Abstract:
A post cap is provided that is formed of a material having increased durability from the prior art post cap formed of plastics. The material includes some plastic components but also includes other compounds that provide the increased weight and durability to the post cap. The material includes a plastic, a solidifying agent, an accelerating agent, and a filler, optionally in conjunction with other ingredients, such as a color and one or more fillers. The material forming the post cap is formed in a mold in a suitable molding process, such as a casting process.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/113,875, filed on Feb. 9, 2015, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to decks and fences, and more specifically to a cap for posts used in the construction of decks and fences. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Decks and fences are often utilized to increase the usable space around a home as well as to increase the value and enhance the appearance of the home, or other types of structures with which the fence or deck is associated. 
         [0004]    The structure of a conventional deck includes a flat surface around which a rail is positioned to form the border of the deck. The rail can have any number of different configuration or constructions, but most often includes a number of posts spaced around the flat surface of the deck and oriented perpendicular to the flat surface. The posts can function as support and/or anchors for the flat surface, and are usually joined to one another by slats or other similar members that combine with the posts to form the rail around the periphery of the deck. In the case of a fence, the flat surface is removed, and the fence construction utilizes only the posts and the slats or other structures extending between the posts. 
         [0005]    The posts themselves are most often formed of a wood or wood-like material that can be formed of a single piece of the desired material or a piece of the material that is bounded a some or all sides by additional pieces of the same or a different material, to provide the desired appearance for the post. 
         [0006]    In either construction, the upper end of the post is normally left exposed. To protect the material forming the post, and to provide a more pleasing appearance to the top end of the post, a post cap is placed over the top end of the post. The post cap can be formed of wood, but this greatly increases the time and cost associated with making the post. In order to produce a post that is more cost effective than a wood post cap, other prior art post caps have been formed of a plastic material that can be easily formed into the necessary shape to fit over the post and provide better resistance to the weather that the post is normally subject to. 
         [0007]    However, prior art post cap constructions are formed of plastic materials that, while able to approximate the desired look for the cap, have significant drawbacks with regard to the color, appearance and durability of the cap. 
         [0008]    Thus, it is desirable to develop a post cap for a deck or fence that overcomes these issues with plastic prior art post caps. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    Briefly described, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a post cap is formed of a material having increased durability from prior art post caps formed exclusively of plastics. The material includes some plastic components but also includes other compounds that provide increased weight and durability to the post cap. The material includes a plastic, a solidifying agent, an accelerating agent, and a filler, optionally in conjunction with other ingredients, such as a color and one or more additional fillers. 
         [0010]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the material forming the post cap is formed into the desired shape for the cap within a mold in a suitable molding process, which can be a casting process. The casting or other molding process uses a mold material and process that enables the material to be formed into more intricate and detailed shapes than other processes, such that the resulting post cap has a more realistic appearance, e.g., is more similar in appearance to a wood post cap, as is desired. 
         [0011]    Numerous other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description together with the drawings figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention. 
           [0013]    In the drawings: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective bottom view of the post cap of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring now in detail to the drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure is illustrated generally at  10  in  FIG. 1 . The cap  10  can have any desired shape, and in the exemplary embodiments of  FIGS. 1-3  has a generally square shape that is complementary to the cross-sectional shape of the post (not shown) to which the cap  10  is secured. 
         [0020]    Referring now to the exemplary embodiments of  FIGS. 1-3 , the cap  10  includes a base  12  formed of a number of walls  14  joined at angles to one another, such as at right angles as illustrated in the exemplary embodiments. The walls  14  support and are each attached to a cover  16  that extends over and between the walls  14 . The cover  16  can have any desired shape, and can be larger than the base  12  such that the cover  16  extends over or outwardly from the periphery of the base  12 , and in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1  is formed with a pyramidal shape having a number of triangular shaped walls  18  extending upwardly from the base  12  and converging at a vertex  19 . In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 2  the walls  18  are truncated above the base  12  to enable a decorative member  20  to be positioned thereon. The decorative member  20  can be formed of any desired material, such as a metal, and can have any desired shape. The decorative member  20  can be secured to the base  12  in any suitable manner such as by a fastener (not shown), an adhesive (not shown) or by molding the cap  10  directly onto the decorative member  20 . In  FIG. 3  the illustrated exemplary embodiment includes a flat upper wall  22  disposed in place of the decorative member  20 . 
