Patent ID: 9567797
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: E06B,Y10T

Claim:
1. An adjustable-width barricade for removable installation at a bottom of a staircase, the staircase having a plurality of steps and at least one banister positioned on one side of the staircase, the banister including a handrail and a plurality of support posts each extending between a bottom surface of the handrail and a top surface of a respective one of the plurality of steps, comprising: a flexible, frameless, planar, and generally-rectangular barrier member having a fixed width main portion and at least one adjustable width side portion, the fixed width main portion having a mounting side edge and an opposed side edge connected to the at least one adjustable width side portion and forming a vertical junction line therebetween, the barrier member having a front surface and a back surface stitched together at least along a top edge and a bottom edge of the barrier member, the front and back surfaces defining an interior space therebetween, the barrier member having a fixed vertical height extending between the top edge and the bottom edge; a plurality of fasteners vertically spaced along the fixed vertical height of the barrier member, each of the plurality of fasteners having a pair of straps extending from a side edge of the at least one adjustable width side portion of the barrier member, distal ends of each of the pair of straps configured to engage each other in releasable locking manner, a proximal end of one of the pair of straps connected to the side edge of the at least one adjustable width side portion, a proximal end of the other of the pair of straps extending laterally within the interior space and connected to the barrier member along the vertical junction line between the fixed width main portion and the at least one adjustable width side portion, the other of the pair of straps having an adjustable length; and a plurality of rigid, structural support members, each structural support member inserted within a respective one of a plurality of vertical channels, the respective vertical channels extending within the interior space and each having an opening near the top edge of the barrier member and a closed end near the bottom edge of the barrier member, each of the vertical channels laterally spaced along the fixed width main portion of the barrier member, wherein the height of the barrier member is rigidly maintained in non-compressible form along the width of the barrier member by the plurality of structural support members inserted within the respective vertical channels; wherein, when the distal ends of each of the pair of straps are engaged with each other in releasable locking manner around at least one of the plurality of support posts and when the mounting side edge of the barrier member is installed on a post disposed laterally across the stairwell from the at least one of the plurality of support posts, the width of the barrier member is contracted or cinched to match the horizontal distance between the respective posts while simultaneously applying and maintaining lateral tension to the barrier member between the respective posts by tightening and adjusting the length of at least one of the plurality of fasteners engaged around the at least one of the plurality of support posts.