BACKGROUND

[0001] Suspended ceilings in general are well known. They consisted of a framework or grid of brackets referred to as ainners and typically having a rigid inversed-T shape cross- section, which were suspended from a staicture above, and which was used in supporting an array of ceiling tiles. Typically, ainners oriented in a given longitudinal orientation were manufactured in a length substantially longer than ainners oriented in a transversal orientation, the latter being often referred to as cross-tees and being engaged with two adjacent longitudinal ainners at each end.

[0002] Although such suspended ceilings were satisfactory to a certain degree, the rigid inversed-T shape of the ainners made them particularly difficult to arrange for shipping, and any resulting shipping configuration typically resulted in a relatively high amount of lost volume. This drawback is considerable considering that shipping costs are an important factor in the overall costs of ainners and cross-tees. In another aspect, the ainners were manufactured in given standard lengths, which often required longitudinally assembling two or more ainners end to end. Also, ainners were traditionally suspended using wire, which was time-consuming. Accordingly, there remained room for improvement.

SUMMARY

[0003] In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a ainner for a suspended ceiling where the web is foldable relative to a base. For instance, it can be hingedly connected between the two flanges. The web can thus be folded against the base into a flat configuration for shipping, and unfolded to be normal to the base during installation and use.

[0004] The ainner can be manufactured in traditional given lengths for example, in which case the folded ainners can be stacked into an efficient configuration. The ainners can be made of somewhat flexible or rigid materials. If sufficiently flexible, folded ainners having a much longer length than those traditionally made available can be coiled. A ainner coil can be installed by affixing one end to a first wall, unrolling a length of ainner corresponding to the distance between the first wall and a second opposite wall, cutting the ainner at that length, unfolding the web and suspending it and affixing the cut end to the second wall. This can reduce the inconveniences which were related to joining ainners end to end, for instance. [0005] In accordance with another aspect, there is thus provided a ainner for suspended ceiling provided in the form of a coil.

[0006] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a ainner for suspended ceilings, the ainner being elongated in shape, having a base with two laterally opposite flanges for supporting ceiling tiles and a web hingedly connected to the base between the flanges so as to be foldable between a flat configuration with the web folded against one of the flanges, and an inversed-T configuration with the web normal to the base for suspension and use.

[0007] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a suspended ceiling system having a plurality of ainners, each one of the ainners having a base with two laterally opposite flanges for supporting ceiling tiles and a web hingedly connected to the base between the flanges.

[0008] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a method of installing a suspended ceiling comprising unfolding a ainner having a web hingedly mounted to a base from a folded configuration where the web is folded against the base, to an unfolded configuration where the web is normal to the base.

[0009] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a ainner for suspended ceiling having an inversed-T shape during use, with a web connected along the length of a base, between two laterally opposite flanges of the base, the ainner being characterized in that the web is hingedly connected to the base so as to be foldable between a flat shape with the web folded against one of the flanges, and the inversed-T shape with the web normal to the base. [0010] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a method of suspending ainners of a suspended ceiling system with cable fasteners, each cable fastener being elongated, having a proximal end and a distal end, and having at least one hook at the proximal end, the ainners each having a plurality of apertures interspaced along its length, each one of the apertures having a catch matching the hook of the cable fasteners for snapping locking engagement, the method comprising inserting the proximal end of a cable fastener in a selected one of the apertures thereby lockingly engaging the hook with the selected aperture, and affixing the distal end of the cable fastener to a building staicture.

