Abstract: A pipe extrusion includes a cross-section with a substantially round outer perimeter. A round portion of the substantially round outer perimeter preferably has an included angle of less than 300 degrees. A pair of inward facing flanges terminate the round portion. A cross member is formed across an inner area of the round portion. The cross member is parallel with the pair of inward facing flanges. A position of the cross member relative to a centerline of the round portion is between 0-20 degrees from the center line of the round portion. The pipe extrusion is preferably fabricated from any suitable aluminum alloy, such as T-6 aluminum.

Abstract: A hollow core post anchor includes a base plate and a post mounting protrusion. The base plate has two mounting holes adjacent opposing corners of the base plate, and L-shaped stabilizing supports at or adjacent to the other two opposing corners of the base plate. The post mounting protrusion includes a post mounting hole therethrough for receiving a carriage bolt. The two mounting holes in the base plate are each operable to receive a lag screw to secure the base plate and post anchor to a surface (e.g., a concrete pier or foundation). A hollow core post is then positioned on the post mounting protrusion, and securing a carriage bolt through the hollow core post and post mounting hole in the post mounting protrusion secure the hollow core post to the post anchor and thus to the surface.

Abstract: A fastener is configured to affix a first article such as a picket to a second article such as a rail to form a railing or balustrade. The fastener includes a first engaging surface having a maximum diameter configured to engage an interior surface of an opening in the first article and a mating surface configured to mate with the second article. The first engaging surface can have shape selected from cylindrical, ellipsoidal, conical, elliptic conical frustum, pyramidal frustum, and ball and other shapes having cross-sections of rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal and other regular polygons having at least four sides such that good engagement is obtained and the fastener is hidden from view in the assembled railing.

Abstract: A stair rail assembly for easy and rapid installation. The assembly includes a baluster, baluster shoe, and a rail. The baluster shoe comprises an anchor and a base having an opening extending through the anchor and base. The base fits flush against a rail and the anchor fits within a baluster to connect the baluster to the rail. The anchor contains flexible walls which expand upon insertion of a screw to frictionally engage the baluster.

Abstract: A fastener is configured to affix a first article such as a picket to a second article such as a rail to form a railing or balustrade. The fastener includes a first engaging surface having a maximum diameter configured to engage an interior surface of an opening in the first article and a mating surface configured to mate with the second article. The first engaging surface can have shape selected from cylindrical, ellipsoidal, conical, elliptic conical frustum, pyramidal frustum, and ball and other shapes having cross-sections of rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal and other regular polygons having at least four sides such that good engagement is obtained and the fastener is hidden from view in the assembled railing.

Abstract: A deck and stair railing has top and bottom rails joined to upright posts and upright tubes extended between the rails. Ball knobs mounted on plates or the rails are secured with deck screws to the rails to retain the tubes in assembled relation with the rails. The ball knobs have circumferential ribs located in force fit relation with inside surfaces of the tubes. The tubes have projections that engage the ball connectors to prevent the tubes from rotating relative to the ball connectors.

Abstract: A sturdy aluminum pedestrian and bicyclist safety railing that reduces the amount of welding required during construction, comprising top and bottom rigid bars, each having a longitudinal, radially extending exterior passage and a plurality of aluminum pickets mounted within said bar top and bottom channels and held apart by a plurality of spacer plugs that interlock and snap snugly into each top and bottom bar channel and act as spacers to separate the pickets. The top and bottom bars may be welded together at each end of the railing to hold the entire unit together, retaining the plurality of rigid pickets that are substantially perpendicular (or inclined) to the top and bottom bars. The pickets are supported in the top and bottom bar channels without welding for increased strength and reduced cost of construction.

Abstract: An assembly is formed from a fastener and a plurality of elongate members. The fastener includes a wedge. A first elongate member is disposed through an opening in a second elongate member. The fastener engages the first elongate member, and the wedge engages the second elongate member to fasten the first and second elongate members to one another.

