1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to suspended ceilings as found, for example, in cleanrooms, data centers, storerooms or any application wherein ceiling panels are suspended above a floor area of a building.
It is often desirable to have fire sprinkler protection for an area located beneath a suspended ceiling, and to have the fire sprinkler heads located above the ceiling panels of the suspended ceiling. This may be for sanitation and esthetic reasons, or, for example, for cases in which a suspended ceiling is installed in a building having an existing fire sprinkler system.
For the fire sprinkler system to be effective, it is necessary that the water or fire retardant discharged by the fire sprinkler system not be blocked in any way by a ceiling panel. It is necessary that the ceiling panel located beneath the fire sprinkler head be moved from the path of the water or fire retardant, in a rapid manner, when the fire sprinkler system is activated.
The present invention is a drop panel unit that takes the place of a ceiling panel, or a plurality of ceiling panels, of a suspended ceiling, and provides, in a rapid manner, an unobstructed path for the water or fire retardant discharged from the sprinkler head when the fire sprinkler system is activated.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
In order to provide a less obstructive and more aesthetical suspended ceiling, having a fire sprinkler system above the suspended ceiling for protecting the area beneath the suspended ceiling, U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,329 discloses a decorative cover plate secured to a housing in which operative parts of the sprinkler system are contained. The decorative plate is located substantially flush with the surface of the suspended ceiling with the housing disposed above the suspended ceiling. A fusible material is used to support the decorative plate and in the event of a fire in the area beneath the suspended ceiling, heat from the fire melts the fusible material thus releasing the decorative plate to expose a sprinkler head of the sprinkler system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,228 discloses a hinged ceiling panel that is pivotally attached to a suspended ceiling grid structure. Unlike the present invention, the hinged ceiling panel must be manually released at the non-hinged edge in order to move the ceiling panel from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation. No mechanism is provided for moving the ceiling panel in the event of a fire or activation of a fire sprinkler system and no automatic means is provided to control the rotation of the ceiling panel from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation
The present invention is for use in a suspended ceiling system. The present invention is a drop panel unit having: a frame defining a drop panel opening; at least one pair of drop panels, each pair of drop panels comprising a first drop panel and a second drop panel, the at least one pair of drop panels having combined dimensions for completely covering the drop panel opening, each first and second drop panel having a hinge along one edge for hinging the first drop panel to one side of the frame and each second drop panel to the opposing side of the frame, to provide for the drop panels to rotate about the hinge by gravity from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation; a mounting beam extending between opposing sides of the frame; an electromagnetic support disposed between at least one of the first and second drop panels and the mounting beam to magnetically hold the first and second drop panels in the horizontal orientation when electric power is provided to the electromagnetic support; and a damper disposed between each drop panel and the mounting beam to slow the rotation of the drop panels from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation when electric power to the electromagnetic support is removed.
The present invention is a drop panel unit for use with a suspended ceiling. The drop panel unit may be used with any type of suspended ceiling ranging from those having a lighter duty inverted T grid system, as used in residential or commercial applications, to more robust grid systems found in data centers and cleanrooms used in the fields of semiconductors, bioscience, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medicine, and food processing. The above listing of uses provides only some examples of possible uses as the drop panel unit of the invention is suited for any use where a fire sprinkler system is installed above a suspended ceiling.
Many installations having suspended ceilings, as described above, are required to have fire sprinkler protection to discharge water or a fire retardant to the area beneath the suspended ceiling. It is often desirable to have sprinkler heads of the fire sprinkler protection located above the suspended ceiling, to provide a ceiling free of obstructions in order to more easily maintain the space beneath the suspended ceiling in a contaminant-free condition, for example.
Having sprinkler heads located above the suspended ceiling requires that ceiling panels below the locations of the sprinkler heads be movable, in a rapid manner, in order that discharged water or fire retardant is not blocked from entering the space covered by the suspended ceiling. The drop panel unit of the present invention is a unit that can be used in place of a ceiling panel in a suspended ceiling installation, for rapidly moving ceiling panels to a position that does not interfere with the operation of the fire sprinkler protection.
Although the drawings show an embodiment having four drop panels 5 for covering an opening of the suspended ceiling, it is possible in practice of the invention to have more or less drop panels, including a single drop panel for covering an opening of a suspended ceiling.
As shown in
During periods when the fire sprinkler system is not activated the drop panels 5 of the unit are required to be in the horizontal orientation, as shown in
In the embodiment shown in the figures only one electromagnet is used to hold two drop panels 5 in the horizontal orientation. One of the drop panels is provided with an overlapping molding 14 along the unhinged edge, as clearly shown in
In a preferred installation the electromagnetic support of the drop panel unit is electrically connected with the same fire-sensing device used for activating the fire sprinkler system. This arrangement is preferred in order that the drop panels are rotated out of the way at the same time the fire sprinkler system begins operation. Other means of removing electric power to the electromagnetic support are possible in practice of the invention.
In order for the drop panels to more smoothly drop from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation, each drop panel has a damper 9 having one end thereof attached to the drop panel and the other end attached to mounting beam 12. The dampers are provided in order to have the drop panels 5 rotate about the hinges 13 in a controlled manner when the fire sprinkler system is activated.
An additional feature of the drop panel unit, although not necessarily required, are seals disposed on the frame to contact the drop panels when in the horizontal orientation (not shown). The seals provide for better isolation of the area enclosed by the suspended ceiling.
In
Also, a single drop panel is possible in practice of the invention.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and various modifications in design, structural arrangement, or the like may be used without departing from the scope or equivalents of the present invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1373567 | Overlien | Apr 1921 | A |
1722670 | Lewis | Jul 1929 | A |
2273594 | Rich | Feb 1942 | A |
2304628 | Damerel | Dec 1942 | A |
6467228 | Wendt et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6533656 | Hertel | Mar 2003 | B2 |
6840329 | Kikuchi et al. | Jan 2005 | B2 |
8628158 | Caveney | Jan 2014 | B2 |
9066450 | Bednarcik | Jun 2015 | B2 |
9103117 | Lundskog | Aug 2015 | B1 |
9145677 | Wang | Sep 2015 | B2 |
20010046838 | Hertel | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20100000758 | Bravo | Jan 2010 | A1 |
20100144265 | Bednarcikv | Jun 2010 | A1 |
20120181906 | Caveney | Jul 2012 | A1 |
20150113883 | Wang | Apr 2015 | A1 |