Patent Application
20180119438
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of a tent, canopy, or umbrella and more specifically relates to a personal enclosure.
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling surface which is typically hung below the inside surface of the main structural ceiling of a building. Modern dropped ceilings are intended to conceal the building infrastructure (e.g., piping, wiring, and/or ductwork, etc.). A concealed space is created above the dropped ceiling and below the building inside ceiling, while allowing access for repairs and/or inspections.
Drop ceilings may also be used to hide problems, such as water or structural damage to the building. Further, dropped ceilings can also conceal the sprinkler systems while still providing full fire suppression functionality. Commonly, a dropped ceiling consists of rectangular or square tiles with a framework to support the tiles. The framework is typically suspended from the interior ceiling surface of the building. Such framework may be metallic.
Often utility personnel or building maintenance technicians may need to access the utilities contained between the drop ceiling and the building ceiling to perform maintenance or improvements. Such tasks may expose or distribute debris and/or dusts created by the work related tasks. Also, drop ceilings may be included in office buildings, medical buildings or the like which may require a substantially clean environment, where dust and debris is undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,448 to Healey relates to a shelter. The described shelter device includes a shelter for interior use within a living space, an office space or working space, defining an enclosure extending from the floor to the ceiling and providing access through a ceiling opening for above-ceiling construction and/or repair while containing debris engendered as a consequence of such activities and/or falling objects. A suitable solution is needed such that work may be performed within a drop ceiling to minimize debris created during work within a drop ceiling into the space below.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known worker or spectator shelter art, the present disclosure provides a novel device for mitigating debris. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a device for mitigating debris travel during work performed in a drop ceiling.
According to one embodiment, a device for mitigating debris travel is disclosed herein. The device for mitigating debris travel includes a debris barrier, a support-frame, and a ceiling-attachment. The debris barrier includes a ceiling-opening-interface, a closeable-user-opening, an inside-surface, and an outside surface. The ceiling-opening-interface is configured to receive and contain debris into the inside-surface. The closeable-user-opening is configured to enclose at least a portion of a user, and further configured to limit debris travel out of the inside-surface. The support-frame is fixed to the ceiling-opening-interface of the debris barrier. The support-frame is configured to hold open the ceiling-opening-interface, and further configured to hangingly support the debris barrier. The ceiling-attachment is fixed to the support-frame; the ceiling-attachment is configured to removably couple with at least a portion of the ceiling and to support the upper-frame and the debris barrier when coupled to the portion of the ceiling.
According to another embodiment, a method of using a device for mitigating debris travel is also disclosed herein. The method of use includes a providing a device for mitigating debris travel, removing a ceiling tile within a building, expanding the device for mitigating debris travel, placing the device for mitigating debris travel within a drop-ceiling of the ceiling within the void created by the removal of the ceiling tile, opening a closeable-user-opening of the device for mitigating debris travel, entering the closeable-user-opening of the device for mitigating debris travel, closing the closeable-user-opening of the device for mitigating debris travel, performing a work-related task within the device for mitigating debris travel.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a device for mitigating debris travel, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a personal enclosure and more particularly to a device for mitigating debris travel and method as used to improve the mitigation of debris travel into a building during work performed within a drop ceiling.
Generally, a device for mitigating debris travel is affixable around the waist of a user and attached to a ceiling grid (e.g., with magnets) corresponding. The corresponding ceiling tile may be removed without the hole created by the removed ceiling tile being exposed. Applications include the clearing of mold and other hazards out of ceilings in hospitals or similar buildings. Users may wear or use additional personal safety equipment such as helmets, goggles, air filters, headlamps, etc.
