AU2009227911A1

AU2009227911A1 - Ceiling Baffle System

Info

Publication number: AU2009227911A1
Application number: AU2009227911A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Tracy Ingham
Original assignee: EAST SIDE INVEST Pty Ltd
Current assignee: EAST-SIDE INVESTMENTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2009-10-22
Filing date: 2009-10-22
Publication date: 2009-12-03

Description

P100/009 Regulation 3.10 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Invention Title: CEILING BAFFLE SYSTEM The invention is described in the following statement, including the best method of performing it known to us: Our Ref: 092040 -2 CEILING BAFFLE SYSTEM The present invention relates to ceilings and, more particularly, to suspended ceiling baffles. 5 BACKGROUND It is an object of the present invention to address or 10 at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages. Notes 1. The term "comprising" (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of "having" or "including", and not in the 15 exclusive sense of "consisting only of". 2. The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the Invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons 20 skilled in the art in any country. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Accordingly in one broad form of the invention there is provided a suspended ceiling baffle system; said system comprising an assembly of lines of suspended baffle blade 25 modules attached to transverse support rails; said system characterised in that each of said baffle blades is - 3 attached to a said transverse support rail by means of a sliding hanger clip; said sliding hanger clip including at least one folding securing tab; said folding securing tab locking said sliding hanger clip to an extruded hanger rail 5 of said baffle blade. Preferably each baffle blade is formed of a laminate; said laminate including a core sandwiched between aluminium sheets; said laminate provided with "V"-formed grooves 10 formed in an inner one of said aluminium sheets; said grooves providing for folding to form said laminate into two parallel side sections, a narrow bottom section and two opposing top sections; said sections enclosing a rectangular section space. 15 Preferably said laminate is further provided with channels formed in an inner one of said aluminium sheets; said channels formed along ends of said laminate so as to form retaining channels for blade end caps and for extruded 20 blade joiner elements. Preferably said extruded hanger rail is assembled to said baffle blade; said extruded hanger rail including opposing channels extending laterally from a vertical central web; 25 said opposing channels receiving respectively therein opposing ends of said two opposing top sections of said - 4 baffle blade; said central vertical web including an upper portion extending upwards from said channels to a laterally extending flange portion; said upper portion and said laterally extending flange portion connected by an angled 5 portion. Preferably an inner surface of a said baffle blade is affixed to a said downwardly extending flange portion by a double sided adhesive tape. 10 Preferably at least one of said two opposing top sections of said baffle blade is retained in a respective one of said opposing channels by a rivet. 15 Preferably said sliding hanger clip is adapted for engagement with said upper portion and said laterally extending flange portion of said extruded hanger rail; said at least one folding securing tab engaging with said angled portion to lock said sliding hanger clip into engagement 20 with said hanger rail, Preferably said sliding hanger clip comprises a pressed metal clip folded into parallel opposing side sections extending downwardly from an upper section; each of said 25 side sections including slots arranged to accept said upper portion, said angled portion and said laterally extending -5 flange portion of said hanger rail; a said folding securing tab provided in each of said side sections. Preferably said support rail comprises an aluminium 5 extrusion; said support rail extrusion including a support rail upper portion and a support rail lower portion; said support rail lower portion including downwardly extending side elements forming an inverted "'U"-shape with a horizontal web; lower edges of said side elements of said 10 inverted "U"-shape provided with inward projecting flanges and upturned rail elements projecting upwards from inner edges of said inward projecting flanges. Preferably a gap between said inward projecting flanges and 15 said upturned rail elements is such as to accept said sliding hanger clip as a sliding fit; pressed out tabs projecting outwardly from said parallel opposing side sections of said sliding hanger clip extending over said upturned rail elements to support said clip in said support 20 rail. Preferably said support rail upper portion includes upwardly extending side elements projecting from said horizontal web forming a "U"-shape; upper edges of said 25 side elements of said 'U"-shape provided with inward projecting flanges and downturned rail elements projecting - 6 downwardly from inner edges of said inward projecting flanges; said support rail upper portion adapted for engagement with a Nonius Hanger assembly. 5 Preferably at least one of said downwardly extending side elements of said lower portion of said support rail, is provided with apertures spaced at intervals along the length of said support rail. 10 Preferably at least one of said parallel opposing side sections of said sliding hanger clip is provided with an aperture; said aperture arranged so as to lie at the same level as said apertures spaced at intervals along the length of said support rail when a said sliding hanger rail 15 is assembled to said support rail. Preferably a said sliding hanger clip is locked into position along a said support rail by a locking clip inserted through apertures in said support rail and in a 20 said sliding hanger clip when said apertures have been brought into coincidence by sliding said sliding hanger clip along said support rail. Preferably lengths of said baffle blades may be locked one 25 to another end to end as but joints to form a desired line of said baffle blades.

