This invention relates to a novel hoarding construction for use particularly, but not exclusively, at building sites.

Temporary hoardings are often erected around building sites, or other enclosures, to prevent intruders gaining access, and to protect passers by from the building work. Although they are temporary, such hoardings need to be secure.

It is common to provide a series of posts which are fixed into the ground, to which a sheeting is attached. However, this arrangement can be costly and time consuming to construct, in particular when the ground is paved or concreted. In addition, if the ground is soft, in a field for example, these arrangements can suffer from failure in adverse weather conditions.

Further, the parts used in the above described hoardings may not be reusable after they have been deconstructed.

UK Patent Application No 2338250, in the name of Jonathan Cheetham, discloses a base for a post comprising an open topped tray with upstanding peripheral walls to contain ballast, and at least one post receiving means, which is situated adjacent to the peripheral wall. The receiving means is tapered along its length, so that the upper region can fit into the aperture of a similar base when they are stacked together. The post receiving means includes a locking device to lock a post in position. A number of such bases fitted with posts could support fencing, and the positioning of the post relative to the base would allow the fencing to extend down to the bases or into the ground.

The arrangement disclosed in this Patent Application utilises a flexible material for the fence, in the form of netting or chain link. This material must be flexible in order to extend to the ground, because the post is positioned within the dimensions of the tray by virtue of the tapered post receiving means, and to reach the ground the material must be folded around the front of the tray. As a result of using a non self-supporting material tor the fencing, the trays must provide a lateral support, and as a result they are square.

Such an arrangement is flawed because the trays consume too great a lateral space, and because the fencing material is not strong.

The present invention is intended to overcome some of the above problems.

Therefore, according to the present invention hoarding comprising wall means and one or more wall supports, In which each wall support comprises a container arranged to contain ballast and a post, in which the post carries the wall means characterised in that the container is in the form of an elongate rectangular trough and has a first end and a second end, in which the post Is disposed at the first end of the trough, and in which the trough is disposed behind the wall means and extends perpendicular thereto.

In one construction the post can be mounted inside the trough, but in a preferred construction the post can be connected to an outside surface of the trough.

In one construction a brace can extend from a second end of the trough to the top of the post, to support it.

The wall means may comprise one or more rails mounted to the post of each wall support, and arranged substantially parallel to the ground, and a sheeting carried on the rails.

The sheeting can be disposed in front of the trough, and can extend to the ground.

Preferably the trough, the post, the brace, the rails and the sheeting can be readily removed from one another, so they can all be readily transported and re-used.

In one construction the sides of the trough can taper downward, such that one or more troughs can be readily stacked on top of one another.

In one embodiment the trough can be provided with a single mounting plate which extends from one end of the trough to the other, and to which the post and the brace can be bolted. Preferably the mounting plate can be removed from the trough, to facilitate ready stacking of one or more troughs as described above. Therefore, in one construction the mounting plate can be of greater length than the trough, and the trough can have slots at either end through which the plate can be passed. A fixing bracket can be provided on the exterior facing surface of the trough, to which one end of the mounting plate can be bolted, to hold it in place.

However, in a preferred arrangement an external mounting plate can be removably mounted to an exterior end surface of a first end of the trough, to which the post can be mounted, and an internal mounting plate can be removably mounted to an interior end surface of a second end of the trough, to which the brace can be mounted.

A brace bracket can be provided at the top of the post, to which the brace can be bolted. The rails can be mounted to the post be means of adjustable clamps, and the sheeting can be bolted directly to the rails.

The trough can be any dimension which is large enough to contain enough ballast to carry the sheeting in use. However, in a preferred construction the trough is 1.6 metres long, half a metre wide and half a metre deep.

The ballast can be any appropriate material, however, in a preferred construction sand is used.

The invention can be performed in various ways, but one embodiment will now be described by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a part cross-sectional side view of a hoarding according to the present invention; and,
• Figure 2 is a part cross-sectional side view of a second hoarding according to the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1 a hoarding 1 comprises wall means 2 and one or more wall supports 3, in which the wall supports 3 comprise a trough 4, a substantially vertical post 5 connected to the trough 4 and adapted to carry the wall means 2, and in which the trough 4 carries ballast, in the form of sand 6, in use.

The trough 4 is elongate rectangular in shape, and the post 5 is disposed at a first end 7 thereof. As is shown in Figure 1, the trough 4 extends perpendicular to the wall means 2 in use. Brace 8 extends from a second end 9 of the trough 4 to the top of the post 5, to support it.

The wall means 2 comprises two vertically spaced apart rails 10 and 11, which are mounted to the post 5. As shown in Figure 1 the rails are arranged substantially parallel to the ground. A sheeting 12 is carried on the rails 10 and 11, and is disposed in front of the trough 4.

A mounting plate 13 is disposed in the trough 4. Post bolt apertures (not visible) are provided on the plate 13 adjacent the first end 7 of the trough 4. The post 5 is provided with bolt apertures 14, so bolts 15 can be used to fix the post 5 to the mounting plate 13.

The mounting plate 13 is further provided with brace a bolt aperture (not visible) adjacent the second end 9 of the trough 4. The brace 8 is provided with a bolt aperture 16, so bolt 17 can be used to fix the brace 8 to the brace plate 13.

