Abstract:
A pop up device for a curtain, that is compressed to be packaged in a box, and expanded out of said box.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority from provisional application number 61431782, filed Jan. 11, 2011, the entire contents of which are herewith Incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Acoustic barriers are often used for various purposes including blocking the sound from sound producing devices in a performance environment (such as on a stage). The acoustic barriers may be permanent or movable. 
         [0003]    A portable acoustic barrier can be used for various functions including for example in an orchestra to block louder players such as the drummer, to reduce the sound created by the drummer. This can be used for example in a garage for forming a portable recording studio. Portable acoustic barriers can be used for many other purposes. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The present application rates relates to a raisable and lowerable acoustic curtain. The curtain is made of acoustic attenuating material. In one embodiment, the curtain can be raised in order to create, for example, a portable sound deadening drape. 
         [0005]    According to an embodiment, the sound deadening barrier can be stored in a space reduced state inside a box. For example this may facilitate the transport of the sound deadening barrier, since a smaller box can be more easily transported than the extended device. The box can unfold to make it drape that can be raised in order to use sound deadening material in any desired location. For example, a user can open the lid, pull up the drape, and form a curtain of sound deadening drapery material. 
         [0006]    In embodiments, springs are provided to bias the unfolded sound deadening barrier towards its uppermost (deployed) position. The legs can also lock into place in the uppermost position. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    In the drawings: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows an embodiment of the sound deadening material in its fully compressed and stowed position inside a box; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a beginning portion of unfolding the sound deadening material; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a second step along the way of of unfolding the sound deadening materials; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows the sound deadening material in its fully extended portion with its legs locked; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  show respective sides of the case holding the sound deadening materials; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5C  shows a view of the inside of the box; 
           [0014]      FIGS. 6A ,  6 B,  6 C show the structure making up the box; 
           [0015]      FIGS. 7 and 8  show the cross hinges; and 
           [0016]      FIGS. 9 and 10  shows the hinged leg assembly. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates the basic device according to an embodiment. The box  100  forms a holding area for the folded acoustic curtain device  110  inside the box. The box also has a cover  120  which is hinged relative to a bottom portion of the box to open and close the box to allow the acoustic curtain therein to be folded and unfolded. 
         [0018]    The curtain itself can be formed of any acoustic deadening or attenuating material, which may be made of vinyl, cotton, wool or any other material. For example, 10 ounce or 18 ounce cotton draperies can be used. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  illustrates the device in its completely folded condition in which the drapery material is folded in a zigzag or accordion shape with each leg moving in an opposite angular direction to each adjacent leg. As explained herein, the accordion legs each pivot with respect to one another, and there are also springs (shown in detail in  FIGS. 9-10 ) that bias the legs towards their open/extended position. 
         [0020]    Each leg assembly such as  201  includes a first leg piece  240  connected to a second leg piece  242  via a hinge  244  that includes an extension spring thereon, shown in further detail in  FIG. 10 . The extension spring is biased into the open most position, that is the extension spring is under its minimum tension thereon when the legs  240 ,  242  form straight lines relative to one another, e.g., into the position shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0021]    Each interface between each two legs includes such a hinge and extension spring thereon, thus biasing the device toward its open most position. 
         [0022]    In operation, there is a pull string shown as  210  attached to the top support surface  208 . 
         [0023]    The unfolding operation starts by pulling up against the device slightly against the force of the springs. The pulling can be done by pulling on the cable  210  which pulls up the top support  208 , and releases any closing lock on the legs, if there is one. The springs, once released, assist the process of unfolding the accordion legs  200 ,  201 , and raising the curtain. 
         [0024]    Either each, or a number of , the accordion shaped legs is also connected to release string  205  which in turn connects to release pull  210 . The release pull  210  may be up 1/16 inch coated wire rope with a release cable and with a finger pull  211 . 
         [0025]    The accordion legs  200 ,  201  are spring biased into their open most position (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) by the springs, so that the springs assist the opening. The springs may be biased such that once the device is in a high enough position such as in  FIG. 2  (e.g, more than half way fully extended), it will automatically raise the rest of the way based on the spring force. 
         [0026]    The ribs  220  can be supports that support the structure of the device and also may hold the drape of material. 
         [0027]    As the device opens, it progresses to the position shown in  FIG. 3  where it is more open than the position shown in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3  shows the next step with the device open more than halfway. At this point, the accordion legs such as  240 ,  242  are biasing into their straight position. 
         [0028]    The springs are finally in their most relaxed and stable position when each of the legs  200  is in a substantially vertical position as in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  shows the drape device completely extended and locked into position by spring locks  410 ,  412 . Note that the string  205  is fully inside the unit in the  FIG. 4  position. 
         [0029]    Once the device is fully open, it is in the position shown in  FIG. 4  where it is most open, and is locked into place and there is a minimum tension on the springs. Thereafter, pulling on the pull release  211  correspondingly pulls on the strings  205 ,  402  and allows/assists in collapsing the device against the force of the springs. 
         [0030]    Release cable end  400  is pulled to pull the release parts  402 ,  404 , thereby releasing locks such as  410 ,  412 , allowing the device to be closed. In one embodiment, there are only two such locks shown as  410   412 , or there can be corresponding locks at all or some of the hinges in other embodiments. Pulling on the release string  402  releases the locks allowing closing the device against the force of the spring, and placing it back into the box. 
