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Patents: 346 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 20 of 28
PRISMATIC LIGHT. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letter Patent No. 586,221, dated July 13, 1897. Application filed March 23, 1897. Serial No. 628,845. (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 Prismatic Lights, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.     My invention relates to the production of prism-plates for windows or openings where it is desired to usefully direct an increased amount of light into and about the apartment to be illuminated.     Prismatic lights are made up into large prismatic plates, the several lights being united together in various ways. The preferred form of the light is that in which it has one plane surface and a series of parallel prisms on the opposite surface, and the preferred form of prism-plate is that in which a series of such prism-lights is mounted together by a suitable grid, net, or frame, so as to present a substantially plane exterior surface. Now under the various conditions to which such prism-lights are subjected— conditions which vary with the width of the street or opening opposite the window, the height of the buildings or obstructions opposite, the position of such obstructions, or the direction toward which such opening looks— it is evident to anyone who is familiar with the principle on which such prism-lights operate that there must be in many such complete prism-plates a variety of prisms— that is to say, prisms of different angular arrangement. Such prism-plates are in demand for very valuable properties and are used in high-class stores and building-fronts and upon popular thoroughfares, so that it has become necessary to furnish not merely the increased effect desired, but also a highly-finished, ornamental, and beautiful window-plate, which shall not offend the laws of good taste.     To get the best results it is found that the exterior of the plate should be uniform and regular, but irregularities on the inside of the plate, or rather on the prism side, are of less consequence, because it is from that side that the light, as these plates are ordinarily used, proceeds. The prism side is therefore luminous to such a degree and in such a manner

that slight irregularities there will be of little consequence. These prism-plates are manufactured and shipped all complete and ready for insertion in the window or other openings, and to make them safe and suitable for shipping, handling, and selling in the market they must be practically of uniform thickness. Moreover, if when the plates are put in position there are any prisms which project or any sets of prisms which extend out into the room farther than the others it is quite evident that all such prisms will become convenient resting-places for dust, dirt, and the like, whereby the efficiency and beauty of the prism-plate will be rapidly deteriorated. Constructors have been at great expense and trouble to render such work sufficiently smooth, uniform, regular, and free from dirt and the like. Uniform thickness is highly desirable— that is to say, each prism, wherever located on the finished plate, should be shaped so that its outer extremity will be the same distance from the surface of the plane side of the prism as the outer extremity of each other prism.     To give the finished plate a uniform, regular, and harmonious appearance when viewed from the plane side, there should be the same number of prisms to each unit of length in every part of the prism-plate. It is also desirable that every prism should have the same width at its base. These three features are preferably embraced in one and the same prism-plate, and to do so the side surfaces of the prisms preferably should be joined by a curved surface at the outer extremity of such prism, where otherwise the prism would project too far inwardly.     My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein—     Figure 1 is an elevation of a prism-plate, looking toward the prism side. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.     It will be evident that many other forms and combinations of prisms will occur in practice and that the prisms of different angles will be distributed differently over the plate. I have simply shown one arrangement, diagrammatically, as it were, for in a plate having but nine prism-lights there would ordinarily be little occasion for any great difference