WO2000030728A1

WO2000030728A1 - Glass objects comprising a plurality of stacked glass elements

Info

Publication number: WO2000030728A1
Application number: PCT/IE1999/000118
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jonathan Bennett
Original assignee: Jonathan Bennett
Priority date: 1998-11-24
Filing date: 1999-11-23
Publication date: 2000-06-02
Also published as: AU1174500A

Abstract

A glass object, building, monument, ornament or the like comprises a plurality of glass elements stacked one on top of the other. Each glass element comprises glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more polished external edge faces. Many of the glass elements have one or more apertures providing through bores between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the internal edge faces of the apertures being honed or otherwise treated so as to scatter light. When the elements are stacked on top of each other such that the through bores overlap in a particular order, the overlapping bores act to form a virtual image within the glass object.

Description

GLASS OBJECTS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STACKED GLASS ELEMENTS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a glass object, building, monument or the like, and to a method of construction of thereof. In particular, the invention relates to a glass puzzle apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the context of the present specification, it is to be understood that the word "glass" embraces not only glass per se but any other transparent or translucent material suitable for use m the aforementioned apparatus and method of construction. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the ob ect, building, monument, puzzle apparatus or the like need not necessarily be constructed entirely from glass but it is envisaged that, in general, all or substantially all of the object, building, monument or the like is constructed from glass. Similarly the term "glass object" can be taken as meaning any type of glass object regardless of size such as for example an ornament, a lamp stand, a statue, a statuette, a building, a monument or the like.

Glass puzzle apparatus and objects are known and described in, for example, US 4,492,326. In this specification the puzzle apparatus comprises a plurality of generally rectangular glass blocks, each having a plurality of activated polarised zones. Each zone is polarised along one of two mutually perpendicular axes In use the blocks appear to be identical when separated, but when stacked togetner the appearance of the resultant solid will be dependent on the alignment of polarised zones of adjacent components Similarly US 4,605,231 describes a puzzle apparatus comprising a plurality of superposable light permeable portions which arranged together m a particular orientation provide for transmission of light through the superposed blocks.

It is an object of the invention to provide a glass object comprising a plurality of superposed individual elements which when assembled provides an improved aesthetic effect. It is also an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for a puzzle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a glass object, building, monument, ornament or the like comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces, at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces being polished or otherwise rendered substantially transparent to light, the internal edge faces being treated to reduce transparency, wherein the elements are disposed together in a face to face orientation with tne through bores of at least some of the elements overlapping to form at least one hollow zone within the glass object. When viewed, the at least one hollow zone within tne glass object appears as a virtual image within the glass object.

Preferably, the glass object comprises a vertical stack of glass elements. In one embodiment of the invention the number and shape of the through bores m the elements is chosen such that the registered througπ bores forms the shape of a recognisable object such as a person, an animal or the like. In one embodiment, the internal edge faces are honed so as to be ideally substantially opaque to light. Alternatively the internal edge faces may be painted to achieve the same effect In some cases the internal edge faces m tneir unpolished form may be of sufficiently reduced transparency to provide the desired effect. Typically, only a part of the or each internal edge face is treated to reduce transparency, and m such cases such the non-treated parts may be polished to achieve a patterned three-dimensional effect.

Typically, the elements may be fastened together using suitable means. For example, when the glass object is, for example, a large monument or building, the elements may be fastened together by means of a suitable adhesive such as for example a resin, ideally a UVC curable resin. Alternatively, the faces may include mutually engaging members such as for example lug and detent or tongue and groove arrangements. Many other suitable fastening arrangements will be apparent to the skilled addressee. In a particularly preferable embodiment of the invention, the glass elements comprise a low iron glass m which the iron content is ideally less than 0.5%.

The invention additionally relates to kit for producing a glass object, building, monument, ornament or the like, the kit comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces, at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces ideally being polished or otherwise rendered transparent to light, the internal edge faces ideally being honed or otherwise treated to reduce transparency.

