TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to an acoustic element. Particularly, the invention relates to acoustic element to be put on a wall or ceiling and provided with lighting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Acoustic engineering is often needed in different kinds of spaces, such as vast, public spaces, home theaters, offices and open-plan offices, for noise attenuation and creating a pleasant acoustic environment. There is a variety of acoustic materials available for any desired surfaces. Unfortunately, these materials often exist in the form of large boards which can be difficult to handle and which may have to be divided into suitable size of pieces.

Acoustic boards are available in different colors, but, when placed in public spaces, for example, their aesthetic impression needs yet to be considered once the boards have been installed. Designing the space without an adverse effect on the acoustics or noise attenuation can be hard because it can be difficult to put any aesthetic elements onto the acoustic boards without changing the acoustic solution.

Besides, these spaces often need to be provided with lighting, possibly requiring specialized persons, such as designers and electricians, to design and implement it. Further, the installation of the lighting can be laborious.

All in all, appropriate acoustic and lighting design of a public space, for example, can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, where aesthetics are a concern.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims at providing a solution to eliminate or alleviate the above-mentioned drawbacks. In particular, the invention aims at solving how to easily provide a desired surface with noise attenuation and lighting. The acoustic light element of the invention is characterized in what is set forth in the independent claim 1.

An acoustic element according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a lower acoustic board to be put on a desired surface, an upper acoustic board provided on top of the lower board and one or more light sources provided in connection with the upper board for illuminating the lower board in order to produce indirect light in a space.

According to an embodiment, the shape of the lower board is chosen to allow said elements to be joined together. According to another embodiment, the shape of the upper board is chosen to produce a desired aesthetic pattern on said lower board.

The use of acoustic boards for both the lower board and the upper board is preferable because this allows any desired space to be provided with, not only noise control, but also with lighting and an aesthetic appearance, at the same time. The present invention allows for the use of different kinds of acoustic boards, such as rockwool or glasswool based, or some other rigid board, available on the market, or a more resilient board made of felt, peat, foam plastic or the like. It will appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the lower board and the upper board can be constituted by different acoustic boards, provided that the upper board can be fitted on top of the lower board.

The shape of the lower board, allowing the elements to be joined together, may facilitate covering the desired surface with the acoustic elements of the present invention in such a way that the installer does not have to divide any large boards into suitable size of pieces but can create, by combining the acoustic elements, an acous- tic element surface having a desired size.

According to an embodiment, the light source provided in the acoustic element is a light-emitting diode. The use of light-emitting diodes is preferable because, as is known, they are inexpensive, have a long lifetime and low energy consumption. Light-emitting diodes also allow choosing a light color that suits the space or changing the color of the lighting, if desired. According to still another embodiment, the acoustic light element also comprises connecting means provided in connection with the lower board for connecting the lower boards and/or the electrical components of the light source to each other.

This embodiment may facilitate the joining of the elements together in such a way that joining a new element to the previous one(s) both binds the elements together and accomplishes the electrical connections of the light source provided in the element.

In this application, the term "an acoustic element" refers widely to a sound or noise attenuating and diffusing material, a noise barrier or, for example, a material suppressing certain frequencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by referring to the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a top view of an acoustic light element according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 2 is a top view of acoustic light elements according to an embodiment of the present invention, joined together to form a continuous element surface, and

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of an acoustic light element according to an em- bodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In Figures 1 and 2, the upper board is shown with hatching for clarity. The different figures use like reference numerals to refer to like parts although these parts are not necessarily exactly the same in the different embodiments and contexts, as will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art. The present embodiments are only shown as examples, without any intention to limit the defined scope of protection to merely these examples. Figures 1 and 2 are a top view of an acoustic light element according to an embodiment of the present invention and a top view of acoustic light elements according to an embodiment of the present invention, joined together to form a continuous element surface, respectively. The acoustic light element 100 of the present inven- tion comprises an acoustic lower board 102, an acoustic upper board 104 provided on top of the lower board and one or more light sources 106 provided in connection with the upper board for illuminating the lower board in order to produce indirect light in a space.

