The object of the present invention is an acoustic wall comprising side walls placeable in connection with the parallel side edges of a table, and a rear wall placeable in connection with the rear edge of a table.

Solutions of the above prior art are known from commercially available acoustic panels, for example. Typically, such panels are made of acoustic, plate-like, loose (in relation to e.g. a desk) elements that are attached, for example, to the top of a table or installed to the edge of a table using separate fasteners. Similar acoustic walls are also manufactured as screens to be placed on the floor or on a surface, which can be placed, for example, between two tables, in which case they are arranged to have sufficient height to form a wall acting as both a visual barrier and, at least to some extent, as a sound-absorbing element.

Reference publication CN 211269123 U discloses a wall structure in which a wall section can be raised from inside the wall. However, this only enables changing the height of the walls, and does not allow for a sound-absorbing wall.

Reference publication WO 2021002438 Al discloses a fixed acoustic wall to be connected to a table, surrounding the user at the table from the front, sides and top. The purpose of this is to form a structure that insulates sound as much as possible. However, the entire booth is one fixed element apart from the flap-like cover structure. In other words, such a structure is heavy. Furthermore, it is difficult or impossible to convert such a wall with a fixed structure into an open one, e.g. for the purposes of interacting with other people in a space (such as an open office) where there are several similar acoustic wall solutions.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a simple and modifiable acoustic wall enabling, first of all, activities generating sounds at the desk, e.g. phone calls or remote meetings, to be carried out without disturbing those in the same space.

In other words, the acoustic wall according to the invention can be arranged in such a way that it effectively absorbs sound formed on the inside of the area defined by the acoustic wall that would otherwise propagate into the surroundings. Correspondingly, the acoustic wall enables the dampening of ambient sounds inside the area defined by the acoustic wall.

Secondly, the purpose of the acoustic wall according to the invention is to allow the conversion of a closed, sound and noise absorbing acoustic wall of the above-mentioned type into an open acoustic wall quickly and easily, facilitating, for example, interaction with people in the same space and/or whereby the more closed acoustic wall presented above can be converted into an open one, thus creating a more comfortable space.

The above-mentioned purpose of the invention is achieved by the invention according to the features presented in the characterizing part of independent claim 1 below.

The present invention provides for a movable additional wall that is arranged to be bent to be formed in the rear wall. Thus, this additional wall can be placed as a roof in relation to the rest of the acoustic wall, thereby creating a sound-insulating space formed by the side walls, the rear wall and the additional wall supported on top thereof. Otherwise, the additional wall can be stored in a housing structure in the rear wall having a housing-like structure. The structure of the acoustic wall of the invention enables a quick and inexpensive structure changeable between a soundinsulating wall structure and an open acoustic wall structure. The solution according to the invention can be retrofitted to existing tables as the fastening between the table and the acoustic elements can be implemented with a variety of known fastening means.

Other advantageous embodiments of the invention are presented in the independent patent claims.

Next, the invention is described in more detail by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of an acoustic wall according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 1A is a partial enlargement IA of Fig. 1,

Fig. 2A is a section II - II of Fig. 1 with the additional wall according to the invention in its storage position, and

Fig. 2B is the section of Fig. 2A with the additional wall according to the invention in its deployed use position.

Figures 1 to 2b show a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The figures show an acoustic wall denoted by reference number 1. The figures also show, by way of example, a table 10, in connection with which the acoustic wall 1 according to the invention is placed. The table per se is therefore not within the scope of the invention but is presented herein to illustrate the function and structure of the acoustic wall 1 of the invention.

The acoustic wall 1 comprises side walls 2 and 3, of which two are shown herein, placed in connection with the side edges 10a and 10b of the table as shown in the figures. The basic structure and fastening of the side walls are known per se and thus not necessary to be presented in more detail herein. In general, the side walls 2 and 3 are comprised of an acoustic surface material and a support structure on which the side walls 2 and 3 are fastened to the edge 10a of the table 10 with fastening elements denoted in the figures by reference number 11.

