Picket fence

A picket fence includes a pair of substantial vertical posts, a top and bottom rail members supported by each of the posts, and pickets attached to the top and bottom rail members. The posts, rails and pickets are all made of the polyvinyl material. The pickets are attached to the rails by cleats engaging keyhole shaped slots in the pickets. In one embodiment of the invention, the keyhole shaped slots extend in opposite directions, so that the rails must be moved relative to the pickets in order to secure the pickets to the rails. Accordingly, the pickets cannot be removed from the rails without first removing the rails from the posts. In another embodiment of the invention, keyhole slots extend in the same direction, and a locking arm extends from the cleats into the narrower portion of the keyhole slot. Accordingly, in order to remove the picket from the rail, both the top and bottom portions of the picket must first be deflected slightly and the picket must then be forced downwardly. In each instance, it is extremely unlikely that the pickets can be removed accidentally, or by children playing around the fence.

This invention relates to a polyvinyl picket fence. Polyvinyl picket fences 
have many decorative and practical uses. These fences are made from 
polyvinyl extruded into tubular members. These tubular members may be 
posts used to support the fence, upper and lower rails extending between 
the posts and pickets attached to the upper and lower rails. Accordingly, 
a decorative, long lasting fence is provided which is sufficiently strong 
that animals can be retained yet is also long lasting and extremely 
durable. The polyvinyl used to make the fence is mixed with a pigment so 
that the final product never needs painting. 
Most existing polyvinyl fences of the same general type disclosed herein 
require visible fasteners to fasten the pickets to the rails. Furthermore, 
the pickets can be detached from the rails by children playing near the 
fence. The present invention relates to a polyvinyl picket fence system in 
which the pickets are attached to the rails by fasteners that are 
concealed and that prevent the pickets from being removed from the rails 
unless the rails are first removed from the supporting posts. The 
fasteners include cleats on the rails that are received within keyhole 
slots in the pickets. In one embodiment, the keyhole slots include 
oppositely directed portions that embrace the cleats so that the cleats 
cannot be removed from the slots after the rails are installed on the 
posts. In the other embodiment of the invention, the cleats include a 
locking arm which locks in the narrow portion of the keyhole slot, thereby 
requiring that the top and bottom of the pickets be deflected before the 
picket can be removed. Accordingly, in both embodiments, it is extremely 
unlikely that children playing near the fence will be able to remove one 
or more of the pickets from the fence since the fasteners are located on 
the portions of the rails which engage corresponding portions of the 
pickets.

Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, a picket fence generally 
indicated by the numeral 10 includes spaced posts 12, 14 which support a 
substantially horizontal top rail 16 and a substantially horizontal bottom 
rail 18. Multiple pickets 20 are supported by the top and bottom rails 16, 
18 and are spaced substantially evenly between the posts 12 and 14 along 
the rails 16, 18. Each of the posts 12, 14 include a tubular portion 22 
and a top cap 24. The tubular portion 22 includes upper apertures 26, 28 
on opposite sides thereof, which are substantially rectangular and receive 
corresponding sections if the upper rail 16, which is also substantially 
rectangular in cross-section. Similarly, the tubular portion 22 is 
provided with bottom apertures 30, 32, which are also substantially 
rectangular and receive corresponding sections of the bottom rail 18. Each 
section of the top rail 16 and the bottom rail 18 is provided with an 
outwardly projecting deflectable clip 34. When the sections of the top 
rail 16 and the bottom rail 18 are installed on the post 24, the 
corresponding end 36 is inserted in the corresponding aperture 26-32, and 
then forced into the tubular portion 22 until the clip 34 engages the wall 
of the tubular portion 22 adjacent the aperture, thereby restraining 
withdrawal of the corresponding section of top rail 16 and bottom rail 18 
from the post. 
The top rail 16 and bottom rail 18 each include an engaging surface 38, 40 
which engages the corresponding surface 42, 44 on pickets 26 when the 
latter are installed on the rails 16, 18. Pickets 20 are retained on the 
rails 16, 18 by releasable locking mechanisms generally indicated by the 
numeral 46. Each of the locking mechanisms 46 include a cleat 48 which is 
secured to the corresponding rail by a rivet 50 which extends through the 
cleat 48 and into a drilled hole 52 in the corresponding rail. Locking 
mechanisms 46 further include keyhole shaped slots 54, 56 adjacent the top 
and bottom each picket 20, which are adapted to engage their corresponding 
cleats 48 on the top and bottom rails 16, 18. 
Each of the keyhole-shaped slots include a receiving portion 58 and a 
locking portion 60. Receiving portion 58 is large enough to receive the 
enlarged head 59 of the cleat 48 while the locking portion 60 embraces the 
smaller portion 61 of the cleat 48 between the head and the rail. It will 
be noted that the locking portion 60 associated with the slot 54 which 
engages the cleat secured to the upper rail 16 extends downwardly from the 
receiving portion 58, whereas the locking portion 60 associated with slot 
56 which engages the cleat on the lower rail 18 extends upwardly from the 
receiving portion 58. As will hereafter be explained, it is important that 
the locking portions 60 of the upper and lower slots 54, 56 extend in 
opposite directions. While the locking portion 60 of the upper slot 54 is 
illustrated as facing downwardly and the locking portion 60 of the slot 56 
is illustrated as facing upwardly, the orientations of the locking 
portions 60 of the slots 54 and 56 may be reversed, that is, the locking 
portion 60 of the slot 54 may extend upwardly and the locking portion 60 
of the slot 56 may extend downwardly. 
When the fence is assembled, each of the pickets 20 are placed across 
sections of the upper rail 16 and the lower rail 18 such that the 
corresponding cleats 48 are received within receiving portions 58 of the 
slots 54, 56. The upper rail 16 is then forced downwardly relative to the 
pickets 20, thereby forcing each of the cleats 38 on upper rail 16 into 
the locking portions 60 of the slots 54 on each picket 20. Similarly, the 
cleats 48 on lower rail 18 are received in the receiving portion 58 of the 
slots 56 of each picket 20, and the section of bottom rail 18 is then 
forced upwardly relatively to the pickets 20 such that each of the cleats 
48 are embraced by the locking portion 60 of the slots 44. The end 
portions 36 of the upper and lower rail 16, 18 are then forced in the 
corresponding apertures 26-32 of the posts 22. Clip 34 will then engage 
the wall of the post 22 to maintain the ends of the rails 16, 18 within 
their corresponding apertures. Since the apertures are a fixed vertical 
distance apart, the rails 16 and 18 cannot be moved relative to each other 
up or down unless the rails are first removed from their corresponding 
posts. Since the rails 16, 18 cannot be moved relative to each other 
vertically, and since each of the cleats 48 on the corresponding rails are 
received with locking portion 60, it is impossible to move pickets 20 
relative to the rails 16, 18 unless the rails 16, 18 are first removed 
from at least one of the posts 22. Accordingly, it is not possible for 
children playing around the fence 10 to remove the pickets 20 from the 
rails 16, 18. Furthermore, it will be noted that the cleats 48 and slots 
54, 56 are all enclosed within the engaging portions 38, 42 and 40, 44 of 
the pickets 20 respectively. Accordingly, neither the cleats 48 nor the 
slots 54, 56 are visible. Furthermore, the clips 34 are wholly received 
within the posts 22, so that neither the clips 34, the cleats 48, or the 
slots 54, 56 will be visible when the fence is installed for normal use. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 4-8, elements the same or 
substantially the same as those in the preferred embodiment retain the 
same reference numeral, but increased by 100. In FIGS. 4-8, the narrower 
locking portions 160 of the slots 154, 156 extend in the same direction, 
that is, upwardly viewing FIGS. 4-8. The cleats 148 include a head 162 
which projects from a stem 164 which is attached to the corresponding rail 
116 or 118 by the rivet 150. The head 162 cooperates with the stem 164 and 
the portion 138 or 140 of the corresponding rail 116 or 118 to define a 
gap G therebetween. Accordingly, the head 162 is received within the 
receiving portion 158 of the corresponding slot 154 or 156, and the 
corresponding picket 120 is thereafter urged upwardly, to thereby engage a 
locking portion 166, which is defined on the edge of the corresponding 
slot opposite the narrow portion 160 thereof, in the gap G, to thereby 
retain the picket on the rails. At the same time, a locking arm 168, which 
extends from the stem 164 and projections from the gap G, snaps into the 
narrow portion 160 of the corresponding slots 156 or 158. Accordingly, the 
pickets are prevented from being removed from the rails by merely forcing 
the latter downwardly. In order to remove the pickets from the rails, the 
pickets, which are deflectable, must be deflected manually as shown in 
FIG. 7, to snap the narrow portion 160 of the slots away from the locking 
arms 168. Alter the slot is moved away from the arm, the rail can then be 
forced downwardly and removed. Since both the top and bottom of the rail 
must be deflected simultaneously, a screw driver or similar tool is 
inserted between the surfaces 140, 144 of the lower rail to thereby 
deflect the picket such that the narrow portion 160 of the slot 156 is 
deflected away from the corresponding locking arm 168. The top of the 
picket 120 can then be grasped as illustrated in 170 and forced away from 
the locking arm 168 on the cleat 150. Since both the top and bottom must 
be deflected simultaneously, it is extremely unlikely that the picket can 
be removed accidentally, thereby children playing around the fence. The 
height of the locking arms 168 is such that the head 148 can be easily 
received in the receiving portion 158 of the slots when the picket is 
reinstalled. The picket can then be moved upwardly, permitting the picket 
to snap over the arms 168 such that the latter are engaged with the 
corresponding portions 160 of their slots.