Abstract:
The present invention relates to a novel ceiling panel that is used with a corresponding grid system to create a shingle-type ceiling structure. The panels, are arranged in the grid system to create various patterns including shingles, saw teeth, undulations, pin wheels, among others and are designed to enhance the appearance of retail and office space. The ceiling is comprised of a grid system made up of intersecting grid members suspended from the building structure with hangers. The grid members are rigid preformed members that include a base portion a bridge portion and a bulb portion. The base portion is perpendicularly oriented to the bridge member and is adapted to support the panels. The panels are square when viewed in plan view but have a tapered cross-section about all or part of the panels. The panels can be fabricated out of polycarbonate or metal and can be opaque or translucent. The panels are arranged in the grid in a fashion so that certain repeating patterns are formed when viewed from below.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to suspended ceiling systems and more particularly to novel ceiling panels that are designed to create a multi-planar appearance when installed into a horizontally oriented grid structure. 
     PRIOR ART 
     Suspended ceiling systems typically include grid members that provide for oppositely extending ceiling panel support flanges. The grid members are interconnected to form a grid and are suspended from the structure of a building with wire hangers or rods. In these systems, the edges of the ceiling panels are installed by laying the panels in the grid opening created by the grid members. Once the ceiling panels are installed into the grid, a uniform ceiling surface is created. Suspended ceiling panels are manufactured from gypsum or slag wool fiber and are designed to conceal pipes, wiring and the like, while still allowing access to the concealed space above the ceiling. Typical ceiling panels are fabricated out of sound deadening and insulating material and are designed to meet fire safety codes. The acoustical panels are planar appearance and do little to enhance a room&#39;s decor. The acoustical panels also may include surface impressions and markings to enhance their appearance. When the panels are installed in the grid, the overall appearance of the ceiling is a generally planar. Prior art panels do not provide for a ceiling system that utilizes tapered ceiling panels to vary the appearance of the ceiling. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention may be described as novel ceiling panels that are used with a corresponding grid system to create a multi-planar ceiling system. The panels, can be installed in the grid system in different arrangements to create various patterns including shingles, saw teeth, undulations, pin wheels, among others and are designed to enhance the appearance of retail and office space that utilize suspended ceilings to conceal the building structure. The ceiling is comprised of a grid system made up of intersecting grid members suspended from the building structure with hangers. The grid members are interconnected with grid clips to form openings that accept the panels. The grid members are rigid preformed members that include a base portion, a bridge portion and a bulb portion. The base portion is perpendicularly oriented to the bridge member and is adapted to support the panels. The panels are square when viewed in plan view but have a tapered cross-section about all or part of the panels. The panels can be fabricated out of plastic, gypsum, slag wool, or metal, and can be opaque or translucent. The panels are arranged in the grid in a fashion so that certain repeating patterns are formed when viewed from below. To create a shingled pattern, all of the panels are arranged in the same direction. To create a saw-tooth pattern, the direction of the panels are alternated in adjacent rows. 
