IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO ACOUSTIC PANELS

Field The present application relates to acoustic panels, a system comprising said acoustic panels and a method of manufacture of said acoustic panels.

Background Of The Invention

It is known to placing acoustic panels on walls or ceilings in order to eliminate echo, reverberation; and to reduce overall ambient noise in any room. Acoustic panels are typically used to adjust and improve the acoustical environment including speech intelligibility and are often used within theatres, sports halls, concert halls, offices, clean rooms, medical facilities, transport termini, industrial production facilities, retail stores, shopping centres, atria, education facilities, leisure and entertainment venues, commercial buildings and such public buildings and spaces.

Common sound problems are caused mostly by sound waves reflecting off walls. Therefore placing acoustical panels at known reflection points in a room will not only effectively reduce the sound in the room, but an appropriate number of acoustic panels will almost eliminate all echo and noise issues.

The known panels typically are decorative, impact resistant acoustic wall panels designed to absorb high levels of reflected noise and reverberation within a room to create a softer and more comfortable acoustic environment. Known acoustic panels are available as a liner panel system or as standalone panels. One type of known panel is manufactured from a sound absorbing mineral fibre board bonded to a high impact facing board and covered with a fabric having acoustic properties.

Known acoustic panels are typically generally, flat, having a major face of generally rectangular shape and 4 sides defining a rigid edging frame, at right angles to the major face. The 4 sides provide respective 4 minor faces arranged around the flat major face of the acoustic panel. Typically, known acoustic panels have the acoustic fabric wrapped around the major face and all four sides of the panel. The known acoustic panels can be installed as separate stand-alone feature panels or as an array of panels, optionally, in different colours of fabric.

All the known panels work in the same way and basically perform the same function. Currently known panels tend to differ only in the quality and nature of the fabric covering, which has no effect on the acoustic performance of the known panels and is for aesthetic purposes only.

An alternative known panel is the plywood (Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF)) acoustic panel. Acoustic adjustment is achieved by sound waves passing through an open area in the front face of the plywood acoustic panel, and the sound waves are then absorbed into the acoustic wool or cavity behind the plywood acoustic panel front face. Typically, the openings in the face of the acoustic panel are provided by a plurality of discrete holes, a plurality of discrete slots or by a series of parallel grooves that extend along the face of the panel. Various types of wood may be used in the known wooden acoustic panels.

Summary

Accordingly, a first embodiment of the application provides an acoustic panel as detailed in claim 1 . The application also provides a system and a method as detailed in the other independent claims. Advantageous

embodiments are provided in the dependent claims.

Features of the invention are described in the following statements:

1 . An acoustic panel comprising a panel, formed from a rigid material, the acoustic panel having a front face and a rear face, wherein the profile of the front face is curved outwardly such that the acoustic panel is generally arcuate in cross-sectional profile along the transverse axis of the panel. Optionally, in preferred embodiment, the arcuate profile of the front face of the acoustic panel of the present invention is formed by a minor arc. has a significant advantage over the traditionally planar, flat panels of the prior art. The acoustic panel of the present invention goes against the conventional teaching in the field which has used only planar, flat panels.

2. An acoustic panel as in statement 1 comprising a sound absorbing material provided at or in the region of a rear surface of the arcuate panel.

3. An acoustic panel as in statement 1 or statement 2 wherein the acoustic panel is substantially formed of a rigid material. 4. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 1 to 3, wherein the panel comprises a plurality of segments, each segment comprising a sheet (panel).

5. An acoustic panel as in statement 4 wherein each sheet is adapted to be connectable to an adjacent sheet.

6. An acoustic panel as in statement 5 wherein the sheets are adapted by the acoustic panel comprising connection means to connect one sheet to an adjacent sheet such that a plurality of sheets are connectable together to form the acoustic panel.

7. An acoustic panel as in statement 6 wherein the connection means are removable connection means.

8. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 5 to 7 wherein the connection means comprise any one or more of the following group: removable clip(s), connector(s) or pin(s). 9. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 2 to 8 wherein the acoustic panel comprises at least one opening in the front face of the panel, the at least one opening being adapted for diffusion of sound waves and directing the sound waves towards the sound absorbing material provided at or in the region of the rear surface of the arcuate panel.

10. An acoustic panel as in statement 8 wherein the acoustic panel comprises a plurality of openings in the front face of the panel, the plurality of openings being provided in a pre-determined pattern for diffusion of sound waves and directing the sound waves towards the sound absorbing material provided at the rear surface of the arcuate panel.

