Fence And Deck Post Cap

Abstract

A post cap is provided that is formed of a material having increased durability from the prior art post cap formed of plastics. The material includes some plastic components but also includes other compounds that provide the increased weight and durability to the post cap. The material includes a plastic, a solidifying agent, an accelerating agent, and a filler, optionally in conjunction with other ingredients, such as a color and one or more fillers. The material forming the post cap is formed in a mold in a suitable molding process, such as a casting process.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/113,875, filed on Feb. 9, 2015, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to decks and fences, and more specifically to a cap for posts used in the construction of decks and fences.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Decks and fences are often utilized to increase the usable space around a home as well as to increase the value and enhance the appearance of the home, or other types of structures with which the fence or deck is associated.

The structure of a conventional deck includes a flat surface around which a rail is positioned to form the border of the deck. The rail can have any number of different configuration or constructions, but most often includes a number of posts spaced around the flat surface of the deck and oriented perpendicular to the flat surface. The posts can function as support and/or anchors for the flat surface, and are usually joined to one another by slats or other similar members that combine with the posts to form the rail around the periphery of the deck. In the case of a fence, the flat surface is removed, and the fence construction utilizes only the posts and the slats or other structures extending between the posts.

The posts themselves are most often formed of a wood or wood-like material that can be formed of a single piece of the desired material or a piece of the material that is bounded a some or all sides by additional pieces of the same or a different material, to provide the desired appearance for the post.

In either construction, the upper end of the post is normally left exposed. To protect the material forming the post, and to provide a more pleasing appearance to the top end of the post, a post cap is placed over the top end of the post. The post cap can be formed of wood, but this greatly increases the time and cost associated with making the post. In order to produce a post that is more cost effective than a wood post cap, other prior art post caps have been formed of a plastic material that can be easily formed into the necessary shape to fit over the post and provide better resistance to the weather that the post is normally subject to.

However, prior art post cap constructions are formed of plastic materials that, while able to approximate the desired look for the cap, have significant drawbacks with regard to the color, appearance and durability of the cap.

Thus, it is desirable to develop a post cap for a deck or fence that overcomes these issues with plastic prior art post caps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a post cap is formed of a material having increased durability from prior art post caps formed exclusively of plastics. The material includes some plastic components but also includes other compounds that provide increased weight and durability to the post cap. The material includes a plastic, a solidifying agent, an accelerating agent, and a filler, optionally in conjunction with other ingredients, such as a color and one or more additional fillers.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the material forming the post cap is formed into the desired shape for the cap within a mold in a suitable molding process, which can be a casting process. The casting or other molding process uses a mold material and process that enables the material to be formed into more intricate and detailed shapes than other processes, such that the resulting post cap has a more realistic appearance, e.g., is more similar in appearance to a wood post cap, as is desired.

Numerous other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description together with the drawings figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective bottom view of the post cap of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now in detail to the drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, one exemplary embodiment of a post cap constructed according to the present disclosure is illustrated generally at 10 in FIG. 1. The cap 10 can have any desired shape, and in the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 1-3 has a generally square shape that is complementary to the cross-sectional shape of the post (not shown) to which the cap 10 is secured.

Referring now to the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 1-3, the cap 10 includes a base 12 formed of a number of walls 14 joined at angles to one another, such as at right angles as illustrated in the exemplary embodiments. The walls 14 support and are each attached to a cover 16 that extends over and between the walls 14. The cover 16 can have any desired shape, and can be larger than the base 12 such that the cover 16 extends over or outwardly from the periphery of the base 12, and in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 is formed with a pyramidal shape having a number of triangular shaped walls 18 extending upwardly from the base 12 and converging at a vertex 19. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2 the walls 18 are truncated above the base 12 to enable a decorative member 20 to be positioned thereon. The decorative member 20 can be formed of any desired material, such as a metal, and can have any desired shape. The decorative member 20 can be secured to the base 12 in any suitable manner such as by a fastener (not shown), an adhesive (not shown) or by molding the cap 10 directly onto the decorative member 20. In FIG. 3 the illustrated exemplary embodiment includes a flat upper wall 22 disposed in place of the decorative member 20.

The cap 10 can also have a completely different configuration than those shown in FIGS. 1-3 such as the generally flat and rectangular cap 10′ shown in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, which is designed for use with posts having a rectangular configuration complementary to the shape of the cap 10′.

Looking now at FIG. 5, the cap 10 of FIG. 1 is shown from a bottom view. As shown, in this illustrated exemplary embodiment the base 12 of the cap 10 is hollow such that the base 12 defines an interior 24 that receives the upper end of the post in order for the cap 10 to be properly positioned and retained on the post. The interior 24 can include a shoulder 25 that separates the interior 24 into a narrow upper section 30 and a wide lower section 32. The differences in the sizes of the sections 30,32 allow the cap 10 to be engaged with posts having different sizes, such that a single cap 10 can be used with different posts. In other embodiments, the cap 10 can have multiple shoulders 25 formed within the interior 24, thereby increasing the number of posts on which the cap 10 is capable of being utilized.

