Architectural sound enhancement with pre-filtered masking sound
First Claim
1. A method of producing masking sound within a space for masking distracting noise and providing enhanced speech privacy within the space, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing at least one transducer arranged to project sound directly into the space;
(b) determining a desired spectrum for masking sound to be produced within the space;
(c) producing a first noise signal;
(d) subjecting the first noise signal to a pre-filter having substantially the same spectrum as the desired spectrum determined in step (b) to produce a first masking signal;
(e) amplifying the first masking signal; and
(f) driving the at least one transducer with the amplified first masking signal to produce within the space a first masking sound having substantially the desired spectrum determined in step (b).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A unique, fully integrated, fully programmable, and highly flexible sound distribution system and methodology for providing masking sound, background music, and paging capabilities in up to eight zones of a building or space is provided. The methodology embodied in the system includes internal masking sounds that are uniquely pre-filtered to provide efficient and effective masking of distracting sounds within selectable zones of the space with a minimum masking sound dB sound level and with a pleasant sounding and non-annoying masking sound. The system also incorporates the capacity to be controlled from a remote or local telephone to adjust the volume level in any zone serviced by the system by issuing appropriate DTMF codes from the telephone'"'"'s keypad. Unique bi-tone diagnostic functions are provided for assuring that the entire system is correctly wired and installed and for troubleshooting operational anomalies. ⅓ octave equalization is provided to compensate for known frequency response characteristics of the flat panel radiators of the system and to compensate for varying room acoustics to provide a low special variation of sound among the various zones of the space. The result is a high quality high fidelity sound that is consistent from zone to zone.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of producing masking sound within a space for masking distracting noise and providing enhanced speech privacy within the space, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing at least one transducer arranged to project sound directly into the space;
(b) determining a desired spectrum for masking sound to be produced within the space;
(c) producing a first noise signal;
(d) subjecting the first noise signal to a pre-filter having substantially the same spectrum as the desired spectrum determined in step (b) to produce a first masking signal;
(e) amplifying the first masking signal; and
(f) driving the at least one transducer with the amplified first masking signal to produce within the space a first masking sound having substantially the desired spectrum determined in step (b). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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- 4. The method of 1 and wherein the at least one transducer is a flat panel sound radiator.
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18. A method of generating a masking signal to be amplified and reproducing in a space to mask distracting sounds and enhance speech privacy within the space, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a noise signal; and
(b) pre-filtering the source noise with a pre-filter having a substantially constant negative dB slope within a predetermined frequency range to produce the masking signal. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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- 26. In a masking sound system wherein masking signals are amplified and reproduced within a space through flat panel radiators mounted within the suspended ceiling system of the space, a method of improving the efficiency of the system for masking distracting sounds and enhancing speech privacy while reducing the annoying characteristics of the masking sound within the space, the method comprising subjecting the masking signals to a pre-filter having a substantially constant negative dB slope within a frequency range substantially corresponding to the frequency range of human speech.
- 29. A method of producing masking sound in a space having a predetermined desired spectrum effective for masking distracting noises and enhancing speech privacy within the space, said method comprising the steps of mounting an audio transducer to project sound directly into the space, generating a masking signal with a spectrum substantially the same as the predetermined desired spectrum, amplifying the masking signal, and driving the audio transducer with the amplified masking signal to produce masking sound having the predetermined desired spectrum.
Specification