One known type of metal railing has a series of spaced horizontal rails attached to vertical supporting bars. The bars and rails are usually welded together, as it is important that the railings are robustly constructed to provide security. These types of railings can be used as fences to mark boundaries or as window grilles to provide additional security for a building.

It is desirable that the fence or grille is aesthetically pleasing and thus, the bars or rails may have a certain profile or other decorative features.

As prefabricated railings are usually welded together into predetermined lengths the range of styles is limited. The railings can, of course, be manufactured to the customer's requirements, but then the cost is greatly increased.

According to a first aspect of the invention we provide a modular railing comprising at least one rail adapted for connection between fixed members and at least one bar, the or each rail having apertures for receiving the or each bar, in which at least one rail and each bar have complementary parts of a locking means that comes into engagement at least when the railing is assembled between the fixed members, tp prevent relative movement of the bar and rail.

Providing a fence comprising bars and rails which are locked together when assembled is advantageous as the locking means ensures that the

bars and rails are firmly engaged to improve the rigidity and security of the railings. The locking means also means that assembly is easy and no welding is required. Further, the bars and rails can be prefabricated in different designs and sold separately for the user to construct the railings themselves to their own specification.

Preferably, the or each rail is attached to the fixed members by brackets.

The fixed members may be a post or wall depending upon where the railings are to be installed and what their application is to be, such as for a fence or window grille.

Preferably, the railing comprises two rails and a plurality of bars. Thus, each bar may have locking means to engage one rail and locking means to engage the other rail. Having two rails is advantageous as the railings can be arranged so that the rails hold the bars between them by their locking means.

The locking means may comprise at least one groove, extending part way through the rail, adjacent the or each aperture, which is adapted to receive and engage a complementary lug on the or each bar. Preferably, the or each bar has two longitudinally aligned lugs to engage with two complementary grooves adjacent the or each aperture in each rail.

Railings having two rails preferably comprise an upper rail in which the locking grooves face downward and a lower rail in which the locking grooves face upward, the arrangement being such that the grooves hold the bars between the rails. This arrangement prevents both rotational and translational movement of the bars relative to the rails.

Preferably, the bars have means for receiving decorative cappings at their ends.

Provided the fence has two rails having locking means to engage respective locking means on the bars, additional rails may be provided without locking means.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for assembling railings according to the first aspect of the invention comprises the steps of; (a) positioning the or each bar so that it is aligned with its respective aperture in the or each rail; (b) inserting the or each bar through its respective aperture in the or each rail until the locking means is fully engaged; (c) securing the or each rail to the fixed members such that once assembled the locking means prevents, at least in part, relative movement between the bar and rail.

Preferably the railings comprise two rails and a plurality of bars and thus the method steps (a) and (b) comprise the steps of; positioning one of the rails as a lower rail having its locking means part facing upward; inserting the or each bar through a respective aperture in the lower rail until the locking means is fully engaged; positioning the other rail as the upper rail having its apertures aligned with the or each bar; lowering the upper rail over the bars such that each bar is inserted through a corresponding aperture until the locking means is fully engaged.

According to a third aspect of the invention, we provide a kit for a modular railing according to the first aspect of the invention, comprising

at least one rail, at least one bar, and connecting members for attaching the or each rail to fixed members.

The kit may also include fixed members, including brackets to which the rails are adapted for connection.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a bar of a modular railing system; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a rail complementary to the bar shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows a plan view of a fence embodiment of assembled railings.

The drawings show a railing in the form of a fence 1 that comprises bars 2 and rails 3. The rails 3 are connected horizontally between fixed members 21 (as shown in Figure 3), and have spaced apertures 11 for receiving the bars 2. The bars 2 and rails 3 have complementary parts of a locking means that comes into engagement when the railing is assembled to prevent relative movement of the bars and rails.

The bar 2, shown in Figure 1, comprises an elongate member 4 of generally circular cross-section having an upper end 5 and a lower end 6.

The bar 2 also has parts of upper and lower locking means. The upper and lower locking means parts each comprise two diametrically opposed lugs 7 or 8 formed in two diametrically opposed chordal channels 9.

