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US 7,165,362 B2Granted
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.
Claims27
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.
A glass staircase, comprising:
- a support structure composed of spaced apart parallel wafts, each of the spaced apart parallel walls including a plurality of side by side upwardly rising panels formed from glass and connected together;
- and
- a plurality of upwardly rising stepped stairs, each stair only including a horizontal tread formed from glass, each horizontal tread partially overlapping a portion of a preceding horizontal tread such that there is a vertical open space between each consecutive stair, a first end of the horizontal treads being connected to a first wall of the spaced apart parallel walls, a second end of the horizontal treads being connected to a second wall of the spaced apart parallel walls, the horizontal treads only being supported at the first and second ends by the first and second walls.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.