Principality of Liechtenstein

Description

Acoustic protection insert for installation channel

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an insert used for acoustic protection and vibration reduction in building installation projects.

BACKGROUND ART

Installation channels are often used in construction installation services. Installation channels are generally metal plate profiles having a long, thin, longitudinally extending mounting face. There are many types of installation channel; for example, depending on the shape of the cross section thereof, they include C-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped or closed rectangular cross sections, etc., and make the connection of various types of connecting element possible. In many cases, an assembled channel system is suspended from a ceiling, for example as a support for electric cable reels, ducts and ventilation ducts.

In many applications of installation channels, it is necessary to decouple the channel from the loaded component that is connected to the channel or laid thereon. An example of this situation is when a rectangular ventilation duct is placed on the installation channel system. Ventilation ducts are duct systems used for conveying and distributing air, and widely used in fields such as workshop air conditioning. However, ventilation ducts vibrate during use due to gases impacting the ventilation ducts in the process of air being conveyed therein, and this vibration affects the stability of the channels which fix the ventilation ducts in place. Furthermore, ventilation ducts generate noise during operation. Without acoustic protection means, the noise of fans in the ventilation ducts will be propagated, and might lead to noise pollution in the building, affecting the work of staff. Thus, acoustic protection inserts for reducing vibration and noise are generally placed between the installation channel and the ventilation duct. EP0865024B1 has disclosed an acoustic protection insert for an installation channel having a C-shaped sectional profile; the acoustic protection insert comprises a supporting part, the supporting part having a bottom face and a down-drawn longitudinal edge, with strip-like ridges provided on a supporting surface thereof, the ridges extending parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction of the supporting part. A foot part is integrally formed on the supporting part, and has a shoulder on each of two longitudinal sides thereof, the shoulders being opposite the bottom face of the supporting part; in an assembled state, the foot part is arranged in the C-shaped channel, and the shoulders engage with the backs of longitudinal edges at an opening of the channel.

However, such an acoustic protection insert can only be mounted in the C-shaped channel by means of the foot part, and therefore can only be mounted on the side of the C-shaped channel which has the longitudinally extending narrow slot. However, in actual working scenarios, the ventilation duct cannot be stably mounted on the side of the C- shaped channel which has the narrow slot. In fact, any side of the C-shaped channel might contact or support the ventilation duct; thus, the existing acoustic protection insert has the problem of lacking applicability to an arbitrary mounting face of the C-shaped profile. Furthermore, the installation channel is not necessarily a C-shaped channel; it could also be a channel having a closed rectangular cross section, or an L-shaped or II- shaped channel. The existing acoustic protection insert is not applicable to installation channels which are not C-shaped.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an acoustic protection insert for an installation channel, which can adapt to multiple types of installation channel and to multiple mounting faces of an installation channel.

To solve the abovementioned technical problem, the present invention employs the following solution:

An acoustic protection insert for an installation channel, the installation channel comprising at least one longitudinally extending mounting face provided with at least one longitudinal opening, and the acoustic protection insert being made of an elastic material and comprising a longitudinally extending base having a bottom face and a support face opposite the bottom face, and a foot element extending downwards from the bottom face; the base comprises a ridge, an upper surface of the ridge at least partially forming the support face, and a longitudinal side face of the ridge being provided with a cut-out, so as to form a shoulder at a longitudinal side edge of the ridge; the ridge can be placed in the longitudinal opening of the installation channel, wherein the cut-out accommodates a longitudinal edge of the installation channel that borders the longitudinal opening, and the shoulder is engaged behind the longitudinal edge.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the base further comprises a side wing extending laterally outwards from the ridge, wherein a lower surface of the side wing coincides with the bottom face of the base, and an upper surface of the side wing extends laterally outwards with gradually increasing height along an arc from a lower end of the cut-out, until the upper surface of the side wing coincides with the support face, thus forming another part of the support face. Preferably, an edge of the side wing comprises a chamfered face which slopes downwards relative to the support face, and a protruding edge which protrudes downwards from the bottom face. More preferably, the side wing is provided with a through-hole or opening for reducing the strength of the elastic material.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shoulder has a sloping side face which slopes downwards relative to the support face.

Preferably, the ridge is provided with a region in which the strength of the elastic material is reduced. More preferably, the region of reduced strength is an arc-shaped sunken face formed by removing a portion of material from the support face formed by the ridge.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foot element comprises two opposite downward-extending support feet, and when the installation channel has a C-shaped or U-shaped cross section, it has a narrow slot extending along the entire length of the installation channel, and the support feet can be placed in the narrow slot. The support foot has a hook opposite the bottom face at an extremity thereof, and when the installation channel has a C-shaped cross section, the hook is hooked onto an extremity of an edge of the longitudinal narrow slot of the C shaped installation channel.

