Partition system for open plan office spaces
First Claim
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1. A partition system for open plan office spaces, said system comprising:
- a plurality of vertical partition panel segments, said panel segments each including at least one speaker mounting aperture adjacent floor level;
in each of said apertures, a loudspeaker assembly providing essentially similar front and back acoustic radiation characteristics, said loudspeaker assembly being aimed horizontally along the floor, whereby the ears of a person walking toward the respective panel segment move progressively off axis as the speaker assembly is approached;
signal source means for generating a plurality of separate broadband noise signals, each signal having a spectral content compensated for the frequency response characteristic of the loudspeaker assemblies to produce, in the office space adjacent the respective panel, an acoustic spectrum for speech privacy masking, the separate signals within said plurality being incoherently related as to significant frequencies within the masking spectrum; and
means for applying each of said signals to energize a respective speaker assembly radiating into each space enclosed by said panels, so that a plurality of different signals are radiated into each such space, whereby an essentially uniformly distributed masking field is created in each such space which minimizes perceptible acoustic patterns in said field that cause the positions of said loudspeaker assemblies to be apparent.
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Abstract
The partition system disclosed herein incorporates apparatus for generating a speech masking acoustic field. Respective speakers are mounted near the bottom of each of a plurality of partition panel segments defining each work space and are aimed horizontally. These speakers are driven by respective signals which are subjectively incoherent as to frequencies of interest in the masking spectrum, thereby to provide a sound field without perceptible discontinuities.
63 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A partition system for open plan office spaces, said system comprising:
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a plurality of vertical partition panel segments, said panel segments each including at least one speaker mounting aperture adjacent floor level; in each of said apertures, a loudspeaker assembly providing essentially similar front and back acoustic radiation characteristics, said loudspeaker assembly being aimed horizontally along the floor, whereby the ears of a person walking toward the respective panel segment move progressively off axis as the speaker assembly is approached;
signal source means for generating a plurality of separate broadband noise signals, each signal having a spectral content compensated for the frequency response characteristic of the loudspeaker assemblies to produce, in the office space adjacent the respective panel, an acoustic spectrum for speech privacy masking, the separate signals within said plurality being incoherently related as to significant frequencies within the masking spectrum; and
means for applying each of said signals to energize a respective speaker assembly radiating into each space enclosed by said panels, so that a plurality of different signals are radiated into each such space, whereby an essentially uniformly distributed masking field is created in each such space which minimizes perceptible acoustic patterns in said field that cause the positions of said loudspeaker assemblies to be apparent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A partition system for open plan office spaces, said system comprising:
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a plurality of vertical partition panel segments, each segment comprising a flat central core constructed of a hard dense material and faced on each side with a porous sound absorbing material, a plurality of said panel segments including at least one speaker mounting aperture adjacent floor level; mounted in each of said apertures, a loudspeaker assembly providing essentially similar front and back acoustic radiation charactertistics, said loudspeaker assembly being aimed horizontally along the floor; signal source means for generating at least three separate broadband noise signals, each signal having a spectral content compensated for the frequency response characteristic of the loudspeaker assemblies to produce, in the office space adjacent the respective panel, an acoustic spectrum for speech privacy masking, said separate signals being incoherently related as to significant frequencies within the masking spectrum; and means for applying each of said signals to energize a respective speaker assembly radiating into each space enclosed by said panels, so that a plurality of different signals are radiated into each such space, whereby an essentially uniformly distributed masking field is created in each such space which minimizes perceptible acoustic patterns in said field that cause the positions of said loudspeaker assemblies to be apparent. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A partition system for open plan office spaces, said system comprising:
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a plurality of vertical partition panel segments, said panel segments each including at least one speaker mounting aperture centered in the order of seven inches above floor level;
mounted in each of said apertures, a loudspeaker assembly providing essentially similar front and back acoustic radiation characteristics, said loudspeaker assembly being aimed horizontally along the floor;a pseudo-random number source means for generating at least three separate broadband noise source signals, the different signals being incoherently related as to significant frequencies within the masking spectrum; for each of said source signals, a respective filter for adjusting the spectral content of the signal in accordance with the frequency response characteristics of the loudspeaker assemblies to produce, in the office space adjacent the respective panel, an acoustic spectrum for speech privacy masking; and means for applying each of the filtered signals to energize a respective speaker assembly radiating into each space enclosed by said panels, so that a plurality of different signals are radiated into each such space, whereby an essentially uniformly distributed masking field is created in each space which minimizes perceptible acoustic patterns in said field that cause the positions of said loudspeaker assemblies to be apparent.
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10. A partition system for open plan office spaces, said system comprising:
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a plurality of vertical partition panel segments, each segment comprising a flat central core constructed of a hard dense material and faced on each side with a porous sound absorbing material, a plurality of said panel segments including at least one speaker mounting aperture adjacent floor level; mounted in each of said apertures, a loudspeaker assembly providing essentially similar front and back acoustic radiation characteristics, said loudspeaker assembly being aimed horizontally along the floor; a pseudo-random number generator including a clocked shift register having a multiplicity of stages and feedback derived from at least a pair of said stages; a plurality of gate means, each operative to combine a respective pair of signals obtained from different stages of said shift register thereby to generate at least three separate broadband noise signals, said broadband noise signals being incoherently related as to significant frequencies within the masking spectrum; for each of said broadband noise signals, a respective filter for adjusting the spectrum in accordance with the frequency response characteristic of the loudspeaker assemblies to produce, in the office space adjacent the respective panel, an acoustic spectrum for speech privacy masking; and means for applying each of said signals to energize a respective speaker assembly radiating into each space enclosed by said panels, so that a plurality of different signals are radiated into each such space, whereby an essentially uniformly distributed masking field is created in each such space which minimizes perceptible acoustic patterns in said field that cause the positions of said loudspeaker assemblies to be apparent.
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Specification