1 1 . An acoustic panel as in statement 9 wherein the plurality of openings in the front face of the panel comprises a plurality of holes.

12. An acoustic panel as in statement 1 1 wherein the plurality of openings in the front face of the panel may, in one embodiment, comprise a plurality of slots. (The plurality of slots is typically only in the MDF version of the acoustic panel of the present invention).

13. An acoustic panel as in statement 1 1 wherein the plurality of openings in the front face of the panel may, in another embodiment, comprise a plurality of grooves. (The plurality of grooves is typically only in the MDF version of the acoustic panel of the present invention).

14. An acoustic panel as in statement 13 wherein, optionally, in the MDF version of the panel of the present invention, the plurality of grooves are provided as parallel grooves longitudinally along the front face of the panel. 15. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 1 to 14 wherein, in some embodiments, preferably in the MDF version of the panel of the present invention, the panel comprises a slat absorber for absorbing sound waves thereby improving the acoustics performance of the acoustic panel.

16. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 4 to 15 wherein the slat absorber is provided by a gap formed between adjacent sheets of rigid material.

17. An acoustic panel as in any one of the preceding statements wherein the acoustic panel is formed of a wooden material. 18. An acoustic panel as in any one of claims 1 to 17 wherein the acoustic panel is formed of a polymeric material. An advantage of the acoustic panels of the present invention is that the panels can be wall mounted and/or ceiling mounted. A further advantage is that the acoustic panels of the present invention is that they can be easily removed from a wall or ceiling to allow for cleaning and also can be easily re-installed after cleaning.

19. An acoustic panel as in statement 18 wherein the polymeric material comprises a transparent polymeric material. An advantage of this embodiment is that a transparent acoustic panel is provided by the present invention such that the transparent, clear acoustic panels, can be fitted to the inner face of a window so that even the windows of a room can be acoustically treated.

In a preferred embodiment, the acoustic panel of the present comprises a housing defined by side walls and rear wall provided at the rear of the panel. The housing comprises opposing side walls a rear wall. The panel is preferably formed from a transparent polymer material so it will be transparent and therefore, can be used as an acoustic panel suitable for locating over a window or windows in a room. Therefore it is not intended to have a sound absorbing material contained behind the panel for use in this embodiment since the housing defines an enclosed space having an air pocket which functions as an acoustic chamber with the air inside the enclosed space of the housing operable as an acoustics material. The volume of the housing can be varied by varying the dimensions of the side walls to make the side walls longer for instance and thereby increase the volume of the air in the within the housing defining the acoustic chamber.

The panel in this embodiment is especially useful for applications in industries requiring use of high levels of cleanliness including use of clean rooms such as in the medical technology and electronics industries.

The panels of the present invention have a number of advantages including the ease of cleaning of the panels, in particular, the embodiments formed of polymeric material which can be steam cleaned. This is of significant advantages in areas where it is important to have high standards of cleanliness and infection control.

20. An acoustic panel as in statement 18 or 19 wherein the transparent polymeric material comprises a polycarbonate material.

21 . An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 1 to 20 wherein the polymeric material comprises a coloured polymeric material. 22. An acoustic panel as in any one of statements 1 to 18 or 19 wherein the panel is opaque and optionally, is formed of a coloured polymeric material.

23. An acoustic panel as in any one of the preceding statements wherein the panel is adapted to accommodate structures such as smoke detectors and/or lighting fixtures and/or motion detectors.

24. An acoustic panel as in any one of the preceding statements wherein the panel comprises a support frame provided at the rear of the panel. 25. In addition, the panels of the present invention can be printed on so as to be capable of hosting all form of graphical data including photographs, paintings and text. This has the advantage that the panels of the present invention can be used as a screen onto which video, data or film content can be projected.

26. Furthermore, the panels of the present invention are capable of being connected together in such a manner as to allow for a larger acoustic panel unit to be configured for a particular application where a larger acoustic panel is required as a unit.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

The present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which are shown, by way of example only, several embodiments of the acoustic panels of the present invention:

Figure 1 (a) is a front view of an acoustic panel in a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1 (b) is a plan view of the acoustic panel of Figure 1 (a) connected to a support frame and showing the side edges of the front face of the panel extending beyond the support frame provided at the rear of the panel such that there is a panel shoulder extending beyond either side of the support frame as shown in Figure 1 (b); Figure 2 (a) is a front view of an acoustic panel in a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 (b) is a side view of the acoustic panel of Figure 2 (a); Figure 2 (c) is an end view of the acoustic panel of Figure 2 (a) and 2 (b);

