US3818961A

US3818961A - Joint construction for ceiling panels

Info

Publication number: US3818961A
Application number: US00315524A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Davey; C Gilbo; N Johnson; T Fritz
Original assignee: Armstrong Cork Co
Current assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Priority date: 1971-06-16
Filing date: 1972-12-15
Publication date: 1974-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-25

Abstract

An improved joint structure for a strip concealing means which covers fasteners that hold a ceiling panel in position. Angled grooves are provided in a ceiling board for receiving a strip. Between the angled grooves, staples are placed to fasten the board in position, and the strip is placed in the grooves to conceal the staples.

Description

Unite States atent I 1 Davey et a1.

JOINT CONSTRUCTION FOR CEILING PANELS Inventors: John R. Davey, Camp Hill; Charles F. Gilbo, Lancaster; Norman A. Johnson, Lititz; Thomas W. Fritz, East Petersburg, all of Pa.

Assignee: Armstrong Cork Company,

Lancaster, Pa.

Filed: Dec. 15, 1972 Appl. No.: 315,524

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 153,508, June 16, 1971, Pat. No. 3,745,734.

U.S. Cl. 144/326 R, 52/471, 52/716,

52/753 R int. Cl. B27c 9/00 Field of Search 144/323, 326 R, 136 R;

[11] I 3,818,961 June 25, 1.974

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,407,250 '2/1922 Burnett 52/467 1,814,702 7/1931 Jensen 144/136 R 3,085,301 4/1963 Nuorivaara 52/461 X 3,353,321 11/1967 Heilweil et a1 52/716 3,545,154 12/1970 Bobzin et a1 52/471 X Primary ExaminerAndrew R. .luhasz Assistant Examiner-W. D. Bray [5 7 ABSTRACT An improved joint structure for a strip concealing means which covers fasteners that hold a ceiling panel in position. Angled grooves are provided in a ceiling board for I receiving a strip. Between the angled grooves, staples are placed to fasten the board in position, and the strip is placed in the grooves to conceal the staples.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CROSS REVERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuing application of commonlyassigned, copending U.S. application Ser. No.

153,508, filed June 16, 1971, in the names of John R. Davey et al. and entitled JointConstruction for Ceiling Panels," now U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,734, patented July 17. 1973.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a structure for ceiling boards and, more particularly, to a joint structure used in conjunction with a concealing strip.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore, when a ceiling for a mobile home was assembled, large surface panels were fastened to supporing frame members. However, the exposed fasteners, such as nails, staples or rosettes have presented an unsightly appearance and have spoiled the attractiveness of the ceiling. One answer has been found in the placing of stapes in a preformed groove or bevel in the panels. Since the staples, which are driven into the panels, are not always properly aligned in the bottom of the grooves, an unsightly appearance could result.

A panel assembly system as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,085,301 has been tried in which a flexible strip is inserted into mating grooves in" the abutting edges of the panels. The flexible strip, however, does not always move smoothly in the groovesbecause quite frequently the fasteners, suchas staples or nails, are not properly driven into place and interfere with the forward movement of the strip. Also, the flexible strip does: not provide a sturdy structure. v I

In U.S. Pat. No.'3,545,1 54, an improvement was developed wherein a rigid strip was used with a raised center area which extended over any improperly driven staples or nails. Both the above structures utilized a flange structure for the strip which had the flange structure in the same plane. The grooves for receiving the flanges were also in a common plane in the board structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a surface panel assembly in which the panel is grooved to receive rigid strips which cover the fasteners holding the board in position. The strip slides in two grooves which extend parallel to each other, but are angled relative to each other. The central area between the two grooves is raised to provide support to the center region of the strip and to provide a region for a staple guide structure which is set forth in copending application, Ser. No. 153,509, filed June 16, 1971, entitled Guide Groove for Staple Gun. The angling of the two parallel grooves provides for an advantage in manufacture of the board product and for a slight ease of assembly of the strip to the ceiling board structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is the showing of the board structure with the grooves therein;

FIG. II is the cross-sectional view of the strip which is placed in the grooves; and

' FIG. III is a cross-sectional view of the strip assembled in the board and its groove structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. I, there is shown a crosssectional view of a ceiling panel or board 2. The boards are normally four feet wide and are fastened to the ceiling rafter structure of a mobile home. The rafters of the mobile home are 16 inches apart. Therefore, the 4-foot ceiling board would be fastened at its edge to one rafter and then at two separatepoints in the board 16 inches apart. It would then be fastened along its opposite edge to the fourth adjacent rafter. If the ceiling board is being fastened to a rafter in a center portion of the board, the ceiling board would have the configuration shown in FIG. I less the dotted line structure 4. At the edge of the ceiling board, each edge of the ceiling board would have a configuration similar to that to the right or left of the dual dotted line structure 4. One ceiling board would have the structure to the right of the dotted line while the adjacent ceiling boards would have a structure similar to that to the left of the dotted line structure. Consequently, when the two adjacent ceiling boards are placed side by side with the dotted line structure 4 representing the edge of the boards the appearance of the joint at the edge of the boards would be the same as the appearance of the groove structure 16 inches in from either edge of the board. The board is provided with a raised structure 6 into which staples are passed to fasten the ceiling board to the underlying rafter structure 8. It will be seen that the staples pass through the ceiling board 6 and grasp into the rafter 8 to hold the ceiling board in position. At a joint structure, it can be seenthat one prong of each of the staples passes through an adjacent one of the boards to provide support to each of the twoadjacent boards.

The ceiling boards are provided with

groove structures

10 and 12 which extend parallel to each other and are inclined ata slight angle relative to each other. The

when the board is being manufactured. A saw would be positioned in the plane of the line 14 and would cut groove 10. The waste cut out of the groove 10 is thrown along the plane of the line 14 and thus is not projected into the groove 12. If the two grooves were in the same plane, as shown in the above-mentioned patents, the cutting of the groove 10 would cause the sawdust generated thereby tobe thrown into the adjacent groove 12 and clog up this groove with sawdust. There is then required the additional step of cleaning out the groove 12-50 that the strip element can slide into the groove.

FIG. II is a showing of the strip structure 15 which is placed in the

grooves

10 and 12. The strip has

flanges

16 and 18 which extend into the

grooves

10 and 12. The strip structure also has a central body region 20 which may be provided with a decorative surface. This structure 20 overlies the surface 6 into which the staples have been placed. This central region 20 serves the purpose of providing a decorative cover for the staples.

This strip 15 is a rigid strip. In this invention, the rigid strip must be such that it can easily be pushed along grooves and 12 from one end of a panel to the other end. Obviously, a strip which is flexible enough to be conveniently handled on a reef cannot have the requisite rigidity and ease of placement. Obviously, the strip need not be so rigid as to permit no flexure at all for lengths of 10 to 12 feet, but it cannot be flexible such that it may be wound on a reel and bent in radii of less than 1 inch. While the strip may appear to have a raised area relative to the

flanges

16 and 18, it must be seen that this raised area does not exist relative to the plane of the staples. As can be seen in the embodiment of FIG. III, the underside of the central portion 20 of the strip is closely adjacent the surface 6 into which the staples are driven. Consequently, the assembled product i does not have a strip with a central raised area which is designed to pass over improperly driven staples. There would be a tendency for the strip 15 to hang up on an improperly driven staple; therefore, the staples must be driven flush or substantially flush with the surface 6 of the ceiling board.

FIG. [ll of the drawings shows the assembled product with the strip 15 in position in the ceiling board 2. The

flanges

16 and 18 are in the respective grooves 10 and '12. The central portion 20 closely overlies the surface 6 of the ceiling board in which the staples have been 4 driven. Consequently, the strip 20 carefully conceals the staples from view.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of sawing groove means in a board structure, said board having parallel front and rear wall surfaces and having a region into which staples maybe passed to fasten the board to an underlying support structure, a groove means being positioned at each side of the staple receiving region, said groove means being formed by the steps of: sawing the first groove means with a saw having its cutting plane at an angle relative to the surface of the board being cut so as to form a groove means partly under the last-mentioned surface of the board, sawing the second groove means parallel with the first groove means and on the opposite side of the staple receiving region, said sawing of the second groove means being done with a saw having its cutting plane at a shallow angle relative to the surface of the board being cut so as to form a groove means partly under the surface of the board, said both sawing steps being performed so that the planes of the saw extend above the staple receiving region so that the groove means have openings facing each other and toward the staple receiving region.

2. The method of sawing of claim 1 wherein the sawing steps are performed with the plane of the saw posi tioned at an angle of approximately 13 from the plane of the surface receiving the staples.

Claims

1. The method of sawing groove means in a board structure, said board having parallel front and rear wall surfaces and having a region into which staples may be passed to fasten the board to an underlying support structure, a groove means being positioned at each side of the staple receiving region, said groove means being formed by the steps of: sawing the first groove means with a saw having its cutting plane at an angle relative to the surface of the board being cut so as to form a groove means partly under the last-mentioned surface of the board, sawing the second groove means parallel with the first groove means and on the opposite side of the staple receiving region, said sawing of the second groove means being done with a saw having its cutting plane at a shallow angle relative to the surface of the board being cut so as to form a groove means partly under the surface of the board, said both sawing steps being performed so that the planes of the saw extend above the staple receiving region so that the groove means have openings facing each other and toward the staple receiving region.

2. The method of sawing of claim 1 wherein the sawing steps are performed with the plane of the saw positioned at an angle of approximately 13* from the plane of the surface receiving the staples.