Locking and Lifting Mechanism for Safety Fence Support Post
First Claim
1. A support post (22) for a safety fence assembly (20), the post (22) havinga floor engaging end (30),a shaft (42) coupled at one end to said floor engaging end (30) and having a free end (44) which is threaded along at least a portion of its length,a first longitudinally extending telescoping tube (36) having an internal nut (46) for threaded engagement with said shaft (42),a second longitudinally extending telescoping tube (34) adapted for sliding telescoping engagement with said first telescoping tube;
- a ceiling engaging end (32) coupled to said second telescoping tube; and
an over-centre locking lever assembly (60) for fixing the relative position of the first (36) and second (34) telescoping tubes.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A support post (22) and safety fence assembly (24) in which the post (22) has a telescoping inner and outer tube (34, 36) and is supported on a threaded internal shaft (42) coupled to a floor engaging end (30) and ceiling engaging end (32) preferably formed with claws that have a number of sharp penetrating points for firm engagement with a support surface. An over-centre locking lever assembly (60) is provided for fixing the relative position of the inner tube and outer telescoping tubes (34, 36).
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A support post (22) for a safety fence assembly (20), the post (22) having
a floor engaging end (30), a shaft (42) coupled at one end to said floor engaging end (30) and having a free end (44) which is threaded along at least a portion of its length, a first longitudinally extending telescoping tube (36) having an internal nut (46) for threaded engagement with said shaft (42), a second longitudinally extending telescoping tube (34) adapted for sliding telescoping engagement with said first telescoping tube; -
a ceiling engaging end (32) coupled to said second telescoping tube; and an over-centre locking lever assembly (60) for fixing the relative position of the first (36) and second (34) telescoping tubes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A support post (22) for a safety fence assembly (20), the post having:
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a floor engaging end (30); a shaft (42) coupled at one end to said floor engaging end (30) and having a free end coupled to a first longitudinally extending telescoping tube; a second longitudinally extending telescoping tube adapted for sliding telescoping engagement with said first telescoping tube; a ceiling engaging end (32) coupled to said second telescoping tube; and an over-centre locking lever assembly (60) for fixing the relative position of the first and second telescoping tubes (34, 36), the over-centre locking lever assembly (60) including a collar (56) slideable longitudinally over an inner (34) one of said telescoping first and second tubes (34, 36), and a lever (66) pivotally mounted to the collar on a first pivot pin (70) and pivotable between a release position where the collar is freely movable on said inner telescoping tube and a lock position where the lever has moved past a center line (72) of the first pivot pin parallel to the support post and the collar (62) is tilted to grip the inner telescoping tube (34). - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. An over-centre locking lever assembly (60) for fixing the relative position of telescoping inner and outer tubes (34, 36) in a support post (22) for a safety fence assembly (20), the assembly including a collar (62) slideable longitudinally over the inner one of said telescoping tubes (34), and a lever (66) pivotally mounted to the collar (62) on a first pivot pin (70) and pivotable between a release position where the collar (62) is freely movable on said inner telescoping tube (34) and a lock position where the lever (66) has moved past a center line (72) of the first pivot pin (70) parallel to the support post (22), the lever (66) being bifurcated at an inner end into a pair of cam portions (68) that receive the first pivot pin (70) therebetween, the cam portions (68) being adapted to bear against an upper peripheral edge of the outer one of said telescoping tubes (36) and having a curvature and shape adapted to raise the first pivot pin (70) so that the collar (62) is raised above the upper peripheral edge of the telescoping outer tube (36) and tilted to grip an outer surface of the inner telescoping inner tube (34).
- 25. An over-centre locking lever assembly (60) for fixing the relative position of telescoping inner and outer tubes (34, 36) in a support post (22) for a safety fence assembly (20), the assembly including a collar (62) slideable longitudinally over the inner one of said telescoping tubes (34), and a lever (66) pivotally mounted to the collar (62) on a first pivot pin (70) and pivotable between a release position where the collar (62) is freely movable on said inner telescoping tube (34) and a lock position where the lever (66) has moved past a center line (72) of the pivot pin (70) parallel to the support post (22), the lever (66) being bifurcated at an inner end into a pair of leg portions (66a, 66b) that receives the first pivot pin (70) therebetween, the over-centre locking lever assembly (120) further including a pivot bar (126) pivotable on a second pivot pin (128) extending between said leg portions and positioned between the first pivot pin (70) and an outer end of the lever (66), the pivot bar (126) having a free end to engage an upper peripheral edge of an outer one of said first and second telescoping tubes (34, 36) so that the collar (62) may be raised above the upper peripheral edge of the telescoping outer tube (36) and tilted to grip an outer surface of the telescoping inner tube (34).
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27. A wire clip (110) for securing a post (22) to a fence panel (28), the wire clip (110) having a bend (114) in a midportion and open hooks (112) at opposite ends.
Specification