Connector Assembly

This application is a U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/GB2023/051228, filed on May 10, 2023, and claims benefit to British Patent Application No. GB 2206908.2, filed on May 11, 2022. The International Application was published in English on Nov. 16, 2023 as WO 20243/218191 Al under PCT Article 21(2).

The present disclosure relates to a connector assembly, and in particular to a connector assembly for receiving and releasably fixing a post. The disclosure is also related to a system including the connector assembly and post, and a method of fixing a post in position using the connector assembly.

It is a common requirement to connect structural members and/or components together to form a rigid and/or robust structure.

A traditional method of connecting posts to a base or foundation is by welding, which provides a secure and rigid connection. However, assembly or disassembly of a structure that is welded is time consuming and requires skilled labour and specialist equipment. Following disassembly, individual components of the structure are not easily reusable as they need to be prepared (e.g. machined), resulting in a loss of material and involving a large investment of time.

It is known to use fittings or couplings that connect structural members together and allow the structure to be disassembled and reused. A person assembling or disassembling the structure must handle parts of the coupling, its fixing members (e.g. a screw or bolt), as well as the structural members, and simultaneously hold and manipulate a tool to work the fixing member. This can be cumbersome, time consuming and frustrating, and can lead to an insecure connection of the structural members if they are not aligned properly during assembly. To reduce error and increase user safety, it is common for two people to work together. Also, the fixing members tend to get lost and/or damaged over time, making re-use of the connectors frustrating.

In addition, where the ground is uneven, additional components and work is required to ensure that the connected posts and rails are even and set to their correct positions.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a connector assembly that receives and releasably fixes a post. The connector assembly has: a base defining a first socket member; a second socket member configured to be in an abutting relationship with, and rotatable relative to, the first socket member of the base, the second socket member having a recess for receiving at least part of the post, in use; and a locking member configured to releasably couple with the base. The locking member is movable between: a first position in which the second socket member is rotatable relative to the first socket member; and a second position in which the locking member is configured to apply a locking force to the second socket member to prevent rotation of the second socket member relative to the first socket member.

In view of the above-recited background, the present inventors have found that a connector assembly that enables easy adjustable positioning of posts, is reusable, securely connects structural members, and allows a single user to quickly connect and disconnect structural members is highly desirable.

Aspects of the present disclosure overcome at least one of the above or other disadvantages.

According to one example embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a connector assembly for receiving and releasably fixing a post, the connector assembly comprising: a base defining a first socket member; a second socket member configured to be in an abutting relationship with, and rotatable relative to, the first socket member of the base, the second socket member comprising a recess for receiving at least part of the post, in use; and a locking member configured to releasably couple with the base, wherein the locking member is movable between: a first position in which the second socket member is rotatable relative to the first socket member; and a second position in which the locking member applies a locking force to the second socket member to prevent rotation of the second socket member relative to the first socket member.

The provision of the connector assembly enables the post to be fixed at a specified position or orientation with respect to the base. This is particularly advantageous when the post is due to be installed on an uneven ground as the connector assembly can compensate for the uneven ground such that the post can be set to extend in a substantially vertical direction. The post can be releasably fixed to extend in a desired direction from the connector assembly. The connector assembly also enables an easy and fast mechanism for fixing a post to extend at a desired orientation from a base. A user can simply push the post within the recess of the second socket member, adjust the second socket member to the desired position then couple the locking member to the base. The post and connector assembly can easily be dissembled as desired.

The connector assembly comprises few parts, which may be constructed in series (i.e., one at a time). This means a single user can easily make the connection to the post, and thus building a structure using the connector assembly of the present disclosure can be done with fewer people.

In addition, because the connector assembly comprises relatively few parts, the complexity around the manufacturing is significantly reduced and less material is required to produce a stable connector assembly for a post.

The first socket member may comprise a seat and the second socked member may comprise a rotation member configured to be located in the seat. The rotation member and seat arrangement facilitates the easy rotation of movement of the post relative to the base in use. The rotation member and seat arrangement may be considered to be a ball joint (or partial ball joint) in which the rotation member is at least partially received in the seat. The seat together with the recess in the locking member may for a substantially spherical cavity to house the rotation member in use.

