Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a stair and balcony
railin~. More specifically, the present invention provides
a hand railing formed from a minimum number of alu~num extruded
parts which snap together to form a strong hand rail
assembly.
There are many types of handrail assemblies made out
of metal and wood available on the market today. Metal
handrails have been available for some time, those made out
of aluminum are generally made from extruded aluminum
sections, however they invariably have two and three alum-
inum sections in the top handrail and several more in the
bottom rail to lock the pickets and posts in place. Further-
more, in many cases it is necessary to punch ho~es in some
of these aluminum sections as at predetermined spacings
along the top and bottom rails in order for the pickets and
posts to be assembled~ In some cases, screw~ or rivets are
needed to assemble the handrail and this requires additional
components which increase costs as well as assembly time.
It is one aim of the present invention to provide a
handrail assembly which has a minimum number of parts and
has no screws or rivets. The minimum parts are all extruded
aluminum, the top rail requires no holes punched therein and
the bottom rail requires holes only for posts but not for
pickets. To provide maximum flexibility of the components,
the pickets and posts may be positioned at any desired
location along the top and bottom rails. Furthermore, the
pickets and posts snap permanently into slots and the top and
bottom rails and cover clips snap permanently into exposed
sections of the slot between the pickets and posts in the
bottom rail.
The present invention provides a hand railing assembly
comprising a one piece top rail in the form of an aluminum
extrusion having a cross section with a curved top surface
and a downward facing slot, the slot having side serrations
extending along the length of the rail, a bottom rail formed
from a substant;.ally similar aluminum extrusion reversed to
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have a curved lower surface and an upward facing slot,
pickets being rectangular in cross section, having grooves
adjacent top and bottom picket ends, the top picket ends
snap fitting in the downward facing slot oE the top rail,
the bottom picket ends snap fitting in the upward facing
slot of -the bottom rail, with -the side serra-tions of -the
top rail and the bottom rail engaging with the grooves
adjacent the bottom and top picket ends to hold the picke-ts
between the top rail and the bottom rail, posts positioned
between a predetermined number of pickets, the posts being
rectangular in cross section and having grooves adjacent top
post end, the top post ends snap fitting in the downward
facing slot of the top rail with the side serrations of the
top rail engaging with the grooves adjacent top post end to
hold the posts to the top rail, the posts extending through
and engaging an aperture in the bottom rail down to a
supporting means, and cover clip portions snapping into the
upward facing slot of the bottom rail between adjacent
pickets and posts, acting as spacers to space the pickets
and posts apart and covering the upward facing slot of -the
bottom rail.
In further embodiments of this invention the one piece
top rail may have a cross section whose sides are longer
than the bottom rail cross section. Or alternatively tne
onepiece toprail and thebottom rail have the same cross
sectional shape. In another embodiment the cover clip
portions in the upward facing slot of the bottom rail between
pickets and posts are all the same length.
In a still further embodiment two posts are spaced
apart with no pickets therebetween, and panel support strips
are included snapped into the upward facing slot of the bottom
rail and the downward facing slot of the top rail between the
two pos-ts, with a panel, preferably a clear plastic sheet,
supported by the panerl support clips between the two posts.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the
invention,
Fig. 1 is an isometric view showing one embodiment
of a hand railing assembly of the present invention,
Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the hand railing
shown in Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is an end view of the hand railing shown in
Fig. 2,
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken at line 4-4
of Fig. 2,
Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken at line 5-5
of Fig. 2,
Fig. 6 showrL on the same page of drawings as Fig. 1
is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of a one
piece top rail,
Fig. 7 is a front elevational view showing another
embodimen-t of the hand railing showing a panel replacing
the pickets,
Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken at line 8-8
of Fig. 7.
Referring now to the drawings, Figs.l, 2 and 3 show a
hand railing assembly having a top rail 10 and a bottom
rail 11. As can be seen in the drawings, the top rail 10
and the bottom rail 11 are both formed from the same
aluminum extrusion. The top rail has a curved top surface
12 and a downward facing slot 13 and the bottom rail 11 has
the extrusion rel~ersed from the top rail 10, with a curved
lower surface 14 and an upward facing slot 15. Pickets 16
are located between the downward facing slot 13 of the top
rail 10 and the upward facing slot 15 of the bottom rail
11. Details of the installation will be described here-
after. Posts 17 spaced every so often in the hand railing
assembly between a predetermined number of pickets 16,
the posts 17 extend down through the bottom rail 11 and
have a foot 18 which supports the assembly. Cover clip
portions 19 fit into the upward facing slot 15 in the
bottom rail 14 between the pickets 16 and posts 17.
