US20060196129A1 - Stair tread structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A stair tread structure includes a tread body made up of a core layer, a plurality of lateral connecting members, a tread end member, a plurality of external connecting sheets, and an elongate nose member wherein the core layer and the tread end member are respectively made up of one or more than one board bodies of recycled wood, plywood, sawdust, and other lower quality materials that are integrally processed and firmly bonded into one piece. The core layer has a pair of lateral coupling portions symmetrically protruding at both lateral end surfaces thereon, and the lateral connecting member is provided with a coupling groove indented at one lateral end surface to correspondingly match with the coupling portions of the core layer for close engagement therewith. Therefore, via the aforementioned structure thereof, the tread body obtained thereby is efficiently manufactured in an easier and speedier manner and economically processed with the best use of recycled resources for environmental protection thereof.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention is related to a stair tread structure, including a tread body made up of a core layer, a plurality of lateral connecting members, a tread end member, a plurality of external connecting sheets, and an elongate nose member wherein the core layer and the tread end member are respectively made up of one or more than one board bodies of recycled wood, plywood, sawdust, and other lower quality materials that are integrally processed and firmly bonded into one piece with the lateral connecting members, the external connecting sheets, and the tread nose member securely glued thereto via synthetic adhesive, facilitating an easier and speedier manufacturing process of the tread body to achieve economical efficiency as well as environmental protection thereof.
• Please refer toFIG. 1. A conventional stair tread structure as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,398 comprises atread body10 made up of an elongate nose member11, and a plurality ofelongate tread pieces12 glued laterally adjacent to each other wherein the nose member11 has a curved front flange111 protruding at one edge thereof. Each of theelongate tread pieces12 is made up of atop layer121 of higher quality material and a core layer of lower quality material, which are mutually bonded together via fastening glue.
• There are some drawbacks to such conventional stair tread structure. First, thetread body10 is made up ofmultiple tread pieces12 that are glued laterally adjacent to each other before the nose member11 is applied and bonded thereto, which is quite tedious and complicated in the manufacturing process and uneconomical in terms of efficiency thereof. Second, thetread body10 with thetread pieces12 and the nose member11 simply glued together provides a rather poor and inconsistent bonding that can cause the connectedtread pieces12 to dissever and make thetread body10 inconvenient in use. Third, thetread piece12 of thetread body10 is made up of thetop layer121 of higher quality material and thecore layer122 of lower quality material mutually glued together wherein the lateral end surfaces of thetread body10 are exposed outsides without any decoration thereon, which tends to mar the beauty of thetread body10 thereof as a whole.
• Please refer toFIG. 2 showing a perspective view of U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,362. Another conventional stair tread structure includes anelongate nose member20, a plurality ofelongate tread bodies30, and atread end member40 wherein thenose member20 has asemi-circular front flange21 disposed thereon, and each of theelongate tread bodies30 is made up of acore layer31 with corresponding upper andlower surface layers32,33 laminated at both top and bottom sides thereon. The core layer31 (referring toFIG. 3) includesmiddle pieces311 of various sizes glued together at the middle section thereof, and twolateral end pieces312 of different sizes to match and bond with themiddle pieces311 thereby.
• There are some disadvantages to the second conventional stair tread structure. First, the various-sized middle pieces311 of thecore layer31 thereof must be connected with thelateral end pieces312 before the upper andlower surface layers32,33 are glued to thecore layer31 to provide anelongate tread body30 thereby, and themultiple tread bodies30 each having acore layer31 made up of themiddle pieces311 and thelateral end pieces312 of different sizes are sequentially bond one with another before thenose member20 and thetread end member40 are respectively applied to attach to the adjacent front and rear connecting surfaces of theelongate tread bodies30 therewith. The stair tread obtained thereby is, therefore, characterized by a complicated manufacturing process that, taking a lot of time and efforts, is rather uneconomical in terms of efficiency. Second, theelongate tread body30 must be individually assembled via thecore layer31 thereof laminated with the upper andlower surface layers32,33 thereof before combined with the other finishedelongate tread bodies30, thenose member20, and thetread end member40 thereof respectively, which, with a poor and inconsistent bonding, can easily cause the detachment and deformation of the assembledelongate tread bodies30 thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
• It is, therefore, the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a stair tread structure, including a tread body made up of a core layer, a plurality of lateral connecting members, a tread end member, a plurality of external connecting sheets, and an elongate nose member wherein the core layer and the tread end member are respectively made up of one or more than one board bodies of recycled wood, plywood, sawdust, and other lower quality materials that are integrally processed and bonded into one piece, efficiently making the best use of recycled resources for environmental protection thereof.