Abstract: A fencing system is provided that is constructed from durable polymer components that are sufficiently rigid and durable while providing an integrated modular assembly that is easy to assembly and well suited to a do-it-yourself marketplace. In particular, the modular fence is an integrated system of interfitting vinyl components and a unique polycarbonate or ABS clip for interconnection thereof. The fence includes vertical posts with horizontal members extending therebetween. The horizontal members include grooves therein to support fence panels in the form of web panels. The horizontal members are connected to the vertical members utilizing a novel and uniquely configured connector element.

Abstract: A fence construction system comprises a clip attached securely to a picket of a fence. The picket is inserted in a hole of a rail and the clip secures the picket to the rail, without field welding.

Abstract: A grab rail adapted to be mounted to a surface is provided. The grab rail includes an elongated rail that has a bore lying along a central axis. A wedge block is disposed in the bore of the elongated rail. The wedge block has an inclined face on one end that is inclined relative to the central axis. A support member is connected to the surface. The support member has an inclined face on one end that is contiguous with the inclined face of the wedge block. A fastener engages the wedge block. The fastener urges together the inclined face of the wedge block and the inclined face of the support member to slide the elongated rail in a non-axial direction relative to the support member to join the support member and the elongated rail.

Abstract: A sports goal for minimizing injury to a player striking thereupon that includes a frame and a net that extends across the frame. The frame is tubular and includes four posts that extend vertically upwardly from a surface, at four corners of an imaginary rectangle, a front cross member that extends horizontally across the uppermost ends of a forwardmost pair of posts of the four posts of the frame. The forwardmost pair of posts of the four posts of the frame are releasably attached to the front cross member of the frame, which allows the forwardmost pair of posts of the four posts of the frame to break away from the front cross member of the frame when struck by the player for preventing injury thereto, while the remainder of the frame remains erect. Each end of the front cross member of the frame has a pin that depends therefrom that is releasably received in a blind bore that extends axially in the uppermost ends of the forwardmost pair of posts of the four posts of the frame.

Abstract: A modular garden border system that divides a garden from another landscape area has at least one stackable module with a wall that has a bottom and a top. A support module has a bottom configured and disposed to engage a substrate, and a top configured and disposed to engage the bottom of the stackable module. With this configuration, the support module and the stackable module form a first fence.

Abstract: A barrier including a plurality of elongate construction elements extending along a first axis and spaced from each other along a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis, the construction elements being telescopically extensible along the first axis, and an end of each construction element being formed with a tenon, the tenon being formed with a hole therein, at least one rail extending along the second axis, a plurality of apertures being formed through a thickness of the at least one rail and spaced from each other in correspondence with the spaced construction elements, each tenon mating with and protruding through a corresponding one of the apertures such that the construction element abuts the at least one rail and the hole of the tenon protrudes beyond the thickness of the at least one rail, and a plurality of fasteners, each fastener mating with a corresponding one of the holes so as to attach each construction element with the at least one rail substantially fixedly along the first a

Abstract: A newel post anchoring device, for connecting a post to a concrete floor, wherein the post has a transverse bottom surface and the concrete floor has a floor surface. The newel post anchoring device includes a base having a top with a periphery, and a bottom load bearing surface, wherein the top of said base abuts the transverse bottom surface of the post, and the bottom load bearing surface abuts with the floor surface, thereby the base transmits the load of the post to the floor and also elevates the post above the floor to minimize deterioration of the post. The anchoring device further includes a threaded stud with a stud bottom end for securely embedding in the floor and a threaded stud top end dimensioned and adapted to engage with a threaded aperture defined in the top such that the base is screwed down over the threaded stud top end for bringing the load bearing surface of the base into surface engagement with the floor surface.

Abstract: A fence comprises posts and lattice panels which are fixed at their vertical edges to the posts. The post carries, on its front side, hooks, on which the horizontal bars of the lattice panels rest. The lattice panels are clamped between the front side of the post and the rear side of a hollow front profile which have on the rear side, at the locations of the hooks, holes, into which hooks penetrate with a leg directed obliquely outward and upward. The upper hole edges slide downward on the slope formed on the upper side of the legs and at the same time displace the front profile toward the post. The front profile is pressed downward by a holding-down device.

