Patent Application
20160138265
The present invention relates to suspended ceiling systems with concealed support grids.
Numerous types of suspended ceiling systems and methods for mounting ceiling panels have been used. One type of system includes a suspended support grid including an array of intersecting grid support members configured to hang a plurality of individual ceiling panels therefrom. It is desirable in some cases to conceal the support grid for providing the appearance of a monolithic ceiling.
A ceiling system is provided which conceals the ceiling support grid with adjoining facings or scrims between adjacent ceiling panels. The ceiling system incudes grid support members having an integral cutting guide groove to permit tight and straight seams to be made between the facings.
In one embodiment, a ceiling system includes a longitudinally extending grid support member including a longitudinal axis and a bottom flange defining a bottom surface, and a ceiling panel supported by the grid support member. A first facing sheet having a peripheral edge portion is attached to the grid support member. An integral cutting guide groove is formed in the bottom surface of the grid support member, the groove extending linearly along the longitudinal axis. The peripheral edge portion of first facing sheet includes an edge which is axially aligned with the groove. In some embodiments, a second facing sheet of a second ceiling panel is supported by the grid support member. The second facing sheet has an edge which is axially aligned with the groove and disposed adjacent the edge of the first facing sheet. The first and second facing sheets conceal the grid support member.
In another embodiment, a ceiling system includes a first grid support member and second grid support member spaced apart from the first grid support member. Each of the first and second grid support members includes a longitudinal axis, a bottom flange defining a bottom surface, a vertical web extending upwards from the bottom flange, and an integral cutting guide groove formed in the bottom surface and extending linearly along the longitudinal axis. A ceiling panel extends between the first and second grid support members. The ceiling panel is supported by the first and second grid support members. A first facing sheet is disposed below the ceiling panel and attached to the first and second grid support members. The first facing sheet includes a first edge which is axially aligned with the groove of the first grid support member and an opposing second edge which is axially aligned with the groove of the second grid support member.
A method for concealing a grid support member of a ceiling system is provided. The method includes the following steps: providing a grid support member including a longitudinal axis and cutting guide groove formed in a bottom surface; positioning a first ceiling panel on the grid support member, the first ceiling panel including a bottom facing sheet having a peripheral edge portion; laterally positioning the peripheral edge portion of the first ceiling panel beneath the grid support member by a distance sufficient to extend across the cutting guide groove; positioning a second ceiling panel on the grid support member, the second ceiling panel including a bottom facing sheet having a peripheral edge portion; laterally positioning the peripheral edge portion of the second ceiling panel beneath the grid support member by a distance sufficient to extend across the cutting guide groove, the peripheral edge portion of the second ceiling panel overlapping the peripheral edge portion of the first ceiling panel; running a blade of a cutting tool along the grid support member in the cutting guide groove and through the overlapping peripheral edge portions of the first and second ceiling panels; and trimming the overlapping peripheral edge portions of the first and second ceiling panel to form an abutment seam. The grid support member is concealed by the overlapping peripheral edge portions of the bottom facing sheets of the first and second ceiling panels.
The features of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings, where like elements are labeled similarly, and in which:
All drawings are schematic and not necessarily to scale. Parts given a reference numerical designation in one figure may be considered to be the same parts where they appear in other figures without a numerical designation for brevity unless specifically labeled with a different part number and described herein.
The features and benefits of the invention are illustrated and described herein by reference to exemplary embodiments. This description of exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. Accordingly, the disclosure expressly should not be limited to such exemplary embodiments illustrating some possible non-limiting combination of features that may exist alone or in other combinations of features.
In the description of embodiments disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “attached,” “affixed,” “connected,” “coupled,” “interconnected,” and similar refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.
Referring to
In one embodiment, grid support members 202 may be horizontally oriented when installed. It will be appreciated, however, that other suitable mounted orientations of grid support members 202 such as angled or sloped (i.e. between 0 and 90 degrees to horizontal) may be used. Accordingly, although support members 202 may be described in one exemplary orientation herein as horizontal, the invention is not limited to this orientation alone and other orientations may be used.
With continuing reference to
Grid support members 202 may each include a longitudinally-extending horizontal bottom flange 210, an enlarged top stiffening channel 220, and a vertical web 212 extending upwards from the flange to the stiffening channel. In some embodiments, the top stiffening channel 220 may be omitted. The grid support members 202 each define a respective longitudinal axis LA and axial directions. Bottom flange 210 has opposing portions which extend laterally outwards from web 212 and terminate in opposed longitudinally extending edges 214. Web 212 may be centered between the edges 214 and vertically aligned with the centerline CL1 of the grid support member in one non-limiting embodiment. In other embodiments, the web 212 may be laterally offset from centerline CL1. Bottom flange 210 further defines a bottom surface 206 facing downwards away from the flange and towards a room or space below the support grid 200. Bottom surface 206 defines a horizontal ceiling reference plane for the overhead support grid 200. Flange 210 further defines a top surface 216 for positioning and supporting the ceiling panel 300 thereon.
