GB2091778A

GB2091778A - Removable ceiling panels

Info

Publication number: GB2091778A
Application number: GB8202607A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Metal Ceilings H & E Ltd
Current assignee: Metal Ceilings H & E Ltd
Priority date: 1981-01-28
Filing date: 1982-01-29
Publication date: 1982-08-04
Also published as: GB2091778B

Abstract

A metal ceiling comprises a number of panels 18 spanning the gap between a pair of elongate supports 12 and 13. Marginal portions of the panels rest on upwardly facing surfaces 17 of the supports and are retained thereon by resilient retaining elements 22. The retaining elements are formed by bending a strip of resilient steel to provide two limbs, 24 and 25, between which there is a reflex bend 26. Each retaining element can be fitted into engagement with a panel easily by passing the bend 26 through an opening 23 in one of the supports. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Assembly of supports and panels, components for use in the assembly and method of retaining the panels in engagement with the supports This invention relates to an assembly of the kind, hereinafter called the kind specified, comprising a pair of elongate supports and a plurality of panels supported thereby, the panels being arranged in a row between the supports and the supports being arranged with their respective lengths parallel to each other and to the length of the row, wherein at least one, and preferably each, of the supports has a seating surface with which a respective marginal portion of each panel is engaged.The invention also relates to components for use in an assembly of the kind specified and to a method of retaining panels of an assembly of the kind specified in engagement with the seating surface of a support and subsequently releasing one of the panels for movement away from the seating surface.

Assemblies of the kind specified are used as ceilings. It is generally desirable to hold the panels of an assembly of the kind specified in engagement with seating surfaces ofthe supports in order to avoid inadvertent displacement of the panels. In many assemblies of the kind specified, the mass of a single panel is small but the surface area is substantial.

Accordingly, a small pressure differential between opposite faces of the panel may separate the panel from a seating surface unless it is held thereon.

It is common to install service ducts and/or cables above a ceiling consisting of an assembly of the kind specified. It is generally necessary to move one or more panels of the assembly in order to gain access to the service ducts or cables. Such access may be required occasionally for maintenance operations to be carried out, for connections to be made to the ducts or cables or for the installation of additional ducts or cables. The requirement of accessibility by moving one or more panels conflicts with the requirement for holding of the panels in engagement with the seating surfaces.

It is known, in an assembly of the kind specified used as a ceiling, to hold the panels adjacent to the seating surface of a support by means of lugs which are partially severed from the remainder of the support but remain integral therewith and then, after the panels have been assembled with the support, are bent into positions such that the marginal portions of the panels are trapped between the lugs and the seating surface, leaving in the support apertures from which the lugs have been moved. This arrangement has two disadvantages. Firstly, the extent to which movement of the panels away from the seating surface is limited by the lugs depends on the degree to which the lugs are bent from the apertures. In any assembly it is likely that some panels will not be held firmly in contact with the seating surface.Secondly, if, as is usually the case, access to the support from the side at which the panels are disposed is difficult or impossible, the lugs cannot easily be returned into the apertures to release the panels for movement away from the seating surface.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, we provide an assembly of the kind specified wherein at least one of the supports defines an opening adjacent to the seating surface of that support and there are engaged with the support in said openings respective resilient retaining elements, each retaining element being engaged also with an adjacent panel to hold the marginal portion of said panel in engagement with the seating surface of the support.

By providing retaining elements which are initially separate from the support and are resilient, the retaining elements can readily be arranged to maintain each panel firmly in contact with the seating surface of the support. Furthermore, the retaining elements can readily be arranged to be removable from the support, thereby releasing the panels.

The preferred retaining elements are adapted to be a snap-fit in the openings and are capable of passing completely through the openings.

According to a second aspect of the invention, we provide a method of retaining panels of an assembly of the kind specified in engagement with the seating surface of a support of the assembly and subsequently releasing one of the panels for movement away from the seating surface wherein a plurality of openings are formed in the support adjacent to the seating surface, a respective snap-fitting retaining element is introduced into each opening from a first side of the support remote from the panels to engage with the support adjacent to the opening and with a corresponding panel to trap the panel between the retaining element and the seating surface and subsequently the or each retaining element engaged with said panel is disengaged from the support by pushing the retaining element from said first side of the support completely through the corresponding opening.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a pair of supports, at least one of which has a seating surface and a number of openings adjacent to the seating surface, a number of panels not exceeding the number of openings and a plurality of resilient retaining elements, the supports, the panels and the retaining elements all being adapted for assembly together to form an assembly according to the first aspect of the invention.

One example of an assembly of the kind specified embodying the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIGURE 1 shows a cross-section of the assembly in a plane perpendicular to the lengths of supports of the assembly; FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view from above of a part of the assembly; and FIGURES 3 and 4 are fragmentary cross-sections in the plane of Figure 1 illustrating insertion and removal of a retaining element of the assembly.