Further, the top of the upper section 30 is defined by the lower end of the cover 16, which is formed as a solid piece of the material forming the cap 10. Thus, the upper section 30 and lower section 32 each have a flat surface defining their respective top ends, so that the cap 10 can be positioned flush and stable on the flat upper end of the post. Further, the solid nature of the cover 16 enhances the weight of the cap 10 to provide additional stability when positioned on the post, and durability.

In each of the embodiments, the exterior surfaces of the base 12 and cover 16 not formed by a decorative element 20 are formed with a pattern 26 thereon that approximates the grain of natural wood to provide a more realistic and aesthetically pleasing appearance to the cap 10. The pattern 26 on the base 12 and the cover 16 can be the same or different, and can be formed to be different on the different walls 14, 18 forming the base 12 and the cover 16. In addition the pattern 26 can be formed to approximate different types of wood, depending upon the particular wood or other material used to form the post or other elements of the fence (not shown) or deck (not shown) that the cap 10 is being utilized with.

To form the cap 10, while any suitable process may be utilized, in an exemplary embodiment of a method for forming the cap 10, the material used for forming the cap 10 is utilized in a casting method. In this method, the material forming the cap 10 is mixed and maintained in a liquid form at about 45-50° F., and poured into a mold, which can be formed of a resilient material, such as a silicone. The mold is formed of a material that is able to be formed with the desired pattern 26 for the various portions of the cap 10 to be shaped in the mold, while also enabling the cap 10 formed in the mold to be relatively easily removed from the mold by deflecting the mold around the cap 10 once formed to expose the cap 10 formed in the mold, even when the pattern 26 includes more intricate shapes, undercuts and other features to form the desired pattern 26.

Once positioned in the mold, the material is cast, or subjected to a vacuum in a known manner to draw the material into all of the portions of the mold, thereby forming the cap 10 with the desired shape and the desired pattern 26 on each exposed portion of the cap 10. Once fully formed in the mold, the cap 10 is dried, polished, with any defects in the exterior surface repaired at this point, cleaned and painted, if necessary, to give the pattern 26 the desired appearance, such as by placing black paint into various recesses of the pattern to provide an enhanced wood grain appearance to the cap 10.

In one exemplary embodiment, to form a cap 10 having the desired appearance, durability and weight, the material formula for use in forming the post caps 10 is: about 40-60% w/w of a plastic resin, such as a polyethylene resin, about 1.0-3.0% w/w of a solidifying agent, such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, and about 0.5-2.0% w/w of an accelerating agent, such as cobalt octonoate, C₁₆H₃₀CoO₄. The material can also include fillers, such as a stone powder and/or a calcium carbonate powder alone or in combination with one another in an amount of about 35-55% w/w to provide added weight and durability to the resulting cap 10, among other attributes, and a color concentrate to provide the cap 10 with the desired color.

According to one particular exemplary embodiment, the material formula can have the following composition:

Material Formula:             % of weight (approximately)
Polyester Resin               52%
CaCo Powder                   43%
Solidfying Agents             2%
Accelerating Agents           1.5%
Paint, UV protectors, fillers 1.5%

The weight percentages in the above exemplary embodiment of the material can be varied from the above values as necessary for the formation of the cap 10.

Various other embodiments of the present invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the filed claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.

Claims

1. A post cap comprising:

a) a base adapted to be positioned over a deck or fence post; and

b) a cover connected to and extending over the base to define an interior within the cap, where the base and cover are formed from a material including: i. a plastic resin; ii. a solidifying agent; and iii. an accelerating agent.

2. The post cap of claim 1 wherein the material includes a filler selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, powdered stone, and combinations thereof.

3. The post cap of claim 1 wherein the material consists of a polyester resin, calcium carbonate powder, a solidifying agent and an accelerating agent.

4. The post cap of claim 3 wherein the solidifying agent is methyl ethyl ketone peroxide.

5. The post cap of claim 3 wherein the accelerating agent is cobalt octonoate.

6. The post cap of claim 3 wherein the material consists of:

a) 40-60% w/w polyester resin;

b) 35-55% w/w calcium carbonate powder;

c) 1.0-3.0% w/w solidifying agent; and

d) 0.5-2.0% w/w accelerating agent.

7. The post cap of claim 3 wherein the material consists of:

a) 52% w/w polyester resin;

b) 43% w/w calcium carbonate powder;

c) 1.5% w/w solidifying agent; and

d) 1.0% w/w accelerating agent.

8. The post cap of claim 1 wherein the interior includes at least one shoulder therein.

9. The post cap of claim 8 wherein the shoulder divides the interior into a wide lower section and a narrow upper section.

10. A method of forming a post cap adapted to be positioned of a fence or deck post, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a material including a plastic resin, a solidifying agent and an accelerating agent;

b) placing the material into a mold;

c) casting the material within the mold to form the cap; and removing the cap from the mold.

11. The method of claim 3 wherein the mold is formed of a resilient material and wherein the step of removing the cap from the mold comprises deflecting the mold from around the cap.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the material comprises providing the material of claim 3.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the material comprises providing the material of claim 4.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the material comprises providing the material of claim 5.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the material comprises providing the material of claim 6.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the material comprises providing the material of claim 7.