Toolless mounting of electronic devices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Mounting electronic devices on drop ceilings, such as wireless access points, is laborious and requires significant operator skill due to the need for direct connection to T-bars, which can raise ceiling tiles and is complicated by recessed edges, especially when performed overhead.
Innovation Solution
A toolless mounting bracket system that includes a bracket plate and adapter halves which can be snapped onto T-bars, featuring a fastening mechanism with hanger tabs and universal lock shoulders for secure attachment without tools, and an attachment mechanism with screw openings and a latch mechanism for securing devices, allowing easy positioning and secure suspension of electronic devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If direct connection to T-bars is used for mounting electronic devices, then secure mounting is achieved, but ceiling tiles are raised and operator skill requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mounting bracket as an intermediary component between the electronic device and the T-bar. The bracket features a clamping mechanism that secures the device without requiring direct connection to the T-bar, thereby maintaining mounting security while significantly reducing operator skill requirements and avoiding ceiling tile elevation issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system is divided into separate functional components: a bracket body for securing the device, a clamping mechanism for attachment to the T-bar, and mounting holes for device integration. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the clamping mechanism providing secure attachment without requiring precise overhead work.
2Reliability
If direct connection to T-bars is used for mounting electronic devices, then secure mounting is achieved, but mounting process becomes laborious
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting bracket serves as a pre-fabricated intermediary that encapsulates the complex attachment mechanism. Installers simply attach the bracket to the T-bar and secure the device to the bracket, transforming a laborious direct mounting process into a simple two-step operation, thereby significantly improving productivity while maintaining secure mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket is pre-assembled with its clamping mechanism and mounting features before installation. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex overhead assembly work during installation, allowing quick attachment to T-bars and rapid device mounting, thus enhancing productivity without compromising mounting security.
3Ease of manufacture
If ceiling tiles are raised for mounting, then device installation is possible, but aesthetic integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting bracket acts as an intermediary that interfaces with the T-bar structure below the ceiling tiles. By clamping onto the T-bar without requiring tile removal or elevation, the bracket enables device installation while preserving the continuous, flat appearance of the ceiling surface, thus maintaining aesthetic integrity while ensuring installation feasibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A mounting bracket for mounting an electronic device to the T-bar of a drop ceiling provides for self-locking snap-action securing of the mounting bracket to a flange of the T-bar, suspending the mounting bracket from the T-bar. The mounting bracket also provides for self-locking snap-action attachment of the mounted device to the bracket, suspending the device from the suspended mounting bracket. A split adapter allows vertical offsetting of the device from the ceiling, reducing vertical displacement of ceiling tiles resting on the T-bar. The split adapter has two halves the are laterally slid on to the T-bar flange and are then longitudinally slid together to be joined against lateral separation. The composite adapter thus formed presents an adapter flange to which the mounting bracket snap-secures, the mounting bracket locking the adapter halves against longitudinal separation.