Glossary of Terms

ANCHOR

A device by which grating is attached to its supports.

BAND

A flat bar welded to a side or to the end of a grating panel, or along the line of a cutout, and extending neither above nor below the bearing bars.

  • Load-Carrying Band: A band used in a cutout to transfer the load from unsupported bearing bars in the cutout to the supported bearing bars.
  • Trim Band: A band which carries no load, but is used chiefly to improve appearance.
BEARING BARS

Load carrying bars made from steel strip or slit sheet or from rolled or extruded aluminum and extending in the direction of the grating span.

BEARING BAR CENTERS

The distance center to center of the bearing bars.

CARRIERS

Flats or angles which are welded to the grating panel and nosing of a stair tread and are bolted to a stair stringer to support the tread.

CLEAR OPENING

The distance between faces of bearing bars in a rectangular grating.

CROSS BARS

The connecting bars, made from steel strip, slit sheet, or rolled bars, or from rolled or extruded aluminum, which extend across the bearing bars, usually perpendicular to them. In the Electroforged Steel Gratings, Cross Bars are generally of the Square twisted type. Where they intersect the bearing bars, are welded, forged to them.

CROSS BAR CENTERS

The distance center to center of the cross bars.

CURVED CUT

A cutout following a curved pattern.

CUTOUT

An area of grating removed to clear an obstruction or to permit pipes, ducts, columns, etc. to pass through the grating.

ELECTRO-FORGED

A process combining hydraulic pressure and heat fusion to forge bearing bars and cross bars into a panel grid.

FINISH

The coating, usually paint or galvanizing which is applied to the grating.

FLUSH TOP GRATING

A type of pressure-locked grating in which the cross bars and bearing bars are in the same plane relative to the top surface of the grating.

GRATING

An open grid assembly of metal bars, in which the bearing bars, running in one direction, are spaced by rigid attachment to cross bars running perpendicular to them or by bent connecting bars extending between them.

LENGTH / SPAN

The dimension of a grating panel measured parallel to the bearing bars.

NOSING

A special L-section member used on the front of treads and on grating at the head of stairs, both for visual safety and to sustain edge loads.

PRESSURE-LOCKED GRATING

Grating in which the cross bars are mechanically locked to the bearing bars at their intersections by deforming or swaging the metal.

RADIALLY CUT GRATING

Rectangular grating which is cut into panels shaped as annular segments, for use in circular or annular areas.

RETICULINE BAR

A sinuously bent connecting bar extending between two adjacent bearing bars, alternately contacting and being riveted to each.

RIVET CENTERS

The distance center to center of rivets along one bearing bar.

RIVETED GRATING

Grating composed of straight bearing bars and bent connecting bars, which are joined, at their contact points, by riveting.

SERRATED GRATING

Grating which has the top surfaces of the bearing bars or cross bars, or both, notched.

STRAIGHT CUT

That portion of the cut edge or cutout of a grating which follows a straight line.

TOEPLATE

A flat bar attached against the outer edge of a grating or rear edge of a tread, and projecting above the top surface of grating or tread to form a lip or curb.

TREAD

A panel of grating having carriers and nosing attached by welding, and designed specifically to serve as a stair tread.

WELDED GRATING

Grating in which the bearing bars and cross bars are joined at their intersections by a weld.

WIDTH

The overall dimension of a grating panel, measured perpendicular to the bearing bars, and in the same direction as the cross bars.