Patent Application
20110232219
This invention relates to overhead panel installations, and more specifically to lightweight panels coupled with a ceiling to form soffits, valances, and displays, and other structural elements.
In many commercial buildings, it is desirable to aesthetically separate areas of a large space with overhead panels or decorative valances projecting downward from a ceiling. These overhead panels are also referred to as soffits, valances, and bulkheads in different settings. Alternatively, overhead panels may be connected to a ceiling to provide a vertical mounting surface for advertising information, menu information, or other displays in various retail establishments. The overhead panels must have substantial thickness in order to achieve the desired decorative effect. However, the weight of these overhead panels requires significant structural elements mounted to a ceiling of the building. Many overhead panels also must be installed using hoists or similar mechanical lifting devices.
In many buildings, such as “big box” buildings having very high structural ceilings, a so-called drop ceiling is installed below the higher structural ceiling and duct work. The drop ceiling might define an area such as a food court, customer service area, or smaller retail area within the larger store. The drop ceiling includes a plurality of ceiling support members suspended from the higher ceiling and interconnected to form a grid in a horizontal plane. The drop ceiling also includes a plurality of lightweight ceiling tiles supported on the grid. Any soffits or bulkheads thus, would extend downwardly below the drop ceiling within such installations. For many reasons, a business may not desire to, or may not be actually allowed or able to, install any structure above the drop ceiling for supporting the soffit or bulkhead structures. For example, added structural members extending above the drop ceiling may interfere with air vents, wiring, and other installations concealed between the structural ceiling and the drop ceiling. Furthermore, such construction requires additional equipment to reach the higher structural ceiling and also may require that the drop ceiling be partially disassembled.
Also, existing overhead panel installations require additional structural elements to be connected to the higher structural ceiling at suitable anchor points to support the significant weight of the overhead panels. However, these installations are expensive, and may not be an option for businesses that cannot install structures above a drop ceiling in a building. Thus, it would be desirable to utilize an overhead panel installation for the purposes of creating soffits, valances, bulkheads, or other structures in areas covered by a drop ceiling.
The invention according to one embodiment includes an overhead panel assembly for coupling to a drop ceiling. The overhead panel assembly includes an elongate support channel coupled to a grid member of the drop ceiling. The overhead panel assembly further includes a vertical panel received over and coupled to the elongate support member with a plurality of binding members. A plurality of support channels and vertical panels may be positioned in series along a drop ceiling to form a decorative soffit, valance, bulkhead, or other structure.
In an exemplary embodiment, the elongate support channel has an upper horizontal plate section and a pair of vertical sidewall sections extending downwardly from the ends of the upper horizontal plate section. The upper horizontal plate section includes a plurality of top apertures, and the vertical sidewall sections include a plurality of side apertures. A grid clip includes a horizontal portion and a hook arm. The hook arm slides into engagement with a grid member of the drop ceiling. The horizontal portion includes an attachment member extending down from the hook arm and extending through the top apertures of the support channel to connect the support channel and the clip. The elongate vertical panel has a cellular core and a groove formed in the cellular core along an elongate upper edge. The groove is sized to receive the support channel and engage the pair of vertical sidewalls of the support channel. The binding members extend through the vertical panel and the side apertures in the support channel to connect the panel to the support channel.
A method of assembling a decorative soffit, valance, or other structure from a drop ceiling is also disclosed. The method includes sliding a hook arm of a grid clip into engagement with a grid member of the drop ceiling, and coupling a top surface of a support channel to the grid clip. The method also includes sliding a vertically-oriented panel over the support channel so that the panel surrounds both side surfaces of the support channel. The method further includes coupling the vertically-oriented panel to the side surfaces of the support channel.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the overhead panel assembly 10 provides a platform for mounting at least one overhead, vertical panel 26 that is supported on the support grid 14 of the drop ceiling 12, as will be discussed in further detail below. The overhead panel 26 drops down in a generally vertical orientation from the plane of the ceiling 12 and can be combined with additional panels 26 or used individually to form a display, decorative soffit, valance, bulkhead, or other suitable structure that extends downwardly from the ceiling 12. These soffits, valances, and other structures aesthetically separate areas within a large retail or commercial space without requiring connection to and support from the higher structural ceiling of a building.
More specifically, the support channel 32 includes an upper generally horizontal plate section 36 having a first edge 38 and a second edge 40, a first vertical sidewall section 42 extends downwardly from the upper plate section 36 at the first edge 38, and a second vertical sidewall section 44 extends downwardly from the upper plate section 36 at the second edge 40. The upper plate section 36 includes a plurality of top apertures 46 that are formed therein along the length of the channel 32. The apertures 46 may be elongate as shown in this embodiment. The first and second vertical sidewall sections 42, 44 include a plurality of side apertures 48, which are also formed in the channel along its length and are elongate along the channel 32, and specifically along the length of the sidewall sections 42, 44. The side apertures 48 are substantially in alignment on both the vertical sidewall sections 42, 44 so that the side apertures 48 are in communication with each other in elevation for mounting the panel 26.
