WO2016005376A1

WO2016005376A1 - Noise reducing fence with decorative cover

Info

Publication number: WO2016005376A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/065456
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carsten Aagerup
Original assignee: Fam. Ag. Holding Aps
Priority date: 2014-07-07
Filing date: 2015-07-07
Publication date: 2016-01-14
Also published as: EP3167123B1; PL3167123T3; DK3167123T3; EP3167123A1

Abstract

A noise reducing fence comprising a number of noise reducing fence sections anchored to the ground on which the fence is erected, a number of decorative cover elements fastened to said noise reducing fence sections and arranged on at least one side of the noise reducing fence sections to at least partially cover the noise reducing fence sections, said decorative cover elements being arranged as four sided frames in the shape of a parallelogram having a top edge and a bottom edge which are parallel to each other and a left side edge and a right side edge which are parallel to each other. Each of said decorative cover elements comprise: a) at least two main support elements arranged parallel with the left and right side edges of the cover element, b) at least two secondary support elements fastened to said at least two main support elements and arranged parallel to the top and bottom edges of the cover element, and c) a number of elongated decorative elements fastened to said at least two secondary support elements said decorative elements being arranged parallel to said main support elements and being arranged to form a screen which is able to at least partially hide the noise reducing fence sections. The connection between the at least two main support elements and the at least two secondary support elements is arranged to allow the angle between the secondary support elements and the main support elements to be adjustable and in that the connection between the decorative elements and the at least two secondary support elements is arranged to allow the angle between the secondary support elements and the decorative elements to be adjustable thereby allowing the parallelogram shape of the decorative cover elements to be adjusted.

Description

Noise reducing fence with decorative cover

The current invention relates to a noise reducing fence with decorative cover as defined in the pre-amble of the first independent claim.

Description of related art

Noise reducing fences are well known in the prior art. It is furthermore well known that noise reducing fences are not particularly attractive in

appearance and as such multiple solutions are known to cover said fences with different types of decorative covers. One example of a noise reducing fence with a decorative cover is disclosed in EP1341969.

However, most prior art noise reducing fences suffer from a number of drawbacks. One common drawback is that prior art decorative covers typically have a fixed rectangular shape and as such cannot be adapted well to applications where the ground on which the fence is erected slopes up or down. In prior art solutions it is therefore typically necessary to arrange the covers in a stepped fashion since in most cases it is desired/necessary to keep the left and right side edges of the cover elements vertical.

Furthermore, due to the stepped nature of the arrangement, a portion of the cover element often needs to be placed underground (see figure 1 ) or a hole occurs underneath the fence (see figure 2).

Another drawback associated with most prior art solutions is that the width of the cover elements is to a large extent fixed and as such it is difficult to adapt the cover elements to irregular spacing of the ground supports of the fence. In most cases, post like elements are placed in the ground at regular intervals which provide a support for the fence, see figure 7. The cover elements are then connected to the posts placed in the ground. If an obstacle is found in the ground, for example a large rock, an electrical cable, a sewer pipe, etc., which prevents placing the posts at regular intervals, the cover elements cannot be attached properly to the posts. As such the cover elements need to be shortened or otherwise modified. This provides for a non-uniform visual impression of the fence, see figure 8.

Furthermore, in many prior art solutions, for example EP1341969, the cover elements form a structural component of the noise reducing fence. If a cover element is damaged, an entire portion of the fence needs to be replaced. Furthermore, when building the fence, both the support elements, the noise reducing elements and the cover elements all have to be assembled at the same time. This creates logistical problems. For example, if the delivery of the cover elements is delayed, then the construction of the fence will also be delayed.

Summary of the invention

It is therefore a first object of the invention to provide for a novel type of noise reducing fence with cover elements which can be erected on a sloping ground without the disadvantages usually associated with this.

A second object of the current invention is to provide for a novel type of noise reducing fence with cover elements which can be erected with a uniform visual appearance even if post elements of the noise reducing fence are arranged with a non-uniform spacing due to irregularities in the ground.

A third object of the current invention is to provide for a novel type of noise reducing fence with cover elements where the cover elements are not an essential structural component of the fence. These objects are provided in part according to the features listed in the characterizing part of claim 1 .

Further advantageous features are provided in the dependent claims.

It should be emphasized that the term "comprises/comprising/comprised of when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. For example, if it is stated in the claims that the cover element comprises two main supporting elements, then this should be interpreted such that the cover element comprises at least two main supporting elements. If it is desired to limit the claim to only two main supporting elements, then the word "consists" would be used instead of the word "comprises".

