Suspended panel ceiling having impact absorbent panel retaining clip assemblies

Abstract

Panels resting in a suspended grid are rendered abuseresistant by mounting two-piece retaining clips atop the runners in the grid. The clip assemblies comprise a torsional/flexural spring mated with a clinch fastener. The spring is a piece of bent music wire having a central U-shaped segment, two opposing legs angling outwardly and downwardly from the upright arms of the U to a level below the cross member of the U. The clinch fastener is a piece of flat spring steel bent into the shape of a U, the bight of the U being a channel connecting two straps, each of which has a keeper at its distal end which turns inward and upward into the space between the two straps. The cross member of the spring fits into the channel of the clinch fastener and the unit is snapped onto the bead atop a grid runner so that the cross member is interposed between the bead and the channel. The retaining clip assemblies may be installed before or after the panels are installed in the grid or the panels and clip assemblies may be installed sequentially. The legs of the spring bear down on the panels and the spring absorbs the impact of a ball or other object thrown upward at the ceiling.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.