Perimeter clip for seismic ceilings
View Patent ↗A perimeter clip attached to a wall molding that supports a beam in a suspended ceiling intended to survive seismic disturbances. The clip is capable, during an earthquake, of permitting an end of a beam at one end of a connected line of beams, in a grid, to slide while being supported in the clip, or, in the alternative, to secure an end of a beam to the wall molding.
1. In a perimeter clip that
(a) attaches to an angle wall molding having a face and a ledge, and
(b) supports a beam end in a suspended ceiling,
the perimeter clip having
(a) a first leg that attaches to and extends along the wall molding, and
(b) a second leg that supports the beam end and that extends away from the wall molding face at a right angle to the first leg;
the improvement comprising
a slot in the second leg having
(1) an inclined segment that extends upward and away from the first leg, and
(2) a horizontal segment that extends toward the wall molding face from the inclined segment,
wherein the slot receives a screw that extends through the slot into the web of the beam end being supported in the clip, with the screw being free to slide in the slot during an earthquake and support the beam end in the clip.
2. The clip of claim 1 wherein the screw is capable of being tightened in the slot to fix the beam end in the clip so that the beam end does not slide in the clip during an earthquake.
3. The clip of claim 1 wherein the beam end, during an earthquake, is elevated above the wall molding ledge at times during the slide of the screw in the slot, to prevent interference between the beam end and the wall molding ledge.
4. The clip of claim 3 wherein the beam end, during an earthquake, is elevated above the wall molding ledge during the slide of the screw in the inclined segment of the slot.
5. The use of the clip of claim 1 in a suspended ceiling in geographical zones prone to seismic events.