GB2434810A

GB2434810A - Safety system for edge regions of staircases

Info

Publication number: GB2434810A
Application number: GB0621989A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Mark Leslie Coward
Original assignee: Easi Dec Access Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Easi Dec Access Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2005-11-07
Filing date: 2006-11-06
Publication date: 2007-08-08
Also published as: GB0621989D0; GB0522646D0

Abstract

A system for the protection of newel posts of a staircase structure, the system comprising a protective means such as elongate tubular member 10 that is so dimensioned as to be able to enclose a newel post 8. The elongate means may be adapted for the mounting of a temporary safety rail 24, in such a manner, that the elongate tubular member provides a firm mounting for the safety rail when connected. A later embodiment relates to a protective system for a staircase newel post comprising an arrangement that incorporates a facility in the vicinity of the newel post, a mounting for an end support of a safety rail.

Description

SAFETY SYSTEM FOR EDGE REGIONS OF STRUCTURES

It will be appreciated that many structures during the construction thereof not infrequently present regions which need to be traversed by persons involved in construction activities or otherwise and which present to such persons an exposed edge that may overhang a void.

One such example arises during the construction of, for example, a two or more storey building the construction of which provides a space for a single or multirise staircase. As will be appreciated the provision of the space for a subsequently provided staircase results in a would be dangerous situation.

In relation to present day building activities it is a standard practice for staircase assemblies to be constructed away from the building site and brought to the site for installation as soon as the building construction reaches the state at which the building level is above second floor level and at which stage second floor providing joists are fitted thereby frequently establishing a staircase landing Depending upon the architectural layout of the building and thus the form of the staircase space the staircase requirement may be for a single Continuous length construction or one that involves one or more landings (i.e. small floor providing platform) at a desired position between floor levels.

For convenience of this specification it will be assumed that a single length staircase is required.

At this point of time an appropriate length staircase, incorporating the requisite number of treads can be titled into its required setting, the latter being set by the building floor spacing, is constructed off building site' and is delivered for installation Staircases can be regarded as being of a standard construction incorporating two parallel spaced rails to which are mounted at the required separation by a plurality of cross members that serve to mount the staircase risers and the treads.

Bearing in mind that many staircases when installed have at least one side that is exposed a open space or void it is conventional practice to provide a safety rail fitting commonly referred to as the banisters.

As is well known the safety rail fitting, commonly known as a banister construction, generally incorporates a vertical main support post at each end i.e, top and bottom of the open side of the staircase. A smooth continuous hand support rail is conventionally mounted to the main support posts located at the top and bottom of the length of staircase. These posts are known as newel posts.

The banister construction frequently also includes either a plurality of smaller dimensioned intermediate upright members or one or more members running parallel to the banister rail. It will be appreciated that the newel posts, the hand rail and the upright members or elongate members form the conventional banisters of the staircase.

In practice, a pre-manufactured staircase structure/unit comprises a structure including stair treads and risers, newel posts at the top and bottom of the structure and a side panel on the newel post side of the staircase structure, the intention being that the hand rail and intermediate banisters forming members should be fitted at a later stage in the building construction, with a view to avoiding the risk of damage or disfigurement during subsequent building operations.

The newel posts are usually of a standard length and cross sectional dimensions.

Conventionally, the newel posts can be regarged as a full length post or a part length newel post.

In practice, the staircase is conventionally installed at a relatively early stage in the construction of a building by reason of the great convenience such initial installation provides in facilitating the transport of materials for Interior fittings for an upper floor to the building. For example, the construction of a building involves the transport of various materials such as floor boards, central heating piping, skirting boards, ceiling boards, etc., and additionally at later building stages the transport of as wall plastering materials,, ceiling boards, door frames, water tanks, bath fittings installation etc. In view of such staircase structure usage the conventionally provided banisters handrail arrangement is not installed until such initial building materials movements etc., installation activities have been completed since the above 1 discussed sequence of staircase installation and building constructions usage inherently not only involves a substantial risk of damage to the newel posts but also very importantly presents a very serious safety hazard in that in the absence of safety rails/banisters there remains an open side to the staircase structure.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for at least substantially eliminating the above mentioned damage and safety matters.

Broadly according to an aspect of the invention there is provided a system for the protection of newel posts for/of a staircase structure, the system including protective means adapted to enclose the newel post.

Preferably the protective means is adapted to provide means for mounting at least a temporary safety rail extending lenglhways of an exposed staircase structure region including at least one newel post.

Broadly, according to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a protective system for the protection of newel posts of a staircase structure, the syslem including protective means adapted to mount at least a temporary safety rail extending lenglhways of an exposed region of a staircase structure including at least one newel post.

