Abstract:
A hollow fence post to pipe adapter device supports a rectangular hollow fence post on a pipe. The device has an outer peripheral surface which non-rotatably fits within the post and a pipe aperture in a web spanning the outer peripheral surface for receiving the pipe. The pipe aperture has a cross sectional shape which is elongate in a radial direction and which is angularly offset from all sides and diagonals of the outer peripheral surface for adjustably locating the pipe in the pipe aperture relative to post by adjusting both orientation of the adapter device and the location of the pipe along the elongate pipe aperture.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/763,932, filed Feb. 1, 2006. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to an adapter for mounting a hollow fence post onto a pipe, and more particularly relates to an adapter which mounts within the hollow fence post to span between the pipe and an inner surface of the hollow fence post.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Plastic or vinyl fences have become quite common. They are particularly desirable because they are light weight, strong, attractive, and virtually maintenance free. Most of these fence posts are manufactured as hollow structures. The hollow posts are typically supported overtop of a vertical pipe of smaller diameter which is anchored in the ground. When installing the fence, the pipes are typically first anchored in the ground at the desired post locations. A suitable mounting fixture or adapter device is subsequently mounted on the posts for mounting within the hollow fence post to span between the pipe and the inner surface of the hollow fence post for supporting the fence posts on the pipes. It is difficult to align the pipes with their exact desired location and to set the pipes in a perfectly vertical orienting though, and slight misalignments of the pipes relative to one another are therefore commonplace, resulting in misalignment of installed fence structure.  
         [0004]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,808 to Lehmann describes one example of a mounting fixture for supporting a hollow fence post on a pipe. An outer peripheral surface of the fixture is snugly fit within the interior of the fence position. An inner collar is provided on the fixture, in a coaxially fixed relationship with the outer peripheral surface for receiving the pipe therein in coaxial alignment with the surrounding hollow fence post. Due to the fixed relationship of the inner collar and outer peripheral surface, the mounting fixture of Lehmann is unable to accommodate for slight misalignments of the pipes relative to one another.  
         [0005]     Other examples of mounting fixture include U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,827 to Gehman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,188 to Coulis, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,431 to Williams, however these fixtures are typically complex and expensive to fabricate. In addition, the prior art fixtures are also limited in their ability to accommodate for misalignments of the pipes relative to one another when erecting a fence.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an adapter device arranged for mounting a rectangular hollow fence post on a pipe, the device comprising:  
         [0007]     an outer peripheral surface surrounding a main axis, the outer peripheral surface having an outer shape and dimension arranged such that the device fits non-rotatably within the rectangular hollow fence post in contact with an inner surface of the rectangular hollow fence post and with the main axis lying concentrically within the rectangular hollow fence post;  
         [0008]     a pipe collar defining a pipe aperture extending through the device in a direction of the main axis, the pipe collar having a cross sectional shape which is elongate in a radial direction in relation to the main axis in which a cross sectional dimension of the collar in the radial direction is arranged to be greater than a diameter of the pipe and a cross sectional dimension of the pipe collar perpendicular to the radial direction is arranged to closely fit the diameter of the pipe therein; and  
         [0009]     a web spanning between the pipe collar and the outer peripheral surface arranged to support the pipe collar in fixed relation to the outer peripheral surface.  
         [0010]     According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an adapter device in combination with a rectangular hollow fence post supported on a pipe, the device comprising:  
         [0011]     an outer peripheral surface surrounding a main axis, the outer peripheral surface having an outer shape and dimension fitting non-rotatably within the rectangular hollow fence post in contact with an inner surface of the rectangular hollow fence post and with the main axis lying concentrically within the rectangular hollow fence post;  
         [0012]     a pipe collar defining a pipe aperture receiving the pipe therethrough, the pipe aperture extending through the device in a direction of the main axis, the pipe collar having a cross sectional shape which is elongate in a radial direction in relation to the main axis in which a cross sectional dimension of the collar in the radial direction is arranged to be greater than a diameter of the pipe and a cross sectional dimension of the pipe collar perpendicular to the radial direction closely fits the diameter of the pipe therein; and  
         [0013]     a web spanning between the pipe collar and the outer peripheral surface arranged to support the pipe collar in fixed relation to the outer peripheral surface.  
