DE20016658U1 - Step stone for a staircase and stairs made from it - Google Patents

Description

Step stone for a staircase and staircase formed from it

The invention relates to a step stone for a staircase, with an upper, essentially horizontal tread, a front, essentially vertical setting surface, a rear surface which forms a rear edge with the tread and a support surface formed in the front area of the underside of the step stone, via which the step stone can be supported on an underlying step stone to form a staircase. The invention also relates to a staircase formed from corresponding step stones.

It has long been known to build a staircase or a stepped slope reinforcement, which will be included in the following by the term "staircase", from step stones or block steps arranged one above the other. Each step stone usually has the shape of an elongated cuboid made of stone, concrete or wood, with the front end of its underside resting on the rear

Ma000135

end of the top of the step stone below. The remaining surface of the top of the step stone below that is not covered by the upper step stone forms the upper, essentially horizontal tread of this step. The size of the tread can be adjusted within certain limits by aligning the step stone above. The front, essentially vertical setting surface and thus the height of the step is fixed by the height of the cuboid, so that different step stones must be used for stairs with different step heights.

In order for a staircase to be easy for a person to use, a step size of around 64 cm should be maintained, which is the sum of twice the step height and the length of the tread. In order to meet this requirement, a predetermined length of the tread must be provided for a step height determined by the height of the step stone. Thus, a certain cuboid-shaped step stone is required for a staircase with a predetermined gradient, whereby subsequent adjustments to the course of the stairs and the gradient are not possible. In order to be able to create different staircase shapes, a large number of different step stones must be manufactured and stored, which is complex and costly.

The invention is based on the object of creating a step stone of the type mentioned, with which different 0 stair gradients can be easily achieved. In addition, a staircase made of corresponding step stones is to be created which can be easily adapted to the structural conditions at the site of use.

This object is achieved with regard to the step stone according to the invention in that the support surface runs at an angle α inclined to the horizontal tread surface and has several stepped recesses with which the step stone can be optionally placed on the rear edge of the step stone underneath.

An upper step stone rests with its front support surface on the rear edge of the step stone below it in such a way that the rear edge engages in one of the recesses in the support surface. By selecting the recess that is placed on the rear edge of the step stone below it, the user can vary the alignment of step stones lying on top of each other relative to each other. If the recess that engages with the rear edge of the step stone below it changes, not only does the size of the tread of the step stone below it change, but due to the inclination of the support surface, the step height also changes at the same time. The recesses define predetermined relative positions of the successive step stones, whereby the mutual engagement of the rear edge of the step stone below with one of the recesses of the step stone above it ensures a high level of positioning accuracy and protects against unintentional displacement of the step stones.

If the tread surface of the step stone below is reduced by engaging a recess further inwards in the step stone above with the rear edge of the step stone below, the step height is simultaneously increased if the support surface is inclined upwards towards the front setting surface of the step stone.

The angle α is preferably in the range of 20° to 40° and in particular in the range of 25° to 30°. In this way, it is possible to at least approximately meet the requirements mentioned above regarding the step size. In order to meet the above condition exactly, the following must be met:

tan &agr; = 0.5, i.e. &agr; = 26.565°.

Taking into account the usual dimensional deviations for stairs erected on a construction site, it can be assumed that the requirement is met exactly if the angle α is between 25° and 28°.

In order to ensure a good engagement between the rear edge and the recess, the rear edge of the step stone should be designed in cross-section complementary to the cross-section of each recess, i.e. that the rear edge should completely fill a recess when engaging it.

In a possible embodiment of the invention, it is provided that each recess is delimited by an upper cover surface and a rear stop surface, i.e. has a triangular cross-section. If the rear edge has a rectangular cross-section, i.e. the tread surface merges into the rear surface of the step stone, forming a right angle, the cover surface of each recess should run essentially horizontally and the stop surface essentially vertically. In order to ensure the above-mentioned step size in every position of an upper step stone relative to a lower step stone, i.e. regardless of which recess of the upper step stone is placed on the rear edge of the step stone below, the length 1 of the cover surface, i.e. its

Extension in the longitudinal direction of the stairs, preferably approximately and in particular exactly twice as large as the heights of the stop surface.

