Patent Publication Number: US-7721498-B2

Title: Floor system

Description:
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0086185 filed on Sep. 15, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates to a floor system, and more particularly, to a floor system for efficiently absorbing an impact applied to a floor. 
   BACKGROUND ART 
   Generally, houses provide an environment appropriate for human life, to serve as dwelling units for human beings. For this, the houses are provided with cooling/heating systems. A representative form of a dwelling in modern society is an apartment complex. 
   The apartment complex has a multi-floor structure in which a plurality of dwelling units are stacked in a vertical direction from the ground surface. Due to the particularity in that neighboring dwelling units jointly own floors and walls dividing them, the apartment complex has a necessity for a sound-insulating system capable of preventing transmission of noise between the dwelling sites, in addition to having cooling/heating systems. 
   A floor heating system should be designed to achieve a rapid room heating with low fuel costs and to have a high heat accumulation capacity for maintaining a heated state for a long time without addition of fuel. 
   The floor heating system is generally constructed by a wet construction method in which a heat radiator is directly buried in concrete slabs by use of a mortar and a dry construction method in which a heat-insulating material is disposed on concrete slabs and in turn, a heat radiator is mounted in the heat-insulating material. 
   Floor systems having the above heating system may take the form of a conventional floor system in which the heating system is directly constructed in concrete slabs, or a floating floor system in which the heating system is spaced apart upward from concrete slabs. The floating floor system is also called a double floor structure. 
   Giving a definition of a floor impact sound in association with the apartment complex, it is a noise being transmitted through floors between dwelling units. The floor impact sound has to be reduced as much as possible, and it has been found that the floating floor system is more advantageous to reduce the floor impact sound than the conventional floor system. 
   In general, an impact sound generated in a floor passes through a sound-insulating sheet prior to being transmitted to floor slabs. The sound-insulating sheet serves to absorb the impact sound, thereby enabling the insulation of noise. However, conventional sound-insulating sheets have a limit to insulate noise because they should be manufactured in consideration of heating effect in addition to sound insulation effect. 
   Specifically, increasing the weight of the sound-insulating sheet is advantageous to improve sound insulation effect, but may cause problems of excessively increasing heat-insulation and heating costs. On the other hand, reducing the weight of the sound-insulating sheet is suitable to improve heat insulation effect, but has a problem of deterioration in sound insulation effect. 
   Further, in the case where the sound-insulating sheet is configured to have a relatively thick thickness for the sake of improving sound insulation effect, there is the risk of rolling of the floor by walking load because of characteristics of the sound-insulating sheet that is made of a flexible material for the absorption of an impact. 
   Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2004-0071641 discloses a sound-insulating type double floor structure comprising: a plurality of floor supporting panels installed above a base floor at a predetermined height level by use of a group of supporting legs installed through elastic prop members; and a finishing material formed on the supporting panels. The disclosed conventional double floor structure has a feature in that a hardboard or high-density fiberboard having a bending strength of 35˜50 (N/mm 2 ), bending young&#39;s modulus of 4000˜5000 (N/mm 2 ) and density of 0.8˜1.2 (g/cm 3 ) is installed between the floor supporting panels and the finishing material. However, it will be appreciated that the conventional double floor structure has no relation with the present invention dealing with a plurality of impact-absorbing materials having different densities from each other. 
   DISCLOSURE 
   Technical Problem 
   Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a floor system for achieving a remarkable reduction in the transmission of an impact noise between floors of a building. 
