This invention relates to a balustrade post and balustrade formed using posts in accordance with this invention which are used as a safety barrier and in particular a safety barrier on building sites.

Building sites, and in particular multi-storey building sites, require personnel safety protection at the perimeter of the building. Barriers and screens are used at the edge of floor slabs as protection for personnel working on a floor slab where the external cladding of a building is yet to be installed.

One element used on floor slabs are balustrades located at or near the edge of a floor slab which comprises a plurality of posts and horizontal rails where the posts are secured to the upper surface of the floor slab.

External cladding is often located and fixed at the edge of the floor slab. External walls or wall panels are positioned and fixed one on top of the other up the side of the building. As they are located on the side of a building, wall panels may extend only partly past the upper surface of the floor slab. Further, the wall panels may be fixed against or fixed so that they are spaced from the floor. This in turn effects the location and use of protective balustrades.

Accordingly, an alternative means of securing a post with respect to an edge of a building may be desirable particularly to allow ease of location and access to any external cladding.

For exampl e, the building process will involve the lowering of wall panels into place on top of wall panels already in place. If the balustrade is located adjacent to a lower wall panel, then there will be some difficulty in being able to locate the next wall panel without the balustrade being in the way or requiring it to be relocated.

One advantage of the invention will be to overcome both of the abovementioned difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention comprises a post of a balustrade assembly wherein the post comprises:

a post element,

connection means on the post element for releasably securing the balustrade rails, and a foot element at the lower end of the post, for supporting the post element, the foot element having a horizontal member and a vertical member to allow the post element to be secured to either a horizontal or vertical surface. In another aspect of the invention, the post may further comprise a spacer element located between the post element and the vertical surface of the foot element so that the post element is spaced away from any vertical surface to which the foot element is attached.

In this case, if the post is secured with respect to a vertical surface, then sufficient spacing between the post and the vertical element is ensured to allow the placement of further building elements in place without the balustrade being in the way or preventing access.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment will now be described, but it should be realised that the scope of the invention is not to be confined or restricted to the precise details of these embodiments. Variations and modifications as would be apparent to the skilled addressee are considered to be within the scope of this invention.

The embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1A shows a first embodiment of a balustrade post,

Figures IB to ID show side views of a balustrade post as seen in Figure 1 A,

Figure 2A shows a second embodiment of a balustrade post,

Figures 2B to 2D show side views of a balustrade post as seen in Figure 2A,

Figure 3 shows the use of balustrade posts and balustrade rail s to form a balustrade at the edge of a building,

Figure 4 shows a balustrade post as shown in Figures 1 A to ID attached to a preform panel adjacent a floor slab,

Figure 5 shows a balustrade post as shown in Figures 2A to 2D attached to a preform panel adjacent a floor slab, and

Figure 6 shows a detailed view of a connection means used on the posts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to Figures 1A to I D, a balustrade post 10 is shown which comprises a post element 1 1 manufactured from square cross-section steel tubing. At the top of the post element 1 1 and at a mid position spaced from the top of the post element 11 , connection means 12 are provided comprising rectangular apertures 21 within the post elements 1 1 through which horizontal rails can be located. The apertures may be formed by cutting a rebate into one side of the post element 1 1 and then welding a flat plate across the opening. Alternatively, and as shown in Figure 1 C and 6, rectangular apertures 21 are cut using high pressure fluid jets and a plate 26 is welded to the post element 1 1 to strengthen this section of the post element 1 1.

The connection means 12 are provided with apertures 22 into which captive nuts 23 (such as those sold under the trademark "Nutserts" or "Rivnuts") are located and fixed into place. Threaded fasteners 24 locate in the captive nuts 23 and bear against the balustrade rails which in this embodiment are horizontal rails 25 to thereby secure the horizontal rails 25 in place.

Plates 26 are welded to the outer surface of the post element 1 1 on the side opposite to the apertures 22 to strengthen the post element 1 1. The plate 26 assists in preventing deformation of the post element 1 1 about the apertures 21 when the threaded fasteners 24 are tightened against the horizontal rails 25. The post 10 is provided with a foot element 13 which in Figures 1A to ID is a length of angle comprising a horizontal member 14 and a vertical member 15. As seen in the illustrations, the foot member 13 is wider than the post element 1 1 and has a series of apertures 28 located either side of the post element 1 1 to enable the post 10 to be either secured to a horizontal or vertical surface. Figures 2A to 2D show an alternative embodiment to that shown in Figures 1 A to I D with the difference being a spacer element 16 located between the post element 1 1 and the vertical member 15 of the foot element 13. The spacer element 16 spaces the post element away from the vertical member 15 to ensure that there is a space between the post element 1 1 and the vertical surface to which the post 10 may be secured.

As seen in Figure 3, a number of posts 10 have been secured to a floor slab 19 with horizontal rails 25 put in place. The apertures 28 in the horizontal member 14 allow each post 10 to be firmly secured to the floor slab 19 at its perimeter or outer edge of the building. This provides the required safety barrier at the edge of the floor slab 19.

However, as seen in Figure 4, if a precast wall section 18 is projecting above a floor slab 19, then the same post 10 can be secured to the vertical surface of the wall section 18 as an alternative to securing it to the floor slab 19. This provides a convenient alternative.

The importance of the spacer element 16 is illustrated in Figure 5 which shows a post 10 according to the second embodiment (Figures 2A to 2D) secured to the vertical surface of a precast wall panel 18. As can be seen in this illustration, the location of the post 10 against the vertical surface of the precast wall panel 18 could potentially cause some difficulty when a further precast wall panel 18a is lowered in place on top of a lower precast wall panel 18. In this case, the post 10 would be very close to the precast panel 18a and therefore may cause some difficulty in positioning and securing the panel 18a. In order to overcome this problem, the spacer element 16 spaces the post element 1 1 away from the precast wall panel and therefore provides adequate clearance for location of the further precast wall panel 18a into its position on top of the lower precast panel 18.

The embodiments as described above provide a post which is capable of being secured to both a horizontal and vertical surface and also provides a solution to the problem of spacing the post away from a vertical surface to which it may be adjacent or attached.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the words "comprise" and "include" and variations such as "comprising" and "including" will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers, but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement of any form of suggestion that such prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

It will be appreciated by those skilled that the invention is not restricted in its use to the particular application described. Neither is the present invention restricted in its preferred embodiment with regard to the particular elements and/or features described or depicted herein. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth and defined herein.