Patent Publication Number: US-8113489-B1

Title: Rail

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 12/150,284 filed Apr. 28, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,686. Application Ser. No. 12/150,284 is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/056,566 filed Feb. 14, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,282. Application Ser. No. 11/056,566 is a division of application Ser. No. 10/636,034 filed Aug. 8, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,329. Application Ser. No. 10/636,034 claims the priority date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/418,280 filed Oct. 15, 2002. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is the art of rails for deck railings, fences and barriers used to separate environmental areas. The particular field of the invention relates to residential and commercial rails and railings having upright laterally spaced balusters or spindles attached to rails. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Residential decks and stairs have railings to separate these structures from adjacent areas and prevent persons from falling off the decks and stairs. The railings have top rails support on upright posts attached to the decks and stairs. A number of laterally spaced upright members, known as balusters, spindles or pickets, extend between the top rails and decks and stairs. Wood upright members are fastened to the rails with nails, screws and adhesives. Dowel-type joints are also used to connect opposite ends of wood upright members to top and bottom rails. Metal railings have upper and lower rails and upright metal members extended between and welded to the rails. Fasteners, such as screws, are used to connect top and bottom metal rails to opposite ends of the upright metal members. Railings for stairs have upright members with at least one angled end or angled opposite ends. Each angled end must be secured to an inclined stair railing. A substantial amount of time, labor and craftsmanship is employed to assemble and construct deck and stair railings. 
     Wood rails for decks and stairs are treated with chemical preservatives containing copper containing materials to inhibit wood decay. Holes in the top and bottom rails accommodating opposite ends of aluminum or aluminum alloy spindles attach the spindles to the rails. Over time, copper corrodes aluminum causing the spindles to break away from the rails. Inserts are used to insulate the ends of the spindles from the treated wood rails to inhibit corrosion of aluminum spindles. 
     Examples of railing and baluster structures are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents. 
     M. Roth in U.S. Pat. No. 1,772,159 discloses a rail connection including a cylindrical block having a threaded hole accommodating a screw fastened to a rail. The block has opposite ends with conical recesses. A tubular member located over the block has center punches portions extended into the recesses to allow the tubular member to swing around the axis of the block. 
     S. A. Zieg in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,456 discloses upright balusters extended between inclined top and bottom rails. Pivots on opposite ends of the balusters fit in sockets in the rails to connect the balusters to the rails. The pivots have parallel opposite sides and convex shaped opposite ends that allow angular movement of the balusters in only one vertical plane. 
     Y. K. Chung in U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,930 discloses a railing having top and bottom rails having rectangular grooves accommodating U-shaped plug members. Balusters have rounded opposite ends that fit in the U-shaped plug members. Fasteners, such as bolts, extended through slots in the plug members, secure the plug members to the opposite ends of the balusters. The angle between the top rail and each of the balusters is adjusted to move the top rail relative to the bottom rail to locate the top and bottom rails to be substantially parallel with a staircase to which the railing is mounted. 
     P. Perrot in U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,814 discloses a device for mounting a handrail on a post. The device includes ball elements mounted on the upper ends of posts. The ball elements located in recesses in the handrails are retained in the recesses with a cover secured to the bottoms of the handrails. 
     G. F. Strome in U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,658 discloses a railing having cylindrical shank connectors secured to rails or supports for connecting opposite ends of tubular members to rails. The connectors have circumferential external grooves accommodating O-rings. The tubular members telescope over the connectors and compress the O-rings to lock the tubular members on the connectors. The shank connectors do not allow angular adjustment of the tubular members relative to a rail. 
