Agricultural Fencing

The present invention relates to agricultural fencing and, in particular, to raising the height of agricultural fencing, to fence posts, to droppers, to coupling tubes, to cantilever arms, and to clips for agricultural fences.

Many agricultural fences utilise tricuspid steel posts which may have a Y or a T transverse cross-sectional shape. Traditionally such steel posts are spaced about 4-5 m apart and normally there are a series of panels denoted by wooden, and sometimes concrete, posts with approximately four or five steel post between each pair of wooden or concrete posts.

In recent times a steel post of increased thickness, but the same Y-shape, has been used and these posts are sufficiently strong to enable the wooden or concrete posts to be dispensed with. That is, apart from the strainer post, or end assembly, at each end, the fence uses the same steel posts along its entire length. Such increased thickness posts are sold in Australia under the Registered Trade Marks BEEFY (Clipex) or Max Y (Waratah).

Such fences are intended to keep domestic stock in and are not overly concerned about wild animals such as dingoes, wild dogs, kangaroos or deer. Such fences, termed inclusion fences, are approximately waist high being typically approximately 1.2 m in height. Such fences are built from posts having a length of approximately 1.8 m which are driven into the ground approximately 600 mm.

However, recently another form of fence, termed an exclusion fence, has been constructed and these are of approximately head height being typically 1.8 m in height and are intended to exclude the above-mentioned wild animals.

The dilemma for the farmer having an inclusion fence is that in order to achieve the functionality of an exclusion fence, it was until very recent times necessary to erect a new fence using lengthy steel posts intended for head high use. Such posts are typically approximately 2.4 m long and are driven into the soil approximately 600 mm deep. This can be a difficult task to undertake without specialised equipment. Such posts, and rolls of netting which are approximately 1.8 m high, are very expensive, heavy and awkward to handle without expensive specialised machinery.

One approach to overcoming this dilemma is to increase the height of the existing fence. International Patent Application Nos WO 2016/019436 (Cameron French) and WO 2021/000012 (Wireman Pty Limited) illustrate two fencing arrangements which enable a fence post extension to be erected above an existing fence post. Such fence post extensions are typically approximately 600 mm in length so that a waist high fence approximately 1.2 m high can be raised in height to just under 1.8 m.

However, there are many circumstances where a fence height of 1.8 m is not actually high enough to prevent kangaroos and/or deer from jumping over the fence. Such animals are known to jump over fences 2 m high. In order to achieve extra height. it is desirable to use an additional fence post, not merely a fence post extension, coaxially installed above each existing fence post, in order to achieve the necessary height. U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,093 (Christman) discloses a connecting or coupling tube or sleeve which enables the coaxial interconnection of two such fence posts.

Furthermore, Australian Innovation Patent No. 2021 107 322 (InfraBuild Wire Pty Limited) discloses a two-part assembly which enables two Y-shaped posts to be bolted together in an end-to-end coaxial arrangement. This proposal requires both adjustment of the top wire(s) of the existing waist high fence and for the upper post to be held in position during the bolting procedure. A further problem with this arrangement is that the uppermost holes of the lower fence post and the lowermost holes of the upper fence post, are occupied by the bolts joining the post together. As a consequence, there is a difficulty in locating any wires close to the join and a horizontally extending gap in the fence at approximately waist height is often the result.

Droppers are widely used to maintain the spacing between horizontal wires in a fence, particularly where the fence crosses over patches of rocky ground and therefore conventional fence posts such as steel star pickets cannot be driven into the ground.

Droppers are also used in lieu of star pickets as an economy measure where, for example, every second star picket is sometimes replaced by a dropper. Australian Patent Application Nos 55838/73; 16620/83; 48953/85; 20939/92 and 45872/96 are indicative of this art.

Agricultural fences consisting of a series of spaced apart, parallel, substantially vertical metal posts, or pickets have various horizontally extending wires connected to the pickets. Normally the pickets include prefabricated holes. A clip formed from a piece of wire having two ends is used to retain the horizontally extending wires to the posts. Normally this is done by engaging a respective wire end of the clip with a corresponding one of a pair of holes in the post.

Australian Innovation Patent No 2021 107 345 entitled Post Retainer and Australian Registered Design No 2021 15397 entitled Post Clip, both in the name of InfraBuild Wire Pty Limited; Australian Patent Application No 2021 218 235 entitled Fence Clip and Australian Design Registration No 2021 13779 entitled Fence Clip both in the name of Southern Wire Pty Ltd; and Australian Design Registrations Nos 2017 17729 and 2019 17384 both in the name of Austral Wire Products Pty Ltd, exemplify this art.

