Acoustic wall

Details Acoustic wall Acoustic wall

1999-09-03

2001-01-09

Dang, Khanh (Department: 2837)

Acoustics

Diaphragm and enclosure

Recessed

C181S173000, C381S431000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06170603

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to acoustic walls, in particular to acoustic walls suitable for providing sound for large public events.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
To produce a sufficiently large sound volume in an audience space of large public events, it is necessary to place a large number of conventional loudspeaker boxes. Because of the high transmitted power, these loudspeaker boxes must have rigid and often quite large housings, requiring extensive scaffolding to which these boxes can be securely attached. This expense may be justifiable for stationary installations with a long lifetime. Even though, the combined loudspeaker boxes have a large footprint and use a large amount of space, which is increasingly viewed as a considerable disadvantage.
Furthermore, such a combined loudspeaker system is particularly disadvantageous if the loudspeaker boxes are used only for a one-time music event, such as an open-air concert, since placing the acoustic system requires extensive preparations which can be expensive. Moreover, conventional loudspeaker systems tend to be quite complex in order to provide the considerable amount of power required for reproducing the low-frequency (bass) sound, which is particularly desirable for large events. This is typically realized with large and heavy woofer systems, which in spite of their cost are often not able to adequately reproduce the sound in every situation. This is due to the fact that the conventional bass speakers (woofers) require a larger membrane area and/or stroke for improving the reproduction of low-frequency sound, which may exceed the operational stability limit of the speaker. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an acoustic system for large events which can be easily and inexpensively adapted to the respective conditions and installed at the location of the event, and which is able to reproduce low-frequency sound with high quality.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, an acoustic wall provides a compact, space-saving and lightweight arrangement for reproducing sound, wherein at least one segment radiates acoustic waves from the reproduction plane of the acoustic wall. This arrangement reduces the required area and space to the size of the respective acoustic wall. Moreover, this arrangement can be adapted to the respective actual conditions and expanded by placing additional acoustic walls side-by-side. According to the invention, acoustic walls can also reproduce bass sound with excellent quality, since segments formed as bass plates having marginal edges, which are only approximately 2.30 m long, can radiate frequencies close to the audible limit with considerable sound pressure.
According to one embodiment, the respective segments of an acoustic wall are coupled to one another at their respective marginal edges with coupling elements. The different segments of a acoustic wall can then operate as so-called range radiators optimized for a limited frequency range. In addition, different segments may be connected with one another, with connecting elements installed at specified locations. The connecting elements provide or operate as a mechanical filter, so that the mutual interaction between these segments enhances the effect of individual segments.
According to another embodiment, a coupled connection between the segments can be easily provided when the segments consist of a core layer and at least one cover layer. In this case, the respective connection between the segments can be provided by the cover layer(s) and/or the core layer, in that the respective cover layer and/or the core layer also bridges the marginal gaps between adjacent segments. The core layer may advantageously be used to connect with one another a plurality of segments by segmenting the respective core layer through respective milled recesses, wherein the regions of the core layer weakened by the milled recesses can be used as coupling connections.
According to another embodiment, the segments and the sound radiating segments, respectively, integrated in the acoustic wall do not necessarily have to occupy the same area in the sound reproduction plane of the acoustic wall. Through a suitably selected shape and association of the segments, the respective acoustic wall can be designed to reproduce the sound quite flexibly.
Placing those segments which are optimized for reproducing low frequencies, mainly in the center region of the acoustic wall significantly improves the bass reproduction, since the segments and portions of the acoustic wall abutting the segments provided for bass reproduction can in the present configuration also be used to reduce the dipole short circuit.
According to yet another embodiment, the sound reproduction can be further optimized by making the sound reproduction segments of the acoustic wall which are designed to optimally reproduce a predetermined frequency range, of different depth perpendicular to the reproduction plane. It has been experimentally observed that the bass reproduction is of particularly high quality when the respective bass segment has a depth which is comparably smaller than the depth of the mid-tone and high-tone segments.
According to still another embodiment, the respective sound radiating segment is provided with at least one recess which in certain areas reduces the thickness of the core layer perpendicular to its surface normal. With this arrangement, the low-frequency resonances of the sound radiating segment are split into a plurality of weaker, mutually detuned resonances, thereby increasing the density of the natural frequencies and the resonances. It should also be mentioned these recesses can be used with an acoustic wall having several sound radiating segments as well as with individually placed sound radiating segments.
By having the sound reproduction planes of the acoustic walls of the invention which form substantially flat or slightly curved surfaces, face the audience, the shape of these surfaces can be selected to provide support for advertising material, such as lettering or prints.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the claims.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3696885 (1972-10-01), Grieg et al.
patent: 4778027 (1988-10-01), Taylor
patent: 4928312 (1990-05-01), Hill
patent: 5693917 (1997-12-01), Bertagni et al.
patent: 197 57 097 A1 (1997-12-01), None
patent: 95301127 (1995-01-01), None
patent: 95304427 (1995-06-01), None

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