     E. J. A. Gierzak in U.S. Patent Application Publication U.S. 2002/0134977 discloses a hand rail assembly having upper and lower channel members extended between upright posts. Connectors secured to the channel members accommodate opposite ends of upright square tubular spindles. The connectors are square bosses with a series of ribs on the outer walls for a friction fit with the spindles and to prevent rotation of the spindles on the connectors. The connectors do not permit angular adjustment of the spindles relative to the rail. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention comprises a railing for a deck and stair having top and bottom rails connected to upright posts anchored to supports. Upright spindles extended between the top and bottom rails have opposite ends located in surface contact with the rails. Anchor balls or ball connectors support the spindles on the rails. Fasteners, such as deck screws, secure the anchor balls to the rails and maintain the knobs in firm engagement with the rails. The spindles are cylindrical metal tubes, such as coated aluminum tubes. The spindles can be square or multi-sided metal or plastic tubes. The opposite ends of the spindles are telescoped over the anchor balls to retain the spindles in fixed upright positions between the top and bottom rails. The anchor balls have hemispherical configurations with a size to accommodate the inside walls of the spindles with a tight annular friction or force fit. The opposite ends of the spindles have end surfaces located in surface engagement with the rails. The tight friction fit relation between the anchor balls and inside walls of the spindles provide annular seals to prevent moisture, water, dust, and dirt from entering the spaces with the spindles. The anchor balls have a plurality of outwardly directed continuous annular ribs which flex inwardly when the spindles are telescoped over the anchor balls. The ribs on each anchor ball are located in planes normal to the axis of the hole through the body of the anchor ball. The ribs are separate sealing rings located in a force fit biased relation with the inside walls of the spindles. The anchor balls allow the spindles to be moved to inclined positions relative to the rails without modifications or additional structures or welds. The anchor balls are pre-installed on the rails prior to assembly on the posts. This allows the railing to be constructed with a minimum of time and labor. 
     An alternate embodiment of the spindle comprises an elongated metal or plastic tube having an inside square wall with inwardly directed longitudinal projections or ribs. The projections are forced into the sides of the anchor balls when the spindles are pressed onto the anchor balls. The projections prevent the spindles from rotating relative to the anchor balls. The anchor balls are installed on the rails with a minimum of time and labor and with conventional tools. The ends of the spindles cover the anchor balls rendering the railing aesthetically pleasing and decorative. 
     The top and bottom rails are identical metal extrusions, such as aluminum extrusions, having upright side walls joined to top and bottom walls. The top wall and bottom wall have top and bottom surfaces. A longitudinal first groove extends longitudinally along the middle of the top surface of the top wall. The bottom surface of the top wall includes a pair of downwardly directed longitudinal first ribs laterally separated with a space that is vertically aligned with the groove in the top surface of the top wall. A longitudinal second groove extends longitudinally along the middle of the bottom surface of the bottom wall. The top surface of the bottom wall includes a pair of upwardly extended longitudinal second ribs laterally separated with a space that is vertically aligned with the groove in the bottom wall. A plurality of first anchor balls are secured to the top rail with fasteners guided by the groove in the bottom wall into the space between the second ribs and engageable with the second ribs thereby securing the first anchor balls to the top rail. A plurality of second anchor balls vertically aligned with the first anchor balls are secured with fasteners guided by the groove in the top wall of the bottom rail into the space between the first ribs and engageable with the first ribs to secure the second anchor balls to the top rail. Spindles are telescoped over the first and second anchor balls. Each anchor ball has a generally spherical body provided with an annular convex curved outside wall. A plurality of laterally spaced outwardly extended ribs or flanges on the outside wall cooperate with the inside walls of the spindles to provide annular friction fit seals that retain the spindles on the anchor balls. The fasteners extend through holes in the body to secure the anchor balls to the rails. The anchor balls are pre-assembled on the top and bottom rails. This saves time and labor in the construction of a railing. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a foreshortened section of the railing system of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged foreshortened top plan view of the top rail of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged foreshortened bottom plan view of the top rail of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged to plan view of an anchor ball show in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of the anchor ball shown in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view taken along  10 - 10  of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 11  is an enlarged foreshortened sectional view taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 12  is a foreshortened sectional view similar to  FIG. 11  showing a square spindle extended between the top and bottom rails and mounted on anchor balls; 
