GB1567625A - Glass panes and buildings including glass panes - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN GLASS PANES, AND BUILDINGS INCLUDING GLASS PANES (71) We, HARNEE PTY. LTD., a com- pany incorporated under the laws of the State of New South Wales, of 98 Bay Road, Waverton, New South Wales 2060, Australia, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be -granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly de scribed in and by the following statement: - This invention relates to glass panes and to buildings including glass panes.

There are occasions when it is desired that persons on one side of a glass pane can view what is happening on the other side without undue loss of clarity while persons on the said other side are not unduly distracted by reflections from the pane and by persons moving on the said one side. An example is where the whole or part of one or more walls of a squash court consists of a glass pane, with spectators on one side and players on the other. Differential lighting, with the playing area well-lit, and the seating not so well lit, assists in attaining this objective, but an ordinary transparent glass pane cannot be used successfully except for the back wall. The present invention provides glass panes which will enable the said objective to be achieved when used for the side and/or front wall of a squash court as well as the back wall.The panes, of course, have other uses than for squash courts.

According one one aspect of the invention, there is provided a glass pane having an arrangement of dots or lines of an opaque material applied to one side of the pane, the pattern being such that concentrated light from the side of the glass to which the pattern is applied is reflected to such an extent that persons on that side of the glass may see the wall defined by said glass pane and may "read" the path of an object moving relative to said wall whilst persons disposed on the other side of said wall may see through the wall to a sufficient extent to also follow the path of said moving object.

The invention will be further described with reference to glass panes for use in a squash court, and to squash courts including such panes. Squash courts have already been built in which the back wall is made of hardened plate glass with a spectator viewing area behind the glass wall. This enables more people to view a game than when an opaque back wall is used, the additional spectators viewing the game through the glass. Negligible inconvenience to the players is caused because the players have their backs to the back wall for most of the play. However, serious inconvenience would be caused if ordinary hardened plate glass were used for the whole or part of the side and front wall, due to reflections from the glass 'surface and due to movement of spectators behind the glass.

It has now been found that satisfactory results are obtained if glass panes made in accordance with this invention are used for the whole, or part, of any of the walls of a squash court. Preferably, a pattern of fine white dots is applied to the inside surface of the glass. The players receive sufficient reflected light from the walls to "read" the wall, while enough light passes through the pattern to allow the audience to see the game. In a preferred embodiment of the invention differential lighting is used to enhance the effect of the reflective characteristics of the panes. In this embodiment the players do not see the audience and thus are not distracted by them and the audience are aware of the dot patern only as a faint film, it at all.

In one embodiment of this invention the dots are applied to the glass surface by silkscreening a white ceramic ink onto plate glass. Subsequent heat toughening of the glass fuses the ceramic ink into the glass surface. An additional advantage of providing the ceramic dots is that the pattern gives the glass a slightly raised texture which provides the squash ball with a "grip" similar to the surface of a conventional squash court wall. The pattern may preferably cover from 10% to 30% of the glass surface. A preferred dot distribution is 30 to 50 dots or lines to the linear inch for a squash court wall, although this can be varied according to the uses to which the glass panes are put.

The glass panes can be used as a strip set into a wall or the walls of a squash court, or other building, in a similar manner to that in which plate glass windows are mounted in a wall. Alternatively all of one wall, or all walls, may be constructed from the glass panes. The construction may be a demountable one giving a squash court that can be transported from one place to another.

A preferred embodiment of a demountable squash court incorporating glass pane walls according to this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: - Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the squash court; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, to an enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of adjacent glass sheets showing the unfilled gap between said sheets.

The squash court as illustrated in Fig. 1 compirses end frames 4 built up from horizontal tubular members 5 secured to the upper ends of vertical tubular standards 6.

Each standard is provided with resilient pedestals 7, and the end frames are joined by longitudinal tubular members 8, the ends of which are secured to the members 5.

Floor beams 9 of rectangular cross section extend between the vertical members 6 approximately one metre above the base of the pedestals 7. Floor joists 10 (see Fig. 2) extend between the beams 9, and support a playing floor surface 11. A trough 12 is formed about the periphery of the floor 11 for a purpose to be described later.

A series of glass panels 13 are suspended from the tubular members 5 and 8, and said panels are provided with a pattern of white lines (not shown).

Outrigger vertical glass gussets 14 are rigidly secured to metal brackets 15 extending tangentially from the underside of the tubular members 5 and 8. The gussets 14 are positioned adjacent the junction of each sheet 13 and support them in a vertical plane.

A second row of glass panels 16 are secured to the lower edges of the panels 13 by means of plates 17. The lower edges of the panels 16 are accommodated within the floor trough 12 (see Fig. 2) and a felt pad 18 is positioned between the glass and the trough 12.

An angular facia member 19 is secured to the outer surfaces of the members 9 with an inner face 20 of said facia 19 positioned adjacent the glass panels 16. A second felt pad 21 is positioned between the glass 16 and the facia 19.

One panel 16A is hingedly secured to its upper edge to the glass end wall so that it can be opened as an access door as shown in Fig. 1. A short length 19A of the facia 19 adjacent the panel 16A is hingedly secured thereto so it can be swung down to form a step to assist access.

To allow for expansion due to temperature changes an unfilled gap must be provided between the edges of the glass sheets 13 and 16. This gap of three millimetres is shown at 22 in Fig. 3.

Although described as having a pattern of white lines the panes could, alternatively be provided with an arrangement of white dots. The white dots are applied to the surface by silk-screening a white ceramic ink onto plate glass. Subsequent heat toughening of the glass fuses the ceramic ink into the glass surface. The dots or lines cover from 10% to 30% of the glass surface. A preferred distribution for the squash court is from 30-50 dots or lines to the linear inch.