The Genesis of the present invention is a desire to provide an improved fencing system.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a multifunction fence post component for use with elongated tricuspid fence posts, each of said fence posts having a generally Y-shaped or T-shaped transverse cross-sectional shape in which said Y comprises a stem and two V arms each of which has an outer edge and said T comprises a stem and crosspiece having two outer edges, said multifunction fence post component comprising an elongate sleeve having a longitudinal axis, said sleeve having a generally C-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration with a shallow V-shaped back portion having two flanks each of which terminates in an acute V-shaped elbow having a free arm extending therefrom, said free arms extending towards each other and forming a longitudinally extending open mouthed slot dimensioned to receive said fence post stem, and the distance between said elbows being dimensioned to receive said fence post outer edges.

Preferably the multifunction fence post component can be a coupling tube for joining two elongated tricuspid fence posts end to end, a fence post extender, a fence post, and/or a dropper.

Preferably where the component is a coupling tube intended to couple together fence posts of different sizes, then the component can take the form of an aligned pair of coupling tubes of different sizes.

Preferably the fence post(s) is/are symmetrical about said stem and said component has a first axis of symmetry extending between said flanks and a second axis of symmetry extending between said elbows.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of rolling the component as defined in the above paragraph, said method comprising the steps of:

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of extending the height of a first, lower, tricuspid fence post having a generally Y or T-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration by co-axially locating a second, upper, like fence post thereabove, said method comprising the steps of:

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of extending the height of a first, lower, tricuspid fence post having a generally Y-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration by coaxially locating a second upper, similar fence post thereabove, said second fence post being more slender than said first post, said method comprising the steps of:

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a tricuspid fence post of substantially Y-shaped configuration and having a pointed tip, wherein a circular aperture is formed in said post closely adjacent said tip.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an internal strut used to support in cantilever fashion a fence component as defined above, said strut comprising a substantially rectangular strip curved about its longitudinal axis into a generally C-shaped configuration and curved transversely into a substantially V-shaped configuration.

In addition, there is disclosed a vertical strut to support a pair of cantilever arms having a V-shaped configuration, said strut being elongate and having a longitudinal axis, and this being slit along said axis at its upper end to form two tabs which are bent or curved away from said axis.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a agricultural fence clip fabricated from wire and comprising a helical torsion spring having at least one turn and a longitudinal axis, and a pair of arms; each of said arms extending from a corresponding end of said torsion spring and terminating in a re-entrant hook, and the torsion spring when viewed along said longitudinal axis appearing at the apex of a V formed from said arms.

As seen in, the coupling tubeof the first preferred embodiment takes the form of a steel strip which is rolled into a sleeve having a lozenge like configuration when viewed in cross-section. The tube has a longitudinal axisand a longitudinally extending open mouthed slotso that the transverse cross-sectional configuration resembles the letter C.

The tubehas a back portionwhich has two flanks,between which is a shallow V-shaped bendof approximately 120° and preferably lying within the range of 110-150°. Extending away from the bend, the flanks,respectively terminate in two corresponding acute V-shaped elbows,, each of which has a corresponding free arm,. The V shaped elbows,have a bend of approximately 60° and preferably lying within the range of 50-80°. The free arms,each terminate in a corresponding edge of the slot.

As is apparent from, the coupling tube comes in two sizes, the smaller size tubebeing dimensioned to mate with a conventional Y-shaped star picketand the larger tube sizebeing dimensioned to mate with the larger more recent Y-shaped BEEFY or MaxY style star picket. The corresponding angles for the larger star picketare the acute V being approximately 60° and preferably lying within the range of 50-70°, whilst the shallow V-shaped bend is approximately 120° and preferably lying within the range of 110-150°.

As is also apparent from, the coupling tubewhen viewed in transverse cross-section has two axes of symmetry or reflection. The first axis of symmetry extends vertically up and down the page between the flanks and is aligned with the stem,of the star pickets. A second axis, but of partial symmetry or reflection, extends from left to right across the page and is aligned with the elbows,.

As illustrated in, the tube,can be provided with one or more aperturesin one, or both, of the flanks,. The apertureis sized to retain a fastener in the form of a TEK screw. A conventional rivet (not illustrated) can also be used in place of the screw. The object of this fastener is to provide a protrusion into the hollow interiorof the tube,which retains the tube,in place when positioned on the star picket or other post.

