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Various embodiments of the present invention relate to mounting devices to a surface. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the systems and methods of the present invention may be applied providing a speaker assembly for mounting to a ceiling tile. In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the systems and methods of the present invention may be applied to mounting an assembly to a ceiling tile.
Speaker systems are commonly used in commercial and industrial buildings for a variety of purposes, including the delivery of music, for paging, and for emergency alerts. Buildings of these types are typically constructed using a drop ceiling of standard 16 millimeter (mm) thick ceiling tiles suspended on a frame. Occasionally, non-standard ceiling tile thicknesses are also used, depending on the construction. In addition, some buildings are constructed with hard ceilings, as opposed to drop ceilings.
Often, it is necessary to install such speaker systems after the construction of the building and into the existing ceiling. Typical speaker assemblies must be held in place and then fastened in some way to the ceiling. Installation of these speaker assemblies often requires an installer to climb a ladder and attempt to install a speaker assembly into the ceiling while precariously perched some height above the floor. Such installation often requires the installer to balance at the top of the ladder while using one hand to hold the speaker assembly in place and the other hand to manipulate a tool for fastening the speaker assembly to the ceiling, such as a power drill or a manual screw driver. Thus, installation of speaker assemblies can be very dangerous to installers.
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a speaker assembly that can be suspended from a ceiling prior to being fastened to the ceiling by the installer.
In one example (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive), the systems and methods of the present invention may be applied by providing a speaker assembly and cooperating suspension ring designed to allow installation of the assembly in a horizontal ceiling tile from below. A hole of a given diameter is cut in the ceiling tile and the suspension ring is placed above and concentric with the hole. The suspension ring may be C-shaped so it can be passed through the hole from below.
The speaker assembly includes a body or housing with a flange at one end. The body has a diameter that allows it to fit through the hole and the suspension ring. The assembly is further provided with clamps attached to the flange next to the body. In order to bring the flange into contact with the ceiling tile, the assembly must be aligned so that the clamps penetrate cooperating voids in the suspension ring.
After contact of the flange with the ceiling tile, the assembly is rotated and lowered into a position where the clamps engage with projections on the suspension ring so that the suspension ring supports the weight of the assembly and furthermore prevents the assembly from rotating without first being lifted again. Then the clamps of the assembly may be tightened to complete the installation the assembly into the ceiling tile.
In addition, the clamps on the assembly are designed so that rotation in one direction permits the assembly to be installed into ceiling tiles having a first thickness and rotation in the other direction permits the assembly to be installed into ceiling tiles having a different thickness.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of at least one embodiment of the invention.
In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to illustrative embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings.
The housing 104 is provided with a housing flange 108 on the end with the speaker 102. The housing flange 108 has a center axis 110 and an outside flange diameter 112. In an embodiment, the center of the speaker 102 may be coincide with the center axis 110 of the housing flange 108. However, in the embodiment shown the speaker 102 and the housing 104 are slightly off center of the center axis 110. In this embodiment, it will be understood that the outside housing diameter 106 is still measured relative to the center axis 110 such that the outside housing diameter 106 is equal to the twice the distance from the center axis 110 to the part of the housing 104 that is farthest from the center axis 110.
The housing flange 108 is provided with several clamps 120. In the embodiment shown, there are three clamps 120 (which example is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive). The clamps 120 shown are a roughly “T” shaped apparatus having a body 122, a first notched member 124 having a first notch 126, and a second notched member 128 having a second notch 130. The body 122 has a flange end 132 and the notched members 124, 128 are located along the body 122 at different distances from the flange end 132 for reasons that will become apparent later.
The notched members 124, 128 extend substantially perpendicularly from the body 122 and the notches 126, 130 are positioned parallel to the body 122 facing toward the flange end 132 of the body 122 as shown. In the embodiment shown, the notches 126, 130 consist of slots cut through the notched members. The notches 126, 130 are provided to receive and engage with lip-like projections 140 on the suspension ring 150 as will be described below. However other configurations of the notches 126, 130 are possible such as for example a conical notch for receiving a conic projection or an “X”-shaped notch for receiving an X-shaped projection.
In the embodiment shown, each clamps 120 is further provided with a stopper portion 142 under one of the first notched member 124. The stopper portion 142 prevents over rotation of the speaker assembly 100 when inserted into the suspension ring 150 and rotated clockwise (as seen from below). The clamp body 122 itself forms the stopper for the second notched member 128 thus preventing over rotation of the speaker assembly 100 when inserted into the suspension ring 150 rotated counter-clockwise.
