Architectural sound enhancement system
First Claim
1. A system for producing selected sounds in a space having a suspended ceiling, a plenum above the suspended ceiling, and a hard ceiling above the plenum, said system comprising:
- at least one flat panel transducer selectively positioned in said suspended ceiling for directing sound into the space when driven by an audio signal;
an electronics module coupled to said flat panel transducer, said electronics module including a sound generator for generating audio signals and an amplifier coupled to receive audio signals produced by said sound generator, amplify the audio signals, and drive said flat panel transducer to produce sound corresponding to the audio signals; and
a system controller in said electronics module coupled to said sound generator, said system controller being configured to receive control signals wirelessly from a remote location and to cause said sound generator to generate sound signals as directed by the control signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An architectural sound enhancement system is provided for installation in a space having a suspended ceiling to provide integrated masking, background, and paging functions. The system includes an array of flat panel speaker units, a central paging transmitter, and a wireless remote control unit. The speaker units are adapted to be installed in a selected location within a suspended ceiling grid and can be moved to a new location as needed and desired. Each speaker unit is self-contained and includes, in one embodiment, an electronics module housing a system controller with radio frequency detection capability, a sound generator having a library of stored sounds, an audio effects processor including an equalizer, a sound enhancer, an audio pre-amplifier, an audio power amplifier, and a flat panel speaker. The system controller is adapted to receive control signals from the remote control unit and to control the volume and equalization of the speaker unit as well as to select sounds from the sound library for reproduction and to upload new sounds from the remote control unit to the library. Paging announcements are transmitted wirelessly from the central paging transmitter and received by selected ones of the speaker units for broadcasting a page or other audio message.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for producing selected sounds in a space having a suspended ceiling, a plenum above the suspended ceiling, and a hard ceiling above the plenum, said system comprising:
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at least one flat panel transducer selectively positioned in said suspended ceiling for directing sound into the space when driven by an audio signal;
an electronics module coupled to said flat panel transducer, said electronics module including a sound generator for generating audio signals and an amplifier coupled to receive audio signals produced by said sound generator, amplify the audio signals, and drive said flat panel transducer to produce sound corresponding to the audio signals; and
a system controller in said electronics module coupled to said sound generator, said system controller being configured to receive control signals wirelessly from a remote location and to cause said sound generator to generate sound signals as directed by the control signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for projecting sound into a space, said system comprising a plurality of audio transducers configured and positioned to direct sound into the space upon activation by an amplified audio signal, an electronics module including a sound generator and an audio amplifier associated with each of said audio transducers for generating audio signals, amplifying the audio signals, and driving the corresponding audio transducer, a system controller in each of said electronics modules for receiving control signals from a remote location and controlling the generation of audio signals by said sound generator according to said control signals, and a remoter controller for transmitting selected control signals to said system controllers to control the production of sound by each of said transducers independently of the others of said transducers.
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10. An architectural sound enhancement system comprising:
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an array of speaker units each having an audio transducer, a sound generator, an audio amplifier, and a system controller;
said system controller of each speaker unit being adapted to receive wireless control signals from a remote location and to control said sound generator according to the received control signals; and
a remote control unit for selectively transmitting wireless control signals to said system controllers of said speaker units to control the production of sound produced by said units. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for producing selected masking sounds in a space having a suspended ceiling, said system comprising:
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at least one flat panel transducer assembly selectively positioned in said suspended ceiling for directing sound into the space when driven by an audio signal;
an electronics module coupled to said flat panel transducer, said electronics module including a masking sound generator for generating masking sound audio signals and an amplifier coupled to receive the masking sound audio signals produced by said sound generator, amplify the audio signals, and drive said flat panel transducer to produce masking sounds; and
a system controller in said electronics module coupled to said sound generator, said system controller for controlling the production of masking sound audio signals by said masking sound generator. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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- 28. A flat panel speaker system for installation in a suspended ceiling grid, said flat panel speaker system comprising a flat panel transducer, a masking sound generator for generating masking sound signals, an audio amplifier for amplifying the masking sound signals and driving the transducer to produce and project masking sounds, and a controller for controlling the production of masking sound signals by said masking sound generator.
Specification