In a further development of the invention, a recess can be formed at the rear end of the tread surface, into which a nose formed on the cover surface of each recess can be inserted. A corresponding engagement of the nose of the recess in the recess ensures that the upper step stone cannot inadvertently become disengaged from its engagement with the step stone below, since it must first be raised slightly so that the nose comes out of engagement with the recess.

Preferably, the recess and the nose have complementary cross-sections, i.e. the nose completely fills the recess, so that they contribute to stabilizing the position of the step stones.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the recess and the nose each have inclined sliding surfaces and associated contact surfaces, so that an upper step stone, when its nose is inserted into the recess of the underlying step stone, automatically slides due to its weight along the superimposed sliding surfaces until the contact surfaces rest against each other in a predetermined desired position.

In a further development of the invention, it is provided that in the rear area of the underside of the step stone, a further support surface is formed, which runs at an angle α to the horizontal tread surface and has several stepped recesses with the design described above. In this way, it is possible to

A step stone can be placed on a step stone underneath in two different orientations, rotated by 180° around a vertical axis. In the rotated orientation, the back surface of the step stone is then used as the front setting surface, which results in different design options for the staircase with different designs of the setting surface on the one hand and the back surface on the other.

The step stone is preferably made of concrete and is designed as a prefabricated concrete component. It has a constant cross-section across its entire width, i.e. across the length of the stairs.

In order to achieve a staircase of uniform width, the step stone can have a constant width in its longitudinal direction, i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the staircase, so that the width of the front setting surface is equal to the width of the rear back surface. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the side walls of the step stone connecting the front setting surface with the rear back surface not to run parallel to one another, so that the width of the step stone changes in its longitudinal direction. In particular, it can be provided that the width of the step stone continuously decreases from the front setting surface to the rear back surface and thus the step stone has a conicity that makes it possible to form both straight and curved steps.

To form a staircase from the step stones mentioned, an upper step stone is supported with one of the recesses of its support surface on the rear edge of a step stone below it. One step stone can form a step, but it is also possible to use several step stones to form a step.

to be arranged next to each other. The step stones preferably have protruding engagement elements on their side walls, with which they can be brought into engagement with recesses in an adjacent step stone. If the step stones have a conicity starting from the front setting surface to the rear back surface and are arranged next to each other in the same direction of the conicity, the step bends in the transverse direction of the stairs, so that when several step stones are arranged next to each other, a polygonally curved step is achieved.

Alternatively, it is also possible to use the conical step stones mentioned above to create a straight step in the transverse direction of the staircase by arranging adjacent step stones in alternating alignment of their conicity.

Further details and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show:

Fig. 1 a cross section of a step stone according to

a first embodiment,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a staircase constructed from step stones according to Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side view of the staircase according to Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 a staircase with a reduced gradient

according to Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 a staircase with an increased gradient

according to Fig. 3,
35

Fig. 6 a cross section of a step stone according to

a second embodiment,

Fig. 7 is a cross-section of a step stone according to a third embodiment,

Fig. 8 the bottom view VIII of the step stone according to Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a multi-stage

stones as shown in Fig. 7 and 8, polygonally curved stair step,

Fig. 10 a staircase constructed from correspondingly curved steps in perspective

scher view and

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a straight stair step formed from several step stones according to Fig. 7 and 8.

Fig. 1 shows the cross-section of a stepping stone 10, which comprises an upper, essentially horizontal tread surface 11 and a front, essentially vertical setting surface 12 adjoining it at a right angle. The tread surface 11 forms a right-angled rear edge 18 with a rear, essentially vertical rear surface 13.

A lower side 14 of the step stone 10 also extends essentially horizontally and in its front region merges into a support surface 15 which runs at an angle α of approximately 26.5° to the horizontal and, starting from the lower side 14, runs obliquely upwards to the front setting surface 12.

On the support surface 15, three recesses 16 are formed one behind the other in a step-like manner, each of which is delimited by a horizontal cover surface 16a running parallel to the tread surface 11 and an essentially vertical stop surface 16b adjoining the rear end of the cover surface 16a. The length 1 of the cover surface 16a, i.e. its extension in the longitudinal direction of the stairs, is twice the height h of the stop surface 16b.

