Patent Publication Number: US-9896861-B2

Title: Post holder

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,928,680, entitled Post Holder, filed May 4, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to railings, and more particularly to post holders for securing posts for railing systems. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Railings on platforms, such as, stairs, stoops, porches and balconies, may prevent individuals from falling off of a platform, and also provide support. Railing systems typically comprise main vertical posts supporting a top hand railing and in between the main posts a railing barrier, such as, glass panels, more posts or other barrier. Certain building codes allow only a clearance of at most four inches from the platform to the bottom of a railing system. The main vertical posts need to be attached to the platform (e.g. concrete slab or wooden deck etc.). 
     In a prior art system for attaching a post to a platform shown in  FIG. 6 a   , a post is welded to a square base plate, and the base plate is attached to the platform by securing means such as bolts or screws through the plate into the platform. The bolts or screws extending through the plate into the platform are exposed to precipitation. 
     In another prior art system for attaching a post to a platform as shown in  FIG. 6 b   , a post is secured to a platform through a shoe. The shoe comprises a base plate connected to a sleeve for receiving a post. The base plate of the shoe is again attached to the landing by bolts, screws or other means. A post is inserted into the sleeve. The sleeve is open to rain or snow seeping in. 
     In the prior art systems, in order to adjust a post&#39;s height (e.g. to keep the hand rail even), shims may be used under the base plate. In the prior art system shown in  FIG. 6 b   , the sleeve of a shoe is typically three inches since certain building codes require that there should only be at most four inches clearance between the platform and the bottom of the railing barrier. This also means that there are typically three inches of post in a shoe sleeve. 
     Canadian Patent No. 2,200,265 entitled “Railing Assembly” demonstrates the use of a square base and Canadian Patent Application No. 2,648,348 entitled “Railings” demonstrates the use of a circular base, but in both instances the bases are screwed or bolted into the platform. 
     In Canadian Patent Application No. 2,650,097 entitled “Railing Post and Methods for Making and Using Same”, a post is screwed onto a base plate with four screws extending into the four corners of the post from below the base plate. Canadian Patent Application No. 2,706,896 entitled “A Post Holder” provides a post holder with a sturdy base extending outwardly and a sleeve for insertion of a post. Canadian Patent No. 1285739 entitled “Post Holder Bracket” does not include a sleeve, but rather a two sided bracket. 
     In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/838,188 (Publication No. 2002/0152713) entitled “Baluster” the post is not attached to a base plate but rather elongated for attachment to the side of the base platform through securing means through the side of the bottom of the elongated post. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, there is a post holder for a hollow post, said post holder comprising a shaft joined to a base, said shaft having a diameter less than the inner diameter of said hollow post. 
     The shaft of the post holder may additionally comprise an open channel running from a top to a bottom of the shaft. The shaft may be joined to said base with a weld, or the shaft and base may be manufactured together as one part. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the shaft of the post holder is twelve inches in height, and in another embodiment the shaft is the same height as the post. 
     The base may be predrilled with at least one hole to be used to pass at least one bolt through the base into a platform, such as concrete slab. 
     The shaft and/or base of the post holder may be made of aluminum. 
     A post holder of the present invention may comprise a shaft having a first end and a second end, and a base supporting said second end of said shaft, said shaft having an open channel running from said first end of said shaft to said second end of said shaft. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention there is provided a kit of a post holder and a hollow post, said post holder comprising a shaft joined to a base, said shaft having a diameter less than the inner diameter of said hollow post, and said post capable of fitting over the post holder. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from the brief description of the drawings and the following detailed description in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a post holder of an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a post holder of an embodiment of the invention with a post, shown with a cutaway portion. 
         FIG. 3  is a side sectional view of a post covering the post holder of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the top of the post holder of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the post holder of  FIG. 1  at A-A. 
         FIG. 6 a    is a side view of a prior art post holder comprising a base. 
         FIG. 6 b    is a side view of a prior art post holder comprising a shoe comprising a base and sleeve. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , in an embodiment of the present invention, there is a post holder  10  for holding a hollow post, in which the post holder has a base  30  and a shaft  20 , and the shaft  20  is sized to fit within the interior of a post. 
     The shaft  20  may additionally include a weld  50  at the bottom of the shaft to attach it to the base  30 , or alternatively the shaft and base can be manufactured in one piece together. When the post holder  10  is covered by a post, the weld  50  may prevent a post from being flush with the base at the bottom. For example, the weld could be 5/16 of an inch. 
     In this embodiment, the shaft  20  has an open channel  40  running along its length. The open channel  40  is not required, but is helpful if a railing barrier (not shown), such as a glass panel, is installed between posts since the means to attach the railing barrier to the post can extend into the open channel  40  and not interfere with the movement of the post along the post holder  10 . If the shaft  20  does not include an open channel  40 , a post can include a J-channel attached to it for attachment of a railing barrier so that the post may still slide unimpeded up and down the post holder  10 . 
