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Patents: 345 of 530	UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. OLIN H. BASQUIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LUXFER PRISM PATENTS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.	Olin H. Basquin 19 of 28
PRISM-LIGHT. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letter Patent No. 586,220, dated July 13, 1897. Application filed March 23, 1897. Serial No. 628,844. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:     Be it known that I, OLIN H. BASQUIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prism-Lights, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.     My invention relates to prism-lights for receiving and directing light into a room or apartment to be lighted, and has for its object to provide a form of prism-light which, when placed at an inclination to the vertical, will receive and transmit all the light falling upon its receiving-surface from a given direction through the prisms to the other side in such manner that such light will be partly thrown into substantially horizontal lines and the remainder will be converged on a line a little farther from the plane of the receiving-surface than the lower line of such prism and in advance of the lower line of such prism by a distance about equal to the greatest width of such prism in the direction in which the light is to be thrown, but parallel to the plane receiving-surface.     My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein—     Figure 1 is a view of my prism-plate, each prism having one plane surface and one curved surface. Fig. 2 is a similar view in which the plane and curved surfaces are reversed. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the prisms of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the prisms of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a canopy provided with a series of these prisms, thus illustrating their use and operation. Doubtless there may be other forms of these prisms and both surfaces may be curved so as to get the desired result without departing from the spirit of my invention.     A is the body of the prism-light, having a receiving-surface D and the prisms B B, each having a lower surface C and an upper surface E.     In Figs. 1 and 3 the upper surface E is plane and in Figs. 2 and 4 the upper surface is curved. The passage of the light through these prisms is indicated by the dotted lines, a small quantity of light being converged on a line below the upper prism in Fig. 3 and a considerable quantity of light being converged on each line in Fig. 4.

E' is a canopy-frame containing a set of my prisms, and it is preferably hinged at F to the window-frame G. This form of prism-light is peculiarly adapted for canopies and the like, the light being received from above and being thrown by the canopy through an opening beneath into the room to be lighted. Of course it is applicable to light a room of which it forms in part the inclined roof or cover, such as in various forms of skylight-work.     There are various forms of prism-lights which may be placed vertically in a window and which will then project the light into the room in substantially horizontal lines. If such prism-lights be inclined, as indicated in the drawings, they may still throw some light received from a certain direction into the room, but they will throw a certain amount of light against the preceding prism, and in the case of prism-lights intended only to operate by refraction other difficulties and disadvantages arise if they are attempted to be used in a sharply-inclined plane.     I have spoken of my improvement as a "prism-light." Of course it is evident that the invention may be applicable to a set or series of prisms not made integral with each other, as is the case with "prism-lights," as that term is ordinarily used, and, moreover, if desired, the invention can be incorporated in a series of parts more closely approximating what is known as "prism-tiles," such as are used for pavements and the like.     To determine the character and relations of the two faces of the prism, I proceed as follows: Knowing the direction from which the light is to be received and the necessary inclination thereto of the receiving-surface of the prism and knowing the direction in which the light is to be thrown, I may make a diagram containing lines indicating these several directions. I now arbitrarily determine the width of the prism and one face and lay off these dimensions and lines on the diagram in proper relation to the others. Now by drawing lines to diagrammatically represent the rays of light it is observed that the undetermined side of the prism will be produced by joining in a proper manner the