Rackable Fence Panel with Pivoting Lock Bar
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aluminum fencing fabrication is labor-intensive and costly due to the need for visible screws or welding, which prevents pickets from pivoting for racking on hillsides, and existing locking strip designs freeze pickets in place, preventing racking and pivoting.
Innovation Solution
A fence panel design featuring notches on pickets and rails with a sliding L-shaped lock bar that allows pickets to pivot up to 45 degrees, eliminating the need for visible fasteners and enabling racking on slopes without freezing pickets in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple fastening screws or welds are used to attach pickets to rails, then the pickets are securely retained in place, but the pickets cannot pivot for panel racking on hillsides and the appearance is compromised by visible screws
Solution Approach 1:
The locking strip is designed with a flexible portion that can deflect to allow pickets to pivot during installation on slopes, then locks into place to secure the picket. This dynamic flexibility enables both secure retention and adaptability for racking on hillsides.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking strip acts as an intermediary component between the picket and rail, providing a mechanism that can both secure the picket firmly and allow controlled movement during installation. The strip mediates between the conflicting requirements of fixed security and flexible positioning.
2Reliability
If a locking strip design is used to secure pickets to rails, then picket retention is improved, but the pickets are frozen in place and cannot pivot for racking on hillsides
Solution Approach 1:
The locking strip incorporates a flexible portion that can deflect during picket installation on slopes, allowing the picket to pivot to the required angle. Once positioned, the strip locks into place to secure the picket, providing both ease of operation during installation and secure retention afterward.
3Reliability
If welding is used to attach pickets to rails, then picket retention is maximized, but the pickets cannot pivot at all for racking and the fabrication cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the welding process with a mechanical locking strip system that achieves equivalent or superior picket retention. The locking strip provides secure attachment without the high fabrication costs and lack of adjustability associated with welding, while still enabling picket pivoting for racking on slopes.
Data Source
AI summary
A fence panel has pickets and rails with slots in the pickets and open bottom U shaped rails. A locking strip slides into the rail and the slots in the pickets to lock the pickets into the rail. The locking strip can be designed with a projecting L portion with a fingers formed between recessed slots along its length such that, at each picket interval, the pickets can pivot around the fingers. Thus, the lock strip allows pivoting of pickets. The rails are designed with a side internal slot with guides to hold the lock strip in place. The rails are further designed with a top internal groove to accept the insertion of a spacer strip that holds the pickets in place and stops them from moving left and right when the top of the pickets do not go through a routed top rail or a supporting middle rail.