Patent Publication Number: US-6662519-B2

Title: Wooden newel post

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a wooden newel post and, more particularly to a wooden newel post that is made from a combination of higher and lower quality wood materials. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional wooden newel post  1  is shown to have a height and width, and is formed by interconnecting three wooden boards  101  side-by-side along the width of the wooden newel post  1  to form a rectangular raw post body. Each of the wooden boards  101  is made of higher quality wood, such as oak or maple, and extends the full height of the wooden newel post  1 . The post body is turned so as to form a contoured upper post section  2 , and a lower post section  3  having a rectangular cross-section. The standard specification of the wooden newel post  1  is 43 to 72 inches in height. Higher quality wood materials having no scars, no mineral lines, and having sufficient length are selected to produce the conventional wooden newel post  1 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide a wooden newel post that is made from a combination of higher and lower quality wood materials so as to help reduce consumption of higher quality wood. 
     According to this invention, a wooden newel post having a height and width comprises an upper post section, a lower post section, and a decorative lamella layer. The upper post section is made of higher quality wood, and has a lower post connecting end. The lower post section is made of lower quality wood, and has an upper post connecting end connected to the lower post connecting end of the upper post section, and an outer post surface. The decorative lamella layer is made of higher quality wood, and is secured to the outer post surface of the lower post section. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates how a conventional wooden newel post is made from a plurality of wooden boards; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the conventional wooden newel post; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of a wooden newel post according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the wooden newel post of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a rectangular raw post body of the preferred embodiment, illustrating how the wooden newel post is made from the post body. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 to  6 , one preferred embodiment of a wooden newel post  100  according to the present invention is shown to have a height and width, and comprises an upper post section  10 , a lower post section  20  connected to the upper post section  10 , and a decorative lamella layer  30  adhered to an outer post surface of the lower post section  20 . 
     The upper post section  10  is made of hard higher quality wood, such as oak wood and maple wood, and extends at least one-half of the full height of the wooden newel post  100 . In this embodiment, the upper post section  10  extends to approximately two-thirds of the full height of the wooden newel post  100 , and has a top end portion  11 , a lower post connecting end  12  opposite to the top end portion  11 , and a contoured outer post surface  13  that extends along the full height of the upper post section  10 . The upper post section  10  includes three wooden boards  14  that are interconnected side-by-side along the width of the wooden newel post  100 , such as by gluing, and that extend along the full height of the uppermost section  10 . Lower ends  141  of the wooden boards  14  correspond to the lower post connecting end  12  of the upper post section  10 . 
     The lower post section  20  is made of lower quality wood, such as rubber wood and pine wood from plantation forests, defective higher quality wood, and high density fiber material. The lower post section  20  has a rectangular cross-section, an upper post connecting end  21 , a bottom end portion  22  opposite to the upper post connecting end  21 , and an outer post surface  23  that extends along the full height of the lower post section  20 . The lower post section  20  includes three wooden boards  24  that are interconnected side-by-side along the width of the wooden newel post  100 , such as by gluing, and that extend along the full height of the lower post section  20 . Upper ends  241  of the wooden boards  24  correspond to the upper post connecting end  21 . Each wooden board  24  includes two board sections  24 ′ that are interconnected to each other along the full height of the lower post section  20  by means of finger joints. The upper ends  241  of the wooden boards  24  of the lower post section  20  and the lower ends  141  of the wooden boards  14  of the upper post section  10  are interconnected by means of finger joints, such that the lower post section  20  extends continuously from the upper post section  10  along the full height of the wooden newel post  100 . 
     The decorative lamella layer  30  includes 2-8mm lamella pieces of the same hard higher quality wood used in the upper post section  10 , and is adhered securely to the outer post surface  23  on four sides of the lower post section  20 . 
     Referring to FIG. 6, the wooden newel post  100  of this invention is manufactured according to a process that is substantially similar to the conventional one. Three wooden boards  210  made of higher quality wood are interconnected respectively with three wooden boards  220  made of lower quality wood so as to form a rectangular raw post body  200 . The post body  200  is lathed so as to form the contoured outer post surface  13  of the upper post section  10 . 
     Although the wooden newel post  100  of the present invention conveys a continuous higher quality wood appearance in view of the upper post section  10  and the decorative lamella layer  30 , as best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, the lower post section  20  covered by the decorative lamella layer  30  can be made of lower quality wood or defective higher quality wood, thereby reducing consumption of higher quality wood material to a minimum. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.