Adjustable Stair Stringer and Railing
An adjustable stair stringer and railing construction assembly. The assembly is adapted to use a pair of parallel stringer arms for each stair side, a riser/tread support bracket for each stair, and alignment and spacing elements for spacing the support brackets along the stringers. The brackets include formations for spacing the stringers apart and for spacing adjacent brackets along the stringers. The brackets are initially pivotally attached to each of the stringers so as to be rotatably movable about their pivotal attachment as the stringers are moved axially. Axial movement of the stringers with respect to each other establishes the angle of rise. Treads and risers are attached to the brackets to form stairs, and railings are attachable to the stringer and bracket assembly. The parallel stringers, brackets and spacers are also used in the preparation of formwork for pouring aggregate stairs, with the stringers, brackets and spacers being reusable.
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This application is a Division, and claims priority benefit, of now-pending application Ser. No. 11/083,885 (filed Mar. 17, 2005), which will issue as U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,443 on Jan. 11, 2011. Application Ser. No. 11/083,885, in turn, was a Continuation/Division, and claimed priority benefit, of application Ser. No. 10/095,780, filed Mar. 9, 2002, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,944 on Mar. 22, 2005. Application Ser. No. 10/095,780, in turn, was a Continuation-In-Part, and claimed priority benefit, of application Ser. No. 09/315,809, filed May 21, 1999, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,403 on Mar. 12, 2002. Application Ser. No. 09/315,809, in turn, claimed priority benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/085,151 for an ADJUSTABLE STAIR STRINGER AND RAILING filed May 21, 1998 by Richard Truckner and Paul Truckner.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONNumerous innovations for adjustable stairways have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention as hereinafter contrasted.
The prior art does not utilize a pivoted motion and does not allow an infinite amount of variable spacing when framing stairs and/or a railing. The present invention allows an infinite amount of variable spacings and use of a pivoting motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,245,825 to W. E. Ross teaches a folding stand that has pivoting support but is not based on vertical holes which keep treads in a horizontal position with an infinite amount of variable spacings. Furthermore, the patented invention utilizes different elements from the present invention. Some of the differences are:
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- 1) Vertical holes are not important,
- 2) Stair is adjustable into one position only,
- 3) Not meant to be permanently fixed after moved into position on risers,
- 4) Risers and treads to not slide past each other,
- 5) Pivoting tread support is not fixed in position after adjustment and therefore not used to lock stringers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,664 to J. I. Whitehead teaches an adjustable staircase. The patented invention does not have any pivoting motion and utilizes different elements from the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,365 to J. W. Cox teaches a self adjusting stair which utilizes a truss assemblage. In the patented invention adjustments are made using a pin and slot. The patented invention does not utilize any pivoting motion and the rails are not adjusted by stringers as with the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,838 to J. W. Cox teaches a self adjusting which utilizes spacers in a truss assemblage. The patented invention does not utilize a pivoting motion and the rails are not adjusted by stringers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,347 to N. M. Strathopoulos teaches a modular staircase assembly. The patented invention does not utilize a pivoting motion. The rails are not adjusted by stringers and are not adjusted on vertical holes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,935 to H. R. Stob teaches a prefabricated adjustable stairway. The patented invention does not utilize a pivoting motion and the rails are not adjusted by stringers. This apparatus uses a three point pivoting action so that stringers do not separate during adjustment and slide one on top of the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,854 to K. J. Nebel teaches an adjustable height staircase. The patented invention does not utilize a pivoting apparatus as described herein. The present invention utilizes a pivoting apparatus and contains different elements from the patented invention for at least the following reasons:
1) Treads are directly connected to stringers,
2) No risers,
3) No sliding motion of riser past the tread.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,957 to Poulain shows treads that are directly connected to stringers, stringers that have special tongue and groove spacers which must be an exact size each time in order to lock stringers otherwise the stringers must be secured top and bottom of the stair only, and risers and treads do not slide past each other.
Numerous innovations for adjustable staircases have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Even though these innovations may be suitable for specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe structure of the present invention can be used for forming a stair and may also be used as a support for concrete form work, as a form for a ramp, as a form for adjustable shelves, as an adjustable bleacher, and for adjustable displays.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that allows users to have a quickly formed stair structure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that provides partially assembled elements that can be adjusted to a variety of applications and then securely fixed to form a stair framing and/or railing framing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that utilizes a pivoting motion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that allows an infinite amount of variable spacings when creating stairs and/or railing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that eliminates the need to calculate spacing between step treads and angle of the stairs.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that provides an embodiment that includes an upper stringer arm, a lower stringer arm and at least one riser support.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that provides an embodiment that includes an upper rail support and at least two railing posts pivotally attached to the upper rail support.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable stringer and railing that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object of the present invention is the use of a bracket and setting and spacer bar that can be used with stringer elements for simplifying the formation of a stair assembly with treads, risers and rail supports.
