P009 Regulaton 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION SPECIFICATION Invention Title: DUCT MOUNTING SYSTEM The invention is described in the following statement: 1 DUCT MOUNTING SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field of commercial and domestic ducting systems, such as may form part of, for example, air extraction systems. In particular, the 5 invention relates to an improved design of components of such systems and the design of mounting brackets therefore, which facilitates easier assembly of said ducting components. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Air ducts are a common feature of many buildings. They find use in a number 10 of applications, including air conditioning, heating and extraction of gases or odours. Very often, these ducts are required to be situated in poorly accessible places, such as ceiling cavities or on top of roofs, which may mean that the space available to the installer of such systems in which to work is quite limited. Existing mountings have drawbacks, particularly in relation to ease of 15 installation. Usually, they consist of a number of hollow duct sections and a series of footings. The footings will be adapted to receive the profile (usually round) of the duct sections, with a fastening system, such as an inverted U-bolt to secure the duct to the footing. Typically, an adaptor ring will also be required to be positioned around the join of two adjacent duct sections, to provide an airtight seal. 20 A drawback with this type of mounting system is the effort required to assemble and install it in locations offering limited space and/or accessibility. In particular, these systems require that the installer be able to use two hands to position and secure the various components. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting system for a 25 plurality of duct sections which provides for greater ease of installation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a mounting system for a multi-component duct, wherein said duct is formed by a series of connected, open-ended duct components, said system including: a plurality of open-ended duct 30 components; and a plurality of mounting brackets that are adapted to be affixed to a mounting surface and wherein each said bracket is adapted to receive the end of two of said duct components and to hold same in series; wherein said mounting brackets feature two grooves adapted to receive a complementary tongue which extends substantially around the outer circumference of each end of said duct components; 2 such that when two duct components are positioned in a mounting bracket, they are thereby rendered in a substantially airtight arrangement with one another. According to an alternative embodiment, the invention provides a mounting system for a multi-component duct, wherein said duct is formed by a series of 5 connected open-ended duct components, said system including: a plurality of open ended duct components; and a plurality of mounting brackets that are adapted to be affixed to a mounting surface and wherein each said bracket is adapted to receive the end of two of said duct components and to hold same in series; wherein said mounting brackets feature two ridges, each adapted to be received in a 10 complementary groove which extends substantially around the outer circumference of each end of said duct components, such that when two duct components are positioned in a mounting bracket, they are thereby rendered in a substantially airtight arrangement with one another. The particular advantage of the above described system is that the duct 15 components are secured in an operational arrangement by simply 'dropping in' to the mounting brackets, without further fastening and without the need for an adaptor ring to seal the join. This greatly simplifies the installation operation. It is possible that most, if not all, of the installation may be done 'one-handed'. Preferably, where the duct components have a rounded profile, the mounting 20 bracket features two upwardly protruding, resilient arms which are adapted to follow the curvature of the duct components, and which extend above the centre line of the duct profile. This allows the mounting bracket to form a clip which provides a superior ability to secure the duct components. This has particular advantages where the duct is to be mounted to the underside of a roof or ceiling, or on a vertical 25 wall. Preferably, the mounting bracket further includes a hinged strap which is adapted to extend over the top of the two mounted duct component and to be manually fastened to the mounting bracket, in order to secure said duct 30 3 components in position. This feature provides a more secure fastening of the duct components, and is also operable 'one-handed'. Preferably, said mounting brackets are adapted such that adjacent mounting brackets can be manually coupled to one another in series. This further 5 enhances the ease of installation of the system by obviating the need to fix the mounting brackets to a separate mounting board or the like, in order to facilitate correct alignment of the duct. Now will be described, by way of a specific, non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment of the invention. 10 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure la shows a top view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. Figure 1b shows a left side view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. 15 Figure 1c shows a front view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. Figure 1d shows a right side view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. Figure le shows a rear view of a mounting bracket according to the 20 invention. Figure If shows a bottom view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. Figure 1g shows an isometric view of a mounting bracket according to the invention. 25 Figure 2 shows three linked mounting brackets according to the invention, ready to receive to duct components. Figure 3 shows the mounting brackets of figure 2 in the process of having two extraction fan duct components installed in position. Figure 4 shows detail of how the buckle of the securing strap is attached to 30 the strap. Figure 5 shows the assembly of figure 3 in a partially locked configuration. Figure 6 shows the assembly of figure 3 in a fully locked configuration.
