Handrail Bracket

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a handrail bracket and relates particularly to an improved bracket adapted for use with a variety of handrails.

Background of the Invention

Handrail brackets, or stair banister brackets, or railing brackets are often formed or cast in metal, such as brass, zinc, stainless steel or the like. Such brackets are often formed with a mounting plate or foot which is adapted to be secured to a wall or other supporting surface to which the handrail is to be fitted. In many bracket designs, the mounting foot is provided with a plurality of holes to receive screws or bolts by which the bracket is attached to the supporting surface, such as a wall.

The bracket has, at its opposite end, a seat or mounting to which a handrail is fastened. In many forms of handrail, the mounting extends at an angle to the bracket, the angle defining the angle of inclination of the handrail. In other brackets, the handrail mounting extends substantially at right angles to the arm of the bracket, and the bracket is mounted at the appropriate inclination so that the handrail defines the required pitch or gradient. In many handrail installations, the mounting foot must be fixed to a secure support. Thus, a mounting foot must be fastened by means of screws, for example, to a wall stud or the like in a wall structure. However, the spacing of screw holes in a mounting foot may be such that only certain angles of inclination of the bracket are able to be safely accommodated. Thus, where a wall stud to which a bracket is to be fastened is relatively narrow, the angular inclination of the bracket arm relative to the wall stud may cause the fixing screws to be unacceptably close to edges of the stud.

Accordingly, the fixed relative angles between the mounting foot, the bracket arm and the seat require some skill in accurately and securely fixing brackets in position to support a handrail at the correct gradient or pitch. Relatively skilled tradesmen must therefore be employed to carry out this work.

Handrails to be supported come in a large variety of cross sectional shapes and sizes. Handrail brackets, therefore, need to be manufactured which can be selectively used for different shapes and sizes of handrails. A handrail bracket which is to support a handrail of circular cross section will therefore require a seat or handrail mounting section having an arcuate shape to match the surface shape of the handrail. If the

handrail is of a shape with a flat underside, the seat, or handrail mounting, is preferably substantially planar.

This need to provide different shapes for the seat means that a number of different mounting brackets are required to accommodate the variety of hand rail shapes.

It is therefore desirable to provide a handrail bracket which obviates at least some of the disadvantages of known brackets.

It is also desirable to provide a hand rail bracket having a mounting foot which is able to be securely fixed to a support irrespective of the inclination of the handrail. It is also desirable to provide a hand rail bracket which is adaptable for use with a wide variety of handrails of different cross sectional shapes and sizes.

It is also desirable to provide a handrail bracket which is aesthetically pleasing and yet easily fitted to the support surface and handrail.

It is also desirable to provide a handrail bracket which is relatively simple in construction and mounting.

Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a handrail bracket comprising a bracket arm having means for supporting a handrail at one end and having a mounting foot at the other end, said mounting foot including a projecting portion having at least two opposed shoulders, and a mounting element adapted to be fixed to a support, the mounting element including an opening to receive the projecting portion of the mounting foot, and cooperating retaining shoulders adapted to be engaged by the shoulders on the mounting foot by relative movement of the mounting foot within the mounting element to thereby lock the foot to the element.

In one preferred form of the invention, the mounting element has a substantially circular peripheral wall with an inwardly extending flange defining the opening. The flange has a plurality of holes to receive fixing screws or the like.

The opening may be a non-circular opening having a shape through which the projecting portion of the mounting foot can engage in at least one, and preferably two or more, relative rotational positions.

Preferably, the relative movement of the mounting foot within the mounting element is a relative rotational movement. With this arrangement, the opposed shoulders of the projecting portion lock behind shoulders defined by the flange. In preferred forms of the invention, a handrail seat is provided on the said one end of the bracket arm. The seat may include a flange with openings to receive

fastening screws or the like. When the base of the handrail to be fitted to the bracket is substantially planar, the handrail may be fitted directly to the planar seat surface.

However, if the handrail is substantially circular, or has some other curved shape, a mounting cap may be fitted to the handrail seat, the cap having a shape corresponding to the shape of the handrail.

In order that the invention is more readily understood, embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handrail bracket in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the bracket being mounted to a wall surface and having a handrail connected thereto;

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bracket of this embodiment illustrating the several parts; Figure 3 is a perspective view from a different angle illustrating the various parts of the bracket of this embodiment, together with several handrail sections;

Figure 4 is a further perspective view illustrating the bracket of this embodiment in an assembled condition; and

Figure 5 is a further perspective view of the parts of the bracket of this embodiment.