The particular example of assembly which is iilustrated in the accompanying drawings is a ceiling which spans a gap between walls 10 and 11 which are, typically, 2m apart. The assembly comprises a pair of elongate supports 12 and 13 secured to respective ones of ths walls 10 and 11 to bend horizontally along the walls at the same height. The cross-sectional shape of the supports 12 and 13 is that of a W wherein the lines intersect at right angles.

Thus, each support includes a vertical flange 14 which lies in face-to-face engagement with the adja cent wall, a horizontal web 15 5 which extends from the flange 14 towards the opposite wall, a vertical web 16 which extends downwardly from the hori zonal web in spaced relation to the wall and a hori zontal flange 17 which projects towards the other support.

The assembly furner comprises a number of panels 18 which may be identical with one another.

The panels are arranged in a row, the length of which extends horizontally and parallel to the sur facts of the walls 10 and 11. Typically, each panel comprises a flat bottom portion 19, upturned side portions 20 which extend along opposite boundaries of the bottom portion between the rails 12 and 13 and horizontal flanges 21 on the side portions. Each flange 21 of a particular panel may overlap with a corresponding flange of an adjacent panel.

The panels 18 are supported by the supports 12 and 13, marginal portions of the panels resting on the upwardly facing surfaces of the flanges 17 which constitute seating surfaces of the supports. The panels are held in engagement with the seating surfaces by retaining elements 22.

In the vertical web 16 of each of the supports 12 and 13, there is formed a number of openings 23 which are spaced apart along the support at regular intervals, typically 100mm. Each opening 23 is adjacent to but is spaced somewhat above the seating surface ofthe corresponding flange 17. Conve niently, the openings 23 are rectangular. Each retain ing element 22 is arranged to be a snap-fit in one of the openings 23 and, when fitted therein as shown in Figure 1,to engage the marginal portion of an adjacent panel 18 and hold such marginal portion in engagementwith the seating surface of the flange 17.

Each retaining element 22 is formed by bending a strip of resilient steel to provide two limbs, 24 and 25, between which there is a reflex bend 26. A part of the limb 24 which is remote from the bend 26 is sinuous and includes three bends, these being in alternately opposite directions. A portion 31 of the limb 24 is substantially rectilinear and inclined at an angle of only a few degrees to that part of the limb 24 which extends from the bend 26 to the sinuous portion. The limb 24 thus defines an upwardly open trough 27 in which a part of the web 16 forming the upper boundary of the opening 23 can be received.

The limb 25 includes a main rectilinear portion and a rectilinear free end portion 29 between which there lies a single bend 30. In the unstressed condition of the retaining element, the separation between the bend 30 and the trough 27 exceeds the vertical dimension of the opening 23.

The shape of the sinuous part of limb 24 of each retaining element, as viewed in Figure 1, is that of an inverted W, the central V shape thereof defining the upwardly open trought 27. A pair of downwardly turned flanges 32 on either side of the retaining element are situated at the free end of the limb, which flanges are connected to the remainder of the limb by a neck portion 33. The length of the element, which extends horizontally and parallel to the surfaces of the walls 10 and 11, is substantially constant over the greater part of the element. The length of the element is substantially narrower than this substantially constant value at the neck portion, and the length is slightly less than this value at the downturned flanges.The flanges provide an accessible surface for the application of pressure at the free end of lirnb 24, to facilitate the release of an element as described below. It will be appreciated that the free ends of either of the limbs may be of various shapes to facilitate flexing of the element at the reflex bend 26.

Adjacent to the bend 26, the separation between the limbs 24 and 25 is considerably less than the vertical dimension of the opening 23 so that the retaining element can be introduced into the opening easily by passing the bend 26 through the opening.

After the supports 12 and 13 have been secured to the walls 10 and 11, the panels 18 are placed on the horizontal flanges 17 ofthe supports. Access can then be gained to the openings 23 only from the side of each support facing towards the adjacent wall.

The retaining elements 22 are fitted into the openings 23 by passing the bend 26 of each retaining element into its opening and then pressing the retaining element towards the opposite wall so that the limbs 24 and 25 engage opposite boundaries of the opening 23 and are flexed towards each other.

The end portion 29 moves into engagement with the vertical web 16 and then a part of this web defining the upper boundary of the opening snaps into the trough 27. This partially relieves the stress to which the retaining element has been subjected and causes the bend 26 to bear against the upwardly facing surface of the bottom portion 19 of the adjacent panel.

