Glass support member
AssigneeApple Computer, Inc.
InventorsSteve Jobs, Karl Backus, Rosa Sheng, Ben McDonald, Michael Waltner, Colleen Caulliez, James O'Callaghan, Graham Coult, Damian Rogan, Scott Nelson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A monolithic glass member for supporting loads is disclosed. The glass member includes a plurality of glass sheets that are laminated together with one or more bonding layers. One of the glass sheets has a cut out at an edge thereof to receive a connector. The connector provides a means for connecting and supporting the glass member relative to other structures.
Claims28
A monolithic glass member for supporting loads, comprising:
- a plurality of glass sheets, one of the glass sheets having a cut out at an edge thereof;
- a connector disposed in the cut out of the one glass sheet, a portion of the connector being exposed at the edge of the glass member, the connector providing a means for connecting and supporting the glass member relative to other structures;
- and
- a bonding layer disposed between adjacent pairs of glass sheets, the bonding layer being configured to bond the glass sheets and the connector together to form a laminated structure and to provide rigidity and stiffness to the laminated structure.
A glass tread or riser of a stair, comprising:
- a plurality of glass sheets that are bonded together via one or more Sentry Glas Plus Ionplast Interlayers to form a laminate structure, the laminate structure having a top surface, a bottom surface and an edge formed therebetween, the laminate structure being configured to be secured only at the edge and to support human loads that are applied normal to the top surface.
A glass laminate structure, comprising:
- a titanium insert disposed within the bonded glass layers of the glass laminate structure, the titanium insert being positioned at the edge of the glass laminate structure so as to allow the glass laminate structure to be connected to other structures.
A staircase, comprising;
- a pair of spaced apart vertical walls;
- a plurality of horizontal glass treads positioned between the spaced apart vertical walls in a stepped apart relationship relative to one another, each of the glass treads having opposing ends;
- a plurality of connection arrangements for fixing the opposing ends of the horizontal glass treads to the spaced apart vertical walls, each of the connection arrangements including a first connection member that is adapted to be fixed to the vertical wall and a second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass horizontal tread, the first connection member having a first interlocking portion, the second connection member having a second interlocking portion, the first and second interlocking portions being configured to engage one another so as to place the horizontal glass tread in a secure relationship relative to the vertical walls.
An apparatus for affixing an end of a glass stair to a support structure, the apparatus comprising:
- a first connection member adapted to be fixed to the support structure, the first connection member having a first interlocking portion;
- a second connection member adapted to be fixed to the end of the glass stair, the second connection member having a second interlocking portion, the first and second interlocking portions being configured to engage one another so as to place the glass stair in a secured relationship relative to the support structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.