The second socket member may have a substantially spherical region configured to be in an abutting relationship with the first socket member. The substantially spherical region of the second socket member improves ease of rotation relative to the first socket member.

In one example, the second socket member is mechanically coupled with the base (or first socket member) and configured to rotate about a single axis.

The recess in the second socket member may comprise a substantially tapered section such that the post may be received in a press fit in the recess. The press fit (or push fit) enables a user to simply connect the post to the second socket member in use. In other words, the user can push the post in the recess and the frictional force between the post and the recess acts to hold the post in position.

The recess comprises a groove towards a distal end of the tapered section, the groove having an increased cross-sectional width compared with tapered section. The groove increases the elasticity (or deformability) the tapered section such that it may move more as the post is being inserted into the recess. However, the taper is still sufficient to provide a restraining force on the received post to retain it within the taper. The groove may be known as a slot.

The base may include a flange; and a projection having a proximal end and a distal end, the projection extending from the flange at the distal end and the proximal end of the projection is shaped to form the first socket member. The flange may provide an areas to enable the base to be fixed to the ground or structural element, such as foundations or base plate.

The projection of the base has an outer surface comprising an attachment portion for coupling with the locking member. The attachment position on the outer surface of the projection provides an easily accessible coupling point for coupling the locking member to the base.

The first socket member may substantially arcuate. That is to say that the first socket member may be shaped such that the second socket member is easily rotatable relative to the first socket member.

The first socket member may comprise one or more internal ridges (or teeth/protrusions/rings) that is configured to increase the grip of the first socket member in use. In other words, once the locking force has been applied by the locking member then the one or more internal ridges increase the frictional force on the socket member to prevent further rotation of the second socket member.

The locking member may comprise a through-hole to form: an outer surface; and an inner surface, wherein, in use, the post is configured to extend through the through-hole, wherein the inner surface comprises a complimentary attachment portion configured to releasably connect with the attachment portion of base.

Forming the complimentary attachment portion on the inner surface of the locking member means that it can easily couple with the corresponding attachment position on the base.

An amount of locking force applied by the locking member can be adjusted by a user. That is to say that the locking member may be moved closer to the base in use to adjust the amount of locking force applied to fix the second socket member in the desired position. In some examples, the locking member and the base have complimentary screw threads to couple them together and a user can control the amount of torque/rotation applied to couple the locking member relative to the base to control the amount of locking force provided.

The attachment portion of the projection of the base and the attachment portion of the locking member may comprise complimentary screw threads.

The inner surface of the locking member may have a first region and a second region, wherein the first region includes the attachment portion; and the second region is shaped to correspond to the shape of the second socket member

The second region may comprise one or more ridges (or teeth/protrusion etc.) to provide further friction to lock the second socket member in place.

According to one example, there is provided a method of releasably fixing a post to a connector assembly of any preceding claim, the method comprising: inserting a part of said post within the recess of the second socket member; rotating the second socket member to the desired position; coupling the locking member to base to fix the second socket member and post in the desired position.

The method provides an easy way of fixing a post to a desired position relative to a base. The method is particularly advantageous for overcoming the challenge associated with installing a post as a desired position on uneven ground.

According to one example embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a system comprising: a connection member as set out above; and a post received in the recess of the second socket member.

According to one example embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a kit of parts comprising: a base defining a first socket member; a second socket member configured to be in an abutting relationship with, and rotatable relative to, the first socket member of the base, the second socket member comprising a recess for receiving at least part of the post, in use; and a locking member configured to releasably couple with the base, wherein the locking member is movable between: a first position in which the second socket member is rotatable relative to the first socket member; and a second position in which the locking member applies a locking force to the second socket member to prevent rotation of the second socket member relative to the first socket member.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a connector assembly for receiving and releasably fixing a post, the connector assembly comprising: a base comprising a seat; a rotation member configured to be received in an abutting relationship the seat of the base, the rotation member comprising a recess for receiving at least part of the post, in use; a locking member configured to releasably couple with the base, wherein the locking member is movable between: a first position in which the rotation member is rotatable within the seat; and a second position in which the locking member applies a locking force to the rotation member to prevent rotation of the rotation member in the seat.

