GB1602848A

GB1602848A - Panel support assembly

Info

Publication number: GB1602848A
Application number: GB1431977A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Whitehouse & Co Birmingham Ltd; BBA Group Ltd
Current assignee: Whitehouse & Co Birmingham Ltd; BBA Group Ltd
Priority date: 1978-04-05
Filing date: 1978-04-05
Publication date: 1981-11-18

Description

(54) A PANEL SUPPORT ASSEMBLY (71) We, BBA GROUP LIMITED, a British Company, of Whitechapel Road, P.O. Box 20, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire BD19 6HP, and GEORGE WHITEHOUSE & COMPANY (BIRMINGHAM) LIMITED, a British company, of 12/22 Newhall Street, Birmingham B3 3DX, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a Patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a panel support assembly, and is particularly concerned with a panel support assembly for the constituent panels of a suspended floor or ceiling. The term " panel" includes an infill from which can be mounted one or more light fittings or other fitments associated with a floor or ceiling.

In a previously proposed suspended ceiling, elongate panel support assemblies are connected together to form a support system consisting of coplanar rectangular frames.

This support system 'is !suspended from appropriate load bearing members of a building by any suitable means, and the ceiling panels are positioned by the support assemblies to fill in the rectangular frames.

When constructing and installing a suspended floor or ceiling it is usually necessary to guide and house electric power cables, wiring for electric lighting, and other essential equipment that is required in a building. For clarity, these power cables, electric wiring and other equipment will be hereafter referred to as "electric wiring".

Difficulties can arise in guiding this electric wiring to selected regions of a suspended floor or ceiling, particularly if it is desirable to keep separate from one another electric wiring intended for different purposes. Difficulties can also arise in retaining the panels in position to fill in the rectangular frames.

In this Specification, references to a ceiling are intended also to apply to a floor where appropriate.

It is an aim of the invention to alleviate the aforementioned difficulties, and according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a panel support assembly comprising two elongate opposedly spaced side members connected by a partition extending between two longitudinal intermediate portions of the side members to define therewith two separate channels for the electric wiring, support means on the side members on which panels are intended to be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

The above panel assembly enables the electric wiring to be passed between adjacent ceiling panels to any pre-selected required region of the ceiling. The two channel structure of the assembly enables different types of electric wiring to be separated from one another if desired. For example, electric power cables can be housed in one channel, and electric wiring for heat sensitisers, water sprinkling systems, and other fire detection and prevention equipment may be housed in the other channel.

The aforementioned panel support assembly may also include at least one wiring junction device arranged in communication with only one of the channels.

The said one channel may include side members which are suitably cut away and shaped to receive the junction device.

This construction enables a network of channels to be built up to guide the electric wiring to any required position on the ceiling.

In a preferred construction, a junction device may consist of a discrete junction box consisting of channel shaped members extending perpendicularly to one another through a common junction region. This junction box may be located in one channel of a panel support assembly so that one junction box channel member is located in the channel and other junction box channel member or members may extend perpen dicularly thereto for attachment to the channels of a further panel support assembly or assemblies.

This construction enables the electric wiring in one channel of a panel support assembly communicating with a junction box to be guided completely independently of the wiring in the other channel of the assembly.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a panel support assembly comprising two elongate opposedly spaced side members connected by a channel member with opposed side walls secured to said side members, and a closure wall intermediate said side walls to form a partition providing two separate channels for electric wiring, support means on the side members on which panels are intended to be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

The support means may consist of coplanar flanges which extend outwardly from one pair lof opposed longer edge portions of the side members, and longitudinal marginal portions of the side walls may be provided adjacent to said one pair of longer edge portions.

One of said cover plates is dimensioned to span the channel containing said side walls and to abut said flanges. This cover plate is retained in position by means of clips on the cover plate which engage the said marginal portions of the side walls.

Said marginal portions can be turned inwardly to define longitudinal protrusions which engage complementary parts of the clips.

