Walkable Clean Room Ceiling Beam Integrating Light Fixture
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current walkable ceiling systems in clean rooms face challenges with fluorescent fixtures that weaken the ceiling structure, create tripping hazards, and limit flexibility due to factory-cut holes for lighting installations, leading to increased costs and reduced aesthetic appeal.
Innovation Solution
A structural beam and light fixture system that integrates a load-sharing design with extruded aluminum components, featuring slots and splines for seamless installation and sealing, allowing for thinner, lighter ceiling panels without holes, enhancing strength and stiffness while maintaining a smooth ceiling surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If fluorescent fixtures penetrate the ceiling panels through holes, then lighting function is provided, but the ceiling structure is weakened and additional load support capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the structural beam with the light fixture into a single integrated component. The structural beam itself serves as the mounting structure for the light fixture, eliminating the need for separate ceiling panels with holes. This merging of structural and lighting functions maintains ceiling strength while providing illumination.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the light fixture from the ceiling panel structure, placing it instead on the structural beam. This separation allows the ceiling panels to remain intact without holes, preserving their structural strength while still providing lighting through the beam-mounted fixture.
2Illumination intensity
If fluorescent fixtures are mounted on the ceiling, then lighting is provided, but tripping hazards are created for persons walking on the ceiling
Solution Approach 1:
The light fixture is positioned in the vertical dimension along the structural beam, utilizing the beam's height and depth. This dimensional placement allows the lighting function to be provided without creating horizontal obstructions that would cause tripping hazards for persons walking on the ceiling.
Solution Approach 2:
By integrating the light fixture with the structural beam, the invention eliminates separate mounting hardware and protrusions that could create tripping hazards. The combined structure maintains a cleaner, more streamlined profile that reduces trip risks while providing illumination.
3Ease of manufacture
If holes are cut in ceiling panels for light fixtures, then lighting installation is enabled, but manufacturing flexibility is reduced and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the lighting system from the ceiling panel assembly, placing it on the structural beam instead. This segmentation allows ceiling panels to be manufactured without custom holes, maintaining manufacturing flexibility and reducing costs, while lighting installation is simplified through standardized beam mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural beam serves multiple functions: providing structural support, serving as a mounting structure for light fixtures, and enabling lighting installation without modifying ceiling panels. This multi-functionality increases manufacturing flexibility while facilitating easy lighting installation.
4Weight of stationary object
If ceiling panels are made thinner for reduced weight and cost, then material cost and weight are reduced, but structural strength is compromised when holes are cut for fixtures
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the light fixture mounting function from the thin ceiling panels and relocates it to the structural beam. This allows the ceiling panels to remain thin and lightweight without requiring holes or reinforcements, preserving both weight reduction and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
By combining the lighting function with the structural beam rather than the ceiling panels, the invention allows ceiling panels to be made thinner for reduced weight and cost. The structural beam assumes the load-bearing role for the light fixture, eliminating the need to compromise panel strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A structural beam and light fixture for a walkable ceiling of a clean room is composed of an elongated channel and a lamp disposed in the elongated channel. The lamp is configured to direct light through the bottom side of the elongated channel. The structural beam and light fixture is attached to adjoining ceiling components and is configured to support a load applied to the adjoining ceiling components. The structural beam and light fixture, combined with other walkable ceiling components, define ceiling top and bottom sides that are flush.