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517,156 · Bruner · "Illuminating-Tile and Method of Constructing Same" · Page 1 Home  > Prism Glass  > Patent Index  > Page 1

517,156: 1 of 5

Patents: 277 of 530	UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRESTON M. BRUNER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.	Preston M. Bruner 1 of 2
ILLUMINATING-TILE AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING SAME. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,156, dated March 27, 1894. Application filed May 5, 1893. Serial No. 473,115. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:     Be it known that I, PRESTON M. BRUNER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Illuminating-Tiles and Methods of Constructing the Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, to which not only show the features of improvement in the finished article, but also illustrate the method of constructing the same.     My invention relates to the construction of monolithic concrete floor or pavement surfaces, and has for its object a form of construction in the finished article, adapting it, more particularly, to be used as an illuminating pavement, such as is generally found spanning the area between the area wall and the building,-- that portion of the sidewalk surrounding public buildings in which glass lenses are inserted for the transmission of light to the area and basement.     My invention comprises the feature of embedding the glass lenses immediately in the body of the concrete, while in the course of construction, thereby necessarily involving means for supporting the lenses in position while the pavement is building. In the means employed for this purpose, as herein described, are included features of novelty which I claim as part of my invention, as improvements in the art.     Other features of my invention reside in the means I employ for securing and supporting the "building" edge of my pavement; in the method and means for forming a substructure on which to "lay" the concrete; in the means for supporting this substructure; in the means provided for the easy removal of this substructure without disturbing or mutilating the constructed pavement; in the means for supporting the glass lenses and spacing them apart, while the pavement is building; and in the means for anchoring the pavement proper to the support by which it is anchored to the building.     The details of construction, enumerated above, in which are embodied the novel features of improvement which I claim as my invention, are applicable generally to

pavements which are supported at their edges only.     There are features of improvement which are specially applicable to illuminating pavements or floors, as will appear from the following specification, which involve principles essential to the effective use of an illuminating tile or pavement, and which, as far as I am at present advised, are broadly new in the construction of a pavement of this character.     I am aware that pavements of the character herein shown and described, have been previously constructed of monolithic concrete; that various means have been adopted to strengthen the same; that glass lenses, for illuminating tiles or floors, have been embedded in the concrete itself, supported, in some instances, by skeleton iron frames on which the concrete is "laid," in others, independently supported in place while the pavement is building and eventually by the concrete itself. In these features I claim nothing new, broadly, but do claim features of improvement whereby, in the construction, the article can be more cheaply and economically produced, and in the finished article, it is better, safer, and more nearly approaches the desired results in the use of the same.     In the accompanying drawings, in which like symbols of reference denote like parts where they occur in the different views: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an illuminating pavement over an area alongside a building, while in the course of construction, and is illustrative of the various details of my method of construction in its various steps of progression, illustrating, at the same time, the details of improvement in the pavement itself. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken parallel to the building, transversely to the supporting rib of concrete extending from the area wall to the building. Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Fig. 2, but taken through the middle of the substructure supporting wood-strips; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the under side of one of the glass lenses preferably used by me.     A represents an I-beam which is a fixture secured to the building proper, as is usual in practice, the essential feature of which being the extending lip a.