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Patents: 496 of 530	UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RICHARD D. GALLAGHER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WINSLOW BROTHERS' COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE. FLOOR CONSTRUCTION
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,710, dated September 12, 1899. Application filed october 19, 1898. Serial No. 694,002. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:     Be it known that I, RICHARD D. GALLAGHER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floor Constructions, of which the following is a specification.     In libraries and other structures where plenty of light is desirable and a number of floors or galleries but a short distance one above the other are unavoidable it has become customary to construct the floors of glass laid in a framework, usually of iron or steel, in which the glass is fitted and cemented by the use of putty about the edges of the glass and between it and the frame. The putty serves also as a cushion to protect the glass and prevent any rattling between it and the iron. The putty has been found to lack the necessary firmness and tenacity to carry the weight of persons walking upon the glass, and great inconvenience has been caused by its dropping down upon the floor beneath, making a litter and requiring constant care and attention. It is my purpose to overcome this difficulty by substituting for the putty in a part of the construction a device which, while having the necessary elasticity and adhesiveness, also has sufficient tenacity to hold together under any pressure likely to be put upon it.     To aid in illustrating the essential features of this device, the accompanying drawings are furnished, in which—     Figure 1 is a sectional perspective of a piece of floor, showing one of the joints; and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modification thereof.     In the figures the frame is composed of T-iron A, laid with the vertical web above, in Fig. 1, and A', with said part below, in Fig. 2.

The glass is shown at B, and beneath it I place a strip C of porous elastic material, preferably fibrous—as, for instance, felt—which has been treated with a plastic filling capable of hardening in the atmosphere sufficiently to prevent it from being wrung out of the porous material by ordinary pressure. For this purpose I have employed a mixture of asphaltum-varnish and linseed-oil, in which the felt is soaked before laying. I also prefer to apply an extra coat of asphaltum to each side of the felt to insure its adhering to the glass. The felt is laid upon the horizontal portions of the framework and the glass upon the felt, after which the spaces D D', Fig. 1, between the edges of the glass and the iron frame and the space D², Fig. 2, between the edges of two adjacent pieces of glass are filled with putty, which cannot ooze out below because of the felt C.     I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent—     In a floor or like construction, the combination with a supporting-framework having substantially flat upper surfaces to receive the floor-sections, of floor-sections laid thereon and having a putty or like packing around their edges, and a cushion between the flat upper surfaces of the framework and the floor-sections, consisting of felt treated with a plastic filling capable of hardening in the atmosphere sufficiently to prevent its being wrung out of the felt; substantially as described.     In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 25th day of August, A.D. 1898. RICHARD D. GALLAGHER. Witnesses:     CHAS. O. SHERVEY,     S. BLISS.