Architectural plate glass support system

A mechanical joint for supporting a vertically oriented plate comprising:

• a stem having a support structure end and a spherical end;
• a head having reduced sized first end and enlarged sized second end with a spherical opening sized for mating engagement with the spherical stem end for articulated movement relative to the stem;
• said first end of said stem and said head szied to pass through a hole in the plate, said second head end sized to prevent said head from passing completely through the hole in the plate, the head having a tapered surface for mating engagement with a complementarily tapered surface defining the hole in the plate, the spherical stem end and enlarged second end of the head terminating in a common plane generally perpendicular to an axis of the stem;
• means for securing the plate to said head including a threaded nut and complementary threads on said head whereby said nut biases the plate against the head second end to secure the head to the plate;
• and
• a shock absorbing member between the head and the stem sensitive to relative angular displacement between the stem and the head.

A wall area comprising:

• a plurality of glass plates, the glass plates having front and back surfaces and edges circumscribing the front and back surfaces;
• glass plates mounting structures each comprising:
• a socket member;
• and
• a ball member joined to the socket member for spherical pivoted motion about a pivot point, the ball member including a ball portion and a stem portion extending rigidly from the ball portion;
• the plates having bores extending through the front and back surfaces sized for receipt of the socket members with the pivot points in median planes of the plates;
• and
• a support structure, secured to the stem portions, for suspending the glass plates in an array arranged edge to edge, the mounting structures and the support structure providing substantially moment-free support of the glass plates to permit limited deformation of the array of glass plates due to wind load.

A wall structure, for use with a supporting structure, exposed to wind force comprising:

• a plurality of glass plates each having front, back and edge surfaces;
• the plates being arranged in a planar array, including an upper row and lower rows beneath the upper row, with adjacent edge surfaces separated by a resilient sealant, the plates having corners positioned adjacent one another;
• joints interconnecting each group of the adjacent corners of the plates in an essentially moment-free manner;
• means for suspending plates of the upper row in an essentially moment-free manner from the supporting structure;
• means for suspending the plates of the lower rows in an essentially moment-free manner from the plates above;
• and
• a bracing structure of controlled resilience horizontally engaged with said joints for the controlled restriction of bowing of the wall under wind force.