This invention relates to profile boards. Profile boards are used in the construction industry for example to mark out footings for a building or to indicate the profile of ground being prepared for road construction.

Conventionally, profile boards are fashioned on site from timber and comprise a post on which a ground- penetrating point is shaped and a cross member nailed to the post. Nails are hammered into the cross member to serve as guides and for the attachment of marking-out lines. This on-site fashioning of profile boards is expensive and wasteful of time - the boards are usually discarded after use and a new set fashioned for the next project - and the rough and ready approach to their fashioning and their positioning is not conducive to accurate marking out.

The invention provides an improved profile board that avoids these problems.

The invention comprises a profile board compris¬ ing a post and cross member combination, the cross member being adjustable as to height and levelness on and then securable to the post and adjustably carrying a securable marker pin.

The post may have a ground-penetrating section and be adapted for hammering into the ground. The ground penetrating section may be separate from and adapted to receive an upstanding post section.

The post may be extendable by being adapted to receive at its top the lower end of another post section.

By these measures, aside from saving on repeated on-site fashioning, there are immediate advantages because of the fact that the cross member is adjustable up and down the post, the positioning does not depend upon hammering the post into the ground to a specific depth. Also, the post height can be extended by the addition of one or more post members to cater for undulating terrain without the need for long individual lengths of timber.

The post may be slotted to receive a clamp for securing the cross member or may be profiled to locate the cross member against rotation thereon.

The cross member may be supported between two posts, when its levelness is a question of correlating its height adjustment on each post.

The profile board may comprise a clamp member adapted to fit around the post and to carry the cross

member. Said clamp member may comprise a spring clamp device.

The cross member may be slotted or otherwise profiled to receive an adjustable, securable marker pin.

The cross member may also comprise a level, and may also comprise a laser target.

Embodiments of profile boards according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the embodiment of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the embodiment of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section through the cross member and the top of the post of the embodiment of Figure 1 to a larger scale;

Figure 5 is an elevation of a second embodiment;

Figure 6 is a part-sectional plan view of part of the second embodiment;

Figure 7 is a front elevation view of the part of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a detail view;

Figure 9 is a section through a ground engaging member of the second embodiment;

Figure 10 is a plan view of a third embodiment detail;

and Figure 11 is a section on the line XI-XI of

Figure 10.

The drawings illustrate profile boards 11 comprising a post 12 and cross member 13 combination, the cross member 13 being adjustable as to height and levelness on and then securable to the post 12 and adjustably carrying a securable marker pin 14.

The post 12 has a ground penetrating section 15 and is adapted for hammering into the ground. In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, the ground penetrating section 15 is a tapered part of the post 12. In the embodiment of Figures 5 to 9, it is separate from the post 12 and adapted to receive the post to support it in the ground as shown in Figure 5.

In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, there are two posts 12 each supporting an end of the cross member 13. The posts 12 are slotted at 16 to receive a clamp 17 for securing the cross member 13. The clamp 17 comprises an insert 17a slidable in a track in the face of the cross member with a screw 17b projecting through the slot 16 to be secured by a knurled nut 19.

The posts 12, which are hollow, have hammering caps 12a.

The cross member 13 is slotted along its upper face 13a, as bets seen in Figure 4, to receive the marker pins 21 which are securable in the same way as is the cross member to the post, namely by screw clamps 22 running in the upper face track 23.

In the embodiment of Figures 5 to 9, the cross member 13 is supported by a single post 12 which is

profiled to locate the cross member against rotation thereabout-

The post 12 is of square cross section with two channels 61 in one of which is located a runner 62a which is connected by a stud 62c to a runner 62b arranged orthogonally to runner 62a and which runs in a channel 63, which is similar to the channel 61, in the cross member 13. In fact, the cross member 13 is of the same section as the post 12 so that a single extrusion can be used for both components.

The runners 62a,62b are clamped by knurled screws 64 engaging in metal inserts 65 in the runners 62a,62b. The runners 62a,62b have some play in the channels 61, 63 to enable the cross member 13 to be adjusted not only for height on the post 12 but also for levelness which may be determined by the spirit level 65 built into the top face of the cross member 13.

The marker pins 14 are illustrated in Figure 8 as sliders in one of the channels 63 in the cross member 13, secured again by a knurled nut 64.

Figure 4 illustrates a laser target 41 located in a recess 42 of the cross member 13. A similar target could be incorporated on a marker pin 14 in the embodiment of Figures 5 to 9.

The ground engaging member 15 of the embodiment of Figures 5 to 9 comprides a metal tube 91 which has stabilising pins 92 and an insert 93 of square internal section to receive the post 12.

Figure 5 shows how two posts 12 can be used one mounted on the other to extend the post height without having to have very long post sections to cater for undulating ground.

Figure 7 shows the top of the post slider 62a projecting from the top of the post 12. Such slider can serve as a connecting tongue for mounting one post section 12 atop another.

In the embodiment of Figures 10 and 11, the post 12 is of circular section and the cross member 13 is supported by a split clamp 101 sliding on the post 12 and lockable by tightening a screw 102 which passes through a notch or hole in the end of the cross member 13. The clamp 101 may be moulded in resilient plastics material such as polyester.

The cross member 13 has a substantially square cross-section with a profiled top on which slide riders 103 which receive marker pins 104 which can be colour coded. Datum lines 105 are provided as projections from the moulded or extruded-and-cut riders 103.

The cross member 13 carries a scale 106.

The screw 102 and the marker pins 104 - which can serve to lock the riders 103 in place - can be made operable only by keys to militate against tampering.