Figure 2 (d) is side view of the acoustic panel of Figure 2 (a);

Figure 2 (e) is a plan view of the acoustic panel of Figure 2 (a);

Figure 2 (f) is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the acoustic panel of Figure 2 (a);

Figure 3 (a) is a side view of an alternative acoustic panel according to the invention;

Figure 3 (b) is a plan view of the acoustic panel of Figure 3 (a); Figure 3 (c) is a plan view of modified version of the panel of Figures 3 (a) and (b);

Figures 4 (a) to (c) show an alternative embodiment of the acoustic panel of Figure 1 having an alternative pattern of openings in the front face of the panel, comprising a pre-determined pattern of slots instead of holes on the front face of the acoustic panel; in particular,

Figure 4 (a) is a front view of an acoustic panel in an alternative

embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 (b) is a perspective view of the acoustic panel of Figure 4 (a);

Figure 4 (c) is another perspective view of the acoustic panel of Figure 4 (a) and 4 (b);

and

Figure 5 is an alternative embodiment of an acoustic panel according to the invention in which the panel of Figures 4(a) to 4(c) is configured to comprise an acoustic chamber having an air pocket which is effective for acoustic performance ( No acoustic material/wool/ fiberglass/fiber is required) .

Detailed Description Of The Drawings

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to Figures 1 (a) and 1 (b), a first embodiment of the acoustic panel of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 (a) and 1 (b) of the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, an acoustic panel is indicated generally by reference numeral 100. The acoustic panel 100 comprises a front face 101 with a plurality of openings 120. The panel 100 comprises a plurality of segments 1 10, each connected to each other by connection means 1 15. Each segment 1 10 comprises a sheet of rigid material, optionally wood. The sheets are preferably, adapted to be connectable to an adjacent sheet. Preferably, the sheets are adapted in that the acoustic panel comprises connection means to connect one sheet to an adjacent sheet such that a plurality of sheets are connected together to form the acoustic panel 100. The panel 100 comprises a front face 101 having opposed sides 102, 104; and 103 and 105. The adjacent segments 1 10 are arranged at an angle to each other such that the front face 101 is not planar but is the plurality of adjacent segments combine to form a front face 101 which is curved outwardly such that the front face 101 has a generally arcuate profile in transverse cross section. Thus the front face 101 is generally convex due to the outwardly curved, generally arcuate profile of the panel 100. Figure 1 (b), in particular, shows the arcuate side profile of the panel 100.

The acoustic panel 100 comprises a plurality of slat absorbers 1 15 provided by the elongate longitudinal grooves 1 15 between adjacent panel segments 1 10.

The panel 100 comprises a plurality of holes 120 for diffusing sound waves to an acoustic absorber (not shown) located at the rear face of the panel 100. The panel 100 is provided with sound absorbing material (not shown) provided at the rear of the panel 100.

Referring to Figure 1 (b) which is a plan view of the acoustic panel of Figure 1 (a), the panel 100 may be connected to a support frame 150 by connection means ( not shown). The connection means may be clips, pins or other suitable connectors. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 (b), the side edges 102, 104 of the panel 100 extend beyond the support frame 150 provided at the rear of the panel 100 such that there is a shoulder member of the panel (or a wing) extending outwardly on either side of the support frame 150. Thus, in plan view, the ends 107, 109 of the edge 105 of the panel 100 are shown extending beyond the support frame 150 provided at the rear of the panel 100 and the side edges 102,104 extend beyond the support frame 150. Referring now to Figures 2 (a) to 2 (f) of the drawings, a second

embodiment of the acoustic panel of the present invention will be described. In these Figures 2 (a) to 2 (f) of the drawings, the second embodiment of an acoustic panel in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by reference numeral 200.

The acoustic panel 200 comprises a front face 201 formed from one piece, optionally, comprising a polymeric material and preferably comprising a rigid polymer, which may be polycarbonate or porous polycarbonate. The acoustic panel may be transparent, translucent or opaque. The panel 200 comprises a front face 201 having opposed sides 202, 204; and 203 and 205. As shown in Figures 2 (c) - 2(f), the acoustic panel 200 is generally arcuate in side profile, and preferably generally convex. The side profile of the acoustic panel is preferably a smooth arc as shown in the panel indicated generally by reference numeral 200' in Figure 2 (f) (Panel 200' is the same in all aspects as panel 200 except for the respective formations of the generally arcuate profile of panel 200' and panel 200). Thus, , in one embodiment, such as in panel 200, the construction may comprise a plurality of planar segments 213 as shown in panel 200 of Figure 2 (e), with the plurality of planar segments 213 being arranged to adjacent each other in a continuous pattern so as to form the overall generally arcuate profile of the panel 200 which is generally curved outwardly. Thus, the front face of the panel 200 is generally convex.

