Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Machine or implement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-12
2003-04-15
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Machine or implement
C052S749100, C052S786100, C052S786110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06546690
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a glass module for a preferably self-supporting region or area of a wall, roof, or ceiling. The invention also concerns an area or region in a ceiling or roof composed of such modules.
Translucent wall areas composed of individual glass modules, “glass beams”, are known. Particularly stable wall areas that employ glass modules in the form of lengths of L or U section are also familiar. Wall areas of this nature can, especially when double-walled, be self-supporting, meaning that they require no additional framing or support. Although highly stable self-supporting wall areas can be constructed with glass L or U section, that stability is still not sufficient in some applications with respect to possible break-in or fire. Furthermore, no glass module is currently known that can be depended upon to be self-supporting enough in roofs or ceilings. Roof and ceiling areas entirely or partly of glass must, to ensure stability, accordingly always be employed at the present in frames, specifically frames of metal or of s similar non-breakable material. The need for stability in glass ceilings or roofs in fact is particularly significant in that such structures are exposed to severe bending forces due to their own inherent weight and often to that of snow and ice. Furthermore, anyone happening to be below such ceilings or roofs must be reliably protected from falling shards in the event that the glass shatters. If part of a glass roof shatters, a significant number of falling shards could severely and even fatally injure anyone happening to be below it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is a glass module that can be employed for a self-supporting region or area of a wall, roof, or ceiling, that will comply with all specifications with regard to strength, especially to bending resistance, defense against destructive external forces, and protection against falling shards of glass.
This object is attained in accordance with the present invention in that the glass module consists of at least two components, at least one of which is a length of glass structural section, fastened together at their surfaces by cement or a laminating adhesive.
As hereintofore mentioned, glass structural section is in itself stable enough to be employed in the structural self-supporting wall areas. The glass structural section employed for the first component of the glass module is, however, reinforced in accordance with the present invention with at least another component fastened to it surface to surface. The result is powerful augmentation with only a slight increase in weight. If one of the components is destroyed by external forces or excessive load, any shards will remain attached to the other component. The glass module in accordance with the present invention will not only provide protection against collapse, but anyone under the ceiling or roof will be safe from falling shards. This feature is of particular significance in overhead glass module.
Composite glass panes, panes, that is, that are extensively flat and cemented together from two or more basic panes, are of course known. Panes constructed along these lines also provide a certain level of protection against destructive external forces. Wall areas and in particular ceiling and roof areas of composite glass, however, do not have enough inherent bending resistance and are accordingly not safe enough to be employed without additional supports or frames. A self-supporting roof module constructed of composite glass panes could not comply with the strict specification with respect to bending resistance reliably enough to protect people from falling shards of glass. Those of skill in the art have accordingly long sought ways of rendering glass modules stable enough to inherently resist powerful bending forces without the visually disruptive frames and supports of metal or other opaque materials. This long-existing problem, however, has at last been solved with surprising simplicity in accordance with the present invention.
An extremely high-stability wall area and in particular a self-supporting ceiling or roof area can now for the first time be constructed entirely or almost entirely of glass with no worries about the safety of anyone happening to be under it by exploiting the glass modules in accordance with the present invention recited in the accompanying claims.
The length of structural section that comprises one component of the module can have various cross-sections. L or U section is particularly appropriate for flat wall, roof, or ceiling areas. /2. Embodiments of the present invention wherein one component is of U section, with two flanges or walls connected by a base or web, or of L section, more or less component a U section, that is, with only one flange connected to the base, are accordingly preferred. The first component can just be float glass, in principle ordinary window glass, or clear glass. Since, however, the glass module must be able to withstand especially high stress, a reinforced glass is particular preferable for the first component. One example of such a material is wire-reinforced glass, glass with a network of wire embedded in it. The annealed glass called single-pane safety glass, however, will be even less likely to release shards. This glass is usually a float glass that has been re-heated to a high temperature, 600° for instance, and quenched in cold air to increase its surface tension and achieve a specific inner stress and flexibility. It crumbles when struck by a pointed object. Partly stressed glass can also be employed instead of fully stressed glass. Its fragments will be slightly larger when it breaks than the “crumbs” that form from stressed glass and will accordingly adhere tighter to the laminating adhesive, although still smaller than the fragments typical of untreated glass. It is often desirable for the surface of the glass module to have a decorative pattern instead of being smooth. In such cases the first component as well can be of ornamental glass. Combinations of such materials are of course also conceivable—ornamental wire-reinforced glass for example. The web of the structural section can be of a material other than that of the flanges. The flange or flanges in the first component can in particular be of reinforced glass in order to stabilize the module, while the web, which usually includes the visible surface, can be smooth or ornamented.
The glass modules in accordance with the present invention are particularly intended for the structural of wall, roof, or ceiling areas, flat areas in other words. Due to the requirement for bending resistance over a wide span particularly characteristic of roof and ceiling areas, embodiments of the present invention wherein the extensive supporting surface of the first component, the web of a length of L section or the webs of a length of U section, that is, is reinforce are preferred. This reinforcement is attained in accordance with one advantageous embodiment of the present invention /5. in that the second component is provided with a plain surface (although other forms are also conceivable in principle) that parallels the major plane or surface of the first component and is very close to it, whereby the cement or laminating adhesive securely fastens the entire preferably plain surface of the second component to the total major plane or surface of the first component. The area that supports the major surface of the first component will accordingly be reinforced by both the cement or laminating adhesive and by the second component fastened thereby to the first.
The glass module will be particularly stable when two lengths of glass structural section are cemented together, when, that is, the second component is itself a length of such section.
It is often desirable for the glass module to be invisibly reinforced. Such reinforcement can easily be achieved if the second component fits against or into or is cemented to or into the back of the first component. In one preferred em
Fogiel Max
Friedman Carl D.
Glasfabrik Lamberts GmbH & Co. KG
Thissell Jennifer I.
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