Patent ID: 8356803

Claim:
A baluster attachment apparatus for connecting a baluster along a surface of a stair in a desired orientation with respect to said surface, said surface of said stair including a rail, deck, tread, knee wall, balcony, landing or the like, said attachment apparatus comprising: a) a ball adapter, b) an attachment socket including a tapered first opening shaped to engage an exterior of said ball adapter to provide a movable connection between said attachment socket and said ball adapter and a second opening terminating in a perimeter shoulder, c) said ball adapter comprising: i) a spherical ball structure, said ball structure having a center, a diameter and a spherical perimeter at a ball end, and an open end for receiving a first end of said baluster at an end of the ball structure opposite said ball end, said open end including an interior cavity terminating below said ball end, said ball structure further including a passageway extending from said first interior cavity toward said center of said ball structure, the passageway having a diameter smaller than a diameter of said interior cavity for engagement with a head of a screw, wherein an extending pyramidal cavity extends from the passageway to the spherical perimeter at said ball end, ii) the screw passes through said interior cavity, said passageway and said extending pyramidal cavity within said ball structure, as well as said first and second openings of said attachment socket for directly attaching said ball end to said stair surface in a desired orientation with respect to said surface of said stair, without directly attaching said attachment socket to said stair surface which is held between said ball adapter and said stair, iii) said screw functions within said ball structure functioning for engaging said spherical perimeter of said ball adapter with said attachment socket to permit rotational and two dimensional movement of said ball end within said socket about the center of said spherical ball structure and for connecting said attachment socket to said surface of said stair, iv) said screw passes through said interior cavity, said passageway and said extending pyramidal cavity from the center of said spherical ball structure through said ball end and said socket and engages said surface of said stair to engage said attachment socket to said surface of said stair with said ball adapter at said desired orientation with respect to said surface of said stair, d) said attachment socket including an open end for movably receiving said spherical perimeter of said ball end of said spherical ball structure, and a mounting surface for engaging said socket to said surface of said stair, e) and structure in said ball adapter for attaching the first end of said baluster to said ball adapter in said desired orientation to said surface of said stair.