Brief description of the drawings

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to embodiments shown by the enclosed figures. It should be emphasized that the embodiments shown are used for example purposes only and should not be used to limit the scope of the invention.

Figure 1 schematically shows a prior art solution for decorative cover elements for noise reducing fences.

Figure 2 schematically shows a second prior art solution for decorative cover elements for noise reducing fences. Figure 3 schematically shows a first example of a decorative cover element according to the invention. Figure 4 schematically shows a second example of a decorative cover element according to the invention.

Figure 5 schematically shows a detail of one embodiment of a decorative cover element according to the current invention.

Figure 6 schematically shows a detail of another embodiment of a decorative cover element according to the current invention.

Figure 7 schematically shows one arrangement of some noise reducing fence sections of a noise reducing fence.

Figure 8 schematically shows another arrangement of some noise reducing fence sections of a noise reducing fence.

Figure 9 schematically shows a third example of a decorative cover element fastened to a noise reducing fence.

Figure 10 shows an embodiment of a noise reducing fence section with a decorative cover element.

Figure 1 1 shows a schematic cross section view of the noise reducing fence of figure 10 according to the line XI-XI in figure 10.

Figure 12 shows a top perspective view of a main support element of the decorative cover element of figures 10 and 1 1 .

Figure 13 schematically shows another embodiment of a noise reducing fence according to the current invention but without the decorative cover element shown. Figures 14 and 15 schematically show two different types of hangers used to attach a decorative cover element to the noise reducing fence. Figure 16 schematically shows another embodiment of a decorative cover element according to the current invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments Figures 1 and 2 show two typical decorative cover elements 1 ,2 arranged on sloping terrain 3. The figures illustrate one problem with traditional decorative cover elements for noise reducing fences. Since decorative cover elements are typically rectangular and the side edges of the cover elements typically need to be arranged vertically due to the way in which they are connected to the fence, the cover elements need to be arranged in a stepped manner whereby a stepped appearance will occur as shown in figures 1 and 2.

Furthermore, due to the rectangular nature of the cover elements, the cover elements will either need to be placed partly into the ground as shown in figure 1 , or there will be a triangular hole underneath the cover element as shown in figure 2.

Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the outline of two decorative cover elements 10,1 1 according to the current invention. Since the decorative cover element according to the current invention is in the shape of a parallelogram which is adjustable in angle, the shape of the decorative cover element can be adjusted to fit the slope of the underlying terrain 3 while still allowing the side edges of the cover elements to be arranged vertically.

Figure 4 shows a more detailed example of two decorative cover elements 10,1 1 according to the current invention. In the figures, a dotted line is used to illustrate the outline of a single cover element. In the embodiment each decorative cover element 10, 1 1 has a left side edge 12 and a right side edge 13. The left and right side edges are parallel to each other. Furthermore, each decorative cover element has a top edge 14 and a bottom edge 15. The top and bottom edges are parallel to each other. In this way, a parallelogram shape is provided. The structure of the cover element is arranged such that the angle between a side edge and a top or bottom edge can be adjusted to change the parallelogram shape of the cover element.

The cover element further comprises two main support elements 16 which are arranged parallel to the left and right side edges of the cover element. The cover element also comprises four secondary support elements 17 which are arranged parallel to the top and bottom edges of the cover element. In the current embodiment four secondary support elements are used, but in effect, only two are necessary to achieve the main function of the main invention.

The secondary support elements are fastened to the main support elements via a pivotable connection. In one embodiment, the connection could be a bolt which bolts the secondary support elements to the main support elements while still providing a certain amount of adjustability. In another embodiment, the main support element is provided with a number of holes which matches the desired number of secondary support elements and which allow the secondary support elements to pass through the holes and thereby be held loosely in position. The holes in the main support elements would be large enough to allow the secondary support elements to pivot with respect to the main support elements such that the angle between the longitudinal axis of the main support elements and the longitudinal axis of the secondary support elements is adjustable. A range of adjustment between 10 and 50 degrees would be fitting in certain embodiments. In other embodiments smaller ranges for example 10-30 degrees could be accepted. However, the specific range of adjustment will be dependent on the specific application. In one embodiment, the secondary support elements are cylindrical tubes. The tubes could be for example extruded pipes made from plastic or metal. In other embodiments, they could be naturally occurring elongated elements, for example bamboo or willow rods.

In the current embodiment, the secondary support elements extend from one side of the cover element to the other side of the cover element, but they could also be arranged as multiple shorter elements in certain embodiments.

The main support elements are likewise elongated elements. They can be made from different types of materials and in different forms. In the current example, the main support elements extend from the top most secondary support element to the bottommost secondary support element, however other arrangements could also be provided, see for example the embodiment shown in figure 16.