The clamps 120 are moveably fixed to the housing flange 108 by means of a fastener 134. In the embodiment shown, the fastener 134 is a screw that penetrates the housing flange and the clamp 120 and is rotatably fixed to the housing flange 108. The housing flange 108 is not threaded to engage the screw but allows the screw to rotate freely without causing a change in the position of the screw parallel to the center axis 110. The clamp 120 however is threaded so that rotation of the screw causes the clamp 120 to move along an axis roughly parallel with the center axis 110 in a direction depending on the screw rotation. The screw fastener 134 is provided as an illustrative example and one skilled in the art will recognize that alternative fasteners 134 and means of moveably fastening the clamp 120 to the housing flange 108 are also possible including, for example cam-operated fasteners and spring-loaded fasteners.
In the embodiment shown, the T-shaped member 602 includes a hollow body 622, a first notched member 624 having a first notch 626, and a second notched member 628 having a second notch 630. The body 622 has a flange end 632 and the notched members 624, 628 are located along the body 622 at different distances from the flange end 632 for reasons that will become apparent later. The notched member 624, 628 roughly correspond in features to those described with reference to
The inner member 604 of clamp 600 is provided with one or more fins 610 (two are shown). The fins prevent movement of the T-shaped member 602 relative to the inner member 604. They 610 also provide a larger and more stable contact surface between the housing flange 108 and the inner member 604. In the embodiment shown, the inner member 604 is part of or permanently fixed to the housing flange 108. In another embodiment, the inner member 604 is designed to removably engage the housing flange 108 in such a way that the inner member 604 when installed cannot move relative to the housing flange 108, thereby ensuring that the T-shaped member 602 is also maintained in a desired alignment.
Clamps 120 or 600 are moved through manipulation of the fasteners, for example a screw 608 as shown in
The clamps 120 or 600 are fixed to the housing flange 108 at locations a fixed distance from the center axis 110 of the housing flange 108 so that the outside diameter 138 of the circle formed by the clamps (the clamp diameter 138) is less than the outside flange diameter 112. This allows the speaker assembly 100 to be inserted into a hole in a ceiling tile or other surface with a hole diameter greater than the clamp diameter 138. And if the hole diameter is also less than the outside flange diameter 112, then the housing flange 108 will prevent the speaker assembly from passing completely through the hole, as will be discussed in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 3 below.
Turning now to the suspension ring 150, in the embodiment shown the suspension ring 150 is a roughly circular ring-shaped body having an outside diameter 152 and an inside diameter 154 and a thickness 156. Alternative shapes are possible, including square, rectangular, or “U”-shaped plates. The inside diameter 154 is at least slightly greater than the outside housing diameter 106. Portions of the inner diameter of the ring have been removed to form voids 158. The voids 158 are sized and located about the inner diameter 154 of the ring to permit the clamps 120 to pass through the ring 150 if the speaker assembly is oriented as shown in
It should be noted that in the embodiment shown, the outside diameter 152 of the suspension ring 150 is roughly equivalent to the outside flange diameter 112. However, this is not necessary and the two diameters may vary significantly as long as the relationship between the other diameters (e.g., the relationship between the middle diameter 160 and the clamp diameter 138 and the inside diameter 154 and the outside housing diameter 106) are not affected.
Each void 158 is provided with two projections 140 on opposing sides of the void 158. In the embodiment shown, the projections 140 are in the form of roughly straight lips or fins. These projections 140 were created by bending or otherwise forming a portion of the ring 150 between the middle diameter 160 and the inner diameter 154 to point perpendicular to the plane of the ring 150. The projections 140 are of a size that can fit into the notches 126, 130 of the notched members.
In the embodiment shown, the ring 150 has a portion 162 cut away to form a C-shaped body. This embodiment is particularly suitable for passing the suspension ring 150 into a hole having a diameter less than the outside diameter 152 from below as long as the cut away portion 162 is larger than the thickness of the ceiling tile or other surface. Such a shape is not necessary if the suspension ring 150 is to be installed from above the ceiling tile.
The suspension ring 150 is provided with two hooks 212 for engaging with the suspension rails 202 as shown. In an alternative embodiment, the hooks 212 may be replaced with some other fastening mechanism such as sheet metal screws.
