Rail mounting apparatus and method

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed for mounting a rail (e.g., fence, stair or banister) to a support structure (e.g., a post, wall, etc.), wherein a rail mounting bracket is provided that allows the rail to be supported within an interior of the bracket in a desired position until the rail can be fixedly secured to the bracket in the desired position. The bracket provides various projections from its face that allows a rail to be supported and fixed to the bracket at an upwardly and / or downwardly inclined angle relative to the bracket face. The bracket is designed to withstand various loads specified by building standards for composition fences and banisters.

Description

RELATED FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to fence rail mounting apparatus and method, and in particular, to rail mounting bracket that is capable of withstanding substantial fence loadings without failure, and that allows rails to be mounted at various angles to the bracket. BACKGROUND [0002] Synthetic fences and railings having at least their exteriors made of vinyl, PVC, plastic or other synthetic materials (e.g., materials that can be molded in an injection mold, extruded or pultruded) are used as cost effective replacements for wood and / or metal fences and railings in numerous circumstances. Such synthetic fences and railings can be easier to install, and are substantially maintenance free. Such synthetic fences and railings are typically assembled from post and railing components, each such component made of a synthetic material(s) which typically can be, e.g., a molded, extruded or pultruded. Such synthetic post and railing components typically have ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] A rail mounting system is disclosed for mounting a rail (e.g., a stair, walkway, or fence railing) to a support structure, and a method for performing and using the same is also disclosed. The rail mounting system includes a novel bracket that serves as an intermediary apparatus between, e.g., a fence or banister rail, and a support structure. Thus, a rail may attach to the bracket after the bracket has been attached to a support structure (such a support structure may be, e.g., the side of a building, a post, a column, a beam, a wall or other rigid members to which a rail can be fixedly attached). The bracket is particularly useful in that once the bracket is secured to a support structure, a rail (more precisely, a rail end) may be easily placed on the bracket for supporting the rail in a desired position, wherein the rail can be subsequently firmly secured to the bracket. In particular, a rail end may be aligned on the bracket by placing the rail end within a rail holding portion of the bracket that includes side supports, and may include a support for the bottom edge of the rail. Thus, the rail can be positioned in the rail holding portion wherein it is supported on the bracket in a properly aligned position until the rail can be firmly secured to the bracket.

Problems solved by technology

However, various esthetic and structural difficulties have not been heretofore adequately addressed for securing such a synthetic rail and a bracket together.

Additionally, since the synthetic rail may have to be secured to the bracket at an angle other than perpendicular to a vertical support structure upon which the bracket is mounted (e.g., when providing railings for stairs between vertically positioned posts) such manual alignment of the rail is made even more difficult.

Another difficulty in assembling synthetic fences and railings results from the perception that such synthetic fences and railings will not withstand the side impacts (or various other loadings) as effectively as their counterpart wood or metal fences or railings.

In many instances, the failure point of such synthetic fences and railings has been at the railing mounting bracket and / or the attachment of the railing thereto.

Although covering plates for hiding such hardware are available, such covering plates may not easily attachable to their brackets, and once attached cannot be detached without damaging at least the covering plate.

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