U.S. patent application number 13/136983 was filed with the patent office on 2013-02-21 for noise damper.
This patent application is currently assigned to Worthington Armstrong Venture. The applicant listed for this patent is William J. Platt, Brett W. Sareyka. Invention is credited to William J. Platt, Brett W. Sareyka.
Application Number | 20130042560 13/136983 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46582597 |
Filed Date | 2013-02-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130042560 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Platt; William J. ; et
al. |
February 21, 2013 |
Noise damper
Abstract
Noise dampers of sound absorbent material are inserted on the
metal grid beams in a suspended ceiling. Hangers, embedded in a
structural ceiling, that support the beams, are insulated from the
beams by the noise dampers. Sound vibrations generated in the
structural ceiling, which is often a floor, are not transmitted
through the hangers, to the suspended ceiling, or to the room,
below, but are absorbed in the dampers before reaching the grid
beams.
Inventors: |
Platt; William J.; (Aston,
PA) ; Sareyka; Brett W.; (Aston, PA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Platt; William J.
Sareyka; Brett W. |
Aston
Aston |
PA
PA |
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Worthington Armstrong
Venture
|
Family ID: |
46582597 |
Appl. No.: |
13/136983 |
Filed: |
August 16, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/506.06 ;
181/290 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04B 9/18 20130101; E04B
2009/186 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
52/506.06 ;
181/290 |
International
Class: |
E04B 9/18 20060101
E04B009/18; E04B 2/02 20060101 E04B002/02 |
Claims
1. In a suspended ceiling having grid beams suspended from a
structural ceiling by hangers; the improvement comprising a noise
damper of resilient sound vibration damping material in contact
with the grid beam that insulates a hanger from the grid beam.
2. The improvement of claim 1, wherein the noise damper extends
through a knock-out in the web of the beam.
3. The improvement of claim 2 wherein the shape of the knock-out
has an arch at the top that distributes force on the beam imparted
by a hanger extending through the knock-out.
4. The suspended ceiling of claim 1 wherein the hanger wires are
capable of continuing to support the ceiling during a fire.
5. The suspended ceiling of claim 1 wherein the noise damper is in
a form capable of being inserted onto a grid beam, and retained on
the grid beam by angled lips on the wrap.
6. In a ceiling structure having a. a structural ceiling that is a
source of noise vibrations; b. hangers that form a noise path for
the noise vibrations, and that extend downward from the structural
ceiling; and c. a suspended ceiling that includes grid beams,
supported by the hangers, that is a receiver for the noise
vibrations; the improvement comprising noise dampers inserted on
the grid beams, that (1) insulate the hangers from the grid beams
and (2) absorb the noise vibrations coming down the hangers that
form the noise path.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to noise control in suspended
ceilings. Such suspended ceilings have a grid of intersecting metal
beams that are suspended by hangers from a structural ceiling.
Panels or drywall sheets are supported on the grid.
[0003] Noise generated in the structural ceiling, which is
frequently a floor for the space above, is transmitted by sound
vibrations passing downward through the hangers, which form a sound
path, to the grid of the suspended ceiling. The suspended ceiling,
which includes panels or drywall sheets attached to the beams in
the grid, forms a receiver for the sound vibrations, which
broadcasts the resulting unwanted noise to the space below.
[0004] The invention deals with deadening such sound vibrations
coming down the hangers.
[0005] 2. Prior Art
[0006] Suspended ceilings are constructed in a special way so that
the ceilings are extremely stable. Over many years, a standard way
of constructing such ceilings has evolved. Suspended ceilings are
constructed at a building site by individually explosively
embedding an anchor such as an eye bolt, into the structural
ceiling, and then attaching a hanger, such as a wire, to the
anchor, by twisting the wire about the anchor. The lower end of the
hanger is attached to a metal beam in a grid that supports panels,
or drywall sheets, by looping the hanger through a hole in the web
of the beam and twisting the loop closed around the bulb and a
segment of the beam.
[0007] The substantial weight of the suspended ceiling is spread
among numerous hangers that are spaced every few feet along the
main beams in the grid. Each hanger must be individually secured to
the structural ceiling, and to the grid beam, by an installer who
must keep the grid of interconnected main and cross beams level at
a desired height. Much time and effort is required to hang a
suspended ceiling grid from a structural ceiling.