The other of said cover plates is arranged slidably to engage or to clip into the other pair of opposed longer edge portions of the side members. Said other pair of edge portions may be turned inwardly to provide runners which engage suitably shaped parts of longitudinal flanges mounted on the second cover plate. Springs may be provided in the runners or the flanges to provide the "clip in" engagement.

The above assembly is of simple construction, and the cover plates can be quickly and easily removed to open the channels to provide access to the contained electric wiring.

In all the aforementioned panel support assemblies lines of weakening can be provided in the partitions to provide readily removable or "knock out" parts to facilitate communication between the two channels of an assembly.

The panel support assemblies can be suspended from a load bearing member by any suitable means. One preferred suspension system comprises an inverted U-shaped strap having its side arms bolted or otherwise secured to the side members of the assembly, and a bolt passing upwardly through the cross portion of the strap and secured at its upper end to a load bearing member. The suspension system is adjustable either by progressively loosening or tightening a Dositioning nut on the bolt or by means of shims. In practice, at least two of these bolt-strap suspension devices will be spaced longitudinally along each support assembly to alleviate loading at the joint formed between two adjacent support assemblies. In another system, the U-shaped strap is elongate and its cross portion is hooked over an attachment to a load bearing member. This system is adjustable by means of shims. The bolt is dispensed with.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a panel support system comprising an array of panel support assemblies as previously described arranged to define a plurality of coplanar rectangular apertures, and means for supporting the array from load bearing members, in which each panel support assembly comprises an upper channel and a lower channel separated by a common partition and arranged so that the upper and lower channel mouths face upwardly and downwardly respectively, and support means on which panels spanning the apertures may be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with re fertnce to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which : FIGURE 1 is a perspective view from above of one panel support assembly of the invention, FIGURE 2 is an end view of the assembly of Figure 1, FIGURE 3 is an end view of the assembly of Figure 1 showing the support means, FIGURE 4 is a plan view of part of the assembly of Figures 1 and 2 showing a junction box, and FIGURE 5 is a perspective view from above of the part illustrated in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a panel support assembly includes two elongate rectangular side members 2 having panel support flanges 4 extending outwardly from their lower longer edges 6. The upper longer edges 8 are turned inwardly to form runners 10.

The side members 2 are held in their illustrated opposed position by a channel section body member 12 having a transverse closure wall 14 extending between two side walls 16 which are secured to the side members 2, such as for example by rivetting.

The transverse wall 14 constitutes a partition dividing the assembly into upper and lower channels 18 and 20.

The longer edge portions of the side walls 16 are bent inwardly and outwardly to form two parallel longitudinal shoulders 19 adjacent to the lower edges 6 of the side members 2.

A first cover plate 22 is dimensioned to span the entrance to the lower channel 20 and to abut the panel support flanges 4 thereby enclosing the channel 20. Two longitudinally spaced sets of clips 24 moulted on the cover plate 22 are dimensioned and arranged to engage the shoulders 19 to retain the cover plate 22 in engagement with the side members 2 in order to close the channel 20.

A second cover plate 26 is dimensioned to span the entrance to the upper channel 18. This cover plate 26 has two parallel longitudinal flanges 28 extending inwardly from its longer edge portions. These flanges 28 are dimensioned and arranged to make a firm sliding engagement with the runners 10 to enable the cover plate 26 to be slidably mounted on the side members 2 in order to close the channel 18. Springs may be located in the runners 10 or the flanges 28 to enable the cover plate 26 to be clipped onto the side member 2.

Lines of weakening are formed in the partition wall 14 to enable portions of the wall 14 to be readily removed or knocked out thereby providing apertures to facilitate communication between the channels 18 and 20. In addition, holes are provided where convenient in the side members 2 to provide communication to either or both of the channels 18 and 20.

Referring particularly to Figure 3, the support assembly is suspended from a load bearing member 32 by means of an inverted U strap 34 and a bolt 36. The lower portion of the strap side arms 38 is secured to the assembly by a bolt or pin 40 which passes through the side arms 38, the side members 2 and side walls 16 of the assembly, and is retained in position by a nut 42. The bolt 36 passes upwardly through a hole in the strap end member 46 and is secured to the load bearing member 32 by a nut or nuts 48. The distance between the assembly and the load bearing member may be adjusted by suitably adjusting the nuts 48, or by inserting a required number of shims between the nuts and the load bearing member 32. It will be appreciated that in practice a plurality of these strap-bolt suspensions systems will be spaced longitudinally along the panel support assembly to alleviate loading at the joint between two adjacent panel support assemblies.

