Patent Application
20070283657
PRIOR ART FIGS. A-1, A-2, and A-3 are side views of, respectively, a flanged wall support, a prior art C-shaped retainer clip, and the prior art C-clip within the flanged ceiling wall support as evaluated in Comparative Example A.
a, 5b and 5c are side views of, respectively, a flanged wall support, a Z-shaped retainer clip of the present invention, and a Z-shaped retainer clip within a flanged ceiling wall support as evaluated in Example 1.
The ceiling panels 12, preferably brake formed, rolled or otherwise formed from a sheet metal such as steel, include an elongated planar web section 20, which can be solid or perforated, has an inner surface 22 facing the interior of the cell and an outer surface 24, and side rails 26 extending upwardly from and along the length of the opposite side edges of the web section 20. The ceiling panels 12 typically can be up to 15 feet and even longer when heavier sheet materials are used. For many applications a single ceiling panel 12 can span the width or length of a room or space and intermediate supports 18 are not required.
In the specific embodiment illustrated in
The wall supports 14, preferably brake formed, rolled or otherwise formed from a sheet metal such as steel, include a vertical wall or leg 32, which are each mounted against a wall 16 by a plurality of bolts 34 anchored in the wall 16 or other suitable fastening means, an upper flange 36 extending laterally inwardly from the upper portion of the vertical leg 32 and a lower flange 38 extending laterally inward from the lower portion of the vertical leg 32. The wall mounts 14 typically are preferably approximately 10 feet long and are located on the walls 16 so that the lower flanges 36 are at the desired height of the ceiling. The upper and lower flanges 36 and 38 are spaced apart a sufficient distance for one end portion of a plurality of ceiling panels 10, disposed side by side with the side rails 26 of adjacent ceiling panels 10 abutting, to fit there between with the web sections 20 resting on the lower flange 36, as illustrated in
The intermediate supports 18, preferably brake formed, rolled or otherwise made from a sheet metal such as steel, include a vertical leg 40, a pair of upper flanges 42 and 44 extending laterally in opposite directions from the upper portion of the vertical leg 40, and a pair of lower flanges 46 and 48 extending laterally in opposite directions from the lower portion of the vertical leg 40. The intermediate supports 18 are suspended from ceiling joists or other similar supports (not shown) by hangers or the like (not shown) and extend parallel to an opposed pair of wall supports 14. The intermediate supports 18 are spaced from each other and from a wall support 14 so that the distance between the vertical legs 40 of adjacent intermediate supports 18 and the distance between the vertical legs 32 of the wall supports 14 and the vertical legs of the intermediate supports 18 approximates, but is slightly greater than, the length of the ceiling panels 12.
The upper and lower flanges 42 and 46 extend from one side of the vertical leg 40 of each intermediate support 18 and are spaced apart a sufficient distance for one end portion of a first group X of the ceiling panels 12, disposed side by side with the side rails 26 of adjacent ceiling panels 12 abutting, to fit there between with the web sections 20 resting on the lower flange 46.
The upper and lower flanges 44 and 48 extend in the opposite direction (from flanges 42 and 46) from the vertical leg 40 and are spaced apart a sufficient distance for one end of a second group Y of ceiling panels 12, disposed side by side with respect to each other and end to end with respect to the first group X, to fit there between with the web sections resting on the lower flange 48 as illustrated in
In the preferred construction illustrated, the intermediate supports 18 are similar to a pair of wall supports 14 which have been fastened together back to back by welding or the like, thereby reducing fabrication costs.
The ceiling panels 12 are held in place against the lower flanges 38 of the wall supports 14 by Z-shaped retainer clips 50 which have (I) a diagonal leg 52 extending diagonally between (ii) a horizontal inwardly extending upper leg 54 adapted to fit against the underside of the upper flange 36 of a wall support 14 and (iii) a horizontal outwardly extending lower leg 56 adapted to fit against the upper surface 24 of the web section 20 of a ceiling panel 12 as best illustrated in
Referring to
While two or more Z-shaped retainer clips 50 can be used to hold each end of a ceiling panel 12 in place, they should have a total length corresponding to at least a majority of the width of the web section 20 of the ceiling panel 12. Preferably however, a single retainer clip is used at each end and each such clips is preferably at least 70%, and more preferably at least 80%, of the width of the web section being held in place. The use of a single retainer clip 50 to restrain substantially the entire width of a web section 20 provides improved resistance to the section being pushed or pried away from the lower flange 38 of the wall mounts 14. For example, when the inside width of the web section 20 is 12 inches, the retainer clips 50 can be about 9.5 inches long, and when the inside width is 18 inches, the retainer clips can be about 15.5 inches long.
As best shown in
As best illustrated in
The Z-shaped retaining clips provide substantially improved security over prior art C-shaped clips. For most applications, adequate protection is provided by use of the Z-shaped retainer clips 50 and 50a alone. For other applications requiring more security, additional means for restraining the ceiling panels 12 from being pushed or pried away from the lower flanges of the wall supports and the intermediate supports can be provided.
As illustrated in
In the event some space exists between a ceiling panel web section 20 and the lower flange 38 of a wall support 14 or a lower flange 46, 48, of an intermediate support 18 after installation, e.g., because of a build up of manufacturing tolerances, thin metal shims 74 can be driven between the top surface 24 of the web section 20 and those lower flanges as illustrated in
The amount of force required for an individual to gain entry to the space above a conventional metal ceiling held in place within a wall support by a prior art C-shaped ceiling retainer clip was determined. A C-shaped retainer clip made of 14 gauge steel was evaluated. The horizontal upper leg extended 0.875 inches, the vertical leg was 3.25 inches high, and the horizontal lower leg extended 1.5 inches. The C-shaped retainer clip 100 and its placement within a wall support 14 above a metal ceiling panel 12 are shown schematically in PRIOR ART FIGS. A-1, A-2, and A-3.
The governing performance failure mode was bending of the bottom leg and the load required was 173 pounds.
The procedure of Comparative Example A was repeated with a 14-gauge steel Z-shaped retainer clip of the present invention. The clip 50 had the same overall dimensions as the C-shaped retainer clip, i.e. top leg 0.875″, bottom leg 1.5″, and height 3.25″. The diagonal leg was 3.57″ long. The Z-shaped retainer clip 50 and its placement within a wall support 14 above a ceiling panel 12 are shown schematically in
The governing performance failure mode was buckling of the diagonal leg and the load required was 873 pounds.
From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of the invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, make various changes and modifications to adapt it to various usages.