- 7 Preferably lengths of support rails may be locked one another end to end as but joints to form a desired length of support rail. 5 Preferably an array of lines of said baffle blades is suspended from an overhead surface; said array comprising parallel spaced apart support rails suspended form said overhead surface by said Nonius hangers; each line of said 10 lines of baffle blades attached by said sliding hanger clips to said support rails; said sliding hanger clips arranged along said lines of baffle blades at intervals equal to the spacing of said array of parallel spaced apart support rails. 15 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 20 Figure 1 is a plan view from above of an array of baffle blade modules suspended from support rails according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a pair of abutting baffle blade modules of Figure 1 with sliding hanger clips 25 assembled to the hanger rails of each baffle blade module, - 8 Figure 3 shows a plan, side and end view of a laminate prepared for folding into a baffle blade module of Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is an end view of a portion of a baffle blade 5 module folded from the laminate of Figure 4 and assembled to a hanger rail, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a sliding hanger clip, Figure 6 is a sectioned end view of a support rail 10 extrusion, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the support rail extrusion of Figure 6 and two of the sliding hanger clips of Figure 5 for sliding assembly to the hanger rail, Figure 8 is a perspective view of a locating pin for 15 locking a hanger clip in position along a support rail, Figure 9 is an end view of a support rail showing a suspended sliding hanger clip, a portion of a baffle blade module and portion of a Nonius Hanger from which the support rail is suspended, 20 Figure 10 is a perspective view of the Nonius Hanger of Figure 9 , Figure 9 is a side view of a portion of the support rail of Figures 1, 6, 7 and 9 showing a suspended sliding hanger clip assembled to the hanger rail of a baffle blade 25 module and indicating alignment between apertures in the side of the support rail and the sliding hanger clip, - 9 Figure 12 is perspective view of an end portion of a baffle blade module showing grooves provided in the internal surfaces at the outer end of the baffle blade module, 5 Figure 13 is a perspective view of end portions of two baffle blade modules in end to end abutment, Figure 14 is a sectioned plan view of the end portions of the two baffle blade modules of Figure 13 showing "H" section and "X"-section blade joiner elements for locking 10 the baffle blade modules of Figure 13 together, Figure 15 is a further perspective view of an end portion of a baffle blade module and end cap for assembly to the end of the baffle blade module, Figure 16 is a sectioned plan view of the end portion 15 of the baffle blade module of Figure 15 showing the end cap assembled to the baffle blade module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 20 The ceiling baffle system of the present invention provides for an array as shown in Figure 1 of elongated assemblies of baffle blade modules 10, each of which is suspended by a sliding hanger clip 20 (see Figures 2 and 5) from a transverse support rail 12. Thus the array as shown 25 in the plan view of Figure 1 comprises a plurality of parallel spaced apart support rails 12 to which are - 10 attached at intervals baffle blades 10, the blade modules abutting one to another end for end to form lines of baffle blades modules. The support rails 12 in turn are supported at intervals from an overhead surface, for instance a floor 5 slab of a multi-storey building, by a Nonius Hanger such as shown in Figure 10. With reference to Figure 3, each baffle blade module 10 is formed of a laminate 14 of an inner sheet 16 and an outer sheet 18 of aluminium sandwiching a core 20 10 preferably comprised of polyethylene or fire rated (FR) polyethylene. As best seen in Figures 2 and 4, "'V" grooves 22 formed in the inner sheet 16 allow the formation of a baffle blade module 10 into two parallel side sections 24 and 26, a narrow bottom section 30 and two opposing top 15 sections 32 and 34 enclosing a rectangular section space 36. The laminate 14 forming the baffle blade module 10 is further provided near its outer ends 38 with a rectangular channel 40 set some distance in from the edge 42, the function of which will be described below, 20 Assembled to each baffle blade module 10 is an extruded hanger rail 44 (best seen in Figure 4) which includes opposing channels 46 and 48 extending laterally from a central vertical web 50. These opposing channels 46 and 48 are sized to receive respectively therein, opposing ends 52 25 and 54 of the two opposing top sections 32 and 34 of the laminate 14 forming the baffle blade module 10. The central - 11 vertical web 50 includes an upper portion 56 extending upwards from the channels 46 and 48 to a laterally extending flange portion 58 connected by an angled portion 60 to the central vertical web 50. The extruded hanger rail 5 44 further includes two downwardly extending flange portions 62 and 64 extending from outer edges of respective lower webs of the opposing channels 46 and 48, Preferably, extruded hanger rail 44 is fixed to the baffle blade module 10 by a two-sided tape 66 located 10 between an inside surface of a side section 26 of the baffle blade module 10 and an outer surface of one of the two downwardly extending flanges 62, as well as by a rivet 68 driven through the webs of the opposite channel 46 and end portion 52 of the laminate 14. 15 With reference now to Figure 5, the sliding hanger clip 70 according to the invention, comprises a pressed metal clip folded into parallel opposing side sections 72 and 74 extending downwardly from an upper section 76. Each of the side sections 72, 74 includes slots 76 and 78 arranged to 20 accept the upper portion 56 of the central web 50, angled portion 60 and the laterally extending flange portion 58 of the hanger rail 44. Folding securing tabs 80 and 82 are provided in side sections 72 and 74 respectively. These tabs 80 and 82 are initially in the angled extended 25 position as shown for tab 80 in Figure 5, but once the sliding hanger clip 70 is fed onto a hanger rail 44 and - 12 slid into its desired location along that rail, the tabs 80 and 82 are folded inward to lock the clip 70 to the hanger rail 44 as shown in Figure 2. Sliding hanger clip 70 is further provided with a pair of 5 outwardly extending tabs 84 pressed out of, and projecting from, each of side sections 72 and 74. Also provided in each of the side sections 72 and 74 is an aperture 86. The functions of these tabs 84 and apertures 86 are described below. 10 Turning now to Figure 6, the support rail 12 of the invention comprises an aluminium extrusion, which includes a support rail upper portion 90 and a support rail lower portion 92. The lower portion 92 includes downwardly extending side elements 94 and 96 forming an inverted "U" 15 shape with a horizontal web 98. The lower ends of these side elements 94 and 96 are provided with inwardly projecting flanges 100, 102 and upturned rail elements 104 and 106 projecting upwards from the inner edges of the inwardly projecting flanges 100, 102. The gap 108 between 20 these upturned rail elements 104 and 106 is such as to accommodate the sliding hanger clip 70 as a sliding fit, with the pairs of outwardly extending tabs 84 being supported on the upper edges of the upturned rail elements 104 and 106, as can best be seen in Figure 9.