Turning now to, the tube,is fabricated from flat strip steel materialwhich is initially punched in order to provide apertures such as aperturesin the finished product and at the desired aperture locations. Thereafter, the strip is passed through a series of rolls or rollers,which transform the stripin a number of stages from a flat configuration into the C-shaped configuration illustrated in. As schematically illustrated in, each of the roller series,takes the form of a number of individual rollers which progressively transform the stripin the desired manner. This is a conventional roll forming technique. Thereafter the rolled stripis cut, or docked, so as to form the desired length of the coupling tube,.

Turning now to, a star picketoris illustrated having a notchand a tangat its upper end and a series of aperturesformed in its stem. The lowermost one of the aperturesgenerally indicates the approximate depth to which the post,should be driven into the soil. At least one brand of star picket,is also provided with a large generally elliptical apertureadjacent its tip. This aperture is intended to enable the posts to be securely connected to each other for shipment prior to installation. The apertureis normally underground and therefore is not intended to be utilised to string wire.

illustrates an existing conventional star picketalready positioned in a fence (not illustrated but a conventional waist high fence) and onto which has been slid the lower endof a coupling tube. This sliding action comes to an end when the screwabuts the upper end of the post. With the coupling tubethus positioned on the post, a like postis able to be slid into the upper endof the coupling tube. This brings the lowermost pointof the upper postinto contact with the fastenerand/or the upper end of the existing lower fence post. As a consequence, the upper, like, postis held in position and its aperturesare available for wire to be strung so as to increase the height of the fence.

It follows from the foregoing that the smaller size coupling tubeis available to couple two conventional star picketstogether in co-axial configuration so as to effectively provide a head high, or higher, fence post. Typically, such a coaxially joined fence post can be 1.2 m+1.8 m equals 3 m in total above the ground. Alternatively, the added fence post can be shorter than the conventional 1.8 m post. For example, if a shorter post of 1.35 m is used then the height of the heightened fence is 1.2 m+1.35 m equals 2.55 m. In particular, such heightened fences will be effective in preventing kangaroos and deer from jumping over the fence.

illustrates an alternative arrangement for coaxially connecting two conventional star pickets. In this arrangement, the lower star picketis in the fence as before and is effectively unchanged. The coupling tubeis slid into position as before, however, the upper conventional star picketis inverted before being slid into the coupling tube. This has the consequence that the “upper” end of each of the star picketsare adjacent each other. This has the advantage that a tie wirecan be passed through the two “uppermost” aperturesof the adjacent poststhereby tying the two poststogether. This resists upward movement of the upper postas, for example, happens when the coaxially aligned posts are located in a dip or other undulation in the ground surface and the tension in the fencing wires tends to pull the upper postupwardly. In this configuration, the apertureadjacent the pointof the upper postis available for a top wire to be strung on the fence.

Preferably, in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, the normally ground engaging tipof the postis provided with a small circular apertureof the same size as the conventional aperturesof the conventional post. This is very counter-intuitive because such an aperturein a conventional postwould be buried under the soil and would have no role to play in the fence. Indeed, if the postofis used as the ground engaging (or lower) post of the fence, then the aperturehas no role to play. However, where the postis used as the upper post of the fence, then the aperturecan be used to support the uppermost wire of the fence. This will normally be “head high” or higher.

Turning now to, a conventional T-postas used in the USA is illustrated. The post has a stemand a crossbar. The T-posthas no apertures but instead has a series of bumps or protrusionson the surface of the crossbarfacing away from the stem. A spade (not illustrated but conventional) is sometimes included on the T-post. A coupling tubecan be dimensioned to fit the T-postas illustrated in. This enables the coupling tubeto be slid onto the upper end of one T-post, and the lower end of another T-postto be slid into the upper end of the couplingto complete the coaxial installation as illustrated in.

A particular advantage of the coupling tubeas seen inis that whereas the coupling tube of the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,093 covers up the protrusionsadjacent the join between the two post, the coupling tubeof this embodiment enables the heads of spaced apart TEK screwsto substitute for the covered protrusions. Thus wirescan be held in place by corresponding tie wiresso as to hold each wire between either a pair of screwsor one screwand the nearest adjacent protrusion. In addition, the TEK screwsstop the coupling tubesliding down the post.

Furthermore, most of the variation in the T-posts available on the US market is concentrated in the horizontal extent, or width, of the stem, whereas the width of the crossbaris, by comparison, relatively constant. A particular advantage of the tubeis that its open mouthed slotreceives the stemand can thus accommodate essentially any variation in the width of the stem. That is, the tubeis, by design, adapted to accommodate a wide range of the T-posts available on the US market.

