Adjustable Decking Hanger Keys for Fast Secure Overhead Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The process of hanging components like lights, HVAC, and pipes from structural decking is time-consuming and requires multiple steps, often involving ladders, drilling into concrete, and potential reparation, indicating a need for improved decking hanger systems that facilitate easier installation and repositioning.
Innovation Solution
The use of decking hangers with adjustment mechanisms and keys, such as continuous and discontinuous keys, that allow for secure attachment to structural decking, providing multiple points of contact and resistance to lateral and longitudinal movements, enabling easier installation and improved load resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional drilling and multi-step installation process is used, then secure attachment is achieved, but installation time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The decking hanger system incorporates pre-formed keys within the decking structure that are prepared in advance during decking installation. These keys provide ready-made receptacles for the hanger connectors, eliminating the need for on-site drilling and complex installation procedures while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary connector system consisting of the hanger body with connectors that interface with the pre-formed keys. This intermediary mechanism translates the simple insertion action into a secure mechanical attachment, providing both ease of installation and reliable load-bearing capacity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If traditional drilling into concrete is used, then stable hanging is achieved, but risk of damage and need for repair increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the attachment function from the concrete substrate and relocates it to the decking structure itself through pre-formed keys. This separation eliminates the need to drill into concrete, removing the source of damage while preserving hanging stability through the engineered key-hanger interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the decking structure as a sacrificial mounting surface, where the pre-formed keys are integrated into the decking rather than the permanent concrete substrate. This approach protects the valuable concrete while using the replaceable decking as the mounting medium.
3Strength
If fixed positioning is used, then structural integrity is maintained, but repositioning capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The hanger system incorporates adjustable connectors that can be repositioned along the pre-formed keys or between multiple key locations. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the hanger to be securely attached at different positions while maintaining structural integrity through the engineered connection mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The decking structure is segmented into multiple discrete key locations along its length. The hanger can be attached to different segments or key positions, providing repositioning flexibility while each individual connection maintains full structural strength through the key-hanger interface.
4Ease of operation
If simple attachment mechanism is used, then installation ease is improved, but load-bearing capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The hanger connector combines multiple material properties and mechanical features within a single component. The connector integrates friction surfaces, mechanical interlocking elements, and load-distributing geometries to achieve high load-bearing capacity through a simple insertion and engagement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design incorporates curved or rounded surfaces that facilitate easy insertion into the pre-formed keys while creating effective mechanical interlocking. The curved geometry allows for tolerance compensation and smooth engagement, maintaining installation ease while ensuring robust load transfer.
Data Source
AI summary
Decking hangers (e.g., strut hangers, flexible hangers, combinations thereof, or the like) are utilized along with keys (e.g., continuous keys, discontinuous keys, combination thereof, or the like) to hang decking components from structural decking (e.g., fluted steel structural decking, or the like). The decking hangers may be rigid and/or flexible, and include an adjustment that allows one end of the hanger to move with respect to another end. The keys may be continuous and run longitudinally parallel with the direction of the webs of the flutes of the decking. Alternatively, the keys may be discontinuous having a continuous side (e.g., continuous perimeter), or multiple sides, that enclose a corresponding connector at an end of a hanger. The keys provide different locations for installing the hangers and/or providing multiple (e.g., two or more) points of connection on at least one end of a single hanger.