Further objects of the present invention include a stair forming apparatus that includes a pivoting block to which treads and risers can be attached, a pivoting block to which treads only can be attached, a pivoting block which allows risers and treads to slide past each other, a pivoting block which allows risers and treads to be attached such that the risers and treads can be attached to each other after assembly to form a solid construction in which the risers become beams and the treads become lateral use of a bracing to produce great structural strength and much wider stair widths than normal with on center supports (additional stringers) as with. normal stairs, and greater stringer strength than with normal saw tooth stringers because of greater stringer depth and, when the riser/tread supports are secured to the upper and lower stringers after adjustment, the stringers are bonded together to form one solid stringer which also is capable of much greater spans without additional supports.
The structure of the present invention includes riser and tread support which allows risers and tread to slide past each other (as the stinger is adjusted) in order to utilize standard lumber and eliminate the need to cut lumber to exact widths, to use standard lumber of varying lengths according to width of the stair (i.e. 4′ to 10′ wide stairs), to use riser and tread support systems which, after pivoting and adjusting in position, allows risers to be used as beams which greatly increases the structural strength of the stair allowing much greater stair widths than normal without the need for additional center support stringers, and provides a stringer system which, when the riser/tread supports are secured, the stringer members are bonded together to form a much stronger stringer member than in normal “saw tooth” type construction giving much greater stair lengths without additional supports.
The foregoing benefits are accomplished with the simplified bracket, spacer and setting combination that permits the assembly of a stair stringer assembly without difficulty permitting the “do it yourselfer” to install a stair assembly with simple instructions.
Referring to
The riser/tread support 116 can be in the shape of a rectangle, square, triangle, pentangle or circle. The riser/tread support 116 may be rectangular in shape and contain a riser/tread support beveled corner 116A. Furthermore, if there are more than one riser/tread supports 116 the riser/tread supports 116 can be positioned equally along the upper stringer arm 112 and lower stringer arm 114. The riser/tread support 116 can be attached at horizontally positioned fixed points 116B fastened to the upper stringer arm 112 and lower stringer arm 114.
The stair embodiment of the adjustable stair stringer and railing 110 can include a lower stringer support 120 which can be attachable to the upper stringer arm 112 and the lower stringer arm 114, and an upper stringer support 122 which can be attachable to the upper stringer arm 112 and the lower stringer arm 114.
The stair embodiment of the adjustable stair stringer and railing 110 can be manufactured from wood, fiberglass, metal, metal alloys, epoxy, carbon graphite, concrete or plastic. It further can be adapted for use to pour concrete and create concrete stairs.
The railing embodiment of the adjustable stair stringer and railing 210 as shown in
The railing embodiment of the adjustable stair stringer and railing 210 can contain at least one banister 216 pivotally attachable and/or attached to the upper rail support 212. The at least one banister 216 is parallel to the railing posts 214. The banister 216 can be attached to the upper rail support 212 by an upper rail support banister fastener 222. The at least one banister 216 can be positioned equally along the upper rail support 212. The upper rail support banister fastener 222 can be a pin, screw, bolt, clamp, dowel or hook.
The rail embodiment of the adjustable stair stringer and railing 210 can contain an upper rail support railing cap 212A which is attached to the upper rail support 212. It can further contain a railing post attachment 220 attachable to each of the railing posts 214.
It will be understood that each of the elements describe above, or two or more together, may also find useful application in other types of constructions differing from the type described above.
The feature of the riser/tread support in either the vertical or horizontal pivoted form is that it is a one piece apparatus which attaches to the two piece stringer using two pivot points which normally are vertical or horizontal but can be at any common angle. The riser/tread supports pivots to adjust for a required height to form the correct stair profile.
The riser/tread support is then fixed in position (using nails, screws, bolts, glue, etc.) against the two piece stringer to form one solid, non-moving stringer which is capable of supporting both risers and treads or treads alone or risers alone (when being used for concrete formwork). The two piece stringer is then cut (at the dotted lines shown) to conform to the deck or wall at the top and the base at ground level at the bottom. The riser/tread support allows risers and treads to slide past each other so that the risers can be adjusted for height sliding up or down past the back of the tread. The back of the tread is pushed against the face of the riser to form an enclosed stair. The position of the risers and treads can vary infinitely in respect to each other depending on the stair adjustment.
The setting and spacing bar 822 is adapted to cooperate with and space two brackets 812 by aligning the guide tab 825 with the guide hole 819 at one bracket and with guide slot 820 in the next bracket and serves to establish the spacing between brackets. The folded ears 824 separate two stringers and thus to allow for the space for relative movement between stringers.