The lower board 102, which is made of an acoustic material, is formed to allow the lower board to be placed on a desired surface, usually on a wall or ceiling. Preferably, a rigid material is chosen for the lower board, facilitating easier installation on the desired surface than a flexible material, for example. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the lower board does not have to be straight but the acoustic element can also be made curved, for instance, where it is desirable to place the acoustic elements of the present invention on a curved surface, for example. The lower board 102 may vary in size but usually the size of the lower board is chosen to allow for effortless handling of the elements by one installer only. The lower board may also comprise means, such as brackets, for fixing the acoustic element to the desired surface, but, depending on the surface, the fixing can also be carried out in some other known way, such as by gluing.

The lower board may vary in shape. According to an embodiment, the shape of the lower board is chosen to allow the elements of the present invention to be joined together to form a continuous surface. In the exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lower board is hexagonal and square in shape, respectively. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the above-mentioned embodiment does not prevent the elements from being installed spaced from each other, if this is desired. The exemplary solutions shown in Figures 1 and 2 also allow the elements to be installed in different positions on the desired surface, thus placing the light source of the different elements in different places in the different elements of the continuous surface.

The acoustic upper board 104, which possibly is made of the same material as the lower board or, if desired, of some other acoustic material, is fitted on top of the lower board. The material of the upper board can also be some other material than a rigid material, such as a soft and/or flexible material. The size of the upper board is chosen to give the upper board a total area which, at most, equals to, but which preferably is smaller than that of the lower board. In Figure 1 , the upper board is clearly smaller in size than the lower board, while in Figure 2 the upper board has the same outer dimensions as the lower board as well as an aperture through which a portion of the lower board illuminated by the light source 106 that equals in size to the area exposed by the aperture can be seen.

The shape of the upper board is chosen to allow the acoustic element of the present invention to have a desired aesthetic appearance. Usually, the upper board is fixed to the lower board, with the upper board not extending outside the area defined by the lower board, but the upper board may also extend partly beyond the lower board. Therefore, in this latter embodiment, combining the elements into a continuous element surface must be carried out by placing the upper board, which extends beyond the lower board, either on top of another lower board and/or outside the elements. The upper board is fixed to the lower board either tightly or with the upper board and the lower board at least partly spaced apart by a gap. The upper board can be fixed by using any suitable means such as spacers, screws, brackets and/or glue.

One or more light sources 106 are provided in connection with the upper board for illuminating the lower board in order to produce light in a space. In Figures 1 and 2, the light source 106 is denoted by a dashed line because the light source is located under the upper board, illuminating a portion of the lower board or the entire lower board. Figure 1 shows a light beam 108 that illuminates the visible portion of the lower board. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the light does not "stop" at the lower edge denoted by a dashed line but steadily loses its intensity as it travels farther away from the light source.

According to an embodiment, the light source is a light-emitting diode. As appears from Figures 1 and 2, the light source is provided in connection with the upper board, preferably close to the edge of the upper board, in order to at least partly illuminate the portion of the lower board that is left outside the upper board. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of an acoustic light element according to an embodiment of the invention. According an embodiment, a recess is provided in the upper board to accommodate the light source 106, as shown in Figure 3. According to another embodiment, the light source 106 is located in a gap left between the upper board and the lower board.

Usually, an aperture is provided in the lower board for the electric wiring of the light source, allowing its wires to be inserted under the lower board. The aperture of the lower board is preferably provided where the upper board covers the aperture in order to prevent the aperture and the wires inserted through it from being visible once the acoustic element has been installed on a desired surface. Further, the lower board preferably features one or more grooves, for example, for the electric wires.

According to an embodiment, the acoustic light element also comprises connecting means provided at the lower board for connecting the lower boards and/or the electrical components of the light source to each other. The connecting means are preferably provided at the rear of the lower board, close to the lower edge of the lower board, to allow the elements to be interconnected by the connecting means. According to an embodiment, the connecting means also comprise means for coupling the wires of the light source to an electrical circuit in order to supply power to the light sources from one or more outer edge of the element surface formed by the elements joined together.

It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the present solutions do not limit the positioning of the acoustic elements only on a wall or ceiling but the acoustic elements can also be used for other practical solutions, such as for a room divider.

It will also be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that, if desired, the continuous element surface can be formed with one or more of the acoustic light elements employed not having a light source and/or an upper board. The above only describes a few embodiments of the inventive solution. Naturally, the teachings of the invention, such as the details of implementation and application, are susceptible to variations within the scope of protection defined by the claims.