Slots 18 and 19 are provided at each end of the trough 4, and the mounting plate 13 is disposed within them. A fixing bracket (not shown) is provided on the exterior surface of the first end of the trough 7, to which a first end 20 of the mounting plate 13 can be fixed, by means of bolt apertures 21.

The trough 4, the post 5, the brace 8, the rails 10 and 11 and the sheeting 12 are connected together with a number of fixings, which can be readily undone so the various components can be removed from one another, as described below.

Brace bracket 22 is provided as an integral part of the post 5. The brace bracket is provided with bolt aperture 23, and the brace 8 is provided with a corresponding bolt aperture (not visible), so bolt 24 can be used to fix the brace 8 to the post 5.

The rails 10 and 11 are connected to the post 5 be means of adjustable double clamp units 25, which comprise a post clamping portion 26 and a rail clamping portion 27. The clamp units 25 can be mounted at any point on the post 5 or rails 10 and 11.

The sheeting 12 is attached to the rails 10 and 11 by brackets of a known construction (not shown).

The trough 4, the post 5, the brace 8 and the mounting plate 13 are constructed from mild steel. The sheeting 12 is constructed from corrugated steel or ply wood.

In use, the mounting plate 13 is mounted in the slots 18 and 19 and fixed to the fixing bracket (not shown) by means of the bolt apertures 21. The post 5 and the brace 8 are then bolted to the mounting 13, and to each other, and sand 6 is placed in the trough, to form the wall support 3. A plurality of identical wall supports can be constructed, depending on the size of the hoarding 1 to be erected.

The rails 10 and 11 are then attached to the post 5 of each wall support 3. In the event that the hoarding 1 is erected on uneven or sloping ground, and adjacent wall supports 3 are disposed at different levels, the clamping units 25 can be mounted at the appropriate vertical points on the post 5 which correspond to the position of the rails 10 and 11.

The sheeting 12 is then attached to the rails 10 and 11, using an appropriate fixing means (not shown).

When the hoarding is to be taken down, the above described sequence can be reversed. It will be appreciated that all the parts can then be re-used on another occasion.

As is shown in Figure 1 the side of the trough 4 taper downward, such that the trough is of a smaller dimension at the bottom than at the top. This allows a number of troughs to be readily stacked on top of one another with the base of one trough resting on the base of another. It will be appreciated that this is only possible because the mounting plate 13 is removable from the trough 4.

In Figure 2 a second hoarding 30 is shown, which is similar to hoarding 1, except in the manner in which the post 5 and the brace 8 are connected to the trough 4, which no longer has slots 18 and 19. (The same reference numerals are used in Figure 2 as in Figure 1 where the components are identical.)

In Figure 2 external mounting plate 31 is mounted to an exterior end surface 32 of the first end 7 of the trough 4. The external mounting plate is L-shaped, such that a first side 33 is placed against the end surface 32, and a second side 34 extends normally therefrom to provide a base for the post 5 to be secured to. Apertures 35 and 36 are provided in the in the first side 33 of the external mounting bracket 31 and the first end 7 of the trough 4 respectively, and bolts 37 and nuts 38 are used to secure the external mounting plate 31 in place.

Internal mounting plate 39 is mounted to an interior end surface 40 at the second end 9 of the trough 4. The internal mounting plate 39 is L-shaped, such that a first side 41 is placed against the end surface 40, and a second side 42 extends normally therefrom to provide a base for the brace 8 to be secured to. Apertures 43 and 44 are provided in the first side 41 of the internal mounting plate 39 and the second end 9 of the trough 4 respectively, and bolts 45 and nuts 46 are used to secure the internal mounting plate 39 in place.

Post bolt apertures (not visible) are provided on the external mounting plate 31 and the post 5 is provided with bolt apertures 14, so bolts 15 can be used to fix the post 5 to the second side 34 of the external mounting plate 31.

A brace a bolt aperture (not visible) is provided on the internal mounting plate 39 and the brace 8 is provided with a bolt aperture 16, so bolt 17 can be used to fix the brace 8 to the second side 42 of the internal mounting plate 39.

It will be obvious to the man skilled in the art how to construct and take apart the components of the hoarding 30 which are different to the components of the hoarding 1. In all other respects the hoarding 30 operates in the same manner as the hoarding 1.

The embodiments as shown in Figures 1 and 2 can be altered without departing from the scope of Claim 1. For example, in an alternative construction (not shown) the post 5 is provided with a fitting at the top, upon which a security camera can be carried. Such posts can be provided at the wall supports 3 which are situated at the corners of building sites, or any other appropriate vantage point.

In one further alternative embodiment (not shown) the post 5 and the brace 8 can be provided with flattened sections adjacent all the bolt apertures 14, 16 and 23, to allow for a more secure fitting to the mounting plate 13, (or the external mounting plate 31 and the internal mounting plate 39) and between the post 5 and the brace 8.

In one other alternative embodiment (not shown) the wall supports can be constructed with just the trough and the post, and without the brace feature.

Thus a hoarding is provided which overcomes the problems of erecting a hoarding on hard ground, and maintaining a hoarding on soft ground. Further, a hoarding is provided which can be readily erected and dismantled and stored for reuse.