Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to gates and, in particular, to the fabrication of wooden gates for external use.

Background Art

Wooden gates are widely used for the entrances for residential properties and for enclosing the rear yard of residential properties. Such gates are mounted in positions where they are generally able to be seen from the street or front of the premises and so can add substantially to the appearance of the premises. The market for the supply of such gates is a competitive one and attractive gates can command a premium. However, substantial commercial benefits can be achieved if the cost of the installed gate can be maintained as low as possible.

Unlike doors which are a standard size, or one of a small number of standard sizes, gates have a bewildering range of sizes both in relation to width and in relation to height. Accordingly, hitherto it has been impossible to standardize fabrication of gates so as to provide only one, or a small number of, stock items which can be maintained on hand ready for an order. As a consequence, most gates are made to order and this has the consequence of delay, excluding the benefits of mass production, and increasing the cost of the gate.

Genesis of the Invention

The genesis of the present invention is a desire to reduce the cost of gate fabrication by the use of mass production methods which can be applied to create a stock item which is able to be easily adapted to a wide range of gate installations.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of fabricating a laminated gate, said method comprising the steps of:

locating above a thin substantially planar substrate two spaced apart stiles and at least one cross-rail extending between said stiles,

locating below said substrate two stiles and at least one cross-rail extending therebetween,

gluing said stiles and cross-rails to said substrate to form a semi-finished stock item,

subsequently on-site gluing at least one bottom cross-rail to said stock item to form a completed gate,

if necessary, adjusting the dimensions of said completed gate, and

installing said completed gate.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of utilizing the semi-finished stock item as defined above, said method comprising the steps of:

inverting said stock item, and

installing a decorative top cross-rail on said substrate In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a semifinished stock item comprising a laminated gate assembly formed from a thin substantially planar substrate, a first pair of spaced apart stiles with at least one cross- rail extending therebetween located on one side of said substrate, a second pair of spaced apart stiles with at least one cross-rail extending therebetween located on the other side of said substrate, and wherein said substrate, stiles and cross-rails are glued together to form said semi-finished stock item which excludes at least one bottom cross-rail.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a prior art gate incorporating conventional mortise and tenon joints,

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a prior art gate fabricated from ply wood and used to a limited extent by the applicant before the priority date,

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a laminated gate stock item in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing how the gate of Fig. 3 is installed in a first installation, Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the gate of Fig. 3 installed in a second installation,

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating a gate of a second

embodiment,

Fig. 7 is a cut away perspective view of a gate of a third embodiment,

Fig. 8 is a partial front elevational view of the gate of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a top rail of a gate of a fourth embodiment, Fig. 10 is a partial front elevational view of a gate incorporating the top rail of

Fig. 9,

Fig. 1 1 is a perspective view of a grooved plywood substrate having the grooves extending vertically,

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a grooved substrate in which the grooves extend horizontally and in which the substrate includes a lamination including a sheet metal layer for additional strength,

Fig. 13 is a cut away perspective view showing slats having inter-engaged tongues and grooves located either to one side, or on both sides, of the substrate,

Fig. 14 is a partial front elevational view of a gate showing decoration formed by cutting away portions of the substrate, and

Figs. 15 to 19 each illustrate a front elevational view of various different gates.

Detailed Description

As seen in Fig. 1 , a conventional prior art gate 1 has left and right stiles 2, 3 and a top cross-rail 4 and a bottom cross-rail 5. The gate 1 also has a central panel 6. The stiles 2, 3 and cross-rails 4, 5 are interconnected by means of conventional mortises 7 and tenons 8. The central panel 6 is received in slots 9 cut into the stiles 2, 3 and cross- rails 4, 5.

The stiles 2, 3 and cross-rails 4, 5 are fabricated from solid timber which has the characteristic that increasing sizes of stiles and cross-rail result in more than proportionate increases in cost. As a consequence, gates 1 which have a height H and a width W increase substantially in expense with increasing height and width. In addition, it is necessary for such gates to be fabricated to order since the gate is not able to be adjusted to suit different heights or widths. The material cost of the gate 1 is approximately $300, the manufactured cost of the gate 1 approximately $800, the increase being essentially the cost of labour, and the installed cost of the gate 1 is approximately $1300. Turning now to Fig. 2, illustrated therein is a gate 11 which has recently been fabricated and sold by the present applicant to a limited extent and which is a laminated gate formed from a substrate 16 which is preferably a sheet of 5 ply typically 900 x 1,800mm. Located above and below the substrate 16 are an upper left stile 12A and a lower left stile 12B. Similarly located above and below the substrate 16 are an upper right stile 13A and a lower right stile 13B. In addition, there are upper and lower bottom cross-rails 15 A and B and corresponding upper and lower top cross-rails 14A and 14B of which only the upper top cross-rail 14A is illustrated, the lower top cross-rail 14B being obscured in Fig. 2. The upper stiles 12A, 13A and the upper cross-rails 14A, 15A were fabricated from solid timber. The remaining components of the gate 11 were fabricated from 5 ply.