It will be appreciated that courts constructed as above may be used not only for squash but also for such games as handball, raquet-ball, or indeed any game of spectator interest which features balls rebounding from vertical surfaces.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: - 1. A glass pane having an arrangement of dots or lines of an opaque material applied to one side of the pane, the pattern being such that concentrated light from the side of the glass to which the pattern is applied is reflected to such an extent that persons on the side of the glass may see the wall defined by said glass pane and may "read" the path of an object moving relative to said wall whilst persons disposed on the other side of said wall may see through the wall to a sufficient extent to also follow the path of said moving object.

2. A glass pane as defined in claim 1 wherein the arrangement is applied as a ceramic ink fused into the glass surface during a heat toughening step.

3. A glass pane as defined in claim 1 or claim 2 where surfaces of said material are such as to give the glass pane a slightly raised texture.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (10)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. glass. Subsequent heat toughening of the glass fuses the ceramic ink into the glass surface. An additional advantage of providing the ceramic dots is that the pattern gives the glass a slightly raised texture which provides the squash ball with a "grip" similar to the surface of a conventional squash court wall. The pattern may preferably cover from 10% to 30% of the glass surface. A preferred dot distribution is 30 to 50 dots or lines to the linear inch for a squash court wall, although this can be varied according to the uses to which the glass panes are put. The glass panes can be used as a strip set into a wall or the walls of a squash court, or other building, in a similar manner to that in which plate glass windows are mounted in a wall. Alternatively all of one wall, or all walls, may be constructed from the glass panes. The construction may be a demountable one giving a squash court that can be transported from one place to another. A preferred embodiment of a demountable squash court incorporating glass pane walls according to this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: - Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the squash court; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, to an enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of adjacent glass sheets showing the unfilled gap between said sheets. The squash court as illustrated in Fig. 1 compirses end frames 4 built up from horizontal tubular members 5 secured to the upper ends of vertical tubular standards 6. Each standard is provided with resilient pedestals 7, and the end frames are joined by longitudinal tubular members 8, the ends of which are secured to the members 5. Floor beams 9 of rectangular cross section extend between the vertical members 6 approximately one metre above the base of the pedestals 7. Floor joists 10 (see Fig. 2) extend between the beams 9, and support a playing floor surface 11. A trough 12 is formed about the periphery of the floor 11 for a purpose to be described later. A series of glass panels 13 are suspended from the tubular members 5 and 8, and said panels are provided with a pattern of white lines (not shown). Outrigger vertical glass gussets 14 are rigidly secured to metal brackets 15 extending tangentially from the underside of the tubular members 5 and 8. The gussets 14 are positioned adjacent the junction of each sheet 13 and support them in a vertical plane. A second row of glass panels 16 are secured to the lower edges of the panels 13 by means of plates 17. The lower edges of the panels 16 are accommodated within the floor trough 12 (see Fig. 2) and a felt pad 18 is positioned between the glass and the trough 12. An angular facia member 19 is secured to the outer surfaces of the members 9 with an inner face 20 of said facia 19 positioned adjacent the glass panels 16. A second felt pad 21 is positioned between the glass 16 and the facia 19. One panel 16A is hingedly secured to its upper edge to the glass end wall so that it can be opened as an access door as shown in Fig. 1. A short length 19A of the facia 19 adjacent the panel 16A is hingedly secured thereto so it can be swung down to form a step to assist access. To allow for expansion due to temperature changes an unfilled gap must be provided between the edges of the glass sheets 13 and 16. This gap of three millimetres is shown at 22 in Fig. 3. Although described as having a pattern of white lines the panes could, alternatively be provided with an arrangement of white dots. The white dots are applied to the surface by silk-screening a white ceramic ink onto plate glass. Subsequent heat toughening of the glass fuses the ceramic ink into the glass surface. The dots or lines cover from 10% to 30% of the glass surface. A preferred distribution for the squash court is from 30-50 dots or lines to the linear inch. It will be appreciated that courts constructed as above may be used not only for squash but also for such games as handball, raquet-ball, or indeed any game of spectator interest which features balls rebounding from vertical surfaces. WHAT WE CLAIM IS: -

1. A glass pane having an arrangement of dots or lines of an opaque material applied to one side of the pane, the pattern being such that concentrated light from the side of the glass to which the pattern is applied is reflected to such an extent that persons on the side of the glass may see the wall defined by said glass pane and may "read" the path of an object moving relative to said wall whilst persons disposed on the other side of said wall may see through the wall to a sufficient extent to also follow the path of said moving object.

2. A glass pane as defined in claim 1 wherein the arrangement is applied as a ceramic ink fused into the glass surface during a heat toughening step.

3. A glass pane as defined in claim 1 or claim 2 where surfaces of said material are such as to give the glass pane a slightly raised texture.

4. A glass pane as defined in any one of

the preceding claims where said dots or lines occupy 10% to 30% of the pane surface.

5. A glass pane as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pattern comprises up to 50 dots or lines to the linear inch.

6. A games court comprising a plurality of panes of glass as defined in any one of the preceding claims, each of said panes being suspended from an overhead frame, there being provided an unfilled gap between the edges of adjacent glass panes of the order of 3 mm, the said opaque material being of a white material.

7. A court as defined in claim 6 further comprising a floor member adapted for mounting approximately one metre above the level of the bases of pedestals on which said floor member is supported and wherein respective glass pane walls are suspended so that their lower edge portions are secured between a felt strip disposed around the floor edge and a second felt strip within a facia disposed in the plane of the floor.

8. A games court comprising a plurality of panes of glass as defined in any one of claims 1 to 5.

9. A glass pane substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

10. A games court substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.