The side walls 2 and 3 are herein plate-like, generally rectangular walls. Typically, these side walls 2 and 3 have a thickness between 2 and 10 cm. Herein, the side walls extend in the depth direction of the table 10 such that the front edges thereof shown as extending vertically in the figures extend to approximately 5 to 20 cm from the front edge 10c of the table 10 (towards the rear edge), and, correspondingly, the rear edges thereof extend to approximately 5 to 20 cm beyond the rear edge of the table 10. However, the positioning is not limited to the embodiment presented herein. For example, the vertical front edges can extend further forward beyond the front edge of the table. The side walls 2 and 3 are also provided with guides 7 according to the invention, the structure and purpose of which will be explained in more detail below.

The acoustic wall 1 further comprises a rear wall 4, shown in the figures installed in place in connection with the rear edge of the table 10. In this embodiment, the rear wall 4 is formed so as to be placed on the floor or a surface, however, preferably in such a way that the "inner surface" of the rear wall 4 facing the table or the plane passing through it is tangential to the rear edge lOd of the table 10. This allows for the rear wall 4 to be fastened to the edge of the table with fastening elements corresponding to fastening elements 11. In this case, the acoustic wall 1 can be used as a liftable assembly together with e.g. an adjustable electric desk, rather than only the side walls moving with the electric desk.

The rear wall 4 according to the invention consists of a housing structure that is stationary in relation to the table and the floor T or surface when installed in place, described in more detail below, as well as an additional wall adapted to be movable in relation to the housing structure, denoted as a whole by reference number 5.

The housing structure of the rear wall 4 according to the preferred embodiment shown in the figures is comprised of two acoustic wall sections, a first acoustic wall section 4a and a second acoustic wall section 4b arranged at a distance from the first acoustic wall section 4a. The acoustic wall sections 4a and 4b are preferably essentially identical to each other. Their widthwise dimensions are chosen so as to correspond to the widthwise dimensions of the chosen table and their height from a platform 4e on the floor or the like such that they extend to a distance above the level of the surface of the table 10. Said distance above the surface of the table is preferably from 10 to 80 cm, most preferably from 30 to 60 cm. This allows for the part of the acoustic wall 4 remaining above the level of the table surface to have such a height that, together with the side walls 2 and 3, it functions in the traditional way as a partial visual barrier and a sound-absorbing barrier (as a floor screen in accordance with the prior art) but enables interaction with people in the same space when necessary. Both sides of the housing structure (the vertical sides shown in Fig. 2A and 2B) are enclosed by edge sections 4c extending to the height of the bottom edge 2c and 3c of the side walls 2 and 3, the top edge 4c' of one of which is shown in Fig. 2B. The top edge 4c preferably forms a support surface on both sides of the rear wall 4 (see Fig. 1A) onto which the rear part of the bottom edges 2c and 3c of the side walls 2 and 3 can be supported. Thus, parts of the surfaces near the rear edges of the side walls 2 and 3 enclose the sides of the housing structure above the surface level of the table 10, i.e. at the points not covered by the edge elements.

The distance between the acoustic wall sections 4a and 4b is arranged to be such that the housing structure formed by them together with the edge elements defines a space 4'. The distance between the acoustic wall sections 4a and 4b can be set as desired, but preferably, it is between 2 and 10 cm, depending on the dimensions of the additional wall 5 described below, especially its thickness measurement. The space 4' in question therefore remains, for the most part, installed below the level of the surface of the table 10 in the vertical direction apart from above-mentioned part of the acoustic wall 4 that remains above the level of the surface of the table 10.

An additional acoustic wall 5 is arranged in the space 4' in the rear wall 4. The width of the additional wall 5 corresponds essentially to the width of the space 4' and/or the table to be connected thereto. In the vertical direction, the additional wall 5 extends from the area around the bottom edge of the acoustic wall sections 4a and 4b to the area around their top edge, preferably to a short distance beyond the top edges. Thus, the user can grasp the additional wall 5, for example by means of a handle arranged at the top edge, for moving it in the manner according to the invention from its storage position shown in Fig. 2A to its use position shown in Fig. 2B. The thickness of the additional wall 5 is preferably between 1 and 9 cm, but in any case such that it fits in the space 4' within the limits of the width of the space. The additional wall 5 comprises counter pieces denoted by reference number 6. They are arranged on both edges 5' of the additional wall 5 facing the side walls. This can be seen in particular in Fig. 1A. In general, these counter pieces 6 cooperate with the above-mentioned guides 7 such that the additional wall 5 can be moved in relation to the rest of the structure of the acoustic wall 1 to its position shown in Fig. 2B with the support of the counter pieces 6. In the embodiment shown, the guides 7 are elongated grooves 7 or rails formed at the edge areas of the side walls 2 and 3 and positioned facing each other at a distance that essentially corresponds to the width of the table when installed in place. The counter pieces 6 fit correspondingly in the above-mentioned grooves 7 and are dimensioned such that they are able to move within the grooves 7. The projecting pieces 7 are preferably rotating rollers adapted to roll in the slot 7' formed at the bottom of the groove 7. This structure comprising the slot 7' implements a feature in which the side walls 2 and 3 and the additional wall 5 are locked in relation to one another so that they cannot move or are at least prevented from detaching from each other (side wall and additional wall) if subjected to a lateral force, for example due to a collision.