It will be noted that the clips 22 are accessible from the outside of the assembly, that is to say from the region lying below the panels 18 and between each wall 10 and 11 and the vertical web 16 of the adjacent support. Indeed, the free end portions of the limbs 24 and 25 of each clip are disposed in the region referred to as being outside the assembly. Although the bend 26 of each clip is disposed inside the assembly, that bend is readily accessible through the adjacent opening 23 from the outside of the assembly. It will be noted that the parts ofthe supports in which these openings are formed, namely the vertical webs 16, are spaced a considerable distance from the adjacent walls 10 and 11 so that the walls do not unduly restrict access to the openings 23 and through these openings to parts of each clip which are disposed at the inside of the assembly.

In orderto remove one of the panels, the retaining elements which are engaged with one marginal portion of that panel are released from the web 16 of the associated support by pushing the free end of the limb 24 downwardly towards the limb 25 until the sinuous part of limb 24 clears the boundary of the opening 23 and the limb 24 can be moved outwardly relative to the support. The clip may be rocked about the lower boundary of the opening 23 until the clip becomes completely free of the web 16. Alternatively, the free end of the limb 25 may be pushed upwardly into the opening until the free end portion 29 clears the boundary of the opening and the limb 25 can move inwardly relative to the support. The clip is pushed inwardly to rock about the upper boundary of the opening to free the clip.In a further alternative procedure, a tool is introduced through the associated opening to engage the inside of the bend 26 and, by means of this tool, there is applied to the retaining element a force which causes the limb 24 to flex towards the limb 25 so that the end portion of the limb 24 slides across the upper boundary of the opening 23 into the position illustration in Figure 4. If the retaining element is moved beyond the position illustrated in Figure 4, the limb 24 moves out of the opening 23 and springs away from the limb 25 and the retaining element 22 moves completely through the opening 23 and comes to rest on the bottom portion 19 of the associated panel.

When the retaining elements associated with one marginal portion of the panel have been released, that marginal portion is no longer held on its seating surface and can be raised by the application of pressure to the underside of the panel. When the bottom portion 19 has been raised above the horizontal web 15, the panel can be withdrawn from the seating surface of the opposite support and then moved along the row to rest upon an adjacent panel, thereby providing an opening in the ceiling. The retaining elements are recovered from the panel before it is replaced.

The free end portion of the limb 24 may be inclined to a face of the vertical web 16 at an angle within the range 20 to 70 . In the example illustrated, this angle is approximately 45 . Also the particular example of assembly which is illustrated has along the free edges of the horizontal flanges 17 inturned lips which present the seating surfaces for the panels 18.

It will be understood that these lips may be omitted, the seating surfaces then being wider than the seating surfaces shown in the accompanying drawing and being spaced from the undersides of the flanges 17 only by the thickness of the metal.

Claims

1. An assembly of the kind specified wherein at least one of the supports defines openings adjacent to the seating surface and there are engaged with the supports in said openings respective resilient retaining elements, each retaining element being engaged also with an adjacent panel to hold the marginal portion of said panel in engagement with the adjacent seating surface.

2. An assembly according to Claim 1 wherein the retaining elements are adapted to be a snap-fit in the openings.

3. An assembly according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the retaining elements are capable of passing completely through the openings.

4. An assembly according to Claim 3 wherein each retaining element comprises first and second limbs with a reflex bend between them, the first limb having a sinuous portion engaged with the support, the second limb having an end portion which is turned away from the first limb and is engaged with the support and the reflex bend being engaged with the adjacent panel.

5. An assembly according to Claim 4 wherein the opening in the support is defined by a flat part of the support and a free end portion of the first limb of the retaining element is inclined to said flat part at an angle in the range 20" to 70 .

6. An assembly according to Claim 5 wherein said end portion of the second limb is substantially parallel to said flat part of the support.

7. An assembly according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein said flat part of the support is substantially perpendicular to the adjacent seating surface.

8. An assembly according to Claim 7 wherein the transverse cross-section of each support has the shape of a W wherein the lines intersect substantially at right angles.

9. A pair of supports, at least one of which has a seating surface and a number of openings adjacent to the seating surface, a number of panels not exceeding the number of openings and a plurality of resilient retaining elements, the supports, the panels and the retaining elements being adapted for assembly together to form an assembly according to any one of Claims 1 to 8.

10. A method of retaining panels in an assembly of the kind specified in engagement with the seating surface of a support of the assembly and subsequently releasing one of the panels for movement away from the seating surface, wherein a plurality of openings are formed in the support adjacent to the seating surface, a respective snap-fitting retaining element is introduced into each opening from a first side ofthe support remote from the panel to engage with the support adjacent to the opening and with the panel to trap the panel between the retaining element and the seating surface and wherein the or each retaining element engaged with said panel is subsequently disengaged from the support by pushing the retaining element from said first side of the support completely through the corresponding opening.

11. An assembly of the kind specified substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. A method according to Claim 10 substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13. Any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein or in the accompanying drawings.