US3358969A

US3358969A - Ornamental railing

Info

Publication number: US3358969A
Application number: US513261A
Authority: US
Inventors: Blum Louis; Jr William J Horgan
Original assignee: Blumcraft of Pittsburgh LP
Current assignee: Blumcraft of Pittsburgh LP
Priority date: 1965-12-13
Filing date: 1965-12-13
Publication date: 1967-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 1984-12-19

Description

Dec. 19, 1967 I L. BLUM ET AL ORNAMENTAL RAILING 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 15, 1965 INVENTORS- 10111545711122 J2. Ila/ml Hagan, J1: 8J5 62A A TZOHNE vs.

Dec. 19, 1967 1.. BLUM ET AL ORNAMENTAL RAILING 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 13, 1965 INVENTORJ'.

ATTORNEYS.

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INVENTORS.

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United States Patent 3,358,969 ORNAMENTAL RAILING Louis Blum and William J. Horgan, In, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to Blumcraft of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.,

2 firm Filed Dec. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 513,261 3 Claims. (Cl. 256-24) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An ornamental railing adapted for mounting alongside a stairway or other building surface wherein the sole vertical supporting means comprises a plurality of aligned glass panels.

This invention relates to ornamental railings and particularly to ornamental railings in which the vertical supports comprise glass panels. Glass panels have been used prior to this time in ornamental railings; however, they have been used for ornamentation rather than as vertical structural supports. By virtue of the present invention, it is proposed to provide ornamental railing structure in which the vertical support for the handrail comprises solely glass panels.

The new ornamental railing of the invention comprises glass panels which provide the sole vertical support, creating the illusion that the handrail is floating in space free of any rigid structural support. The glass panels are anchored into the fioor or stairway of a building.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stairway showing railings made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view partly in cross-section along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in cross-section and partly broken away along the line IIIHI of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternate means for mounting the railing;

FIG. 5 is a partial top view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternate means for mounting the railing;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternate means for mounting the railing;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternate means for mounting the railing;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternate means for mounting the railing;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a view partly in cross-section along the line XI-XI of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a partial fragmentary view along the line XII-XII of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a partial fragmentary view along the line XIVXIV of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a partial fragmentary view along the line XV-XV of FIG. 13.

Railings embodying the invention are shown in FIGS. 1, 10 and 13. Taking first the railing of FIG. 1, the handrail 10 is mounted on top of the glass panels 11. The con- 3,358,969 Patented Dec. 19, 1967 nection between the handrailing 10 and the glass 11 is best illustrated in FIG. 3. A connecting strip 12 running longitudinally of the glass panel 11 is bonded thereto by means of an adhesive. The connecting strip 12 is in turn connected by screw 5 to the wooden handrail 10 completing the connection between the handrail 10 and the glass panel 11. At the lower portion of the glass panel 11 it is carried upon a mounting bracket 13 which gives the appearance of passing through the glass panel 11. The mounting bracket 13 is supported upon an anchor 14 which is embedded in the stairway or floor of the building. To the anchor 14 is afiixed by means of bolts 7 a connecting strip 6. A second connector strip 8 is connected to the first strip 6 by means of additional bolts 9 providing for adjustment between the two connecting strips. The mounting bracket 13 is slidably connected to the connecting strip 8 by means of the interengaged key-slot connection shown best in FIG. 2. The mounting bracket 13 embraces the glass panel 11 and is held thereto by means of the bolts 4 illustrated in FIG. 3.

