Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02730855 2011-02-02
This invention relates to handrails and more particularly to a handrail which
is contin-
uously illuminated from within the handrail. The handrail may be interchanged
with a handrail
which is opaque and which transmits no light.
A hand rail adjacent to stairs, balconies and wherever else a support is
needed must be
adequately illuminated if it is to be used with safety. This is particularly
so where the hand rail is
to be used at night or by persons with limited vision. Spotlights can be used
to illuminate a
handrail but an object illuminated by a spotlight is often obscured by shadows
and not clearly
visible to a person with limited vision. Electric light bulbs in strings can
be wound around a
handrail to illuminate it but such bulbs can prevent the handrail from being
held firmly either
because the bulbs may slip when held or because the bulbs, if held too
tightly, may break and
cause injury
I have invented a handrail which is continuously illuminated along its length.
The illum-
ination is not obscured by shadows nor is it produced by electric light bulbs
which prevent the
handrail from being held firmly. In fact, the illumination originates from
within the handrail and
has no affect on the way in which the handrail is held. Moreover, the source
of illumination
produces no heat that has any affect on the temperature of the handrail.
Furthermore adverse
weather conditions such as rain or snow has no affect on the life of the
source of the illumination.
The subject handrail has a number of desirable features in addition to the
benefits men-
tioned above. It is decorative when illuminated and may be illuminated not
only by lights of a
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CA 02730855 2011-02-02
single colour but by lights of many colours to give it an effect similar to a
kaleidoscope. More-
over, the lights may be steady or may pulse. Should the handrail not require
illumination, it can
be replaced by a handrail composed of more durable material such as aluminum.
Briefly, the subject matter of the subject invention is a combination of a
first handrail for
attachment to at least one of a number of pickets of a fence; a fastener for
securing the handrail to
the pickets; and an elongated light such as a rope light. The first handrail
is composed of trans-
parent or translucent material which allows light to pass through it and is
adapted to extend
between adjacent pickets of a picket fence. The handrail has an elongated
recess or groove for
receipt of an elongated light. The fastener of the subject combination has
means for securing the
handrail to at least one of the pickets of the fence and has a connector
provided with means for
removably engagement of the handrail to the fastener.
The subject combination may include a second handrail which is composed of
opaque
material and which surrounds the translucent or transparent portion of the
first or inner handrail.
The second handrail has a first tab which removably secures a second tab with
which the fastener
is provided. The second handrail is composed of resiliently deformable
material such that a force,
when applied to it and directed toward causing the first tab out of engagement
with the second
tab, causes resilient deformation of the tabs with resulting disengagement of
the second handrail
from the fastener.
The combination of the subject invention including first and second handrails
is described
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CA 02730855 2011-02-02
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a simplified elevation of the subject combination in combination
with a
conventional rail fence;
Figure 2 is a section of the first and second handrails and the fastener, in
enlarged scale;
Figure 3 is a section in enlarged scale of the fastener;
Figures 4 and 5 are sections of the second and first handrails, respectively,
and
Figure 6 is a section in enlarged scale of a variation of the combination
illustrated in
Figure 2.
Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of
the drawings.
With reference to Figure 1, the subject combination, generally 10, is shown in
conjunct-
ion with a conventional fence composed of a horizontal lower rail 12 and a
number of pickets 14
which extend upwardly from the base. The pickets are equally spaced along the
length of the base
and terminate at the subject combination.
With reference to Figures 2, 4 and 5, the subject combination of the invention
includes a
first or inner handrail 20 and a second or outer handrail 22. When the
handrails are installed at a
job site, the inner handrail will generally be within the outer handrail as
illustrated. A landowner
accordingly has a choice between a handrail which is opaque and metallic such
as aluminum, as is
the outer handrail, or a handrail which is transparent or translucent and is
composed of non-
metallic material such as vinyl, as is the inner handrail. Should the customer
wish a handrail
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CA 02730855 2011-02-02
which is illuminated, he will remove the outer handrail from the combination,
while if he does not
wish an illuminated handrail, he will leave the outer handrail attached as
illustrated in the
drawings. The means by which one or the other handrail can be removed from the
subject
combination is described below.
With reference to Figures 2 and 3, a fastener, generally 26, secures both
handrails to
pickets 14. The fastener has a pair of flanges 26a,b between which a web 26c
extends. The flanges
straddle each picket such that the web is seated upon the picket while the
flanges extend
downwardly from the web and are disposed on opposite sides of the picket. A
rivet 27 perm-
anently secures the fastener to each picket.
Fastener 26 has a connector 28 which extends upwardly from web 26c and which
interconnects the fastener with both of the handrails.
Both the inner and the outer handrails are composed of resiliently deformable
material so
that they can be releasably interconnected to a fastener resiliently in the
manner described in detail
below.
The inner handrail has an upper portion 20a which defines an elongated recess
and a lower
portion 20b which terminates at an annular lip 30. The lip flares outwardly of
the lower portion of
the handrail and engages with an inwardly extending annular limb 32 at the top
of the fastener.
The inner handrail may be separated from the fastener simply by squeezing the
side walls of the
upper portion 20a together in order to removed the lip from the recess 34
between the limb 32 and
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a horizontal portion 36 of connector 28. Lip 30 and limb 32 accordingly
function to removably
secure the handrails to the fastener.
As previously mentioned, the outer handrail 22 has an upper portion 22a which
surrounds
the upper portion of the inner handrail. The lower portion 22b of the outer
handrail is removably
secured to connector 28 by means of a first tab 40 which removably secures a
conforming second
tab 42 with which the fastener is provided. AS indicated previously, the
second handrail is com-
posed of resiliently deformable material such that a force, when applied to
the outer handrail and
directed toward causing the first tab out of engagement with said second tab,
causes resilient
deformation of the outer second handrail with resulting disengagement of the
second handrail
from the fastener
Recess 20a in the inner handrail accommodates an elongated light such as a
conventional
rope light composed of a light-emitting diode. As previously mentioned, the
outer wall 62 of the
handrail is composed of translucent or transparent material such as clear or
cloudy vinyl so that
the illumination from the light is visible from outside the handrail.
The outer wall 22a of the outer handrail is composed of metal such as aluminum
and is
opaque so that if the inner handrail is illuminated, the light is invisible
from outside the outer
handrail.
With reference again to Figure 2, a cylindrical cover 52 is removably secured
to the
fastener to the pickets. The cover has a pair of upwardly and downwardly
extending protrusions
CA 02730855 2011-02-02
52a, b respectively against which lower and upper ears 54a,b of the flanges
abut in order to secure
the cover securely to the fastener. The cover serves both as decoration and as
means to conceal
rivets 27.
The handrail illustrated in Figure 6 is the same as that illustrated in Figure
2 except that
the outer handrail 60 is only slightly larger than the inner handrail 62 so
that there is little space
between the two handrails. The outer handrail serves to protect the inner
handrail but, occupying
less space, is easier to hold than the outer handrail of Figure 2.
It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be made in the
combination of the
subject invention without departing from the scope and purview of the
invention as defined in the
appended claims.
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