[0008] Much more time and effort is required where sound attenuator
devices that dampen the vibrations coming down a hanger sound path,
from noise generated in a structural ceiling, are used.
[0009] In the prior art, to control noise in a suspended ceiling, a
noise attenuator is individually inserted by the installer, about
midway in the length of a wire hanger that is cut into two
segments. An upper segment of the wire hanger is first secured at
its top to the structural ceiling, and at its bottom, to a top
terminal in the attenuator. A lower segment of the wire hanger is
connected at the top to a bottom terminal in the attenuator, and
then, at the bottom of the lower segment, to the grid beam.
[0010] In such prior art attenuator, the upper and lower metal
terminals are separated from each other by a suitable amount of
sound vibration damping material, such as gum rubber. Sound
vibrations coming down the wire hanger sound path from the
structural ceiling, which frequently serves as a floor for the
building level above, are absorbed in the noise attenuator.
[0011] The insertion of such prior art noise attenuators in a wire
hanger that must be divided into two segments is time and labor
consuming, since the normally single segment of a wire hanger must
not only be divided into two segments, but each segment must then
be secured to the noise attenuator by passing the hanger through an
attenuator terminal, and then twisting the hanger back around the
segment. Thus, instead of just two attachments of a single segment
of a wire hanger at an upper end to the structural ceiling, and at
its lower end to a grid beam itself, as in prior art suspended
ceilings with no noise attenuation, there are two additional
attachments involving threading the wire hanger through a hole, and
then twisting the wire hanger back upon itself, to the noise
attenuator.
[0012] Such manual cutting, threading, and twisting must be
individually custom performed by the installer of the grid in the
field during the construction of the ceiling, since good judgment
must be exerted at each wire hanger to keep the grid level, through
controlling the length of the wire hanger suspensions.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] A noise damper, of material that deadens sound vibrations
coming down a hanger, is inserted between the grid beam and a
hanger in the construction of the suspended ceiling.
[0014] The noise damper insulates the entire hanger attached to the
structural ceiling from contact with the metal grid beam in the
suspended ceiling, so the sound vibrations passing down the hanger
are deadened in the noise damper. The noise damper, however, does
not interfere with the structural support of the grid beam and
suspended ceiling by the hangers, which are generally of wire, but
permissibly of other material having adequate tensile strength to
support the suspended ceiling.
[0015] The time required to install a suspended ceiling with the
present invention is virtually the same as the time required to
install a prior art suspended ceiling without any noise damping. In
the present invention, the noise damper, which is of a resilient,
sound vibration deadening material, can be merely inserted into
place, and the hanger attached to the beam by looping a wire hanger
through a knock-out in the beam, as done in the prior art in a
suspended ceiling that is not sound dampened.
[0016] The knock-out can be shaped so the stress that the suspended
ceiling imparts to the hanger where it passes through the knock-out
is distributed over a section of the noise damper, rather than
concentrated at the site of the hanger.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the noise damper of the
invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 is an elevational view comparing [0019] (a) a prior
art suspended ceiling segment without noise damping; [0020] (b) a
prior art ceiling segment with noise damping; and [0021] (c) a
suspended ceiling with the noise damper of the invention
[0022] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a noise damper in place
on a grid beam with a wire hanger looped through the noise damper
and beam.
[0023] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a section of a
grid beam showing a knock-out that seats a conforming raised
section of a noise damper.
[0024] FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5
in FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0025] Although the invention is illustrated with hangers of wires,
which is the predominant material used to suspend present day
ceilings, the invention can be used with other forms of hangers,
such as rods, or chains.
[0026] In FIG. 2, there is shown comparatively (a) a prior art
ceiling without noise damping; (b) a prior art ceiling with noise
damping; and (c) the noise dampened suspended ceiling of the
present invention. In a prior art suspended ceiling installation
without noise damping, (FIG. 2a), the suspended ceiling 43, is hung
from a structural ceiling 22, by wire hangers 40 embedded in the
structural ceiling at the top, and looped through about the grid
beam 21 at the bottom. A single length of wire hanger 40 is
used.
