U.S. patent application number 11/172155 was filed with the patent office on 2006-01-05 for adjustable acoustic wings.
Invention is credited to Nathan Nolley.
Application Number | 20060000671 11/172155 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35512749 |
Filed Date | 2006-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060000671 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nolley; Nathan |
January 5, 2006 |
Adjustable acoustic wings
Abstract
An acoustic wing according to this disclosure is an adjustable
and removable acoustic panel to eliminate noise from work stations
separated with dividing wall panels. The system according to this
invention provides an acoustic wing that can be tilted to any angle
thereby providing an individually adjustable mechanism to maximize
the noise elimination.
Inventors: |
Nolley; Nathan; (Upper
Marlboro, MD) |
Correspondence
Address: |
John Dodds
1707 N St. NW
Washington
DC
20036
US
|
Family ID: |
35512749 |
Appl. No.: |
11/172155 |
Filed: |
June 30, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60583675 |
Jun 30, 2004 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
181/287 ;
181/293 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04B 2/7422 20130101;
E04B 2002/7418 20130101; E04B 2/7409 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
181/287 ;
181/293 |
International
Class: |
E04B 1/343 20060101
E04B001/343; E04B 1/82 20060101 E04B001/82 |
Claims
1. An adjustable and removable acoustic element comprising: an
adjustable bracket suitable to be fastened on top of a dividing
wall panel, said bracket consisting of means to adjust the width of
the bracket thereby making it compatible to dividing wall panels of
different thickness; two hinges attached to the bracket; and two
acoustic wings comprising a pad of acoustic material, said wings
being further attached to the hinges, whereby the wings can be
independently adjusted into various angles by tilting either of the
two hinges.
2. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing is a
rectangular.
3. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing is a
trapezoid.
4. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing is
flat.
5. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing is
concave.
6. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing is
convex.
7. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic
material is polyurethane.
8. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the wing
further consists of a frame and an acoustic pad attached onto the
frame.
9. The acoustic element according to claim 8, wherein the frame is
made of polyurethane plastic and the acoustic pad is made of
polyurethane foam.
10. An adjustable and removable acoustic element comprising: an
adjustable bracket suitable to be fastened on top of a dividing
wall panel, said bracket consisting of means to adjust the width of
the bracket thereby making it compatible to dividing wall panels of
different thickness; a hinge attached to the bracket; and an
acoustic wings, said wing being further attached to the hinge,
whereby the wing can be adjusted into various angles by tilting the
hinge.
11. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing is
a rectangular.
12. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing is
a trapezoid.
13. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing is
flat.
14. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing is
concave.
15. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing is
convex.
16. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the
acoustic material is polyurethane.
17. The acoustic element according to claim 10, wherein the wing
further consists of a frame and an acoustic pad attached onto the
frame.
18. The acoustic element according to claim 17, wherein the frame
is made of polyurethane plastic and the pad is made of polyurethane
foam.
Description
PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority of the provisional
application No. 60/583,675 filed on Jun. 30, 2004.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to acoustic control, more
particularly to adjustable and removable acoustic surfaces for
controlling acoustic environment of open office spaces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] It has become very popular to divide large office spaces
into smaller units with dividing surfaces or panels to enable some
privacy in the several smaller work stations of the large office
space. Such dividing panels do indeed provide visual privacy, but
as such they do not give much acoustic privacy. The noises of a
large office may be extremely disturbing for a person working at
such divided work station.
[0004] Some solutions to the acoustic problem of these divided work
stations have been provided for example by providing panels that
are made of acoustic materials. Alternatively, the panel may be
covered with an acoustic pad as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,941
for example.
[0005] By providing a panel consisting of acoustic material does
not solve the problem of noises that are coming via the open space
that is between the office ceiling and the top of the dividing
panel. Attempts to solve this problem are inventions such as those
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,101 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,586.
The patent number U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,101 provides a floor standing
acoustic space divider, which has an outward protuberance in its
upper portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,586 provides a panel system that
is attachable to the upper parts of a dividing panel. The
attachable panel according to this patent has an upper portion that
is curved inwards. The inventions according to these two patents
improve the acoustic conditions in the divided work station.
However, the problem with both of these structures is that they not
enable any adjustment of the degree of the upper portion in
relation to the dividing panel. The degree of the panel affects on
the efficiency of eliminating the noise. Therefore, the rigid
degree does not leave any options for the user of the panel to
adjust the panel so that it could better eliminate the noise. The
present disclosure solves this problem and thereby provides a
system that is gives maximal noise elimination in various
environments. The present disclosure provides acoustic wings that
have a freely adjustable angle to maximize elimination of noise
from different kind of noise sources (traffic, telephone, radio,
conversation etc.). The invention according to the present
disclosure enables adjustment of the wings to maximize elimination
of noise coming from differently located noise sources (e.g.
position of telephone on a desk affects the direction of the sound
waves).
[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide attachable
and removable acoustic wings for improving the acoustic environment
of a workstation separated with dividing panels.
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide
acoustic wings with an adjustable angle to maximize the noise
elimination individually at different conditions and
environments.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide
acoustic wings that eliminate noise from both sides of the dividing
panel.