- 13 As also shown in Figure 9, the support rail upper portion 90 is shaped so as to allow engagement with a tab 114 of a the Nonius Hanger shown 116 in Figure 10. As can be seen in Figures 7 and 11, support rail 12 is 5 provided at intervals along its length with locating pin apertures 110. The apertures 86 in the side sections 72 and 74 of the sliding hanger clip 70 are arranged so as to lie at the same level as the locating pin apertures 110 of the support rail 12 when a sliding hanger clip 70 is assembled 10 to the support rail 12. A locating pin 112 shown in Figure 8 may then be inserted through the aperture 110 of the support rail 12 and aperture 86 of the sliding hanger clip 70 when these are brought into coincidence as shown in Figure 9. 15 With reference now to Figures 12 to 14, baffle blade modules 10 when suspended in lines from the transverse support rails 12 as shown in Figure 1, may be locked together end to end by "H"-section blade joiners 120 assembled into the channels 40 (described above and shown 20 in Figure 3 and 12), The two abutting blade joiners 120 then form a back to back dovetail cavity 122 into which is inserted an "X"-shaped blade joiner element 124. Preferably, the blade joiners 120 and joiner elements 124 are aluminium extrusions. 25 Preferably, as shown in Figure 13, the "X"-section blade joiner element 124 is provided with a lanyard 126 at its - 14 upper end and which may be attached to an aperture 128 provided in the lateral flange 58 of one of the baffle blade modules 10. Lanyard 126 allows the blade joiner element 124 to be extracted should it become desirable to 5 disassemble a line of baffle blade assemblies. The channels 40 provided at the outer ends of a baffle blade module 10 also allow the fitting of an end cap 130 as shown in Figures 15 and 16. In this instance the channels 40 again retain a 'H"-section blade joiner 120, but in this 10 case the dovetail shape of the upper part of the "H" section retains a half "X"-section of the end cap extrusion 130. In Use The components comprising the ceiling baffle system of 15 the present invention thus provide a completely flexible means of providing an array of suspended baffles. The system allows an unlimited ceiling space to be provided with baffles spaced at virtually any desired intervals. The modular nature of the baffle system furthermore allows for 20 disassembly of sections of the array if this becomes desirable. The above describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing 25 from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A suspended ceiling baffle system; said system comprising an assembly of lines of suspended baffle 5 blade modules attached to transverse support rails; said system characterised in that each of said baffle blades is attached to a said transverse support rail by means of a sliding hanger clip; said sliding hanger clip including at least one folding 10 securing tab; said folding securing tab locking said sliding hanger clip to an extruded hanger rail of said baffle blade.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each baffle blade is formed of a laminate; said laminate including a core 15 sandwiched between aluminium sheets; said laminate provided with "V"-formed grooves formed in an inner one of said aluminium sheets; said grooves providing for folding to form said laminate into two parallel side sections, a narrow bottom section and two 20 opposing top sections; said sections enclosing a rectangular section space.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said laminate is further provided with channels formed in an inner one of said aluminium sheets; said channels formed 25 along ends of said laminate so as to form retaining - 16 channels for blade end caps and for extruded blade joiner elements.

