The present invention relates to a gate or a panel member for forming a railing or a fence, comprising a frame consisting of frame sides having their ends connected with each other and consisting of profile rods with a closed section-

Gates and such panel members which can be used for erecting railings, for example balcony railings, fences or the like are usually manufactured from pipes having a rectangular or square section, which are welded together. The manufacturing, transporta¬ tion and stock piling of such gates and panel members are very costly.

The object of the invention is to provide a gate or a panel element for forming a railing or a fence having a construction which reduces the costs for manufacturing, transportation and stock piling to a minimum.

In order to comply with this object the gate or panel member according to the invention is characterized in that each frame side of the gate och the panel member comprises two open profiled rods having their edges connected with each other.

In an embodiment of the gate or panel element according to the invention the open profiled rod has a substantially U-shaped cross section with a web portion and two shank portions connected with separate edges of the web portion, the shank portions having at their free edges outwardly directed flanges. The open profiled rods are in pairs connected with each other for constituting the frame sides forming a closed section by connecting the flanges of the open profiled rods with each other.

In an alternative embodiment of the gate or panel element according to the invention the open profiled rods have a substantially L- shaped section with two shank portions, one of the shank portions having at its free end an outwardly directed flange and the other shank portion having a free edge section. The open profiled rods are in pairs connected with each other by connection of the flange and the free edge section of the profiled rod with the free end section

and the flange, respectively, of the other profiled rod.

It is preferred that the open profiled rods are connected with each other by means of punch riveting even if it as an alternative possible to connect the profiled rods with each other in another way.

A gate or a panel member according to the invention can in a simple way be manufactured by providing two frame halves consisting of open profiled rods connected with each other at their ends, and subse¬ quent aggregation of the two frame halves consisting of open profiled rods to the frame consisting of frame sides of closed profiled rods. A gate or a panel member constructed in accordance therewith can in a simple way be provided with a panel consisting of net or grating by the fact that end portions of rods forming the grating or of threads forming the net extend into the closed section of the frame sides through openings therein and are fixed in the fra sides. Thereby the connection of the end portions of the rods or the threads take place before the two frame halves are aggregat- ed, the aggregation automatically providing a locking of the end portions in the frame sides.

It is also possible to connect a net or a grating to the frame by providing the edge portions of the net or the grating with edge strips made of sheet metal, which are in turn connected with the flanges of the frame sides which are used for connecting the open, for example U- or L-shaped, profiled rods with each other.

The invention is described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a gate or a panel member for providing a railing or a fence according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line I -II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section corresponding to Fig. 2 of a modified embodiment of the gate or the panel member according to the invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a method of manufacturing the gate or the panel

member according to the invention.

Fig. 5 shows on an enlarged scale a detail of an embodiment of the gate or the panel section according to the invention.

In Fig. 1 there is shown an embodiment of a gate or a panel member intended for building up a railing or a fence. In the following the invention is stated to be a gate even if it is recognized that the same principles can be used for manufacturing a panel member for providing a railing or a fence.

The gate according to the invention consists of a frame which is constituted by frame sides 4 having their ends connected with each other. The frame sides 4 are constituted by closed profiled rods, and each frame side 4 comprises two profiled open rods 6 connected with each other along their edges. As appears from Fig. 2 the open profiled rods have a substantially U-shaped cross section including a web portion 8 and two shank portions 10 connected with opposite edges of the web portion 8. The shank portions 10 have outwardly directed flanges 2 at their free edges, and the open profiled rods 6 are in pairs connected with each other for constituting the frame sides 4 having a closed section by connecting the flanges 12 of the U-shaped profiled rods with each other. It is suitable to connect the flanges 12 with each other by means of punch riveting. The punch riveting operation is a cold forming operation which is conducted by means of a die and a punch.

Also the frame sides 4 of the frame are suitably connected with each other by means of punch riveting, preferably punch riveting of the web portions 6 of the U-shaped profiled rods at the end portions of the profiled rods.

The gate according to Fig. 1 is provided with a panel consisting of grate rods 14 extending through holes in the inwardly turned walls of the frame sides and are fixed by the fact that the end surfaces of the grate rods 14 engage the inner surfaces of the outer walls of the frame sides.

Fig. 3 is a cross section corresponding to Fig. 2 showing a modified embodiment of the gate according to the invention. In this embodi-

ment the frame sides of the gate are constituted by open profiled rods 16 having a substantially L-shaped cross section with two shank portions 18 and 20. One of the shank portions 18 has at its free edge an outwardly directed flange 22 while the other shank portion 20 has a free edge section 24. The L-shaped profiled rods 16 are in pairs connected with each other by connection of the flange 22 of the shank portion 18 of the profiled rod with the free edge sections 24 of the shank portion 20. Also in this embodiment the profiled rods are preferably connected with each other by means of punch riveting. In the embodiment according to Fig. 3 grate rods 26 are connected with the frame sides by the fact that the end portions of the grate rods 26 extend into the frame sides through holes in the shank portion 18 of the profiled rods, which forms the inner surface of the frame, and the grate rods are fixed in this position by engaging with their end surfaces the inner surface of the shank portion 18 forming the outer wall of the frame.

The gate according to the invention can be manufactured in a simple way as shown in Fig. 4. Initially there is manufactured two frame halves 30 and 32 each consisting of open profiled rods having their ends connected with each other, the profiled rods of the embodiment according to Fig. 4 being of the same design as the profiled rods of the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2, i.e. the profiled rods are of U-shape. The profiled rods of the frame portions have triangular recesses 34 at the shank portions which shall constitute the inner surface of the frame. In addition thereto the U-shaped profiled rods have at the shank portions 10 which shall form the outer surface of the frame recesses (not shown) for receiving pivot and lock details of the kind required in a gate. Thereupon the frame halves are arranged as shown in Fig. 4 and grate rods 36 are arranged in the recesses in the lower frame half. Thereupon the upper frame half is placed on the lower frame half and the frame halves are connected with each other by connecting the flanges of the U-shaped profile rods for example by punch riveting. Thereby the grate rods 36 will be locked in between the frame halves in a fixed position. The necessary pivot and lock details which are not shown in the drawings are punch riveted or fastened in any other way to the profiled rods prior to or subsequent to the jointing of the frame halves.

It is also possible to connect grate rods or nets with a frame according to the principles shown in Fig. 5, the end portions of the grate rods or the net being connected to sheet metal strips 38 which are provided with openings. These openings match with pins or lugs provided on the inwardly turned flanges 12 or 22, 24 of the frame and the strips are fixed to the frame by bending the pins or the lugs over the sheet metal strips 38 by means of any kind of tool.

The invention can be modified within the scope of the following claims.