Preferably, a lateral groove is provided between the support foot and the bottom face, and when the installation channel has a U-shaped cross section, an edge of the longitudinal narrow slot of the U-shaped installation channel is engaged in the groove.

Based on the technical solution described above, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention can be adapted to various types of installation channel. For example, when the installation channel is a C-shaped channel, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention can be placed in the longitudinal narrow slot (which extends along the entire length) of the C-shaped channel by means of the foot element; preferably, the foot element also has a support foot hook which is able to hook onto an extremity of a sidewall of the C shape, so that the acoustic protection insert can be stably and firmly mounted on the side face of the C-shaped channel which has the narrow slot. When the mounting face of the C-shaped channel is not the side face having the longitudinal narrow slot, but is another side face or a bottom face, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention can be placed in the longitudinal opening in the side face or bottom face of the installation channel by elastic deformation of the ridge, in which case, the cut-out accommodates a longitudinal edge of the installation channel that borders the longitudinal opening, and the shoulder is engaged behind the longitudinal edge. In this way, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention can be mounted on any mounting face of the installation channel, and so has a very broad range of application scenarios and adaptability.

Furthermore, when the installation channel has another cross-sectional shape, such as a closed rectangular shape or an L shape or U shape, then as long as the mounting face of the installation channel has a number of longitudinal openings, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention is inserted into the longitudinal opening by means of the ridge, and the acoustic protection insert can thus be easily and reliably mounted on the mounting face of the installation channel, providing convenience for the user while considerably reducing the construction cost.

The acoustic protection insert of the present invention has a simple and compact structure; the structural features are designed precisely so that the part of the support face formed by the ridge and the other part of the support face formed by the side wing are strongly supported together between a load and the mounting face of the installation channel, with the weight of a load component being distributed effectively. If the load component (e.g. ventilation duct) supported by the acoustic protection insert experiences transverse displacement, this will reduce or eliminate the possibility of the acoustic protection insert being accidentally pulled off the installation channel. When the acoustic protection insert of the present invention is mounted in a longitudinal opening of another type of support, the foot element will serve the function of supporting the load component; the foot element generally has higher elasticity and support height, thereby improving sound decoupling between the ventilation duct and the installation channel, to achieve a superior acoustic protection effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments mentioned can be better understood through the following detailed description while the drawings are read. It is emphasized that the various components are not necessarily drawn to scale. In fact, dimensions can be enlarged or reduced at will for the purpose of clear discussion. In the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements.

Fig.1 is a perspective view of the acoustic protection insert for an installation channel according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the acoustic protection insert according to an embodiment of the present invention when mounted on a C-shaped installation channel.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the acoustic protection insert according to an embodiment of the present invention when mounted on a U-shaped installation channel.

Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the acoustic protection insert according to an embodiment of the present invention when mounted on another side face of the U-shaped installation channel shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the acoustic protection insert according to another embodiment of the present invention when mounted on an installation channel having a rectangular cross section.

Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the acoustic protection insert according to another embodiment of the present invention when mounted on an L-shaped installation channel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An acoustic protection insert for an installation channel according to the present invention is described below with reference to Figs. 1 - 6.

Fig. 1 shows an acoustic protection insert 100 for an installation channel according to the present invention; the acoustic protection insert is generally mounted on an installation channel, in order to reduce noise and/or vibration that might be produced by a load component (e.g. a ventilation duct) supported by the installation channel.

The installation channel is labelled with numerals beginning with 2. The installation channel is generally a long steel strip extending longitudinally, and may be of many types. Installation channels are divided into C-shaped as shown in Fig 2, U-shaped as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, rectangular as shown in Fig. 5, and L-shaped as shown in Fig. 6, etc., according to their different cross-sectional shapes. It should be understood that an installation channel 200 of the present invention should not be limited to the exemplary embodiments mentioned above; regardless of the cross-sectional shape of the installation channel, it essentially has a longitudinally extending, long and thin side face to provide support or enable fitting. For example, the C-shaped installation channel shown in Fig. 2 has a cross-sectional shape resembling the letter C, and comprises two opposite side faces 201 and a bottom face 202 perpendicular to the side faces 201 ; opposite the bottom face is a narrow slot 203 which extends generally along its longitudinal length, i.e. the opening part of the letter C, and edges 204 adjoining the narrow slot 203 have extremities 205 which are bent inwards. Furthermore, the side faces 201 and/or bottom face 202 is/are provided with at least one longitudinal opening 206; preferably, the longitudinal opening 206 is a long oval hole. The function of the longitudinal opening 206 is not only to reduce the overall weight of the channel, but also to provide possibilities and convenience for the fitting/installation of the channel. Depending on the space in which the installation channel is used and the type of component mated therewith, any surface of the installation channel - for example the face having the narrow slot, the bottom face or the side faces - might serve as a mounting face for supporting a load component. The structure of a C-shaped installation channel has been described in simple terms above; similarly, in the case of an installation channel with another cross-sectional shape, the mounting face thereof might be a side face or a bottom face or a face with a narrow slot. This is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the acoustic protection insert 100 is made of an elastic material. Elastic materials have been proven to be especially suitable for use as the material of acoustic protection inserts. A suitable elastic material may be selected for the acoustic protection insert 100 according to the special soundabsorbing and elastic properties thereof. The acoustic protection insert 100 is preferably made of rubber.