         [0021]    The cap  10  can also have a completely different configuration than those shown in  FIGS. 1-3  such as the generally flat and rectangular cap  10 ′ shown in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 4 , which is designed for use with posts having a rectangular configuration complementary to the shape of the cap  10 ′. 
         [0022]    Looking now at  FIG. 5 , the cap  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown from a bottom view. As shown, in this illustrated exemplary embodiment the base  12  of the cap  10  is hollow such that the base  12  defines an interior  24  that receives the upper end of the post in order for the cap  10  to be properly positioned and retained on the post. The interior  24  can include a shoulder  25  that separates the interior  24  into a narrow upper section  30  and a wide lower section  32 . The differences in the sizes of the sections  30 , 32  allow the cap  10  to be engaged with posts having different sizes, such that a single cap  10  can be used with different posts. In other embodiments, the cap  10  can have multiple shoulders  25  formed within the interior  24 , thereby increasing the number of posts on which the cap  10  is capable of being utilized. 
         [0023]    Further, the top of the upper section  30  is defined by the lower end of the cover  16 , which is formed as a solid piece of the material forming the cap  10 . Thus, the upper section  30  and lower section  32  each have a flat surface defining their respective top ends, so that the cap  10  can be positioned flush and stable on the flat upper end of the post. Further, the solid nature of the cover  16  enhances the weight of the cap  10  to provide additional stability when positioned on the post, and durability. 
         [0024]    In each of the embodiments, the exterior surfaces of the base  12  and cover  16  not formed by a decorative element  20  are formed with a pattern  26  thereon that approximates the grain of natural wood to provide a more realistic and aesthetically pleasing appearance to the cap  10 . The pattern  26  on the base  12  and the cover  16  can be the same or different, and can be formed to be different on the different walls  14 ,  18  forming the base  12  and the cover  16 . In addition the pattern  26  can be formed to approximate different types of wood, depending upon the particular wood or other material used to form the post or other elements of the fence (not shown) or deck (not shown) that the cap  10  is being utilized with. 
         [0025]    To form the cap  10 , while any suitable process may be utilized, in an exemplary embodiment of a method for forming the cap  10 , the material used for forming the cap  10  is utilized in a casting method. In this method, the material forming the cap  10  is mixed and maintained in a liquid form at about 45-50° F., and poured into a mold, which can be formed of a resilient material, such as a silicone. The mold is formed of a material that is able to be formed with the desired pattern  26  for the various portions of the cap  10  to be shaped in the mold, while also enabling the cap  10  formed in the mold to be relatively easily removed from the mold by deflecting the mold around the cap  10  once formed to expose the cap  10  formed in the mold, even when the pattern  26  includes more intricate shapes, undercuts and other features to form the desired pattern  26 . 
         [0026]    Once positioned in the mold, the material is cast, or subjected to a vacuum in a known manner to draw the material into all of the portions of the mold, thereby forming the cap  10  with the desired shape and the desired pattern  26  on each exposed portion of the cap  10 . Once fully formed in the mold, the cap  10  is dried, polished, with any defects in the exterior surface repaired at this point, cleaned and painted, if necessary, to give the pattern  26  the desired appearance, such as by placing black paint into various recesses of the pattern to provide an enhanced wood grain appearance to the cap  10 . 
         [0027]    In one exemplary embodiment, to form a cap  10  having the desired appearance, durability and weight, the material formula for use in forming the post caps  10  is: about 40-60% w/w of a plastic resin, such as a polyethylene resin, about 1.0-3.0% w/w of a solidifying agent, such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, and about 0.5-2.0% w/w of an accelerating agent, such as cobalt octonoate, C 16 H 30 CoO 4 . The material can also include fillers, such as a stone powder and/or a calcium carbonate powder alone or in combination with one another in an amount of about 35-55% w/w to provide added weight and durability to the resulting cap  10 , among other attributes, and a color concentrate to provide the cap  10  with the desired color. 
         [0028]    According to one particular exemplary embodiment, the material formula can have the following composition: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Material Formula: 
                 % of weight (approximately) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 Polyester Resin 
                 52% 
               
               
                   
                 CaCo Powder 
                 43% 
               
               
                   
                 Solidfying Agents 
                  2% 
               
               
                   
                 Accelerating Agents 
                 1.5%  
               
               
                   
                 Paint, UV protectors, fillers 
                 1.5%  
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0029]    The weight percentages in the above exemplary embodiment of the material can be varied from the above values as necessary for the formation of the cap  10 . 
         [0030]    Various other embodiments of the present invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the filed claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.