Resilient unitary lighting clip

Details Resilient unitary lighting clip Resilient unitary lighting clip

1999-11-01

2001-12-11

Sakran, Victor N. (Department: 3626)

Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.

Clasp, clip, support-clamp, or required component thereof

Having gripping member formed from, biased by, or mounted on...

C024S293000, C024S295000, C024S336000, C024S563000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06327758

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Drop ceilings in both residential and commercial establishments often utilize recessed lighting fixtures to create overhead lighting assemblies. In a typical construction of a drop ceiling, T-bars are suspended by wires from supporting members. The drop ceiling allows various utilities to be mounted above the ceiling, such as air ducts. The lighting fixtures which are utilized in conjunction with the drop ceiling are conventional in their construction and are usually supported on the T-bars by conventional bar hangers. One of the problems encountered in attaching bar hangers to the T-bars is the provision of means for easily attaching the bar hanger to the T-bar. The means for securing the bar hanger to the T-bar must allow the bar hanger to be held in place, but also it must to be readily shifted in position to accommodate positioning of a lighting fixture to a desired position along the T-bar. A typical means for attaching a bar hanger to a T-bar is a clip which is easily secured to a bar hanger and to a T-bar.
A well-known prior art clip
10
for securing a conventional bar hanger to a T-bar is shown in
FIGS. 1
,
2
, and
3
. Clip
10
is locked to an ear
12
of a conventional bar hanger
14
. The clip is mounted on a conventional residential T-bar
16
which includes a flange
18
and a base
20
. A bar head
22
is secured to the upper edge of flange
18
. The clip
10
secured to head
22
of T-bar
18
.
Prior art clip
10
includes a face plate
24
which has a generally flat body
26
. An upper hook
28
is formed integral with the upper edge of flat body
26
and a lower hook
30
is formed integral with the lower edge of the flat body and is off-set from hook
28
, as may be seen in FIG.
3
. Hooks
28
and
30
have hook lips
32
and
34
, respectively, to facilitate insertion of ear
12
of the bar hanger between the hooks. Flat body
26
has a pair of protuberances
36
and
38
for mating engagement with portions of ear
12
. Ear
12
has a pair of recesses
40
and
42
which receives protuberances
36
and
38
, respectively, to interconnect the ear and the clip.
Clip
10
includes a pair of parallel back arms
44
and
46
. Back arms
44
and
46
have walls
48
and
50
, respectively, which are formed integral with flat body
26
. Back fingers
52
and
54
are formed integral with walls
48
and
50
, respectively. As may be seen in
FIG. 3
, back arms
44
and
46
are positioned adjacent to opposite edges of flat body
26
.
A locking finger
56
is formed integral with the flat body between the back arms
44
and
46
. The locking finger is positioned adjacent to arm
44
and spaced from arm
46
, as may be seen in FIG.
3
. The locking finger includes a curved strut
58
having one end formed integral with flat body
26
. A flat extension
60
is formed integral with curved strut
58
and extends below back arms
44
and
46
, as shown in FIG.
2
.
Clip
10
is attached to ear
12
of the bar hanger through the interaction of the hooks to retain the ear and the protuberances. The clip is secured to the T-bar
16
at head
22
by raising the flat extension of locking finger
56
to allow the back fingers of the back arms to be positioned under head
22
. The resilience of the locking finger urges the locking finger into engagement with the upper edge of head
22
to lock the clip to the T-bar.
In order to remove the clip from the T-bar, it is necessary to move the locking finger
56
out of engagement with the head and thereby allow the back fingers to be disengaged from under the head.
One of the problems encountered in mounting the bar hangers is that in some instances the T-bars have an enlarged head, as shown in
FIGS. 10 and 11
. The clip
10
is not effective with T-bars having enlarged heads. It is desirable to provide a clip which is capable of being used with the T-bar
16
shown in
FIG. 1
, and the T-bars shown in
FIGS. 10 and 11
. The T-bar shown in
FIG. 1
is generally utilized in residential applications, whereas the T-bar shown in
FIGS. 10 and 11
are generally utilized in commercial applications.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improved resilient unitary lighting clip for releasably connecting a bar hanger to a T-bar in an overhead lighting assembly. The clip includes a face plate engageable with the bar hanger. A lock is formed integral with the face plate and is engageable with the bar hanger for securing the clip to the bar hanger. A U-shaped connector is formed integral with the face plate for receiving a portion of the bar hanger and holding the bar hanger in engagement with the face plate. A support is formed integral with the connector for receiving a portion of a T-bar. A catch is formed integral with the support for resilient connection to a portion of the T-bar. A tab is formed integral with the support and is engageable with the T-bar for releasably locking the clip to the T-bar.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3858370 (1975-01-01), Halstead
patent: 3934387 (1976-01-01), Moeller
patent: 4033079 (1977-07-01), Cross, Jr.
patent: 4088293 (1978-05-01), Delmore
patent: 4723749 (1988-02-01), Carraro et al.
patent: 5987714 (1999-11-01), Smith
patent: 6033098 (2000-03-01), Hentz et al.
patent: 0840556 (1960-07-01), None

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