The device is intended to be a personal system that is more easily portable and personal than is currently available. The device may include a plastic, vinyl, or similar sheeting material (but not limited thereto). For example, the material may be visualized like a garbage bag that attaches to a user's waist and then goes up to the ceiling to enclose the work area. The device is attachable to the ceiling grid, which may include the use of magnets. Such an arrangement protects the surroundings from possible exposure from debris.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
In embodiments, debris barrier 110 may be constructed from a lightweight, impermeable material such as plastic, nylon, etc. Similarly the debris barrier 110 may be constructed from a woven-textile material. Other materials may be used for construction of debris barrier 110, depending upon user preferences and specific applications. For example, disposable or reusable materials may be used. The debris barrier 110 may be waterproof, may be impermeable to particulate matter, and may be mildew resistant. Some embodiments of debris barrier 110 may include a debris barrier 110 that is at least semi-transparent. Alternate embodiments may include debris barrier 110 which may be opaque.
Embodiments of support-frame 120 may be shaped to match a predefined opening of drop-ceiling 30. In particular, the predefined opening of drop-ceiling 30 may include panel opening 40 (e.g., and opening created once an individual panel is removed from a panel support frame of the drop-ceiling 30), and the support-frame 120 may be shaped to seal against the panel support frame. For example, where the individual panel is rectangular, the support-frame 120 may be rectangular too. Likewise, where the individual panel is square, the support-frame 120 may be square. According to one embodiment, the ceiling-attachment 130 may be configured to magnetically couple with drop-ceiling 30.
The device for mitigating debris travel 100 may further include a closeable-user-opening 112 configured to provide ingress and egress from the otherwise closed debris barrier 110. The closeable-user-opening 112 may be limited to a size corresponding to the user 140. Alternately, and as shown, the closeable-user-opening 112 may extend along the majority or all of the vertical length of the debris barrier 110.
According to one embodiment, the closeable-user-opening 112 may include a toolless fastener, such as a zipper. Further, the closeable-user-opening 112 may be completely closable via the zipper such that debris travel out of an inside-surface 113 (
According to one embodiment, the device for mitigating debris travel 100 may be arranged as a kit 105. In particular, the device for mitigating debris travel 100 may further include a set of instructions 155. The instructions 155 may detail functional relationships in relation to the structure of the device for mitigating debris travel 100 (such that the device for mitigating debris travel 100 can be used, maintained, or the like, in a preferred manner).
The support-frame 120 may be fixed to ceiling-opening-interface 111 of debris barrier 110, with the support-frame 120 configured to hold open ceiling-opening-interface, 111 and further configured to hangingly support debris barrier 110. For example, and as shown, the support-frame 120 may slide within a sleeve (or series of sleeves) fixed to the ceiling-opening-interface, 111.
In addition, as above, the ceiling-attachment 130 may be configured to magnetically couple with the drop-ceiling 30 (
According to one embodiment, the bottom-opening 115 of the debris barrier 110 may include an elastic-band 116 that is closable about the user 140. In particular, the elastic-band 116 may be configured to contract around one or more portions of the user 140 (e.g., a waist). As such, the bottom-opening 115 may be closable about user via the elastic-band 116 such that debris travel out of inside-surface 113 through bottom-opening 115 is prevented or otherwise limited.
As illustrated, the method for mitigating the debris travel during work performed within a ceiling 500 may include the steps of: step one 501, providing device for mitigating debris travel 100; step two 502, removing a ceiling tile within a building; step three 503, expanding device for mitigating debris travel; step four 504, securing the device for mitigating debris travel to the opening in the drop-ceiling of the ceiling, the opening corresponding to a removed the ceiling tile; step five 505, opening a closeable-user-opening of the drop-ceiling; step six 506, entering the closeable-user-opening of device for mitigating debris travel; step seven 507, closing the closeable-user-opening of the device for mitigating debris travel; and step eight 508, performing a work-related task within the device for mitigating debris travel.
The method for mitigating the debris travel during work performed within a ceiling 500 may further include step nine 509, opening the closeable-user-opening of device for mitigating debris travel 100; step ten 510, exiting device for mitigating debris travel via closeable-user-opening; step eleven 511, removing device for mitigating debris travel from the ceiling of the building; step twelve 512, collapsing device for mitigating debris travel; and step thirteen 513, replacing the ceiling tile within the ceiling of the building.
It should be noted that step nine 509, step ten 510, step eleven 511, and step twelve 512 are optional steps and may not be implemented in all cases. Optional steps of method of use 500 are illustrated using dotted lines in
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