[001 1] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a suspended ceiling system comprising in combination ainners and cable fasteners, each cable fastener being elongated, having a proximal end and a distal end, and having at least one hook at the proximal end, the ainners each having a plurality of apertures interspaced along its length, each one of the apertures having a catch matching the hook of the cable fasteners for snapping locking engagement therewith when the proximal is inserted into a selected one of the apertures. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0012] In the figures,

[0013] Fig. 1 includes Fig. 1A and Fig. IB, which are perspective views showing an end portion of an example of a ainner, folded and unfolded, respectively;

[0014] Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a portion of a suspended ceiling system with ainners arranged in a grid configuration;

[0015] Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 2;

[0016] Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the assembly of two ainners end to end;

[0017] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a wall bracket for holding a ainner against a wall; [0018] Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing an end portion of another example of a ainner; [0019] Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the assembly of two ainners of Fig. 6 in an end to end configuration;

[0020] Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a wall bracket for holding a ainner of Fig. 6 against the wall; [0021] Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a cable attachment for insertion in an aperture of a ainner and suspending the ainner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Figs. 1A and IB show an example of a ainner 10 for suspended ceilings. Generally, the ainner 10 can be seen to have a web 12 and a base 14, the web 12 being hingedly connected to the base 14 between two lateral flanges 16, 18 thereof. The flanges 16, 18 are to receive and support ceiling tiles (not shown) during installation. More specifically, the web 12 is hingedly connected in the sense that it can be folded between a flat configuration shown in Fig. 1 A, for shipping, where a face 20 thereof is placed into abutment against one of the flanges 18, and an inversed-T configuration shown in Fig. IB where the web 12 is positioned substantially normal to the base 14, for use in a suspended ceiling grid.

[0023] As it will appear from the description provided herein, there are various ways of making a ainner having the afore-mentioned characteristics. Henceforth, it will be understood that the thorough description of the example shown in Fig. 1, and later of the example shown in Fig. 6, are provided solely as a detailed descriptions of two appreciated embodiments, and the specificities thereof are by no way intended to limit the scope of this specification.

[0024] In the example shown in Fig. 1, the web 12 and the base 14 have separate components 22, 24. More particularly, the base 14 can be seen to have a base staictural layer 22, and the web can be seen to have a web staictural layer 24. The base staictural layer 22 and web staictural layer 24 can be made from a sheet material such as metal, plastic (including plastics which include a substantial portion of wood particles) or elastomeric materials, or wood such as a wood veneer for example. In this embodiment, the web staictural layer 24 is hingedly connected to the base staictural layer 22 by way of a flexible sheet layer 26 which can at least partially cover and be adhered to one of the flanges 16 of the base 14, and one of the faces of the web staictural layer 24. This flexible sheet layer 26 can be a paper, a film, a mesh, a foil, a tape, or any suitable material. It can be continuous or discontinuous. [0025] If the material of the base staictural layer 22 and the web staictural layer 24 is sufficiently flexible, the ainner 10, with the web 12 folded in the flat configuration shown in Fig. 1A, can be coiled if desired, which allows its manufacture in greater lengths. Alternately, the ainner 10 can be provided in any desired set length for example.

[0026] Many plastic materials can have sufficient flexibility for providing the ainner 10 in a coil. Alternately, it was found that some wood materials can be made sufficiently flexible by adhering a flexible sheet layer, sometimes referred to as a support layer, to the particular wood material. The particular example illustrated in Figs. 1A and IB, for instance, show a ainner having wood layer 22a, 24a (which can be made from a wood veneer for instance, of which 1/34 inch thickness has been found suitable to provide one example - greater and lesser thicknesses can be used as well) both in the web 12 and the base 14. The wood layer 22a of the base 14 is entirely covered by a first flexible sheet layer 28 (Kraft paper in this case) which is adhered to the wood layer 22a of the base. The wood layer 24a of the web 12 is laid onto the first flexible sheet layer 28 of the base, more particularly on one of the flanges 18 thereof, and a second flexible sheet layer 26a (also Kraft paper in this case) is adhered to cover both the other one of the flanges 16 of the base 14, and the exposed face of the wood layer 24a of the web 12. It will be noted here that the flexible sheet layers 28, 26a can be made of any suitable material.

