Self-centering ceiling panel
AssigneeHunter Douglas Inc.
InventorsDavid Bailey, Ko Kuperus, Richard Mayer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A panel for a drop ceiling is made of a semi-rigid but resilient material such as spring steel and includes corner clips adapted to cooperate with the inverted T-shaped stringers of a drop ceiling support system so that the panel is self-centering between opposing stringers and is spring biased into a clamped relationship with horizontal flanges of the inverted T-shape stringers to prevent the panel from moving up and down. The corner clips are also designed to transfer any horizontal compressive shear force in the mounting system to vertical edges of the panel so as not to undesirably bow the flat base of the panel.
Claims14
A drop ceiling system comprising in combination:
- a suspended support system of inverted T-shaped support members interconnected to define enclosed openings therebetween, each support member having horizontal shoulders, and
- a plurality of panels supported on said support members, each panel positioned in one of said openings, said panels having a flat, substantially horizontal base, a peripheral side wall, horizontal flanges and vertical flanges along said side wall, and a plurality of semi-rigid resilient clips connected to said vertical flanges, said clips including fingers yieldingly engaging said shoulders on opposite sides of said panel to establish a reactionary force on said panels which is transferred by said clips to said vertical flanges of the panels.
A drop ceiling system comprising in combination:
- a suspended support system of inverted T-shaped support members interconnected to define enclosed openings therebetween, each support member having horizontal shoulders, and
- a plurality of panels supported on said support members, each panel positioned in one of said openings, said panels including systems for supporting said panels on said horizontal shoulders and upwardly biased springs engaging an underside of said horizontal shoulders to bias said panels downwardly to resist upward movement of the panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.