Railing assembly

Abstract

A railing assembly comprises an upper rail and an opposed lower rail. Each rail comprises a top surface and an opposed bottom surface. An upper standoff is mounted to the bottom surface of the upper rail, and a lower standoff mounted to the top surface of the lower rail. The railing assembly further comprises a baluster. The baluster comprises a top end portion and an opposed bottom end portion. The top end portion is pivotably mounted to the upper standoff about a generally horizontal upper pivot axis, and the bottom end portion is pivotably mounted to the lower standoff about a generally horizontal lower pivot axis.

1 . A railing assembly comprising:
 a) an upper rail and an opposed lower rail, each rail comprising a top surface and an opposed bottom surface;   b) an upper standoff mounted to the bottom surface of the upper rail, and a lower standoff mounted to the top surface of the lower rail; and   c) a baluster comprising a top end portion and an opposed bottom end portion, the top end portion pivotably mounted to the upper standoff about a generally horizontal upper pivot axis, and the bottom end portion pivotably mounted to the lower standoff about a generally horizontal lower pivot axis.   
     
     
         2 . The railing assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a top baluster connector mounted to the top end portion, and a bottom baluster connector mounted to the bottom end portion, wherein the upper standoff is pivotably mounted to the top baluster connector, and the lower standoff is pivotably mounted to the bottom baluster connector. 
     
     
         3 . The railing assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the top baluster connector and the bottom baluster connector each comprise a baluster connector hub and a baluster connector arm, and each baluster connector hub is pivotably mounted to one of the standoffs, and each baluster connector arm is inserted into the baluster. 
     
     
         4 . The railing assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the upper and lower standoffs each comprise a standoff base and a standoff hub, each standoff hub is pivotably mounted to one of the baluster connector hubs, and each standoff base is mounted to one of the rails. 
     
     
         5 . The railing assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a pivot pin mounting each standoff hub and baluster connector hub together. 
     
     
         6 . The railing assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the pivot pin is integrally formed with one of the baluster connector hub and the standoff hub. 
     
     
         7 . The railing assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the upper standoff and the lower standoff each comprise two generally horizontally spaced apart standoff portions, each standoff portion comprising a standoff base portion and a standoff hub portion. 
     
     
         8 . The railing assembly of  claim 7 , wherein for each of the upper standoff and lower standoff, the standoff base portions are mounted together, and the standoff hub portions are spaced apart and a gap is therebetween. 
     
     
         9 . The railing assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the top baluster connector and bottom baluster connector each comprise a baluster connector hub, and each baluster connector hub is received in one of the gaps and pivotably mounted to the respective standoff hub portions. 
     
     
         10 . A railing assembly comprising:
 a) an upper rail and an opposed lower rail;   b) an upper rail connector mounted to the upper rail, and a lower rail connector mounted to the lower rail; and   c) a baluster comprising a top end portion, and an opposed bottom end portion; and   d) a top baluster connector mounted to the top end portion, and a bottom baluster connector mounted to the bottom end portion;   e) the upper rail connector pivotably mounted to the top baluster connector about a generally horizontal upper pivot axis, and the lower rail connector pivotably mounted to the bottom baluster connector about a generally horizontal lower pivot axis.   
     
     
         11 . The railing assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the upper rail and lower rail each comprise a top surface and an opposed bottom surface, and the upper rail connector is mounted to the bottom surface of the upper rail, and the lower rail connector is mounted to the top surface of the lower rail. 
     
     
         12 . The railing assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the top baluster connector and the bottom baluster connector each comprise a baluster connector hub and a baluster connector arm, and each baluster connector hub is pivotably mounted to one of the rail connectors, and each baluster connector arm is inserted into the baluster. 
     
     
         13 . The railing assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the upper rail connector and lower rail connector each comprise a rail connector base and a rail connector hub, each rail connector hub is pivotably mounted to one of the baluster connector hubs, and each rail connector base is mounted to one of the rails. 
     
     
         14 . The railing assembly of  claim 10 , wherein each rail includes a longitudinally extending outer piece and a longitudinally extending inner piece, and the upper rail connector and lower rail connector are mounted to the respective inner pieces by a fastener. 
     
     
         15 . The railing assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the baluster is an extruded vinyl lineal. 
     
     
         16 . A railing assembly, comprising:
 a) an upper rail;   b) a lower rail spaced generally vertically below, and in parallel relation to, the upper rail;   c) a plurality of balusters extending generally vertically between the upper rail and the lower rail;   d) an upper pivot joint associated with each baluster for connecting an upper end of the respective baluster to the upper rail, each upper pivot joint including an upper standoff mounted to a bottom surface of the upper rail and a generally horizontal upper pivot axis passing through the upper standoff; and   e) a lower pivot joint associated with each baluster for connecting a lower end of the respective baluster to the upper rail, each lower pivot joint including a lower standoff mounted to an upper surface of the lower rail and a generally horizontal lower pivot axis passing through the lower standoff.   
     
     
         17 . The railing assembly of  claim 16 , wherein each upper pivot joint further comprises an upper baluster connector affixed to the upper end of each respective baluster and pivotably coupled to each respective upper standoff. 
     
     
         18 . The railing assembly of  claim 16 , wherein each lower pivot joint further comprises a lower baluster connector affixed to the lower end of each respective baluster and pivotably coupled to each respective lower standoff. 
     
     
         19 . The railing assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the upper rail has an upper rail thickness extending between laterally opposed upper rail side faces, and each baluster has laterally opposed baluster side faces that are positioned laterally inwardly of the upper rail side faces. 
     
     
         20 . The railing assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the lower rail has a lower rail thickness extending between laterally opposed lower rail side faces, and each baluster has laterally opposed baluster side faces that are positioned laterally inwardly of the lower rail side faces.