Abstract:
A step system made up of masonry panels of various sizes pre-formed to resemble natural stone or brick on the outside. These panels have bolts or other securing devices embedded in them at precise locations at the time of their manufacture. These securing devises allow them to be attached together to form the sides and front of a set of steps. They are attached via a metal frame that is also of differing sizes and made with holes at precise locations to accept the bolts of the masonry pieces. When assembled, as directed, the structure has areas where large slabs of natural stone treads can be rested and attached at differing distances and heights from the ground forming a set of steps.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    Staircases or a set of steps are used to walk from one elevation to another elevation. While steps have been around for so long that no one can say for sure about the first set of steps, one can only imagine that the first set of steps were probable stones stacked upon one another. As time went on, ways to attach the stones more permanently to one another were developed. Even before the invention of modern cement, evidence exists that ancient civilizations used certain materials to “mortar” stones together to form a set of steps. Even before blades were used to cut trees into lumber, logs were shaped into flat steps and attached to make a staircase. Not long after iron and steel were developed, they too were soon used to fabricate a set of steps.  
           [0002]    Whatever the method used by the ancient civilizations, the method of constructing a staircase was always the same. They would gather the raw materials they were going to use and take them to the site where they were going to use them then they would fabricate the staircase using one piece at a time. This method is the most commonly used method still to this day. It usually involves bringing boards, cutting them and nailing them together or using masonry blocks, or stone, or bricks and mortaring them together. Another commonly used method today involves forming a staircase out of wood or like material and pouring concrete to take the shape of a staircase.  
           [0003]    While a set of steps fabricated in these ways can be very beautiful and elaborate, they can also be very expensive. To make a set of steps in stone or brick is beyond the know-how of the typical homeowner and a professional mason has to be hired. Also because steps done in this fashion are stone or bricks cemented together into one large piece, these types set of steps has to be placed on a footing. If a footing were not used, any settling or shifting would cause this one large piece to crack.  
           [0004]    To custom build a set of steps one piece at a time is not the only way to build a set of steps however, “prefabricated” steps are known in the art. “Prefabricated” staircases are built in a factory or some other location and then taken to a site where they are typically attached to the upper and lower elevations. Interior wooden staircases are the most common of these and are widely used today. Exterior staircases made of pressure treated lumber are also used. Prefabricated steel steps are commonly used for fire escapes and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,608, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,504 are types of these. While prefabricated interior staircase can be very decorative and elaborate, most types of these materials can&#39;t stand up to the elements when used in the exterior.  
           [0005]    One type of prefabricated steps that can stand up to the elements is a prefabricated concrete unit. The problem with this is that they are make of solid concrete and have to be set in place by a mechanical lift of some sort. Making it impractical for installation in some locations.  
           [0006]    One way to solve the problems that large and heavy prefabricated units present is by developing pre-made parts specifically designed for use as a stair or staircase. Most people can assemble stair parts like these without costly professional help. While precut parts used to make a set of steps can be purchased at any local home building materials store, most are out of lumber or metal not out of masonry that can be long lasting when used in the exterior.  
           [0007]    There are methods using some sort of block that is stacked one upon another, known in the art. Some have means of interlocking and can even be assembled without “mortaring” the blocks together. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,772, U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,049 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,746 are examples of types of masonry block that are used almost exclusively for making steps.  
           [0008]    Recently steps have been make using split faced masonry block, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,049 are examples of these blocks and can be glued together with a masonry adhesive to form a set of steps. This method allows the staircase to “give”, thereby preventing cracking. The appearance of this type of staircase is limited because of the way these blocks are manufactured. Also, any method used to build a set of steps out of blocks stacked one upon another requires the use of many blocks, not only on the outside and front face but also the totality of the inside from the ground up to the top and from side to side.  
           [0009]    It has been known for some time in the art to build masonry steps for outdoor use using materials other than stacked blocks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,475, U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,935, U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,347, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,672, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,154 all have masonry pieces that don&#39;t require the total area under the step treads to be built up. All these methods use a stringer type design for the risers. The trouble with a stringer design is a different sized stringer would be used for staircases with different numbers of steps. This would present a problem to supply stores that would have to carry inventories for one step units, different stringers for two step units, and so on.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 1,879,996, U.S. Pat. No. 2,697,931, U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,823, U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,639, U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,170 all have solid side pieces not stringers, that serve as risers. While these staircase systems also don&#39;t require the total area under the step tread to be built up, they have the same problem in that supply houses would have to carry different side ieces for each set of differing numbers of steps. These large inventories are very costly and inconvenient.  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,374,905 has masonry pieces stacked upon one another not solid side pieces. But this system talks of poured concrete key-ways, thereby presenting the same problem of cracking that any solid masonry staircase would present.  