While the panels 100, 200, 200' of the present invention may be

freestanding, it is also envisaged that they will be placed against surfaces such as walls or ceilings, in order to provide the required acoustic performance within a room/building (not shown).

As described above, in one embodiment, the panel 200 comprises a frame or support 150 provided at the rear of the panel (not shown) and optionally, the front face 201 may extend beyond the frame or support so as to contact the surface to the rear of the panel 200, or the front face 201 may comprise a shoulder which extends beyond the edge of the front face 201 to contact the surface.

Referring now to Figures 3 (a) to 3 (c) of the drawings, an alternative embodiment is shown and is indicated generally by reference numeral 300. The acoustic panel 300 comprises the panel 200 of Figures 2 (a) to 2 (e) and further comprises an acoustic chamber defined by providing side walls and a back wall to the panel 200. The side walls and back wall define a housing 330 provided at the rear of panel 200. Housing 330 comprises four side walls comprising opposing side walls 336 and 335, and two other opposing side walls (not shown); and a rear wall 337. The side walls and rear wall of the acoustic panel 300 define an enclosed space 330.

Referring now to Figures 3 (c) of the drawings, an enclosed space 330 of panel 300 defines an acoustic chamber 330 at the rear of the panel 200.

The side profile of panel 300' is preferably generally arcuate and preferably comprises a smooth arcuate profile arising from the panel having been integrally formed from a polymeric material. Figure 4 (a) to (c) show an alternative embodiment of the acoustic panel of

Figure 2 with all features being the same as described in relation to panel 200, 200' but the panel of Figure 4 has a different pattern of openings 420 provided on the front face of the acoustic panel 400. The acoustic panel 400 comprises a front face 401 , preferably formed from a polymeric material and preferably, comprising a rigid polymer, which may be transparent, translucent or opaque. Preferably, the material comprises a polycarbonate material including porous polycarbonate material. The panel 400 comprises a front face 401 having opposed sides 402, 404; and 403 and 405. As shown in Figures the acoustic panel 400 is generally arcuate in side profile, and preferably, generally convex. The may be a smooth arc as shown in Figure 2 (f) but may also comprise a plurality of planar segments as shown in Figures 4 (a) to (c).

While the panels may be freestanding, it is also envisaged that they be placed against surfaces such as walls or ceilings (not shown). In one

embodiment, the panel 400 may comprise a frame or support provided at the rear of the panel (not shown) and optionally, the front face 401 may extend beyond the frame or support so as to contact the surface to the rear of the panel 400, or the front face 401 may comprise a shoulder which extends beyond the edge of the front face 401 to contact the surface.

Referring now to Figure 5 of the drawings, an alternative embodiment of acoustic panel is shown generally indicated by reference numeral 500

comprising the panel 400 and further a housing defined by side walls and rear wall provided at the rear of panel 400. The housing comprises opposing side walls 533 and 535; and opposing side walls 532 and 534 and a rear wall. The panel 500 is formed from a polymeric material; and preferably comprising a rigid polymer, which may be a polycarbonate or porous polycarbonate material.

Preferably, the panel 500 is integrally formed.

The side profile of panel 500 is arcuate and preferably comprises a smooth arcuate profile. In a most preferred embodiment, the panel 500 is formed from a transparent polymer material so it will be transparent and therefore, can be used as an acoustic panel suitable for locating over a window or windows in a room. , Therefore it is not intended to have a sound absorbing material contained behind the panel 400 or within the housing of panel 500 since the housing defines an enclosed space 530 having an air pocket which functions as an acoustic chamber with the air inside the enclosed space 530 operable as an acoustics material. The volume of the housing can be varied by varying the dimensions of the side walls to make the side walls longer for instance and thereby increase the volume of the air in the within the housing defining the acoustic chamber 430, 530. The panel 500 is especially useful for applications in industries requiring use of high levels of cleanliness including use of clean rooms such as in the medical technology and electronics industries. The panels of the present invention have a number of advantages including the ease of cleaning of the panels, in particular, the embodiments formed of polymeric material which can be steam cleaned.

The words comprises/comprising when used in this specification are to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.