ACOUSTIC WALL ASSEMBLY HAVING DOUBLE-WALL CONFIGURATION AND ACTIVE NOISE-DISRUPTIVE PROPERTIES, AND/OR METHOD OF MAKING AND/OR USING THE SAME
First Claim
1. An acoustic wall assembly, comprising:
- inner and outer walls that are substantially parallel to one another, a gap being defined therebetween;
an air pump; and
a sound masking circuit configured to;
detect sound waves in a predetermined frequency range, andresponsive to detection of sound waves in the predetermined frequency range, control the air pump to pump air in the gap to actively mask the detected sound waves as they pass from outside of the outer wall to inside the inner wall.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Certain example embodiments relate to an acoustic wall assembly that uses active and/or passive sound reverberation to achieve noise-disruptive functionality, and/or a method of making and/or using the same. With the active approach, sound waves in a given frequency range are detected by a sound masking circuit. Responsive to detection of such sound waves, an air pump (e.g., speaker) is used to pump air in the wall assembly to actively mask the detected sound waves via reverberation and/or the like. The wall assembly may include one, two, or more walls, and the walls may be partial or full walls. With the passive approach, sound waves in a given frequency range are disrupted via features (e.g., holes, slits, etc.) formed in and/or on a wall itself. These techniques may be used together or separately, in different example embodiments.
9 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An acoustic wall assembly, comprising:
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inner and outer walls that are substantially parallel to one another, a gap being defined therebetween; an air pump; and a sound masking circuit configured to; detect sound waves in a predetermined frequency range, and responsive to detection of sound waves in the predetermined frequency range, control the air pump to pump air in the gap to actively mask the detected sound waves as they pass from outside of the outer wall to inside the inner wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An acoustic wall assembly, comprising:
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inner and outer walls that are substantially parallel to one another, a gap being defined therebetween; a receiver sensitive to sound; a pump controllable to generate pressure waves in the gap; and a control circuit operably coupled to the receiver and the pump, the control circuit being configured to process a signal received from the receiver and control the pump to selectively generate pressure waves in the gap to disrupt, via a reverberative effect, noise in a predetermined frequency range that otherwise would pass through the acoustic wall assembly. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A kit for retrofitting a wall to provide an acoustic wall assembly with noise masking properties, the wall comprising inner and outer upright members, the kit comprising:
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a receiver sensitive to sound; a pump controllable to generate pressure waves between the inner and outer upright members; and a control circuit operably connectable to the receiver and the pump, the control circuit being configured to process a signal received from the receiver and control the pump to selectively generate pressure waves between the inner and outer upright members to disrupt, via a reverberative effect, noise in a predetermined frequency range that otherwise would pass through the wall.
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20. A method of disrupting noise, comprising:
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having a wall including inner and outer upright members; detecting, via a sound masking circuit, sound waves in a predetermined frequency range, and responsive to detection of sound waves in the predetermined frequency range, controlling via the sound masking circuit an air pump to pump air between the inner and outer upright members to actively mask the detected sound waves as they pass from outside the outer upright member of the wall to inside the inner upright member of the wall. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of making a sound-masking wall assembly, the method comprising:
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having a wall including inner and outer upright members; providing a receiver sensitive to sound; providing a pump controllable to generate pressure waves between the inner and outer upright members; and operably coupling a control circuit to the receiver and the pump, the control circuit being configured to process a signal received from the receiver and control the pump to selectively generate pressure waves between the inner and outer upright members to disrupt, via a reverberative effect, noise in a predetermined frequency range that otherwise would pass through the wall.
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Specification