     These and other aspects of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and are more fully described in the following specification. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the ceiling system of the present invention with the panels oriented in a saw-tooth pattern; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-section of FIG. 1 taken along line  2 — 2  illustrating the panels suspended from grid members; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tapered ceiling panel supported by a pair of intersecting grid members. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ceiling system of the present invention with the panels oriented in a shingle pattern; 
     FIG. 5 a  is a cross-section of FIG. 4 taken along line  5 — 5  illustrating the panels suspended from horizontal grid members; 
     FIG. 5 b  is a variation of the grid system of FIG. 4 in that the grid system is sloped to alter the elevation of the panels; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ceiling system of the present invention with the panels oriented in an alternating row undulating pattern; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-section of FIG. 6 taken along line  7 — 7  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the ceiling system of the present invention with the panels oriented in an alternate undulating pattern; 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-section of FIG. 8 taken along line  9 — 9  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the ceiling system of the present invention with the panels oriented in a pinwheel pattern; 
     FIG. 11 is a cross-section of FIG. 10 taken along line  11 — 11  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the ceiling system illustrating a transition from a first elevation to a second elevation by use of tapered panels; 
     FIG. 13 is a cross-section of FIG. 12 taken along line  13 — 13  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the ceiling system illustrating the use of flat panels with various depths to create a tiered pattern; 
     FIG. 15 is a cross-section of FIG. 14 taken along line  15 — 15  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the ceiling system illustrating the use of flat panels with two depths to create a checkerboard pattern; 
     FIG. 17 is a cross-section of FIG. 16 taken along line  17 — 17  illustrating the panels suspended from the grid members; 
     FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a tapered ceiling panel; 
     FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a tapered transition panel; 
     FIG. 20 is a perspective view of another tapered transition panel; 
     FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a shallow flat panel; 
     FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a deep flat panel; 
     FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of a pair of tapered panels supported by a grid member; 
     FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate pair of tapered panels connected to a channel type grid member. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While the present invention will be described fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a particular embodiment is shown, it is understood at the outset that persons skilled in the art may modify the invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as a broad informative disclosure directed to persons skilled in the appropriate arts and not as limitations of the present invention. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of an assembled multi-planar ceiling system  10  with the panels arranged in a saw-tooth pattern. The multi-planar ceiling system  10  is comprised of a grid  12  that is made up of a plurality of intersecting grid members  14 . The grid members  14  are arranged to form openings  16  that are sized to receive tapered panels  18 . The grid  12  is suspended from a building structure by wire hangers  13  or other supporting devices and, when the panels are installed, it is designed to conceal utilities. 
     The grid members  14 , shown best in FIG. 3, have a T-shaped cross section and include a horizontally oriented base member  20 , a bulb portion  22  and a bridge member  24  interconnecting the bulb portion  22  to the base member  20 . The bridge member  24  includes a plurality of openings  25  to allow for the attachment of hanger devices and to allow for the attachment of grid clips  26 . The grid members  14  are manufactured in three preferred lengths, 12 feet, 4 feet and 2 feet, although other lengths may be used. To create the grid structure  12 , a row of parallel evenly spaced grid members  14  are suspended by wire hangers. Each row of grid members  14  are spaced apart to accommodate the size of the tapered panels  18 . To accommodate a 2-foot by 2-foot ceiling panel, the grid members  14  would be spaced apart 2 feet on-center. The grid  12  also includes a second set of grid members  28  that are perpendicularly oriented in relation to the first set of grid members  14  to create the opening  16  required for suspending the panels  18 . The tapered panels  18 , as illustrated in FIG. 1, are arranged so that the panels  18  in a first row  30  are positioned in a direction that is 180 degrees out of phase with the panels  18  in a second row  32 . This arrangement creates a saw-tooth appearance when the ceiling system  10  is viewed from below. FIG. 2 illustrates the orientation of the panels  18  in the grid  12  when positioned to form the saw tooth pattern. The tapered panels  18 , as shown in FIG. 3, have a square configuration and includes four upwardly extending sides  34 ,  36 ,  38  and  40  interconnected by a tapered bottom layer  42 . Each of the four sides  34 ,  36 ,  38  and  40  includes an upper end  44  with an outwardly extending flange  45  that is adapted to be supported by the base member  20  of the grid members  14 . The flange  45  is oriented to the sides  34 ,  36 ,  38  and  40  at an angle that allows the sides  34 ,  36 ,  38  and  40  of the panel  18  to be substantially parallel to the bridge portion  24  of the grid members  14 . The first side  34  opposes the second side  36  and is rectangular in shape. The first side  34  of the panel  18  has a surface area that is larger than the second side  36 . The third and fourth sides  38  and  40  are triangular shaped tapering from the first side  34  to the second side  36 . The flanges  45  of the sides  34 ,  36 ,  38  and  40  all lie in the same plane so they can be supported by the grid members  14 . The panels  18  can be fabricated out of sheet steel where they are formed into the desired configuration. Faces of the panels can be perforated or slotted. The panels can also be thermoformed or molded out of plastic to create the desired panel. Plastic panels can be made either translucent or opaque depending upon whether lighting is used or if a certain optical effect is required by the architect. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates the tapered ceiling panel system  10  wherein the tapered panels  18  are arranged in a uniform direction in the grid  12  to create a shingle pattern. The panels are arranged so that the first side  34  of the panels  18  are all facing the same direction. FIG. 5 a  is a cross section taken along line  5 — 5  of FIG.  4  illustrating the orientation of the panels  18  in the grid  12 . The panels  18  are oriented in the grid  12  so that the first side  34  of a first panel  18  is adjacent to the second side  36  of a second panel  18 . 