The decorative cover elements 10,1 1 further comprise a number of elongated decorative elements 18. The elongated decorative elements, in the current embodiment extend from the top of the cover element to the bottom of the cover element. In the current embodiment, a number of elongated decorative elements are arranged side by side to essentially cover the entire surface of the decorative cover element. However, in other embodiments, the elongated decorative elements could be spaced to at least partly show the surface of the noise reducing element behind the cover elements.

In the current embodiment, the elongated decorative elements are fastened to the secondary support elements via a pivotable connection. In this way, the decorative cover element can again be adjusted to fit to the slope of the terrain. Different forms of elongated decorative elements could be imagined. In one example, a number of thin wooden elements are nailed/fastened pivotably to the secondary support elements. In another embodiment, willow rods are woven between the secondary support elements. In this embodiment, no fastening devices need to be used when manufacturing the decorative cover elements. In one embodiment, instead of willow rods, one could consider to use bamboo rods. However, many other suitable forms of elongated decorative elements are available. In effect, the main and secondary support elements provide a frame onto which the elongated decorative elements are mounted.

The pivotable connection between the main support elements and the secondary support elements as well as the pivotable connection between the secondary support elements and the elongated decorative elements can be arranged in many ways. It is advantageous that at least one of the

connections provides at least some frictional force which resists angular motion between the two connected elements. In this way, a certain amount of force is needed to adjust the cover element after which the cover element will hold its angular position. In the embodiment described above with the woven willow rods, the woven willow rods will establish a certain amount of friction to the secondary support elements and a certain amount of force will be required to adjust the angle of the parallelogram shape. It should be noted that depending on the desired visual expression, the decorate cover elements could be manufactured in different ways. In one embodiment, the main support elements and the secondary support elements could be arranged mainly hidden behind the elongated decorative elements. In this way, when setting up a number of decorative cover elements beside each other, it will appear that the decorative cover elements have no start or end, but the fence will appear as one long unbroken decorative cover element.

In figure 5, it is shown that since the secondary support elements 17a, 17b in some embodiments will extend past the outer edges of the main support elements 16a, 16b and extend out to the periphery of the cover element, two secondary support elements 17a, 17b from adjoining cover elements 10,1 1 could be joined together with a connection fitting 20 to form a long unbroken secondary support element which goes through two adjoining cover elements. Even more than two secondary support elements can be joined in this way to create longer structurally connected decorative cover elements. This will provide a very clean visual impression while also providing a strong connection between the decorative cover elements. If the main support elements are essentially hidden behind the decorative elements, then the impression of a long unbroken fence will be very effective.

In figure 6, another option for arranging adjoining cover elements is shown. In this embodiment, the left side edge 12 of one cover element 1 1 overlaps the right side edge 13 of an adjoining cover element 10.

In the previous figures, the invention has been described purely with regards to the decorative cover elements. However in reality, the decorative cover elements will be attached to a noise reducing fence which is erected on the ground. The decorative cover elements described above can be used with most types of noise reducing fences. However in the following, a specific example of one type of noise reducing fence is disclosed which is especially well suited.

In the examples disclosed below, the noise reducing fence comprises a number of noise reducing fence sections 30 each of which are anchored to the ground 3 on which the fence is erected. This is disclosed in figure 7 which shows a number of adjoining fence sections each comprising a vertical post element 31 and a noise reducing element 32. The post elements are placed in the ground to provide a support for the fence. The noise reducing elements are attached to and supported by the post elements.

In most cases, the noise reducing elements will have a fixed width and as such the post elements are erected at regular intervals. By erecting the post elements at regular intervals, a uniform appearance of the fence is provided. However, it is often the case that when a post element is to be set into the ground, an obstacle 41 is discovered in the ground which prevents placement of the post element at the required distance from the previous post element. An example of an obstacle could be a large rock, a drain pipe, an electrical cable, etc... When this occurs, the post element needs to be placed at an irregular spacing with respect to the previous post element. This is illustrated in figure 8.

With prior art decorative cover elements the cover elements are fastened to the post elements and as such the decorative cover elements are adjusted in size to fit to the irregular spacing which sometimes occurs between the post elements. In other cases, the decorative cover elements are structural components of the noise reducing fence and as such are integrally

connected to the post elements. Again, the cover elements are therefore adjusted in size to fit the spacing between the post elements. In both cases a disrupted visual impression results and extra assembly steps are required to adjust the size of the cover element.