Referring to Fig. 1 , the acoustic protection insert 100 comprises a longitudinally extending base 101 and a foot element 109 extending downwards from the base. Preferably, the acoustic protection insert 100 extends longitudinally with unvarying cross- sectional shape, and the length of longitudinal extension thereof should be adapted to the length of the longitudinal opening 206 that is provided in advance in the mounting face of the installation channel; preferably, the length of longitudinal extension of the acoustic protection insert 100 is substantially equal to the length of the longitudinal opening 206. The base has a bottom face 102 and a support face 103 opposite the bottom face. When the foot element 109 of the acoustic protection insert is inserted into the interior of the installation channel, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the bottom face 102 abuts the edge 204 of the longitudinal narrow slot 203 of the C-shaped or U-shaped installation channel, and the support face 103 supports a bottom face of a load component, e.g. a ventilation duct (not shown), of the installation channel. That is to say, the base 101 forms a gap between the load component and the mounting face of the installation channel, and because the acoustic protection insert 100 is made of an elastic material, it is possible to effectively reduce vibration and/or noise that might be transferred to the installation channel 200 by the ventilation duct or other load component. The base 101 comprises a ridge 105, which is a longitudinally extending flat, long strip located substantially in the centre of the base. An upper surface of the ridge 105 at least partially forms the support face 103. Preferably, a region of reduced strength is provided on the part of the support face formed by the ridge, so that it is easier for the ridge 105 to deform elastically and thereby be inserted into the longitudinal opening 206 of the installation channel. More preferably, the region of reduced strength is an arc-shaped sunken face 110 formed by removing a portion of material from the support face of the ridge. This not only ensures that the ridge 105 has sufficient strength to support a load, but also enables elastic deformation of the ridge in a simple way to facilitate the placement of the ridge in the longitudinal opening 206.

A cut-out 107 is provided on a longitudinal side face of the ridge, thereby forming a shoulder 108 at a longitudinal side edge of the ridge. As shown in Figs. 4 - 6, when in a mounted state, the ridge 105 is placed in the longitudinal opening 202 of the installation channel, and the cut-out 107 accommodates a longitudinal edge 207 of the installation channel that borders the longitudinal opening 206, with the shoulder 108 being engaged behind the longitudinal edge 207 of the installation channel that borders the longitudinal opening 206. Thus, the acoustic protection insert 100 is firmly attached to the mounting face of the installation channel by the joint action of the shoulder 108 and the cut-out 107. Even if vibration of the load component gives rise to transverse displacement, the acoustic protection insert will not come out of the longitudinal opening 206 of the installation channel. The foot element 109 provides strong support for the load component in the up-down direction, while the shoulder 108 and cut-out 107 effectively ease transverse pressure in the left-right direction caused by load vibration. Preferably, the shoulder 108 has a sloping side face 111 which slopes downwards relative to the support face, so that the ridge 105 can be inserted into the longitudinal opening 206 of the installation channel more easily.

The base 101 further comprises a side wing 104, which extends laterally outwards along the bottom face. Preferably, there are two side wings 104, each extending laterally outward from the ridge 105, thus forming two side wings arranged symmetrically along the ridge, in order to ensure that the acoustic protection insert is balanced during mounting and use. A lower surface of the side wing 104 coincides with the bottom face of the base 101 , i.e. a bottom face of the side wing 104 is part of the bottom face of the base. An upper surface, opposite the bottom surface, of the side wing 104 extends laterally outwards from a lower end of the cut-out 107. The upper surface of the side wing extends with gradually increasing height along an arc, until the upper surface of the side wing coincides with the support face 103. The upper surface of the side wing 103 thus forms another part of the support face 103. Thus, when the acoustic protection insert is placed in the narrow slot 203 of the C-shaped or U-shaped channel, the support face 103 formed jointly by the ridge 105 and the two side wings 104 can provide stable support for the load component, in order to achieve effective noise decoupling and vibration reduction.

