Suspended ceiling construction and retaining clip therefor
OwnerAugustus Ray Boydinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A suspended ceiling construction includes fill-in panels, diffusers and/or light fixtures which are retained in their openings by spring clips that have been pre-attached to the ceiling grid frame members. The clips bear against edges of the panels to keep them in place normally, but they can be deflected out of the way by pushing up on the panels when necessary. As the tips of the clips contact the frame members during deflection, they provide increasing resistance to further deflection.
Claims8
A suspended ceiling comprising
- a grid formed from framing members, each framing member having a horizontal web and a vertical web extending upward from the horizontal web, the grid forming an array of openings,
- a plurality of removable ceiling components filling at least some of the openings in the grid, each said component having an edge portion which rests on part of the horizontal webs of the framing members defining the respective opening, and, at each such opening
- a plurality of retaining clips for retaining each ceiling component in its opening, each retaining clip comprising
- a single piece of resilient material forming four segments in series:
- a base segment having means for connection to one of the framing members,
- a second segment subtending an acute included angle with the base segment,
- a third segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the second segment, and
- a fourth segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the third segment, wherein
- the second segment is shorter than the base segment and
- the third segment is the longest of the four segments.
A retaining clip for retaining a removable ceiling component in a suspended ceiling grid formed from ceiling framing members suspended from a structural ceiling, said clip comprising
- a single piece of resilient material forming four segments in series:
- a base segment having means for connection to one of the framing members,
- a second segment subtending an acute included angle with the base segment,
- a third segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the second segment, and
- a fourth segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the third segment, wherein
- the second segment is shorter than the base segment and
- the third segment is the longest of the four segments.
A retaining clip for retaining a removable ceiling component in a suspended ceiling grid formed from ceiling framing members suspended from a structural ceiling, said clip comprising
- a single piece of resilient material forming four segments in series:
- a base segment having means for connection to one of the framing members,
- a second segment subtending an acute included angle with the base segment,
- a third segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the second segment, and
- a fourth segment subtending an obtuse included angle with the third segment, wherein
- the second segment is shorter than the base segment and
- the third segment is the longest of the four segments, wherein the base segment has at least one tab protruding to one side of the clip, each tab having a hole therein for receiving a headed fastener for connecting the clip to one of the framing members, the tab having sufficient size to enable the fastener head to pass the third segment without interference.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.