Typically, the kit will include instructions for assembling the glass elements together m a face to face orientation such that at least some of the through bores overlap so as to produce a virtual image within the assembled object. The kit may m addition include adhesive to fix tne glass elements m a desired, assembled, orientation. In one embodiment the assembled glass object of the kit may be a lamp stand, and m this regard the assembled glass object may include a socket for an electric bulb, and/or electric cable means .

The invention also relates to a puzzle apparatus kit comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces, at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces ideally being polished or otherwise rendered transparent to light, the internal edge faces ideally being honed or otherwise treated so as to scatter light. When the kit forms a puzzle assembly instructions will not be given other than to teach that the individual elements may be stacked one on top of the other, and that the puzzle will be solved when the elements are stacked m a particular order which results in the overlapping through bores of the elements collectively forming a desired image, which image will be provided m the kit by a picture or other type of representation. Typically, the kit will include any number of elements, and the number of elements m the kit may be indicative of a degree of difficulty of the solution. Thus, for example, a puzzle suitable for children between the ages of eight and twelve may have twenty elements which when stacked m the right combination will produce an image of a sphere. Similarly, an adult kit may include for example one hundred pieces. Indeed the through bores m the elements of a kit may be chosen so that more than one solution to a particular puzzle may be possible.

The invention also seeks to provides a method for the construction of a glass object, building, monument, ornament or the like which method comprises (1) providing an element comprised of glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces; (ii) optionally providing one or more apertures m the element; the or each aperture having the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces; the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse face and the reverse face; (m) ideally subjecting the external edge face or faces to polishing;

(iv) when present, treating a part of, or all of, the internal edge face or faces such that it scatters ligh ; (v) placing a second such element m combination with a first element so that the obverse face of the first such element is m substantially parallel spaced apart relationship relative to the reverse face of the second element; and (vi) repeating step (v) until the desired height of the glass object, building or monument has been completed.

Typically, the treatment of step (iv) comprises honing Preferably, the glass material is comprised of low iron glass m which the iron content is preferably less than 0.5%.

In the case of a monument or building, step (v) is carried out at a site remote from the intended site of the building or monument to provide a plurality of blocks each comprising a plurality of laminated elements so that at the site, each block may be regarded as an element and combined m the manner of steps (v) and (vi) .

Preferably, the thickness of each element in step d) is approximately 19mm. Preferably, a plurality of elements in step (I) is laminated m the manner of step (v) to form a block having a thickness of approximately 500mm. It will be appreciated that, in the case of an element having a thickness of 19mm, twenty- six of them will be required to be combined m the manner of step

(v) to form a block which together with the adhesive will have a combined thickness of about 500mm.

In one embodiment of the invention, the elements are fastened together by a suitable fastening means, such as for example interengaging members or an adhesive. The adhesive is preferably a resin. More particularly, the adhesive is a UV curable resin.

Preferably, the element has a maximum obverse or reverse surface area of approximately 18m² and a density such that a plurality of such elements laminated together m the manner of step (v) to form a block has a weight of approximately 6 tonnes .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be understood m greater detail from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings m which :-

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a monument constructed m accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional side elevation of tne monument of Figure 1 of the drawings;

FIGURE 3 is the same view as Figure 1 but without a top portion,-

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the monument of Figure 3 of the drawings;

FIGURES 5a-5ι are respective plan views of each of the components or blocks of Figure 4 of the drawings; FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one element of the monument of Figure 1 of the drawings;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of another element of the monument of Figure 1 of the drawings;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a plurality of elements of Figure 6 and/or Figure 7 laminated to form a block of elements;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of an element of Figure 7 of the drawings;

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of an element of Figure 7 of the drawings;

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of an element of Figure 7 of the drawings;

FIGURE 12 is a detail side view of part of the monument of Figure 1 of the drawings; and

FIGURE 13 is a cross-sectional view of part of the monument of Figure 12 of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a monument 2000 constructed m accordance with the method of the invention. More specifically, the monument 2000 comprises two thousand elements 1.