[0027] In the embodiment illustrated in Figs 1A and IB, a series of regularly longitudinally interspaced apertures 30 are provided in a side (toward an edge) of the web 12 which is away from the connection to the base 14. These apertures 30 can be used to pass a tie (not shown) therethrough and to suspend the ainner 10 by its web 12 to a staicture of the building where the suspended ceiling is mounted (not shown). [0028] A configuration such as described above can be manufactured on-line, with different layers and adhesive applied onto one another via rolls and a rotary punch can be used to create the regularly spaced apertures, for instance. Alternately, such a configuration can also be manufactured off-line. [0029] Turning to Fig. 2, an example portion of suspended ceiling system 40 is shown. In this example, a suspended grid configuration of ainners 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd of the suspended ceiling system 40 is shown assembled and ready for supporting suspended ceiling tiles (not shown). The grid can include a plurality of longitudinal ainners (10b, lOd) which are parallel to and regularly interspaced from one another. The grid can also include a plurality of transverse ainners (10a, 10c) which are parallel to and regularly interspaced from one another. The areas of the grid which correspond to both transverse ainners and longitudinal ainners can be referred to as intersections 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d. It will be understood here that any one of the transverse ainners and longitudinal ainners can include a number of ainners in an end-to-end configuration. [0030] There are many ways to join ainners at the intersections, and the particular way chosen in a particular installation will likely depend of the material(s) of which the ainners are made of and of their lengths. Traditionally, it was known to use cross-tees having a length corresponding to the distance between two longitudinal ainners, and having ends configured to attach thereto, as transverse ainners. This latter way is still possible, along with other variants.

[0031] For illustrative purposes, in the particular example given in Figs 2 and 3, the ainners 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd can be made of a cuttable or slittable material. Henceforth, taking intersection 42d as an example and referring to Fig. 3, the web 12d of the ainner lOd can have a transversal (vertical) slit 44, and a longitudinal slit 46 adjacent the base 14d, and an intersecting ainner 10c can be driven through the slits 44, 46, such as shown more clearly on the enlarged view of Fig. 3. In this manner, the intersecting ainner 10c can be said to penetrate the web 12 of the ainner lOd and to be supported by the base 12d of the ainner lOd it intersects. [0032] Referring back to Fig. 2, it can be seen that the intersecting ainner (i.e. the one of the ainners which penetrates the other) can be either a longitudinal ainner 10b, lOd or a transverse ainner 10a, 10c. Moreover, in the particular grid configuration illustrated in Fig.2, the configuration is such that, at successive intersections along any one of the longitudinal ainners 10b, lOd and the transverse ainners 10a, 10c, an alternating one of a transverse ainner and a longitudinal ainner penetrates through the web of the other one of a transverse ainner and a longitudinal ainner. This particular configuration can be useful to strengthen the ainners 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd and maintain the base thereof from rotation, to help them support uneven forces from the tiles which can occur during assembly, given the fact that the base is hinged relative to the web - e.g., referring to Fig. 3, the base 14c of the intersecting ainner 10c is prevented from rotating by the transversally-oriented base 14d of the intersected ainner lOd. This alternating configuration results in that at any given tile area such as the one shown in Fig. 3, each one of the four surrounding ainners 10a to lOd is prevented from rotating at one intersection, further, each one of the four surrounding ainners 10a to lOd intersects another one of the ainners at one intersection and is intersected by another one of the ainners at the other intersection. This also contributes to spread the load of the tiles on the supporting grid. It will be noted here that the slits 44, 46 (Fig. 3) can be made online with rotary blades, or be made with snips or the like at the time of assembly, for example. If the material of the ainner has sufficient flexibility and the ainners are made of a sufficiently thin material, the edges of the web 12d adjacent the slit 44 can be bent to allow insertion of the intersecting ainner lOd and subsequently released and replaced into position to lock the intersecting ainner lOd into place.

[0033] It will be understood that the grid configuration shown in Fig. 2 is specifically adapted for receiving square tiles. Alternately, it can be configured for receiving rectangular tiles, or tiles of another regular tetragon shape, for instance.