Each upper lug 7 comprises a projecting block having a curved outer face of a similar arc to that of the bar. Each lower lug 8 is similar to the corresponding upper lug 7 except for having rounded upper edges 10, which assist with water drainage in use. It will be appreciated lugs 7,8 may be of any suitable shape provided they can engage axially with a complementary formation on the rails 3. The lugs 7,8 and channels 9 are formed during manufacture of the bars 2 by pressing. The bars 2 are typically of painted or stainless steel.

Figure 2 shows the rail 3, which comprises an elongate member of rectangular cross-section. The rail 3 has a series of the apertures 11 equally spaced along the length of the rail 3. The apertures 11 are adapted to receive bars 2 therethrough and thus have a diameter substantially equal to that of the bars 2 to preferably ensure a close fit.

On one face of the rail 3 the apertures 11 have diametrically opposed grooves 13 in their walls 14. The grooves 13 extend only part way through the rails 3 thereby defining ledges 15 at their bases. The grooves 13 and ledges 15 are formed to be complementary to the lugs 7,8 of the bars 2 and thus form the complementary parts of the locking means. The rail 3 has two further apertures 12, one at each end, for connection to the fixed members 21. The rails 3 are also typically pressed and are of painted or stainless steel.

Referring to Figure 3, the assembled fence 1 comprises three bars 2 and two rails 3, there being an upper rail 16 and a lower rail 17. The bars 2 are received through the apertures 11 in the rails 16,17 and the lugs 7,8 are engaged within respective grooves 13. The upper and lower rails 16,17 are secured to upper 18 and lower 19 brackets respectively by bolts 20 that pass through apertures 12 in the rails 16,17. The brackets 18,19 are secured to fixed members such as posts 21. The posts 21 may be preformed of metal, to which the brackets 18,19 are

welded, and set in concrete, or may comprise a brick pillar. The brackets 18,19 may be secured to the posts 21 by any appropriate means such as being screwed thereto or set in the mortar between bricks. It will be appreciated that the fixed member may be an area of a wall surrounding a window of a building if the bars 2 and rails 16,17 were intended to form a window grille, for example.

The fence 1 may be assembled by a user as follows: lower rail 17 is oriented with its grooves 13 facing upward. The lower ends 6 of the bars 2 are inserted through each aperture 11 until the lower lugs 8 engage in the grooves 13 and abut the ledges 15. The upper rail 16 is oriented with its grooves 13 facing downward and positioned such that its apertures 11 are aligned with upper ends 5 of each bar 2. The upper ends 5 are inserted through the apertures 11 and the upper rail 16 is then lowered over the bars 2 until the upper lugs 7 engage in the grooves 13 and abut ledges 15. The bars 2 are thus held between the upper and lower rails 16,17. The rails 16,17, having the bars 2 disposed between them, are then fixed to the brackets 18,19. The lower rail 17 is attached to the underside of lower brackets 19 by passing bolts 20 through apertures 12 in the rail 17 and corresponding apertures (not shown) in the brackets 19. The upper rail 16 is attached to the upper side of upper brackets 18 by bolts 20 in a similar manner to that of the lower rail. The brackets 18,19 are spaced such that when the rails 16,17 are secured thereto there remains close engagement between lugs 7,8 and grooves 13.

Thus, the bars 2 are held securely against translational and rotational movement. This improves the rigidity and resilience of the fence 1. The bar ends 5,6 may be adapted to receive a decorative finial, such as substantially spherical cappings 22. The posts 20 may also be adapted to receive a capping (not shown) of similar style to that of capping 22.

It will be appreciated that the fence 1 may contain any number of bars 2, posts 21 or lengths of rails 3 between posts 21 connected as shown in Figure 3. Further, the bars 2, rails 3 and brackets 17,18 may have decorative features or shapes in addition to the functional features described herein.

In the embodiment shown, the rail 3 may be used as both the upper and lower rail, provided that it is oriented correctly. In a modification, the rail 3 may have grooves 13 on both of its faces, so that a rail 3 can be used as either an upper or lower rail in either orientation.

The railing described is easy to manufacture, requiring few different parts, and is also easy to assemble. The parts may be sold in a kit form, or as separate items for the user to choose as required.