Each element 1 is comprised of glass having an obverse face 2 , a reverse f ce 3 and an external surface 4. In the case of the element 1, which is substantially rectangular n plan view, the external surface 4 comprises four side faces vi z . a first side face 11, a second side face 12, a tnird side face 13 and a fourth side face 14. The faces 11 and 13 are opposite each other; the faces 12 and 14 are opposite each other. It will be appreciated that the shape of the element 1 m plan view may be of any desired shape or configuration and, if of a curved shape such as a circle or oval, then the element 1 will only have one external face.

The element 1 may have one or more apertures 20 therein such that the or each aperture 20 provides a through core between tne obverse face 2 and the reverse face 3. The aperture 20 may have any predetermined desired shape or configuration in which case the aperture 20 will have one or more internal surfaces 24.

Thus, m the case of an aperture 20 having a curved shape, when viewed m plan, such as an oval or circular shape, only one internal surface 24 will be provided. A non-curved shape or configuration, when viewed m plan, will provide two or more internal surfaces 24. In the case of the element 1 having an aperture 20 which is substantially rectangular in shape as m Figure 7 of the drawings, the internal surface 24 has four internal faces, vi z . a first internal face 31, a second internal face 32, a third internal face 33 and a fourth internal face 34. The faces 31 and 33 are opposite each other; the faces 32 and 34 are opposite each other. The external face or faces 4 of the element 1 are polished; when present, the internal face or faces 24 of the or each aperture 20 is honed.

For ease of construction at the intended site of the monument 2000, a plurality of elements 1 are laminated to form a block 200 (Figure 8) . Thus, having initially provided the required number of elements 1 for the construction of the monument 2000 at a location remote from the intended site of the monument, a plurality of elements 1 are laminated m a predetermined order to form the block 200. Thus, the reverse face 3 of a second element 1 is placed on top of the obverse face 2 of a first element 1 and by providing a suitable adhesive such as a UN curable adhesive, the two elements 1 are laminated together. This process is continued until approximately twenty-six such elements are laminated together to form the block 200.

Each element 1 has a thickness of approximately 19mm. Thus, twenty-six such elements when laminated together will, together with the adhesive, have a thickness of approximately 500mm.

Each element 1, in the case of the present example, is rectangular in plan and, prior to cutting to provide the desired external shape or configuration, has dimensions approximately 6m by 3m. Thus, with an element 1 being comprised of preferably glass having a low iron content (preferably less than 0.5%; , the weight of the block 200 of twenty-six laminated elements will be of the order of up to four to six tonnes (depending on the area of each element 1 and whether apertures 20 are present or not) .

At the site of construction, a plurality (200a-200ι) of 5 blocks 200 is mounted one on top of the other in a predetermined fashion and m the manner of mounting one element 1 on top of another element 1 to form the monument 2000 having the desired shape and configuration. Adjacent blocks such as 200c and 200d 10 are held together by a suitable adhesive such as a ON curable resin. If desired, the block 200a comprises four sub units 300a, 300b, 300c, 300d. Each sub unit 300a-300d when placed m the manner shown m Figure 3 of the drawings provides a door or opening 400 m each 15 side face of the monument 2000 for enabling people to enter into the monument 2000 and view it m an upward direction internally. When constructed, the monument 2000 will provide to the viewer a view having a predetermined shape and configuration. However, the 20 viewer will also observe a second shape or configuration, which will appear to be housed inside the monument 2000. This effect is achieved as follows with particular reference to Figures 9-11 of the drawings . c 25 With particular reference to Figures 9 and 11 of the drawings and taking Figure 9 first, as will be observed, there is shown part of an element 1 having an aperture 20. The arrow represents the direction of 30 viewing of an observer. By virtue of the polished external surface 4 and the relatively low iron content of the glass, light will tend to pass through the element where there is no aperture present . This is represented by arrows 51, 52, 53 and 54. However, where light (represented by the arrow 55) strikes the glass, encounters an aperture and then strikes an internal face such as the face 34, the honed or non- polished surface causes the light to be scattered, represented by the arrows 56. The effect, from the viewer's perspective, is that zone or area of considerably less brightness is perceived. Depending on the width of the face 34 and when viewed m conjunction with the other faces 34 provides the viewer with a perception of a particular shape or configuration which appears three-dimensional and thus has the appearance of a monument within a monument. In other words, the viewer perceives a virtual monument.

