Patent Publication Number: US-6338228-B1

Title: Modular element for making up a ceiling, and a ceiling made up of an assembly of such modular elements

Description:
The present invention relates to a modular element for making up a ceiling, and to a ceiling made up of an assembly of such elements. 
     The invention is particularly applicable to making a ceiling for living quarters on ships. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1 and 1A shows a known system for making a ceiling for living quarters on a ship. The ceiling is made up of a plurality of assembled-together modular elements such as metal sheets  1  that are slightly interfitting with open joints  12  being provided between them to enable any of the sheets to be removed individually by moving it transversely in the direction indicated by arrow F. 
     The sheets  1  are section members whose cross-section (perpendicular to their length) has a bottom web  2  with two vertical side flanges  3  and  4 , one of the flanges being extended by an outwardly-extending horizontal top limb  5 , and the other flange being extended by an inwardly-extending horizontal top limb  6 . 
     At each of its ends, the sheet is also provided with a vertical flange but each end vertical flange is not provided with a top limb. The sheets have a length (perpendicular to the plane of the figure) of about three meters, and they are supported firstly at their ends by bordering section members to the undersides of which they are fixed by means of screws at  7  in the open joints  12 , and secondly by joists  8  distributed over the length of the sheets  1 , by means of hooks  9  which are obtained by punching out the bottom of the joist section member, and on which the rear limbs  6  of the sheets  1  hook. 
     The joists  8  (shown in section in FIG. 1A) are themselves supported by suspension rods  10  fixed to the upper deck  11 . That suspension system using joists and suspension rods is necessary because supporting the sheets  1  at their ends only, by means of the bordering section members, is insufficient in view of the flexibility of the sheets, in particular since some of them also support certain accessories such as smoke detectors, light fittings, etc. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to simplify assembly, and to reduce the number of parts involved. 
     To this end, the invention provides a modular element for making up a ceiling, said element being a metal section member whose section on a plane perpendicular to the length of the element has a flat bottom web with two vertical flanges: a front flange and a first rear flange, the front flange being extended by an outwardly-extending front horizontal limb parallel to the web, and the first rear flange being extended by a first frontwardly-extending horizontal rear limb, wherein, beyond a certain margin  x  from each end of said element, said first rear limb is provided with an extension including at least one second rear vertical flange. 
     Advantageously, in front of said second rear vertical flange, and extending directly from said first rear limb, said extension includes a hairpin return face, said return face being directly extended by said second rear flange. 
     In a particular embodiment, said second rear vertical flange is extended by a second rear horizontal limb extending frontwards. 
     The invention also provides a ceiling made up of modular elements as defined above, assembled together one behind the other, wherein the front limb of each modular element, except for the front limb of the first element, is engaged in part over the first rear limb of the preceding element, so as to leave an empty space between the first rear flange of the preceding element and the front flange of the following element, said first element having its front limb fixed under and against an edge section member associated with a first vertical bulkhead, wherein the last element is a special element whose section has a flat bottom web, a front flange, and a first rear flange, the front flange being extended by a frontwardly-extending front limb, and the first rear flange being extended by a rearwardly-extending rear limb, said rear limb of said last element being fixed under and against an edge section member associated with a second vertical bulkhead parallel to said first bulkhead, and wherein each of the two longitudinal ends of each element is fixed at the front limb under and against a bordering section member associated with a vertical bulkhead disposed perpendicularly to the first bulkhead and to the second bulkhead. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 (described above) shows a known system for making a ceiling for a ship; 
     FIG. 2 is a section view of a ceiling of the invention on a plane perpendicular to the length of the modular elements; 
     FIG. 3 shows three modular elements, two of them being shown in cross-section in their respective positions, when they are installed, and one of them being seen end-on and not in section and shown in isolation and not interfitted with the preceding element; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of FIG. 3, showing only one end of each of the modular elements; 
     FIG. 5 is a view in section on V—V of FIG. 6 showing how the modular elements are fixed in the plane perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 6 is a view in section on VI—VI of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Firstly, the modular elements of the invention that are used to make up a ceiling are described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 
     FIG. 3 is a section view and FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing three modular elements  13  of the invention. 
     Each modular element  13  is a metal section member that is, for example, about 3 meters long, and whose cross-section is as shown in FIG. 3, i.e. it comprises a flat bottom web  14 , a first rear vertical flange  15 , and a front vertical flange  16 . The front flange  16  is extended by a front horizontal limb  17  extending parallel to the web  2  and outwards, i.e. frontwards using the convention adopted herein. The first rear flange  15  is also extended by a first rear limb  18  that is also horizontal and that also extends frontwards, and therefore inwards. In the invention, beyond a certain margin  x  from each end of the modular element (see FIG.  4 ), the first rear limb  18  is extended by a hairpin return face  19  back to a position vertically above the first rear flange  15 , then by a second rear flange  20  that is also vertical, and finally by a second rear limb  21  that is horizontal and that extends frontwards. 
