Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Nonframed plural edged held fabric
Patent
1995-09-29
1997-11-25
Johnson, Blair
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Nonframed plural edged held fabric
160391, 52222, A47H 2300
Patent
active
056901585
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a device for fixing on a support such as a ceiling or a wall, a panel of supple material such as a PVC film or a cloth, so that the panel is maintained taut by its edges.
The invention is more particularly applicable in the domain of false ceilings, constituted by a sheet of plastics material disposed against the ceiling that is to be covered with a view to concealing the defects thereof. In the domain of renovation of premises, and particularly of dwellings, commercial, professional premises or those for domestic use, it is current practice to dispose at some millimeters of centimeters from the ceiling in place, a sheet of plastics material such as PVC intended to constitute the visible ceiling. This operation is relatively current and aims at avoiding making considerable and expensive renovation work on the ceiling in place, particularly when the original ceiling is considerably degraded.
The sheets of plastic are positioned and maintained stretched (forming a so-called stretched ceiling), by using sections, generally of U-shape, opening towards the original ceiling, one of the vertical branches of the U being fixed on the lateral wall, near the ceiling, and the other vertical branch of the U being of length slightly shorter than the first branch fixed on the wall, so as to allow a passage between the top of the small branch of the U and the ceiling. In this passage is introduced a packing strip rendered fast with the edge of the stretched ceiling. The line of packing is then introduced via said passage inside the U-section and presents sufficient properties of elasticity for it to expand, once in place in the U, and thus block the edge of the stretched ceiling.
This type of known device is relatively simple and may be dismantled even by amateurs. Such dismantling may be necessary, for example in order to restretch the stretched ceiling after a certain time, or to remove the stretched ceiling to replace it by another.
Nonetheless, this known device presents a major drawback, namely its dimensions, both in height and laterally, i.e. in the plane of the ceiling. Such dimensions may go up to 25 millimeters in height and 30 to 35 millimeters in width. In is not possible to reduce the dimensions of the U-section, at the risk of endangering its mechanical integrity. These dimensions are all the more awkward from the aesthetic standpoint as the U-section projects from the stretched ceiling. Apart from the aesthetic aspect, the dimensions of the U-section are problematic insofar as the original ceiling presents mouldings, which reduces the possibilities of positioning a stretched ceiling taking into account the space already taken by the mouldings. Likewise, the presence of a square- or parallelepipedic section of such dimensions (25.times.35 mm) arranged against mouldings destroys the aesthetic appearance thereof, of which the precise purpose is decorative.
Attempts have been made to overcome this drawback, in known manner, by using a section of quadrangular cross-section, of shape elongated in the plane parallel to the ceiling. The section is fixed to the ceiling is known manner (clipping or gluing) and comprises means for blocking by pinching, such as a lip displaceable between an open position disengaging a housing in which the edge of the panel may be slid, and a closed position where the lip bears on the edge of the opening, pinching the edge of said panel. This device substantially reduces the total dimensions of the device since its height may be reduced to 8 mm. Moreover, the lateral dimensions or depth in the direction of the plane of the ceiling is reduced since the pinching means are disposed at an end of the device disposed towards the edge, i.e. as near as possible to the lateral wall associated with the original ceiling on which the stretched ceiling is added. In this way, from the aesthetic standpoint, the improvement is substantial compared with the known device described hereinbefore.
However, it is possible to dismantle this device only by specialized staff, wi
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