Conveniently when there are at least two newel posts the protective means is =o arranged to give protection to the space between each adjacent pair of newel posts.

Preferably the protective means includes an elongate tubular member that is so dimensioned as to be able to enclose a newel post in such manner that the elongate tubular member provides a firm mounting for a safety hand rail/means when connected therewith.

Conveniently when a staircase construction includes a part length newel post the elongate tubular member is of such length as to provide a mounting for a safety hand rail at a height corresponding to that provided by a full height newel post.

In a preferred construction the elongate tubular member has a cross section complementary to the cross section of a newel post upon which it is intended to be mounted, and wherein the elongate tubular member has four sides of which a portion of the length of the length of two adjacent sides comprise hinged panels each connected by hinge means to one of the other two sides whereby the panels may be opened to facilitate mounting of the elongate tubular member to a newel post in situations where there may be insufficient head clearance to allow the elongate tubular member to be lifted high enough to allow its lower end thereof to be positioned above the lop of the newel post for the purposes of lowering the elongate tubular member into position on the newel post..

Conveniently the hinged panels are of such dimensions that they do not fully shroud the adjacent corner region of the post to which the elongate tubular member is mounted the arrangement being such as to enable a gripping/clamping action to be attained when the locking means are in their locking positions thereby effectively locking the member to the newel post.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how to carry the same into 1 0 effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure 1 very schematically illustrates in perspective side view a staircase structure the Figure illustrating stair risers, treads and newel post Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a newel post protection member associated with a staircase structure shown in Figure 1 when the member is opened to is facilitate engagement with a newel post; Figure 3 schematically illustrates newel post protective member of Figure 2 as it Figure 4, schematically illustrates an embodiment of a temporary safety rail for use with the member shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Referring to the drawings a staircase structure I illustrated in Figure 1 includes main support rails 2 (only one being shown) to which are mounted cross rails 3.

Staircase risers 4 and treads 5 are connected to the cross rails 3.. In practice, the side of the staircase would be closed in by a side panel (not shown).

A full length newel post 6 is provided at the lower end 7 of the staircase structure.

This newel post 6 is very firmly secured to the staircase structure so that it presents a very firm supporting upright for a banister safety hand rail (not shown) The Figure illustrates the installation of a second newel post. This second newel post is shown in the Figure as a shorter or part length newel post 8 and is provided at the upper end 9 of the staircase structure.The shorter or part newel post 8 is not infrequently at least initially provided upon a staircase construction so to avoid the possibility of a full length newel post becoming damaged as a result of its impeding or blocking the handling of materials being transported and/or moved during ongoing building construction activities.

in practice, the newel posts are of standard cross sectional dimensions For example, the newel posts have a square cross section having a side length of 80 or 92 millimetres.

The protection arrangement of the invention comprises an elongate tubular member 10 having a cross section complementary to the cross section of a newel post to which it is intended to be mounted.

Thus the elongate tubular member 10 can be considered as comprising four sides 11,12,13,14, combining to form a square cross section tube..

To facilitate the mounting of the elongate tubular member 10 to a newel post the lower part (i.e., for example halt) of the length of the member sides 12 an 14 are in the form of hinged panels 12A and 14A connected by hinges 15 to the other panels whereby the hinged panels may be opened to facilitate mounting of the elongate tubular member 10 to a newel post in situations where there may be insufficient head clearance to allow the elongate tubular member to be lifted high enough to allow its lower end thereof to be positioned above the top of the newel post for the purposes of lowering the elongate tubular member 10 into position. -.7-

Once the elongate tubular member 10 has been engaged with the associated newel post 8 the hinged panels 12A and HA are folded back so as fully to enclose the post. Locking means 16 are provided for retaining the pivoted panels I 2A and 14A in their closed positions.

Conveniently, the hinged panels 12A and 14A can be such that they do not fully shroud the adjacent corner region of the newel post to which the elongate tubular member 10 is mounted whereby to enable a clamping action to be attained when the locking means 16 are in their locking positions thereby effectively locking the elongate tubular member 10 to the newel post.

A further advantage of the pivoted panels I 2A and 14A at the bottom part of the elongate tubular member is that the member can be firmly secured by the locking means 16 to a shorter sized newel post.

In situations where a landing 17 is involved the elongate tubular member 10 associated with the upper newel post can be used in the provision of a safety rail at the edge regions of the landing. For such a situation a secondary member or post 18 (very schematically indicated by dashed lines in Figure 1) can be supported from a floor plate unit 19 having a base 20 securable to the floor by, for example, screws and providing a short upstanding part 21 to which an elongate tubular member 10 may be mounted.

