GB2445405A

GB2445405A - Handrail coupling fitting

Info

Publication number: GB2445405A
Application number: GB0625434A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philip Chimento
Original assignee: Jeld Wen UK Ltd; Jeld Wen Inc
Current assignee: Jeld Wen Inc
Priority date: 2006-12-20
Filing date: 2006-12-20
Publication date: 2008-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-20
Also published as: GB0625434D0; GB2445405B

Abstract

A handrail fitting 10 has a peripheral wall 12 which defines a first socket for reception of a handrail end, and a transverse wall 14 comprising a hole 24 for receiving a fastener to secure the fitting to a handrail end received in the socket. Use of the fastener, i.e. a screw, allows the socket aperture to be larger than the handrail thus permitting tolerance adjustment in the angle of the handrail. Hole 24 may be offset from the centre of the fitting, more than one such hole may be provided. The peripheral wall 12 may define a further socket 16, lying opposite the first socket, for reception of a further handrail end, so concealing the transverse wall and fastener. The coupling piece so formed may be straight or curved, forming convex or concave ramps, or horizontal or vertical turns. Alternatively, the fitting may be a handrail end cap. The fitting may be used with solid or hollow handrails.

Description

2445405

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HANDRAIL FITTING

Field of the Invention

This invention concerns handrails mounted on a fixed support, for example secured to a wall 5 by mounting brackets. More particularly the invention concerns such handrails formed from several sections, and a fitting for installation on or between the handrail sections.

Invention Background

Constructing and installing a traditional wall mounted wooden handrail, other than a single 10 straight section, is time consuming and a matter for a skilled joiner. The layout has to be carefully measured and joints and bends have to be carefully crafted and assembled. Although wooden handrail kits are available that include standard parts for making horizontal and vertical turns and ramps, these still demand much time and skill for their proper installation. The kits are restricted to bends of relatively standard sizes and angles 15 and therefore cannot be used to form unusual handrail configurations. Mistakes will often lead to the scrapping of expensive components.

Handrail kits are available in other materials such as metal or plastics coated metal. The handrail sections may be tubular, joined to neighbouring sections and/or bends by internal 20 spigots. This construction is not readily adapted to a solid handrail, such as a wooden handrail. Other handrail kits are known, in which ends of straight handrail sections are received in tubular connectors. GB2186604 shows such an arrangement, in which the tubular connectors also serve as brackets for mounting the handrail on a wall. The handrail sections are themselves also secured to the wall, to prevent them rotating in the connectors. 25 Similar tubular handrail connectors are available, in which grub screws or the like are used to secure a circular sectioned handrail against rotation. However these can detract from the appearance and relatively smooth feel of the assembled handrail. The ends of the handrail also have to be a snug fit in the connector, which means that it cannot accommodate much variation in the angle between the joined handrail sections.

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✓'

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Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a handrail fitting having a peripheral wall which defines a first socket for reception of a handrail end, and a transverse wall comprising a hole for receiving a fastener to secure the fitting to a handrail end received in the socket. The fitting is of 5 simple construction and easy to install. Because a fastener can be used to secure the fitting to the handrail end, the interior dimensions of the socket can be made larger than the external dimensions of the handrail end. This allows some adjustment in the angle between the handrail and the fitting.

10 The socket is preferably profiled to conform to the handrail profile.

The hole may be offset from the central axis of the handrail, so as to prevent rotation of a round handrail in the socket. More than one such hole may be provided in the transverse wall.

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The peripheral wall preferably defines a further socket for reception of a further handrail end. The further socket may lie on the opposite side of the transverse wall so that the hole and fastener are concealed within the fitting when both handrail ends are inserted.

20 The fitting may form an end cap, or a straight coupling piece for connecting two handrail sections in line end to end. Alternatively it may form a coupling piece that serves as a horizontal turn, a vertical turn or a concave or a convex ramp, all for connecting adjacent handrail sections at an angle to one another. A range of different coupling pieces may be supplied, having different forms, profiles and nominal angles between the coupled handrail 25 sections.

The fitting may be used in combination with solid (e.g. wooden, MDF, etc.) handrail sections, or any other handrail sections of an appropriate material and form. For example, the fitting may also be used together with hollow handrails extruded from aluminium and/or 30 plastics, provided with an internal fastener accommodating slot, e.g. running longitudinally of the handrail.

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An illustrative embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

5 Figure 1 shows a handrail coupling piece, and

Figure 2 shows a handrail assembly which includes coupling pieces of the general kind shown in Figure 1.

Description of the Illustrative Embodiment

10 The handrail fitting shown in Figure 1 comprises coupling piece 10 having a peripheral wall 12 of tubular configuration. A central transverse wall 14 divides the interior of the coupling piece to form a pair of opposed sockets 16 (only one of which is visible in Figure 1) for the reception of handrail ends. The peripheral wall 12 is shaped to match the handrail profile. A crown profile is shown, but other profiles can be used equally within the scope of the 15 invention, e.g. circular ("mopstick"), elliptical, oval, square, rectangular, trefoil, etc.

The upper surface 18 of the coupling piece is concave and the lower surface 20 is convex, so that the entire coupling piece is curved along its axis. A pair of handrails, each received in one of the sockets 12 respectively, therefore extend at an angle to each other, with the 20 illustrated coupling piece forming a concave ramp. The degree of curvature can vary, so as to vary the nominal angle between the inserted handrail sections. Instead of the upper surface being concave, it may be convex, and the lower surface 20 concave, to form a convex ramp. Alternatively, the coupling piece may not curve -along its length at all, to provide a substantially straight joint between coaxial lengths of handrail. Yet alternatively, 25 the coupling piece may curve to left or right along its length, to provide a horizontal turn. A range of coupling pieces for each given profile may therefore be provided, to permit assembly of handrails in a wide variety of different configurations, as desired.