           [0012]    It would therefore be a significant advance of the art to provide a staircase or set of steps made out of long lasting masonry pieces which could take on the appearance of natural stone or brick. And which could be easily assembled using just nuts and bolts, without having to pour footings or “cement” these pieces together. It would also be an advance in the art if these masonry pieces could be easy to handle and assembled in such a way as to use as few pieces as possible in the construction of the staircase. It would be a further advance in the art to develop a system to produce exterior staircases that could be used to build steps of differing numbers of steps and steps of differing widths using interchangeable parts. And at the same time being able to inventory only small amounts of system pieces to do this.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    The present invention is generally directed to an exterior staircase or set of steps made from pre-manufactured masonry and steel pieces. These pieces can be easily assembled to produce a long lasting set of steps.  
           [0014]    In particular one object of the invention is to use pieces that are light enough to be handled by hand and can be connected together on site.  
           [0015]    Another object is to use decorative, preformed in molds, manufactured pieces. These pieces would be pre-sized and fined to go together in such a way as to form a set of steps.  
           [0016]    Another object of the present invention is to put these pieces together so they are not cemented together.  
           [0017]    Another object is to use specific pieces for specific parts of the step. I.e. the sides of a 3-step unit will have 3 courses for each side. While the pieces that form these courses are interchangeable from left side to right side, they are different sizes for each different step. The bottom course being a masonry piece or multiple pieces that are longer than the course above it and the one above that being shorter still.  
           [0018]    Another object is to use side pieces that can be used on either the right side or the left side risers, and use the same front pieces for the first step, second step, third step and so on. The front pieces are interchangeable with other front pieces of the same width step, but not interchangeable with other steps of different widths or any side pieces.  
           [0019]    Another object is to use different front pieces (longer or shorter), attached to the same side pieces, in order to construct different widths of steps.  
           [0020]    Another object is to use masonry pieces for the bottom step that are a different height than the ones used for the remaining steps.  
           [0021]    Another object is to use masonry pieces that are formed with embedded bolts or other securing devices, so they can be attached.  
           [0022]    Another object of the invention is to use a rigid frame that can act as the securing device for the masonry units. And to have this frame constructed in such a way as to allow for all courses of the side risers to be stacked one upon another and connected to each other, while at the same time allowing multiple pieces to be used for each course, if necessary.  
           [0023]    Also, another object of the invention is to have this frame able to connect the right side risers to he left side risers and both sides to the front riser pieces.  
           [0024]    Another object is to allow for limestone or other natural stone treads to be placed and secured into the unit and act as the actual step.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-step unit of the present invention showing the masonry side and front pieces as well as the treads.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a top left riser side and a top right riser side of a step unit.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a left front riser and a right front riser of a step unit.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mold that a side riser piece is formed in.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the metal frame parts of a three-step unit.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6 is a side plane view showing the metal frames, front riser pieces, and stone treads of a three-step unit. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0031]    In FIG. 1, masonry pieces are different sizes. Top left riser  1  rests on top of left middle riser  2 , which rests on the top of left bottom riser  3 . The bottom of left bottom riser  3  rests on the ground. Riser  3  is of a different height than riser  2  &amp; riser  1 . According to most building codes, typically a step is 7½″-8″ high. From the ground, the top of the first step should be 7½″. The stone slabs are commonly used in other step applications and are typically 2″ in thickness. The stone slab  13  rests on top of left bottom riser  3  and right bottom riser  4 . Since the slap is already 2″, the height of the bottom pieces  3  and  4  should be 5½″ to bring the height of the bottom step to 7½″. The second stone slab  14  is the second step. The second stone slab  14  rests on the top of left middle riser  2  and right middle riser  5 . The height distance from stone slabs  13  to the stone slab  14  should be 7½″. Side riser  2  rests on top of side  3 , but the bottom of side  2  is the thickness of stone slab  13  or 2″ lower than the top of the first step  13 . Therefore, to get the 7½″ step height the height of side  2  is 7½″. The height from stone slab  14  to stone slab  13  is 7½″. Side  1  rests on top of side  2 . The bottom of side  1  is 2″ lower than the bottom of the second step. Therefore, the height of the side  1  is 7½″. With the stone slabs resting on the tops of the side pieces and the next ascending side pieces resting on the side piece below it, any side piece after the first step will be 7½″ high. This will follow from step  2  to step  3  to step  4  and beyond. The bottom sidepiece will always be 5½″ in height.  
