Framing Skylight, Window, and Pavement Prism Lights so as to bring their Prism Surfaces edge to edge without Intervening Frames.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th July, 1897-Accepted, 4th Sept., 1897
Framing Skylight, Window, and Pavement Prism Lights so as to bring
their Prism Surfaces edge to edge without Intervening Frames.
I, JOHN MEIGGS EWEN, of No. 1129 The Rookery, Chicago, County of Cook,
State of Illinois, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to sky-light windows and the like, for diffusing the light.
which enters an apartment, and has for its object to provide the new and improved
construction for such windows and sky-lights set forth in the accompanying
description. I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a view of a portion of a window embodying my invention;
wherein
Figure 2 is an enlarged front view of one of the sections of which the window is
composed;
Figure 3 is a side view of the same showing portions of the associated sections;
Figure 4 is an end view of one of said sections showing the associated sections;
Figure 5 is a similar view showing a modified construction by which the sections
are held together.
Figure 6 is a view of a further modification;
Figure 7 is a front view of a modified form of the sections; and
Figure 8 is an end view of one of the sections shown in Figure 7, showing the
associated sections and the manner of connecting them together.
Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several figures.
When an apartment is provided with a very small window area, that is when
the opening through which the light is admitted is small as compared with the
size of the apartment, it has been customary to provide these openings with glass
formed of such shape as to diffuse the light to a greater degree than it would be
diffused when only plain glass is used. The glass used for this purpose generally
consists of small plates provided with projecting ribs as shown in Figures 2 and 4,
for example. The ribs A¹ on these plates A are provided with plain surfaces
having different angles and it has been found that by the use of such a construction
the light is diffused throughout the apartment so as to produce a more satis-
factory effect. The plates A must necessarily be made of small dimensions. It
has been customary to hold these plates together by means of metallic strips
placed between them. This method is objectionable for the reason that the
metallic strips obstruct the light and greatly decrease the area through which the
light comes. The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved means
for holding these plates together so as to form a practically continuous and
unobstructed surface. I prefer to provide a frame B containing the plates of ribbed
glass, said frame to be inserted within the frame B' which contains the plain sheet
or plate of glass B. The glass B will keep out the wet and wind which would
necessarily enter between the plates of ribbed glass, unless some material which
would obstruct the light is interposed between said plates. The ribbed plates A

page_text: are provided on two sides with the projecting tongues A2 A2, the other two sides
being provided with grooves A³ (See Figure 3) corresponding in size and shape to
said tongues. The frame B is provided with grooves 133 in which the outer edges
of the outer rows of plates are inserted and the tongues and grooves of the adjacent
plates are brought into engagement, thereby causing the whole set of plates to be
held in position. It will therefore be seen that by this construction the plates
present a practically unbroken surface, as there is no frame surrounding each
plate, as is the ordinary custom. Instead of providing the plates with the tongue
and grooves, I may provide the plates with the projecting parts C (Figure 5), the
other two sides being cut away, as at, C, the projecting edges C fitting into the cut
away portion C when the plates are in position. I have shown another form in
Figure 6, in which the plates, are provided with grooves D) D, the plates being held
together by means of a rod or strip E, which fits in these grooves.
This strip may
be of any material, but is made preferably of some transparent material. In
Figures 7 and 8, I have shown plates which are used in pavements to admit light
into the underground apartments or cellars. These plates are heavier than the
plates shown in the other figures and the ribs A¹ are larger. Each plate as shown
in these figures has two ribs, one being longer than the other. These plates may
of course be used in sky-lights or in windows of any description and may be held
together in any of the ways herein before described. As shown in the drawing
they are held together by the strips E, which fit into the grooves 1) in the plates.
I have described these several parts in detail, but it is evident that they may be
greatly varied in form, construction and arrangement, without departing from the
spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the construction
herein shown and described.
The use and operation of my invention will be readily seen from the foregoing,
and it will be seen that when the plates are held together by any of the methods
herein shown, they will present one smooth, flat surface and an entire ribbed
surface, there being no projecting holding devices which obstruct the light in its
passage through the glass.
The single light or glass, such as that illustrated in Figure 2, I call a prism
light and when the whole is made up to fill a window, I call it a prism plate. By
my arrangement, as illustrated in Figures 6 and 8, I can have a perfectly uniform
arrangement of prisms. The distances between the outer edges of successive prisms
being always equal and all prisms having their full proposed form. On the other
hand, by having the prisms extend entirely across the light, as shown in Figure 2,
when they are assembled in the plate, as shown in Figure 1, I will have practically
a series of prisms continuous across the entire plate. This renders the appearance
of the plate much more uniform and regular than if the prism lights have surround-
ing edges plane surfaced on both sides, and also much more regular than if the
prism lights were separated by intervening framing strips.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A prism plate comprising a surrounding frame, a series of prism lights firmly
held together within the frame, said prism lights having prisms extending from
edge to edge and placed in close proximity to each other in the prism plate, so as
to make a series of practically continuous prisms across the plate and devices for
connecting the prism lights together projecting into the body of such prism lights
beneath the prisms.
2. A prism plate comprising a series of prism lights, a frame within which they
are firmly held together, prisms extending across the face of each prism light, the
prism liglits set in the frame so as to break joints and bring their prism ends in
contact one with the other so as to produce a series of practically continuous prisms
across the plate, and connecting devices around the edges of the prism lights and
projecting into their bodies beneath their prisms.

page_text: 3. A prism plate comprising a surrounding frame, a series of prism lights firmly
held together within the frame, said prism lights having prisms extending from
edge to edge and placed in close proximity to each other in the prism plates, so as
to make a series of practically continuous prisms across the plate, grooves about
the edges of such prism lights and translucent connecting and uniting substances
within such grooves beneath the prisms.
4. A prism plate composed of several sections or prism lights shaped, arranged,
connected and associated with reference to each other substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 13th day of July 1897.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.