         FIG. 13  is a sectional view taken along the line  13 - 13  of  FIG. 12 ; and 
         FIG. 14  is a sectional view taken along the line  14 - 14  of  FIG. 12 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Railing system  10 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , has horizontal top and bottom rails  11  and  12  secured to upright columns or posts  13  and  14 . Posts  13  and  14  are square wood members secured to separate sections of a deck or platform  15 . Other shapes and materials, including metal, ceramic, concrete, composite materials and plastic, can be used for posts  13  and  14 . The bottom ends of posts  13  and  14  can be anchored in the ground. A plurality of upright spindles  16  to  22  extend between rails  11  and  12 . Spindles  16  to  22  are cylindrical tubes, such as aluminum tubes. Adjacent spindles are laterally spaced from each other a distance according to building codes. Opposite ends of each spindle are anchored to rails  11  and  12  to maintain uniform spacing between adjacent spindles. Railing system  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 , is a section of a railing structure having top and bottom rails secured to posts  13  and  14  and additional posts. The upright spindles extend between and are anchored to the top and bottom rails. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , rail  11  has opposite upright flat side walls  23  and  24  joined to a horizontal top wall  26 . Top wall  26  has a longitudinal groove  27  extended along the center of wall  26 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , groove  27  is located along the entire length of rail  11 . The bottom of top wall  26  has a pair of laterally spaced longitudinal ribs  28  and  29 . Ribs  28  and  29  project downwardly from the bottom of top wall  26  and extend the entire length of rail  11 . The space or channel  31  between ribs  28  and  29  is vertically aligned with groove  27 . Side walls  23  and  24  have inwardly turned lower end portions  32  and  33  located below a bottom wall  34  joined to side walls  23  and  24 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , a longitudinal groove  36  extends longitudinally along the bottom of bottom wall  34 . Returning to  FIG. 3 , a pair of upright longitudinal ribs  37  and  38  joined to the top of bottom wall  34  and are laterally spaced from each other to accommodate a fastener  42 , shown as a screw. Ribs  28  and  29  are located in the vertical planes of ribs  37  and  38 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , fastener  42  attaches a right angle bracket  39  to bottom wall  34 . A pair of fasteners can be used to secure bracket  39  to bottom wall  39 . A second fastener  41 , shown as a secure, secures bracket to post  13 . A pair of fasteners can be used to secure bracket  39  to post  13 . Bracket  39  is retained a small distance from post  13  by fastener  42  so that fastener  41  retains the end of rail  11  in firm contact with part  13 . The opposite end of rail  11  is attached to post  14  with a bracket and fasteners identical to bracket  39  and fasteners  41  and  42 . Bracket  39  has a width that fits between the rounded ends  32  and  33  of side walls  23  and  24 . The opposite sides of bracket  39  are adjacent rounded ends  32  and  33  to inhibit twisting of bracket  39  relative to rail  11 . 
     Lower rail  12  has the same structure as rail  11 . The parts of rail  12  that correspond to rail  11  have the same reference numbers with the prefix  1 . Bracket  139  is a right angle member attached with a first fastener  142  to rail  11  and second fastener  141  to post  13 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Two fasteners can be used to attach bracket to rail  12  and post  13 . The opposite end of rail  12  is secured to post  14  with a bracket and fasteners identical to bracket  139  and fasteners  141  and  142 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 11 , spindle  16  is retained on rails  11  and  12  with anchor balls  43  and  44 . A fastener  46 , shown as a screw, attaches an anchor ball  43  to the bottom wall  34  of rail  11 . Fastener  46  is threaded through bottom wall  34  and ribs  37  and  38 . Ribs  37  and  38  provide support for fastener  46 . The groove  36  aligns fastener  46  with the space between ribs  37  and  38  during the assembly of ball knob  43  on rail  11 . The upper end of spindle  16  telescopes over anchor ball  43  in an annular tight sealing fit relationship that holds the end of spindle on anchor ball  43  and against bottom wall  34  of rail  11 . A fastener  47 , shown as a screw in  FIGS. 7 and 11 , attaches an anchor ball  44  to the top wall  126  of bottom rail  12 . Fastener  47  is threaded through top wall  126  and between ribs  128  and  129  thereby securing anchor ball  44  to rail  12 . The lower end of spindle  16  telescopes over anchor ball  44  with an annular tight sealing fit relationship that holds the lower end of spindle  16  on anchor ball  44  and against top wall  126  of rail  12 . 