In one embodiment of the current invention, the decorative cover elements are arranged such that they are fastened to the noise reducing elements directly, instead of to the post elements. In this way, the decorative cover elements can be setup irrespective of the spacing between the post elements. This is shown in figure 9. This results in a much more uniform visual impression as well as reduced assembly complexity. In figure 9 the cover elements 50 are shown with a diagonal pattern, however, cover elements such as the ones shown in figure 4 could be used just as well. In one embodiment, the main support elements of the decorative cover elements are fastened to the noise reducing elements. In prior art solutions, the main support elements are arranged at the periphery of the decorative cover elements and are directly fastened to the post elements. It should be noted that in general, in the current invention, most of the cover elements of a noise reducing fence will be fastened to the noise reducing elements and not to the post elements. However, it could also be the case that certain cover elements are also fastened to the post elements. This depends on the actual spacing of the post elements with regards to the spacing of the cover elements and the main support elements of the cover elements. It could also be said that according to the current invention, the cover elements are not restricted to being fastened to the post elements, but can also be fastened to the noise reducing elements. In one embodiment, the connection between the cover elements and the noise reducing fence section occurs at the top of the noise reducing fence section. It should also be noted that in general, the noise reducing elements are placed between the post elements of the noise reducing fence. The term noise reducing elements should be understood as being the entire structure between the post elements. For example, a situation where the noise reducing component of the fence was sand and the sand was held inside the fence by sheets of metal arranged on either side of the fence, then the sand plus the sheets of metal would be considered the noise reducing elements.

It should be noted that the above disclosed embodiments have disclosed a noise reducing fence which extended vertically from the ground, however the current invention could also be used for noise reducing fences which were arranged at an angle to the ground, or had a curved shape. This is common along highways, where noise from a road is reflected at least partly in a downwards direction, back onto the road.

The embodiment shown in figures 10-12 is a more specific example of an actual noise reducing fence according to the current invention. The post elements 100 are H sections which extend vertically from the ground. The insertion posts are either pounded directly into the ground or are connected to ground anchors placed in the ground prior to setting up the fence. In this embodiment, 5 noise reducing elements 101 are arranged stacked on top of each other. The noise reducing elements in this embodiment are arranged as cases with metal edges and filled with a noise absorbing material. A cross section through the cases is shown in figure 1 1 . The cases comprise a top section 102, a bottom section 103 and a centre portion 104. The centre portion is filled with the sound absorbing material (not shown). The top section and the bottom section are formed complementary to each other so that one noise reducing element can be placed on top of another noise reducing element and held in place due to the form of the top and bottom sections. It should however be noted that the specific construction of the noise reducing element can be arranged in many different ways. The current embodiment is just one example. Another example of a noise reducing element is a densely packed sound absorbing material formed into rectangular blocks. A metal sheet is glued onto each side of the block to give extra strength to the element. Many other forms of noise reducing elements would be suitable.

An angle bracket 105 is fastened to the top edge of the topmost noise reducing element. The main support elements 106 are then fastened to the angle bracket 105. A slot 107 in the top portion of the support element ensures that the vertical orientation of the main support element 106 of the cover element can be adjusted with regards to the noise reducing elements. In the current embodiment, the main support element 106 is made of a right angled piece of metal with regularly spaced holes in one of the flanges. The secondary support elements in this embodiment are thin metal tubes 108. The elongated decorative elements are willow rods 109 woven between then secondary support elements.

Figures 13-15 show an embodiment which is very similar to the embodiment of figures 10-12. The main difference is the way in which the decorative cover elements are fastened to the noise reducing fence. In this embodiment, instead of attaching the main support elements to the noise reducing elements, hangers 120, 121 are attached directly to the noise reducing elements at regular intervals. The secondary support elements of the cover elements can then be hung up on the hangers. Elongated holes in the hangers ensure that the vertical orientation of the secondary support elements can be adjusted. Many different forms of hangers or other suitable brackets could be provided.

Figure 16 shows an additional embodiment of a cover element 130. In this embodiment, instead of using main support elements which extend from the topmost secondary support element to the bottommost secondary support element in the cover element, main support elements 131 are provided which only connect two adjacent secondary support elements. Multiple main support elements are provided within a cover element and they can be arranged more or less organized, depending on the application.