Abstract: A system to releasably anchor a post at a predetermined location on a playing surface comprising a hollow, upright post to be releasably anchored at the predetermined location on the playing surface having a bottom on the playing surface and a top remote from the bottom and the playing surface; a hollow, frustoconical member disposed within the hollow, upright post adjacent the bottom to anchor the hollow, upright post to the predetermined location on the playing surface and to enable a quick release of the hollow, upright post when forceful contact is made with the hollow, upright post; and an arrangement connected between an interior of the hollow, frustoconical member and the playing surface to secure the hollow, frustoconical member to the predetermined location on the playing surface.

Abstract: According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention an improved fencing system is provided comprising standard steel "T" posts, a "T" post driver and pre drilled wooden or plastic planks, pegs that attached the planks to the posts, and modularized plastic posts. The plastic posts is preferred embodiment as an internal cavity throughout the actual length of the posts that accepts and is supported by a standard steel "T" post. The fence posts also contains connections means for accepting and securing various styles of railings including split rail or planks. In addition for use with gate or corner posts an anchor hole cavity is also included parallel to but separate from the "T" posts cavity and is used to accept and secure an anchor member.

Abstract: A joint, particularly for use with banister assemblies, comprises a ball (14) fixed into position within a socket (13). The balls (14) formed at either end of a plurality of balusters (12), and sockets (13), formed in a base rail (10) and hand rail (11) are preformed at a work shop or factory and subsequently used for construction of a banister assembly. During the construction of such an assembly, the base rail (10) is fixed into position and the hand rail (11) placed in parallel, vertically spaced-apart relation to it, supported loosely by newel posts at either end. Next, balusters (12) are inserted between the base rail (10) and hand rail (11) by inserting a bottom ball of each baluster (12) into the base rail sockets (13) and adjusting the hand rail (11) to enable insertion of the upper balls into the hand rail sockets (13). Once all balusters are in position, the hand rail (11) can be firmly fixed into place.

Abstract: A resilient mounting system for safety barriers, including guardrails, hand rails, etc., includes a urethane rubber or other resilient material substantially between the periphery of the barrier and a floor or base. The barrier is biased against the base so as to provide an stiff yet resilient impact resistance that yields to absorb the energy of impact, such as from a vehicle, rather than requiring the structural material of the barrier itself to absorb and perhaps become dislodged or deformed by the impact. The resilient material can be shaped generally like the periphery of the barrier or it can be a standard shape that is replicated and arranged to engage a support for the barrier. A rail is resiliently mounted between two supports, the resilient mounting being arranged to permit limited relative movement between the rail and the supports but resisting removal of the rail from the supports.

Abstract: A hollow T-shaped wedge member is used for attaching a rectangular collar to a T-post fence post for utilization in conjunction with a bracing system for fences made from such T-posts. The wedge member is shaped to straddle the rear leg of the T-post to produce a wedging engagement between the rear of the front face of the post and the inside of a collar placed over the post. The wedge tightly holds the collar wedged onto the T-post, and aligned with it, and includes a provision for inhibiting withdrawal of the wedge once it is in place.

Abstract: An adjustable base for use with a rail post or section provides an upwardly facing socket portion and an adjustable wedge element associated with the socket portion. A screw associated with the wedge element and the base serves to adjust the position of the wedge relative to the base and to project the wedge into engagement with a post received in the socket portion.

Abstract: A fence construction includes a first transverse rail having a plurality of first mounting locations, each for mounting one of a plurality of pickets. Each mounting location of the rail has vertically and horizontally spaced opposing first and second surfaces, and each picket is provided with corresponding oppositely directed first and second surfaces, an downwardly directed first surface for engaging a respective first surface of a mounting location and a second surface for engaging a respective second surface of the mounting location. The diameter of each picket is selected to be less than the spacing of the respective first and second surfaces of the mounting location to allow an inclined picket to pass therebetween and thus be located on the rail. A second transverse rail is provided for retaining the pickets in a substantially upright orientation and for retaining the first and second surfaces of each picket in engagement with the respective first and second surfaces of the mounting location.

