Abstract:
A modular decking system for use in constructing a deck of the type normally attached to a house or cottage includes a plurality of square, typically one meter by one meter, frames which are mounted on posts; deck or floor panels which are mounted on the frames; finishing planks for mounting on the outside edges of the frames to finish the base of the deck; and a railing assembly including posts for mounting on the corners of the base and at the junction between finishing planks, and rectangular fence panels which are connected to the posts, mainly by sliding the panels into longitudinally extending grooves in the posts.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a decking system, and in particular to a modular, wooden decking system of the type usually attached to a house or other dwelling. 
     2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
     Conventional decks are usually produced on site using lumber in a variety of lengths. The conventional deck includes a frame supported by square cross section (usually 4″×4″ treated lumber), a floor attached to the frame, and a railing defined by the posts extending upwardly beyond the floor, rails extending between the posts and a latticework or balustrade between the posts. In general, the only elements of the deck which are prefabricated or cut to their final length are the latticework or the balusters used in the construction of the balustrade. As a result, often there is a large amount of waste when constructing a deck, and accordingly it is necessary to ship unduly large quantities of wood to locations where wood is scarce, e.g. Japan. 
     GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a solution to the above-identified problem in the form of a relatively simple modular decking system, in which most of the elements of the system are precut and possibly preassembled. By mass producing decks, there is relatively little waste. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a modular decking system which is elegantly simple in design and easy to assemble, even in the absence of any carpentry experience. 
     Accordingly, the present invention relates to a modular decking system comprising: 
     a polygonal frame for connection in contiguous relationship to similar frames to define a base; 
     a floor panel for mounting said frame for covering said frame to define a floor of the decking system with similar, contiguous floor panels; and 
     a finishing plate for attachment to an outer side of said frame for defining an outer side wall of the base, in the assembled condition, said finishing plate extending upwardly beyond the top of said frame to the same level as the top surface of said floor panel, whereby the tops of side plates and floor panels define a planar top surface of the deck. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a decking system in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the base of the decking system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partly exploded, isometric view of one corner of the decking system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded isometric view of an intermediate post used in the decking system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of a corner post used in the decking system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a partly exploded, isometric view of one corner of the base of a second embodiment of the decking system of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a tee-bracket used in the decking system of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a corner bracket used in the decking system of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a step and brackets used in the decking system of FIGS. 1 to  8 ; and 
     FIG. 10 is an end view of a pair of steps and the brackets of FIG.  9 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to  3 , one of the basic elements of the railing system of the present invention is a rectangular base frame generally indicated at  1 . A plurality of frames  1  are interconnected to form a rectangular or square base, the number of frames  1  depending upon the desired size of the deck. Typically, the dimensions of each frame  1  are one meter by one meter. The frames  1  are mounted on conventional square cross section posts  2 , which are supported on off-the-shelf concrete foundation blocks  3 . Alternatively, the posts  2  are mounted in a commercially available bracket and spike combination which is driven into the ground or in a bracket and anchor combination which is set in concrete. When the deck extends outwardly from a wall of a house or other building, the frames  1  can be attached directly to the building wall in the usual manner. 
     As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each frame  1  is defined by four interconnected sides  5  defining a square. Once the desired number of frames  1  have been assembled, a side plate or finishing board  6  is attached to the outer side of each outer frame  1  by screws (not shown) extending from the inside of the frame outwardly through the frame  1  and into the finishing board  6 . Since the board  6  defines the outside of the base of the deck, the board is formed of an attractive, smoothly finished wood such as Western red cedar, i.e. dressed lumber. 
     When the system is sold in kit form, the frames  1  are preassembled, as are floor panels  7 , which are mounted on the frames  1  after the frames have been assembled on the posts  2 . For such purpose anchors  8  (FIG. 2) are attached to the interior of the sides  5  of the frames  1  by nails or screws (not shown) during assembly. The anchors  8  are merely strips of wood with nails  10  extending therethrough. The anchors  8  are nailed or screwed to the sides  5  of the frames  1  with the exposed pointed ends of the nails  10  extending upwardly. 
     The floor of the deck is defined by floor panels generally indicated at  11 . As best shown in FIG. 3, each floor panel  11  includes a rectangular frame  12  and a plurality of planks  13  mounted thereon. The panel  11  is placed on the base frame  1 , and downward pressure is applied to cause the nails  10  to penetrate the frame  12 . In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3, the sides of the frame  12  have a double thickness, the nails  10  penetrating the inner thickness of wood. Another alternative is to use a square frame, which is recessed with respect to the planks  13 . As shown in FIG. 1, when assembling the floor, the floor panels  11  are preferably alternated, i.e. the planks  13  of one panel  11  are at right angles to the planks  13  of each adjacent panel  11 . 
     With the floor in place, a railing generally indicated at  15  is added to the deck. The railing  15  is defined by a plurality of posts  16  and  17 , and railing panels  18 . An intermediate post  16  is provided at the outer junction of each pair of floor panels  11 , i.e. at the junction between each pair of boards  6 , and a corner post  17  is provided at each outside corner of the deck. Referring to FIG. 4, each intermediate post  16  includes an elongated wooden body  20  with a right angle notch  21  in the bottom end thereof for mounting the post  16  on the edge of the deck floor. Longitudinally extending grooves  23  are provided in each side of the post body  20  for slidably receiving the ends of railing panels  18 . The grooves  23  stop short of the bottom of the post  16 . A bore  24  in the top end of the post body  20  receives a bolt  25  extending downwardly from a cap  26 . 