An important feature of the assembly of Figure 3 is that the bolt 40 passes through the side members 2 and the side walls 16.

This means that the assembly will remain suspended even if either the side members or the side walls come away from the bolt 40.

In order to construct a suspended ceiling, a number of the aforementioned panel support assemblies are bolted together to form an array defining a plurality of coplanar rectangular frames with the panel support flanges 4 of the assemblies extending inwardly along the frame edges. The array is suspended from load bearing members by any suitable suspension system, and the ceiling panels are seated on the support flanges 4. If desired, the ceiling panels are secured to the support flanges 4 by any suitable means such as a sealant.

If a sealant is used, the flanges 4 may each have a longitudinal groove therein to house the sealant.

In addition to supporting Islanels, the support assemblies may also support infills which have opposed longitudinal edge portions arranged to be seated on and secured to the support flanges 4. These infills are intended to support light fittings or any other suitable fitments.

The aforementioned array of support assemblies enables electric wiring to be passed to any desired regions of a suspended ceiling. An advantage of the aforementioned assembly construction is that it provides two channels so that the electric wiring can be separated into two distinct groups if so desired. For example, it is frequently desirable to separate the electric power cables from the wiring for fire detection and prevention equipment such as for example sprinkler systems and temperature sensitisers.

In order to facilitate the guiding of electric wiring to any desired region of the ceiling, a junction box can be used to effect communication between channels of two adjacent support assemblies.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, a junction box 50 comprises an octagonal junction chamber 52, and four channel sections 54, 56, 58 and 60 communicating with and extending from tbe junction chamber 52 at 90" to one another. The channel sections are dimensioned so as to make an easy sliding fit inside or to clip into either of the channels 18 or 20.

A panel support assembly generally similar to the assembly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 has the upper end region of its side members 2 cut away to reveal the upper channel 18. The cut away portion is dimensioned so that the junction chamber 52 fits onto the upper channel 18 to abut the remaining upper portion of the side members 2, and to be generally flush with the end of the panel support assembly.

The channel section 54 is bolted to the upper side members and to the partition wall 14 so as to secure the junction box 50 to the support assembly with the channel sections 54 and 58 effectively constituting the upper channel 18. It will be appreciated that the channel sections 56 and 60 effectively constitute a second channel perpendicular to and in communication with the upper channel 18. These channel sections are bolted to the upper side walls of similar cut away support assemblies arranged perpendicular to the first support assembly.

In addition, the channel section 58 is bolted into the upper channel 18 of a further support assembly which is co-linear with the first support assembly. In this way, the electric wiring can be guided to any desired region of the suspended ceiling.

It will be appreciated that the junction box 50 enables the electric wiring in one channel to be guided into another support assembly completely independently of the wiring in the other channel of the same assembly. Although the above described junction box has been installed in the upper channel 18, it will be appreciated that a similar junction box can be installed in the lower channel independently of the upper channel.

Although the above described junction box has two mutually perpendicular guide paths for the electric wiring, it will be appreciated that a junction box may include any number of guide paths for the wiring.

The panel support assembly of the invention can be fabricated from any suitable material such as steel.

As previously mentioned on page 7, the clips 24 retain the cover plate 22 in engagement with the side members 2. Preferably, the clips 24 are integral with the cover plate 22 as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Alternatively, the clips 24 can be secured to the cover plate 22 by any suitable means, such as spot welding, as shown in Figure 1.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A panel support assembly comprising two elongate opposedly spaced side members connected by a partition extending between two longitudinal intermediate portions of the side members to define therewith two separate channels for the electric wiring, support means on the side members on which panels are intended to be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

2. A panel support assembly as claimed in claim 1, including at least one wiring junction device arranged in communication with only one of the channels.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 2, in which the said one channel includes members which are suitably cut away and shaped to receive the junction device.

