Patent Publication Number: US-7721847-B2

Title: Acoustic panel

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   Panels are typically installed over the ceilings and walls of rooms to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Panel materials for such a finished appearance, e.g., wood or metal, do not typically improve room acoustics because the materials are substantially non-sound-absorbing. Such panels have been made more acoustically transparent or sound absorbing by providing holes through the panels, e.g., by providing edge-to-edge grooves on both faces of the panel, thus creating holes at the intersections of the grooves. Another method has been to bore holes through the panels or to bore holes on one face and provide edge-to-edge grooves on the opposite face. When such panels are installed, the back face of the panel is covered edge-to-edge by an expanse of an acoustically absorptive material. 
   SUMMARY 
   An acoustic panel according to the present disclosure may include a plurality of grooves in the front face and one or more wells formed in the back face. The well typically is defined by a first end wall and an opposing second end wall and opposing side walls extending between the end walls. The well extends across several of the grooves, creating holes through the board at areas of intersection with the plural grooves. The well typically has a flat bottom and substantially vertical walls to receive and hold a piece of acoustic fill material, such as fiberglass, cotton absorptive material, knitted absorptive cord, or non-woven acoustic scrim. 
   Generally, the grooves extend substantially from one edge to an opposing edge of the panel. The well typically does not extend all the way to an edge of the panel, but rather the end walls of the well are adjacent to, but spaced from, the edges of the panel. The well may be substantially elongate and may extend substantially perpendicularly with respect to the grooves in the front face. The acoustic fill material may be fitted to be compressed between the walls of the well. Mounting hardware may be positioned on the side edges of the panel for attaching the panel to a wall or ceiling mount. The mounting hardware and wells may be placed so that the wells do not detract from the structural strength of the panel adjacent the mounting hardware. 
   The acoustic panel may be produced by cutting the grooves in the front face with a saw, e.g., with a circular saw blade forming the grooves as the kerfs of the cutting. Elongate wells may be produced by cutting with a router, typically in a direction substantially perpendicular to the grooves. Then, an acoustic fill material may be inserted in the well to be held there by frictional force between the fill material and the walls of the well and/or expansive forces if the fill material has been compressed as part of the inserting. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a finished front face with a plurality of parallel grooves, each groove extending from an end edge to an opposite end edge of the panel, the plural grooves spaced apart at regular intervals across the panel from adjacent one side edge to adjacent an opposite side edge. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic plan view of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the front face and grooves. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the back face with a plurality of parallel, elongate, racetrack-shaped wells, each well having a flat bottom and vertical, curved end walls and vertical, straight side walls and extending from adjacent a side edge to adjacent an opposite side edge of the panel, the plural wells spaced apart at regular intervals along the panel from adjacent one end edge to adjacent an opposite end edge, and also showing the grooves at areas of intersections between the grooves and the wells where holes through the panel are formed. 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic plan view of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the back face, wells, and through-holes. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the end edge of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the cross-sectional shape of the grooves, and also a tongue and groove along the side edges of the panel, for mating between panels during installation. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, showing grooves along both side edges of the panel for mounting clips. 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic view of an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a stepped wall for the well. 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic view of an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a slanted wall for the well. 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the back face with an acoustic fill material inserted in three of the wells. 
       FIG. 10  is a schematic view of the panel of  FIG. 1 , showing the back face with an acoustic fill material shown as inserted in half of the wells. 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, showing the back face with a serpentine, stepped-walled trough providing the holes at the areas of intersections with the grooves, the trough configured to receive an acoustic fill material. 
       FIG. 12  is a schematic view of the panel of  FIG. 11 , showing the back face with the serpentine trough. 
       FIG. 13  is a schematic view of an installation of panels according to the present disclosure in a ceiling, showing T-bars held by hanging wire and clips coupling the panels to the T-bars. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an acoustic panel  20  may be formed of wood or other material suitable for a particular application. Panel  20  is shown as having a rectangular or square layout, but may be formed in any desired shape. Panel  20  includes a front face  22  and an opposite back face  24  (best seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Front face  22  may be provided with a finished appearance, e.g., by application of a wood veneer  26  ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ). Panel  20  includes two opposing side edges  28   a ,  28   b , and two opposing end edges  30   a ,  30   b . Panel  20  may be any size as appropriate for an installation, e.g., about 96 inches along the side edges and about 2 inches to about 8 inches wide (along the end edges), and ¾ inches thick. 
   Panel  20  includes one or more grooves  32  in front face  22 . For example, panel  20  is shown with twenty-four grooves, each extending from end edge  30   a  to end edge  30   b . As best seen in FIGS.  1  and  5 - 8 , grooves  32  typically are substantially parallel to one another and to the side edges and begin at the end edge and extend all the way through to the opposing end edge. Grooves  32  may be formed with a rectangular cross-section with two flat, straight, vertical side walls  34   a ,  34   b , and flat bottom  36 . 
   Grooves  32  may be provided with any dimension and cross-section as may be selected for desired acoustical properties in view of materials used for the various components of the panel, mounting considerations, and other variables. 
   Typically, grooves  32  are provided with a uniform size, shape, and spacing, but these may be varied as deemed suitable for various applications. For example, substantially all of the grooves may be about 2 mm (or about 1/16 inch) wide, about 5 to about 10 mm deep, and spaced apart at about 8 mm (or about 5/16 inch) on-center. 
