Wire wall partition

Claim 1

A section for use in a wall partition, safety rail and the like, the section comprising: a substantially rectangular panel element having a thickened peripheral portion adjacent each one of its sides; four elongated members adapted to support the panel element, each of the members being of substantially square cross-section having opposed spaced-apart longitudinal edges defining a slot, having a width less than the thickness of said thickened peripheral portion and sufficiently large to permit the member to slide longitudinally over the panel element adjacent an edge thereof and thereby enclose and entrap said thickened peripheral portion; coupling means adapted to couple adjacent ends of the members at all four corners of the panel element in order to lock said elongated members in a rectangular form with the panel element restrained by the thickened peripheral portion to prevent separation of the panel element from the elongated members, said coupling means comprising four pairs of brackets and a fastener for engagement in the brackets to draw pairs of brackets together about an adjacent pair of ends of the elongated members, each bracket having a U-shaped portion defining a channel, the U-shaped portion being in two parts at right-angles to one another for receiving respective end parts of adjacent elongated members in the channel, each bracket further comprising a triangular web extending between said parts of said U-shaped portion, the web having at least one opening for receiving the fastener; telescopic uprights having ends adapted to frictionally engage respective adjacent floors of a building and including spring means applying outward forces to increase the frictional engagement of said ends of the uprights on the floors; and attaching means adapted to attach said section to said uprights, each attaching means comprising a hook member slidably engaged in said telescopic member and frictionally locked in place by said spring means when the telescopic upright is in position between floors, said hook member being adapted to be positioned about overlapping portions of adjacent sections to hold said sections against the telescopic upright.