as any part of the
 completed fence.
 The rails are then attached directly to the posts and extend horizontally
 between the posts and these rails may be either sufficient in number to
 provide the complete fencing barrier or else utilized as a support for
 vertical boards or pickets or other type of panels as may be desired. If
 it is desired that the completed fence have some sort of symmetry in
 appearance from each side it is common to extend rails between the sides
 of the post. This construction usually requires some sort of attachment
 bracket for each rail and also generally requires the length of the rail
 closely match the spacing between the post sides and therefore requires
 special cutting if the rails are of a standard size lumber.
 The other approach is to attach the rails directly to one side of the post
 with nails or screws so that the rail ends overlap each another either
 vertically or horizontally. In order to provide sufficient areas of
 engagement between the rails and the posts, the posts should be either
 square to prevent a flat surface adjacent the rail or, if of other shape,
 have a space cut away to provide the necessary flat surface. In any case,
 the assembly of the fence requires careful measurement to ensure that all
 the rail to post joints are at the same height and the strength depends
 entirely upon the fasteners used to connect the rails to the posts.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention provides a novel bracket for the attachment of rails
 to a side of a post which also attaches the rails directly to each other
 independently of their attachment to the post. The bracket is preferably
 preattached to the post by suitable fasteners such as nails or screws
 after which the two rail ends are inserted into the bracket and suitable
 fasteners connected through the bracket to the rail ends.
 According to the preferred embodiment, the bracket takes the general form
 of a channel in which the bottom surface is positioned vertically against
 a post and fastened in place by suitable fasteners extending through the
 channel bottom into the post. For maximum strength, the post should have a
 flat surface so that several fasteners can be used in horizontally as well
 as vertically spaced locations to provide a tight surface abutting contact
 with the post along most of the extent of the channel bottom. The rails,
 whose ends have been previously cut to fit within the channel, are then
 inserted horizontally into t he channel preferably with their ends
 abutting or nearly so. Suitable fasteners are then inserted through
 openings in the top and bottom sidewalls of the channel into the ends and
 for still additional strength, fasteners extend from projections on the
 channel bottom to receive a fastener that extends into the adjacent rail.
 As a result, the channel connects the rails to each other independently of
 their connection to the post so that if the post is damaged, it is less
 likely that the rails will be broken apart or dislodged and the integrity
 of the fence structure will remain.
 According to the present invention, the erection of a post and rail fence
 can be done quite rapidly and precisely by allowing the fence posts to be
 located in place by placing them in a hole in the ground, for example, and
 then filling in around the post while checking for vertical alignment. The
 precise height of the fence can then be determined by attaching the
 brackets at the desired height directly to the post by means of suitable
 fasteners extending through the channel bottom abutting the post. Thus, it
 is possible to first locate all of the posts and all of the brackets
 before any of the rails are installed. After this has been done, it is
 possible to accommodate any variations and post spacing by cutting rails
 to the exact length so they extend equidistantly into the bracket channel
 from each end, although some variations in rail length can be tolerated
 because of the bracket size.
 The rails are then inserted into the channel where they are secured in
 place by the fasteners extending through the top and bottom channel sides
 and since the spacing on these channel sides for the fasteners is
 different on the top and bottom, the fasteners can each extend for almost
 the entire vertical height of the rail. At the same time, fasteners extend
 through the projections in the back of the bracket and serve to pull the
 rails into the bracket channel to abut the bottom wall. Since the rails
 cover the heads of the fasteners extending through the bracket and into
 the post, these fasteners are protected from accidental removal since it
 is necessary to first remove the other fasteners to allow the rail to be
 removed from the bracket before the bracket can be removed from the post.
 This arrangement also allows the exposed faces of the rails to be free of
 projections and fasteners.
 Although this bracket is intended primarily for use with wood, it may be
 used with other materials such as plastic extrusions which employ
 fasteners such as nails, screws or bolts as desired.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIGS. 2 and 3 show a wooden
 fence post 10 which is shown as having a square cross section to provide a
 flat face 12 although the post can have other cross sections such as
 circular if it is provided with a flat face 12 as described in greater
 detail hereinafter. The bracket 15 of the present invention is adapted to
 be attached to the face 12 and receive rail end 16 and 17. These rail ends
 are shown as being rectangular in cross section and preferably abut or
 nearly abut at a gap 18 between them.
 As best shown in FIG. 1, the bracket 15 is in the form of a channel having
 a bottom wall 20 which is oriented vertically in this application.
 Extending outward from bottom wall 20 are upper and lower side walls 21
 and 22 which extend parallel to each other a spaced distance apart as
 determined by the vertical height of the rails 16 and 17. The side walls
 21 and 22 extend outward to terminate in parallel edges 23 and 24 so that
 the channel has a depth equal to or less than the width or thickness of
 the rails to avoid projecting edges and corners.
 The length of the upper and lower side walls 21 and 22 is preferably
 approximately equal to the width of the post face 12 to give maximum
 support. The bottom wall 20 has a pair of semi-circular extension portions
 26 and 27 which extend outward from the bottom wall 20 and beyond the
 edges of the post face 12.
 The bottom wall 20 of the bracket is provided with a plurality of holes 30,
 preferably four in number, and these holes 30 are aligned with the post
 face 12 and receive suitable crews or other fasteners 31 which serve to
 hold the bracket to the post. After the bracket has been securely fastened
 to the post, the rail ends 16 and 17 are placed in the channel. As shown
 in FIG. 1, the extension portions 26 and 27 each have a fastener hole 35
 to receive a screw 36 extending from the back to initially hold the rail
 ends in place and ensure that they abut the bottom wall 20. As shown in
 FIG. 1, there are a pair of holes 38 in the upper side wall 20 and another
 pair of holes 41 in the lower side wall 22 with different spacing so that
 opposing holes are not in horizontal alignment. As shown in FIG. 1, the
 holes 38 are spaced more closely together than the holes 41 and each of
 these sets of holes 38 and 41 receive screws 39 and 42, respectively to
 more securely hold the rail ends within the bracket. Because of the
 different spacing of the hole 38 and 41, the screws 39 and 42 will extend
 parallel to each other, and therefore for maximum strength may be made
 nearly as long as the vertical spacing between the walls 20 and 21.
 With this arrangement, it can be seen that the bracket of this invention
 allows rapid assembly to a post and rails and by providing separate
 fasteners to hold the bracket to the post from those securing the rail
 ends to the bracket, maximum strength is obtained. Furthermore, since the
 rail ends cover the heads of the screws 31 holding the bracket to the
 fence, it is necessary to remove all of the other screws 36, 39 and 42 and
 then to remove the rail ends before the screws 31 can be removed to allow
 removal and/or replacement of the bracket 15 on the post 10. Also, there
 are no screw heads on the front sides of the rails.
 The bracket can be made of different materials such as galvanized sheet
 steel which has a good combination of strength, durability and low cost.
 They also could be made of other sheet metal such as aluminum, brass or
 copper or even stainless steel. It also could be made from non-metallic
 materials such as polyvinyl chloride which is easily extruded in a channel
 shape. Of course, other plastic and non-metallic materials can also be
 used if they provide sufficient rigidity strength and durability for the
 purpose.
 Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and
 described, it is recognized that other modifications and rearrangements
 may be resorted to without departing from the scope with the invention as
 defined in the claims.