Backqround of the Invention There are many known types of fencing structures currently in use.

These known structures range from traditional wooden fencing systems to frames for supporting panels and like structures.

With the increasing use of fencing structures made from light weight artificial materials, such as plastics materials, there has been an increasing use of fencing frames adapted to accommodate such panels and like structures formed of this artificial material. These structures tend to be complicated and difficult to construct.

For example, NZ207439 to Costanza Pty Limited describes a lightweight fencing structure which may be readily assembled from standard components. The fencing structure disclosed is of a standard type which requires the presence of specialised posts to receive rails specifically adapted to be held by the posts. As such the structure is not particularly adaptable and is not readily useable with existing structures.

It is also known to have fencing type apparatus adapted to be positioned between walls (e. g. child safe gates at the top of stairs for example). Such fences, however, are not able to receive alternative panellings nor are they able to be readily extendable to any great extent.

Such fence-like structures include an integral panel wall or barrier with the emphasis being on non-damaging connection to internal walls. These fences are not intended for general external use and are not generally adaptable in terms of length or looks.

Obiect of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide a fencing apparatus which is capable of meeting the deficiencies in prior devices or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Summarv of the Invention In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a fencing apparatus which includes a pair of opposing, spaced apart, rails, each rail including a central longitudinal channel adapted to receive an edge of a panel therein, and at least one attachment means at or adjacent an end of at least one rail adapted to attach the rail to an external member.

Preferably the opposed rails include attachment means at or adjacent each end thereof.

Preferably, the panel is secured within the central longitudinal channel of the top rail.

Preferably the apparatus, when in use, has a top and bottom rail and a first edge of the panel is secured within the channel of the top rail by screws, rivets, nails, cord, clips or the like.

Preferably a second edge of the panel is also secured within the central longitudinal channel of the bottom rail.

Preferably the attachment means is a separate individual bracket which is adapted to attach to the rail to the external member to which the fencing apparatus is to be attached.

Preferably the individual bracket is a hinge and preferably the fencing apparatus is a gate.

Preferably the fencing apparatus further includes a guide rail secured to the external member to which the fencing apparatus is to be attached, the guide rail extending between the top and bottom rails and including a central longitudinal channel adapted to receive a third edge of the panel.

Preferably the guide rail extends to a position adjacent the top and bottom rails.

Preferably the guide means is an elongated hinge or other pivoting bracket device.

Preferably the fencing apparatus includes at least one jointer which extends between the top and bottom rails, and the jointer including longitudinal channels on either side thereof, one channel being adapted to receive the fourth edge of the panel and the other channel being adapted to receive an edge of a second panel therein.

Preferably the rails, guide rails, and jointers are adapted to receive covers which enclose the rails, guide rails and jointers.

Preferably the apparatus includes an open mesh panel such as a trellis or other lattice type structure.

Preferably the panel is formed of a synthetic material.

Preferably the synthetic material is manufactured from high-density polyethylene.

In a second aspect the invention is directed to a fencing apparatus including: (i) at least two opposed spaced apart rails, each rail having two ends and each rail including a central longitudinal channel, the channel of the first rail adapted to receive a first edge of a panel therein and the channel of the second rail adapted to receive the second edge of a panel therein; (ii) attachment means adapted to attach to an external member, positioned at or adjacent the end of at least one of the opposed rails; and (iii) a guide rail securable to the external member to which the attachment means is attached, the guide rail including a longitudinal guide channel adapted to receive the third edge of the panel therein.

Preferably the apparatus further includes at least one jointer extending between the opposed rails, the jointer including a longitudinal

channel on either side thereof, one of the jointer channels being adapted to receive the fourth edge of the panel therein and the other jointer channel being adapted to receive an edge of another panel therein.

Preferably the guide rail and the attachment means include hinge attachments.

Preferably the guide rail is attached to the two opposed rails.

Preferably the opposed rails, guide rail, and jointer are adapted to receive removable covers thereon.

In a third aspect, the invention is a kit of parts, the kit including at least the rails, a guide rail and a jointer as defined above.

Drawings A preferred form of the invention is shown in the attached figures.

Figure 1: shows a diagrammatic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figures 2 to 7: show cross sectional views of individual components of the preferred form of the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1; Figure 8: shows a blown up representation of the attachment of one part of the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1 to an external member; and

Figure 9: shows an exploded representation of the attachment of another part of the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1 to an external member Detailed Description of the Invention In general terms the invention relates to a fencing apparatus which allows panels of fencing, or other partitioning, material to be supported in a simple and cost effective manner. The fencing apparatus is particularly adapted to be used with existing structures (walls, fences etc.) external to the apparatus which require a partition to be positioned between them. It is not required that the fencing apparatus include posts or other support means as such supports can be provided by such existing structures.