         [0014]     According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a rectangular hollow fence post supported on a pipe, an adapter device comprising:  
         [0015]     an outer peripheral surface surrounding a main axis, the outer peripheral surface having an outer shape and dimension such that the device fits non-rotatably within the rectangular hollow fence post in contact with an inner surface of the rectangular hollow fence post and with the main axis lying concentrically within the rectangular hollow fence post;  
         [0016]     a pipe collar defining a pipe aperture extending through the device in a direction of the main axis, the pipe collar having a cross sectional shape which is elongate in a radial direction in relation to the main axis in which a cross sectional dimension of the collar in the radial direction is greater than a diameter of the pipe and a cross sectional dimension of the pipe collar perpendicular to the radial direction closely fits the diameter of the pipe therein; and  
         [0017]     a web spanning between the pipe collar and the outer peripheral surface for supporting the pipe collar in fixed relation to the outer peripheral surface.  
         [0018]     By providing a pipe collar having a pipe aperture which is elongate in a radial direction, the pipe may be placed at various locations therealong relative to the main axis in a simple unibody construction molded from a single piece of material. By providing a cross sectional dimension perpendicular to the radial direction which closely fits the diameter of the pipe, the pipe is well supported for supporting the hollow fence post on the pipe. When installing the adapter device however the elongate cross section in the radial direction permits the pipe to be slidable within the pipe aperture for adjustment in the radial direction as required to accommodate for minor misalignments between the pipe and other adjacent pipes forming a fence structure. By overlapping the pipe aperture with the center at the main axis and orienting the radial direction to be approximately 22.5 degrees from a diagonal axis extending between two opposed corners of the square cross sections a resulting adapter device can be flipped and rotated to accommodate radial offsets of the pipe relative to the post in eight different directions from the main axis which are equally circumferentially spaced.  
         [0019]     A cross section of the pipe aperture preferably overlaps the main axis of the outer peripheral surface such that pipe can be located in the pipe aperture coaxially with the main axis.  
         [0020]     The cross section of the pipe collar may extend in the radial direction from the main axis in only one direction. The cross sectional shape of the pipe collar preferably extends in the radial direction from an inner end to an outer end in which the inner end is spaced from the main axis, opposite the outer end, by a radius of the pipe for locating the pipe in abutment therewith coaxially with the main axis.  
         [0021]     When the outer peripheral surface is square, having four sides, the radial direction may be angularly offset from all four sides.  
         [0022]     When the outer peripheral surface is rectangular, defining a diagonal axis extending between two opposed corners, the radial direction of the pipe collar may be angularly offset from the diagonal axis within a range of 1 to 45 degrees, and is preferably angularly offset from the diagonal axis by approximately 22.5 degrees.  
         [0023]     The radial direction of the pipe collar in the preferred embodiment is angular offset from both the sides and the diagonal axis of the outer peripheral surface.  
         [0024]     One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]      FIG. 1  is a partly sectional, elevational view of a fence post supported on a pipe anchored in the ground.  
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the adapter device.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the adapter device.  
         [0028]      FIG. 4  is a partly sectional elevational view of the adapter device mounted between the pipe and the hollow fence post. 
     
    
       [0029]     In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0030]     Referring to the accompanying figures there is illustrated an adapter device generally indicated by reference numeral  10 . The device  10  comprises a mounting fixture which is suitable for use with plastic or vinyl fencing  12  of the type including hollow posts  14  which support rails  16  extending horizontally between the posts. Each post  14  is supported on a pipe  18  anchored in a base  20  in the ground, for example using concrete or stone and the like. The pipe  18  is intended to be supported in a substantially vertical orientation.  
         [0031]     The adapter device  10  includes a main body  22  molded of plastic material. The main body  22  includes an outer peripheral surface  24  which mates with the hollow interior of the post  14  which surrounds it. The hollow fence post  14  is rectangular in cross section, and accordingly the outer peripheral surface  24  is similarly rectangular in cross section having similar square dimensions including four sides and four corners which contact the inner surface of the hollow post  14  for non-rotatable engagement therewith.  
         [0032]     The main body  22  includes a peripheral wall  26  extending about the periphery thereof and which defines the outer peripheral surface facing radially outwardly from a main axis  28  centrally located on the main body. The peripheral wall  26  defining the outer peripheral surface  24  thus lies parallel to the main axis  28  which is coaxial therewith.  