     The corner posts  17  are similar to the intermediate posts  16 , except that a notch  28  is provided in the bottom inner corner of the post body  29  for mounting the posts  17  on the corners of the deck base. Moreover, the grooves  23  are in adjacent sides of the post body  29  so that the panels  18  at the corners of the deck define right angles. The posts  16  and  17  are bolted, screwed or nailed to the base of the deck. 
     When all of the posts  16  and  17  have been mounted on the base of the deck, the fence panels  18  are slid into the grooves  23  to complete the railing. As shown in FIG. 1, a gap is left between two posts  16  or  16  and  17  permitting access to the deck via a step  30  or steps. Each panel  18  is defined by a rectangular wooden frame  32  and a latticework  33  mounted in the frame  32 . Because the spacing between the corner posts  17  and an adjacent intermediate post  16  is greater than the distance between adjacent intermediate posts  16 , an extension or filler strip  34  (FIG. 3) is provided for mounting on the corner post ends of the railing panels  18 . The strip  34  is attached to the end of the panel  18  and fills the groove  23  when the panel  18  is mounted in the posts  16  and  17 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 6 to  8 , the deck can also be formed using intermediate and corner brackets generally indicated at  35  and  36 . When the brackets  35  and  36  are used, the corners  37  of the frames  1  are bevelled to improve the fit in the brackets  35  and  36 . Because the brackets  35  and  36  are formed of metal plates joined by welding, there may be weld bulges at the corners of the brackets. If the corners  37  of the frames  1  are not bevelled, the bulges may make it difficult to mount the frames  1  fully in the brackets  35  and  36 . Moreover, when the brackets  35  and  36  are employed, the notches  21  and  28  in the bottom ends of the posts  16  and  17 , respectively are omitted. Instead, holes  38  are provided in the posts  16  and  17  for receiving bolts  40  and  41  extending outwardly form the brackets  35  and  36 , respectively. Predrilled holes  42  (four shown) are provided in the corners of the frames  1  for receiving nails for securing the frames to all of the posts  2  except those on the outside of the base. 
     With reference to FIG. 7, each intermediate bracket  35  includes a generally L-shaped body defined by a bottom plate  43  and an end plate  44 . A partition  46  is connected to the bottom and end plates  43  and  44 , respectively. The plates  43  and  44 , and the partition  46  contain holes  47  for receiving nails or screws. The bottom bracket  35  is mounted on the top end of a post  2 . The corners  37  of a pair of adjacent frames  1  are placed on the bottom plate  43  on opposite sides of the partition  46 . When the floor of the deck has been completed, an intermediate post  16  is mounted on the bolts  40  and nuts  49  are tightened on the bolts  40  to secure the post  16  in position. 
     In the same manner, the square bottom plates  50  of the corner brackets  36  (FIG. 8) are mounted on the corner posts  2 , and the outer corners of the frames  1  are placed between the sides  52  of the brackets  36 . Thus, the frames  1  are securely connected to the posts  2 . Holes  53  are provided in the bottom plates  50  and sides  52  of the brackets  36  for receiving screws or nails. The holes  39  in the bottom of the corner posts  17  extend diagonally through the posts. When the posts  17  are mounted on the bolts  41 , nuts  55  are placed on the bolts  41  to secure the corner posts  17  in position. By omitting the longitudinally extending grooves in the corner posts  17 , the need for extension strips  34  on the ends of the railing panel  18  is obviated. 
     Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the decking system is completed by brackets  57  facilitating the mounting of a step or steps  30  on one side of the deck. Each bracket  57 , which is generally triangular includes a horizontal top  58  for supporting a step (or tread)  30 , a vertical front  59  integral with the top  58 , a horizontal bottom  61 , and an inclined, tubular steel brace  62  extending between the rear ends of the top  58  and the bottom  61 . Holes  63  in the top  58  receive screws  64  (FIG. 10) for securing a step  30  on the bracket  57 . Arms  66  and  67  extend upwardly and rearwardly, respectively from the top  58  for connecting the bracket  57  to a finishing board  6  or to another similar bracket  57  (FIG.  10 ). A hole  69  near the top of the vertical arm  66  receives a nail, screw or bolt when the arm  64  is connected to a finishing board  6 . When the bracket  57  is connected to a second bracket  57  for supporting two steps, the hole  69  in the arm  66  of the lowermost bracket is aligned with a hole  70  in the front  59  of the uppermost bracket  57  for receiving a bolt  71  (FIG.  10 ). Similarly, a hole  73  is provided in the horizontal arm  67  of the bracket  57  for receiving a screw  74  (FIG. 10) which connects the arm  67  to the bottom of the finishing board  6 . When the bracket  57  is connected to another similar bracket  57 , the hole  73  in the lower bracket is aligned with a hole  75  in the horizontal bottom  61  of the upper bracket for receiving a bolt  76 . 
     In its simplest form, the decking system includes a plurality of frames  1 , the finishing boards or side plates  6  and the floor panels  11 . The intent of the inventor is to provide a kit involving a complete decking system for assembly on site. The kit is relatively compact because virtually all of the elements are precut. In fact, the only elements which require any adjustment on site are the posts  2  for supporting the base. Thus, if one meter by one meter frames  1  are used, the longest element will have a length of approximately one meter, unless a higher railing is desired.