US1992159A - Acoustical ceiling construction - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 19, 1935. KaLlNZELL ET A 1,992,159

ACOUSTICAL CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 27, 1931 w M INVENTOR V HARRY K. L/MZELL. BY HEEBEET W- PEEL.

I AT'II'ORNEY 7 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES ACOUSTIOAL CEILING CONSTRUCTION Harry K. Linzell, La Grange, and Herbert W. Reel, Hinsdale,-Il1., assignors to United States Gypsum Company, of Illinois Chicago, 111., a corporation Application March 27, 1931, Serial No. 525,774 4 Claims. (01. 'l2-67) This invention relates to building constructions, and has reference more particularly to attaching means for tile, such as acustical ceiling tiles.

In correcting the acoustical properties of a room and preventing the reverberation of sounds, it is common to line the walls and ceiling of a room with absorbent material, usually in the form of tiles. These tiles are often made of mineral wool base with suitable binders, but they also may be made of porous ceramic material or other suitable fibrous or porous materials. Difficulty has been experienced in keeping these tiles firmly attached to a ceiling since the tiles tend. to expand and contract with changes of temperature in the room and loosen from their fastening means. Bond failure may also be due to bad plaster, paint, etc.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a means for firmly attaching acoustical 2o tiles to a wall, ceiling or other building surface so that the tiles will not tend to loosen from their fastening owing to contraction and expansion; also to improve attaching means for building tiles in other respects hereinafter specified and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation through a portion 30 of the acoustical ceiling construction showing one form of attaching the acoustical tiles to said ceil Fig. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing second form of attachment for the acoustical tiles,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a third form of attachment for the acoustical tiles, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the acoustical tiles.

The acoustical tile preferably consists of a body or slab 10 of fibrous material held together by a suitable binder, thisfibrous material preferably being fireproof, such asmineral wool. Other vegetable and mineralfibers'may be used, or the tile may consist of ceramic material, such as clay, made porous by a multitude of inner-connecting pores opening at the exposed face 11 of the tile. Outer edges 12 of the tile are preferably beveled to give a pleasing architectural appearance. The rear surface 13 of the tile is preferably provided with a layer, of paper 14, or other suitable material impervious to the passage of air, for the purpose of preventing breathing of air through the porous tile from its exposed surface through the body and out the rear surface 13 thereof. This layer 14 may also be of cement or other plastic material. If paper is used, it is firmly attached to the tile by a suitable layer of adhesive. The paper layer 14 preferably extends only over a predetermined area of the rear surface 13 of the tile, so as to leave exposed areas 15 on the tile which may be connected by suitable attaching means to a building surface 16. The layer 14 in preventing passage of air through the tile, prevents the tile from becoming soiled and discolored by the impurities in the air which would otherwise pass through the tile. The plaster layer 16 is preferably formed on expanded metal lath 17, which is attached by suitable hangers 18 to channels 19 attached to the main framework of the ceiling. However, the plaster layer 16 may consist of a gypsum board, such as plasterboard or wallboard, or it may consist of a layer of plaster attached to wood lath or plaster boad.

In our preferred form of attaching means, a furring strip of woven wire mesh 20, or expanded metal lath, is secured to the ceiling surface 16 by staples 21 driven into place, and by U shaped wire clips 23 having a toggle arm 24 looped about the upper end of said clip 23. The clips 23 extend through a hole 25 which is drilled or otherwise formed in the plastered surface 16 and the arm 24 is arranged parallel to the clip 23 which said clip and arm are pushed through the hole 25 from the lower surface of the plaster 16. The clip 23 is preferably in the form of a U-shaped wire having the lower ends thereof extending through the strip 20 and being bent laterally of said strip 20 or being twisted together so as to firmly attach the strip 20 to the ceiling surface 16. After the wire clip 23 is pushed upwardly through the opening 25 for a considerable dis-. tance, the arms 24 turn to a horizontal position and the clip 23 is again pulled downwardly to connect its lower ends to the strip 20. The staples 21 and the clip 22 may be used separately or together with very satisfactory results. -After the metal strip 20 is firmly attached to the ceiling surface 16, a cementing material 26 is spread thickly over the strip 20 and on the tile surface 15 so as to overlap the edges of the paper sheet 14. The tile are then pushed into place so that the cementing material 26 firmly and adhesively attaches the tile to the ceiling surface 16. The cement 26 may consistof emulsified asphalt, or any other suitable cementing agent, such as one containing a base of plaster-of-Paris with suit-. able modifying ingredients.