     The post holder can be comprised of any material which allows it to be rigid enough to support a post, for example, aluminum, steel or composites, but plastics and even wood could provide such support. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a post  70  slides over the shaft  20  and the bottom of the post can rest about halfway onto the weld  50  (or flush with the base  30  in the absence of a weld  50 ). As a result, the post  70  slides over the shaft  20  and is not secured to the open channel  40  such that, when viewed from the top of the shaft  20 , the open channel  40  remains substantially unobstructed along its length from the top to the bottom. In  FIG. 2 , the post  70  is partially cut away to show the channel  40  of the post holder. The post holder being shown in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  is about the size of a post; however, the post holder  10  can be any height and perimeter which provides sufficient stability to a post. For example, the height of a post holder may be from three inches to the height of the post being used. In an embodiment of the present post holder invention shown in  FIG. 1 , the post holder  10  is twelve inches, and in an embodiment of the present post holder invention shown in  FIG. 2 , the post holder is the height of the post. 
     The shaft  20  has a diameter which is smaller than the inner diameter of a post  70  in order for a post to slide along it. Although a square post is shown, it will be understood that the present invention also relates to other shapes of post, e.g. circular or rectangular, since the post holder of the present invention can be adapted to the particular posts  70  being used in the railing system. 
     For example, a post with a circular perimeter would have a corresponding post holder with a shaft having a circular outer edge over which the post fits. 
     The base  30  shown in this embodiment is square, but it will be understood that the base  30  could be any shape, for example, circular, square or rectangular, that allows the shaft to be attached to the base and the base to be attached to a platform. 
     A hand rail  100  is shown in  FIG. 3  at the top of the post  70 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , only the base  30  is shown since the post holder  10  has a shaft and base formed together. When the top of the post  70  is covered, precipitation does not enter the post or fall onto the post holder  10  except if any part of the shaft  20  is exposed by adjusting the post  70  through sliding it along the shaft  20 . 
     The post holder is attached to a platform  110 , such as a concrete slab, by base securing means  120 , such as a bolt, through the base  30 . The base  30  may be attached to the platform  110  with the base securing means  120  before adding the post  70 , and at least one bolt and preferably two bolts may be used to secure the base  30  to the platform  120 . The base  30  may be pre-punched with holes (not shown) for ease of attaching the base  30  to a platform  110 . In  FIG. 3 , only one bolt  120  is visible and another bolt could be on the other side of the base  30 . 
     In  FIG. 4 , the post holder  10  is shown from the top, and in this embodiment the post holder is flush with the top of a post  70 . However, in other embodiments a post  70  is of greater height than the post holder  10  and the post holder  10  would not be visible at the top of the post  70 . 
     In this embodiment of the post holder  10 , the shaft  20  has a profile as shown in  FIG. 5 , which includes an inner central channel  65  and inner side channels  60 . The inner channels act to provide structural support to the post holder. It is understood that the shaft may have any combination of profiles or be simply a solid or hollow shaft which is sized to fit within the desired post. The shaft has to be strong enough to support a post and not bend or break with the weight of the post, or ordinary weather conditions. The shaft of the post holder of a preferred embodiment of the present invention fits snugly into a hollow post since railings with wobbly hollow posts are generally undesirable. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the post holder  10  has a twelve inch shaft  20  and the post  70  slides over the top  90  and flat down onto the base  30  or resting on a weld  50 . The shaft  20  may be a variety of heights and adjusted depending on the particular railing system. If a building code requires that the space between a platform  110  and the bottom of a railing barrier is no more than 4 inches, and the railing barrier is attached to the post, the post can slide up and down the shaft  20  to ensure that there is no more than four inches clearance (and much less if desired). When the position of a post  70  is adjusted along the shaft  20  of a post holder, the post needs to be secured in that position, which can be accomplished with one or more screws (not shown) through the side of the post into the shaft. Even if a post  70  is flush with the base  30  or weld  50  at the bottom of the post, the post can be attached to the shaft  20  with self-tapping screws. For example, for a post  70  and shaft  20  made of aluminum, such screw(s) can be stainless steel self-drilling screws and two such screws can be used. 
     The ability to adjust a post  70  along a post holder  10  allows accommodation for a platform&#39;s  110  curvature, slope or unevenness and removes the need to use shims which means that the base  30  sits directly on the platform  110  rather than on any shims. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 b   , the prior art shoe  35 , comprises a base  30  and a sleeve  25 . The height of the sleeve  25  needs to be enough so that a post  70  doesn&#39;t topple out of the shoe  25 , however, the height of the sleeve  25  usually limits how low the bottom of the barrier of a railing (not shown) sits above the platform  110 , since the sleeve  25  interferes with the means for attaching the barrier (typically attached to the post  70  not the sleeve  25 ). Unlike the shoe  35  shown in prior art  FIG. 6 b   , the present invention does not use a shoe  35  with a sleeve  25  to hold a post  70  and as such, the bottom of any railing barrier is not limited by the height of the sleeve  25  of a shoe  35 . 
     Although there is no shoe in the prior art means shown in  FIG. 6 a   , this prior art system is merely a post  70  welded onto a base  30 , which base is attached to a platform  110 , and may depend for stability on the strength of the welding. 
     While embodiments of the invention have been described in the detailed description, the scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.