   Technical Solution 
   In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a floor system comprising: a first impact-absorbing material; and a second impact-absorbing material installed at an upper side of the first impact-absorbing material and having a higher density than that of the first impact-absorbing material. 
   It is preferable that the density of the second impact-absorbing material be higher than that of the first impact-absorbing material. The greater a density difference between the first and second impact-absorbing materials, the greater the improvement in sound insulation effect of the first and second impact-absorbing materials. However, in consideration of economic efficiency, preferably, the density difference between the first and second impact-absorbing materials may be in a range of 0.5˜1.95 g/cm 3 . As the density difference between the first and second impact-absorbing materials increase, so does the sound-insulation effect increase proportionally. As a result of an experiment performed under the assumption that the density difference is approximately 1.0 g/cm 3 ±0.2 the first and second impact-absorbing materials showed an improvement in the insulation of heavy sound impacts up to the maximum 3 dB as compared to a conventional single impact-absorbing material. 
   Preferably, the first impact-absorbing material may have a density in a range of 0.05˜0.5 g/cm 3 . The first impact-absorbing material has to be basically made of a sound-insulating material. As known, a material having an excessively high specific gravity has less impact-absorbing effect and thus, may cause an increase in the transmission of an impact sound. On the other hand, a material having an excessively low specific gravity tends to be compressed by daily life load and thus, similarly may cause an increase in the transmission of an impact sound. In the present invention, the density of the first impact-absorbing material is determined in a range of 0.05˜0.5 g/cm 3  suitable for improving the floor sound insulation effect. 
   Preferably, the second impact-absorbing material may have a density in a range of 0.8˜2.0 g/cm 3  although it is preferable that the density of the second impact-absorbing material is as great as possible. The second impact-absorbing material having a high density can propagate a given impact in a plane direction, thereby preventing the transmission of an impact sound from upstairs to downstairs. Accordingly, it is important for the second impact-absorbing material to have a plate shape having a density in a range of 0.8˜2.0 g/cm 3 , so as to guarantee stability for daily life load. 
   Preferably, the first impact-absorbing material may be made of foamed plastic, rubber, inorganic material or wood material, and the second impact-absorbing material may be made of wood material or inorganic material having a higher density than that of the first impact-absorbing material. 
   Preferably, the first impact-absorbing material may have a thickness in a range of 20˜30 mm, and the second impact-absorbing material may be 10 mm±5 in consideration of economic efficiency although it is preferable that the thickness of the second impact-absorbing material is as great as possible so long as it is smaller than that of the first impact-absorbing material. 
   Preferably, the second impact-absorbing material may be divided into a plurality of impact-absorbing materials members arranged parallel to one another in longitudinal and transverse directions, and the neighboring members of the second impact-absorbing material may be connected to one another by using clamps. 
   Preferably, the first impact-absorbing material may be installed on a floor slab and may have protrusions extending toward the floor slab. 
   Preferably, the floor system may have a lamination structure of the first impact-absorbing material, the second impact-absorbing material, a heat insulating material, a radiator and a finishing material, which are laminated in this order from the floor slab. 
   Preferably, the radiator may have a pipe shape or may be plate-shaped panels having inner flow paths. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a sectional view illustrating a floor system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view illustrating an impact-absorbing material according to the embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view illustrating a floor system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS TO IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE DRAWINGS 
   
