US20080010921A1

US20080010921A1 - Glass curtain supporting device

Info

Publication number: US20080010921A1
Application number: US11/484,715
Authority: US
Inventors: Andy Lin
Original assignee: EPCO Architecture Hardware Taiwan Corp
Current assignee: EPCO Architecture Hardware Taiwan Corp
Priority date: 2006-07-12
Filing date: 2006-07-12
Publication date: 2008-01-17

Abstract

The present invention discloses a glass curtain supporting device for clamping and supporting a glass 40 to constitute a glass curtain. The glass curtain supporting device includes a base 10, a pressing ring 20 and a propping rod 30. The base 10 has a conical end portion 11 circularly extended from an end of the base 10 and latched into a conical through hole of the glass 40 for clamping the glass 40 by the conical end portion 11 and the pressing ring 20. The glass 40 is mounted onto a scaffold by the connection of propping rods 30. The invention installs at least one elastic flange 12 disposed around the conical end portion 11 such that when the glass 40 is clamped by the conical end portion 11 and the pressing ring 20, the conical end portion 11 forms a well-sealed structure by the elasticity and deformation of the flange 12 to constitute an airtight and waterproof glass curtain.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a glass curtain, and more particularly to a glass curtain supporting device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, glass curtains come with a high light transmission, and thus they can be used for places that require a good ambient light. Referring to FIG. 1, a piece of glass 1 is mounted onto a scaffold (not shown in the figure) by a fixing device 2. The fixing device 2 includes a base 3, a pressing ring 4 and a propping rod 5. The glass 1 has at least one conical through hole for latching the base 3 into the conical through hole and the glass 1 is clamped by a conical end portion 3 a of the base 3 and the pressing ring 4 and fixed onto the scaffold by a propping rod 5 coupled to the base 3, so as to mount the glass 1 onto the scaffold.
To prevent the glass 1 from cracking, a pad 6 is installed between the conical end portion 3 a, the pressing ring 4 and the glass 1 for sharing the forces exerted on the glass 1 when the glass 1 is clamped. To prevent the pad 6 from being deteriorated quickly by the incidence of ultraviolet rays, the pad 6 is made of a hard plastic material.
Several pieces of glasses 1 can be mounted onto the scaffold by the same fixing devices 2 to form a so-called glass curtain.
To resist the impact of external forces, the glass 1 used for the glass curtain has to go through a tempering process to enhance the hardness and strength of the glass 1, and the fixing device 2 is also made of a strong and hard alloy steel, and the pad 6 is made of a hard plastic material. Unlike the traditional fixing device 2 that may cause a tiny gap at the clamping position (primarily between the fixing device 2 and the pad 6) due to the planarity of the installed glass 1 and a water leak problem when it rains, the tempered glass 1 of the invention features a high hardness for solving the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing shortcomings and avoid the existing deficiencies by providing a waterproof glass curtain supporting device to eliminate possible leaking of the glass curtain.
The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide an airtight glass curtain supporting device for clamping a glass curtain without damaging the air-tightness.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, a glass curtain supporting device of the invention is provided for clamping and supporting a glass having at least one conical through hole and mounted onto a scaffold. The glass curtain supporting device comprises: a base, a pressing ring and a propping rod, wherein the base is a lump having a conical end portion circularly extended from an end of the base, and the base is latched into the conical through hole of the glass and the conical pressing portion is separated by a pad and presses against a distal surface of the glass, and the conical end portion has at least one elastic flange disposed around the surface of the glass; a pressing ring is separated by another pad and presses against another distal surface of the glass and couples to the base for clamping and pressing the glass with the conical end portion; a propping rod has an end coupled to the base and another end coupled to the scaffold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art structure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a structure of clamping the glass according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of section A-A as depicted in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To make it easier for our examiner to understand the technical characteristics, objective and performance of the invention, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention comprises a base 10, a pressing ring 20, a propping rod 30 and two pads 50. The base 10 is a cylindrical lump having a conical end portion 11 extended circularly from an end of the base 10. The conical end portion 11 includes at least one elastic flange 12 made of an elastic rubber material, and an external screw thread 13 disposed on the external surface at another end of the base 10. The circular groove 14 is connected downward to a hemispherical socket 15, and the pressing ring 20 has an internal circular surface 21 to be secured with an external screw thread 13 of the base 10. An end of the propping rod 30 has a spherical joint 31, and the other end of the propping rod 30 has a screw thread 32, and the spherical joint 31 is contained in the socket 15 and can be swayed slightly in a small angle. A locking ring 33 having an external screw thread is secured onto the circular groove 14 to latch the propping rod 30 and connect the propping rod 30 with the base 10.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 4A, the glass curtain supporting device of the present invention clamps and supports a glass 40 having at least one conical through hole and mounted onto a scaffold (not shown in the figure), wherein the base 10 is latched to the conical through hole of the glass 40 by a conical end portion, and the conical end portion 11 is separated by a pad 50 and presses against a distal surface of the glass 40, and the flange 12 of the conical end portion 11 presses against the pad 50. The pressing ring 20 is also separated by a pad 50 and presses against another distal surface of the glass 40. The structure of the foregoing screw thread 21 is connected to the base 10, and the pressing ring 20 together with the conical end portion 1 are used to clamp and press against the glass 40. Further, the screw thread 32 of the propping rod 30 of the present invention is secured to a joint (not shown in the figure) and connected to the scaffold.
In summation of the description above, the conical end portion 11 and the pressing ring 20 clamp and press the glass 40, and the elasticity and deformation of the flange 12 can form a sealed leak-resisting structure, and thus the present invention constitutes a glass curtain that can provide a good waterproof effect, clamp the glass curtain without damaging the air-tightness, such that the glass curtain can be applied to an air-sealed environment so as to meet the user requirements.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A glass curtain supporting device, for clamping and supporting a glass 40 having at least one conical through hole and mounted onto a scaffold, comprising:

a base 10, being a lump, and having a conical end portion 11 circularly extended from an end of said base 10, and said base 10 being coupled to said conical through hole of said glass 40 by said conical end portion 11 and said conical end portion 11 being separated by a pad 50 and pressing against said glass 40, and said conical end portion 11 having at least one elastic flange 12 disposed around a surface of said glass 40 proximate to said conical end portion 11;

a pressing ring 30, separated by another pad 50 and pressing against another distal surface of said glass 40 and coupled to said base 10, for clamping and pressing said glass 40 by said pressing ring 20 and said conical end portion 11; and

a propping rod 30, with an end coupled to said base 10, and another end coupled to said scaffold.

2. The glass curtain supporting device of claim 1, wherein said flange 12 of said conical end portion 11 is made of rubber.