Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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7723-1
The present invention relates to post covers
and to cover members for assembly with a plurality of
like cover members to form a cover about an elongate
object, e.g. a post, beam or the like.
In the building construction industry and other
fields, there exists a need for providing a cover about
posts and the like, e.g. square-section posts of nominal
6 X 6 dimensions, in order to protect the posts and to
improve the aesthetic appearance thereof.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present
invention to provide a novel and improved cover member
for a post.
The present invention provides a cover member
for an elongate object, the cover member being intended
for use with a plurality of other cover members for
assembly around the object and the cover member
comprising: an elongate generally sheet-shaped body
portion, means extending along opposite longitudinal
edges of the body portion for securing the longitudinal
edges to juxtaposed longitudinal edges of adjacent ones
of the cover members when the cover member is assembled
with the other cover members to form a covering around
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the object, and reinforcement formations extending along
the body portion for strengthening the body portion.
In one embodiment of the invention, the
securing means comprise edge projections defining a
U-shaped recess along one longitudinal edge of the body
portion, with a single edge projection along the other
edge of the body portion, this single edge projection
being interengageable in the U-shaped recess of an adja-
cent, similar cover member for connecting together the
cover members at their longitudinal edges. Preferably,
the edge projections include, along the other longitudi-
nal edge of the cover member, a projection of hook-shaped
cross-section, which is interengageable with a like pro-
jection on an adjacent, like cover member.
The spacer projections may comprise longitudi-
nal ribs on the body portion, and these ribs may be
formed in one piece with the body portion in, for
example, a plastic extrusion process.
The invention will be more readily understood
from the following description of the preferred embodi-
ment thereof given, by way of example, with reference to
the accompanying drawing, in which,-
Figure 1 shows a broken-away view in perspec-
tive of a post cover embodying the present invention and
assembled around a post;
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Figure 2 shows a broken-away view in perspec-
tive of the post cover of Figure 1, with the post omitted
to show the shape of the interior of the post cover; and
Figure 3 shows a broken-away end view of a pair
of cover members forming parts of the post cover of
Figures 1 and 2.
The post cover illustrated in the drawings
comprises four cover members 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d which
are identical to one another and, therefore, only one of
which, namely the cover member 10a, will be described in
detail. The cover members 10a - 10d have smooth outer
surfaces 11 and may be made of any design colour. Also,
the outer surfaces 11 may be modified by providing a
design formation to provide an aesthetically plea~ing
appaarance.
The post cover member 10a comprises a body por-
tion 12 in the form of a flat, elongate, sheet-shaped
body portion.
In practice, the cover member 10a i9 cut to
length, to suit its intended location of use on a post
14. The width of the cover member 10a, indicated as
width W in Figure 2, is slightly greater than the width w
of the post 14 so as to enable longitudinal ribs 16 on a
opposed pairs of the cover members 10a - 10d to re~t
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against the opposite surfaces of the post 14. The inven-
tion is not restricted to any particular post size.
The cover member 10a is formed, along one
longitudinal edge thereof, with a pair of elongate pro-
jections 18 and 20, which are perpendicular to a major
surface 19 of the body portion 12 and define between them
a U-shaped recess 21, the ribs 16 likewise being perpen-
dicular to the surface 21.
The projection 18 formed at the extreme edge of
the body portion 12 as an edge flange.
Spaced inwardly from the extreme edge of the
body portion 12, the projection 20 is formed with a hook-
shaped cross-section, as can be seen from Figure 3.
The opposite longitudinal edge of the body por-
tion 10a is formed with a hook-shaped projection 22,
which is insertable into the U-shaped receqs 21 formed
between the projections 18 and 20 of the adjacent cover
member 10b, with the hook-shaped projection 20 inter-
engaged with the hook-shaped projection 22 in order to
releasably secure together the adjacent cover members 1Oa
and 1Ob.
When the four cover members 10a - 10b are
assembled as shown in Figure 1 around the post, with the
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projecting ribs 16 engaging the outer surfaces of the
post, these ribs 16 serve to space the inner surfaces of
the body portions 12 of the cover members 10a - 10b from
the surfaces of the post 14.
The ribs 16 project from the body portion 19 by
a distance which, added to the thickness of the body por-
tion 19, is at least equal to the spacing of the projec-
tion 20, including the thickness of the latter, from the
opposed side face of the flange 18, so that sufficient
space is provided beween the post and the flange 18 to
accommodate the projection 20.
The above-described cover members are pre-
ferably made of plastic material, e.g. PVC or the like,
by an extrusion process.
The ribs 16 serve not only to space the body
portion 19 from the post but also to strengthen the body
portion 19 so as to resist deformation of the cover
member when the cover member is exposed to hot weather.
The ribs 16 also prevent the cover members from rattling
on the post in response to the wind. However, it is also
feasible to provide ribs~ in addition to or instead o~
the ribs 16, on the outer surface 11 of the cover member.
Furthermore, instead of ribs, other reinforce-
ment formation, e.g. corrugations or channel-formations,
may be employed.
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The invention is not restricted to cover mem-
bers for posts but may be employed for cover members for
other elongate objects, e.g. because, stair treads and
hand rails, and in the case of the latter may be curved
at their longitudinal edge portions.
The present cover members may be readily
removed from their post or other elongate object, e.g.
for reassembly elsewhere or to provide access to post or
the like.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the
art, various other modifications may be made in the
above-described embodiment of the invention, and accor-
dingly the invention is not restricted to the features of
this embodiment but may varied within the scope of the
appended claims.