4. An assmbly as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the said junction device consists of a discrete junction box consisting of channel shaped members extending perpendicularly to one another through a common junction region.

5. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4, in which the said junction box is located in one channel of the said panel support assembly so that one junction box channel member is located in the channel and other junction box channel member or members may extend perpendicularly thereto for attachment to the channels of a further panel support assembly or assemblies.

6. A panel support assembly comprising two elongate opposedly spaced side members connected by a channel member with opposed side walls secured to said side members, and a closure wall intermediate said side walls to form a partition providing two separate channels for elecric wiring, support means on the side members on which panels are intended to be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

7. An assembly as claimed in Claim 6, in which the support means consists of coplanar flanges which extend outwardly from one pair of opposed longer edge portions of the side members.

8. An assembly as claimed in Claim 7 in which one of said cover plates is dimensioned to span the channel containing said side walls and to abut said flanges.

9. An assembly as claimed in Claim 8 in which the cover plate is retained in position by means of clips on the cover plate which engage longitudinal marginal portions of the side walls adjacent to said one pair of longer edge portions of the side members.

10. An assembly as claimed in Claim 9, in which said marginal portions are turned inwardly to define longitudinal protrusions which engage complementary parts of the clips.

11. An assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to 10, in which the other of said cover plates which is arranged slidably to engage or to dip into the other pair of opposed longer edge portions of the side members.

12. An assembly as claimed in Claim 11 in which said other pair of edge portions are turned inwardly to provide runners which engage suitably shaped parts or longitudinal flanges mounted on the other cover plate.

13. An assembly as claimed in Claim 12, in which springs are provided in the runners or the flanges to provide the "clip-in" engagement.

14. An assembly as claimed in any preceding Claim in which lines of weakening are located in a partition of the assembly to provide readily removable or "knock-out"

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. sections 54 and 58 effectively constituting the upper channel 18. It will be appreciated that the channel sections 56 and 60 effectively constitute a second channel perpendicular to and in communication with the upper channel 18. These channel sections are bolted to the upper side walls of similar cut away support assemblies arranged perpendicular to the first support assembly. In addition, the channel section 58 is bolted into the upper channel 18 of a further support assembly which is co-linear with the first support assembly. In this way, the electric wiring can be guided to any desired region of the suspended ceiling. It will be appreciated that the junction box 50 enables the electric wiring in one channel to be guided into another support assembly completely independently of the wiring in the other channel of the same assembly. Although the above described junction box has been installed in the upper channel 18, it will be appreciated that a similar junction box can be installed in the lower channel independently of the upper channel. Although the above described junction box has two mutually perpendicular guide paths for the electric wiring, it will be appreciated that a junction box may include any number of guide paths for the wiring. The panel support assembly of the invention can be fabricated from any suitable material such as steel. As previously mentioned on page 7, the clips 24 retain the cover plate 22 in engagement with the side members 2. Preferably, the clips 24 are integral with the cover plate 22 as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Alternatively, the clips 24 can be secured to the cover plate 22 by any suitable means, such as spot welding, as shown in Figure 1. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A panel support assembly comprising two elongate opposedly spaced side members connected by a partition extending between two longitudinal intermediate portions of the side members to define therewith two separate channels for the electric wiring, support means on the side members on which panels are intended to be seated, and two cover plates arranged to engage corresponding longer edge portions of the side members in order to close the channels.

parts to facilitate communication between the two channels of the assembly.

15. An assembly as claimed in any preceding Claim, including a suspension system to suspend the assembly from a load bearing member.

16. A panel support system comprising an array of panel support assemblies as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 14 arranged to define a plurality of coplanar rectangular apertures, and means for supporting the array from load bearing members, in which each panel support assembly comprises an upper channel and a lower channel separated by a common partition and arranged so that the upper and lower channel mouths face upwardly and downwardly respectively, and support means on which panels spanning the apertures may be seated.

17. A panel support assembly substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying drawings.

18. A panel support system substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying drawings.