To construct a staircase 22 as shown in Fig. 2, several step stones are placed on top of each other, whereby a recess 16 of a step stone 10 is placed on the rear edge 18 of the step stone below and brought into engagement. According to Fig. 2, it is provided that the middle of the recesses 16 is placed on the rear edge 18 of the step stone below, but by choosing a different recess, the gradient of the staircase can also be changed, as can be seen from Figs. 3 to 5.

Fig. 3 shows the staircase 22 according to Fig. 2 in side view. In this case, the middle of the recesses 16 is placed on the rear edge 18 of the step stone underneath. In order to form a staircase with a lower gradient, as shown in Fig. 4, the front of the recesses 16 can be brought into engagement with the rear edge 18 of the step stone underneath. In this way, the upper step stone 0 is offset backwards relative to the step stone underneath, whereby the tread surface 11 of the step stone underneath is enlarged. At the same time, the height offset of the recesses 16 due to the angle α of the support surface increases the step height of the upper step stone.

stone, so that overall the condition for the step size mentioned at the beginning is again met.

Alternatively, the gradient of the stairs can also be increased by placing the upper step stone with a recess 16 further inward onto the rear edge of the step stone below it, as shown in Fig. 5. In this case, the length of the tread is reduced, but at the same time the upper step stones are raised relative to the step stone below them, so that the step height is increased, whereby the condition for the step size is also met in this case.

The cross section of a stepping stone 10 according to a second embodiment shown in Fig. 6 differs from the cross section according to Fig. 1 only in that a recess 17 is formed at the rear end of the tread 12, which is delimited by a sliding surface 17a extending downwards at an angle from the rear edge 18 and an upwardly inclined contact surface 17b adjoining its front end. A nose 19 with a complementary cross section is formed on the cover surfaces of the recesses 16, which nose 19, starting from the front setting surface 12, comprises a downwardly inclined contact surface 16c which runs parallel to the contact surface 17b of the recess 17, and an adjoining, upwardly inclined sliding surface 16d which runs parallel to the sliding surface 17a of the recess 17.

When the step stone is placed with one of the recesses 16 on the rear edge 18 of a step stone below, the nose 19 engages completely in the recess 17 of the step stone above, which enables an exact alignment of step stones arranged one above the other

is reached. If the upper step stone is not fully inserted with its nose into the recess of the step stone below, the inclined sliding surfaces 17a and 16d ensure that the upper step stone, due to its own weight, slides with its nose 19 into the recess 17 until the contact surfaces 17b and 16c meet, whereby the desired position is reached.

Fig. 7 shows a further development of the cross section according to Fig. 1, whereby here too three recesses 16 are provided on the support surface 15 in the manner described in connection with Fig. 1. In addition, in the rear area of the underside 14 of the step stone, a further support surface 20 is formed, which runs at an angle α to the horizontal tread surface 11 and rises from the underside 14 to the rear surface 13 of the step stone. Three stepped recesses 21 are formed on the further support surface 20, which are designed corresponding to the recesses 16 and are at the same height as them. The design of the step stone with two stepped support surfaces on different sides makes it possible to use the step stone 10 in different orientations rotated by 180° around a vertical axis. The step stone shown in Fig. 7 can either be placed with one of the recesses 16 of the support surface 15 on the rear edge of the step stone below, whereby the front setting surface 12 then determines the height and design of the step. Alternatively, however, it is also possible to place the step stone with one of the recesses 21 of the support surface 20 on the rear edge of the step stone below, whereby the rear surface 13 of the step stone then becomes the setting surface and determines the design and height of the step. Such use of the step stone in un-

12 y ***· · · &igr;'''I * &igr; 11 :

Different orientations are particularly advantageous if the step stone does not have constant dimensions in its width direction, i.e. perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.
5

As shown in Fig. 8, the step stone 10 is wider in the area of its setting surface 12 than in the area of its rear back surface 13, the width becoming continuously smaller from the front setting surface 12 to the rear back surface 13, so that two side walls 22 and 23 of the step stone do not run parallel to each other and the step stone has a width conicity towards its rear end.

A single step can be formed from a single step stone, but it is also possible to place several step stones next to each other to form a step. If the step stones arranged next to each other taper conically towards their rear end in the manner mentioned and are arranged next to each other in the same direction of the conicity, as shown in Fig. 9, the front, wider setting surfaces 12 lie against each other and cause a polygon-like curved, convex course of the front of the step. Fig. 10 shows a staircase formed with corresponding steps in perspective view.

