Ceiling support grid system

A ceiling support arrangement, comprising:

• a. a plurality of longitudinally extending support runners, each of which includes
• i. a pair of horizontally spaced apart and aligned vertical sidewalls having respective outer surfaces and confronting inner surfaces,
• ii. means joining said sidewalls together, said joining means extending between the inner surfaces of the sidewalls adjacent the bottom edges thereof, and
• iii. a pair of support flanges respectively connected with the bottom edges of said sidewalls and extending horizontally out from the outer surfaces thereof, each of said flanges including a vertically upwardly extending outer edge portion;
• and
• b. means for interlocking an end of a first one of said runners to a second one of said runners at an intermediate section along the length of said second runner, said interlocking means including
• i. a discontinuation in one of the support flanges of said second runner at said intermediate section, said discontinuation separating said one support flange into two sections which are spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of said first runner from the outer edge of one support flange of said first runner to its other support flange, and
• ii. a pair of interlocking flange segments located at said end of said first runner and respectively connected with the sidewalls of said first runner adjacent the support flanges thereof, said segments respectively extending horizontally out from the outer surfaces of said last-mentioned sidewalls and including respective outer edge segments which are located outwardly beyond the outer edge portions of adjacent support flanges, said outer edge segments being approximately equal in length to the horizontal distance between the sidewalls of said second runner and the flange outer edge portions connected therewith.

A ceiling support arrangement, comprising:

• a. a plurality of longitudinally extending support runners, each of which includes
• i. a pair of horizontally spaced apart and aligned vertical sidewalls having respective outer surfaces and confronting inner surfaces,
• ii. a horizontal base integrally connected with and extending between the inner surfaces of said sidewalls at the bottom edges of said inner surfaces, and
• iii. a pair of support flanges respectively integrally connected with and extending horizontally out from the outer surfaces of said sidewalls, each of said flanges including a vertically upwardly extending outer edge portion;
• b. first means for interlocking an end of a first on of said runners to a second one of said runners at an intermediate section along the length of said second runner, said first means including
• i. a pair of first interlocking members integrally connected with one of the sidewalls of said second support runner at said intermediate section, said interlocking members being horizontally spaced from one another and respectively including upwardly extending segments having top edge portions which are spaced outwardly from the outer face of said one sidewall and upwardly from the support flange connected with said one sidewall, and
• ii. A pair of second, vertical interlocking members respectively integrally connected with said one end of said first runner, said second interlocking members respectively extending inwardly towards one another from the inner surfaces of the sidewalls of said first runner and having respective bottom edge portions spaced above the horizontal base of said first runner, said bottom edge portions being respectively adapted for vertically downward insertion into the spaces between the top edge portions of said first interlocking members and the sidewall to which the first interlocking members are connected;
• and
• c. second means for interlocking said one end of said first runner to said intermediate section of said second runner, said second interlocking means including
• i. a discontinuation in the support flange of said one sidewall of the second runner at said intermediate section and directly below said first interlocking members, said discontinuation separating said last-mentioned support flange into two sections which are spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of said first runner from the outer edge portion of one of its support flanges to the outer edge portion of its other support flange, and
• ii. a pair of interlocking flange segments located at said end of said first runner and respectively integrally connected with the support flanges thereof, said flange segments respectively extending horizontally out from the outer surfaces of the sidewalls of said first runner and including respective outer edge segments which are located outwardly beyond the outer edge portions of the support flanges to which they are integrally connected, said outer edge segments being approximately equal in length to the horizontal space between each of the sidewalls of said second runner and flange edge portion connected therewith, whereby said outer edge segments are respectively adapted for insertion within said last-mentioned spaces.