Speaker Mounting Flange With Pivoting Clamp Dogs for Ceiling Tiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing speaker mounting systems require a separate tile bridge for suspended ceilings, leading to packaging inefficiencies, increased costs, and assembly difficulties due to the need for additional components and complex clamping mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A compact tile bridge integrated with the speaker, featuring a pivoting clamping system that can be actuated from both the front and rear, allowing for secure mounting on various ceiling and wallboard surfaces without the need for a separate tile bridge, and including a mechanism with captive parts to prevent accidental disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a separate tile bridge is provided with the speaker, then the speaker can be mounted in suspended ceilings, but packaging space increases and shipping costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the tile bridge functionality directly into the speaker housing by incorporating clamp dogs that can engage with ceiling tiles. The speaker housing itself serves as the mounting structure, eliminating the need for a separate tile bridge component. This merging of functions reduces packaging volume while maintaining adaptability for suspended ceiling installation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a separate tile bridge is provided with the speaker, then the speaker can be mounted in suspended ceilings, but shipping and warehousing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The speaker housing is designed to incorporate the mounting mechanism directly, combining the speaker function with the tile bridge function. This integration eliminates the need to ship and store separate tile bridge components, reducing logistics costs and energy consumption associated with transportation and warehousing.
3Ease of operation
If the clamp dogs are loosened during removal, then the speaker can be removed from the ceiling, but the clamp dogs may unscrew from the screw actuators and be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a retainer component that acts as an intermediary between the clamp dog and the screw actuator. The retainer prevents the clamp dog from completely unscrewing and being lost during removal operations, while still allowing the clamp dog to be loosened and raised for speaker removal. This intermediary component maintains reliability during ease-of-operation scenarios.
4Ease of operation
If the clamp dogs are raised to fit the speaker through the mounting hole, then the speaker can be installed, but the clamp dogs may accidentally lower and clamp to the wall board or ceiling tile
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer component serves as a mediator that controls the movement of the clamp dog relative to the screw actuator. It allows the clamp dog to be raised for installation while preventing accidental lowering that would cause premature clamping to the wall board or ceiling tile, thereby maintaining reliability during installation operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces packaging costs, simplifies the assembly process by allowing for easier alignment and operation of the clamping mechanism, and ensures reliable clamping without damaging the speaker's clamping system, supporting a wide range of installation scenarios including 24" ceiling tiles and 16" or wider wallboard framing.
Implementation Method 1
a spring biased against the clamp dog to maintain contact pressure
Implementation Method 2
The actuator which moves the clamp dog is typically a screw that is operated from the front of the speaker
Data Source
AI summary
A system for mounting a component in an aperture of a supporting surface has a mounting flange surrounding the component to be mounted, and at least two clamp dogs attached to the mounting flange and located adjacent a rear surface of the mounting flange. The component is inserted into a mounting hole cut in a sheet rock surface or ceiling tile, so that the flange abuts the front face of the surface. The clamping assemblies are located on the rear face of the surface. There is a pivoting system for pivoting the clamp dog around an axis. The pivoting system is operable from both the front surface and the rear surface of the mounting flange so that the clamp dogs can be actuated from either side of the sheet rock or ceiling tile.