     Anchor ball  43 , shown in  FIGS. 8 to 10 , is a one-piece plastic member, such as high density polyethylene or Delrin, having a truncated spherical body  48  with an annular flat top wall  49 . A cylindrical recess  52  is open to the top of body  48 . The bottom of body  48  has a flat wall  52  that is parallel to top wall  49 . A hole  53  extends between the bottom of recess  51  and bottom wall  52  to accommodate fastener  46 . Hole  53  has a size to accommodate the shank of fastener with a close contact fit to eliminate lateral movement of anchor ball  43 . Ball  48  has a convex shaped outside side wall  54  having a plurality of continuous circular ribs  56 . The ribs  56  are arranged in concentric relationship around the entire side wall  54 . The number of ribs  56  can vary. Each rib  56  has a downwardly and outwardly tapered top wall and a generally radial bottom wall. Ribs  56  have outer diameters greater than the inside diameters of the inside walls of the spindles  16 - 22 . When spindle  16  is telescoped over anchor ball  43 , a number of ribs  56  are deformed and biased into a tight annular elastic sealing engagement with the inside wall of spindle  16 . The annular seating ribs  56  fix the location of the spindles on the anchor balls and prevent moisture, water, dust and dirt from entering into the inside of the spindles. 
     Anchor ball  44  mounted on top wall  126  of bottom rail  12  has the same structure as anchor ball  43 . The parts of anchor ball  44  that correspond to anchor ball  43  have the same reference number with a prefix  1 . The annular ribs  156  and anchor ball  44  are biased into annular tight sealing engagement when the bottom of spindle  16  is telescoped over anchor ball  44 . 
     A modification of the spindle mounted on anchor balls  43  and  44  is shown in  FIGS. 12 to 14 . Spindle  216  is a linear metal member, such as an extruded aluminum tube having a square cross section. Spindle  216  has linear flat side walls  217 ,  218 ,  219  and  220  joined with rounded corners. The outside surfaces of side walls  217 - 220  are powder coated to provide a copper vein or black texture. The inside surfaces of side walls  217 - 220  have triangular ribs  221 ,  222 ,  223  and  224 . The ribs  221 - 224  project inwardly and extend longitudinally along the middle of the inside surfaces of side walls  217 - 220 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 14 , when spindle  216  is telescoped on anchor ball  44 , ribs  221 - 224  embed into anchor ball ribs  156  preventing spindle  216  from turning relative to anchor ball  44 . Ribs  58  are biased into tight fit engagement with the inside surfaces of spindle adjacent opposite sides of ribs  221 - 224  and hold the end of spindle  216  in engagement with the bottom wall  34  of rail  11 . The upper end of spindle  216  telescopes over anchor ball  43 . The ribs  221 - 224  embed into the outer portions or ribs  56  to prevent spindle  216  from turning relative to anchor ball  43 . 
     In use, rails  11  and  12  are extruded in six foot lengths and powder coated with plastic or paint. Other sizes and lengths of rails can be used to construct a railing. The anchor balls  42  and  44  are pre-assembled on rails  11  and  12  with fasteners  46  and  47  prior to transport to a construction site. Rail  12  is secured to posts  13  and  14  with brackets  139  and fasteners  141  and  142 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Spindles  16 - 22  are then telescoped over anchor balls  44  on the top of rail  12 . The top rail  11  is located between posts  13  and  14  above the upper ends of spindles  16 - 22 . The top rail  11  and anchor balls  43  are moved downward to force anchor ball  43  into the top portion of spindles to seal the spindles around the anchor balls. Brackets  39  are secured to posts  13  and  14  to complete the railing. 
     While there has been shown and described preferred embodiments of the rail and railing, spindles and anchor balls of the invention, it is understood that changes in the size, shapes and arrangement of the structures, rails, spindles and anchor balls may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the invention.