         [0032]    Top left riser  1  is a certain width, in this instance x. The width x of side riser  2  is twice that of side riser  1  and that is 2×. The width of side riser  3  is three times the width of side riser  1  and that is 3×. Increasing numbers of steps have lengths that have similar increasing multiples of side riser  1 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 2 shows both left top riser  1  and right top riser  4 . Both pieces have six sides and are the same dimensions. The bolts  54  are in the middle, from top to bottom, of side riser  1 . Decorative face  33  is the outside side of riser land used on the outside of the steps. Top face  18  is the top of riser  1 . When left riser  1  is flipped end for end it is now in the same configuration as right riser  4  with the decorative face  33  being on the outside. The top face  18  is in the bottom side position of right riser  4 . The bolts  54  are still in the middle from top to bottom of riser  4 . All side riser pieces, while having different dimensions, are configured the same and therefore, interchangeable in the same position from left side to right side.  
         [0034]    In FIG. 1, front riser  8  rests between treads  13  and  14  and on top of tread  13 . Since treads are typically 2″, the distance between top of tread  13  and bottom of tread  14  is 5½″. Front riser  8  as well as all other front risers are the same height dimension, typically 5½″. The front risers could be one long piece but long narrow pieces of concrete can easily break during transport. In FIG. 1, front risers are most typically two pieces, left front risers  7 ,  8 , and  9  and right front risers  10 ,  11 , and  13  Because these pieces have bolts that are placed in the middle of the pieces and equal distance from side to side, they can be flipped end for end and are interchangeable from left side to right side, the same way that side riser-pieces are interchangeable in FIG. 2. Whether it is the first, second, third or any other step, the length of the front riser piece determines the width of the step from side to side. In FIG. 1, the length of the front riser  7  is w. All front risers of the same step unit have risers of equal length. By making the length w of riser  7  longer, the step unit&#39;s width, from side to side, becomes wider. In FIG. 1, the top face  18  of the front bottom riser  7  is at the same height elevation as the top face  16  of left side riser  3  and the top face  23  of right side riser  6 . The tops faces of the risers  18 ,  16  and  23  provide and area where slab  13  can rest and be affixed with glue to the risers. The bearing weight is transferred, at this point, from the treads to the ground. The top faces of the front risers  19  and  22  allow for the stone tread  13  to rest on top and the bearing weight is transferred to the ground for the first step. In FIG. 1, on the next step the top face  20  of the front riser  8  allow for the stone tread  14  to rest on top of riser  8 . This piece then rests on tread  13  below it, which rests on angle bracket  51 , which is attached to upright center bracket  48  which transfers bearing weight to the ground. All bearing weight from the front of the tread is transferred to the ground in this manner on all subsequent steps.  