   Back face  24  of panel  20  may be provided with at least one well  38  defined by a first end wall  40   a  and an opposing second end wall  40   b . Well  28  is further defined by opposing side walls  42   a ,  42   b  extending between end walls  40   a ,  40   b . Typically, end walls  40   a ,  40   b  are curved or semicircular in layout and side walls  42   a ,  42   b  are straight, and all walls are vertical, i.e., perpendicular to back face  24 , but may be provided with any suitable shape. For example, as seen in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , well  38  may be provided with a stepped wall  46 , or a slanted wall  48 , or other acoustically vented shape, i.e., a shape that expands outwardly. 
   Generally, well  38  has a dimension and cross-section selected for a desired acoustical property in coordination with the selection for the grooves. Well  38  may include a length  50  and a depth  52  sufficient to form a plurality of holes  54  through panel  20  at each of a plurality of areas of intersection  56  between well  38  and grooves  32 . For example, as seen in  FIG. 3 , each well  38  includes about twenty-two areas of intersection  56  between the well and the grooves on the opposite side, each area of intersection providing a hole  54  through panel  20 . Such holes typically are designed to allow sound waves to pass through panel  20 , and may be shaped as desired for the acoustical properties for a particular application 
   Well  38  may be provided with a substantially elongate shape, such as that shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . For example, for the 96 inch×8 inch panel above, well  38  may be about 6½ inches long (end wall  40   a  to end wall  40   b ) and about 1 inch wide (side wall  42   a  to side wall  42   b ). A plurality of wells  38  may be spaced along panel  20 , e.g., at 2 inches on-center, and may be substantially parallel to one another and to end edges  30   a ,  30   b  and substantially perpendicular to grooves  32 . 
   Alternatively, wells  38  may be laid out in any suitable shape and pattern. Typically, the shape allows for reconfiguration or re-spacing of the grooves on the front face without the need to change or re-position the well. For example, the elongate shape for the well allows grooves  32  to be positioned at any of a wide variety of spacings, e.g., 4 mm on-center, 8 mm on-center, 16 mm on-center, etc. 
   Typically end wall  40   a  of well  38  is adjacent one side edge  28   a  of panel  20  and end wall  40   b  of well  38  is adjacent side edge  28   b  of panel  20 . For example, the end walls of the well may be spaced apart from the side edges of the panel by about 10 to about 20 mm, which may be varied in accordance with the materials used for the various components of the panel, mounting considerations, and other variables. 
   Wells  38  may be provided with a substantially racetrack-type shape with curved end walls and substantially straight side walls, as described above, or with any suitable shape. Wells  38  are typically provided with a substantially flat bottom  58 . Such shape and others are suitable for receiving and holding an acoustic fill material  60 , as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . Examples of acoustic fill material include fiberglass, cotton absorptive material, knitted absorptive cord, and non-woven acoustic scrim. Typically, the acoustic fill material will be sized and shaped so as to require that it be compressed, at least slightly, between the opposing walls of the well, which, along with friction, helps to hold the fill material in place in the well. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8 , panels  20  may be provided with a tongue  62  along side edge  28   a  and a groove  64  along side edge  28   b  to help support and align the panels during installation. For example, tongue  62  of a first panel  20  would mate with groove  64  of a second panel  20  installed next to the first panel. Additionally, panels  20  may include grooves  66 , as seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , for receiving mounting clips  68  ( FIG. 13 ) and/or other mounting hardware. Such mounting hardware may be positioned on the side edges of the panel spaced apart from wells  38  so as to maintain structural integrity. 
   Panel  20  may be produced by cutting grooves  32  in the front face with a saw, e.g., a circular saw with ganged blades, or any suitable means. In the case of the circular saw, the grooves are formed as kerfs. Typically each groove is cut from one end edge to the opposing end edge and the grooves are spaced across the front face from adjacent one side edge to the opposing side edge. 
   Panel  20  may be provided with wells  38  by cutting the back face with a router, typically in a direction substantially perpendicular to the grooves. Generally, grooves  32  and wells  38  are cut to a sufficient combined depth to form plural holes  54  at plural areas of intersection  56  between the wells and the grooves. 
   Typically, the step of cutting the well begins adjacent one side edge of the panel and terminates adjacent the opposite side edge of the panel, with a sufficient space provided between the well and the side edges for desired structural strength. To form stepped wall  46  ( FIG. 7 ), the step of cutting the well may include a first routing operation to cut the upper, wider portion of the well and a second routing operation to cut the lower, narrower portion of the well. Suitable machining using, a router or other cutting tool may be used to form slanted wall  48  ( FIG. 8 ). Generally after cutting the well, acoustic fill material  60  may be inserted in the well, compressing the material as necessary to fit it within the walls of the well. 
   Alternatively, back face  24  may be provided with a trough  70  in a serpentine or other shape, as shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , which also can receive acoustic fill material  60 . 
   A ceiling installation of panels  20  is shown in  FIG. 13 , where T-bars  72  are held by hanging wire  74  attached to the ceiling, and clips  68  couple the panels to the T-bars. Panels  20  are joined at side edges  28 , e.g., by tongue-and-groove, and at end edges  30 , e.g., with a 1/16 inch reveal  76 . 
   The subject matter described herein includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. Similarly, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof. such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements. It is believed that the following claims particularly point out certain combinations and subcombinations that are directed to one of the disclosed embodiments and are novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of the present claims or presentation of new claims in this or a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to the same invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of the present disclosure.