Same material and bacic contruction as our San Francisco store stairs just a different application. Opened in 04 and extremely busy all day long each day since.....Stairs still look good today.
See SF store details below to get a basic idea of the Amsterdam site.
If you're so inclinded.
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What is claimed is:
1. A monolithic glass member for supporting loads, comprising: a plurality of glass sheets, one of the
glass sheets having a cut out at an edge thereof; a connector disposed in the cut out of the one glass sheet,
a portion of the connector being exposed at the edge of the glass member, the connector providing a
means for connecting and supporting the glass member relative to other structures; and a bonding layer
disposed between adjacent pairs of glass sheets, the bonding layer being configured to bond the glass
sheets and the connector together to form a laminated structure and to provide rigidity and stiffness to the
laminated structure.
2. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass sheets are annealed glass sheets.
3. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the bonding layer is a polymer.
4. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the bonding layer is Sentry Plus Ionplast Interlayer.
5. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass sheets have a low concentration of iron.
6. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the connector is formed from titanium.
7. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the one glass sheet includes a second cut out at a
second edge that is opposite the first edge, and further including a second connector disposed in the
second cut out of the one glass sheet, a portion of the insert being exposed at the second edge of the glass
member, the connector providing a means for connecting and supporting the glass member relative to
other structures.
8. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass member is only supported at the first and
second edges thereof by the first and second connectors
9. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein glass member spans from the first edge to the second
edge a length of between about 7 and about 8 feet
10. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass member supports loads from foot traffic of
one or more persons.
11. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass member is a tread of a stair, a landing of a
staircase, a platform of a bridge or a platform of a floor.
12. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the glass member includes four glass sheets and three
bonding layers.
13. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the one glass sheet includes two or more cut outs at
an edge thereof and further including connectors disposed in the cut outs of the one glass sheet, a portion
of the connectors being exposed at the edge of the glass member, the connectors providing a means for
connecting and supporting the glass member relative to other structures.
14. The glass member as recited in claim 1 wherein the one glass sheet includes two or more cut outs at a
second edge that is opposite the first edge, and further including connectors disposed in the cut outs of the
one glass sheet, a portion of the connectors being exposed at the edge of the glass member, the connectors
providing a means for connecting and supporting the glass member relative to other structures.
15. A glass tread or riser of a stair, comprising: a plurality of glass sheets that are bonded together via one
or more Sentry Glas Plus Ionplast Interlayers to form a laminate structure, the laminate structure having a
top surface, a bottom surface and an edge formed therebetween, the laminate structure being configured
to be secured only at the edge and to support human loads that are applied normal to the top surface.
16. A glass laminate structure, comprising: a titanium insert disposed within the bonded glass layers of
the glass laminate structure, the titanium insert being positioned at the edge of the glass laminate structure
so as to allow the glass laminate structure to be connected to other structures.
17. A staircase, comprising; a pair of spaced apart vertical walls; a plurality of horizontal glass treads
positioned between the spaced apart vertical walls in a stepped apart relationship relative to one another,
each of the glass treads having opposing ends; a plurality of connection arrangements for fixing the
opposing ends of the horizontal glass treads to the spaced apart vertical walls, each of the connection
arrangements including a first connection member that is adapted to be fixed to the vertical wall and a
second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass horizontal tread, the first
connection member having a first interlocking portion, the second connection member having a second
interlocking portion, the first and second interlocking portions being configured to engage one another so
as to place the horizontal glass tread in a secure relationship relative to the vertical walls.
18. The staircase as recited in claim 17 wherein the vertical walls are formed from glass.
19. The staircase as recited in claim 18 wherein the vertical walls and horizontal glass treads are
laminated glass structures.
20. The staircase as recited in claim 19 wherein the vertical walls are formed from a first laminated glass
structure and wherein the horizontal glass tread is formed from a second laminated glass structure that is
different than the first laminated glass structure.
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21. The staircase as recited in claim 17 wherein the horizontal glass tread is a laminated glass structure,
wherein the second connection member includes an insert that is disposed within the laminated glass
structure at each of its opposing ends, and wherein the second interlocking portion is coupled to the insert.
22. The staircase as recited in claim 17 wherein the interlocking portions may be disengaged from one
another so as to so as to place the horizontal glass tread in a removable relationship relative to the vertical
walls.
23. An apparatus for affixing an end of a glass stair to a support structure, the apparatus comprising: a
first connection member adapted to be fixed to the support structure, the first connection member having
a first interlocking portion; a second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass stair,
the second connection member having a second interlocking portion, the first and second interlocking
portions being configured to engage one another so as to place the glass stair in a secured relationship
relative to the support structure.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the glass stair is a laminate structure, and wherein the second
connection member has an insert that is interposed within the laminate structure at an edge of the glass
stair.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second interlocking portion is capable of being coupled to the
insert.
26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the insert is formed from titanium.
27. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the first and second interlocking portions are formed from stainless
steel.
28. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the second interlocking portion is capable of being coupled to the
first interlocking portion.
Description
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/396,306, filed on Jul.
15, 2002, entitled "Glass Support Member", in which the disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to glass structures. More particularly, the present invention
relates to glass members for supporting loads.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Glass structures such as stairs, floors and bridges have been around for some time. Each of these
structures typically includes a glass member for supporting loads from foot traffic. For example, stairs
may include glass treads, risers or landings, and floors and bridges may include glass platforms. Because
of the structural requirements for supporting these types of loads, the glass members are typically formed
from a laminate structure that includes various layers of glass and bonding materials. The laminate
structure is much stronger than any one layer by itself and thus it can support heavier loads such as those
caused by foot traffic. In recent years, the layers of glass have been bonded together with polyvinyl
butyral (PVB), i.e., a layer of PVB is disposed between two glass layers. For long spans, however, the
laminate structure typically has to be supported in the middle of the span to prevent deflection thereof
when loads are applied thereto. For example, a steel beam may be positioned at the middle of the laminate
structure to prevent deflections. Although such arrangements work well, there are continuing efforts to
improve laminate structures so as to provide glass members that are more aesthetically pleasing and that
can support larger loads over longer spans without the use of a middle support structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The invention relates, in one embodiment, to a monolithic glass member for supporting loads. The
glass member includes a plurality of glass sheets. One of the glass sheets has a cut out at an edge thereof.
The glass member also includes a connector disposed in the cut out of the one glass sheet. A portion of
the connector is exposed at the edge of the glass member. The connector provides a means for connecting
and supporting the glass member relative to other structures. The glass member also includes a bonding
layer disposed between adjacent pairs of glass sheets. The bonding layer is configured to bond the glass
sheets and the connector together to form a laminated structure and to provide rigidity and stiffness to the
laminated structure.
[0005] The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a glass support member. The glass support
member includes a plurality of glass sheets that are bonded together via one or more Sentry Glas Plus
Ionplast Interlayers to form a laminate structure. The laminated structure has a top surface, a bottom
surface and an edge formed therebetween. The laminate structure is configured to be secured only at the
edge and to support human loads that are applied normal to the top surface.
[0006] The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a glass laminate structure. The glass laminate
structure includes a titanium insert disposed within the bonded glass layers of the glass laminate structure.
The titanium insert is positioned at the edge of the glass laminate structure so as to allow the glass
laminate structure to be connected to other structures.
[0007] The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a staircase. The stair case includes a pair of
spaced apart vertical walls. The stair case also includes a plurality of horizontal glass treads positioned
between the spaced apart vertical walls in a stepped apart relationship relative to one another. Each of the
glass treads has opposing ends. The stair case further includes a plurality of connection arrangements for
fixing the opposing ends of the horizontal glass treads to the spaced apart vertical walls. Each of the
connection arrangements includes a first connection member that is adapted to be fixed to the vertical
wall and a second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass horizontal tread. The
first connection member has a first interlocking portion, and the second connection member has a second
interlocking portion. The first and second interlocking portions are configured to engage one another so as
to place the horizontal glass tread in a secure relationship relative to the vertical walls.
[0008] The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a apparatus for affixing an end of a glass stair to
a support structure. The apparatus includes a first connection member adapted to be fixed to the support
structure. The first connection member has a first interlocking portion. The apparatus also includes a
second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass stair. The second connection
member has a second interlocking portion. The first and second interlocking portions are configured to
engage one another so as to place the glass stair in a secured relationship relative to the support structure.