Turning now to, the situation occurring most often in Australia is that the existing fence which is to have its height raised, is formed using conventional star pickets. As a consequence, a conventional star picket(possibly of shorter length than is conventional and therefore less expensive) is located above the existing star picket, as illustrated in. However, there are a number of fences which are formed from the BEEFY style star picketsand which the fence owner wishes to raise in height. Since the BEEFY style star picketis considerably more expensive than the conventional star picket, it is not an economic proposition to locate one BEEFY style star picketabove another BEEFY style star picket. In general, domestic stock cannot reach the upper fence post, with the result that it is subjected to relatively little strain in normal use. Therefore, it is economically desirable that where the lower posts are the BEEFY star pickets, then the upper posts should be the less expensive conventional star pickets.

As illustrated in, this is achieved by sliding the lower endof a coupling tubeonto the uppermost end of the existing, ground engaging BEEFY star picket, and then sliding a conventional star picketinto the upper endof a slimmer coupling tube. Then the lower endof the of the slimmer coupling tubeis slid into the upper endof the larger coupling tube.

As seen in, the coupling tubeis dimensioned to fit within the interiorof the coupling tube. If desired, a TEK screwcan be passed through the back portionof each of the coupling tubes,to permanently interconnect the two tubes. If required, a tie wire(as seen in) can be placed through the “uppermost” apertureof each of the posts,so as to tie the conventional star picketto the BEEFY star picketand thereby prevent the conventional star picketfrom moving upwardly relative to the star picket. For example, this may be required in undulating ground where the star pickets are located in a dip and therefore the wire tension urges the fence posts upwardly. It is also possible to use TEK screwswith a longer shank so as to drive the tip of one or more TEK screwsinto frictional engagement with the star picketor, or both. This enables the tubesandto be clamped or fixed to the pickets,.

Turning now to, a coupling tubecan surprisingly be dimensioned to receive either a conventional Y-shaped star picket postof Australia, or a conventional T-shaped postof America. The postis illustrated in dot-dash lines inand the postis illustrated in dashed lines in. It will be seen that the bumps or protrusionsof the T-postare accommodated in the interiorof the coupling tube. A significant advantage of this arrangement is that the same rolling equipment can be used to produce products for two significant but different markets.

Turning now to, the dropperof the preferred embodiment takes the form of a steel strip which is rolled into a sleeve having a lozenge like configuration when viewed in cross-section. The tube has a longitudinal axisand a longitudinally extending open mouthed slotso that the transverse cross-sectional configuration resembles the letter C.

The tubehas a back portionwhich has two flanks,between which there is a shallow V-shaped bendof approximately 120° and preferably lying within the range of 110-150°. Extending away from the bend, the flanks,respectively terminate two corresponding acute V-shaped elbows,, each of which has a corresponding free arm,. The V shaped elbows,have a bend of approximately 60° and preferably lying within the range of 50-80°. The free arms,each terminate in a corresponding edge of the slot.

As illustrated, the dropperis of indefinite length. The dropperis preferably rolled from sheet steel such as galvanised high tensile sheet steel which is approximately 1.6 mm in thickness. Since the length of the dropper depends upon the height of the fence, the droppercan be manufactured in different sizes, typically ranging from 900 mm to 2.8 m. Preferably the dropperis rolled using the same rolls as are used to roll the post coupling tubeof.

It has been found that the configuration inherent in the dropperis very strong and is therefore much stronger than conventional droppers used hitherto. Normally a series of holes (not illustrated but conventional) are punched into the sheet steel used to form the dropperprior to the dropperbeing rolled. These holes can receive wires directly or can be used to locate a clip which maintains the wire in relation to the hole.

Turning now to, a postof Y-shaped configuration and indefinite length is illustrated having the tip apertureas described above. The other aperturescan either be of conventional configuration and spacing, or can be of a different configuration and spacing, if desired. Also, the length of the postcan be selected as desired to co-operate with the height of the existing ground engaging posts, so as to determine the height of the extended fence posts, and thus the height of the extended fence.

As seen in, in a still further embodiment a sleeve, of suitable dimensions and configuration, can be provided with a pair of opposite apertures(only one of which is visible in). Each of the aperturesis located in a corresponding one of the elbows,and is thus able to receive a pan headed metal thread boltwhich has a shank length which enables it to extend right across the sleeveand engage with a nut. Tightening the nutonto the boltdraws the elbows,together, and thus clamps both posts such as,,. The position of the aperturesand boltis preferably midway along the sleeveso that the boltsits between the pair of posts.

Alternatively, the boltand nutcan be replaced by a self-tapping fastenerwith metal cutting threads and having a shank long enough to extend between and into both apertures. Thus, the fastenercan also be used to draw the two elbows,together and thereby clamp the posts.