• It is, therefore, the second purpose of the present invention to provide a stair tread structure wherein the core layer, the lateral connecting members, the tread end member, the external connecting sheets, and the elongate nose member are integrally processed and quickly bonded together via synthetic adhesive, facilitating an easier and speedier manufacturing thereof to achieve the economical efficiency and avoid the risk of detachment and deformation of the stair body thereof.
• It is, therefore, the third purpose of the present invention to provide a stair tread structure wherein the elongate nose member of the tread body is provided with a curved front flange that can be alternatively made to provide various decorative patterns thereon, achieving the stylistic change and beauty of the stair tread thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,398.
• FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,362.
• FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the above U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,362 in assembly.
• FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a partially assembled perspective view of the present invention.
• FIG. 6 is another partially assembled perspective view of the present invention.
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention partially assembled and processed.
• FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the present invention partially assembled.
• FIG. 9 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention.
• FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the present invention finished in assembly and processing.
• FIG. 11 is another assembled and processed perspective view of the present invention.
• FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
• Please refer toFIG. 4. The present invention is related to a stair tread structure, including atread body50 made up of acore layer51, a plurality of lateral connectingmembers52, atread end member53, a plurality ofexternal connecting sheets54, and anelongate nose member55. Thecore layer51 and thetread end member53 are respectively made up of one or more than oneboard bodies511,531 that, integrally processed and firmly bonded into one piece, can be made of recycled wooden material, plywood, sawdust, and other lower quality materials. Besides, thecore layer51 is provided with a pair oflateral coupling portions512 symmetrically protruding at both end surfaces thereon, and each lateral connectingmember52 is equipped with alateral coupling groove521 disposed at one end surface therein correspondingly matching to thelateral coupling portion512 of thecore layer51 for mutual engagement therewith.
• Please refer toFIGS. 5 through 11 inclusive. In assembly, thecoupling grooves521 of the lateral connectingmembers52 are respectively applied with synthetic adhesive at proper positions and firmly glued with thelateral coupling portions512 of thecore layer51 thereby. Thetread end member53 with synthetic adhesive properly applied at one longitudinal lateral side thereon is fixedly attached to the adjacent end surface of the assembledcore layer51 and the lateral connectingmembers52 as shown inFIG. 5. Then, theexternal connecting sheets54 are applied from both upper and lower sides to firmly bond via synthetic adhesive with the top and bottom surfaces of thecore layer51, the lateral connectingmembers52 and thetread end member53 withprotrusive edges541 extending outwards from the four end surfaces of the assembledcore layer51, the lateral connectingmembers52, and thetread end member53 as shown inFIG. 6. Theprotrusive edges541 of the upper/lowerexternal connecting sheets54 are then trimmed and removed there-from as shown inFIGS. 7, 8, and theelongate nose member55 with synthetic adhesive properly applied at one longitudinal end surface thereon is laterally fixed to the adjacent connecting end surface of thecore layer51 opposite to thetread end member53 thereof as shown inFIG. 9. Then, theelongate nose member55 is further processed at one lateral end to provide a curvedfront flange551 as shown inFIG. 10 wherein the curvedfront flange551 thereof can be alternatively made to provide various decorative patterns thereon such as rib-like ones as shown inFIG. 11. Therefore, thetread body50 obtained thereby is efficiently manufactured and economically processed in an easier and speedier manner, which can not only avoid the risk of warping and deformation in the production thereof, but also can make the best use of recycled resources for the protection of environment.
• Please refer toFIG. 12 showing another embodiment of the present invention. The present invention can also comprise atread body60 made up of acore layer61, a plurality ofexternal connecting sheets62, atread end member63, and anelongate nose member64 that are firmly bonded together via synthetic adhesive. Thecore layer61 is equipped with a plurality ofprotrusive coupling portions611 that, each having arcuate connectingfaces612 cut at both edges thereof, are equally spaced out at one (or both) lateral end(s) thereof in continuous with an adjacentcurved edge surface613 defining one side of the lateral end(s) thereof. A lateral connectingmember65, having a plurality ofcoupling recesses651 each defined by anopening edge652 and astop facet653 at both sides thereof to form a connectingend surface654 thereon, is provided to correspondingly engage with theprotrusive coupling portions611 of thecore layer61 thereby. Besides, the connectingend surface654 of the lateral connectingmember65 has anarcuate edge face6541 defining one side thereof, closely matching with thecurved edge surface613 of thecore layer61 so as to provide alternative stylistic variation of the stair tread thereby.