The panelling which can be used in conjunction with the fencing apparatus can be any suitable panelling as will be known to a person skilled in this particular art. The panelling could be a solid sheet of material constructed of a composite board material such as hardboard or the like, or could be a solid sheet of a synthetic plastics material or aluminium. Further options will include glass, wood, fibrolite, and steel but the makeup of the panel is not intended to be limiting. As shown in Figure 1, the panelling can also be of an open mesh or lattice type such as a trellis or like material. The construction and style of the panel material to be supported within the fencing apparatus is not crucial to the present invention. It is preferred however that the panelling material is of a relatively light weight in order to allow the cost of the fencing apparatus to be minimised. Should the panelling be of a heavier material (if used as partitioning for example) then the fencing apparatus will need to be constructed of a material having adequate strength.

The panelling material, in the most preferred form, is a trellising made of high density polyethylene such as that sold by the Plastics Research Corporation under the trade mark TUFF-BUILT.

The fencing apparatus is preferably constructed from aluminium as will be known in the art. The material used could also be a plastics material or steel or other suitable material as will be known in the art but the makeup of the apparatus is not intended to be limiting.

With reference to Figure 1, a preferred. form of the fencing apparatus 1 is shown. The side of the fence indicated by A is shown in a "final"form while the side of the fence indicated by B is shown in a cut- away and exploded form.

The preferred form of the fencing apparatus 1 as shown in Figure 1 has been attached to a post 2 having a cap 3. This post 2 could readily be replace by an existing wall or perimeter fence to which the fencing apparatus 1 is to be attached. The fencing apparatus 1 could readily be attached to any other type of external member as needed with appropriate screws, nails, rivets, dynobolts or the like.

With reference to the side of the fencing apparatus 1 indicated by B, the fencing apparatus 1 includes a bracket 4 which is attached to the side of the post 2 by screws (not clearly shown in Figure 1). The positioning of the screws is shown in an exploded manner at 5. The bracket 4 receives a rail 6 in a male/female manner with rail 6 being secured to the bracket 4 by a screw 7. This relationship can best be seen in Figure 8 which shows in magnified form the relationship between the bracket 4 and the rail 6.

The fencing apparatus 1 also includes a second rail 8 of similar form to the rail 6. The second rail 8 is attached to post 2 by bracket 9 which is of similar form to bracket 4. The relationship of rail 8 with bracket 9 is shown in magnified form in Figure 9. The second rail 8 and bracket 9 are aligned in the same plane with rail 6 and bracket 4 and have a mirror image relationship thereto to allow a panel 11 to be held therein.

Both rails 6,8 include a central longitudinal channel 10 which is wide enough to releasably receive the panel 11. The construction of rails 6,8 can best be seen in Figure 3 which shows a cross sectional representation of the rails 6,8.

As seen in Figure 3, the rails 6,8 include channel 10 and flanges 12 having lips 13 at the distal ends thereof.

With reference again to Figure 1, the fencing apparatus 1 also includes a guide rail 14 which extends between the rails 6 and 8 and is attached to post 2 at positions 15 by screws. As seen in Figure 1, the ends of guide 14 extend to a point adjacent rails 6,8. The ends of guide 14 could extend to a position flush with rail 6,8 or could be positioned further from rails 6,8 as maybe desired by the user.

The construction of guide 14 is best seen in Figure 5 which shows a cross sectional representation of one half of the guide 14. As can be seen from Figures 1 and 5, the guide 14 is constructed of two components 14a aligned side by side on post 2 (as shown in Figure 1).

Component 14a includes arms 16,17 ending in flanges 18,19. When in place, and as shown in Figurel, arm 17 will be attached to post 2 with arm 16 extending outwardly at a substantially right angle from post 2. A second component 14a will then be placed in a mirror image relationship with the first component such that the two arms 16 form a guide channel therebetween which will accept the panel 11 therein. As will be readily

apparent to a person skilled in this particular art, guide 14 need not be constructed of two separate components 14a but may be a single component which includes the guide channel created by the arms 16.

Further alternatives such as the use of hinges in place of guide 14 (either a series of individual hinges or one extended hinge or similar pivoting bracket device) are also possible. As will be readily apparent this would be coupled with a replacement of the brackets 4,9 with hinge attachments for the rails 6,8. The brackets 4,9 and guide 14 could be angled with the fence extending at an angle from the external member (e. g. post or wall etc.). A further alternative would be that the apparatus have hinged attachments for the rails 6,8 and the guide 14 is not present. This would be preferable for low weight panels.

Figures 8 and 9 show, in magnified form, the relationship of rails 6, 8 with brackets 7,9 and with guide 14. The guide 14 as shown in Figure 9 is seated against or adjacent to the rail 8. As stated previously, the guide 14 could be positioned away from the rail 8. This would be particularly so if the panel is of lightweight construction. The essential feature being, of course, that the channel in the guide 14 and the channel 10 in rail 8 lie in the same plane to allow the panel to be positioned in both channels.

