Reinforced railing support connector and grab railing

A grab bar adapted to serve as a safety railing in bathrooms and around showers and bath tubs including a reinforced connector assembly comprising:

• (a) a tubing support portion that is split longitudinally along a separation line into an upper half and a lower half, the upper half having a generally planar downwardly facing surface with a downwardly opening recess therein and the lower half having an upper generally planar surface with an upwardly opening recess therein such that the recesses confront one another;
• (b) said tubing support including a pair of bosses, one such boss being located at a first end of the tubing support and the other boss being located at a second end of the tubing support;
• (c) a reinforcing plate adapted for placement in a sandwiched structure between the upper and lower halves of the tubing support and disposed within said recesses;
• (d) each such boss being constructed and arranged to have a sliding fit within a separate rigid tubing section of a tubular grab railing such that the rigid tubing section of said railing encloses each such boss thereby surrounding the sandwiched structure therein;
• (e) the tubing support portion has a plurality of the bosses that are aligned or at right angles to one another and a part of the tubing support portion between said plurality of bosses is exposed to view between the sections of the tubular grab railing that have a sliding fit over the bosses;
• (f) a section of tubular grab railing is mounted upon the tubing support portion over each such boss such that the reinforcing plate serves to strengthen a connection between the tubular grab railing section on one boss and the tubular grab railing section on another boss;
• (g) a base portion comprising a tubular reinforcing member with upper and lower ends and with an aperture formed centrally through an upper transverse end wall thereof, said base having a rotational relationship relative to the tubing support portion and having a laterally extending flange at a lower end-thereof, the flange including a plurality of apertures for inserting screw fasteners for fastening the reinforced connector assembly to a support surface;
• and
• (h) a bolt fastener for insertion through the tubing support portion, the reinforcing plate, and the aperture in the upper end of the reinforcing member of the base portion to secure the base portion to the tubing support portion.