Patent ID: 6889960

Claim:
A connector for use in isolating painted tubular metal balusters from rails formed of wood treated with a wood preservative that is corrosive to the tubular metal balusters or from a wood preservative that is corrosive to the paint, said connector formed of a chemically inert material and comprising a body and a flat disk, said body having an upper member having a frustoconical shape with a top and a base and a lower member having a frustoconical shape with a top and a base, said upper and lower members joined at their bases, said body adapted to conform and wedge into an end of a tubular metal baluster; and, said flat disk adapted for placement under the lower member and against an end of the tubular metal baluster when the body is wedged into the end of tubular metal baluster, said upper member having a central cavity for receipt of a fastener for joining the body and the disk to a wooden rail, said disk acting as a corrosion barrier between the baluster and the wood rail.