4. The system of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said extruded hanger rail is assembled to said baffle 5 blade; said extruded hanger rail including opposing channels extending laterally from a vertical central web; said opposing channels receiving respectively therein opposing ends of said two opposing top sections of said baffle blade; said central vertical 10 web including an upper portion extending upwards from said channels to a laterally extending flange portion; said upper portion and said laterally extending flange portion connected by an angled portion. 15'

5. The system of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein an inner surface of a said baffle blade is affixed to a said downwardly extending flange portion by a double sided adhesive tape.

6. The system of claims 4 to 5 wherein at least one of 20 said two opposing top sections of said baffle blade is retained in a respective one of said opposing channels by a rivet.

7. The system of any previous claim wherein said sliding hanger clip is adapted for engagement with 25 said upper portion and said laterally extending flange portion of said extruded hanger rail; said at - 17 least one folding securing tab engaging with said angled portion to lock said sliding hanger clip into engagement with said hanger rail.

8. The system of any previous claim wherein said 5 sliding hanger clip comprises a pressed metal clip folded into parallel opposing side sections extending downwardly from an upper section; each of said side sections including slots arranged to accept said upper portion, said angled portion and 10 said laterally extending flange portion of said hanger rail; a said folding securing tab provided in each of said side sections.

9. The system of any previous claim wherein said support rail comprises an aluminium extrusion; said 15 support rail extrusion including a support rail upper portion and a support rail lower portion; said support rail lower portion including downwardly extending side elements forming an inverted "U" shape with a horizontal web; lower edges of said 20 side elements of said inverted "U"-shape provided with inward projecting flanges and upturned rail elements projecting upwards from inner edges of said inward projecting flanges.

10. The system of any previous claim wherein a gap 25 between said inward projecting flanges and said upturned rail elements is such as to accept said - - 18 sliding hanger clip as a sliding fit; pressed out tabs projecting outwardly from said parallel opposing side sections of said sliding hanger clip extending over said upturned rail elements to 5 support said clip in said support rail.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said support rail upper portion includes upwardly extending side elements projecting from said horizontal web forming a "U"-shape; upper edges of said side elements of 10 said "U"-shape provided with inward projecting flanges and downturned rail elements projecting downwardly from inner edges of said inward projecting flanges; said support rail upper portion adapted for engagement with a Nonius Hanger 15 assembly.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein at least one of said downwardly extending side elements of said lower portion of said support rail, is provided with apertures spaced at intervals along the length of 20 said support rail.

13. The system of any previous claim wherein at least one of said parallel opposing side sections of said sliding hanger clip is provided with an aperture; said aperture arranged so as to lie at the same 25 level as said apertures spaced at intervals along the length of said support rail when a said sliding hanger rail is assembled to said support rail.

14. The system of any previous claim wherein a said sliding hanger clip is locked into position along a 5 said support rail by a locking clip inserted through apertures in said support rail and in a said sliding hanger clip when said apertures have been brought into coincidence by sliding said sliding hanger clip along said support rail. 10

15. The system of any previous claim wherein lengths of said baffle blades may be locked one to another end to end as but joints to form a desired line of said baffle blades.

16. The system of any previous claim wherein lengths 15 of support rails may be locked one another end to end as but joints to form a desired length of support rail.

17. The system of any previous claim wherein an array of lines of said baffle blades is suspended from an 20 overhead surface; said array comprising parallel spaced apart support rails suspended form said overhead surface by said Nonius hangers; each line of said lines of baffle blades attached by said sliding hanger clips to said support rails; said 25 sliding hanger clips arranged along said lines of - /-U baffle blades at intervals equal to the spacing of said array of parallel spaced apart support rails.