Claims (10)

1. A stair tread structure, including a tread body made up of a core layer, a plurality of lateral connecting members, a tread end member, a plurality of external connecting sheets, and an elongate nose member wherein the core layer and the tread end member are respectively made up of one or more than one board bodies integrally processed and bonded into one piece; in assembly, the lateral connecting members are respectively applied with synthetic adhesive at proper positions thereon and firmly glued to the core layer in a sequence; then, the tread end member with synthetic adhesive applied at one longitudinal lateral side thereon is fixedly attached to the assembled core layer and the lateral connecting members before the external connecting sheets are applied from both upper and lower sides to be closely fastened via synthetic adhesive to the top and bottom surfaces of the core layer, the lateral connecting members and the tread end member with protrusive edges that, extending outwards from the four end surfaces thereof, are neatly trimmed and removed there-from; finally, the elongate nose member with synthetic adhesive properly applied at one longitudinal end surface thereon is fixedly glued to the adjacent connecting end surface of the core layer and further processed at one lateral end to provide a curved front flange; therefore, the tread body obtained thereby is efficiently manufactured in an easier and speedier manner and economically processed with the best use of recycled resources for environmental protection thereof.

2. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the board bodies of the core layer and the tread end member can be made of recycled wooden material, plywood, sawdust, and other lower quality materials.

3. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the core layer is provided with a pair of lateral coupling portions symmetrically protruding at both lateral end surfaces thereon.

4. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the lateral connecting member is equipped with a coupling groove indented at one lateral end surface thereon.

5. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the curved front flange of the tread nose member thereof can be alternatively made to provide various decorative patterns thereon.

6. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the core layer can also be equipped with a plurality of protrusive coupling portions each having arcuate connecting faces cut at both edges thereof, and a curved edge surface defining one side in continuous of the protrusive coupling portions thereof, correspondingly matching with a lateral connecting member having a plurality of coupling recesses each defined by an opening edge and a stop facet at both sides thereof to form a connecting end surface with an arcuate edge face for close engagement with the curved edge surface of the core layer thereby.

7. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 6 wherein the protrusive coupling portions of the core layer are equidistantly spaced out in arrangement thereof.

8. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 6 wherein the arcuate connecting faces disposed at both edges of each protrusive coupling portion of the core layer are precisely mated with the stop facet of the lateral connecting member thereof for close engagement therewith.

9. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 6 wherein the protrusive coupling portions with the curved edge surface thereof can be disposed at one lateral end surface of the core layer thereof.

10. The stair tread structure as claimed inclaim 6 wherein the protrusive coupling portions with the curved edge surface thereof can also be disposed at both lateral end surfaces of the core layer thereof.

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