The abovementioned remaining components of Fig. 2 were all cut from a single plywood sheet of 2,400 x 1,200mm. One of the advantages of plywood is that the cost of plywood is essentially linear with the size of the plywood and thus the material cost of the gate 11 is low.

The material cost of the gate 1 1 is approximately $140 and the manufactured cost of the gate 11 is approximately $350 whilst the installed cost of the gate 1 1 is approximately $900.

The various components of the gate 11 are glued together and the gate 11 held in a press while the glue cures. The resulting laminated gate is strong and does not require any cross-brace, has no mortise and tenon joints and has no fasteners which are unsightly and which can rust.

The major difficulty with the gate 11 is that it must be individually constructed to order to suit the size of the aperture into which the gate is to be installed. As a consequence, it is a one off item and mass production methods are unable to be utilized in its fabrication.

Turning now to Fig. 3, a gate 21 of the first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in solid lines. The gate 21 consists of the substrate 16, the stiles 12A, 12B, 13 A, 13B and the top cross-rails 14A and 14B all of which are essentially as in Fig. 2, save that the stiles 12, 13 are preferably wider and all stiles and cross-rails are fabricated from plywood. As indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3, the two bottom cross-rails 15A and 15B are not included in the glued and laminated gate 21 but instead are releasably retained on the substrate 16, preferably by means of brads or small nails which temporarily hold the bottom cross-rails 15 A and 15B in position after the gate 21 has been laminated and pressed, preferably in a vacuum press.

Preferably during the pressing while the glue cures, multiple gates 21 are included within the single press, typically ten or more so as to gain the benefits of mass production.

As seen in Fig. 4, the gate 21 of Fig. 3 is taken to the site where it is to be installed. The gate 21 is normally installed between two jambs or posts (not illustrated) and the size of the opening to be closed by the gate has often been measured by the customer rather, than by the installer. As a consequence, the installer often finds small dimensional discrepancies which can be taken up by means of reducing, or even increasing the size of the jambs, for example. In particular, the installer often finds that the foot path or pavement above which the gate is to be installed slopes from left to right, or right to left, relative to the passage. Under these circumstances, as indicated by broken line 22 in Fig. 4, after the two bottom cross-rails 15A and 15B are glued in position so that the bottom of the cross-rails is flush with the bottom of the stiles, the gate 21 is then cut along line 22 so as to provide the finished shape which is to be the shape of the installed gate. The gate 21 , being a stock item, is also able to be manipulated as indicated in Fig. 5. Here the height of the gate is to be reduced substantially and so the two bottom cross- rails 15A and 15B are glued into position between the stiles 12, 13 in a raised position in Fig. 5 relative to Fig. 4 so that the bottom of the cross-rails 15A, 15B is well above the bottom of the stiles 12, 13. The position of the bottom cross-rails 15 A, 15B is preferably selected so that after cutting along line 22 A, the intended height of the finished gate results in the width of the bottom cross-rails 15A, 15B being the same as the width of the top cross-rails 14A, 14B. This produces a symmetrical frame formed by the stiles 12, 13 and cross-rails 14, 15.

In addition, should the gate opening be relatively narrow, then the sides of the gate 21 can be cut back from the original size indicated by broken lines in Fig. 5 so that the finished gate of Fig. 5 is much smaller than the finished gate of Fig. 4,

notwithstanding that both are made from the same stock item in form of gate 21.

In the embodiment of Figs. 3-5 the material cost of the gate 21 is approximately $120, the manufactured cost is approximately $280, and the installed cost is approximately $800. Turning now to Fig. 6, a clad gate 31 is illustrated having the substrate 16, stiles 12, 13 and cross-rails 14, 15 as Fig. 3. Positioned above the substrate 16 are a number of elongated slats 33 which extend vertically with respect of the gate 31, which have bevelled upper edges 34, and which are abutting. The slats 33 provide the front surface of the gate 31 with a clad appearance. As indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6, if desired the underside of the substrate 16 can also be provided with slats 33 so as to clad the rear surface of the gate 31 and thus produce a double clad gate. As also indicated in Fig. 6, instead of the vertically extending slats 33, horizontally extending slats 133 can be provided instead, if desired. Turning now to Figs. 7 and 8, the stock item in the form of gate 21 can also be used to fabricate a gate 41 having a distinctive top rail. In order to achieve this, the stock item 21 is inverted as illustrated in Fig. 7 and a portion of the substrate 16 cut away back to the cut line 42 illustrated by a dot dash line in Fig. 7. Then a top rail 141 having a curved upper surface 142 and a slot 143 is positioned over the substrate 16 and glued into the final position illustrated in Fig. 8.

As seen in Figs. 9 and 10, an alternative top rail 241 having a downwardly curved upper surface 242 and a slot 243 can be used in similar fashion as described above in relation to Fig. 7 and 8 so as to produce the gate 51 , the upper portion of which is illustrated in Fig. 10. This arrangement of top rails and the stock gate 21 enables a wide variety of gates to be fabricated at low cost utilizing the basic stock item 21.

