Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Processes
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-17
2001-02-27
Chen, Jose V. (Department: 3636)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Processes
C052S745090
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192648
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns a method of installing ships' cabin wall panels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One prior art method for installing cabin wall panels consists in fixing a U-shaped channel bottom rails to the deck, inserting the bottom edges of the wall panels into these rails and then capping the top edges of the wall panels with an inverted U-shaped channel top rails bearing on the top edges of the panels.
The top rails have a simple inverted U-shaped channel and form a support structure for a ceiling made up of juxtaposed slats.
In the above installation method, the ceiling slats are installed last because they are fixed to the top rails which in turn rest on the vertical wall panels.
This order of installation, whereby the wall panels are installed before the ceiling and its support structure, i.e. the top rails, is open to improvement. The wall panels have already been decorated when they are installed and might therefore be damaged or soiled when fitting the ceiling slats and also the trunking, pipes, and cables which run above the ceiling and which are installed before the ceiling is completed. Also, replacing a wall panel necessitates major dismantling of ceiling slats and top rails.
Another method that is used consists in first fixing the U-shaped channel bottom rails to the deck, as previously, and then pre-installing the inverted U-shaped channel top rails by suspending them on metal suspension members from the deck above. The wall panels are then inserted into the top rails and allowed to drop into the bottom rails, sufficient distance being provided between the top and bottom rails when pre-installing the top rails that are suspended by said metal suspension members.
That method has the important advantage of the wall panels being installed last, when there is no longer any risk of them being damaged by handling other materials in their surroundings.
In particular, all trunking and cables are installed above the ceiling and the ceiling slats are installed beforehand, which is possible because they are fixed to the top rails which are pre-installed by being suspended on the metal suspension members from the deck above.
Another advantage is that it is easy to dismantle a panel because its top rail is not resting on it and so it can be disengaged from the rail to dismantle it in the same way as it was inserted in the rail when it was installed.
On the other hand, pre-installing the top rails is time-consuming and the suspension members require many welds; the suspension members also have the drawback of constituting sound conducting bridges and connections to the cabins which transmit strains in the ship's structure to the cabins.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to propose a method of installing ships' cabin walls having the advantages of the above installation method but none of its disadvantages, i.e. a method which eliminates the suspension members for the top rails but which allows the panels to be installed by inserting them into the rails after the ceiling slats have been installed.
The invention therefore consists in a method of installing wall panels of ships' cabins including a sanitation space consisting of a sanitation unit, said wall panels being placed between a bottom rail with a U-shape section in which the panels rest and a top rail having an inverted U-shaped channel which caps the upper edges of said panels without resting on said upper edges, in which method a first step is to install the sanitation unit and then to fix to the outside periphery of the sanitation unit an angle-iron for supporting slats for making up the cabin ceiling, said bottom rails being fixed to the deck at the location of the wall panels to be installed, wherein the top rails are temporarily supported at each end by a support positioned in a corresponding bottom rail in the case of top rails which do not have one end in contact with said sanitation unit or temporarily supported by a support at one end only in the case of top rails which have one end in contact with said sanitation unit, in which case said end in contact with said unit is fixed to said angle-iron for supporting the slats, and wherein said panels are installed, starting from the sanitation unit, by inserting them in the top rail and allowing them to drop into the bottom rail, after which they are screwed to a vertical flange of the top rail, said supports being removed and replaced by wall panels as installation proceeds, the depth of the channel formed by the top rail being greater than that formed by the bottom rail.
In another feature of the invention, said slats for making up the ceiling are placed on and fixed to a top rail at each end or placed on and fixed to a top rail at one end and placed on and fixed to one of said angle-irons fixed to said sanitation unit at the other end.
The invention also consists in a support that can be dismantled for implementing the method of the invention. The support comprises two parallel simple studs connected to each other by a connecting plate extending over less than the total height of the studs and of length shorter than that of the studs by an amount not less than the depth P of the channel formed by the bottom rail, the section of said studs being such that they can be engaged in said top and bottom rails, and the connection of each stud to said connecting plate includes a pivot in a plane parallel to the plate enabling the support to be removed from its location between the top and bottom rails and replaced by a wall panel.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1603895 (1926-10-01), Berger
patent: 3690086 (1972-09-01), Cole et al.
patent: 4314430 (1982-02-01), Farrington
patent: 4506428 (1985-03-01), Gerhard
patent: 4841710 (1989-06-01), Considine
patent: 5335472 (1994-08-01), Phillips
patent: 5394665 (1995-03-01), Johnson
patent: 5722198 (1998-03-01), Bader
patent: 6044614 (2000-04-01), Bryant
patent: 4314422A1 (1994-11-01), None
patent: 96199 (1972-05-01), None
patent: WO 86/06341 (1986-11-01), None
patent: WO 86/07026 (1986-12-01), None
Alstom France S.A.
Chen José V.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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