Wooden post assembly with a joint

Abstract

A wooden post assembly has two wooden posts and a joint. Each wooden post has an outer periphery and a joint surface with a center formed on one end of the wooden post. The joint is formed between the joint surfaces of the wooden posts to attach the wooden posts together. The joint has multiple concentric circular recesses defined in the joint surface of one of the wooden posts and multiple circular ribs formed on the joint surface of the other wooden post to engage the circular recesses. Accordingly, the contact area between the joint surfaces of the wooden posts to which glue is applied is increased, such that the structural strength of the combined wooden posts is enhanced.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a wooden post assembly, and more particularly to a wooden post assembly with a joint to enhance the connection between two wooden posts.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Multiple wooden posts are connected to each other to form desired objects, such as table legs, balusters and banisters for stairs and so on. With reference to FIG. 5, multiple parallel mortises (42) are defined in one end of one of a wooden post (40), and multiple tenons (52) corresponding to the mortises (42) are formed on one end of another wooden post (5). When the ends of the wooden posts (40, 50) abut each other, the tenons (52) are received in the mortises (42). By applying glue to the ends of the wooden posts (40, 50) before the tenons (52) are inserted into the mortises (42), the wooden posts (40, 50) will be securely bonded together.

[0005] However, the conventional joint between two wooden posts (40, 50) has the following drawbacks:

[0006] 1. Poor appearance. With reference to FIG. 6, parallel mortises (42) and tenons (52) form a tooth-shaped interface line (B) on an exterior surface of the joined wooden posts (40, 50). The appearance of an object made of conventionally joined wooden posts (40, 50) is not aesthetically pleasing due to the tooth-shaped interface line (B).

[0007] 2. Weak structural strength. With the parallel mortises (42) and tenons (52), the contact area between the wooden posts (40, 50) to which glue is applied is limited so that the structural strength of the joint is low. When the object formed of the combined wooden posts (40,50) is shaken from one end of the object, the joint between the wooden posts (40, 50) will easily loosen. In addition, when an external force is laterally applied to the combined wooden posts (40, 50) along the direction of the mortises (42), the wooden posts (40,50) are easily separate from each other.

[0008] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a wooden post assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The main objective of the invention is to provide a wooden post assembly that has an improved appearance and a joint with enhanced structural strength to keep two combined wooden posts from separating from each other. The wooden post assembly has two wooden posts and a joint. Each wooden post has a joint surface with a center formed on one end of the wooden post. A joint is formed between the joint surfaces of two wooden posts to attach the wooden posts together. Multiple concentric circular recesses are defined in the end surface of one of the wooden posts, and multiple circular ribs are formed on the end surface of the other wooden post to engage the circular recesses. In such an arrangement, the contact area between the end surfaces of the wooden posts to which glue is applied increases, and the structural strength of the joint between wooden posts is enhanced.

[0010] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a wooden post assembly in accordance with the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional side plan view of a joint of the wooden post assembly in FIG. 1;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an object made of the wooden post assembly in FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side plan view of a second embodiment of a joint of a wooden post assembly in accordance with the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional wooden post assembly in accordance with the prior art; and

[0016] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an object made with the conventional wooden post assembly in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a wooden post assembly in accordance with the present invention has two wooden posts (10, 20) and a joint (not numbered). Each wooden post (10, 20) has an outer periphery and a joint surface (not numbered) with a center. The joint is formed when the joint surfaces of the wooden posts (10,20) are pressed the wooden posts (10,20) together. Multiple circular recesses (12) and multiple circular ribs (22) form the joint. The circular recesses (12) are defined concentrically in the joint surface of one of the wooden posts (10). The circular ribs (22) are formed concentrically on the joint surface of the other wooden post (20). Each rib (22) corresponds to and engages with one of the circular recesses (12) when the joint surfaces of the wooden posts (10, 20) are pressed together. In addition, a circular recess (14) is defined at the center of the junction surface of the wooden post (10) in which the recesses (12) are defined. A cylindrical stub (24) is formed at the center of the joint surface of the wooden post (20) on which the ribs (22) are formed. The stub (24) corresponds to and engages with the circular recess (14) when the wooden posts (10,20) are pressed together.

[0018] To securely attach the wooden posts (10, 20), glue is applied to the joint surfaces of the wooden posts (10, 20). Then, pressure is maintained on the wooden posts (10, 20) until the glue dries so the wooden posts (10,20) will be securely attached to each other. The circular recesses (12) and ribs (22) increase the contact area between the joint surfaces of the wooden posts (10, 20) to which glue is applied so that the joint between the wooden posts (10,20) is enhanced. The wooden posts (10, 20) will not loosen or separate when the wooden posts (10, 20) are shaken or an external force is applied to the joint in any direction. The useful life of an object made of the wooden post assembly in accordance with the present invention is prolonged.

[0019] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, circular recesses (12) and ribs (22) cause the joint between the joint surfaces of the wooden posts (10, 20) to be a line (A) between the wooden posts. Accordingly, the appearance of an object made of the wooden post assembly in accordance with the present invention will not be adversely influenced by the line (A) and is aesthetically pleasing.

[0020] With reference to FIG. 2, each circular recess (12) and rib (22) is rectangular, so each circular rib (22) corresponds to one of the circular recesses (12). With reference to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the wooden post assembly has circular recesses (12′) and circular ribs (22′) that are trapezoidal so each circular rib (22′) corresponds to one of the circular recesses (12′).

[0021] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A wooden post assembly comprising: a first and a second wooden posts each having an outer periphery and a joint surface with a center formed on one end of each wooden post; and a joint formed between the joint surfaces of the wooden posts to attach the wooden posts together, and the joint comprising: multiple circular recesses defined concentrically in the joint surface of the first wooden post; and multiple circular ribs formed concentrically on the joint surface of the second wooden post, and each rib corresponding to and engaging one of the circular engaging recesses in the first wooden post.

2. The wooden post assembly as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a circular recess defined at the center of the joint surface of the first wooden post; and a cylindrical stub formed at the center of the joint surface of the second wooden post and corresponding to and engaging the circular recess in the first wooden post.

3. The wooden post assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each circular recess is rectangular; and each circular rib is rectangular to correspond to one of the circular recesses.

4. The wooden post assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each circular recess trapezoidal; and each circular rib trapezoidal to correspond to one of the circular recesses.