As can be seen in Fig. 2A, the additional wall 5 has a planar shape while in its storage position inside the housing 4'. According to the invention, the additional wall 5 is provided with a structure changeable from a planar shape to a bent shape. Herein, the additional wall 5 is formed of strip-like or lamellar segments 5a with an elongated shape in the width direction of the additional wall 5. They are located on top of each other in the storage position of the additional wall 5 (Fig. 2A). Each adjoining segment 5a is connected to one another by means of a flexible or deformable connection member arranged on opposite long sides of each adjoining segment 5a. This forms the joint area 5b between each segment 5a. This may also be another type of connection allowing the adjoining segments 5a to turn in relation to one another. Such a joint may be formed, for example, of flaps formed of the surface material of the wall segment 5a connectable to a corresponding flap of an adjoining segment 5a to form a structure in which the segments 5a can turn in relation to one another. It is also possible to implement other types of structures for the joint area 5b, but the ones mentioned above are only described as examples of different structures of the bendable additional wall 5 of the invention. It should be noted that in Fig. 2A and 2B, each of the above-mentioned segments 5a is shown as having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. The shape can differ from this, for example, in that the corners of the rectangle are rounded, in which case as the additional wall 5 bends, the rounded corners allow for smoother turning between the segments 5a in relation to one another and thus bending of the additional wall 5 according to the invention as it is guided by means of the grooves 7 and bends 7a in the side walls 2 and 3 to its extended use position.

The above-mentioned counter pieces 6 are thus arranged in the additional wall 5 in such a way that the counter pieces 6 are arranged in pairs at opposite edges 5' of each segment 5a and aligned on the same longitudinal axis of the respective segment or lamella 5a. In this case, for example, in the additional wall 5 according to the embodiment shown in the figures, there are 22 counter pieces 5a on both edges, i.e. 44 pieces in total. The number may differ depending on, for example, the height dimension of the segments 5a and the height of the additional wall 5 in general.

The segments 5a arranged in this way can be brought in connection with the guides 7 in the side walls 2 and 3, in this case the grooves 7, when installing the side walls in place to the side edge of the table 10, for example. In the case where the groove 7 and the slot 7' extend to the bottom edge of the side walls 2 and 3, the counter pieces 6 can be brought during installation through the open end of the groove 7 into the groove 7 and the slot 7' by vertical movement (in the direction of the groove 7) of the side walls 2 and 3 to their installed position as shown in Fig. 2A and 2B.

Fig. 2B shows an additional guide 4d, herein a groove 4d, arranged on the above- mentioned edge element. When installed in place, it forms an extension to the groove 7 and the slot 7' formed in the side walls 2 and 3 in the edge section 4c of the rear wall 4. Its function is to facilitate guiding the additional wall 5 between the storage position and the use position. The additional guide also facilitates installation.

The acoustic wall 1 formed in this manner is therefore structured in such a way that its additional wall 5 with a flexible structure can be brought into its storage position into the space 4' forming a housing structure in the rear wall 5. The additional wall 5 can be placed as an ambient sound and noise absorbing roof of the acoustic wall 1 by means of the counter pieces 6 arranged therein and the guides 7 formed in the side walls 2 and 3, comprising also the above-mentioned bends 7a. This structure makes it possible for the connection between the side walls 2 and 3 and the additional wall 5 to be tight, so that there is no opening or gap that would weaken its sound-absorbing property. At the same time, the additional wall 5 acts as a visual barrier to its surroundings. The guides 7 and the bends 7a are preferably arranged near the edges of the side walls 2 and 3, the rear edges and the top edges in the figures, so that in use the space remaining between the walls of the acoustic wall 1 is of sufficient size for the user.