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Details of the assembly arrangement between the
pickets 16 and t.he top rail 10 and the bottom rail 11
are shown in Fig. 4. The downward facing slot 13 in
the top rail 10 which is similar to the upward :Eacing
slot 15 in the bottom rail 11, has a side serration 20
on each side of the slot 17. The serrations 20 have
notches ~1 extending in from the opening of the slot 13.
The slot 13 has sides 22 extending in from the opening
of the slot 13 t:erminatinc3 at flanges 23 across the end
of the slot 13. The flanges 23 have raised portions 24
extending towards the opening of the slot 13 with sloping
faces and notched ends 25 serving two purposes which will
be described hereafter.
The pickets 16 preferably have a rectangular cross
section, by the word rectangular this could mean a square
cross section, and may be formed from sol.id or tubular
material preferably aluminum. The pickets 16 have grooves
30 cut adjacent to the top and bottom ends posi-tioned
so thatwhen the ends are pushed into either the downward
facing slot 13 of the -top rail 10 or the upwards facing
slot 15 of the bottom rail 11, the picket end rests on
the notched ends 25 inside the slots 13 and 15 and the
serrations 20 Oll the sides 22 of the slots 13 and 15 fit
into these grooves 30 adjacent the ends of the pickets 16.
Cover clip portions 19 fit into the upward facingslot
15 of the bottom rail 11 between pickets 16 and posts 17.
The cover clip portion 19 has a top surface 40 curved to
match the shape of the top surface of the bottom rail 11
adjacent to the slot 15 to provide a smooth contoured
surface and preventing dirt etc. from entering the slot
15. The clip portion 19 has flanges 41 which extend down
from each side of the top surface 40 and have tapered
ends 42 each with a step to engage with the notched end
25 of the upward facing slot 15 and thus hold the cover
clip portion 19 firmly in place. Side protrusions
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43 beneath each end of the top surface 40 of the clip
portion 19 extend into the notches 21 of the slot 15 to
provide a solid and firm assembly.
To assemble the unit, a special oval shaped tool
(not shown) is inserted into the upward facing slot 15
of the bot-tom rail 11, or the downward facing slot 13 of
the top rail 10, adjacent to where the picket is to be
located. The oval tool is rotated so that the s]ot is
distorted and widened allowing the end of -the picket 16
to be inserted therein. The oval tool is then rotated
again so that the slots 13 and 15 close and the serrations
20 grip the picket ends to hold it firmly in place. The
cover clip portions 19 are merely pushed into the upward
facing slots 15 where the tapered ends 42 engage with
the notched ends 25 of the slots 13 and 15. Once the cover
clip portion 19 is installed, it is a permanent install-
ation and cannot be removed without damage. A detail of
the assembly arrangement between the post 17, and the top
rail 10 and the bottom rail 11 is shown in Fig. 5.The post
17 is preferably rectangular in cross section and is
generally wider than the pickets 16. The top end 50 of
the post 17 is c~t down to exactly fit into the downward
facing slot 13 of the top rail 10 so that it becomes the
same shape as the end of a picket 16 and has grooves 51
which engage with the serrations 20 on the sides 22 of
the downward facing slot 13. An aperture 52 is cut in
the bottom rail 11 through which the post 17 fits. As
illustrated in F~g. 5, the post 17 is a reasonably tight
fit in the aperature 52 and this is the only aperature
that has to be cut in the bottom rail 11. The post 17
may be solid or tubular and extends down the foot 18 as
shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
A different arrangement of a top rail 10 is shown in
Fig. 6 which has higher or taller sides 60 -than the type
of rail shown in the other drawings. The curved top surface
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12 and the downward facing slot 13 are the same as
the other configuration of rail and this configuration
couId be used for the top rail 10 only as it is
primarily concerned with providing a large hand grip or
it may be used for the top rail 10 and the bo-ttom rail
11 providing a more substantial hand railing assembly.
Screw holes 61 are shown in the corners of the rail
cross section to allow an end panel to be screwed in
place. In the smaller rail, a snap in end panel may be
used at the ends.
Figs. 7 and 8 show another arrangement wherein the
pickets 16 normally located between the posts 17 are
replaced with a panel 70. The panel may be a clear
plastic sheet, sold under the trade mark PLEXIGLAS, or
any other suitable sheet material. Panel support clips
71 as shown in Fig. 8 are provided which snap into the
slots on the top rail 10 and the bottom rail 11. The
clips 71 are similar in shape to the corner clip portions
19 shown in Fig. 4 but have an opening for a plastic or
rubber molding 72 to hold the edge of the panel 70.
Various changes may be made to the specific details
illustrated in the figures without departing from the
scope of the present invention which is limited only by
the following claims.
