LOCKING SYSTEM FOR A NON PERFECTLY STRETCHED SUSPENDED PARTITION

Abstract

A system for attaching non perfectly stretched suspended partitions made of a flexible web attached at the edges thereof to a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building, the frame including rails with a shoulder on which the edge bears, is characterised in that the edge has the shape of a hook and includes a wing through which it is connected to the web and a seam, The edge is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level such that the two branches a and are spread apart by at least 45° from each other after the edge has been inserted into the rail so that the portion of the inner face of the seam, located towards the free end of the seam is in contact with the shoulder and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the edge in the rail.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of suspended partitions such as false ceilings and false walls and particularly those made of a non-perfectly stretched flexible web hanged at the edges thereof to a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building.

Stretched false ceilings are already known, which comprise on the one hand a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room, this frame being made of an outer rail made itself of headed profiles and, on the other hand, a flexible web stretched inside this frame, this flexible web being made of a plastic sheet or a weave. The flexible web is maintained stretched by hanging, on the rail, an edge integral with the web forming a hook, this edge having, in straight section, the shape of a hook that clings on a shoulder of the rail.

Those known suspended partitions are based on the principle of a tensioning of the flexible web on the frame, in a perfectly plane way, horizontally or vertically whether it applies to a false ceiling or a false wall, and consequently are adapted to cover perfectly plane walls or ceilings.

In case of covering surfaces that are not plane, for example corrugated or curved, for instance an arched ceiling, it is not possible to perfectly stretch the web if it is wished to avoid a broken line pattern of the suspended partition. It is consequently necessary to be able to fix the web on rails in order that it is imperfectly stretched while being hold in said rails.

Yet the conventionally used hook, provided to enable an optional disassembly of the suspended partition and then its repositioning, gets systematically disengaged from its contact on the rail shoulder when the web is relaxed, even slightly. Therefore it is not adapted to the intended use.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a new locking system for a suspended partition made of a flexible web imperfectly stretched and hung at the edges thereof to a frame attached to the walls or the ceiling of a room in a building, said frame being made of rails having a shoulder on which the edge bears, said edge or grab having a hook like section and having a wing through which said grab is connected to the web and a seam.

In this respect, the system according to the invention is noteworthy in that the edge integral with the web, or grab, is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level such that the two branches are spread apart by at least 45° from each other after said edge has been inserted into the rail, so that the inner face portion of the seam, that is to say the face opposite to the wing, located towards the free end of said seam, is in contact with the shoulder and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the grab in the rail.

Other advantages and features will be better pointed up from the description that follows of an alternative embodiment of the locking system according to the invention, by reference to the annexed drawings, on which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view in vertical section of a false ceiling made of a stretched web, having a rail attached on the upper part of a wall in a room according to the known anterior art;

FIG. 2 is a partial view in vertical section, taken on the same scale and with the same view angle as FIG. 1, of a false ceiling made of an imperfectly stretched web having the same rail as the one shown in FIG. 1 and an alternative embodiment of the locking system according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the furthest part of a false ceiling according to the anterior art, made of a flexible web 1 horizontally stretched under the ceiling 2 of a room. This web 1 is attached along its edges to a support made of a horizontal rail 3, itself attached to the superior part of a wall 4 of the room by appropriate means, not represented, such as screws. This rail 3 comprises an external vertical wing 5 that extends parallel to the wall 4 and immediately nearby it. From this external vertical wing 5, about at half height, comes an upper horizontal core 6 extending on a short distance, for instance about 7 mm, inward the room. This core 6 gets extended at its end with an internal vertical wing 7 extending downwardly somewhat lower than the external wing 5 next to the wall 4, in other words the internal wing 7 is somewhat upper that the external wing 5 of said rail. This external wing 5 has on its lower end a shoulder 8 extending horizontally inwardly in the room, on a short distance for instance of 3 mm. This squared shoulder 8 advantageously has a rounded end.

The lower part of the external vertical wing 5, the upper horizontal core 6 and the vertical wing 7 form a recess 9 opened downwardly and in which is engaged a grab 10 forming the edge of the stretched flexible web 1.

