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US 5,507,125 AGranted
Ceiling panel with stiffly flexible edges, and ceiling
OwnerRoberta McClureinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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OwnerRoberta McClureinventor
Estimating the term…
A plastic ceiling panel is mounted in a grid of T-rails. The ceiling panel is shaped complementarily to the space defined by facing edges of the T-rails, and includes a central web and sidewalls extending upwardly from the central web. The sidewalls include a lower part that projects halfway across a lower surface of the T-rail, to butt against the corresponding lower part of contiguous panels in spaces surrounding the first panel, so as to give the impression of a continuous, uninterrupted ceiling. The sidewalls are stiffly flexible and are provided with a channel into which the facing edge of each of the T-rails forming the grid space in which the ceiling panel is seated, is received. In installing the ceiling panels, the sidewalls are flexed inwardly enough to permit the wall defining the upper surface of the channel to clear the edge of the contiguous ledge of the T-rail, and released to permit the wall to move outwardly and permit the channel wall to over-lie the ledge of the T-rail sufficiently to support the panel in place. A tab with a hook on its free edge is integral with the panel, and bendable to extend over the vertical stem of the T-rail to insure that the T-rail and panel do not move unacceptably relative to one another.
A plastic ceiling panel for use with a grid of rails, said rails having a horizontal element with upper and lower surfaces and inwardly facing edges defining a space lying substantially in a plane, said panel comprising a central web and sidewalls integral with and flaming said central web, each of said sidewalls being adapted to extend along said rail edges, having a lower part adapted to extend beneath a part of said rail element lower surface, an upper part adapted to extend over a part of said rail element upper surface, and an intermediate part adapted to extend around said rail element edge, said sidewall being stiffly inwardly flexible, and means for permitting the said upper part to be flexed to a position at which said upper part clears said edge and to move outwardly over said part of said rail element.
A ceiling comprising a grid of T-rails defining a muliplicity of 2'.times.2' openings, said T-rails comprising a vertical stem and horizontal ledges extending an equal distance from either side of said stem and defining a lower T-bar surface and upper ledge surfaces, and plastic ceiling panels mounted in said grid, said ceiling panels comprising a central web and sidewalls integral with and framing said central web squarely, said sidewalls having a lower part extending beneath and halfway across said T-bar lower surface to butt with the lower part of the sidewall of an adjacent panel, an upper part projecting over a portion of a T-bar ledge to support said panel, and an intermediate part extending around an edge of said ledge and bridging between said upper and lower parts, said sidewalls being stiffly flexible, and means for permitting flexure of the said upper part of at least two of said sidewalls that extend perpendicularly to one another to permit the said upper part to clear said ledges edges and to move back over a part of said upper ledge surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.