A fiber or metal washer may be put on the clip 23 between the strip 20 and ceiling surface 16.

This washer 23d serves to stop up the hole 25 so as to actwith the cement 26 to prevent breathing through said hole.

In the form of the' invention shown in Fig. 2, we use strips of plaster or wallboard 28 instead of the metal strips 20. These strips of plaster board consist of a cementitious core material 29 of gypsum base faced on both sides with paper cover sheets 30. The strips '28 are preferably adhesively attached to the ceiling surface 16 by means of a cementing agent 31, preferably composed of emulsified asphalt or a composition havi g p1asterof-Paris as its base. Toggle bolts '32 of standard construction pass through drilled holes in the strip 28 and the plaster layer 16, outstanding arms 33 serving to confine the plaster layer 16 and strip 28 between the heads of the bolt and said arms when the bolt is screwed tight. The tiles 10 are adhesively attached to the strip 28 by a cementing agent, such as that used in the construction shown in Fig. 1, this cementing agent or adhesive being so applied as to form shoulders 34 which enclose the edges of the strip 28 to form a mechanical key.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is a modified form of our invention which is more-particularly adapted to acoustical tiles arranged in irregular patterns where the joints between the adjoining tiles do not come in one long line. In such a case, it is desirable to use a sheet of expanded metal 35 covering the entire ceiling area. The toggle bolts 32 can be used for aiding in securing the expanded metal sheets 35 to the plaster layer 16 and in such a case, special elongated washers 36 are provided adjacent the heads of the toggle bolts so as to engage the meshes of the expanded metal. Wire clips 23 shown in Fig. lmay be used instead of the toggle bolts 32 if desired in this construction or that shown in Fig. 2.

When. the tiles are to be applied to concrete surfaces, 'or to concrete surfaces covered by plaster lead shields or other suitable anchor bolts of standard design may be employed in holes formed in the concrete, so as to secure the furring strips to the building surface.

The methods of attachment described have proved highly successful in attaching acoustical tiles to a ceiling of a room. The cementing agent comes in direct contact with the material or body of the tile itself so that expansion and contraction of tile due to temperature changes will not break loose the tile from the ceiling surface.

Furthermore, the breathing of the tiles is prevented since the adhesive material overlaps the edges of the paper cover sheets 14 so as to prevent any air filtration through the tiles with the consequent soiling of the surface of the tile.

The cementing agent 26 is preferably used in excess so that it fills up the holes 25 about the wire clips 23, or toggle bolts, and prevents any air from passing through the tile and ceiling layer 16.

We would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examples constitute a practical embodiment of our invention, we do not wish to limit-ourselves precisely to these details, since manifestly, the same may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. In a building construction, a building surface, a perforate metal strip extending along said building surface, means for mechanically attaching said metal strip to said surface, a cementing agent extending into the openings in said strip, and tiles having their adjoining margins adhesively attached to said strip and building surface adjacent said strip.

2. In a building construction, a building surface including. a plaster layer, a sheet of expanded metal mechanically attached to said plaster layer, and acoustical tiles adhesively attached .to said expanded metal sheet and said building surface.

3. In a building construction, a building 8111'!- face including a layer of plaster, ,furring strips extending along said plaster layer, anchoring means extending through said strip and said layer so as to mechanically attach said strip to said layer, and acoustical tiles adhesively attached to said strip.

4. In a building construction, a building surface including a layer of plaster having a plurality of holes extending therethrough, a furring strip on said surface adjacent said holes, fastening means extending through said strip and holes so as to attach said strip to said surface, adhesive material adjacent said strip and filling said holes about said fastening means to' prevent breathing through said holes, and acoustical tiles secured to said strip.

HARRY K. LINZELL. HERBERT W. REEL.

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