         [0033]     The device further includes a pipe collar  30  formed integrally with the main body  20  and which defines a through pipe aperture  32  extending through the main body in the direction of the main axis  28 . The pipe collar walls  34  define an inner surface of the pipe collar which surrounds the pipe aperture and which extends parallel to the main axis.  
         [0034]     A web  36  spans between the outer periphery of the collar  30  and the outer peripheral surface defined by the peripheral wall  26  for supporting the pipe collar  30  in fixed relationship with the outer peripheral surface  24 . The web  36  spans generally perpendicularly to the main axis  28  and is formed integrally with the peripheral wall  26  and pipe collar  30  to form an integrally molded single body.  
         [0035]     A cross sectional shape of the pipe aperture  32  formed by the surrounding walls of the pipe collar is elongate in a radial direction extending outwardly from the main axis  28  in only one direction therefrom. Orientation of the pipe aperture is fixed by the web  36  to remain elongate in the radial direction.  
         [0036]     The pipe aperture includes an inner terminal end  38  and an outer terminal end  40  which are opposite one another in the radial direction to define the opposing ends of the elongate cross section of the pipe aperture. The inner terminal end  38  is spaced from the main axis  28 , opposite the outer end, by a radius of the pipe  14  so that when the pipe is coaxially aligned with the main axis within the pipe aperture  32 , an outer peripheral surface of the pipe abuts the inner terminal end  38  of the aperture. Both the inner end  38  and the outer end  40  are rounded so as to be semi-circular in cross section while being joined with one another by straight portions of the cross section of the aperture which are substantially parallel to the radial direction of the aperture.  
         [0037]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the radial direction of the pipe aperture from the inner terminal end  38  to the outer terminal end  40  is angularly offset from a diagonal axis  42  of the main body in which the diagonal axis is defined as an axis which extends between two opposed corners of the square cross section formed by the outer peripheral surface. When offset at 22.5 degrees from the diagonal axis, the radial direction of the pipe aperture is also offset angularly from any of the four sides of the outer periphery. As further shown in  FIG. 3 , when flipping and/or rotating the main body of the device prior to installation, up to eight different positions of the outer end  40  of the slot can be achieved relative to the main axis, which are equally circumferentially spaced relative to the main axis. The post received through the pipe aperture can thus be positioned so as to be radially offset from the main axis of the adapter device and the surrounding hollow post within which it is mounted in any one of eight different radial directions.  
         [0038]     The inner walls  34  forming the pipe collar  30  and the peripheral wall  26  each extend in the direction of the main axis parallel thereto in both opposing directions from the web  36  which is centrally located therealong. The walls of the collar  30  are longer in the direction of the main axis than the peripheral wall  26  for additional support along the pipe.  
         [0039]     The peripheral walls  26  have a cutaway portion  44  along each of the four sides of the square outer peripheral surface so as to reduce the height of the peripheral wall in the direction of the main axis along each of the four sides. The cutaway portions  44  reduce the amount of material required to mold the device and also provide access to the exterior of the pipe collar  30  for placement off a set screw  46  inserted through the collar into the pipe  18  upon installation to fix positioning of the adapter device relative to the post and pipe after installation.  
         [0040]     When erecting a fence, the adapter device  10  can thus be used to support a hollow fence post on a pipe while accommodating for minor variations to the inclination of the pipe or minor variations to the relative spacing between adjacent pipes which are mounted at spaced positions along the ground. Typically two of the adapter devices are supported on a pipe at vertically spaced positions therealong for supporting the hollow post thereabout. As shown in  FIG. 1 , when a pipe is misaligned vertically, the offset of the pipe collar relative to the main axis of the outer periphery are offset in opposite directions in a common plane with the inclination of the pipe to accommodate for the inclination and position the surrounding post vertically thereon. Alternatively, when the pipe merely requires adjustment of its distance to a next adjacent pipe of the fence structure, the adapter devices  10  may be offset in the same directions towards or away from the next adjacent pipe. The set screws  46  are inserted through the pipe collars  48  of the devices  10  into the pipe  18  to fix the selected orientation of the devices prior to completion of installation of the surrounding fence post.  
         [0041]     Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.