EP0102978B1 - Method for manufacturing pins particularly intended for anchoring in the ground posts or stakes, and pins obtained thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for manufacturing a pin from a band, for example a metal band, comprising a prismatic sheath of which at least one of the faces is extended by a conformed fin to facilitate the vertical penetration thereof in the ground and to provide for a transversal resistance; the method is characterized in that it comprises the profiling of a band intended to the formation of a plurality of pins so as to form, on each of its edges, a straight prismatic sleeve (1, 2) having throughout its length an opening (11, 21) along its connection ridge with the intermediary band portion (3) joining the two sleeves, the cutting of the profiled band, on one hand perpendicularly to the generatrix of said prismatic sleeves (1, 2) to form the sections (A1 B1, A2 B2) of equal length at the pin and, on the other hand, for each section, according to a diagonal plane (A1, B1). Application to the manufacturing of pins for fences.

Description

The invention relates to anchoring in the ground, more particularly, but not exclusively, of fence posts or stakes.

In the first addition to French patent n ° 79 09679 filed on April 10, 1979 by the Applicant for: Anchor intended for the fixing in the ground of posts or stakes and devices serving for the insertion of this ankle, an ankle consisting of by two portions of profiled metal plates, preferably in a zig-zag, each forming a shaped fin to facilitate its vertical penetration into the ground and to offer, when pressed, a transverse resistance, said fin having a folded edge so as to constitute a prismatic sheath open along an edge, these two sheaths being nested one inside the other to form a central prismatic sheath prevailing over the entire height of the ankle.

Such an anchor provides effective anchoring of a post which is simply inserted into the sheath, without the need to be sealed. It is easy to install and sufficiently rigid, even when made of thin sheet metal.

A similar device is also described with its production process in the document FR-A-2 453 255. This process provides for the folding with the press of a trapezoidal blank cut from a strip.

The subject of the present invention is a method of manufacturing dowels of the aforementioned type, capable of reducing machining operations and metal scraps, of authorizing continuous manufacture from a strip and of authorizing the production of shapes varied adapted to all needs.

The method according to the invention is mainly characterized in that the aforementioned sheath is obtained by profiling the two edges of a strip intended for the formation of several dowels, while each of the fins is obtained by cutting, on the one hand perpendicular to the sheath generators to form sections of profiled strip each having a length corresponding to the height of the ankle and on the other hand, for each section, along a diagonal plane.

This diagonal cutout of each section provides two fins, optionally folded or centered during the edge profiling operation, the sheaths of which advantageously have only a slot intended to allow the interlocking of the two sheaths of two fins. which will preferably be assembled together by sliding one into the other of their respective sleeves, will be cut at a bevel at one end and, without additional machining, shaped into a point suitable for penetration, the scrap of metal corresponding being very small and falling by itself when cutting diagonally.

Other particularities, as well as the advantages of the invention will become clear in the light of the detailed description below.

• La figure 1 est un schéma des tronçons de bande profilée et découpée destiné à illustrer le procédé de l'invention ;
• La figure 2 représente l'assemblage de demi-tronçons de bande pour former une cheville ;
• La figure 3 est une vue de profil d'une gaine de cheville obtenue par interverrouillage des deux fourreaux des demi-tronçons respectifs : et
• Les figures 4 et 5 représentent en vue de bout deux assemblages différents des mêmes demi-tronçons à pliage dissymétrique.

In the attached drawing:

• FIG. 1 is a diagram of the sections of profiled and cut strip intended to illustrate the method of the invention;
• FIG. 2 represents the assembly of half-sections of strip to form a dowel;
• FIG. 3 is a side view of an ankle sheath obtained by interlocking the two sleeves of the respective half-sections: and
• Figures 4 and 5 show an end view of two different assemblies of the same half-sections with asymmetrical folding.

The method of the invention, in a first embodiment, consists in establishing, from a very long strip, for example of sheet metal, a continuous profile, by means of a press, by folding the edges of the strip to form sheaths 1 and 2 and, optionally, by folding or bending the intermediate strip portion 3, and to proceed, also continuously, to the cutting of said profile into sections A, B ,, A ₂ B ₂ , and by means of cutouts which will be successively perpendicular to the generatrices of the sleeves and diagonals, that is to say going from a section angle such as A ₁ B ₁ to the opposite corner of this section.

All the half-sections A "B, etc. are strictly identical in the embodiment of FIG. 1 where the intermediate strip portion 3 has remained flat and where the sleeves 1 and 2 are perfectly symmetrical. The same would be the case if the strip portion 3 had undergone a symmetrical folding, the sleeves have a prismatic surface open along an edge, this opening presenting itself as a simple slot 11, 21. It will be noted that, under these conditions, the diagonal cutting results, for each half section, a small drop of metal such as 10 or 20 which falls by itself. No further machining is necessary to eliminate these drops, thanks to which an angle of attack is obtained on a fold, which increases the rigidity of the spout and allows better penetration of the ankle into the ground.