         [0031]    When fully extended in an embodiment, the drape can be approximately 6 feet tall. In different embodiments, there can be different heights. There can also be casters on the bottom of the device, or foldout legs that assist in the stability. 
         [0032]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  show the box itself, having recessed handles  500  both in the long and short dimensions of the box. The box also includes a custom double hinge  510  which is shown in further detail in  FIG. 5C . The custom double hinge is a 2×3 piano hinge welded together, and screwed to the box lid  550  and also to the back  555  of the box. The double hinge  610  allows the lid to fold back completely on its side when opened. When closed, the lid is in the position shown in  FIG. 5C , and when opened, the hinge can hinge in two different places, both at the hinging point  560  and also at the hinging point  570  to allow the lid to fall back on itself when open. 
         [0033]    Assembly drawings of the box parts, including sides and bottom, are as shown in  FIGS. 6A ,  6 B and  6 C. The box may be formed of a number of parts having interlocking portions so that the bottom of the box  600  shown in  FIG. 6A  has interlocking portions such as  602 . These portions may interlock with corresponding portions in the side of the box so that the portion  602  mates with the portion  604  on the box side  650  shown in  FIG. 6C . Similarly, the side portions of the box have portions such as  620  which mate with the corresponding bottom portion  622 . The box can be assembled together out of plywood, for example, and glued together in this way. 
         [0034]      FIG. 7  shows details of the connection of the hinges to the accordion legs. The accordion shaped legs are shown as  700 , and in  FIG. 7 , are shown in the upright position. The leg  700  is attached via a hinge  705  to the bottommost portion  708  of the box on a connection socket  715 . A 3/16×1×1 shim  716  may hold the hinge above the bottommost portion of the box allowing more movement of the leg. The hinged leg  700  can then therefore move up and down. Acoustic floats  710  correspond to the ribs  220  as shown in  FIG. 2 , and may have different portions of acoustic material attached to them in a way that allows the acoustic material to fold and re-extend as necessary. 
         [0035]      FIG. 7  shows the bottommost connection of the supports to the box.  FIG. 8  shows the connections of the legs at their middle portions. 
         [0036]    The float  800  has an acoustic clip  805  that clips to the acoustic material. The legs  802  may be any of the accordion shaped legs such as  200  shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . 
         [0037]    The legs  802  are formed with double hinges, including a first hinge  805  on its bottom portion and a second hinge  810  on its top portion. The hinges are attached to the legs by tamper-resistant blind rivets  811 . 
         [0038]      FIGS. 9 and 10  show alternate views of the leg assemblies. Each leg assembly such as  900  is formed from first and second leg segments  905 ,  910 . The leg segments are hinged together at the pivot  915 . Each of the legs is held by a pivot side. Springs, shown as  1000 ,  1010 , hold together the legs and bias them into the open position. 
         [0039]      FIG. 10  shows the side view of the legs, showing the hinge  915  from the side. Spring  1000  is connected by a connection bolt  1021  to the leg segment  905  at one end, and the other end  1022  is connected to the chain  1015 . Analogously, the spring  1010  is connected by a connection bolt  1026  to the leg segment  910  at one end, and the other end is connected to the other end of the chain  1015 . Thus, the extension springs connect between the pair of legs, and bias the two legs into the extended position as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 10  shows the two half legs  905 ,  910  being at 180° relative to one another. In this position, the springs  1020 ,  1025  are at their maximum relaxed position. The springs are attached to the respective attachment mechanisms with spring  1020  attached to mechanism  1021  and spring  1025  attached to mechanism  1026 . 
         [0041]    As the two leg segments  905 ,  910  move towards one another in the direction of the arrows shown in  FIG. 10 , this causes a lengthening of the distance between  1021  and  1026  and a corresponding increase in the tension on the extension springs on the leg segments. Accordingly, the leg segments are biased into the position shown in  FIG. 10 . While they can be stored in the compressed position, the springs are under maximum tension in that position. 
         [0042]    Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above, other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to be encompassed within this specification. The specification describes specific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may be accomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to be exemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification or alternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skill in the art. For example other configurations for other applications are possible. Other kinds of springs and other kinds of legs can be used. Locks can be used to hold the legs and open and/or close positions, or the force or spring force can be used. 
         [0043]    Also, the inventor intends that only those claims which use the words “means for” are intended to be interpreted under 35 USC 112, sixth paragraph. Moreover, no limitations from the specification are intended to be read into any claims, unless those limitations are expressly included in the claims. The computers described herein may be any kind of computer, either general purpose, or some specific purpose computer such as a workstation. The programs may be written in C, or Java, Brew or any other programming language. The programs may be resident on a storage medium, e.g., magnetic or optical, e.g. the computer hard drive, a removable disk or media such as a memory stick or SD media, or other removable medium. The programs may also be run over a network, for example, with a server or other machine sending signals to the local machine, which allows the local machine to carry out the operations described herein. 
         [0044]    Where a specific numerical value is mentioned herein, it should be considered that the value may be increased or decreased by 20%, while still staying within the teachings of the present application, unless some different range is specifically mentioned. Where a specified logical sense is used, the opposite logical sense is also intended to be encompassed. 
         [0045]    The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.