Suspended Ceiling System and Foldable Runner Therefore
Each one of the runners of the suspended ceiling system has a base with two laterally opposite flanges for supporting ceiling tiles. A web can be hingedly connected to the base between the flanges. The runners can be suspended from above using cable fasteners which lockingly engage with apertures provided in the runners.
1 . A runner for suspended ceilings, the runner being elongated in shape, having a base with two laterally opposite flanges for supporting ceiling tiles and a web hingedly connected to the base between the flanges so as to be foldable between a flat configuration with the web folded against one of the flanges, and an inversed-T configuration with the web normal to the base for suspension and use; wherein the web and the base are formed of a single, integral component made of a plastic material and having a flexible portion at the base of the web providing the hinged connection between the web and the base.
2 . The runner of claim 1 wherein the flexible portion has a smaller thickness than the remainder of the web.
3 . The runner of claim 1 wherein the flexible portion has a W-shaped notch defined therein.
4 . The runner of claim 1 wherein a material constituting the flexible portion is more flexible than a material constituting the remainder of the web.
5 . The runner of claim 1 wherein the web has a plurality of regularly longitudinally interspaced apertures on a side thereof away from the base.
6 . The runner of claim 5 wherein the apertures are rectangular and flat in the longitudinal direction.
7 . The runner of claim 1 wherein both flanges have the same width.
8 . A suspended ceiling system having a plurality of runners, each one of the runners having a base with two laterally opposite flanges for supporting ceiling tiles and a web hingedly connected to the base between the flanges.
9 . The suspended ceiling system of claim 8 wherein the runners are suspended to a building structure in a grid configuration, with a plurality of parallel and equally interspaced longitudinal runners and a plurality of parallel and equally interspaced transverse runners and an array of intersections therebetween.
10 . A method of installing a suspended ceiling comprising unfolding a runner having a web hingedly mounted to a base from a folded configuration where the web is folded against the base, to an unfolded configuration where the web is normal to the base.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising prior to said unfolding, unrolling the runner from a coiled configuration.