With particular reference to Figure 11 of the drawings, there is shown an element 1 with two apertures 20a, 20b. As previously described, light passes through those parts of the element 1 which do not have apertures. The internal faces 34a, 34b cause the light to scatter as before. When this element 1 is combined with similar elements 1 as previously described it will be appreciated that, for example, the legs of a person may be perceived.

With reference to Figure 10 of the drawings, the effect of the legs as described above could be achieved by providing a single aperture 20 rather than two apertures 20a, 20b as shown m Figure 11. In order for the light to pass through to provide the appearance of the legs, portions 65 of the internal face 34 are subject to polishing to enable the light to pass through. However, a more realistic three-dimensional effect is achieved by providing two or more apertures 20a, 20b as described.

Of course, it will be appreciated that the tnree- dimensional effect of the virtual monument is enhanced because as the viewer moves to different locations relative to the monument 2000, views of the other internal faces 24 are perceived.

By providing internal and/or external lighting for the monument 2000, different aesthetically pleasing effects may be achieved. Such lighting is within the scope of lighting experts skilled m the art and will not be described here.

While various methods for erecting the monument 2000 on site may be employed, the following will serve as an example. This monument 2000 has two thousand elements 1 thereby proving a height of approximately 39m excluding a roof.

For the base, at the site, a reinforced concrete floor slab is provided at lm below the surface. The area thus formed below ground will provide a housing for equipment to, for example, provide internal lighting of the monument 2000.

Off site, the elements 1 are individually prepared as required and, as previously described, a plurality of elements are laminated together to form a block 200. In the case of the present example, the dimensions of each element 1 prior to cutting is approximately 6m x 3m x 19mm. Thus twenty-six of them will provide blocks approximately 500mm high to include adhesive. If desired, a circular opening (not shown) of a diameter of approximately 37mm may be provided in each element 1 located near each corner of the element 1. The internal surface of each of these openings is polished because it is desired for them not to form part of the image of the virtual monument. When the block 200 is formed, the openings of each corner will be m register thereby forming four through bores each of circular cross-section. Each bore is provided with a transparent nylon tube (not shown) having a length approximately equal to the length of the respective bore but housed such that the tube projects from the upper face of the block 200 by a distance of approximately 75mm. Thus, the lower part of the block prior to on-site assembly, does not have a nylon tube therein. If desired, suitable adhesive may be provided on the upper surface of each nylon tube to provide a suitable seal with the lower surface of an ad acent tube.

Next, titanium sheer rods (not shown) having a diameter of approximately 20mm are slotted into each of the bores with the nylon tubes acting as guides and a protective element between the rods and the glass of the element 1. The rods m each tube are fixed to one another by respective co-operating male and female fittings and the rods run from the base of the monument to the top where, as described, they project therefrom to provide a structure for fixing a roof. Titanium is the preferred substance for use as the rods, having regard to its strength, when compared with other materials; its electrically conductive characteristics (the rods act as lighting conductors) ; and it has the same coefficient of expansion as the glass. The roof or apex of the monument may comprise a titanium space frame that is attached to the protruding rods of the uppermost block of the monument 2000. Except on very close inspection, the rods are not visible to the viewer due to their relatively small diameter when compared with the overall dimensions of the monument 2000.

