Patent Application
20060218871
The invention relates to suspended ceiling structures and, in particular, to a system for converting conventional T-grid for lay-in tiles to a snap-up panel construction.
Conventional suspended ceilings comprise a rectangular metal grid and lay-in tiles. Typically, the metal grid members have an inverted tee configuration and the tiles or panels are supported on the upper faces of the tee flanges. Situations arise where it is desirable to change the ceiling surface for various purposes such as to present a new appearance or look, or to conceal a soiled or otherwise damaged ceiling. The traditional approach to renewing the ceiling is to replace the tiles and either refurbish the lower visible faces of the grid tees or replace them. These approaches can be expensive considering the cost of new materials and installation labor, as well as the cost of handling and disposal of the old materials. Still further, replacement of existing ceiling tiles with new tiles does not yield a completely new “look” but, rather, only a renewed appearance.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,696,142 and 6,467,228 illustrate “snap-up” ceiling panels of a type used with the present invention.
The invention provides a system for resurfacing existing suspended ceilings that utilizes the original grid for support and allows the original tiles to remain in place. The disclosed resurfacing system provides a mounting clip with gripping elements that engage the existing grid and support elements that mate with peripheral portions of new ceiling panels. The mounting clip, in the illustrated embodiment, is configured to snap onto the flange of a standard tee or grid member and, more specifically, is configured to be installed at an intersection of the tee grid members such that it grips the adjacent flange areas at all four grid member extensions from the intersection.
As disclosed, moreover, the preferred clip is arranged to be manually installed without tools by simply twisting or rotating it about the center of the intersection, causing it to simultaneously grip onto all four grid extensions. A number of features allow the clip to be accurately positioned and readily snapped into place even where previously installed ceiling panels remain in place. The clip can beneficially be made by injection molding a suitable plastic material so as to achieve the resilience to enable it to reliably snap into the installed position. Moreover, the clip can be modified by cutting it with a hand shear or snips, without shattering or splitting, to fit areas where the grid members intersect walls, light fixtures, air vents, and the like.
Conventional ceiling tiles or panels 15 usually have acoustic and fire retardant properties and are normally supported on the grid tees 12 by resting in direct contact on the upper faces of the flange portions 16.
A plurality of clips or adaptors 17, installed on the tees or runners 12 at strategic locations, most typically at their intersections, are arranged to enable new ceiling panels 18 to be attached and supported on the grid 11 while, typically, previously installed tiles 15 remain on the grid 11. The illustrated clip 17 is a one piece injection molded body having a cruciform shape in plan view formed by four identical arms or sections 19. The major areas of the sections 19 are generally co-planar. The clip 17 can be formed of a suitable thermoplastic material such as a glass filled polybutylene tetra phthalate. This and like material has sufficient resilience to allow the clip to be installed and removed more than one time.
An upper face of the clip 17 has gripping elements 21 formed to interengage with the flange portions 16 of the grid tees 12 and a lower face of the clip has support elements 22 formed to mate with perimeter portions 23 of the ceiling panels 18. Each of the four arms or sections 19 of a clip body has a gripping element 21 arranged to engage and couple with a separate one of the four tee parts or sections of the grid 11 that comprise an intersection. The gripping or mounting element 21 as shown most clearly in
The perimeter of the clip 17 is reinforced and thereby stiffened by a downwardly extending flange 36. When the clip 17 is properly installed on the grid tees 12, central and outlying portions of the upper surface 28 are arranged to abut the lower face of the grid tee flanges 14. Centering rib formations 37 shown, for example, in
Panel supporting elements or members 22 extend downwardly from the plane of the main body. The support elements 22 are symmetrically spaced on opposite sides of the center of the arms or sections 19. One of the support elements 22, on the side of the section 19 carrying the respective gripping element 21 is interrupted in the area of the gripping element such that it is in two parts spaced along the length of the respective section 19. Each support element 22 has an L-shaped section (e.g.
Holes 46 molded in the clip body adjacent the outward ends of the sections 19 and near the center of the body are provided to receive optional fasteners such as screws for fixing the clip 17 to a suspended grid or associated ceiling fixtures. The holes 46 are reinforced by concentric small annular flanges 47. A square hole 48 at the geometric center of the clip and notches 49 at the distal ends of the sections or arms 19 have corners lying on the center line of the respective sections. The corners of the hole 48 and notches 49 can be used as sights to align the clip 17 with a grid on which it is being installed or a chalk line or a laser beam, for example.
The clip 17 is manually installed, typically without tools, at an intersection of grid tees 12 from below the grid 11 by horizontally aligning its center with the imaginary center of the intersection while the top face 28 of the clip is held in contact with the lower faces of the grid tees and the sections 19 are deliberately held out of angular alignment, slightly counter-clockwise when viewed from below, with the lines of the grid tees.
The gripping elements 21, extending slightly above the plane of the main area of the clip body, raise the overlying tiles 15 that are carried on the respective grid tees 12. The clip 17 is rotated about its center on a vertical axis causing the gripping elements 21 to slide over portions 16 of the grid tee flanges 14. The beveled areas 29 smoothly cam the gripping elements 21 over respective tee flange portions 16. An audible click will be heard and resistance to further rotation will occur when the tee flanges 14 snap into the pocket formed between the opposing ribs 37 on each clip section 19. This snapping action is produced by the spring-like resilience of the gripping elements 21 and to some extent the resilience of the flanges 14 themselves. The tilt of each pair of alignment surfaces 39 tends to wedge the respective tee flange 14 into a snug and aligned fit therebetween. Once a flange 14 snaps between the surfaces 39, the force to remove a clip is greater than that required to install it. The location of the alignment surfaces 39, distal from the center of the clip 17 maximizes their position holding capacity. Fine adjustment of the clip position can be assisted by reference to the sights formed by the notches 49 and center hole 48, and any selected reference lines or marks.
In a typical application, clips 17 are installed on all of the grid tee intersections of an existing suspended ceiling. At the perimeter of the ceiling and other interruptions or terminations of the grid, such as at lighting and air duct fixtures, the clip 17 may be suitably field cut or otherwise modified to provide support elements 22 at these locations. Fasteners installed through the holes 46 of the modified clips can be anchored in corresponding areas of the overlying grid flanges 14 or other structure to maintain the modified clip in position.
With reference to
It will be understood that rectangular panels, other than the illustrated square panels 18, can be mounted on the clips 17. The clips 17 can be installed on less than all of the intersections of the grid tees 12 and can be installed on the grid tees between intersections. Thus, for example, 2 foot by 2 foot panels 18 can be installed on a 2 foot by 4 foot grid and, 2 foot by 4 foot panels can be installed on 2 foot by 2 foot grid patterns. Mounting the clips 17 at locations on an existing grid at locations other than intersections allows for re-squaring an out of square existing grid. The clips 17 can be installed along any grid tee 12 where additional panel support may be beneficial, for example, near the perimeter to support cut panels.
It should be evident that this disclosure is by way of example and that various changes may be made by adding, modifying or eliminating details without departing from the lair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. For example, the clip can be made of metal by blanking and forming, spot welding parts together, or casting. The invention is, therefore, not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.