However, it is also possible to form a step that is straight in the transverse direction using the same conical step stones by arranging adjacent step stones 10 in an orientation rotated by 180° with alternating orientation of the conicity as shown in Fig. 11. The front surface of a corresponding step is then formed alternately by the setting surface 12 of a step stone and the adjoining rear surface 13 of the adjacent step stone.

Claims (22)

1. Step stone for a staircase, with an upper, essentially horizontal tread surface ( 11 ), a front, essentially vertical setting surface ( 12 ), a rear rear surface ( 13 ) which forms a rear edge ( 18) with the tread surface (11 ) , and a support surface ( 15 ) formed in the front region of the underside ( 14 ) of the step stone ( 10 ), via which the step stone ( 10 ) can be supported on an underlying step stone to form a staircase, characterized in that the support surface ( 15 ) runs at an angle α inclined to the horizontal tread surface ( 11 ) and has a plurality of stepped recesses ( 16 ) with which the step stone ( 10 ) can be optionally placed on the rear edge ( 18 ) of the underlying step stone. 2. Stepping stone according to claim 1, characterized in that the support surface ( 15 ) is inclined upwards in the direction of the front setting surface ( 12 ) of the stepping stone ( 10 ). 3. Stepping stone according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the angle α is in the range from 20° to 40° and in particular in the range from 25° to 30°. 4. Stepping stone according to claim 3, characterized in that the angle α is between 25° and 28°. 5. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the rear edge ( 18 ) of the stepping stone ( 10 ) is formed in cross-section complementary to the cross-section of each recess ( 16 ). 6. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each recess ( 16 ) is delimited by an upper cover surface ( 16a ) and a rear stop surface ( 16b ). 7. Stepping stone according to claim 6, characterized in that the rear edge ( 18 ) has a rectangular cross-section and that the cover surface ( 16a ) of each recess ( 16 ) extends substantially horizontally and the stop surface ( 16b ) extends substantially vertically. 8. Stepping stone according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the length l of the cover surface ( 16 a) is substantially twice as large as the height h of the stop surface ( 16 b). 9. Stepping stone according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that a recess ( 17 ) is formed at the rear end of the tread surface ( 11 ), into which a nose ( 19 ) formed on the cover surface of each recess ( 16 ) can be inserted. 10. Stepping stone according to claim 9, characterized in that the recess ( 17 ) and the nose ( 19 ) have complementary cross-sections. 11. Stepping stone according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the recess ( 17 ) and the nose ( 19 ) have inclined sliding surfaces ( 16 d, 17 a) and associated contact surfaces ( 16 c, 17 b). 12. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that in the rear region of the underside ( 14 ) of the stepping stone ( 10 ) a further support surface ( 20 ) is formed, which extends at an angle α to the horizontal tread surface ( 11 ) and has a plurality of stepped recesses ( 21 ). 13. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is designed as a precast concrete part. 14. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that it has a constant cross-section over its entire width. 15. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the side walls ( 22 , 23 ) connecting the front setting surface ( 12 ) with the rear surface ( 13 ) do not run parallel to one another. 16. Stepping stone according to claim 15, characterized in that its width decreases continuously from the front setting surface ( 12 ) to the rear back surface ( 13 ). 17. Stepping stone according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that it carries protruding engagement elements on its side walls, with which it can be brought into engagement with recesses of an adjacent stepping stone. 18. Staircase made of step stones according to one of claims 1 to 17, wherein an upper step stone is supported by one of the recesses ( 16 ) of its support surface ( 15 ) on an underlying step stone. 19. Staircase according to claim 18, characterized in that several step stones are arranged next to one another to form a step. 20. Staircase according to claim 19, characterized in that the step stones arranged next to one another engage with one another via laterally projecting engagement elements. 21. Staircase according to one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that the step stones have a conicity starting from the front setting surface ( 12 ) to the rear rear surface ( 13 ) and are arranged next to one another in the same orientation of the conicity to form a curved step. 22. Staircase according to one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that the step stones have a conicity starting from the front setting surface ( 12 ) to the rear rear surface ( 13 ) and are arranged next to one another in alternating alignment of the conicity to form a straight step.