With at least a pair of brackets 812 spaced by setting and spacing bars 822 and an upper and lower stringer the brackets may be attached by suitable means to the stringers at the pivot holes 816 to provide aligned and spaced riser/tread brackets for a stair assembly as will be described with reference to
An additional use for the parallel stringers, brackets and spacers is illustrated in
As illustrated in
While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been specifically disclosed, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto as many variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is to be given its broadest possible interpretation within the terms of the following claims.
Claims
1. An adjustable stair stringer comprising:
- a) an upper stringer arm;
- b) a lower stringer arm parallel to said upper stringer arm;
- c) at least one riser/tread support pivotally attached to said upper stringer arm and said lower stringer arm.
2. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 1, wherein said riser/tread support is a plurality of equally spaced riser/tread supports positioned equally along said upper stringer arm and lower stringer arm.
3. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 2, wherein said riser/tread support includes means formed for spacing and aligning adjacent riser/tread supports.
4. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one riser/tread support is in the shape selected form the group consisting of a rectangle, square, triangle, pentangle, circle and a form in the shape of a rectangle with a beveled corner.
5. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one riser/tread support is pivotally attached to said lower stringer arm and to said upper stringer arm by riser/tread stringer arm fasteners.
6. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 5, wherein said riser/tread support stringer arm fasteners are selected from the group consisting of pins, screws, bolts, clamps, dowels and hooks.
7. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 1, wherein said adjustable stair stringer is manufactured from a material selected from a group consisting of wood, fiberglass, metal, metal alloys, epoxy, carbon graphite, concrete and plastic.
8. The adjustable stair stringer as defined in claim 1, wherein said riser/tread support is attached at horizontally positioned fixed points fastened to said upper stringer arm and to said lower stringer arm.
9. An adjustable stair stringer and railing comprising:
- a) an upper stringer arm;
- b) a lower stringer arm parallel to said upper stringer arm;
- c) at least one riser/tread support pivotally attached to said upper stinger arm and to said lower stringer arm;
- d) an upper rail support; and
- e) at least two rail posts pivotally attached to said upper rail support.
10. The adjustable stair stringer and railing as defined in claim 9, wherein said adjustable stair stringer and railing further comprises at least one ballister pivotally attached to said upper rail support.
11. The adjustable stair stringer and railing as defined in claim 9, wherein said at least two railing posts are pivotally attached by upper rail support railing post fasteners.
12. The adjustable stair stringer and railing as defined in claim 9, wherein said adjustable stair stringer and railing further comprises an upper rail support railing cap attached to said upper rail support.
13. The adjustable stair stringer and railing as defined in claim 10, wherein said at least one ballister being attached to said upper rail support by an upper rail support banister fastener.
14. The adjustable stair stringer and railing as defined in claim 10, wherein said at least one banister is a plurality of ballisters positioned equally along said upper rail support and supported by riser/tread supports attached to said upper and lower stringer arms.
15. An adjustable stair assembly including:
- a) at least one pair of parallel stringers,
- b) a plurality of riser/tread support brackets, and
- c) removable means for spacing and aligning said riser/tread support brackets along said parallel stingers,
- d) said riser/tread support brackets being pivotally attachable to said parallel stingers so as to be movable with parallel surfaces of said stringers when said spacing and aligning means are removed and when said parallel stringers are moved parallel to each other.
16-20. (canceled)
21. A method for forming a multistep stair formwork for use in pouring an aggregate setting material and employing stringer support means at each side of said stair, support brackets for each step of said stair, and spacing and each of said stringer support means including a pair of parallel stringer elements movable axially with respect to each other, said support brackets including means for attaching said support brackets to said stringer elements, means for attaching a riser form, and means for cooperating with said spacing and alignment means for assembling said support brackets with said parallel stringer elements,
- the method steps comprising, a) positioning said parallel stringer elements parallel to each other, b) placing said support brackets along said parallel stringer elements, c) spacing said support brackets axially along said parallel stringer elements by said spacing and alignment means, d) spacing said parallel stringer elements laterally spacing and alignment means, e) pivotally attaching each of said support brackets to said parallel stinger elements with one pivotal attachment means in each of said parallel stringer elements, f) removing said spacing and alignment means from cooperation with said support brackets and said stringer elements, g) axially moving said parallel stringer elements relative to each other so as to rotate said pivotally attached support brackets, each support bracket being equally rotated, h) fixing said brackets to said stringer elements to position said brackets with a substantially vertical surface for attachment of a riser form, i) and attaching a riser form to said substantially vertical surface of said support bracket, whereby said multistep stair formwork is prepared for receiving aggregate to be finished and set to form said multistep stair.
22-25. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 1, 2011
Publication Date: Jul 7, 2011
Applicant: EZ STAIRS, INC. (Laguna Hills, CA)
Inventors: Richard Truckner (Hayward, CA), Paul Truckner (Hayward, CA)
Application Number: 12/983,302
International Classification: E04F 11/025 (20060101); E04F 11/022 (20060101);