Abstract: A double action expansion wedge is disclosed for attaching a collar to a T-post fence for utilization in conjunction with a bracing system for fences made from such T-posts. A hollow collar member has internal dimensions selected to slide over the posts, so that the collar can be positioned vertically between the lugs of the post at a desired location. The double action expansion cam wedge secures the collar between adjacent lugs on the post by tightly wedging the collar and post together. The double action expansion causes the top edge of the collar and the bottom edge of the collar both to be wedged against the post to hold the collar in alignment with the post.

Abstract: A bracing system is disclosed which is particularly suitable for providing line and end corner bracing for "T-post" fence construction. The bracing system comprises slidable collars which are positioned over the posts and located vertically between the lugs at a desired location. A wedging arrangement is used to secure the collar between adjacent lugs on the posts, and the collar has provisions for accepting accessories to permit a rigid cross-brace, typically also another "T-post", to be inserted therebetween for providing rigid cross-bracing between adjacent "T-posts" of the fence. Accessories also are disclosed to adapt the posts for uses other than fences.

Abstract: A metal fence connector is provided for removably mounting braces to a metal T-shaped fence post thereby facilitating the use of metal fence posts where lateral strength is needed. Conventional T-shaped posts are formed with a series of longitudinally disposed knobs or projections which enable the connector of this invention to obtain interlocking attachment with the post by means of an apertured collar that selectively receives a projection as the connector is vertically positioned on the post. A wedge member is utilized to secure the connector to the post in the desired position.

Abstract: A rail and post fence structure (20) includes tubular posts (22) having a plurality of apertures (50) in the side walls thereof for receiving one end of the rails (24, 26, 28, 30). Each rail has a generally channel cross-section with a web (56) and side walls (58) extending therefrom. The side walls have flanges (60) extending inwardly. The aperture in the side walls of the posts substantially correspond with the outer configuration of the rails such that assembly is accomplished by inserting the rails into the apertures of the posts. The rails are attached to the posts by use of a separator structure for spreading the side walls of the rails. This separator structure includes an elongated clip (70) having a web (72) and a pair of legs (74, 76) extending from opposing longitudinal sides of the web for engagement with the inturned flanges of the rail.

Abstract: A simple, yet secure connection between a vertical upright, such as a fence post, and a horizontal rail. The rail has secured thereto at either end, a collar of a material having memory and having a pair of spaced, vertically extending ears, with radially outwardly extending ends, adapted to pass through and expand against the internal surfaces of an outwardly extending, generally horizontal, closed loop. If necessary, a wedge or keeper may be driven between the ears once they are in place, thus preventing removal of the rail.

Abstract: A metal railing comprises railing sections. Each railing section has an upper hollow handrail, and a lower hollow girder. A center post joins the handrail and the lower girder, and a plurality of filler posts extend between and into the upper handrail and lower girder on each side of the center post. The filler posts are interconnected within the upper handrail and the lower girder by long pins. The railing sections are movably connected to coupling posts or end posts. A cable extends through the upper handrail and is clamped at the coupler posts and at the end posts.

Abstract: A railing system has a mounting arrangement including mounting brackets selectively located within a longitudinal slot in a rail member or in an upright standard, each slot and each mounting bracket having complementary wedge-shaped cross-sectional configurations and each mounting bracket including separate elements secured to one another but urged apart laterally to wedge the mounting bracket securely in place within a slot at any selected longitudinal location. Adjacent rail members are joined together end-to-end by connectors received within a D-shaped cavity in the rail members, the connectors having a complementary, split D-shaped cross-sectional configuration which is flexed outwardly by clamping screws to clamp each connector within adjacent abutted rail members.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of interlocking the rails of a railing, fence or the like with the ends of the hollow posts thereof. Also disclosed is the joint construction used with said method. The method and the joint construction make possible easy interlocking without the use of rivets, bolts and nuts, or welding and can be effectively applied to the assembling of tubular railings made from aluminum by extrusion molding. When the joint is to be provided between a post and a rail base which passes over or under one end of the post, a stud having a head is pushed through a hole provided in the rail base into the end of the hollow post and a self-tapping screw is threaded into a gap between the stud and the inner wall of the post to fix them. The shape of the stud head is made such that it dos not obstruct the threading of the self-tapping screw.