[0034] There are different ways to join ainners end-to-end if desired. One way to do so is illustrated in Fig. 4. In this example, a given length of base 14e, 14f of two ainners lOe, lOf are removed at the ends which are to be joined, and the shortened ends 48, 50 of the two bases 14e, 14f are placed in abutment against each other in the direction of the arrows, with the webs 12e, 12f being placed side by side, with one face 20 of one web 12e being positioned against one face 52 of the other web 12f. The webs 12e, 12f can then be joined to one another by adhesion or fastening for instance. Alternately, the length of cutting of the bases and the configuration of the suspension apertures can be selected for two or more apertures 30e, 3 Of of the two webs 12e, 12f to coincide when the ainners lOe, lOf are joined end to end, in a manner that passing a tie through the coinciding apertures 30e, 3 Of can serve in joining the webs to one another.

[0035] Along the walls, moldings (not shown) can be provided and affixed to the walls to support the edges of the tiles which are adjacent to the walls. Further, wall brackets can be used above the moldings to secure ends of the ainners against the wall.

[0036] An example of such a wall bracket 60 is shown in Fig. 5. The illustrated wall bracket has a base 62 for fixing to a wall, and two fingers 64, 66 defining an open-ended slot 68 into which a web 12 portion at an end of the ainner 10 (see Fig. IB) can be inserted. The base 12 of the ainner 10 can be supported vertically by the molding, while the fingers 64, 66 hold the ainner 10 transversally. The wall bracket 60 can have an internal hook member 70 to snap with an aperture 30 in the web 12 and thereby hold the ainner 10 longitudinally to ease installation. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the internal hook member 70 of the wall bracket 60 is particularly shaped and configured to engage with a corresponding suspension aperture 30 of the ainner 10. [0037] Referring now to Fig. 6, another example of a ainner 1 10 is shown. In this example, the ainner 1 10 is made of a single component 1 10a and the web 1 12 and base 1 14 are integral. Such a ainner 1 10 can be made by extaision, for instance. It can be made of any suitable material. Plastic can be used for instance, including plastics which have a relatively high amount of wood particles mixed there into, to give a wooden aspect to the ainner for instance.

[0038] Generally, the ainner 1 10 illustrated in Fig. 6 also has a web 1 12 which is hingedly connected to the base 1 14, between two flanges 1 16, 1 18 of the base 1 14. A flexible portion 180 extending longitudinally adjacent the base 1 14 allows this hinged connection. More particularly, in this particular example, the hinged connection is created by making the flexible portion 180 thinner than the remainder of the web, and even more particularly by defining a longitudinally oriented w-shaped notch 182 therein. In an alternate embodiment, for example, the flexible portion 180 can be made flexible by using in that area a material which is more flexible than in the remainder of the ainner 1 10, to give another example.

[0039] If desired, a ainner 1 10 such as shown in Fig. 6 can be provided in given lengths, corresponding to dimensions of the tiles to be used, and the given length ainners can be assembled end to end and with transversally oriented ones. One way to assemble ainner ends to one another is to use connectors.

[0040] An example of a connector 190 is shown in Fig. 7. This connector has four ainner sockets 192a, 192b, 192c, 192d defined therein, oriented at 90° from one another, and configured in a manner that the ainners 1 10b, 1 10c can be firmly received therein to form end-to-end junctions and/or intersections. It can be practical that the ainners and connectors in such embodiments be designed in a manner that the ainner be firmly held in the ainner socket once inserted. In the illustrated embodiment, this is achieved by using a crenate rack at least the ends of the ainners and/or the inside faces of the ainner sockets, and to have at least one of these act as a pawl in ratchet action configuration to prevent retraction of the ainner from the ainner socket once it has been fully inserted. In the particular embodiment illustrated, this is achieved by a crenate rack 194c provided along one side of the web 1 12c, adjacent the base 1 14c and having a crenellated shape, and crenate rack 196c with slanted teeth having a pawl action against the crenellated shape of the crenate rack 194c, defined in the ainner socket 192c, although it will be understood that variants are also possible and that the pawl and rack can be inversed. In other words, the crenate rack 196c of the ainner socket 192c is designed to form a linear ratchet with the crenate rack 194c of the ainner 1 10c.