If desired, the substrate 16 can be provided with a number of parallel grooves 18 on its upper surface which only cut through the upper layer of plywood and thus give the appearance that the substrate 16 is fabricated from individual boards or strips. As indicated in Fig. 12, the grooves 1 18 can be arranged to run horizontally rather than vertically, as in the case of Fig. 1 1. In addition, in Fig. 12 the substrate 1 16 is formed from a sandwich construction having an inner sheet 20 of metal such as sheet galvanised steel which is sandwiched between thin wood plys 26, 36.

Fig 13 illustrates an alternative arrangement to that illustrated in Fig. 6 in that the slats 233 of Fig. 13 can be provided with various different arrangements. As indicated on the left hand side of Fig. 13, the slats 233 can be provided with tongues and grooves as in conventional wooden flooring so as to provide a gate having either a single layer of cladding as illustrated in solid lines, or a double clad gate as illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 13. Alternatively, as also illustrated in the centre of Fig. 13 the slats 233 can have a tongue and groove and a shallow bevel. This provides an alternative appearance. As a still further alternative, the slats 233 can have no tongue and groove but a deep bevel as illustrated in the right hand side of Fig. 1 . Yet another appearance is thereby realised. In Fig. 13 the broken lines indicated that all these arrangements can be used for a double clad gate, if desired.

Fig. 14 illustrates a still further gate 61 in which the substrate 16 is decorated by means of grooves or through apertures 52 which are able to be cut by a computerised numerical cutter (CNC) machine, or similar, so as to again provide a decorative choice. In addition, the upper ends of the stiles 13 and 12 have been routed away so as to provide a matching curve to that of the top rail 141. Also illustrated in Fig. 14 is a mid-cross-rail 17 which is essentially similar to the top cross-rails 14 and bottom cross-rails 15 but located midway therebetween for additional strengthening, or variation of appearance, if desired. The mid-cross-rail 17 can be glued during the production of the stock item 21 and thus can form part of the stock item 21. Figs. 15 to 18 illustrate further embodiments of gates utilizing the abovementioned techniques. In Fig. 15, the cross rails 314 and 315 are inclined and the slats 133 extend horizontally. Fig 17 is similar but the cross rails 414 and 415 are of a different shape giving rise to a different appearance. In Fig. 16, the stiles and cross braces are cut from a single sheet of plywood 1 16, typically 5 -ply. Two of these are glued to either side of the substrate 16. This gives the appearance of a traditional interior door. In Fig. 18, the slats 33 run vertically and the stiles 12, 13 and cross braces 514, 515 are shaped to provide yet another appearance. Finally, as illustrated in Fig. 19 a ledge and brace gate 71 can be made utilizing the press and glue techniques described above. The gate 71 is modified by making the stiles 712 very much wider than the remaining vertical members 733. A brace 700 is required and is set back from the edges of the stiles 712. In this way, a standard size gate can be fabricated, particularly for use as a passageway gate. The width of the gate can be adjusted to the size of the passageway, if necessary, by means of cutting the gate vertically on either side of the stiles 712 as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 19 so as to reduce the width of the stiles 712 in a symmetrical fashion. In addition, as also indicated by means of a broken line in Fig. 19,, the bottom of the stiles 712 and vertical members 733 can be adjusted to accommodate a sloping pathway.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the carpentry arts that the above description discloses a number of substantial advantages. By utilizing extra wide stiles and an adjustable bottom rail, a wooden gate 21 which is a standard stock item can be produced. This enables mass production techniques including simultaneously pressing multiple gates during gluing, to be utilized thereby reducing the cost of the stock item gate.

Furthermore, an entire sheet of plywood 2400 x 1200mm can be used to make a gate with a minimum of wastage. The stiles and cross-rails are preferably 140 x 12mm plywood. There are preferably two gate thicknesses namely 30mm and 40mm. A gate of thickness 30mm is of ample strength for gates having a width of 900m or less. In the event that a mortise lock is required, then a gate of 40mm thickness should be used. Since the gates are symmetrical the same gate can be used in a left or right hand situation. The cutting of the stiles to size enables variation to be achieved in the width of the gate and the on-site gluing of the bottom cross-rails 15 A, 15B to the standard stock gate 21 enables all heights less than a maximum height to be accommodated. The ability to adjust the stile width enables just three standard gate widths to cover openings from 1000mm to 800mm.

In addition, various modifications to the above described arrangements can be made. For example, a 500mm high rear lower cross-brace 15B can be glued to the rear of the gate 21 and thus form part of the standard stock item. If this is done then only the front lower cross-brace 15A needs to be glued to the gate. Alternatively, the front lower cross-brace 15A can be omitted altogether.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the carpentry arts, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, if the gate is to be clad, or double clad, the lower cross-braces 15 A and 15B can be omitted. The strength imparted by the cladding enables the lower edge of the gate to be cut to size without the need of the lower cross-braces.

The term "comprising" (and its grammatical variations) as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or "having" and not in the exclusive sense of

"consisting only of.