4 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention is now described by reference to the example illustrated in the attached drawings. Turning first to figures 1a to 1g, in which there is shown a number of views 5 a mounting bracket according to the invention. The bracket consists of a base 5, to which are attached two footings 10. The footings 10 are adapted to interlock with one another, via complementary extremities 15, which feature male-female connectors 20. On the base 5 is a longitudinally arranged cradle 25, whose profile is 10 adapted to receive the profile of the duct components (in this case circular). The extremities of the cradle feature resilient arms 30 that extend upward beyond the centre of the circle which is partly described by the cradle profile. The ends of the arm 35 are curled outward to receive a locking buckle and/or restraining strap (not shown). 15 Particularly evident in figures 1a and 1g, the cradle 25 also features two parallel grooves 40 that run along the entire upper surface of the cradle 25, that are adapted to receive complementary ridges in the duct components (not shown). In figures 2 to 6, there are illustrated the components of a mounting system 20 for a plurality of extraction fan duct component, and the method of assembling same. Turning to figure 2, there is shown an assembly of three interlocking mounting brackets 5 as described above. Attached to the far upper arms 30 of the cradle 25 are three restraining straps 45, to each of which are attached locking 25 buckles 50. The restraining straps 45 are configured in an open position. Turning to figure 3, there is shown detail of how the locking buckle 50 is attached to the end of the restraining strap 45. The restraining strap 45 has a 'hammer'-like end, including a cylindrical head piece 55 attached or formed at the end of the strap neck 60 in an approximately perpendicular orientation. 30 The locking buckle 50 has a groove 65 or the like which is adapted to receive the headpiece 55 in a rotatable configuration. The buckle 50 has two facing L-shaped arms 70 adapted to be received in the outward curl at the end of 5 the resilient mounting bracket arms (not shown). There is configured a gap in between said arms that allows passage of the neck 60 of the strap. Turning to figure 4, there is shown two extraction fan duct elements (in this illustration: two fan rotor units) in partial installation in the mounting brackets. The 5 duct components feature a ridge 75 which extends around the circumference of the ducts adjacent to each end of said ducts. The first duct component 80 has been lowered into position. The ridges around each end 75 are nested in the corresponding grooves 40 in the first and second supporting mounting brackets (85, 90). The second duct 95 component 10 can simply then be lowered directly into position into the second and third brackets (90, 100). It will also be noted that the as the duct components are lowered into position on the mounting bracket cradle 25, they will first contact the resilient arms 30 extending upward from said cradle. As the gap between the ends of the 15 arms 30 is narrower than the diameter of the duct components, they will tend to be forced apart as the duct components are lowered, and will return to their original position once the duct is in position - thereby 'clipping' the duct in place. Turning to figure 5 the second and third restraining straps (105, 110) are shown in a closed position, further restraining movement of the ducts (80, 95). 20 The locking buckles 115 have been fastened. Also in this view are shown optional connection rings 120 attached to the front and rear of the assembly - these also feature a ridge 125 around their circumference that nests into the corresponding grooves in the cradle. These connection rings 120 may be used to attach other parts, such as flexible ducting, to the assembly. 25 The abutting ends of the duct components are designed such that their positioning in the cradle will bring them into sufficiently close positioning that they will form a substantially airtight connection. The positioning of the restraining strap increases the integrity of the seal, as the straps include grooves adapted to receive the duct ridges when in a locked position. 30 Figure 6 shows the completed assembly, with all three restraining straps locked in place. The above example is merely one illustration of how the invention may be embodied. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that other embodiments 6 may be conceived of which, while differing in some details, such as providing duct elements with grooves instead of ridges, and mounting brackets with ridges instead of grooves, nevertheless fall within the scope of the invention and the claims. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the mounting 5 system is equally applicable to mounting duct components to horizontal floor surfaces, vertical wall surfaces or to the underside of ceilings.