     
       
         
             
             
           
             
                 
             
           
          
             
                10: finishing material 
                13: clamp 
             
             
                30: heat-insulating material 
                31: floor slab 
             
             
                32: circular groove 
                40: pipe 
             
             
                41: inner space 
                51: second impact-absorbing material 
             
             
                60: flooring 
                71: first impact-absorbing material 
             
             
                71a: protrusion 
               130: heat-insulating material 
             
             
               132: panel receiving groove 
               140: plate-shaped panel 
             
             
               141: flow path 
               142: groove 
             
             
                 
             
          
         
       
     
   
   BEST MODE 
   Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings for an easy understanding of those skilled in the art. It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the following description of the preferred embodiments, and a variety of modifications thereof are possible. 
     FIG. 1  is a sectional view illustrating a floor system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 2  is a plan view illustrating an impact-absorbing material according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the floor system according to the first embodiment comprises a first impact-absorbing material  71 , a second impact-absorbing material  51 , a heat-insulating material  30 , a radiator  40  and a finishing material  10 . 
   The first impact-absorbing material  71  is installed on a floor slab  31  and adapted to prevent an upstairs impact sound from being transmitted downstairs. Considering an apartment complex, the floor slab  31  is not only the floor of upstairs, but also the ceiling of downstairs. Accordingly, the floor slab  31  serves as a partition between floors of the apartment complex. 
   The first impact-absorbing material  71  is used to insulate an impact noise so as not to be emitted to adjacent dwelling units. That is, to prevent the transmission of the impact to the floor slab  31 , the first impact-absorbing material  71  may be made of a foamed vinyl-based flooring material or other flexible floor finishing materials such as rubber. Also, the first impact-absorbing material  71  may take the form of an inorganic board, such as a cement board, or a wood board. 
   The first impact-absorbing material  71  is formed on the floor slab  31  over the entire area of the floor slab  31  to have a thickness w 2 . The greater the thickness w 2  of the first impact-absorbing material  71 , the greater the vibration proof performance that the first impact-absorbing material  71  can achieve. However, an excessively thick thickness of the first impact-absorbing material  71  may cause the rolling of the floor by walking load, and therefore, it is preferable to manufacture the first impact-absorbing material  71  within a prescribed thickness range. A preferable thickness of the first impact-absorbing material  71  is in a range of 20˜30 mm. 
   When classifying floor impact sounds into light impact sounds and heavy impact sounds, the first impact-absorbing material  71  is more efficient to prevent the transmission of light impact sounds because the first impact-absorbing material  71  has a lower density than that of the second impact-absorbing material  51 . In accordance with a physical theory, a higher density material more efficiently absorbs heavy impact sounds than a lower density material. 
   The first impact-absorbing material  71  may have a plurality of protrusions  71   a  to more efficiently prevent the transmission of an impact sound to the floor slab  31 . The protrusions  71   a  may be formed by vertically protruding certain portions of the first impact-absorbing material  71  downward toward the floor slab  31 , or may be formed separately from the first impact-absorbing material  71 . 
   The protrusions  71  a space the first impact-absorbing material  71  apart from the floor slab  31  to prevent the first impact-absorbing material  71  from coming into contact with the floor slab  31 , thereby preventing the transmission of an impact sound to the floor slab  31 . 
   The second impact-absorbing material  51  is formed on the first impact-absorbing material  71  over the entire area of the first impact-absorbing material  71  to have a thickness w 1 . It is generally better to increase the thickness w 1  of the second impact-absorbing material  51  so long as it is smaller than that of the first impact-absorbing material  71 . Accordingly, in consideration of economic efficiency, the thickness w 1  of the second impact-absorbing material  51  is preferably 10±5 mm. 
   The second impact-absorbing material  51  has a higher density than that of the first impact-absorbing material  71  and is adapted to absorb an impact sound by propagating an impact in a plane direction (designated by the arrows of  FIG. 1 ). 
   Although it is general that an impact is transmitted in a direction perpendicular to the floor slab  31 , causing the transmission of an impact sound downstairs, the second impact-absorbing material  51  acts to propagate the impact in a horizontal plane direction (designated by the arrows of  FIG. 1 ) rather than a vertical direction, thereby being capable of preventing propagation of the impact sound downstairs. 
   Preferably, the second impact-absorbing material  51  has a higher density than that of the finishing material  10  that is located above the second impact-absorbing material  51 . 
   Generally, the finishing material  10  is made of a flexible material, such as mortar and is thin for the purpose of improving a waterproof performance thereof. For this reason, the finishing material  10  has no function of absorbing an impact, and an impact applied to the finishing material  10  is wholly transmitted to the second impact-absorbing material  51  in a direction perpendicular to the floor slab  31 . The impact transmitted to the second impact-absorbing material  51  is dissipated while being propagated in a plane direction. In this case, the density of the second impact-absorbing material  51  has to be higher than that of the finishing material  10 , in order to appropriately propagate the impact in a plane direction. 
   The second impact-absorbing material  51  may take the form of an inorganic board, such as a high-density cement board, or a wood board. 