The fencing apparatus 1 as shown in Figure 1 also includes an jointer 20 which extends between rails 6 and 8 in a like manner to guide 14. In the preferred embodiment of fencing apparatus 1 as shown in Figure 1, jointer 20 is attached to rails 6,8 by screws 21 (not shown for rail 8). The construction of jointer 20 is best seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7 shows a cross sectional view of jointer 20. Jointer 20 includes two channels 22,23 which are created by parallel arms 24 which end in lips 24a. The channels 22,23 are separated by wall 25.

with the channel 22,23 openings facing in opposite directions. The jointer 20 thus acts as a guide for two panels (e. g. as indicated at 11 in Figure 1) one panel guided within channel 22 and the other guided within channel 23. Jointer 20 thus allows for a series of panels to be linked to create an extended fence system between two external members such as post 2 or the like as shown in Figure 1. Jointer 20 also includes 2 arcuate parts extending from the distal ends of wall 25 centrally of walls 24. The arcuate parts 26 are adapted to receive and hold screws 21 (as shown in Figure 1) and thus secure the jointer 20 to rails 6 and 8. As will be readily apparent to a person skilled in this art, jointer 20 will only required if more than one panel 11 is to be used. Further, it will be apparent that the jointer 20 need not be attached to the opposed rails.

The jointer could be adapted to simply join together two or more panels held between a single pair of rails.

In an alternative embodiment the jointer 20 could be replaced by two separate components of identical shape as would be created if the wall 25 between arms 24, was removed. In this case, the two components referred to as 20a for convenience) would lie against an extended panel and would be secured to rails 6,8 substantially as shown in Figure 1 by screws 21. In effect, a corridor would be created by joining the channels 22,23 as shown in Figure 7, through which the panel (as indicated for example by 11 in Figure 1) would pass. In this situation, the components 20a would be used as a support for an aesthetically leasing cover as will be discussed further below. If needed the two parts 20a could be attached to the panel 11 and to each other by screws or rivets or like devices.

In the embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 1 the panel 11 is secured to at least rail 6 by at least one screw as indicated at 27.

The panel 11 could also be secured to rail 8, and also guide 14 and jointer

20, if desired. Where the panel 11 is secured to rail 6 only, the panel will, in effect, be suspended from rail 6 via the screws such as at 27 and will simply rest in guide 14 jointer 20 and rail 8. In an alternative embodiment, panel 11 need not be secured in rail 6 by screws such as at 27 at all. In that case, the panel 11 would be supported by resting on the base of channel 10 in rail 8.

With reference to Figure 1 and Figures 2,4 and 6, it can be seen that the fencing apparatus 1 also includes covers 30,31,32 and 33.

The construction of covers 30 and 33 is best shown in Figure 2.

This Figure shows a cross sectional view of the covers 30,33 which include a wall 35 which is formed substantially into a"U"shape. The distal ends of wall 35 end in flanges 36 which are adapted to receive the lips 13 of rails 6,8 (as shown in Figure 3) therebetween. The covers 30, 33 may therefore simply be clipped into position over rails 6,8 thus giving a finished appearance to the top and bottom of the fencing apparatus 1 as can be seen in the part indicated by A.

The construction of cover 31 is best seen in Figure 4 which shows a cross sectional representation of the cover. As seen in Figure 4, the cover 31 includes a wall 37 which includes flanges indicated at 38 and 39 at the distal ends thereof. In a similar manner to the operation of cover 30,33 discussed above, the flanges 38 and 39 are adapted to receive lips 18 and 19 respectively of component 14a (of guide 14), therebetween.

In this manner a finished look can be given to the guide 14 as can be seen in the part of the fence apparatus 1 as indicated by A in Figure 1.

In a similar manner to the operation of cover 31 discussed above, cover 32, as best seen in cross section in Figure 6, clips on to either side of jointer 20. As can be seen in Figure 6, the cover includes wall 40

which has been formed substantially into a"U"shape. The distal ends of wall 40 include flanges 41 which are adapted to receive the lips 24a of jointer 20 (see Figure 7) therebetween. In this manner, cover 32 can be easily clipped onto either side of jointer 20 covering the arcuate parts 26 of jointer 20 from sight thus giving a finished appearance to the fencing apparatus 1 as can be best seen in the part indicated by A.

The particular form that covers 30,31,32 and 33 take need not be in the particular shape as shown in the Figures. Alternative looks to these covers, as will be known in this art, may also be used. The shapes shown in the Figures are not intended to be limiting.

As will be readily apparent, references to the use of screws to secure the various components should not be seen to be limiting. The use of nails, rivets, ties or like devices could be readily be used where appropriate.

The foregoing describes the invention including a preferred form thereof. Alterations and modifications as will be readily apparent to a person skilled in this particular art are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims.