Patent Description:
Glass panel railing systems are used in commercial spaces and homes, and frequently are desired due to an attractive appearance derived from transparent or translucent properties. They typically are used as guard rails for walk ways in the proximity of commercial facilities and as barriers at the edges of physical drop offs for the protection of pedestrians, as well as for partitioning interior spaces in commercial buildings. Known glass panel systems include vertical panels and a base shoe assembly. The bottom edges of the panels are installed in the base shoe assembly while the top edges may support a top rail or handrail. Installation of the bottom edges of glass panels into a base shoe assembly however can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming.

Panel installation and removal systems are described in <CIT> ("the '<NUM> patent") and <CIT> ("the '<NUM> patent"), the commercial embodiments of which are referred to as the "Taper-Loc" system.

Further, shoe assemblies for a glass panel railing system are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>, the latter showing the features of the preamble of claim <NUM>.

Prior to the development of the Taper-Loc system as described in the '<NUM> and '<NUM> patents, glass panel installation systems and methodology suffered from a number of disadvantages. Some systems required cement to hold the panels in place in a base shoe. Due to the quick setting nature of the cement, often installers lacked sufficient time to place the panels in a base shoe, align the panels and ensure that the cement maintained a smooth and attractive appearance. Another drawback of this system was that adjustments to a panel's final position were essentially impossible after the cement had set.

Other commonly employed systems involved driving a wedge vertically into a base shoe, typically using a hammer and punch, and thereby wedging the glass panel into the base shoe. Systems of this type however, lacked a precise way to control the degree of clamping force used to secure a panel in the base shoe. Moreover, the base shoe's decorative cladding was prone to damage during insertion of the wedge and particularly during any attempted removal of the wedge for adjustment of the glass panel or replacement. In addition, an errant blow of the hammer could damage either the glass panel, base shoe or both.

With the development of the Taper-Loc system as described in the '<NUM> and '<NUM> patents, the problems associated with the prior art systems for installing glass panels in a base shoe were largely eliminated. Essentially, the Taper-Loc system comprises a base shoe or rail, spacers, a glass panel and taper plates. The components as depicted in the patents may be described as follows. The base shoe comprises a rail for holding a glass panel. The base shoe is in the form of an aluminum c-channel style extrusion with relatively thick side walls. Set within the channel of the base shoe against one wall and the floor of the channel are spacers. The spacers are typically set within the shoe at intervals along the length of the base shoe. The spacers are made of plastic and serve to prevent the glass panel from directly contacting the aluminum wall or bottom surface of the base shoe. The spacers may be attached to the base shoe by means of double-sided adhesive tape.

The taper plates are tapered plates that are designed to engage at their thinnest ends and slide against each other such that the combined thickness of the plates increases as the plates engage along their length. The maximum combined thickness of the plates is achieved when the plates are fully overlapping. The plates include projection tabs that allow them to be used with a special tool which both drives the plates together upon installation of a glass panel in a base shoe and also functions to separate the plates in the event a shoe or panel requires replacement. The taper plates will typically be fabricated from steel or aluminum, but other metallic materials and some plastic materials are also suitable.

In a typical assembly, the spacers are glued at intervals to the base shoe, a glass panel is inserted in the shoe and rests upon and against the spacers. A pair of taper plates, where one pair of taper plates corresponds to each spacer, are located on the opposite side of the glass panel, and are positioned in the shoe with the thin edges of the plates partially overlapping. A side of one of the taper plates contacts the wall of the glass panel, whereas a side of the other taper plate contacts the wall of the shoe. The shoe-side taper plate is stationary. When the taper plates are driven together, the glass-side plate slides along the length of the stationary shoe-side plate.

As the taper plates are driven to their fully overlapped configuration, compressive force builds up between the taper plates, glass panel, spacer and the walls of the base shoe so as to secure the base shoe to the glass panel. Thereafter, press-in seals are typically installed on both sides of the base shoe to glass plate interface.

Though the above-described Taper-Loc system has dramatically improved upon the systems of the prior art, certain drawbacks of the system have been uncovered during use. In particular, installers will often install a base shoe, glass panel and rail assembly while saving the task of installing weather seals on the base shoe to seal the shoe to glass panel interface or seam as the last part of the installation job. This often results in installers leaning out over an installed rail assembly, without wearing a safety harness, to press in the outboard weather seal, thus creating a potentially unsafe condition where an installer could potentially fall over a rail and sustain injury.

Another issue that has been observed on job sites is that installers have discovered that when it is desired to remove a base shoe from a glass panel, the insertion force of the taper plates upon initial installation causes the base shoe-side taper plate to stick to the base shoe and become quite difficult to remove from the base shoe. The use of silicone sealant at the taper plate interface, as some installers are want to do, compounds this problem. The problem may significantly increase the time required by installers to replace base shoes or glass panels on a job site.

What is needed therefore is a revised base shoe that requires at least one weather seal to be installed prior to the installation of a glass panel in the shoe and thereby eliminate problem where some installers incur safety risks by leaning out over an installed rail assembly for the purpose of installing a press-in outboard whether seal. It would also be desirable to provide a revised taper plate and base shoe design that includes provisions for removing a previously installed taper plate which is adhered or stuck to a wall of the base shoe.

The invention addresses these objectives by providing a shoe assembly for a glass panel railing system as defined in claim <NUM>. Preferable features thereof are defined in the dependent claims.

The improved base shoe or rail of the present invention features a dovetail groove formed into an interior face of an outboard vertical side wall of the base shoe. The dovetail groove allows for the use of a weather seal configured with two proj ections which engage the interior side walls of the dovetail groove. Due to the nature of this design, the outboard weather seal must be inserted into the dovetail groove prior to the insertion of the glass pane into the base shoe, i.e. the weather seal cannot be inserted, or at least is quite difficult to insert, in the base shoe after installation of the glass panel. This design is advantageous from a safety viewpoint because it requires the outboard weather seal to be installed prior to installation of the glass panel and therefore eliminates safety risk, i.e. the risk of falling, that occurs when installers reach over an installed railing to install press-in seals at the outboard glass panel to base shoe interface.

Another improvement to the base shoe and taper plate assembly of the present invention regards replacing the plurality of spacers used at intervals on the base shoe with a continuous setting strip which would serve the function of the spacers, i.e. preventing contact between the glass panel and the interior face of the outboard wall of the base shoe. Universal setting block tape strips have also been added to attach the setting block to the base shoe and the glass panel to the setting block. The continuous setting strip and tape strips provide increased efficiency in installation by eliminating the need to glue in place numerous individual spacers.

The improved base shoe and taper plates of the present invention further improve upon the prior art by presenting a taper plate design that features a continuous projection or tab along a top surface of the taper plate where the projection rests upon a recess formed into an interior face of an inboard vertical side wall of the base shoe. The taper plate, equipped with the projection, and the depth of the recess in the base shoe, are configured such that there is a small gap between the edge of the projection and the interior face of the inboard side wall of the base shoe. The projection in combination with the gap between it and the interior face of the inboard vertical side wall provides a prying surface that allows an installer to insert a chisel, pry bar or even a screwdriver into the gap and pry the against the projection to separate the taper plate from the inboard side wall of the base shoe.

The above and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description.

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

With reference to <FIG>, an embodiment of the improved base shoe assembly <NUM> of the present invention is shown. The base shoe assembly <NUM> features a base shoe <NUM> in the form of a channel section, which may be surrounded by decorative cladding <NUM>. Inserted in the base shoe <NUM> is a safety weather seal <NUM> and a press-in weather seal <NUM>, a continuous glass setting strip <NUM>, a glass panel <NUM> and a pair of taper plates <NUM> which secure the panel <NUM> in the base shoe <NUM>.

With reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, the base shoe <NUM> features a first inner side wall <NUM> having a top side <NUM> and a bottom side <NUM> opposite the top side <NUM>, a second inner side wall <NUM> also having a top side <NUM> and a bottom side <NUM> opposite the top side <NUM>, and a bottom wall <NUM> adjacent to the bottom side <NUM> of the first inner side wall <NUM> and the bottom side <NUM> of the second inner side wall <NUM>, the first inner side wall <NUM>, the second inner side wall <NUM>, and the bottom wall <NUM> defining a base shoe channel <NUM> therebetween. The top side <NUM> of the first inner side wall <NUM> and the top side <NUM> of the second inner side wall <NUM> define an opening <NUM>. The base shoe <NUM> may, optionally, be formed with a plurality of lightening passages <NUM> which may be of a variety of cross-sectional shapes and serve to reduce the weight of the base shoe <NUM>. The base shoe <NUM> may also includes a dovetail groove <NUM> formed into each of the first and second inner side walls <NUM>, <NUM>, near the opening <NUM> of the channel <NUM>. The dovetail grooves <NUM> are configured to accept either the safety weather seal <NUM> or the press-in weather seal <NUM>.

A continuous setting strip <NUM> may be installed in the base shoe <NUM>. The continuous setting strip <NUM>, typically made of plastic, is preferably of L-shaped configuration and supports and protects the glass panel <NUM> from contact with the metallic walls of the base shoe <NUM>. As such, the continuous setting strip <NUM> has a top arm <NUM> and a bottom arm <NUM> projecting perpendicularly from the top arm <NUM>. In some embodiments, the top arm <NUM> and the bottom arm <NUM> may be two separate pieces. The continuous setting strip <NUM> improves upon the prior design disclosed in the '<NUM> patent and '<NUM> patents by replacing a plurality of individual setting blocks which formerly supported and protected the glass panel <NUM>. The continuous setting strip <NUM> may be secured to the first inner wall <NUM> of the base shoe by a continuous tape strip <NUM>. The continuous tape strip <NUM> improves upon the design shown in the '<NUM> and '<NUM> patents by eliminating the need to individually glue the formerly used setting blocks into place.

The improved base shoe <NUM> also features another continuous tape strip <NUM> placed on the top side <NUM> of the bottom arm <NUM> of the L-shaped surface of the continuous setting strip <NUM>. The continuous tape strip <NUM> assists in securing the glass panel <NUM> to the continuous setting strip <NUM>. The continuous tape strips <NUM>, <NUM> may comprise double-sided adhesive tape.

As referenced above, the improved base shoe <NUM> of the present invention features dovetail grooves <NUM> formed into first inner side wall <NUM> and the second inner side wall <NUM> of the base shoe <NUM> near their respective top sides <NUM>, <NUM>. The dovetail groove <NUM> allows for the use of the safety weather seal <NUM> which will be typically located on an outboard facing side <NUM> of a fully assembled base shoe assembly <NUM>. The safety weather seal <NUM> is configured with two projections <NUM> which engage the interior side walls of the dovetail groove <NUM>. Due to the nature of this design, the safety weather seal <NUM> must be inserted into the dovetail groove <NUM> prior to the insertion of a glass panel <NUM> into the base shoe <NUM>, i.e. the weather seal <NUM> cannot properly be inserted in the base shoe <NUM> after installation of the glass panel <NUM>. This design is advantageous from a safety viewpoint.

Frequently, glass walls will be installed at the border of drop-offs. With the previous press-in seal design (as referenced in the '<NUM> and '<NUM> patents), it has been observed that some installers have a habit of installing the weather seals as the last step in the installation. This requires an installer to lean over the glass wall to install the outboard weather seal which presents a safety risk. The new safety weather seal <NUM> eliminates this risk because it cannot be inserted after a glass panel <NUM> has been installed in the base shoe <NUM>. Because the safety weather seal <NUM> must be installed prior to installation of a glass panel <NUM>, it eliminates the risk of falling that occurs when an installer reaches over an installed railing to install the safety weather seal <NUM> at the outboard side of the glass panel to the base shoe interface.

With reference to <FIG>, an enlarged perspective view of the safety weather seal <NUM> of the present invention base shoe assembly <NUM> is shown. The safety weather seal <NUM> includes a body section <NUM> having a top side <NUM>, a bottom side <NUM> opposite the top side <NUM>, a lateral side <NUM> adjacent to the top side <NUM> and the bottom side <NUM>, and a medial side <NUM> opposite the lateral side <NUM> and adjacent to the top side <NUM> and the bottom side <NUM>. The lateral side <NUM> of the safety weather seal <NUM> interfaces with the first inner side wall <NUM> and the medial side <NUM> interfaces with the glass panel <NUM>.