It will be appreciated that any desired shape and configuration of the virtual monument may be achieved depending on the shape and configuration, and the polishing or honing of the internal faces of the apertures.

While the description has been directed to the erection of a monument, it will be appreciated that objects of considerably smaller size can be made in accordance with the method of the invention. Where the size of the object is, in relative terms, considerably smaller than what has been described here, rods, adhesive or other fastening means are not required. Thus, referring to Figs. 12 and 13, the glass object shown and described may be a glass puzzle in its assembled, solved, form. In this regard the puzzle apparatus will be provided m its unassembled form, i.e. as a plurality of glass elements. In addition, a representation of the image which is formed m the assembled puzzle will be provided wherein the task in solving the puzzle will be to stack the individual elements m a combination which produces the desired image within the assembled object. In the case shown m Figs 12 and 13 the image within the assembled object is that of a monument, however other shapes are envisaged.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described that may be varied in construction, detail, and constructional method without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A glass object comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces , at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces being polished or otherwise rendered transparent to light, the internal edge being treated to reduce transparency to light, wherein the elements are disposed together in a face to face orientation with the through bores of at least some of the elements overlapping.

2. A glass object as claimed m claim comprising a vertical stack of glass elements.

3. A glass object as claimed m claims 1 or 2 in which the number and shape of the through bores m the elements is chosen such that the overlapping through bores forms the shape of a recognisable object.

4. A glass object as claimed m any preceding claim in which some or all of the internal edge faces are honed.

5. A glass object as claimed m any preceding claim m which the internal faces m their unpolished form may oe sufficiently light scattering to provide the desired effect .

6. A glass object as claimed m any preceding claim in which the elements are fastened together using suitable means .

7. A glass object as claimed m any preceding claim m which the glass elements comprise a low iron glass in which the iron content is ideally less than 0.5%.

8. A kit for producing a glass object, the kit comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces, at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces ideally being polished or otherwise rendered transparent to light, the internal edge faces ideally being honed or otherwise treated to reduce transparency to light.

9. A kit as claimed m claim 8 including instructions for assembling the glass elements together m a face to face orientation such that at least some of the through bores overlap so as to produce a hollow zone within the assembled object.

10. A puzzle apparatus comprising a plurality of glass elements, each glass element comprising glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces, at least some of the glass elements having one or more apertures of the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces, the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse and reverse faces of said elements, the external edge faces ideally being polished or otherwise rendered transparent to light, the internal edge faces ideally being honed or otherwise treated to reduce light transparency, wherein the puzzle is solved by assembling the glass elements together m a face to face orientation m a particular, initially unknown, order such the overlapping apertures form a desired image.

11. A puzzle apparatus as claimed m claim 10 including a picture or representation of the desired image .

12. A method for the construction of a glass comprising (l) providing an element comprised of glass material having a predetermined shape and configuration and having an obverse face, a reverse face and one or more external edge faces;

(vn) optionally providing one or more apertures in the element; the or each aperture having the same or different predetermined shape or configuration, the or each aperture having one or more internal edge faces; the or each aperture providing a through bore between the obverse face and the reverse face; (vm) ideally subjecting the external edge face or faces to polishing;

(ix) when present, treating a part of, or all of, the internal edge face or faces such that its ability to transmit light is reduced; (x) placing a second such element m combination with a first element so that the obverse face of the first such element is in substantially parallel spaced apart relationship relative to the reverse face of the second element; and (xi) repeating step (v) until the desired height of the glass object, building or monument has been completed.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 m which the treatment of step (iv) comprises honing.

14. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13 m which the elements are fastened together by a suitable fastening means, preferably an adhesive.

15. A method as claimed m any preceding claim m which the glass material is comprised of low iron glass .

16. A method as claimed m claim 15 m which the iron content is preferably less than 0.5%.