[0009] A still another object of the present invention is to
provide acoustic wings that allow independent and individual
adjustment of the angle of the wings on both sides of the dividing
panel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1. is a perspective view of acoustic wings attached on
the top of a dividing panel element with a bracket.
[0011] FIG. 2. is a side view of the adjustable bracket.
[0012] FIG. 3. is a bottom view of the adjustable bracket.
[0013] FIG. 4. Is a side view of the adjustable bracket with
adjustable hinges attached to it.
[0014] FIG. 5. is a view of the frame of the wings.
[0015] FIG. 6. is a view of the frames where acoustic foam has been
attached.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The present invention provides an acoustic elimination
system for working spaces divided with panels. The acoustic wings
according to this invention are easily adjustable on top of any
regular panel element. The wings are easily removable and again
attachable. The wings are easy and cheap to manufacture and the
acoustic material is easy to change if needed for example in order
to minimize allergic reactions caused by accumulating dust. The
acoustic wings according to the present invention provide the
unique feature that the wings can be freely adjusted to any desired
angle up to 90 degree angle to improve the noise elimination. The
acoustic elimination system according to this invention can either
serve elimination of noise from only one side of the panel or
alternatively eliminate noise from both sides of the panel.
[0017] One preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown
in FIG. 1. This embodiment comprises two acoustic wings (1)
attached on the top of a dividing panel element (10). The angle
between the wing and the panel element can be adjusted by tilting
the wing up or down. According to this embodiment the acoustic
system consists of two wings, one serving one work station and the
other serving another station on the opposite side of the dividing
panel element. The angle between the dividing panel element and
each of the wings can be individually and independently adjusted so
that the angles of the two wings need not to be the same. This
feature is to enables maximizing of noise elimination separately on
both work stations depending of the needs of the users.
[0018] Still referring to FIG. 1 the wings (1) are attached on the
top of the dividing panel element (10) with a bracket (20). One
embodiment of the bracket (20) is shown in FIG. 2 The bracket (20)
has two vertical sides (21) and a horizontal portion (22). The
horizontal portion (22) consists of two plates, a stable one (23)
and a slidable one (24). The slidable portion is sliding in
relation to the stable portion; thereby enabling slidable
adjustment of the width of the bracket. Now, specifically referring
to FIG. 3 the slidable portion (24) has openings (26) and the
stable portion (23) has knobs, screws or similar means (25) fitting
into the openings (26) to define the maximum and minimum width to
which the bracket can be extended. The slidable portion may be
stabilized by bolts or similar means attached to the knobs or
screws (25); thereby stabilizing the width of the bracket. This
feature enables fixation of the bracket on dividing panels of
different thickness.
[0019] Now referring to FIG. 4 one embodiment of the present
invention comprises adjustable hinges (30) on the top of the
horizontal portion (22) of the bracket (20). The acoustic wings are
to be attached to the hinges with any appropriate method, for
example with bolts or screws. By tilting the hinge one can easily
adjust the angle of the wing. According to this embodiment one
bracket (20) carries two hinges (30) which both can be used to
attach a wing; thereby one acoustic system can have two wings to
serve both sides of the dividing panel. Alternatively, a bracket
(20) can only have one hinge (30) and carry only one wing, or only
one of the two hinges may be used when only one side of the
dividing panel needs noise elimination. The tilting mechanism does
not necessarily need to be a hinge but any other system enabling
the tilting feature.
[0020] Now specifically referring to FIG. 5 the wings consist of a
simple and light frame (40) on to which acoustic material is
attached. The frame may be made of lightweight polyurethane
plastic, but alternatively other lightweight materials can also be
used. Preferably the thickness of the plastic is 1/4 inch or less.
The frame preferably has two horizontal elements (41) and two
vertical elements (42). Depending on the length of the horizontal
elements (41) the frame (40) may have one or more supporting
vertical elements (43). In one preferred embodiment the length of
the horizontal frame is four to six feet and the frame has one
supporting vertical element. The angles between the horizontal and
vertical elements may be 90 degrees, whereby the frame is a
rectangular. Alternatively the angle between the lower horizontal
element and one of the vertical elements may be less than 90
degrees, thereby forming a frame that is a trapezoid. A wing having
the form of a trapezoid can easily be used in corners of a cubical
workstation without any difficulties to tilt the wing as wished.
The frame may be attached to the hinges with attaching means (44)
which in this embodiment are bolts or screws. As shown in FIG. 6 a
pad of acoustic material (45) is attached on the frame. The
acoustic material may be polyurethane foam but it may as well be
any acoustic material used for elimination of noise. The thickness
of the polyurethane foam preferably is two inches. The wings
according to this disclosure may be flat but they may as well be
curved as to form concave or convex structures to improve noise
elimination features in certain environments.
[0021] According to an alternative embodiment the frame is one
solid piece, either rectangular or trapezoid in its shape and it is
made of acoustic material. According to this alternative embodiment
the frame, which as such is the wing is attached to the
bracket-hinge system which enables its tilting.
[0022] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been
described in details, this is for illustrative purposes only and
one skilled in the art recognizes that variations and modifications
of the disclosed invention can be made without departing from the
scope of the invention.
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