Safety barrier for balconies and like structures

Abstract

A safety barrier assembly for a balcony has posts for mounting at spaced positions on the balcony, each post having a foot member supported by the balcony floor and a head member biased against the balcony ceiling. The posts each have an adjustment mechanism enabling height adjustment, and a series of formations along the length of the post at which to mount a mesh screen so that the screen stretches from floor to ceiling and stretches around the posts. The mesh screen thereby defines a confined usable balcony space but presents a barrier to a balcony occupant other than through an access door.

1 . A kit of parts for assembly as a safety barrier, comprising a post and a flexible mesh, an adjustment mechanism mounted to the post for adjusting the length of the post, first mounting means on the post, and second mounting means engageable with the first mounting means, the engagement between the first and second mounting means for anchoring a part of the mesh to the post along substantially the full length of the post. 
     
     
         2 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , the post configured as a plurality of post sections, the post sections adapted to be joined end to end to form the post. 
     
     
         3 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 2 , the post being tubular. 
     
     
         4 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 3 , the post sections adapted to be joined by having one end of one post section swaged to a dimension to fit into an unswaged end of an adjacent post section. 
     
     
         5 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a lock member engageable with one of the first and second mounting means to lock said one of the first and second mounting means to the other of the first and second mounting means to prevent withdrawal of the mesh from the engaged first and second mounting means. 
     
     
         6 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , the first mounting means comprising a hole in the post, the second mounting means comprising a clip inserted into the hole to fix a part of the mesh within the hole. 
     
     
         7 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 5 , further comprising a locking element engageable with at least one of the clip and the hole to lock the clip into the hole. 
     
     
         8 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 5 , the clip being spring snappable into the hole. 
     
     
         9 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 5 , the hole being a recess in the outer surface of the post. 
     
     
         10 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 5 , the post having a wall defining a hollow interior, the hole piercing the wall. 
     
     
         11 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 9 , the hole being elongate and extending along the post parallel to a central axis thereof. 
     
     
         12 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 11  having a plurality of the elongate holes, the holes arrayed along substantially the full length of the post 
     
     
         13 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a foot member mounted at one end of the post and a head member mounted at the other end of the post. 
     
     
         14 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 13 , the foot member and the head member each having two components linked by a ball joint permitting contact surfaces of the respective member to adapt to a ceiling or a floor surface of a building structure when the kit of parts is assembled as the safety barrier. 
     
     
         15 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 14 , the contact surfaces being larger than the cross-section of the post. 
     
     
         16 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of cable ties for strapping the post to a member of a building structure at which the kit is assembled as the safety barrier. 
     
     
         17 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a strengthening wire for attachment to the mesh along at least one of an upper and lower edge thereof. 
     
     
         18 . A kit of parts as claimed in  claim 17 , the strengthening wire having a tensioning device attached thereto to increase tension in the wire. 
     
     
         19 . An assembly including a plurality of posts as claimed in  claim 1 , the posts mounted vertically, laterally spaced from one another, and extending between a ceiling and a floor of a building structure, the mesh suspended between spaced ones of the posts and fixed thereto at the first and second mounting means. 
     
     
         20 . An assembly as claimed in  claim 16 , the posts strapped to anchor members forming a part of the building structure. 
     
     
         21 . An assembly as claimed in  claim 16 , the building structure being a balcony, the assembly having plurality of posts for mounting at corners of the balcony with one post at each corner, the foot members bearing against a floor of the balcony, the head members bearing against a ceiling of the balcony.