If necessary a temporary wall plate 22 (illustrated in dashed lines n Figure 1) can be provided where convenient so that safety rails 23 (shown in dashed lines in Figure 1) may be provided along the full length of an exposed edge of the landing, As has been indicated newel posts are conventionally are of two standard sizes namely one has a greater side width than the other.

By providing elongate members of the invention suitable for the larger size newel post that adapter (not shown) can be provided for insertion between a smaller cross section newel posts and the interior of the elongate tubular member to accommodate the dimensional differences.

Bearing in mind that the purposes of the newel posts is to provide elements to which banisters rails schematically illustrated by dashed lines 24 may be connected for safety purposes to the the elongate tubular members 10.

Conveniently the elongate tubular members 10 are provided with connection points (not shown) along the lengths thereof to provided mountings for a safety railof rails.

An embodiment of a safety rail 24 is schematically illustrated in Figure 4. As will be seen the rail conveniently comprises two telescopically adjustable parts 24A and 24B. The rail 24 is provided at each free end 25thereof with a catch/latch means 26 whereby the rail parts 24A and 24B can be releasably 1 5 connected to an appropriate one of several connection means 27,such as a locating ring, provided on the elongate tubular member 10.

If desired an additional rail may be provided to afford for additional protection at the side of the staircase structure.

Claims

CLAIMS

I. A system for the protection of a newel post for/of a staircase structure, the system including protective means adapted to enclose the newel post.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the protective means is adapted for mounting at least a temporary safety rail extending lengthways of an exposed staircase structure region including at least one newel post.

3. A system as claimed in claim I or 2, and wherein when there are at least two newel posts the protective means is arranged to mount means for providing protection for a user of the staircase between each adjacent pair of newel posts.

4. A protective system for protecting a staircase newel post including an arrangement that incorporates the facility of providing in the vicinity of a newel post a mounting for an end support for a temporary safety rail/means.

5. A protective system as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, and wherein the protective means includes an elongate tubular member that is so dimensioned as to be able to enclose a newel post in such manner as to provide a firm mounting for a safety hand rail/means.

6. A protective system as claimed in claim 5, and wherein the elongate tubular member is a sliding fit over the newel post to which it is to be mounted.

7. A protective system as claimed in claim 5 or 6, and wherein when a staircase construction includes a part length newel post the elongate tubular member is of such length as to provide a mounting for a safety hand rail at a height corresponding to that providable by a full height newel post.

8. A protective system as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the elongate tubular member has a cross section complementary 10 the cross section of a newel post upon which it is intended to be mounted, and wherein the elongate tubular member has four sides of which a portion of the length of two adjacent sides comprise hinged panels each connected by hinge means to one of the other two sides whereby the panels may be opened to facilitate mounting of the elongate tubular member to a newel post in situations where there may be insufficient head clearance to allow the elongate tubular member to be lifted high enough to allow its lower end to be positioned above the top of the newel post for the purposes of enabling the lowering the elongate tubular member into position on the newel post..

9. A protective system as claimed in claim 8, and including means for retaining the pivoted panels in their closed positions 10. A protective system as claimed in claim 8, and wherein the hinged panels 1 5 are of such dimensions that do not fully shroud the adjacent corner region of the post to which the elongate tubular member is mounted, the arrangement being such as to enable a clamping action to be attained when the panels are in their closed positions thereby thereby effectively securing the elongate tubular member to the newel post.

II. A protective system as claimed in claim 10, and wherein the retaining means for the hinged panels allows the bottom part of the elongate tubular member is firmly secured to a shorter length newel post.

12. A protective system as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 11, and wherein in situations where a landing is involved with the staircase the elongate tubular member associated with the upper newel post of the staircase is arranged to mount a safety rail at the edge regions of the associated landing.

13. A protective system as claimed in claim 12, and wherein the elongate tubular member are provided with at least one connection point adapted to connect with a temporary safety rail 14. A protective system as as claimed in claim 12, or 13 and wherein a secondary member or post upstanding from a floor plate unit having a base securable to the floor with the secondary member or post providing a short upstanding part to which an elongate tubular member may be mounted.

15. A protective system as claimed in claim 14, and wherein each such safety rail comprises two telescopically adjustable parts, and wherein the rail is provided at each end thereof with a catch/latch means whereby the rail parts can be releasably connected to an appropriate connection means on the associated elongate tubular members 16. A protective system as claimed in claim 15, and wherein the connection means includes a locating ring provided on the elongate tubular member and wherein the calcMaich means includes as hook engageable with an appropriate locating ring.

17 A protective system as claimed in any one of claims S to 16, and wherein adapter elements are provided for insertion between a smaller cross section newel post and the interior of the elongate tubular member intended for use with a larger size newel post, the arrangement being such as to accommodate the dimensional differences.

I

I 8. A protective system for the protection of newel posts, constructed and arranged substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings