Ceiling louver assembly

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Patent issued

01/12/1993

Inventor(s):	Nemchock, Gary
Assignee	Architectural Forms, Inc. (Lawrence, KS)
Application	No. 07/596,443 filed on 10/12/1990
Current US Class	52/489, 52/473, 52/666, 52/713
Field of search	52/473, 52/489, 52/668, 52/664, 52/665, 52/666, 52/667, 52/484, 52/763, 52/713, 52/715, 52/486, 403/347
International Classes:	E04B 928, E04B 934
Examiners
Primary	Scherbel David A.
Secondary	Nguyen Kien T.
Attorney, agent or firm:	Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak & Seas
US patent references	3463432, 4004390, 4463536, 4633635
Foreign patents	51-16579 (01/31/1976, JP)

A ceiling louver assembly is constructed from a plurality of ceiling unitseach having four ceiling tiles with each ceiling tile having identicalprojecting side tabs disposed in coplanar abutting relation with side tabsof adjacent tiles. A metal strap is disposed in overlying relation withrespect to the coplanar abutting side tabs of adjacent tiles and securedthereto by means of screws in blind bores. Each ceiling tile is providedwith a projecting corner tab at each corner and a hanger is disposed inengagement with the four projecting corner tabs of four adjacent units.The hanger is comprised of a base plate underlying the corner tabs withupstanding flanges disposed between adjacent units to prevent lateralmovement of the corner tabs relative to each other. A vertically extendingeye bolt is secured to the base plate for suspending the hanger from asupport structure and a flexible gasket is secured about the eye boltbetween the eye thereof and the corner tabs to prevent vertical movementof the corner tabs relative to the flanges.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a custom ceiling louver assemblycomprised of four cellular die-cast aluminum ceiling tiles interconnectedalong adjacent sides to define a ceiling unit with a plurality of ceilingunits being interconnected and suspended by means of a hanger assemblyengaging complementary projecting tab portions at the adjacent corners offour contiguous units, and more specifically, to the specific hangerassemblies and connecting means for adjacent tiles.
A similar ceiling louver assembly is disclosed in Japanese patent 51-16579granted May 4, 1976. In the ceiling louver assembly disclosed in thisJapanese patent, four individual die-cast aluminum square ceiling tilesare provided having a plurality of cell-like interconnected members. Thealternate edges of the individual square tiles are provided withcomplementary overlapping configurations which may be interconnected byscrew members. The larger composite tile assembly is supported at eachjunction of four adjacent tiles by means of a hanger comprised of asubstantially square support plate underlying projecting corner tabs oneach tile. Each support plate is provided with four upstanding flanges,each extending between adjacent ceiling tiles to hold the projectingcorner tabs of each tile in superimposed relation on the support plate.The center of the support plate is provided with a threaded aperture and athreaded bolt is engaged therein which extends vertically upwardly forconnection to a suitable support structure above the ceiling tiles fromwhich the ceiling tiles will be suspended.
Due to the fact that the projecting tabs along each side of the ceilingtiles are designed to have an overlapping complementary configuration, theprojecting tabs are relatively thin and are therefore readily broken inhandling prior to assembly and during the assembly process due to thestresses imparted thereto by the threaded connecting member. Structuralintegrity of the joint condition is subject to failure. While the upwardlyprojecting flanges on the support plate located at the intersection offour tiles restrain the tiles from lateral movement relative to eachother, there is nothing to prevent the tiles from being raised upwardlyabove the flanges. Furthermore, since a hanger is required at theintersection of each set of four tiles, an extremely large number ofhangers will be required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a new and improved ceiling louver assemblywhich overcomes all of the aforementioned problems associated with theprior art construction.
The present invention provides a new and improved ceiling louver assemblycomprised of a plurality of ceiling units each comprised of four ceilingtiles, two complimentary pairs having projecting side tabs disposed incoplanar abutting relation with side tabs of adjacent tiles, strap meansoverlying said side tabs of adjacent tiles and means securing said strapmeans to said side tabs to provide the sole engagement for said fourceiling tiles of each ceiling unit, each ceiling tile having threesubstantially square-shaped projecting corner tabs and a singletriangular-shaped projecting corner tab which are located at the fourcorners of each composite ceiling unit, hanger means engaged with fourtriangular-shaped projecting corner tabs of four adjacent units and havingretainer means to prevent lateral and vertical displacement of saidadjacent units relative to each other.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following more particular description of apreferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

What is claimed is:
1. A ceiling louver assembly comprised of four substantially square ceilinglouver means disposed adjacent to each other in a common plane, eachceiling louver means having a projecting corner tab disposed adjacent eachother and hanger means comprised of an imperforate support plateunderlying said four corner tabs and having upwardly extending flangesbetween each two adjacent ceiling louver means in engagement with saidcorner tabs thereof, a vertically extending hanger member having a headportion and a shank portion secured to said support plate and extendingupwardly between said corner tabs and gasket means detachably connected tosaid shank portions between said head portion and said corner tabs toprevent vertical movement of said ceiling louver means relative to saidhanger means.
2. A ceiling louver assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein each ceilinglouver means is comprised of four ceiling tiles of die-cast aluminumdisposed in side by side coplanar relation, each ceiling tile having aplurality of spaced apart projecting side tabs disposed in adjacentcoplanar relationship with corresponding projecting side tabs on adjacentceiling tiles, strap means overlying adjacent side tabs of adjacentceiling tiles and screw means connecting said strap means to said tabs.
3. A ceiling tile assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said ceilingtiles each have a projecting corner tab disposed adjacent each other incoplanar, unconnected relation to each other.
4. A ceiling louver assembly comprising four ceiling tiles disposed in sideby side coplanar relation, each ceiling tile having a plurality ofidentical spaced apart projecting side tabs disposed in adjacent coplanarrelationship with corresponding projecting side tabs on adjacent ceilingtiles, strap means overlying adjacent side tabs of adjacent ceiling tilesand screw means connecting said strap means to said tabs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a Ceiling tile according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines II--II of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of four interconnected tiles as shown in FIG. 1 todefine a ceiling unit.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing portions of four adjacent ceiling units ofthe type shown in FIG. 3 in engagement with a hanger.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a hanger and gasket assembly taken along theline V--V in FIG. 6.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI--VI in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The ceiling louver system according to the present invention is comprisedof a plurality of interconnected ceiling tiles identical to the ceilingtile 10 shown in FIG. 1. Each ceiling tile 10 is comprised of a die-castaluminum grid having a plurality of cell-like interconnected members 12and 14 of varying height which may be open or closed. As shown in FIG. 2,the cell-like members 12 and 14 are all open as are the rectangularcell-like members 16 located along the sides of the larger cells 12 and14. The square cell-like like members 18 formed at the intersection of therectangular cell-like members 16 are preferably closed. However, thevarying heights of the members as well as whether the members are openedor closed, can readily be varied within the scope of the present inventionsince these features are primarily design features.
Along the sides of the ceiling tile 10 are a plurality of side tabs 20which are located at the ends of the cell-like members 16 and protrudebeyond the sides of adjacent cell-like members 12 and 14. Each tab 20 hasa threaded blind aperture 22 centered thereon on the upper side, as viewedin FIG. 1. Three corners of the tile 10 are provided with square shapedprotruding corner tabs 24 while the fourth corner of the tile 10 isprovided with a corner tab 26 having a substantially triangularconfiguration. None of the corner tabs are provided with threaded blindapertures.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, two complimentary pairs of ceiling tiles 10 areinterconnected to form a ceiling unit of the ceiling louver system. Thefour tiles 10 are disposed in a common plane in side by side relation withthe side tabs 10 being disposed in closely spaced apart proximity to eachother. The triangular corner tabs 26 of each tile are disposed at the fourcorners of the unit. In the center of the unit, four square corner tabs 24are disposed adjacent each other. A plurality of rectangular connectorstrips 28 overlap adjacent side tabs 20. Each connector strip 28 has twospaced apart holes which will be aligned with the threaded blind holes inthe side tabs 28 and screw members 30 are threaded into the holes (notshown) to secure the adjacent tiles 10 together by means of the connectorstrips 28. The holes into which the screws 30 are threaded do notnecessarily have to be threaded holes, but could be smooth, blind boresand the screws 30 could be self-tapping screws. The square shaped cornertabs which are disposed in close proximity to each other ar notinterconnected by means of connector strips 28 but are left unconnected toeach other.
Once a plurality of ceiling tile units 40 as shown in FIG. 3 are assembled,the ceiling tile units are then suspended from a suitable supportstructure adjacent each other in a common plane. Corner portions of fouradjacent ceiling tile units 40 are illustrated in FIG. 4 for the purposeof illustrating how the ceiling tile units 40 are interconnected to eachother by means of a hanger assembly which is also used to hang a compositeceiling louver assembly from a support structure. The hanger assembly 50is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6 and is comprised of a basesupport plate 52 having a substantially square shaped configuration withcut-out corner portions 54. Four vertically extending retainer flanges 56are of integral one piece construction with the base support plate 52 buthave been bent upwardly as shown in FIG. 6 so that the four retainerflanges 56 are spaced from each other. A threaded eye bolt 57 having ahead portion 58 and a shank portion 59 is stud welded to the upper surfaceof the support plate 52 by means of a suitable weld 60. The eye bolt 58and the retainer 52, 56 are all constructed of steel or the like. The fourceiling units 40 as shown in FIG. 4, are interconnected with the hangerassembly 50 by placing the triangular corner tab 26 of each ceiling unit40 over the top of two adjacent flanges 56 and lowering the corner tab 26into engagement with the support plate 52 of the hanger assembly. Thus,the four ceiling tile units have their triangular corner tabs 26 securedin the retainer assembly 50 and are restrained against any lateralmovement relative to each other by the vertically extending flanges 56 asbest seen in FIG. 4. In order to prevent vertical movement of thetriangular tabs 26 relative to the hanger assembly 50 once the fourceiling tile units 40 have been assembled together, a hollow cylindricalsplit gasket 72 having a radial slit 70 extending the length thereof, isfitted over the shank of the eye bolt into engagement with the uppersurfaces of the triangular corner tabs 26 of the tile units 40. The gasket72 has a length sufficient so as to extend substantially between the eyeportion of the eye bolt 58 and the upper surface of the corner tabs 26thereby making it impossible to raise the corner tabs 26 above the tops ofthe flanges 56 to prevent disengagement of the ceiling tile units 40 fromthe hanger assemblies 50. The gaskets may be made of any suitablematerial, such as rubber, a flexible polymer or the like. While the eyebolt 58 has been illustrated as having a threaded shank, it is notabsolutely essential for the shank to be threaded. The eye bolts 58 may besuspended from a suitable support structure (not shown) by any suitablemeans which are conventional in the art.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thosein the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.