It is to be noted that the figures and the above description have shown the example embodiments in a simple and schematic manner. Specific details have in most cases not been shown since the person skilled in the art should be familiar with these details and they would just unnecessarily complicate this description. Furthermore, it should be noted that the claims provided below are focussed on the invention relating to cover elements arranged as parallelograms which are adjustable in angle. However, the specification above also discloses additional inventions which could be the subject of one or more divisional applications which do not have the same limitations as the claims provided below. For example, one potential divisional application could be related to the invention of fastening the cover elements directly to the noise reducing elements or to some structure which is present between the post elements of the noise reducing fence. The advantage of this is that the spacing of the post elements no longer determines the size of the decorative cover elements. In one embodiment of this invention, the main support elements of the cover elements could be fastened to the noise reducing elements. In another embodiment, the secondary support elements could be fastened to the noise reducing elements. In this embodiment, hooks could be fastened to the noise reducing elements onto which the secondary support elements of the cover elements could be hung.

Another potential divisional application could be related to the invention that the secondary support elements extend past the edges of the main support elements and out close to the edges of the cover elements. In this way, secondary support elements of adjoining cover elements can be joined together with a connection element. Another advantage of this arrangement is that the secondary support elements can be made longer or thinner while still supporting the same amount of weight. If the main support elements are arranged at the outer periphery of the cover elements, then the middle of the secondary support elements will sag due to the weight of the decorative elements as well as the weight of the secondary support elements themselves if the secondary support elements are not strong enough. By moving the main support elements inwards on the cover elements, the strength of the secondary support elements can be reduced while still avoiding sag in the middle. This is because of the more distributed support provided by the main support elements when they are displaced inwardly.

Claims

1 . A noise reducing fence comprising

- a number of noise reducing fence sections anchored to the ground on which the fence is erected,

- a number of decorative cover elements fastened to said noise

reducing fence sections and arranged on at least one side of the noise reducing fence sections to at least partially cover the noise reducing fence sections,

- said decorative cover elements being arranged as four sided frames in the shape of a parallelogram having a top edge and a bottom edge which are parallel to each other and a left side edge and a right side edge which are parallel to each other,

- each of said decorative cover elements comprise:

a) at least two main support elements arranged parallel with the left and right side edges of the cover element,

b) at least two secondary support elements fastened to said at least two main support elements and arranged parallel to the top and bottom edges of the cover element, and

c) a number of elongated decorative elements fastened to said at least two secondary support elements said decorative elements being arranged parallel to said main support elements and being arranged to form a screen which is able to at least partially hide the noise reducing fence sections,

characterized in that the connection between the at least two main support elements and the at least two secondary support elements is arranged to allow the angle between the secondary support elements and the main support elements to be adjustable and in that the

connection between the decorative elements and the at least two secondary support elements is arranged to allow the angle between the secondary support elements and the decorative elements to be adjustable thereby allowing the parallelogram shape of the decorative cover elements to be adjusted.

A noise reducing fence according to claim 1 , characterized in that each of said noise reducing fence sections comprises at least one elongated post element and at least one noise reducing element, said elongated post element being fastened to the ground on which the fence is erected and extending at least partially vertically therefrom and said noise reducing element being supported by the elongated post element, and where said decorative cover elements are fastened to the noise reducing elements of the noise reducing fence sections.

A noise reducing fence according to claim 2, characterized in that said at least two main support elements are fastened to the noise reducing elements.

A noise reducing fence according to claim 3, characterized in that the connection between said main support elements and said noise reducing elements is adjustable in a vertical direction.

A noise reducing fence according to claim 2, characterized in that said secondary support elements are fastened to said noise reducing elements.

A noise reducing fence according to claim 5, characterized in that the connection between the secondary support elements and the noise reducing elements is adjustable in the vertical direction.

A noise reducing fence according to any one of claims 1 -6,

characterized in that said at least two main support elements are arranged spaced inwardly from the left and right side edges of the decorative cover elements so that the ends of said at least two secondary support elements extend past the outer edges of said main support elements.

8. A noise reducing fence according to claim 7, characterized in that the distance between the main support elements and the side of the decorative cover elements is at least 10% of the total width of the cover element.

9. A noise reducing fence according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that one end of at least one of said at least two secondary support elements of one decorative cover element is connected to one end of at least one of said at least two secondary support elements of an adjoining decorative cover element.

10. A noise reducing fence according to any one of claims 1 -9,

characterized in that the left side edge of one decorative cover element overlaps the right side edge of an adjoining decorative cover element or in that the right side edge of one decorative cover element overlaps the left side edge of an adjoining decorative cover element.

1 1 . A noise reducing fence according to any one of claims 1 -10,

characterized in that the decorative cover elements comprise at least three secondary support elements and that the elongated decorative elements are woven between the at least three secondary support elements.

12. A noise reducing fence according to claim 1 1 , characterized in that the elongated decorative elements are willow rods or any other naturally occurring elongated element.