     FIG. 5 b  illustrates the ceiling system  10  wherein the rows of parallel grid members  14  are arranged having varied elevations so that the base member  20  of a grid member  28  is higher than the base member  20  of adjacent grid member  28 . The panels  18  are arranged in the grid so that the flange  45  of the first side  34  is connected to the grid member  28  of a higher elevation than the flange  45  of the second side  36 , which is connected to the grid member  28  of the lower elevation. With this grid arrangement, the bottom layer  42  of the panels are parallel with the floor of the building structure. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the tapered panel ceiling system  10  wherein the tapered panels  18  are arranged to form an alternating undulating pattern. The panels  18  in the first row  30  are arranged so that similar sides of adjacent panels  18  are abutting. The second row  32  of panels  18  are arranged in a similar fashion but are oriented out of phase from the first row. FIG. 7 illustrates the second sides  36  of adjacent panels  18  in the first row  30  are in line with the first sides  34  of adjacent panels  18  in the second row  32  creating an alternating undulating pattern. 
     FIG. 8 illustrates the tapered panel ceiling system  10  where the tapered panels  18  are arranged to form a uniform undulating pattern. The panels  18  are arranged in the grid  12  so that similar sides of the panels  18  are abutting. FIG. 9 illustrates that the panels  18  in each row are oriented with the first side  34  of the first panel  18  adjacent with a first side  34  of the second panel  18 . 
     FIG. 10 illustrates the tapered panel ceiling system  10  where the tapered panels  18  are arranged to form a pinwheel pattern. To create the pinwheel effect, the panels  18  are arranged 90 degrees out of phase with an adjacent panel  18 . The second side  36  of a first panel  48  is adjacent to the third side  40  of a second panel  50 . The second side  36  of the second panel  50  is adjacent to the third side  40  of a third panel  52 . The second side  36  of the third panel  52  is adjacent to the third side  40  of a fourth panel  54 . The orientation of the four panels  48 ,  50 ,  52  and  54  creates a pinwheel quadrant  56 . The remainder of the grid  12  is filled in with pinwheel quadrants  56  of the same configuration, creating a repeating pinwheel pattern. FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-section of FIG. 10 illustrating the arrangement of the four panels  48 ,  50 ,  52  and  54  that make up a pinwheel quadrant  56 . Each panel  48 ,  50 ,  52  and  54  is supported by the grid members  28 . 
     FIG. 12 illustrates a variable depth ceiling system  58  where five different panels  62 ,  64 ,  18 ,  68  and  70  are utilized to transition the ceiling  58  from a high elevation  72  to a low elevation  74 . The higher elevation  72  is comprised of the shallow panels  62  with panel faces that are closer to the grid  12 . The lower elevation  74  is comprised of the deep panels  64  that extend the panel faces further away from the grid  12 . The shallow panels  62  transition to the deep panels  64  by use of the tapered panels  18 . To transition from the shallow panels  62  to the deep panels  64  in a corner region, two different transition panels are used. The first transition panel  68 , shown in FIG. 20, includes two edges  76  and  78  having a depth equal to the shallow panel  62  and two edges  80  and  82  that are tapered to transition from the high elevation  72  to the low elevation  74 . The second transition panel  70 , shown in FIG. 19, includes two side edges  84  and  86  having a depth equal to the deep panel  64  and two edges  88  and  90  that are tapered to transition from the high elevation  72  to the low elevation  74 . FIG. 13 is a cross-section taken along line  13 — 13  of FIG. 12 illustrating the deep panel  64 , the shallow panel  62 , the tapered panel  18 , the first transition panel  68  and the second transition panel  70  all suspended from the grid members  28 . 