   Comparing a cement board with a wood board, the cement board is superior to the wood board in view of a heat-insulation performance, whereas the wood board is superior to the cement board in view of a weight reduction. Also, the inorganic board is superior to the wood board in view of a sound-insulation performance. 
   The second impact-absorbing material  51  may be constituted by a plurality of members connected to one another. In the present embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , a plurality of second impact-absorbing material members are continuously arranged in longitudinal and transverse directions parallel to one another. The plurality of second impact-absorbing material members are arranged adjacent to one another and connected by use of clamps  13 . 
   The second impact-absorbing material  51  having the above described configuration is covered, throughout an upper surface thereof, with the heat insulating material  30  and the radiator  40  including pipes is provided thereon. 
   The heat insulating material  30  serves to prevent unnecessary consumption of heat generated from the pipes  40 . The pipes  40 , as an example, are XL pipes and serve to emit heat by circulating high-temperature heating water along an inner space  41  of the pipes  40 . The pipes  40  are located in an upper portion of the heat insulating material  30  and adapted to emit the majority of heat generated therefrom in a direction opposite to the heat-insulating material  30 . 
   The pipes  40  may be installed on the floor slab  31  in a wet construction or dry construction method. In the case of the wet construction method, the heat-insulating material  30  may be made of a light-weight air-bubble concrete or mortar suitable for encasing the radiator  40 . In the case of the dry construction method, the heat-insulating material  30  may be configured to allow the radiator  40  to be assembled thereto. 
   After the pipes  40  are assembled to the heat-insulating material  30 , the finishing material  10  is formed over the pipes  40  and heat-insulating material  30 . As stated above, the finishing material  10  may be made of a material having a high waterproof performance, such as mortar, and may have the same composition as that of the second impact-absorbing material  51 . 
   A flooring  60  is spread on the finishing material  10  to form a floor surface of a room. Human activities are performed on the flooring  60 . 
   Hereinafter, another floor system that slightly differs from that of the above described first embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a sectional view illustrating the alternative floor system according to the second embodiment. 
   Comparing the second embodiment with the first embodiment with reference to the drawings, it can be understood that the first and second embodiments have a difference in the configuration of the radiator. The radiator of the first embodiment includes the pipes  40 , whereas the second embodiment employs plate-shaped panels  140  as the radiator. 
   Accordingly, in the second embodiment, a heat-insulating material  130  is formed with a panel receiving groove  132  having a broad width corresponding to the plate-shaped panels  140 . In the above described first embodiment, the heat-insulating material  30  is formed with a circular groove  32  corresponding to the pipes  40 . 
   Each of the plate-shaped panels  140  has a plurality of inner flow paths  141  formed therein for the circulation of heating water. Therefore, on the basis of the connecting structure of the flow paths  141 , the entire length of the plate-shaped panels  140  can be reduced as compared to the pipes  40  having the single heating water circulating passage  41 . This has the effect of reducing operational load of a heating water circulating pump (not shown). 
   Further, the plate-shaped panels  140  emit heat over an area corresponding to a broad plate shape, and therefore, can realize a heating operation with a more uniform temperature distribution than the pipe-shaped radiator  40 . The inner flow paths  41  of the panels  140  may be connected to one another by use of separate connectors (not shown). 
   The plate-shaped panels  140  are formed at a surface thereof with grooves  142 . In a state wherein the plate-shaped panels  140  are installed in the heat-insulating material  130 , the plate-shaped panels  140  serve to increase a stationary frictional force with the panel receiving grooves  132  of the heat-insulating material  130  that is affected by the weight of the panels  140 . 
   Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. 
   Example 
   The floor system as shown in  FIG. 1  was prepared. The finishing material  10  was made of an inorganic material having a specific gravity of 1.0 to have a thickness of 10 mm. The heating pipes  40  were cross-linked polyethylene pipes having an outer diameter of 20 mm. The heat-insulating material  30  was made of EPS having a specific gravity of 0.3 and a thickness of 25 mm. The second impact-absorbing material  51  was formed of an inorganic board having a specific gravity of 1.4 and a thickness of 10 mm. The first impact-absorbing material  71  was formed of rubber having a specific gravity of 0.4 and a thickness of 25 mm. As a result of measuring a soundproof performance of the floor system, the floor system showed an improvement of approximately 3 dB as compared to conventional floor systems using a single impact-absorbing material. 
   INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
   As apparent from the above description, the present invention has the effect of efficiently preventing the transmission of an impact sound between floors of an apartment complex. 
   According to the present invention, first and second impact-absorbing materials having different densities from each other are provided between floor slabs and a finishing material. Therefore, if an impact is generated in a floor, it can be primarily dissipated while being propagated in a plane direction in the second impact-absorbing material, and a light impact sound caused by any residual impact also can be completely removed by the first impact-absorbing material having a lower density than that of the second impact-absorbing material. 
   Further, according to the present invention, the second impact-absorbing material of the present invention has a higher density than that of the finishing material. Therefore, even if an impact applied to the finishing material is wholly transmitted to the second impact-absorbing material without any reduction, the second impact-absorbing material can remove the impact by propagating the impact sound in a plane direction thereof, thereby preventing transmission of the impact downstairs. 
   Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.