         [0035]    All the side pieces and the front pieces have decorative front faces. In FIG. 2, the front face  33  is the outer face of the masonry side riser  4 . In FIG. 3, front riser  10  is decorative on the front face  19  and around the corner at side face  30 . Most decorative masonry blocks are split faced as in (U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320) or in (U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,049). These blocks are typically made with dry packed concrete. In FIG. 2, because these masonry pieces have embedded bolts  54  &amp;  55 , they are typically made in molds with wet concrete. Because they are made in wet concrete it allows for greater definition of the decorative face. FIG. 4 shows typical mold used to produce masonry side and front pieces, in this case it is a mold for top side riser  4 . Mold  69  is typically rubber or like material, which can be shaped to produce different decorative front faces. The mold allows for five faces of the masonry piece to be formed, with the sixth face formed when concrete is poured into the top of the mold. Decorative face  33  is on bottom of mold. Masonry riser  4  is shown with embedded bolts  54 . These bolts must be embedded at enough of a depth in concrete as to provide for sufficient holding power but must not extend through masonry piece to front face. In FIG. 4, the bolts must also be at precise locations in the wet concrete. The bolts are typically held at precise locations in the wet concrete mold by a bracket  70  and bracket stops  71  which corresponds to the locations of the holes in the steel frame. The bolts  54  must extend out of concrete enough distance to be able to go through pre-drilled holes in metal frame.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 5 shows steel frame. Steel is typically used but any metal, aluminum or rigid material will do. Metal must be primed and painted because metal is exposed to the air. Frames  34 ,  35 ,  36 , and  37  can be of any rigid material as to allow for distance from side riser pieces  1 ,  2 , and  3  to side riser pieces  4 ,  5 , and  6  to be held constant. As with the masonry pieces, the steel frames are different sizes for different locations. In FIG. 5, the shapes of the front frames are mostly the same, consisting of a cross bracket, a left upright bracket, a right upright bracket, and a center upright bracket. For frame  36 , the cross bracket is  46 , the left upright bracket is  39 , the right upright bracket is  43 , and the center uprightb bracket is  48 . Center upright bracket  48  also has an angle bracket  51  attached at a 90 degree angle. Frames are the same length for all steps therefore, the cross brackets of all the steps will be the same length. For the next step, the left upright bracket  40 , the right upright bracket  44 , and the center upright bracket  49  are longer in length. As the steps increase, so does the length of the upright brackets. Angle bracket  51  is attached at center upright bracket  49  at a location where it will support the back of the tread. This distance s, down from the top of the cross bracket  46  will be the same on all subsequent steps and all subsequent cross brackets.  
         [0037]    The frame that goes all he way to the back of the step is different from the other frames. This frame  34  consists of a top cross bracket  52 , a bottom cross bracket  53 , a left upright bracket  41 , a right upright bracket  45 , and a center upright bracket  50 . FIG. 5 shows back frame always goes to back of step. The back frame pieces could have pre-drilled holes that would allow four steps to be attached to house or other structure. The upright pieces of the frame are able to connect the masonry piece below to any masonry piece above it. In order for the frames to be able to connect the masonry pieces together, they must have holes to let the bolts that are embedded in the masonry pieces, pass through. In FIG. 2 the bolt holes  61  and  62  are at precise locations in the upright frame bracket  40  that corresponds to the location of bolts in masonry riser pieces. These bolts  54  and  55  can pass thru the bolt holes  61  and  62  and can be secured with nuts or other means. In FIG. 5, left upright bracket  39  connects masonry riser  3  to masonry riser  2 . Upright bracket  40  connects masonry riser  3  to masonry riser  2  and masonry riser  1 . In FIG. 6, this cross bracket  46  is attached to left upright bracket  39  and right upright bracket  43  at 90 degree angles. In FIG. 6, this cross bracket  46  is attached to upright bracket  43  at a point below the top of upright bracket  43 . The bolt  57  embedded in front riser  10  is at a distance y, which is the midpoint of the height of masonry front riser  10 . Therefore, the midpoint of cross bracket  46  is at a distance y down from the top of upright bracket  43 . All front cross brackets are connected to both left and right upright brackets at this distance y from the top of their corresponding brackets. This follows for all steps.  
         [0038]    In FIG. 1, the stone treads  13 ,  14 , and  15  may be of natural stone or of a manufactured masonry material. The treads must be of the same thickness so they can be interchangeable and this thickness must be constant. In FIG. 6, the height on front risers  10 ,  11 , and  12  are constant, most generally at 5½″. The distance from cross bracket  46  to the steel angle bracket  51  is constant at s. The height of stone tread  13  must be a constant thickness in order to fit under front masonry risers and on top of angle bracket  51 . FIG. 1 shows width of stone tread  13 . This width corresponds to the length of the top riser face  16  that it rests on, plus the width of the top face of the front riser  19  plus an overhang. A one inch overhang is most generally used. The exposed top faces of the risers  2  and  3  are all the same. This distance is x. The front riser top edges are all the same thickness. Therefore, the width of the treads  13 ,  14 , and  15  are all the same. The lengths of the stone treads are different for each step units of different widths but are the same for each tread within a given step unit. In FIG. 1 the length of the stone tread  13  corresponds to the length w of the front riser piece  7  plus the length w of the front riser piece  10 . This length of the tread  13  is 2 w. A front riser piece with a longer length w would make for a corresponding longer stone tread 2 w.  
         [0039]    While the above is the preferred embodiment of the invention, many modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art and these should be considered within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.