Modular Ceiling Support Beam with Integrated Hook Extensions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional ceiling support systems for HVAC systems are complex, bulky, and costly to manufacture and assemble, with components that are difficult to connect, complicating the assembly process and increasing costs.
Innovation Solution
A modular ceiling support system featuring support beams with specific profiles and retaining features, such as hook extensions and joining clips, allowing for efficient assembly and alignment, including gasket retention lips and visual alignment notches, to form a dropped ceiling with reduced reliance on tools and specific dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional ceiling support systems use multiple complex and bulky components, then structural strength and stability are improved, but manufacturing cost and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple traditional ceiling support components (main tee, cross tee, angle code, end code, and joining clips) into a single integrated support beam with integrated connection features. The support beam includes lateral sides with base ledges for perpendicular beam connections and central features with hook extensions for parallel beam connections, eliminating the need for separate components and reducing assembly complexity while maintaining structural integrity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If traditional ceiling support systems use multiple complex and bulky components, then structural stability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple structural functions into a single support beam component, including perpendicular connection features (base ledges), parallel connection features (hook extensions), and alignment features (notches). This consolidation reduces the number of parts that need to be manufactured, inventoried, and assembled, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining structural stability through the integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The support beam is designed as a universal component that can perform multiple functions: supporting perpendicular beams via base ledges, connecting parallel beams via hook extensions, providing alignment through notches, and maintaining structural integrity. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for multiple specialized components, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while ensuring structural stability.
3Reliability
If traditional ceiling support systems use components connectable in limited and specific manners, then connection reliability is improved, but assembly flexibility and speed decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces slidable joining clips that can move along the lateral sides of support beams during assembly, allowing for dynamic adjustment and alignment. The clips feature ledges that slide along the beam's lateral surface and engage with notches to secure the connection, providing both flexibility during assembly and reliable connection once positioned, thereby increasing assembly speed without compromising connection reliability.
4Force
If traditional ceiling support systems use bulky components, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but assembly precision and alignment ease decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The support beam includes pre-formed notches and alignment features that guide the joining clips and perpendicular beams into correct positions during assembly. These pre-configured features ensure precise alignment without requiring complex measurement or adjustment procedures, maintaining load-bearing capacity through proper positioning while significantly improving assembly precision and ease of alignment.
Data Source
AI summary
A ceiling support system includes a support beam configured to enable modular assembly of the dropped ceiling and including a core portion. A length of a face of the core portion extends along a first axis transverse to a length of first and second lateral sides of the core portion, which extends along a second axis. The support beam includes a base, a first hook extension having a first clip ledge extending from the first lateral side of the core portion and a first lip extending from a first distal edge of the first clip ledge, and a second hook extension having a second clip ledge extending from the first lateral side of the core portion and a second lip extending from a second distal edge of the second clip ledge. The first hook extension and the second hook extension are configured to receive a slidable joining clip therebetween.