The grid clips 30 couple the support channel 32 to the support grid 14 of the drop ceiling 12. The grid clips 30 each include a generally horizontal portion 50, a hook arm 52 extending from a curved edge 54 of the horizontal portion 50, and an angled arm 56 extending from the horizontal portion 50 opposite the hook arm 52. The angled arm 56 may also include a vertical lip 58 spaced from the horizontal portion 50. As shown in
Grid clip 30 also includes an attachment member 60 extending generally downwardly from portion 50 and supported by portion 50. For illustration, the attachment member is shown at an edge of the clip 30. However, it will be understood that the attachment member will be mounted generally in the center of the clip, as shown by reference numeral 61 and further illustrated in
The panel 26 is illustrated as rectangular in one embodiment, and includes an elongate upper edge 62, an elongate lower edge 64, and opposing side edges 66. Of course, panel 26 can take any suitable shape, length, or width. The panel 26 in one embodiment contains a cellular core 68 having first and second side walls 70, 72 that are covered by a veneer or laminated outer skin. The lower edge 64 is also appropriately covered as are other exposed panel surfaces. The veneer or outer skin may be any color according to the desired display, valance, or soffit to be formed. The cellular core 68 may be made of a foam material that allows the vertical panel 28 to be lightweight, for example, around 1-2 pounds per linear foot of elongate length. The cellular core can be a material like expanded polystyrene, for example. This weight can be fully supported on the support grid 14 of a drop ceiling 12 without causing damage to the drop ceiling, and without having to be further supported by or attached to the higher structural ceiling. The side panels 70, 72 and outer skin may be formed of a suitable lightweight material, such as high impact polystyrene or expanded PVC, for example.
An elongate groove 74 may be cut into the middle of the cellular core 68 along the elongate upper edge 62, as shown in
Referring to
Each binding member 34 is long enough to span the width of the panel 26 and support the weight of the panel 26 in the channel apertures 48. The illustrated exemplary binding member 34 may include a binding post 78 having a head 80 and a cylindrical hollow shank 82 with internal threads 84. Each binding member 34 may also include a binding screw 86 with a head 88 and a threaded post 90 configured to engage and screw into the cylindrical hollow shank 82. The heads 80, 88 hold against the sidewall surfaces 70, 72. The apertures 76 may be sized slightly larger than the cross-section of the binding members, so the binding members slide freely therethrough. In the illustrated embodiments, the apertures 76 might be positioned at various positions (e.g. every 12 inches) along the length of the panel for flexibility in mounting the panels. However, since a smaller number of binding members will provide adequate support, several apertures may remain unused. A button 92 may be slid into an unused aperture 76 to fill in the holes for aesthetic purposes. To conceal the binding member 34 and heads 80, 88 from the outside of the overhead panel assembly 10, the heads might be painted to match the color of the sidewalls 70, 72. Alternatively, a colored piece of an adhesive tape might be placed over the heads 80, 88. The button 92 or any adhesives may be colored or tinted to match the veneer or laminated skin on the side panels 70, 72 of the vertical panel 26.
In operation, a decorative soffit, valance, or other structure may be assembled using the overhead panel assembly 10. A plurality of grid clips 30 are coupled to the support grid 14 of a drop ceiling 12 by sliding the hook arm 52 of the grid clips 30 onto a horizontal flange 20, 22 of the support grid 14. A support channel 32 is then positioned against the grid clips 30 so that the attachment member 60 extends through the top apertures 46 in the support channel 32. The clips 30 may be slid and positioned on grid 14, as desired. Also, the apertures 46 are elongated to allow the channel 32 to be slid lengthwise along the members 60 for positioning. Once the support channel 32 is locked into position on the grid clips 30 using members 60 and threaded nuts 62 or other fasteners, a vertical panel 28 is slid up onto the support channel 32 such that the support channel 32 is disposed within the elongate groove 74 on the upper edge 62 of the panel 26.
To complete the assembly 10, a plurality of binding members 34 are inserted through spaced horizontal apertures 76, along the length of the panel 28 and through corresponding side apertures 48 in the support channel 32, thereby coupling the panel 26 and the support channel 32 together. Consequently, a decorative soffit, valance, display, or other structure is formed by the vertical panels 28 extending downwardly from the drop ceiling 12 without requiring any other connection to the support grid 14.
As will be appreciated, the various panels can be mounted end-to-end in order to form the desired structure that hangs down from the ceiling. For example, a channel 32 and panel 26 might be configured such that a channel supports multiple panels. Alternatively, a single panel might span, and be supported by, two adjacent channels 32. It would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that various dimensions in the length of the channels 32 and panels 26 may be used so as to accommodate various different installations. Adjacent panels also might be angled with respect to each other, and thus, the edges 68 of the panels 26 may be appropriately angled, or beveled, to achieve the desired installation. When installed, the edges of the panel 26 might be simply abutted. Alternatively, they might be joined by another physical structure, such as that illustrated within U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,383, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Any exposed edges 68 may be covered with the same skin or laminate that forms the sidewalls 70, 72 of panel 26. In that way, various different displays, valances, soffits, or other structures might be formed as desired.
A second embodiment of the overhead panel assembly 100 is illustrated in
In many applications, the structure, soffit, valance, or display to be mounted will be 50 feet long or longer and may not be completely linear from one end to another. In a third embodiment of the overhead panel assembly, a plurality of grid clips 30, support channels 32, vertical panels 28, and binding members 34 are used in combination to mount a continuous series of vertical panels 28 on the drop ceiling 12. To provide the appearance of a continuous soffit and stabilize the assembly, adjacent vertical panels 28 may be joined together, as noted above. Adjacent support channels 32 may also be joined together. Attaching adjacent vertical panels 28 having cellular cores 68 may be accomplished with a specially designed fastener mounted on the side edges 66 of the panels 28. As noted, one exemplary panel fastener is the SlideLite® fastening system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,383, owned by the assignee of this application, and the disclosure of which is fully incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. Thus, the vertical panels 28 abut and engage each adjacent panel 28 in the series to form a continuous decorative soffit or valance.
To couple adjacent support channels 32a, 32b, the overhead panel assembly may further include a mending plate 110 as shown in
While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the embodiment thereof, and while the embodiment has been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of applicant's general inventive concept.