In the embodiment shown, it should be noted that the middle diameter 160 of the suspension ring 150 and the hole diameter 210 are roughly equivalent. However, this is not necessary and the two diameters 150, 210 may vary significantly as long as their respective relationships with the other diameters (e.g., the relationships between the middle ring diameter 160 and the clamp diameter 138, the hole diameter 210 the outside housing diameter 106, the hole diameter 210 the outside ring diameter 152, and the inside diameter 154 and the outside housing diameter 106) are not affected.
It should be pointed out that if the ceiling tile were constructed of metal, wood or some other material capable of bearing the weight of the speaker assembly 100 and suspension ring 150, then the ring 150 could be installed above the hole 204 without the use of the suspension rails. In an embodiment, the suspension ring 150 is provided with a roughened or high-friction surface so that when the speaker assembly 100 is installed and the clamps 120 are tightened, the suspension ring is fixed to the ceiling tile 200.
Next, the speaker assembly 100 has been passed from below through the ceiling tile 200 and the suspension ring 150. The speaker assembly 100 is inserted in a first position 300 (
After insertion, the speaker assembly 100 is rotated, in the embodiment shown, clockwise to an intermediate position 302 relative to the suspension ring 150. This rotation is possible because the distance 136, (see
After rotation, the speaker assembly 100 is lowered without rotation into a second position 304 (
The installer now has both hands free to manipulate the fasteners 134 and tighten 312 the clamps 600 into a position that fixes the speaker assembly 100 to the suspension ring 150. In the embodiment shown, the fastening is achieved by rotation of the screw fasteners 608 to move the clamps 600 closer to the housing flange 108. This fixes the speaker assembly 100 in the second position 304.
In
After rotation, the speaker assembly 100 is lowered without rotation into a third position 310 (
The installer now has both hands free to manipulate the fasteners 608 and tighten 312 the clamps 600 into a position that fixes the speaker assembly 100 to the suspension ring 150 in the third position 310. In the embodiment shown, the fastening is achieved by rotation of the screw fasteners 608 to move the clamps 600 closer to the housing flange 108.
The contrasting
The first notched member 624 is generally located between 0 mm and 50 mm from the flange end 632 and more preferably located between 3 mm and 10 mm (measured from the flange end 632 to the notched member 624, with the depth of the notch 626 itself ranging between 2 mm and 10 mm and being most preferably roughly equivalent to the height of the projection 140) in order to allow the speaker assembly to be easily installed in the most common standard ceiling tile which is 16 mm thick based on a 5 mm high projection 140. The second notched member 628 is located at a distance ranging between 0 mm and 300 mm greater than the distance between the first notched member 624 and the flange end 632, and ranging more preferably between 10 mm and 50 mm and most preferably between 15 mm and 35 mm greater than the distance between the first notched member 124 and the flange end 632.
By providing a clamp 600 with opposing notched members at different distances from the flange end 632, the speaker assembly 100 is adaptable to be used for standard 16 mm ceiling tiles while still being suitable for non-standard ceiling tile thicknesses. More particularly, one embodiment of the present invention is suitable for use with ceiling tiles greater than 5 mm and less than 45 mm in thickness. Thus, considering that the clamps may be tightened via manipulation of the fasteners 608, the clamps 600 allow the speaker assembly 100 to be fixedly installed in ceiling tiles with a range of thicknesses from 1 mm to slightly less than the distance between the second notched member 628 and the flange end 632 plus the maximum extension away from the housing flange 108 allowed by the fastener 608.
The embodiment in
It should be noted that the selection of shapes and attachment means described above are illustrative only, and are not intended to limit the invention. For example, it is within the scope of this invention to provide a housing flange of any shape, a speaker of any shape, a ceiling tile hole of any shape and a suspension ring of any shape as long as the functional aspects of penetration, rotation and engagement between the parts are maintained. One skilled in the art will realize that any suitable electronics that can be associated with a speaker system can be housed in the housing 104. For example, in one embodiment, the housing 104 includes a transceiver for receiving data via wireless transmission. In another embodiment, the housing 104 includes an amplifier for amplifying the signal received and/or a digital to analog converter for receiving digital signals.
One skilled in the art will also realize that various speaker configurations are also possible. For example, in an embodiment a mesh speaker cover is provided that, when installed, hides the clamp fasteners and speaker from view. The mesh speaker cover also protects the covered speaker from damage. The speaker cover removably engages the housing flange via bayonet fasteners. In the embodiment a volume control is provided that is accessible from below when the mesh speaker cover is removed.
While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.