     FIG. 14 illustrates a variable depth ceiling system  92  having a stepped transition from a high elevation  94  to a low elevation  96 . The ceiling system  92  is made up of four different panels  98 ,  100 ,  102  and  104  to complete the transition from the high elevation  94  to the low elevation  96 . FIG. 15 is a cross-section taken along line  15 — 15  of FIG. 14 illustrating the transition from the shallow panel  98  to the deep panel  104  by using the two intermediate panels  100  and  102 . 
     FIG. 16 illustrates a variable depth ceiling system  106  utilizing alternating shallow panels  108  and deep panels  110  to create a checkerboard effect. The panels  108  and  110  are designed to fit into a standard grid opening  16 . FIG. 17 is a cross-section taken along line  17 — 17  of FIG.  16  and illustrates the panels  108  and  110  suspended from a set of parallel grid members  28 . 
     FIGS. 18-20 illustrate the tapered panel  18  and the two transition panels  68  and  70  used to create the ceiling system  58  illustrated in FIG.  12 . The first transition panel  68 , as shown in FIG. 20, includes the first and second edges  76  and  78  that are rectangular in shape and adapted to transition to the shallow panels  62 . The first and second edges  76  and  78  include flanges  112  that are used to support the panel  68  to the base member  20  of the grid members  14  and  28 . The flanges  112  are oriented to allow the edges  76 ,  78 ,  80  and  82  of the panel  68  to be substantially parallel to the bridge portion  24  of the grid members  14  and  28 . The third and fourth edges  80  and  82  are tapered from the first and second edges  76  and  78  to a corner of the panel  68  and also include the flanges  112  used to support the panel  68  from the base member  20  of the grid members  14  and  28 . The panel  68  further includes a face surface  116  that includes a diagonal ridge  118  that divides the panel allowing the face surface  116  to transition from the first and second edges  76  and  78  to the third and fourth edges  80  and  82 . 
     The second transition panel  70 , as shown in FIG. 19, includes the first and second edges  84  and  86  that are rectangular in shape and are adapted to transition to the deep panel  64 . The first and second edges  84  and  86  include flanges  120  that are used to support the second transition panel  70  to the base member  20  of the grid members  14  and  28 . The third and fourth edges  88  and  90  are tapered from the first and second edges  84  and  86  to a corner  122  of the panel  70  and also include the flanges  120  used to support the panel  70  from the base member  20  of the grid members  14  and  28 . The panel  70  further includes a face surface  124  that includes a diagonal valley  126  that divides the panel allowing the face surface  124  to transition from the first and second edges  84  and  86  to the third and fourth edges  88  and  90 . 
     FIG. 21 illustrates the shallow panel  62  used in the ceiling systems depicted in FIGS. 12,  14  and  16 . The shallow panel  62  has four uniform sides  128  that include outwardly extending flanges  130  to support the panel  62  from the grid  12 . FIG. 22 illustrates the deep panel  64  also used in the ceiling systems depicted in FIGS. 12,  14  and  16 . The deep panel  64  has four uniform sides  132  that include outwardly extending flanges  134  to support the panel  64  from the grid  12 . 
     FIG. 23 is a cross section of the tapered ceiling system  10  illustrating the connection of the tapered panels  18  to the grid members  14  or  28 . The flanges  46  extend outwardly from the sides of the panel  18  and are adapted to rest upon the base member  20  of the grid members  14  or  28 . FIG. 24 is an alternate embodiment of the attachment of tapered panels  136  to channel-type grid members  138 . The channel-type grid members  138  include a bulb portion  140  a base portion  144  and a bridge portion  142  interconnecting the base portion  144  to the bulb portion  140 . The base portion  144  includes a channel  146  that is adapted to support the panel  136 . The panel  136  includes sides  148  that include inwardly extending detents  150  that are adapted to retain the panel  136  to the grid member  138 . 
     The use of the tapered panels  18  in a planar grid  12  allows for various ceiling patterns to be configured by simply repositioning the panel in the grid  12 . Since the panels  18  are not permanently installed, the panels  18  can be rotated within the grid  12  at a later date to alter the ceiling design. 
     Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, however, it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate, and that the invention is to be given its fullest interpretation within the terms of the appended claims.