Description of Embodiments of the Invention

Referring to the drawings, a handrail bracket 10 is shown in Figure 1 mounted to a wall 12 which is constructed with a supporting stud 14 and a facing 16 of plasterboard or the like. A handrail 17, such as one of the handrails 17a, 17b or 17c, is carried by the bracket 10. It will be understood that a handrail bracket 10 of this embodiment may be secured to a supporting structure of any form including solid walls, columns, posts and the like.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 to 5, the bracket 10 includes a bracket arm 18 having a handrail seat 21 at one end and a mounting foot 19 at the other end. In other forms of the invention (not shown), the handrail seat may be omitted and the said one end of the mounting bracket may be provided with holes, slots or the like to which a handrail may be directly attached, or to which a separate handrail seat may be fixed using bolts, pins or the like. The mounting foot 19 of the embodiment illustrated comprises a substantially circular cover plate 22 with an axially extending projection 23 having a shape defining

a pair of opposed, part circular shoulders 24 connected by a scalloped web 26. The projection 23 is substantially centrally located relative to the cover plate 22, and the shoulders 24, scalloped web 26 and cover plate 22 define a pair of opposed, part- circular recesses. A mounting element 27 is adapted to be engaged by the foot 19. The mounting element 27 of this embodiment is substantially circular. However, it will be understood that the element 27 may be of any suitable shape, such as elliptical, hexagonal or any other polygonal shape, an asymmetrical shape or the like. The element 27 of this embodiment is formed with a circular, peripheral wall 28 which may be cylindrical or slightly conical in shape. A flange 29 extends inwardly from the peripheral wall 28 and has a plurality of holes 31 to receive screw fasteners or the like. The flange 29 is reinforced behind each hole 31 with a reinforcing boss 32, each boss being interconnected by an arcuate web 33 integral with the flange 29. Each boss is also connected to the peripheral wall 28 by a radial web 34, as shown most clearly in Figure 4.

The inner edge of the flange 29 defines a shaped opening 36 having opposed, arcuate edge portions 37 which merge into curved side walls 35 forming the edges of shoulders 38. The opening 36 is adapted to receive the mounting foot projection 23, as shown in Figure 4, in at least two different orientations. The shoulders 38, in use, cooperate with the shoulders 24 of the projection 23 to retain the projection in the opening 36. In other embodiments (not shown), the mounting foot projection 23 may be formed with three or more shoulders 24, and the mounting element may be formed with a plurality of corresponding engagable shoulders 38.

In use of the handrail bracket 10, the mounting element 27 is secured to the wall 12 by engaging fastening screws 15 to the wall stud 14. As shown in Figure 3, the mounting element 27 is preferably mounted so that a radial line connecting the centre of the respectively edge portions 37 is at an angle to a similar line interconnecting the shoulders 24 when the bracket is mounted in position.

With the mounting element fastened to the wall 12, the projection 23 on the foot 19 is engaged through the opening 36. The foot 19 is then rotated relative to the mounting element 27 so that the shoulders 24 engage behind the retaining shoulders 38 of the element 27 which are positioned in the defined part-circular recesses. The arm 18 may be rotated to the required handrail inclination whereby the seat 21 is aligned with that inclination. Preferably, the shoulders 24 and retaining shoulders 38 are an interference fit when engaged so that the arm 18 is firmly supported by the mounting element 27.

The seat 21 of this embodiment is formed with a planar upper surface 41 and is provided with a pair of opposed slots 42 to receive fastening screws (not shown) by which the seat 21 may be attached to a substantially planar lower surface of a handrail 17, such as the centre rail 17b shown in Figure 3. Where the bracket 10 is to be used to support a substantially circular handrail, such as one of the two circular handrails 17a or 17c illustrated in Figure 3, a mounting ferrule, or cap 43 is engaged between the seat 21 and the handrail 17. The cap 43, particularly shown in Figures 2 and 3, has a lower recess 44 to closely engage the seat 21 and an upper surface 45 which is curved to closely engage the surface of the circular hand rail 17. Figures 2, 3 and 5 illustrate two structures of cap 43 for engagement with handrails 17 of differing diameters. The cap 43 is provided with holes 46 to receive the fastening screws. The cap 43 thus enables the substantially planar seat 21 to be properly secured to support a circular, or non- planar handrail 17.

It will be appreciated that the cap 43 may be formed with any suitable upper surface shape 45 so as to closely engage handrails of any corresponding cross-sectional shape.

Although the projection 23 is shown as a single projection in the illustrated embodiment, it will be understood that the foot 19 may have a plurality of projections extending therefrom, each projection having one or more shoulders adapted to engage one or more corresponding retaining shoulders on the mounting element.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.