[0041] Now turning to Fig. 8, a particular wall bracket which is designed specifically to hold an end of a ainner 1 10 shown in Fig. 6 against a wall in a ratchet action by having ratchet pawl hooks 170 defined therein and adapted to lockingly engage the crenellated shape of the ainner crenate rack 196.

[0042] It will be understood that the dimensions of the crenate racks 194c and 196c, and of ratchet pawl hooks 170 can vary depending on the elasticity of the material used, for instance. [0043] Turning now to Fig. 9, an example of how ainners 10 can be suspended from a building staicture is shown. In this example, the ainner 10 is suspended using a cable fastener 210. The cable fastener 210 is elongated and has a proximal end 212 and a distal end 214. The proximal end has at least one hook 216 which is designed to snap into locking engagement with the aperture 30 of the ainner 10 once the proximal end has been inserted through the aperture 30. In this particular example, the cable fastener 210 has a plurality of hooks 216, 218, 220 (... ) positioned at a regular spacing from each other beginning at the proximal end 212. The hooks 216, 218, 220 thus form a gear rack on the cable fastener. The aperture 30 is shaped to mate with the cable fastener 210, and more particularly for corresponding edges thereof 222, 224 to act as a catch in which the hook 216 lockingly engages. In embodiments having a plurality of hooks forming a gear rack, the catch can mate with the gear rack to act as a ratchet when the gear rack is moved through the aperture 30, thereby preventing retraction of the proximal end 212 from the aperture 30 once passed any one of the successive hooks. In this example, this mating engagement is achieved with a cable fastener 210 which is flat, with hooks which are provided as hook pairs extending from both edges of the flat cable fastener, and an aperture 30 which is rectangular in shape which has a thickness sufficiently small to force the hook pairs against the edges 222, 224 although the cable fastener actually forms an interference fit with the aperture 30; the cable fastener and/or ainner 10 being somewhat resilient for the hook to snap when passing each of the successive hook pairs. Alternate embodiments are possible. [0044] The use of a cable fastener such as described above can dramatically increase the speed of installing ainners as compared to former methods using wire. Wire needs to be cut to length, and twisted, which is time consuming. Using a combination of a cable fastener with a ainner which has a specifically designed aperture to catch with the cable fastener can be significantly faster. Suspending a ainner can be as simple as inserting a proximal end of the cable fastener into the aperture, thereby engaging a hook of the cable fastener with a catch in the aperture. Afterwards, the cable fastener is prevented from being retracted by the hook. The distal end of the cable fastener can be attached to a building staicture. The distal end of the cable fastener can be attached before or after having inserted the proximal end through the aperture. If using a cable fastener having a plurality of hooks in a gear rack configuration, the distal end of the cable fastener can be attached to the building staicture first, for instance, and the proximal end can be moved through the aperture up to a selected one of the successive hooks conveniently corresponding to a given suspension height. [0045] It will be understood that a cable fastener as described above can be used to suspend ainners such as described above, but can also be used to suspend rigid ainners, for instance.

[0046] It is repeated here that the embodiments described above are provided only as examples and are not intended to restrict the scope of this specification. For instance the suspension apertures are optional, their configuration can be different, and they can have different shapes; the ainners can be suspended in any suitable manner, including with wire for instance; the hinged connection can be continuous or discontinuous; the staictural layers of the web and/or the base can have more than one layers laminated atop one another, optionally with different materials; the web and the base can have any suitable different relative dimensions, etc.

[0047] The scope is indicated by the appended claims.