Apparatus for securing ceiling panels

A ceiling panel assembly for concealing a first main runner and for being secured to said first main runner and to a second main runner adjacent to, and laterally spaced from, said first main runner,

• wherein each of said first and second main runners is suspended, is inverted T-shaped, is longitudinally extending, and has a vertically disposed web, a horizontally disposed flange divided by said web to equal flange portions, and an oval protuberance at a terminal end of each of said flange portions,
• said panel assembly comprising:
• a) a main section having an upper horizontal and substantially planar upper surface, first and second opposed lateral edges downwardly extending from said upper surface, and a bottom surface coinciding with one or more visible panel sections that are visible to a person located below said main section;
• and
• b) first and second support sections fixedly connected to said main section and laterally extending in opposite directions, said first and second support sections being disposed above said upper surface and said first and second lateral edges of said main section,
• c) said first support section, comprising:
• i) a protuberance-fastening element having the same curvature as said protuberance, for unforcibly contacting substantially the entire outer surface of one of the flange portion protuberances which is spaced from the web of the first main runner in a first direction;
• ii) a planar flange-underlying element in unforcible contact with the first main runner flange and tangentially and laterally extending from a first end of said protuberance-fastening element;
• and
• iii) a translation-limiting element substantially parallel to, and located above, said flange-underlying element, and laterally extending from a second end of said protuberance-fastening element by a discontinuity therebetween, in unforcible contact with the first main runner flange,
• wherein said first and second support sections releasably contact said first and second main runners, respectively,
• wherein said first support section is a multi-directionally stiffening support section for stiffening and unforcibly contacting in four different translational directions the flange of said first main runner which overlies the main section of said panel assembly, said four different translational directions including:
• i) in said first direction, in cooperation with said protuberance-fastening element;
• ii) in a second direction which is opposite to said first direction, in cooperation with said discontinuity;
• iii) upwardly, in cooperation with said translation-limiting element and said discontinuity;
• and
• iv) downwardly, in cooperation with said flange-underlying element,
• wherein said second support section is a stabilizing support section for unforcibly contacting the flange of said second main runner which is multi-directionally stiffened by another panel assembly laterally spaced in said first direction from, and adjacent and identical to, said panel assembly,
• wherein the main section of said panel assembly is raisable above the flange of said first and second main runners, when being released therefrom.

A ceiling panel assembly for concealing a first main runner and for being secured to said first main runner and to a second main runner adjacent to, and laterally spaced from, said first main runner,

• wherein each of said first and second main runners is suspended, is inverted T-shaped, is longitudinally extending, and has a vertically disposed web, a horizontally disposed flange divided by said web to equal flange portions, and an oval protuberance at a terminal end of each of said flange portions,
• said panel assembly comprising:
• a) a main section having an upper horizontal and substantially planar upper surface, first and second opposed lateral edges downwardly extending from said upper surface, and a bottom surface coinciding with one or more visible panel sections that are visible to a person located below said main section;
• b) first and second support sections integral with said main section and laterally extending in opposite directions, said first and second support sections being disposed above said upper surface and said first and second lateral edges of said main section;
• and
• c) said first support section, comprising:
• i) a planar flange-underlying element in unforcible contact with the first main runner flange;
• ii) first and second vertically extending elements which vertically extend from said flange-underlying element and which are laterally spaced in first and second directions, respectively, from the web of said first main runner, for unforcibly contacting said protuberance of a corresponding flange portion of said first main runner from the side;
• and
• iii) an element substantially parallel to said flange-underlying element for unforcibly contacting said protuberance of a corresponding flange portion from above,
• wherein said first and second support sections releasably contact said first and second main runners, respectively,
• wherein said first support section is a multi-directionally stiffening support section for stiffening and unforcibly contacting in four different translational directions the flange of said first main runner which overlies the main section of said panel assembly, said four different translational directions including:
• i) in said first direction, towards said first vertically extending element;
• ii) in said second direction which is opposite to said first direction, towards said second vertically extending element;
• iii) upwardly towards said element substantially parallel to said flange-underlying element;
• and
• iv) downwardly towards said flange-underlying element,
• wherein said second support section is a stabilizing support section for unforcibly contacting the flange of said second main runner which is multi-directionally stiffened by another panel assembly laterally spaced in said first direction from, and adjacent and identical to, said panel assembly,
• wherein the main section of said panel assembly is raisable above the flange of said first and second main runners, when being released therefrom.