Grid support members 202 may be made of any suitable metallic or non-metallic materials structured to support the dead weight or load of ceiling panels 300 without undue deflection. In some non-limiting embodiments, the grid support members may be made of metal including aluminum, titanium, steel, or other. In one embodiment, the grid support members 202 may be a standard heavy duty 15/16 inch aluminum T-rail.
Referring now
Ceiling panels 300 may be constructed of any suitable material including without limitation mineral fiber board, fiberglass, jute fiber, metals, polymers, wood, composites, resin impregnated kraft paper, or other. In addition, the ceiling panels 300 may have any suitable dimensions and shapes (in top plan view) including without limitation square or rectangular.
In one embodiment, ceiling panels 300 may have an inner core 301 comprising a honeycomb structure formed from a plurality of interconnected cell walls 308 that define a plurality of open cells 310 (best shown in
In one embodiment, the core 301 may be formed by paper cell walls 308. Paper used to construct cell walls 308 may be at least 20 pound kraft paper, and in some embodiments 20 to 80 pound kraft paper (thicknesses of about 0.004 to 0.015 inches) which generally provides the requisite stiffness to the core to resist sagging of the ceiling panel without unduly adding weight to the ceiling panel structure. As opposed to other materials, paper is generally more economical and cost-effective as a core wall material. The paper may be resin-impregnated in some embodiments. In other possible embodiments, lightweight non-paper material such as fiberglass and thin aluminum metal sheet also may perform satisfactorily for cell walls and be used. Non-woven materials, such as for example without limitation non-woven glass fibers in a resin matrix, may also be used.
With continuing reference to
In some embodiments, the bottom facing layer 330 may be in the form of a scrim comprised of laminated non-woven glass fibers in a resin matrix. This type construction is suitable for high end acoustical panels to impart a smooth visual appearance, durability, and dimensional stability. Other suitable scrim materials may be used for both the top and bottom facing sheets 320, 330 and are available from suppliers such as Owens Corning, Lydall, Ahlstrom and Johns Manville. Such materials may include films, sheets, woven materials and open cell foamed materials are all suitable
Ceiling panel 300 may further include a spacer panel 325 in some embodiments as shown in
In alternative embodiments as shown in
Either construction of
Referring to
In one embodiment with reference to
A method for concealing a grid support member 202 of a ceiling system 100 will now be described.
Referring to
The adhesive strips 240 are placed laterally adjacent and proximate to the cutting guide groove 250 on both sides to form a neat seam between peripheral edges 334 of adjacent bottom facing sheets 330 beneath the grid support member 202. The adhesive strips may be suitably strong double-side tape having two tacky sides—one for attachment to the grid support member and the other for attachment to the bottom facing sheet 330. In some embodiments, a releasable type adhesive may be used to allow the ceiling panels 300 and facing sheets to be cleanly removed and replaced if temporary access is needed to utilities above the ceiling system 100. In alternative embodiments, a spray adhesive may be used instead which is applied to the bottom surface 206 of the grid support member 202 to form two longitudinally extending strips of adhesive. The spray adhesive may be a releasable type in some embodiments. In yet other possible embodiments, a hook and loop releasable fastening element such as Velcro® strips may be used in which one piece is attached to the grid support member 202 and the other piece is attached to the upper surface of the peripheral edge portion 332 of the ceiling panel bottom facing sheet 330. Activated adhesives such as hot melt film could also be used for attachment to grid support member—pre-attached to grid and activated in field with hot element (i.e. iron) for example. Mechanical methods or magnets could also be used.
Referring to
In a similar manner, a second ceiling panel 300 (e.g. the left panel shown in dashed lines for clarity) is next installed on the opposite side of the grid support member 202. The peripheral edge portion 332 of the bottom facing sheet 330 is laterally inserted and positioned beneath the bottom surface 206 of the bottom flange 210 by a sufficient distance that extends across and over the cutting guide groove 250. This locates the peripheral edge 334 of the bottom facing sheet 330 of the second ceiling panel 300 on the opposite side (e.g. right) of the cutting guide groove 250. The peripheral edge portion 334 of the second ceiling panel preferably overlaps the peripheral edge portion 334 of the first ceiling panel 300 by a distance D2 (see
The next step in the ceiling panel installation process to conceal the grid support member 202 is cutting and trimming the overlapped peripheral edges portions of the first and second ceiling panels 300 using the cutting guide groove 250 to form a tight and neat seam therebetween. Referring to
It will be appreciated that numerous variations in the foregoing ceiling panel installation process and sequence are possible.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be understood that various additions, modifications and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope and range of equivalents of the accompanying claims. In particular, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other forms, structures, arrangements, proportions, sizes, and with other elements, materials, and components, without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. In addition, numerous variations in the methods/processes described herein may be made within the scope of the present disclosure. One skilled in the art will further appreciate that the embodiments may be used with many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, sizes, materials, and components and otherwise, used in the practice of the disclosure, which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from the principles described herein. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments of the disclosure, which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents.