     At each end of the modular element, the front limb  17  is provided with a hole  22  for fixing the elements against a bordering section member as explained below. The margin, of length  x , over which there is no return face  19 , no second rear flange  20 , and no second rear limb  21 , serves to enable the modular element  13  to abut via the first rear limb  18  against said bordering section member so that the web  14  remains in a horizontal position as shown in FIG.  6  and described below. 
     In FIGS. 3 and 4, the two elements  13  situated on the right of the figure are positioned relative to each other as they are in practice when they are assembled together to make up a ceiling, as shown in FIG.  2 . Thus, the front limb  17  of each element engages in part only in the sleeve formed by the first rear limb  18  and the return face  19  of the preceding element, so that an empty space  23  referred to as an “open joint” is left between the front flange  16  of an element and the first rear flange  15  of the preceding element. 
     In FIG. 3, the modular element  13  situated on the left of the figure and shown in isolation, is seen end-on. This view shows that the longitudinal end of the element is closed by a vertical flange  24 , and this applies to both ends of the element. The vertical end flange is constituted by an extension to the web  14  which is folded over vertically at each end of the element to form said end flange. 
     The open joint  23  makes it possible for any element  1  of the ceiling to be removed individually merely by sliding it rearwards or frontwards to release its front limb from the sleeve  18 - 19  of the preceding element, or to release the sleeve  18 - 19  of the element from the front limb  17  of the following element, after having removed the fixing screw that screws into the bordering section member at each end of the element, as mentioned above and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 (described below), the screw passing through the hole  22  in the front limb  17  and being situated in the open joint  23  at  25 . 
     FIG. 2 shows how a ceiling is made up of such elements  1 . 
     The first element  13 , referenced  13 ( 1 ), has its front limb  17  fixed against and under an edge section member  26  that may be referred to as the “head” section member, that caps an end bulkhead  27 , and that is connected to the upper deck  28  by rods  29 . The limb  17  is fixed to the edge section member  26 , e.g. every 400 mm, by screws at  30 . Then come the other elements  13 . FIG. 2 shows only the first element, referenced  13 ( 1 ) and the last three elements, referenced  13 ( n - 2 ),  13 ( n - 1 ), and  13 S( n ). 
     The last element  13 S( n ) is a special element comprising, like all the other elements, a bottom web  14 , a front flange  16 , a first rear flange  15 , and a front limb  17 . Unlike the other elements, it has its first rear flange  15  extended by a rear limb  31  extending rearwards. The special last element  13 S( n ) has its rear limb  31  fixed under and against an edge section member  32  (head section member) that caps, like the member on the other side, an end bulkhead  33 . Like the edge section member  26 , the edge section member  32  is connected to the upper deck  28  by rods  34 . 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a bulkhead  35  which is a bulkhead perpendicular to the bulkheads  27  and  33  shown in FIG.  2 . This figure shows one end of an element  13 . FIG. 6 is a view in section on VI—VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 5 is a view in section on V—V of FIG.  6 . Like the bulkheads  27  and  33 , the bulkhead  35  is “capped” with a head section member  36  connected to the upper deck  28  by rods  37 . A bordering section member  39  provided with a series of hooks  40  is mounted on a horizontal limb  38  of the head section member  36 . In the portion of length  x  having no return face  19 , no second rear flange  20 , and no second rear limb  21 , the first rear limb  18  of each element  13  engages in such a hook  40  while the end of the front limb (see FIG. 6) that engages in the sleeve  18 - 19  is fixed against the bordering section member  39  by means of a screw (not shown) whose location is referenced  25  in the open joint  23 . This screw screws both into the bordering section member  39  and also into the limb  38  of the head section member  36 . The screw passes through the hole  22  (FIG. 4) provided at each end of the front limb  17  of each modular element  13 . 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a bordering section member  39  that is not mounted on the limb  38  of the head section member  36  is shown on the left of the bulkhead  35  where an adjacent cabin is situated. 
     In FIGS. 2,  3 , and  6 , the two faces  18  and  19  are shown separated from each other by a certain distance. In practice, the interconnecting portion between the two faces is not, as shown, a vertical face, but rather it is merely a fold. In contrast, the second rear flange  20  is genuinely a vertical face whose height is similar to the height of the first rear flange  15 , and, in any event, is sufficient to ensure that the longitudinal rigidity of the element is sufficient, in view of the length of the element. 
     Thus, by means of the elements  13  of the invention which offer sufficient rigidity by means of the additional faces  19 ,  20 , and  21 , it is possible to make a ceiling without any joists or joist supports, unlike the prior art shown in FIG. 1, while giving the ceiling an absolutely identical appearance, as seen from underneath. 
     It is also equally as easy to remove the elements, and the elements can be assembled together much faster. Such a ceiling offers better sound insulation, because there are no longer any obstacles to laying insulation between the ceiling and the upper deck, and there is no longer any sound “short-circuit” via the supporting rods  10  for supporting the joists  8  as shown in FIG.  1 . To increase the longitudinal rigidity of the modular elements  13 , it is optionally possible to omit the return face  19 , and rather to provide a second rear flange  20  directly. Similarly, the second rear flange  20  may optionally not be followed by a second rear limb  21 .