This grab 10 has, in straight section, the shape of a hook extending to the wall 4 and opened downwardly. It has an internal branch 10a, also called a wing, by which it is linked to the web 1, and an seam-like external branch 10b having a rounded end, curved downwardly. When the web 1 is stretched, the grab 10 is supported on the shoulder 8 by the lower end of its external branch 10b that extends downwardly.

This grab 10 is simply supported on the horizontal lower shoulder 8 by its seam 10b and, consequently, it is much easier to put it in its hanging position. Indeed during the mounting of the stretched web, the grab 10 just needs to be pushed back upwardly in the recess 9, by means of an appropriate tool, such as a spatula engaged in this grab 10, to run it between the shoulder 8 and the vertical wing 7 and bring it over the shoulder 8. When the grab 10 is released, then it comes itself leant on the shoulder 8 and ensures a perfect maintaining of the stretched web 1, thanks to the spring effect between the two grab branches due to the material with which it is made and to the tension exerted on the internal branch 10a by the web 1. The mentioned spring effect resides in that the two branches are put closer. The angle between the two grab branches in position is lower than 15°.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the rails 3 of these two locking systems are perfectly identical, only the grab 10′ that allows to hang the web 1 to said rails 3 being different.

First of all, it will be noticed that the dimensions of the shown alternative embodiment of the grab 10′ according to the invention are, concerning the length of its wing 10′a, or internal branch, and of its seam 10′b, or external branch, lower than those of the grab 10 conventionally used and shown in FIG. 1: FIGS. 1 and 2 being at the same scale, the external branch of the shown variation of the grab 10′ according to the invention, also called mini-grab, has almost the same length as the internal branch of the anterior art grab 10. It goes of course without saying that dimensions of the grab 10′ do not limit the invention and, in another alternative embodiment of the locking system according to the invention, not represented, the grab 10′ could have dimensions similar to those of the conventional grab 10.

According to an essential feature of the invention, the edge or grab 10′ is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level such that the two branches 10′a and 10′b are spread apart by at least 45° from each other after said edge has been inserted into the rail 3, so that the portion of the internal face of the seam 10′b, that is to say the face opposite to the wing 10′a, located towards the free end of said seam, is in contact with the shoulder 8 and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the grab 10′ in the rail 3.

The grab 10′ object of the present invention is advantageously made of a semi-flexible extruded plastic material, similar to the grab 10 representing the anterior art, but conferring a higher flexibility level so that the branches can spread apart from each other.

Thus, when the grab 10′ is put in the housing 9 of the rail 3, the weight exerted by the flexible web 1 on the grab will spread apart its two branches. The spacing angle of the two branches is at least 45°. Preferably, it will be between 70° and 130°, more preferably next to 90°. Thanks to this spreading apart of the branches, the portion of the internal face of the seam 10′b located towards its free end contacts the surface of the shoulder 8.

The exerted frictional force is sufficient to enable the blocking of the grab 10′ without any possibility of inappropriate disengaging thereof.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the lower end of the seam 10′b of the grab 10′ could advantageously be beveled in order to present a plane section. With the end of the seam 10′b being beveled, it presents then two straight surfaces, one of which contacting the shoulder 8. It is well understood that, because the contacting surfaces are plane, the locking provided by the friction forces will be better.

Finally, the present invention applies more particularly to non plane false ceilings, but it is well obvious that the examples just given are only a particular illustration in no case limiting the application fields of the invention.

Claims

1. A locking system for non perfectly stretched suspended partitions, said partitions being made of a flexible web (1) hung at the edges (10′) thereof to a frame attached to the walls (3) or the ceiling of a room in a building, said frame including rails (3) with a shoulder (8) on which the edge (10′) bears, said edge (10′), also called grab, having the shape of a hook and including a wing (10′a) through which it is connected to the web (1) and a seam (10′b), characterized in that the edge or grab (10′) is made of a semi-flexible material and has a flexibility level such that the two branches (10′a and 1à′b) are spread apart by at least 45° from each other after said edge has been inserted in the rail (3) so that the portion of the inner face of the seam (10′b), that is to say the face opposite to the wing (10′a), located towards the free end of said seam, is in contact with the shoulder (8) and thus ensures a frictional blocking of the grab (10′) in the rail (3).

2. The locking system according to claim 1, characterized in that the free end of the seam (10′b) of the grab (10′) is beveled.