[0027] In FIG. 2b, a wire hanger is cut in two into segments, 23
and 24, and secured to the structural ceiling 22 and suspended
ceiling 43 as shown. A grid beam 21 is suspended from structural
ceiling 22 by an upper wire segment 23 and a lower wire segment 24,
connected to a sound attenuator 25. The upper wire segment 23 is
looped through an eye bolt 26 explosively embedded in the
structural ceiling 22, and manually twisted to close the loop 27.
Similar connections are made to sound attenuator 25 at the bottom
of segment 23 and at the top of the lower segment 24. At the bottom
of the lower segment 24, there is formed a loop 27 that passes
through a hole 28 in the web 29 of grid beam 21. The loop 27 is
closed by twisting the wire hanger segment 24.
[0028] In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2c, a single
length of wire hanger 40 is used to suspend a beam 21 at suspension
points along the beam 21. A noise damper is inserted onto grid beam
21 between the suspension loop 42 at the bottom of wire hanger 40
and the grid beam 21, to insulate the beam 21 from the wire hanger
40. The noise damper 41 of the invention deadens the sound
vibrations from structural ceiling 22 as they travel down the wire
hanger 40, before the vibrations reach the metal grid beam 21, in
the suspended ceiling 43, which would serve as a receiver that
would broadcast the noise to the space below.
[0029] At the top, the wire hanger 40 is looped through eye bolt 26
explosively embedded in structural ceiling 22, and the loop 44 is
twisted closed. The lower end of wire hanger is passed through hole
61 in noise damper 41 on grid beam 21, and passes through knock-out
46.
[0030] Noise damper 41 has an inverted U-shaped upper portion 47
conforming in cross section to the bulb 48 of the grid beam 21, as
seen particularly in FIG. 5. A flat lower portion 51 is intended to
lie along the web 29 of the grid beam 21 as seen in FIG. 5.
[0031] A raised insert 53 on flat lower portion 51 is shaped to
conform to a knock-out 46, desirably with the shape of an arch 56
at the top. Lip retainers 57 hold the raised insert 53 firmly in
the knock-out 46. An angled lip 58 on the U-shape clip portion 47
retains such U-shaped portion 47 of the noise damper 41 on the bulb
48 of the grid beam 21. A hole 61 that receives wire hanger 40
extends through the raised insert 53 and knock-out 46.
[0032] The noise damper 41 is injection molded into one resilient
integral piece from a vibration deadening material. An example of
such a material is thermoplastic vulcanizate, an elastomer, that
includes carbon black and a paraffin wax. Such material, in pellet
form, is injection molded into the form of the noise damper 41
insert of the invention. The noise damper 41, when molded, is
flexible, and can readily expand when being inserted onto the grid
beam 21, to envelope the grid beam 21 as depicted in the
drawings.
[0033] The noise damper 41 is inserted onto the beam by passing the
inverted U-shape portion 47 vertically downward over the bulb 48 of
grid beam 21 to seat raised insert 53 in knock-out 46. The noise
damper 41 expands while being inserted onto the grid beam 21, and
contracts to the position about the beam 21, and into knockout 46,
as shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 5.
[0034] A single length of wire hanger 40, which has been embedded
previously in the structured ceiling, is then looped through the
hole 61 in the noise damper 41, as shown in FIG. 5, and then
twisted at 62 to close the loop.
[0035] In this manner, the metal wire hanger 40 is insulated from
metal grid beam 21, while still structurally supporting the grid
beam 21.
[0036] A series of wire hangers 40 and noise dampers 41 are applied
at, for instance, four (4) foot intervals along the main grid beams
21. The knock-outs 46 may be pre-punched at more frequent
intervals, along the beam, and the noise dampers inserted
selectively. The knock-outs 46 do not appreciatively affect the
strength of the grid beams 21.
[0037] By means of the present invention, as set forth above, the
hanger 40 which acts as a sound path from the structural ceiling 22
noise source to the suspended ceiling 43 which acts as a receiver
is interrupted and dampened by the noise damper 41 of the
invention.
[0038] The noise dampers 41 can be inserted at the job site as the
grid beams 21 are being hung, or in the alternative, the noise
dampers 41 can be inserted on the grid beams 21 before the grid
beams 21 themselves are shipped to the job site.
[0039] In case of a fire, even though the noise dampers 41 of the
invention are destroyed, wire hangers 40 continue to support the
grid beams 21, since the wire hangers 40 remain attached to the
grid beams 21.
* * * * *