Modifications of the means for mounting the glass panels on the floor or stairway are shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 in fragmentary views. In FIG. 4 the mounting bracket 15 takes the place of the bracket 13 of FIG. 3. There the bracket 15 is afiixed to the underside of the wooden stair tread by means of the screws 16. FIG. 5 is a top view of the arrangement of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 illustrates a further modification of the means for mounting the glass panel wherein the mounting bracket 17 is connected to the anchor 18 by means of connector bolts 19. A further modification is shown in FIG. 7 where the mounting bracket 20 is connected directly to the anchor 21. In FIG. 8 the mounting bracket 22 is connected to a structural beam 23. Another variation of the type of mounting is shown in FIG. 9 where the mounting bracket 24 is connected to the open channel of a channel beam 25.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 10-12 wherein the handrail is connected to the glass panel in the manner previously described. Here, however, the glass panel 30 is mounted in a frame 31. The mounting frame 31 is a U-shaped structural member having a slot 32 formed therein. The glass panel 30 fits within the slot 32 and is bonded thereto by an adhesive. The mounting frame 31 i connected to the building by means of connecting brackets 33 which are in turn connected to anchors 34 as shown more particularly in FIGS. 11 and 12. Other means may be used for connecting the mounting frame 31 to the structure of the building employing the means illustrated in FIGS. 4-9.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 13-15 wherein the glass panels 40 are mounted directly upon or within the floor or side of the stair tread. In FIG. 14 one such structure is shown. There a slot 41 is formed in the floor of the building. In the slot 41 a structural receiving member 42 is inserted. A mounting bracket 43 is rigidly connected to the member 42. The member 43 has a channel 44 formed therein to receive the glass panel 40 along its lower edge. The glass panel 40 is bonded to the slot by means of an adhesive. Another variation of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 15 where the

members

42, 43 and 44 are fixed directly to the surface of the floor.

Employing the means for connecting the rail to the glass panel and the several embodiments of structural means for mounting the glass panels to the building shown herein, a railing is formed comprising a plurality of glass panels which are connected along their lower edges by means of the mounting brackets or other such means and along the common upper edges by means of the handrail. This forms a unitary structure embodying the handrail,

the glass panel and the mounting brackets which provides a railing structure having sufiicient rigidity in strength to satisfy normal building requirements.

It will be understood that many variations may be made in the specific embodiments of the invention illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the inven tion as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ornamental railing comprising a continuous handrail, railing mounting means for connecting said handrail to a building structure and handrail supporting means connecting said mounting means and said handrails comprising a plurality of aligned glass panels, said glass panels supporting said handrail means, and bracket means rigidly affixed to the building structure retaining said glass panels in substantially rigid spaced relation to said building structure.

2. The ornamental railing of claim 1 wherein the mounting bracket means comprises a pair of spaced brackets having a first part rigidly affixed to the stairway or other building structure on the side of the glass panel adjacent thereto, and a second part onthe side of the glass panel remote from the stairway or building structure, the two parts of the mounting bracket being connected by bolt means.

3. The ornamental railing of claim 1 wherein the bracket means comprises a channel member rigidly afiixed to said building structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,321,059 5/1967 Kroepel 25624 534,545 2/1895 Breadner 256-24 X 1,462,622 7/1923 Phelan 52-584 1,776,785 9/1930 Davidson 256 -24 2,618,145 11/1952 Sinner et a1. 52584 X 2,771,259 11/ 1956 Laystrom 248-489 2,873,094 2/1959 Blum 256--31 3,265,417 8/1966 Kastan 52-582 X FOREIGN PATENTS 615,470 2/ 1961 Canada.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Examiner.

Claims

1. AN ORNAMETAL RAILING COMPRISING A CONTINUOUS HANDRAIL, RAILING MOUNTING MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID HANDRAIL TO A BUILDING STRUCTURE AND HANDRAIL SUPPORTING MEANS CONNECTING SAID MOUNTING MEANS AND SAID HANDRAILS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ALIGNED GLASS PANELS, SAID GLASS PANELS SUPPORTING SAID HANDRAIL MEANS, AND BRACKET MEANS RIGIDLY AFFIXED TO THE BUILDING STRUCTURE RETAINING SAID GLASS PANELS IN SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID SPACED RELATION TO SAID BUILDING STRUCTURE.