The side wing 104 further comprises a chamfered face 113 which slopes downwards relative to the support face. The chamfered face 113 is located at a lateral edge of the side wing, and slopes downwards from an outside edge of the other part of the support face 103 formed by the side wing. The chamfered face 113 can reduce the overall amount of material used in the acoustic protection insert, helping to control costs, and makes the process of forming the acoustic protection insert simpler and more convenient. More preferably, the side wing comprises a protruding edge 114 which protrudes downwards relative to the bottom face. The protruding edge 114 is located at a transversely outermost position of the bottom face, and can engage with an upper end of the side face 201 of the installation channel, thereby increasing the reliability of mounting and fixing of the acoustic protection insert on the installation channel. When the mounting face of the installation channel is a narrower side face 201 thereof, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 for example, a region between the side wing and the ridge, i.e. the part of the side wing upper surface that gradually increases along a curve from the cut-out, can also serve the function of clamping the mounting face of the channel.

Preferably, the side wing 104 is provided with a through-hole 112 or opening for reducing the strength of the elastic material, or a region of reduced strength in another form. Preferably, the through-hole 112 is disposed below the other part of the support face formed by the upper surface of the side wing, because this part is the highest part of the side wing, i.e. the part where the elastic material is thickest. Thus, a portion of elastic material is removed to form a longitudinally extending through-hole, so that the side wing can deform suitably when subjected to pressure. In particular, when subjected to a shear force, the through-hole 112 formed in the side wing can effectively cancel out vibration or shifting caused by the shear force. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foot element 109 comprises two opposite downward-extending support feet 115, and when the installation channel has a C-shaped or U-shaped cross section, it has the narrow slot 203 extending along the entire length of the channel, and the support feet 115 are placed in the narrow slot 203 when in a mounted state. Preferably, the support feet 115 have hooks 116 opposite the bottom face at extremities thereof, and when the installation channel has a C-shaped cross section, the hooks 116 are hooked onto the two extremities 205 of the C shape of the installation channel. In this way, the acoustic protection insert 100 is fixed in the narrow slot of the C-shaped channel more reliably and stably.

More preferably, a lateral groove 117 is provided between the support foot 109 and the bottom face 102, and when the installation channel has a U-shaped cross section, an extremity of the edge 204 adjoining the narrow slot 203 is engaged in the groove 117. This helps to increase the stability and reliability with which the acoustic protection insert is mounted in the installation channel.

Preferably, the foot element 109 and the base 101 are integrally formed. Alternatively, the base and foot element of the present invention may be formed of elastic materials having different properties. For example, a material slightly harder than the foot element may be chosen for the base.

As stated above, the acoustic protection insert of the present invention can be adapted to various types of installation channel, and to any mounting face of the installation channel. For example, when the installation channel is a C-shaped or U-shaped channel, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the acoustic protection insert 100 of the present invention may be placed inside the narrow slot 203 of the C-shaped or U-shaped channel by means of the foot element 109. When the mounting face of the installation channel is not the side face having the narrow slot 203, for example when the mounting face is the bottom face or side face of the installation channel as shown in Figs. 4 - 6, the acoustic protection insert 100 of the present invention can be placed in the longitudinal opening 206 of the mounting face by elastic deformation of the ridge 105. The acoustic protection insert of the present invention thus has a very broad range of application scenarios and adaptability, providing convenience for the user while significantly reducing the construction cost. The acoustic protection insert of the present invention has a simple and compact structure. In particular, when the acoustic protection insert of the present invention is mounted in the longitudinal opening 206 of the installation channel by means of the ridge 105, the support faces 103 formed by the ridge 105 and the side wing 104 are strongly supported together between the load and the mounting face of the installation channel; the weight of the load component is distributed effectively, and the cut-out 107 and the shoulder 108 clamp the longitudinal edge of the installation channel that borders the longitudinal opening, thus reducing or eliminating the possibility of the acoustic protection insert being accidentally pulled off the mounting face of the installation channel. The foot element 109 will serve a supporting function; the foot element 109 generally has a higher support height and better elasticity, thereby improving sound decoupling between the ventilation duct or other load component and the installation channel, and has a superior acoustic protection effect.

As stated above, although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have already been described in the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the specific implementations described above; many other embodiments are possible, and the scope of the present invention should be defined by the claims and equivalent meaning thereof.