It goes without saying that instead of practicing the cuts on a continuously running strip, one could use a fixed cutting train, or otherwise arrange the order of operations, provided however to operate on several lengths of profiled strip at a time, each length corresponding to the height of an ankle, as will be seen below.

Indeed, although it is possible to use as an anchor each of the profile half-sections A ₁ , B ₁ , etc., it will be preferable to form each anchor, to assemble two half-sections presenting, as shown in FIG. 2 , the half-section A, behind the half-section B ₁ , the latter having retained the portion illustrated in FIG. 1, while A, has been turned over so that the tip 22 of its sheath comes into engagement the slot of the sheath B ₁ , at the straight cut end of the latter sheath: it can be seen that thus two of the faces of the sheath A ₁ engage inside the sheath B ₁ , while the third face of the sheath of A ₁ , which is extended by the fin, remains outside the sheath of B ₁ . This arrangement appears in FIG. 3, where the faces of A ₁ have been designated by A ₁₁ , A ₁₂ , A ₁₃ and those of B, by B ₁₁ , B ₁₂ , B ₁₃ . It is clear that, if the dimensions of the two straight sections of the two sleeves are strictly identical, there will remain an interval a between the faces B ₁₁ and A ₁₃ . It may be advantageous, in order to obtain better nesting, to eliminate this interval by reducing the cross section of one of the sleeves (here that of A,) relative to the other (B ₁ ).

There is shown in dotted lines, in FIG. 2, the final position of A ₁ in the finished anchor. The two oblique points of the sleeves of A ₁ and B ₁ obviously facilitate the penetration of the. peg in the ground. No welding is necessary to make the anchor. The central sheath obtained by interlocking the two sleeves has a double thickness of metal on its three faces, which improves its rigidity. In addition, a wide variety of shapes can be obtained, as required.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, dowels have been illustrated, the central sheath of which has an equilateral triangle as a cross section: it should be noted that this particularly advantageous embodiment is very difficult to produce with known methods.

Depending on requirements, it is obviously possible to produce, by the method described, sleeves of square, rectangular section, or having another suitable polygonal section.

Instead of being flat, as shown in Figure 1 or symmetrically folded as shown in Figure 2, the intermediate strip portion connecting the two sleeves could have a highly asymmetrical profile, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. In this case, according to the way in which the two half-sections A ₁ and B ₁ are engaged one in the other, one obtains an almost flat dowel profile, as illustrated in FIG. 4, or a dowel profile where the two fins form an acute angle between them, as illustrated in FIG. 5, which can be advantageous in certain uses.

The profiled strip could, instead of being metallic, be made of plastic, certain known forming techniques include for example both the exercise of a traction and a push on the profile during forming, allowing to produce semi-closed profiled edges on such a strip.

Claims (8)

1. A method of making, from a strip, a peg including a prismatic sheath from at least one surface of which extends a fin shaped so as to facilitate its downward penetration into the ground and provide strength in the transverse direction, characterized in that the method comprises : shaping a strip adapted to form a plurality of pegs so as to define on each edge thereof a straight prismatic sleeve (1, 2) having all along its longitudinal dimension an opening (11, 21) extending along its edge which connects it with the intermediate strip portion (3) joining both sleeves to each other ; and cutting said shaped strip both in a direction orthogonal to the generatrixes of said prismatic sleeves (1, 2) to form sections (A₁, B₁, A₂, B₂) the length of which is equal to the vertical dimension of the peg, and, on the other hand, in each said section, along a diagonal plane (A₁, B₁).

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said opening is a slot (11, 21) through which said sleeves (1, 2) can be interlocked.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the two half-sections (A_i, B_I) resulting from said diagonal and generatrix orthogonal cutting are assembled by sliding their respective sleeves into each other.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said intermediate strip portion (3, figure 2) is symetrically bent during the shaping step.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said intermediate strip portion is unsymmetrically bent during the shaping step (figures 4 and 5).

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of said sleeves (1, 2) is shaped as an equilateral triangle.

7. A method according to claim 6, characterized in that said sleeves (A₁₁, A₁₂, A₁₃ and B₁₁, B₁₂, B₁₃) have non-equal cross-sectional areas such that the gap between two of the surfaces (B₁₁, A₁₃) superimposing to each other upon said interlocking becomes reduced.

8. The peg obtained by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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