US2760239A - Staircase - Google Patents

Description

F. RILEY 2,760,239

Aug 28, 1956 STAIRCASE Filed A 1952 J 10 Ob I11 4 i x .I I

*- T AW?" 5 13c 11c 13b INVENTOR Freddie RiIZy ATTORNEYS United States Patent STAIRCASE Freddie Riley, Bridgeport, Conn. Application August 21, 1952, Serial No. 305,627

3 Claims. (Cl. 20-10) This invention relates to staircases for buildings and the like.

Heretofore it has been the practice for a builder to measure the space alloted or required for a staircase, supply the measurements to a woodworking shop, and have the staircase made to order, since rabbeting of the stringers and other machine operations were required in the fabrication.

This procedure was costly, often involved delays, and the staircases were cumbersome and ditficult to handle when assembled off the job.

The present invention overcomes the objections to this prior practice, and an object of the invention is to provide an improved method, and improved and simplified staircase units by which a builder may, while on the job and without special equipment, easily, quickly and economically fabricate staircases for homes and other building structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved unit staircase assemblages which may be easily and quickly attached to stringers to make a staircase, without the necessity for previously preparing the stringers as by rabbeting, etc.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved unit staircase assemblages as above which may be adjustably positioned with respect to each other, thereby to enable a staircase to be built in which the risers are all of uniform or equal height.

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved staircase assemblages in accordance with the foregoing, which are simple in construction and economical to fabricate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved assemblages as above set forth, which are strong and sturdy in construction and reliable in use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a staircase made according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the staircase assemblages.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a view like Fig. 4, but illustrating a modification of the invention wherein the end plates of the assemblage are formed of sheet metal.

Figure 6 is a plan view of one end plate of an assemblage.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an improved staircase unit or assemblage of this invention comprises a riser 10 and a tread 11, said riser and tread being rigidly secured together along their juxtaposed longitudinal edges 10a and 11a, as by nails or other suitable fasteners.

Referring to Figure 2 each assembled tread and riser has secured to its opposite ends supporting plates 12 and 13. The plates 12 and 13 constitute cleats, but are op- 2,760,239 atented Aug.- as 195.

posites of each other, that is, left-hand and right-hand, and each plate is substantially flat and preferably of a semi-crescent shape as shown in Fig. 6. The plate 12 shown in this figure has grooves or rabbets 15, 15a, and 15b, the rabbets 15a and 1512 being vertical and disposed at right angles to the rabbet 15, and the latter intersecting the rabbet 15a at 16, said rabbets being adapted to slidably receive and closely confine the ends of the riser 10 and tread 11. Preferably the plates 12 and 13 have complementary upper concave edges (indicated 12a and 13a) and lower convex edges (indicated 12b and 13b). That is, a lower edge portion 12b of one plate 12 may nest in an upper edge portion 12a of the next lower plate 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The plates 12 and 13 have nose portions and provided with a reverse curvature, thereby to produce the effect of a continuous curve or outline at the ends of the treads and risers when the units or assemblages are supported on stringers.

The improved staircase units of this invention may be readily secured to stringers by means of the end plates 12 and 13. Referring to Fig. 1, the end plates 12 are shown secured to a stringer 17 by means of screws 18 passing through holes in the end plate. Preferably, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 the end plates 12 and 13 may be secured to the risers and treads by nails 14 as shown.

According to the invention, adjustable connection means are provided on the upper edge portions 10 of the risers 10 and on the front or nose portions 11a of the treads 11. These connection means comprise respectively a groove 10b extending longitudinally in the upper edge of each riser 10, and a tongue 11c rabbeted in the undersurface of the nose portion 11a of each tread 11. A tongue 11c may be telescopically received in a groove 1%, enabling the tread 11 which has the said tongue to be adjusted Within limits, either upward or downward, with respect to the riser 10 which has the said groove 10b, prior to the fastening of the end plates 12 and 13.

By this organization a complete staircase may be readily fabricated by a relatively unskilled person, since it is not necessary to groove or rabbet the stringers, nor to cut the risers 10 to any particular height. Instead, it is merely necessary to calculate the number of units required for the staircase, keeping in mind the minimum and maximum distances between the treads 11 as made possible by the adjustable connections to the risers, and holding to the objective of using a whole number of units, without the necessity of cutting any unit.

After the tread and riser units have been secured to the stringers 17, molding 21 may be applied under the nose or front edge of the treads 11, and triangular blocks 19 may be secured to the inside corner formed by the treads and risers, at the underside of the stairs.

The end plates 12 and 13 may be advantageously formed of plywood with beveled edges, or they may be fabricated as sheet metal stampings 20, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

While I have shown tongue-and-groove telescopic connections between the risers and the treads next above the risers, other adjustable connections may be employed; for example, moulding may be used both in back and in front of the riser.

In such event, the builder need only procure the left and right hand end plates 12 and 13, since he can cut ordinary risers and treads to length, and complete the staircase with moulding instead of the blocks 19 and tongue-and-groove connections.

An advantageous method of fabricating the staircase consists of erecting and securing in place the stringers, as-

sembling the treads to the risers, fastening the end plates. to the tread and riser assemblies, and fastening the result-- Or, if desired, the end.

ant assemblies to the stringers.

plates may be secured to the stringers first, then the stringers 'erected,"a'nd thereafter the treads and risers fastened in place. This latter assembly might necessitate nailing through the stringersinto the treads and risers, however. Another alternative method would beto-complete assemblies as shown in Fig. 2, then secure these to the risers, and finally erect the resultant staircase;

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of'the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A staircase comprising a pair of spaced parallel stringers; a plurality of individual risers; a plurality of individual treads paired with said risers, eachspair comprising a tread and a riser extending upward from the tread, the back of the tread and the bottom portion of the riser being fixedly secured together adjacent their juxtaposed longitudinal edges; means on the other longitudinal edges of the treads and connected risers providing independently adjustable connections between said pairs;

and a pair of individual, flat, arcuately shaped support means for each tread-and-riser pair, one such individual support means interlocking with and being rigidly attached to each end of the tread and associated riser, the top portion of the riser of the pair extending upward beyond the adjacent edges of said means, and said arcuately shaped support means having complementary nest- 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the means providing adjustable connections comprises comtudinal edges.

3. A stair construction comprising a pair of stringers having a plurality of step units disposed therebetween, each step unit comprising a stair tread and a stair riser, said stair tread and stair riser being adapted to be fixedly secured together along the juxtaposed edge portions thereof, adjustable connection means for connecting the other longitudinal edge portion ofsaid stair tread to a riser of an adjacent step unit, said adjustable connection enabling the said stair tread and connected riser to be vertically separated and joined and to be variously spaced when joined by relative vertical movement between said stair tread and connected riser to vary the height of the stair treads relative to each other within given limits, and supporting means for supporting the ends of said stair tread and stair riser in adjusted position relative to said stringers, said supporting means comprising plates having grooves disposed at right angles to each other to receive said ends, said plates being semi-crescent shaped and having complementary upper and, lower curved edges enabling the

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