The connector assembly and/or kit of parts according to the present disclosure may form a foundation, foot, support structure for:

Note that the use of the term “post” is envisaged to cover all the examples specified above. In other words, all these examples have a post (hollow or solid) that may be attached to the connector assembly of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure relates to a connector assembly for retaining and positioning a post in a desired position.shows an example of the connector assembly. The connector assemblyis configured to receive and releasably fix a post in a desired position.

The connector assemblyincludes a baseand a locking member. As will be described in more detail below, the baseand the locking memberare releasably attachable together such that they may be securely coupled together. For example, the baseand the locking membermay have corresponding screw threads that may be interlinked together to attach the baseand the locking membertogether.

The baseincludes a first socket member such as a seat. The connector assemblyalso includes a second socket memberconfigured to abut the first socket member. The second socket memberincludes a recessfor receiving and retaining a post, in use. As will be described in more detail below, the second socket memberis rotatable relative to the first socket member. That is to say that second socket membermay rotate relative to the first socket member to position a post at a desired position/orientation relative to the base.

The locking memberis movable between a first position in which the second socket memberis rotatable relative to the first socket member; and a second position in which the locking member applies a locking force (or compression force) to the second socket memberto prevent rotation of the second socket memberrelative to the first socket member.

shows a systemincluding the connector assemblyand a post. The posthas been received in the recessof the second socket memberand the locking memberis in the second position to lock the second socket member(and post) in place. If a user wished to adjust the orientation of the postrelative to the connector assembly, then they could move the locking memberto the first position, adjust the position of the post, and then return the locking memberto the second position to fix the postin the desired position/orientation.

shows an example of the base. The baseincludes the first socket member. The first socket membermay be a seat or shaped recess for receiving the second socket member. There does not need to be a mechanical connection between the first socket memberand the second socket member, but rather then first socket memberand the second socket membermay merely be in an abutting relationship in which the second socket membermay rotate relative to the first socket member.

In one example, the first socket memberis shaped such that second socket memberis at least partially received within it. The first socket membermay have an arcuate shape to enable a spherical socket memberto freely rotate therein. In some examples, the curvature of the first socket membersubstantially mirrors the curvature of the second socket member. The first socket membermay have a substantially bowl shape or a truncated spherical opening.

In other examples, the first socket membermay have a series of connected planar walls. In some examples, the first socket memberdoes not provide any restraining force to the received second socket member, but in other examples, the first socket memberis shaped such that it provides a restraining force to the received second socket memberwhen it is received therein. For example, the first socket membermay comprise a circular wall that forms a lip such that the internal diameter at the lip is less than a diameter of the second socket member. In this case, the circular wall may be resiliently deformable such that the second socket membermay be forced within the opening defined by the circular wall and the lip provides some restraining force.

The basemay be configured to be supported on the ground or floor and act as the foundation of a structure. In other examples, the basemay be placed on another structural element, in use (such as foundations and/or a base plate).

The basemay comprise a flangeand a projectionextending from the flange. The flangemay comprise a plurality of openings for receiving one or more fixtures for fixing the baseto the ground or another structural element such as a base plate. The flangemay be substantially circular shaped in plan, such that the basehas rotational symmetry. That is to say that the basemay be rotated about a central axis (or longitudinal axis) and its appearance would not be changed (except for the position of any openings for receiving one or more fixtures).

In one example, the first socket membercomprises one or more internal ridges (or protrusions or rings) that are configured to increase the resistance of movement of the second socket memberrelative to the first socket member. That is to say that the internal ridges increase the friction between the first socket memberand the second socket member.

The projectionmay be located centrally on the flange(i.e., on the central axis of the base) or offset from a centre of the flange. In one example, the projectionincludes a proximal endand a distal end. The projectionis configured to extend from the flangeat the distal end. The proximal endof the projectionmay be shaped to form the first socket member. The outside diameter of the projectionis less than an outside diameter of the flange.

The projectionhas an outer surface. The outer surface may be the outer radial surface on the projection. The outer surface may comprise an attachment portionthat is configured to couple with the locking memberto secure the locking memberto the basein use.

In one example, the attachment portionis a thread that is configured to couple with a corresponding internal thread of the locking membersuch that the locking memberand the basemay be screwed together. In other examples, the attachment portioncomprises a ratchet and pawl configuration.

The basemay include one or more strengthening ribs to increase the strength of the base