The thickness of the transverse wall 14 may vary, so as to provide a substantially equal 30 depth to the peripheral wall 12 around all the edges of the sockets 16. Thus in Figure 1, the transverse wall 14 thickens from top to bottom. The upper 18a and lower 20a inner surfaces of the side wall 12 may taper slightly towards each other from the bottom of the socket 14

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towards its mouth. For example, a taper half angle of approximately 2 to 5 degrees may be provided. This allows for corresponding fine adjustment of the angle of the handrail in the socket 14, with the handrail remaining a snug fit in the mouth of the socket 14. The rim 22 of the socket 14 formed by the end edge of the peripheral wall 12 has a chamfered or 5 rounded outer shoulder, so as to eliminate any sharp corners at this point.

A screw fixing hole 24 extends through the transverse wall 14, through which a screw (not shown) can be driven obliquely into a handrail end received in the opposite socket. Installation of the coupling piece 10 therefore proceeds as follows. A first handrail section 10 is firmly secured to a support such as a wall, using mounting brackets or the like. The coupling piece 10 is then fitted over the end of the first handrail section, so as to be received in one of the sockets 16. The coupling piece 10 is then secured in place over the end of the first handrail section by a screw (not shown) driven through the hole 24. For this operation, the head of the screw remains accessible through the other (unoccupied) socket 14. Once 15 the screw is driven fully home to secure the coupling piece 10 firmly to the first handrail section, the end of a further handrail section is placed into this other socket, so concealing the transverse wall 14 and fixing screw. The further handrail section is then firmly secured to the support in similar manner to the first handrail section. Further coupling pieces and still further handrail sections can be added to the handrail assembly in similar sequence.

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A complete handrail 26, assembled from three handrail sections 26a, 26b and 26c, interconnected by two coupling pieces forming a concave ramp 10 and a convex ramp 30, is shown in Figure 2. For clarity, the handrail supporting structure such as an adjacent wall, and mounting brackets attaching the individual handrail sections 26a, 26b 26c to the 25 supporting structure, have been omitted. The ends of the handrail 26 are provided with respective caps 28 which comprise fittings embodying the invention. Screws 32 securing each cap 28 to the handrail 26 may be provided with trim covers (not shown), or trim covers (again not shown) may be provided which cover the entire transverse walls of the end cap fittings 28, e.g. as a snap fit over or within the peripheral wall of the fitting 28. Each of the 30 cut ends of the handrail sections 26a, 26b, 26c are therefore concealed, so that these cuts do not have to be particularly accurate or well finished.

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Other modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, the transverse wall 14 need not be substantially solid or complete, but can instead take the form of a bar, strut, or chordal wall intruding into the interior of the fitting defined within the peripheral wall, for reception of the hole 24 and fastener.

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Claims

1. A handrail fitting having a peripheral wall which defines a first socket for reception of a handrail end, and a transverse wall comprising a hole for receiving a fastener to secure

5 the fitting to a handrail end received in the socket.

2. A handrail fitting as defined in claim 1, in which an interior dimension of the socket is larger than a corresponding external dimension of the handrail end.

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3. A handrail fitting as defined in claim 1 or 2, in which the socket is profiled to conform to the handrail profile.

4. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which the hole is offset from the central axis of the handrail.

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5. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which more than one such hole is provided in the transverse wall.

6. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which the peripheral wall 20 defines a further socket for reception of a further handrail end.

7. A handrail fitting as defined in claim 6, in which the further socket lies on the opposite side of the transverse wall from the first socket.

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8. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, which is an end cap.

9. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -7, comprising a horizontal turn.

10. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -7, comprising a vertical turn.

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11. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -7, comprising a concave ramp.

12. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -7, comprising a convex ramp.

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13. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in combination with a solid section of handrail.

14. A handrail fitting substantially as described with reference to or as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the drawings.

14. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -12, in combination with a hollow section of handrail comprising an internal fastener accommodating slot.

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15. A handrail fitting substantially as described with reference to or as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

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1. A handrail fitting having a peripheral wall which defines a first socket for reception of a given handrail end, and a transverse wall comprising a hole for receiving a fastener to 5 secure the fitting to a handrail end received in the first socket; an interior dimension of the first socket being larger than a corresponding external dimension of the handrail end and the handrail being a snug fit in the mouth of the first socket whereby the angle between the handrail and the fitting may be adjusted.

10 2. A handrail fitting as defined in claim 1, in which the first socket is profiled to conform to the handrail cross-sectional profile.

3. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which the hole is offset from the central axis of the handrail.

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4. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which more than one such hole is provided in the transverse wall.

5. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in which the peripheral wall 20 defines a further socket for reception of a further handrail end.

6. A handrail fitting as defined in claim 5, in which the further socket lies on the

. opposite side of the transverse wall from the first socket.

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25 7. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, which is an end cap.

8. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -6, comprising a horizontal turn.

9. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 -6, comprising a vertical turn.

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10. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 - 6 and which is curved along its axis so as to comprise a concave upper surface.

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11. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 - 6 and which is curved along its axis so as to comprise a convex upper surface.

12. A handrail fitting as defined in any preceding claim, in combination with a solid section of handrail.

13. A handrail fitting as defined in any of claims 1 - 11, in combination with a hollow section of handrail comprising an internal fastener accommodating slot.