In the preferred embodiment, the bottom side <NUM> is non-parallel to the top side <NUM>. Specifically, moving from the lateral side <NUM> to the medial side <NUM>, the bottom side <NUM> may angle towards the top side <NUM>. Therefore, the lateral side <NUM> may be taller than the medial side <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. The body section <NUM> may further comprise one or more safety weather seal channels <NUM> extending the length of the body section <NUM> to facilitate compressibility of the body section <NUM>.

Extending from the lateral side <NUM> of the body section <NUM> is a dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM> which terminates with a pair of opposing projections <NUM>. The projections <NUM> are connected to the body section <NUM> by a stem <NUM>. The projections <NUM> may form a <NUM> degree angle with the stem <NUM>. In the preferred embodiment, the projections <NUM> form an oblique angle with the stem <NUM>. More preferably, the projections <NUM> form an acute angle with the stem <NUM>, thereby creating an arrow shape when viewed in cross-section.

The safety weather seal <NUM> also includes at least one glass scraper seal <NUM> protruding from the medial side <NUM>. The embodiment shown in <FIG> comprises three glass scraper seals <NUM>. In the preferred embodiment, at least one of the glass scraper seals <NUM> may be angled towards the top side <NUM>.

<FIG> shows the safety weather seal <NUM> with four glass scraper seals <NUM>. In addition, the bottom side <NUM>, rather than being flat, is tapered.

On the lateral side <NUM>, the safety weather seal <NUM> also includes a lateral lip <NUM> adjacent to the dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM>. The lateral lip <NUM> covers a gap at the outboard glass panel <NUM> to base shoe <NUM> interface.

<FIG> is an enlarged perspective view of the press-in weather seal <NUM> of the present invention. The press-in weather seal <NUM> includes body section <NUM> having a top side <NUM>, a bottom side <NUM> opposite the top side, a lateral side <NUM> adjacent to the top side <NUM> and the bottom side <NUM>, and a medial side <NUM> opposite the lateral side <NUM> and adjacent to the top side <NUM> and the bottom side <NUM>. The lateral side <NUM> of the press-in weather seal <NUM> interfaces with the second inner side wall <NUM>. In the preferred embodiment, the bottom side <NUM> is tapered so as to narrow in cross-sectional width moving away from the top side <NUM>.

Extending from the body section <NUM> on the lateral side <NUM> is a dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM> that may be pressed into the dovetail groove <NUM> on the second inner side wall <NUM> after a glass panel <NUM> has been installed in the base shoe <NUM>. In some embodiments, the dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM> may project outwardly from the body section <NUM> at a right angle or upwardly towards the top side <NUM>.

The lateral side <NUM> of the press-in seal <NUM> further comprises a lateral lip <NUM>, which covers any gap between the body section <NUM> and the inner side wall of the base shoe <NUM> when the dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM> is engaged with the dovetail groove <NUM>.

The press-in weather seal <NUM> may also include a medial lip <NUM> projecting away from the body section <NUM> on the medial side <NUM> along the top side <NUM>, which covers a gap at the glass panel <NUM> to base shoe interface. In the preferred embodiment, the medial lip <NUM> is angled upwardly away from the bottom side <NUM>. The press-in weather seal <NUM> may also include one or more glass scraper seals <NUM> on the medial side <NUM>, which seals the gap at the glass panel <NUM> to base shoe <NUM> interface. In the preferred embodiment, the glass scraper seals <NUM> may also be angled upwardly towards the top side <NUM> and away from the bottom side <NUM>.

The body section <NUM> may further comprise one or more press-in weather seal channels <NUM> extending the length of the body section <NUM> to facilitate compressibility of the body section <NUM>.

<FIG> shows the press-in weather seal <NUM> with additional dovetail groove engagement portions <NUM>, as well additional glass scraper seals <NUM>. In the preferred embodiment, the lowest dovetail groove engagement portion <NUM> and the lowest glass scraper seal <NUM> may transition into the tapered bottom side <NUM>, thereby forming an arrowhead shape as shown in <FIG>.

The safety weather seal <NUM> and press-in weather seal <NUM> may be made from a variety of elastomeric compounds.

With reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, additional features of the improved shoe assembly <NUM> of the present invention are shown while other components have been removed for clarity. <FIG> and <FIG> show the improved taper plates <NUM>, which feature a continuous projection <NUM> along a top surface of the taper plate <NUM>. The projection <NUM> rests in a recess <NUM> formed into the second inner wall <NUM> of the base shoe <NUM>. The recess <NUM> has a recess depth <NUM> and a recess width <NUM>. The taper plate <NUM>, equipped with the projection <NUM>, and the recess depth <NUM> of the recess <NUM>, are configured such that there is a small gap <NUM> between the edge of the projection <NUM> and the second inner side wall of the base shoe <NUM>. Experimentation has shown that a recess width <NUM> of <NUM>/<NUM> inch and a recess depth <NUM> of <NUM>/<NUM> inch are suitable dimensions for the recess <NUM>. The projection <NUM> in combination with the gap <NUM> between the projection and the interior face of the second side wall <NUM> of the base shoe <NUM> provides a prying surface that allows an installer to insert a prying device into the gap and pry the against the projection <NUM> to separate the taper plate <NUM> from the second side wall of the base shoe <NUM>.

The show assembly may also comprise a groove cover <NUM> for when the dovetail grooves are not in use. The groove cover <NUM> can be placed over the dovetail grooves <NUM> and may extend along the full length of the dovetail groove.

With reference to <FIG>, with regard to the recess depth <NUM> of the recess <NUM> on the second inner side wall <NUM> of the base shoe <NUM>, a depth of <NUM>/<NUM> inch to <NUM>/<NUM> inch has been found by experimentation to work well with the improved base shoe <NUM> and taper plate <NUM> of the present invention. The recess depth <NUM> also allows for the use of larger more effective weather seals.

With reference to <FIG>, a representation of decorative cladding <NUM> which may be placed on the improved base shoe <NUM> of the present invention is shown. The decorative cladding will typically be made from stainless steel, brass, anodized aluminum or other material having a visually attractive surface finish.

The foregoing detailed description and appended drawings are intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. Those skilled in the art will understand that modifications and alternative embodiments of the present invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the foregoing specification and drawings, and of the claims appended below are possible and practical. It is intended that the claims cover all such modifications and alternative embodiments.

Claim 1:
A shoe assembly (<NUM>) for a glass panel railing system, comprising:
a. a base shoe (<NUM>), the base shoe (<NUM>) comprising:
i. a first inner side wall (<NUM>) having a top side (<NUM>) and a bottom side (<NUM>),
ii. a second inner side wall (<NUM>) having a top side (<NUM>) and a bottom side (<NUM>),
iii. a bottom wall (<NUM>) adjacent to the bottom side (<NUM>) of the first inner side wall (<NUM>) and the bottom side (<NUM>) of the second inner side wall (<NUM>), the first inner side wall (<NUM>), the second inner side wall (<NUM>), and the bottom wall (<NUM>) defining a base shoe channel (<NUM>),
iv. a first dovetail groove (<NUM>) formed in the first inner side wall (<NUM>) adjacent to the top side (<NUM>) of the first inner side wall (<NUM>), and
v. a second dovetail groove (<NUM>) formed in the second inner side wall (<NUM>) adjacent to the top side (<NUM>) of the second inner side wall (<NUM>); and
b. a press-in weather seal, the press-in weather seal comprising:
i. a body section (<NUM>) having a top side (<NUM>), a bottom side (<NUM>) opposite the top side (<NUM>), a lateral side (<NUM>) adjacent to the top side (<NUM>) and the bottom side (<NUM>), and a medial side (<NUM>) opposite the lateral side (<NUM>) and adjacent to the top side (<NUM>) and the bottom side (<NUM>), wherein the lateral side (<NUM>) interfaces with the second inner side wall (<NUM>) of the base shoe (<NUM>), and
ii. a dovetail groove engagement portion (<NUM>) extending from the body section (<NUM>) on the lateral side (<NUM>) for engaging the second dovetail groove (<NUM>);
characterized by
c. a continuous setting strip (<NUM>) comprising a top arm (<NUM>) and a bottom arm (<NUM>) projecting perpendicularly from the top arm (<NUM>);
d. a first continuous tape strip (<NUM>) mounted on the first inner side wall (<NUM>) for connecting the continuous setting strip (<NUM>) to the first inner side wall (<NUM>); and
e. a second continuous tape strip (<NUM>) mounted on the bottom arm (<NUM>) of the continuous setting strip (<NUM>).