Patent Application
20100126105
This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/118,062, filed Nov. 26, 2008.
The invention relates to suspended ceiling structures and, in particular, to electrification of such ceiling structures.
Commercial building spaces such as offices, laboratories, light manufacturing facilities, health facilities, meeting and banquet hall facilities, educational facilities, common areas in hotels, apartments, retirement homes, retail stores, restaurants and the like are commonly constructed with suspended ceilings. These suspended ceiling installations are ubiquitous, owing to their many recognized benefits. Such ceilings ordinarily comprise a rectangular open grid suspended by wire from a superstructure and tile or panels carried by the grid and enclosing the open spaces between the grid elements. The most common form of grid elements has an inverted T-shaped cross-section. The T-shape often includes a hollow bulb at the top of the inverted stem of the T-shape. A popular variant of this standard T-shape includes a downwardly open C-shaped channel formed by the lower part of the inverted tee.
Advances in electronics has fed further advances and lead the world into the digital age. This digital movement creates an ever-increasing demand for low voltage direct current (DC) electrical power. This demand would seem to be at least as great in finished commercial space as any other occupied environment. A conventional suspended ceiling has potential to be an ideal structure for distributing low voltage electrical power in finished spaced. Many relatively low power devices are now supported on such ceilings and newer electronic devices and appliances are continuously being developed and adopted for mounting on ceilings.
The ceiling structure, of course, typically overlies the entire floor space of an occupiable area. This allows the ceiling to support electronic devices where they are needed in the occupied space. Buildings are becoming more intelligent in energy management of space conditioning, lighting, noise control, security, and other applications. The appliances that provide these features including sensors, actuators, transducers, speakers, cameras, recorders, in general, all utilize low voltage DC power.
As the use of electronics grows, the consumption of low voltage electrical power likewise grows. This seemingly ever accelerating appetite for DC power presents opportunities for more efficient transformation of relatively high voltage utility power typically found at 110/115 or 220/240 alternating current (AC) volts with which the typical enclosed space is provided. Individual power supplies located at the site of or integrated in an electronic device, the most frequent arrangements today, are often quite inefficient in transforming the relatively high voltage AC utility power to a lower DC voltage required by an electronic device. Typically, they can consume appreciable electric power in a standby mode when the associated electronic device is shut off. It is envisioned that a single DC power source serving the electronic needs of a building or a single floor of a building can be designed to be inherently more efficient since its cost is distributed over all of the devices it serves and because it can take advantage of load averaging strategies.
Thus, grid tees used in suspended ceilings, with little added cost, can provide a medium for electrifying the entire ceiling area, including the space immediately above, the plane of the ceiling space, and the space immediately below the ceiling with low voltage power.
The invention comprises a grid tee member having a plurality of separate low voltage electrical circuits each effectively running its full length. The circuit conductors can be individually accessed at substantially any point along the length of the tee for receiving or supplying electrical power. Each of the conductors can be joined at the ends of its respective tee to corresponding conductors on other tees to provide full electrification of a suspended ceiling. Ideally, the circuits are each formed by a flat strip of a conductive ink or like coating or a metal foil or tape. The invention lends itself to use with conventional roll formed sheet metal grid tees. The conductive strips can be applied to the strip stock of the tee before, during or after the roll forming process.
The relatively low voltage and power requirements of typical solid state ceiling mounted appliances, enable the strips to be comparatively inexpensive and unobtrusive since they and any related insulating layers require little material content. By making the conductive strips relatively wide, and locating them widely spaced over the exposed or accessible surfaces of the tee permits use of low cost connectors or terminals of loose dimensional tolerances.
In
The figures illustrate electrical conductors 26 in the form of flat strips fixed to various exposed surfaces of the grid tees 10, 11. The conductors 26 in the illustrated examples are relatively flat strips, typically being much thinner than the proportions illustrated in these figures for purposes of illustration. The strips 26 in one economical form are bands or traces of printed conductive ink. Such ink is available commercially from T-Ink, Inc. of New York, N.Y. USA. One convenient way of fabricating the grid tees 10, 11 is to roll form their respective shapes from flat metal stock, typically steel. While the metal stock strip is flat, its eventual exposed surface can be coated with an insulating material by known techniques such as roll coating, spraying, powder coating, or like process using known electrically insulating materials. The side of the sheet stock that will bear the conductive strips 26 is either completely coated with electrically insulating material, or is coated with bands where the conductive strips will be applied. Alternatively, insulating material can be applied locally to the surfaces in question after the tee 10 or 11 has been formed. As another alternative, the conductive strip material where it is a foil or tape can be coated or laminated with an electrically insulating material at least on its side that will face towards the grid tee. In the latter case, for example, an adhesive can be applied to the underside of the insulator of the conductive strip 26 or can be applied to the tee 10 or 11 thereby permitting the conductive strips 26 to be permanently attached to the grid tee.
Over coating or over laminating the conductive strip whether it be a conductive ink trace or a metal foil or tape, is optional, if not preferred. Inspection of
The conductors of each pair 27, 28, will normally be operated at opposite polarities. It will be understood that the individual conductors 26 in the arrangements of
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 fair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. The invention is therefore not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61118062 | Nov 2008 | US |
