US3271918A

US3271918A - Hanger assembly

Info

Publication number: US3271918A
Application number: US375473A
Authority: US
Inventors: George T Phillips
Original assignee: JAMES A PHILLIPS Inc
Current assignee: JAMES A PHILLIPS Inc
Priority date: 1964-06-16
Filing date: 1964-06-16
Publication date: 1966-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 1983-09-13

Description

Sept. 13, 1966 G. T. PHILLIPS HANGER ASSEMBLY Filed June 16, 1964 w T N E V N H IS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,271,918 HANGER ASSEMBLY George T. Phillips, Bedford Village, N.Y., assignor to James A. Phillips Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 16, 1964, Ser. No. 375,473 Claims. (Cl. 52-493) This invention relates to the assembly of walls and other surfaces from tiles and, more particularly, relates to an improved method and apparatus for securing such tiles in position.

Walls or drop ceilings formed of an array of removable acoustic tiles supported from hangers are often used in modern building construction to provide attractive walls or ceilings and allow access to mechanical and electrical equipment installed in the spaces between the walls or between adjacent ceilings and floors. The tiles are frequently damaged during removal from the supporting hangers when access is required to these spaces.

In accordance with the present invention, such tile damage is eliminated by mounting the tiles by brackets of which each is removable from the tile wall or ceiling without preliminarily breaking or otherwise damaging the particular tiles supported by that bracket.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the following description and to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view partly in section of an embodiment of a drop ceiling according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view in section of the ceiling in FIG. 1, the view being taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bracket according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the drop ceiling is comprised of a horizontal array of conventional acoustic tiles 1 1. The tiles 11 have vertical edges 12 (FIG. 2) which are provided with horizontal rabbets 13.

A stiff transverse member or bracket 14 has a pair of horizontally disposed flanges 15 and 1-6 receivable in the horizontal rabbets formed in the vertical edges .12 of the tiles 11. Detents 17 may be stamped or similarly formed in the

horizontal flanges

15 and 16 to provide a snug fit between the rabbets 13 and the

flanges

15 and 16.

An inverted V-shaped hollow vertical web 18 having a height at least equal to approximately one-half of the thickness of the tiles 11 is formed in the bracket 14 between the flanges 15 and .16. As shown (FIG. 3), a portion of the top of the web 18 is cut away to form a slot 20 whose purpose will be described subsequently.

Upwardly protruding

vertical flanges

21 and 22 are formed on the end of the bracket 14 adjacent to the slot 20. A pair of small

hemispherical detents

23 and 24 are formed in the

vertical flanges

21 and 22 and are spaced above the apex of the vertical web 18.

A stiff, tubular longitudinal member of channel 25 is (FIGS. 1 and 2) permanently fixed to a portion of a building (not shown) and is disposed immediately above the bracket 14. The channel 25 has resilient, downwardly converging

sides

27 and 28 on opposite sides of a lengthwise slit 26, the

sides

27 and 28 having upwardly diverging curved

inner edges

26A and 26B. A pair of

parallel sides

29 and 30 form the lower portion of the lengthwise slit 26. Longitudinal and horizontally disposed bracing flanges 31 and 32 are flared away from the lower edge of the

parallel sides

29 and 30, respectively.

In operation, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the rabbeted edges of the tiles 11 are placed on the

horizontal flanges

15 and 16 of the hanger 14 so that the upper halves of the vertical tile edges 12 abut the web 18. The detents 17 on the

horizontal flanges

15 and 16 engage the inner surfaces of the rabbets '13 and retain the tiles 11 on the bracket 14. When the tiles 11 are suitably arranged on the bracket .14, the

vertical flanges

21 and 22 are urged into the slit 26 which is wedged apart by the uppermost quadrants of the

hemispherical detents

23 and 24. The

hemispherical detents

23 and 24 on the

vertical flanges

21 and 22 of the bracket 14 are so spaced above the apex of the vertical web 18 that the lowermost quadrants of the detents are wedged against the curved inner edge 26A of the slit 26 to thereby draw the apex of the web 18 against the bracing flange 32.

In like manner, a similar bracket 34 is urged into the slit 26 in abutting relationship with the bracket 14, thereby further separating the opposing edges of the slit 26 and increasing the forces holding the

brackets

14 and 34 within the channel 25.

To withdraw the bracket .14 from engagement within the channel 25, the blade 35 of a knife or like tool is inserted between the vertical edges 12 of adjacent tiles 11 and through the central slot 20 in the vertical web 18. As shown (FIG. 2), the blade is passed laterally through the slot at an angle to the vertical so that the forward end of the blade comes to rest against the side 28 of channel 25, and so that lower and

upper edge portions

36 and 37 of the blade are in contact with, respectively, the upper portion 38 of the edge at the left hand edge of the slot and the lower portion 39 of the edge at the right hand end of the slot. Those two edge portions provide fulcra against which the tool is levered to jack the bracket 14 out of the slit 26.

Such jacking is accomplished by gripping the tool handle (not shown), and by then tilting the tool counterclockwise by wrist movement and simultaneously displacing the tool in a downward movement guided by the channel side 28 against which the blade 35 rests. After the

vertical portions

21 and 22 of the bracket 14 have been jacket out of the slit 26, the tiles 11 may be removed from the horizontally disposed flanges 1'5 and 16.

Since the slot 20 enables the tool blade 35 to be slipped in between the two tiles to either side of bracket 14 and to then engage with the bracket in a manner permitting it to be jacked out of the channel 25 by the tool, the provision in the bracket 14 of the slot 20 permits the bracket to be removed Without preliminarily disturbing one or the other or both of such tiles in order to get a good grip on the bracket. Hence, :a slotted bracket in accordance with the present invention eliminates the practice which was hitherto necessary of breaking or otherwise damaging some of the tiles of a tile panel in order to remove the tile-supporting brackets of the panel.

While a representative embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described for purposes of illustration, various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of this invention. Therefore, all such changes and modifications are included within the intended scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Tile support apparatus for a panel of tiles comprising, a channel member having formed therein a lengthwise slit with resiliently separable sides, a tile-support bracket disposed outwards of said slit in transverse relation to the center plane thereof, said bracket having a web towards said slit, flange means extending from said bracket into said slit and releasably grasped within said slit by the resilient sides thereof, and fulcrum means provided by said web for a tool adapted by engagement with said fulcrum means to exert on said bracket a pulling force by which said flange means is removable from said slit.

2. Tile support apparatus comprising, bracket means having a longitudinally extending, transversely central portion and having on transversely opposite sides thereof a pair of longitudinal means for supporting transversely spaced tiles on said opposite sides of said portion, means laterally salient in one direction from said bracket means and yieldably graspable by a support and backing member for said bracket means, and means in said transversely central portion providing on said bracket means at least one fulcrum portion for a tool blade insertable between said spaced tiles, said fulcrum portion being engageable by the edge of a blade portion offset in said one direction away from said fulcrum portion so as to permit said blade portion to jack said bracket means away from said member.

3. Tile support apparatus comprising, bracket means having a longitudinally extending, transversely central portion and having on transversely opposite sides thereof a pair of longitudinal means for supporting transversely spaced tiles on said opposite sides of said portion, means laterally salient in one direction from said bracket means and yieldably graspable by a support and backing member for said bracket means, such bracket means having formed in said central portion a longitudinal slot passing laterally through such portion, and said slot providing at each of its longitudinally opposite ends a fulcrum portion on said bracket means for tool blade insertable between said spaced tiles through said slot to engage said bracket means at each of said ends.

4. Tile support apparatus comprising, a bracket member having a longitudinal vertical hollow Web of inverted V shape, said member also having two horizontal longitudinal tile support flanges on transversely opposite sides of said web, said web having a portion thereof cut away to provide a longitudinal slot extending vertically through said web, and flange means salient from said bracket member and insertable into a resilient holding slit in a support and backing channel for said bracket member.

-5. A method of removing from a support and backing member a tile-support bracket resiliently fastened to and backed by said member, said bracket being disposed transversely between two spaced tiles in a panel thereof to support such two tiles, and said bracket having a slot passing laterally therethrough at a position transversely intermediate said two tiles, said method comprising, inserting the blade of a tool from the front side of said panel between said two tiles and through said slot to position a portion of said blade at the back side of said bracket,

- tilting said tool by manipulation thereof at said front side References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,73 8,469 12/ 1929 Weiss 52-493 2,660,409 11/ 1953 Pittenger et a1. 52-493 3,164,230 1/ 1965 Adams 52-493 REINALDO P. MAOHADO, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. THE SUPPORT APPARATUS FOR A PANEL OF TILES COMPRISING, A CHANNEL MEMBER HAVING FORMED THEREIN A LENGTHWISE SLIT WITH RESILIENTLY SEPARABLE SIDES, A TILE-SUPPORT BRACKET DISPOSED OUTWARDS OF SAID SLIT IN TRANSVERSE RELATION TO THE CENTER PLANE THEREOF, SAID BRACKET HAVING A WEB TOWARDS SAID SLIT, FLANGE MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID BRACKET INTO SAID SLIT AND RELEASABLY GRASPED WITHIN SAID SLIT BY THE RESILIENT SIDES THEREOF, AND FULCRUM MEANS PROVIDED BY SAID WEB FOR A TOOL ADAPTED BY ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FULCRUM MEANS TO EXERT ON SAID BRACKET A PULLING FORCE BY WHICH SAID FLANGE MEANS IS REMOVABLE FROM SAID SLIT.