Background Art In general, listeners hear very different sounds depending on where speakers are installed. This is why listeners hear mainly reflected sounds, which depend on the listening environment, not direct sounds. Thus, a sound reflecting plate 1 and a sound scattering plate 2 are typically installed in a listening space to actively control reflected sounds.

The sound reflecting plate 1 of FIG. 1 includes a plurality of spaced plates 3 and a body 4 having a box shape. The spaced plates 3 are installed in a direction to reflect a sound wave emitted from a speaker in a particular direction. The sound reflecting plate 1 is installed on both sides of a speaker to control reflected sounds.

The sound scattering plate 2 shown in FIG. 2 includes a plurality of protrusions 5 formed on a body 6. The protrusions 5 have irregularly protruding shapes for scattering a stationary wave occurring due to interference between waves to improve the quality of sound.

However, it is very complicated to install and arrange the conventional sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2, which have a fixed reflection rate and a fixed scattering rate, respectively, because positions of the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 should be changed to control reflected sounds. Also,

it is impossible to control the reflection rate and scattering rate and thus an effect of controlling reflected sounds is degraded.

The conventional sound reflecting plate 1 and sound scattering plate 2 are directly set on the floor or are attached to a sidewall of the speaker. The possible installation positions of the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 are extremely limited to parts such as the bottom and the sidewall. Thus, it is impossible to freely install the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 anywhere.

Also, the conventional sound reflecting plate 1 and sound scattering plate 2 are bulky and heavy and need wide spaces. Thus, it is inconvenient to use and store the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2. Since the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 are mainly injection moldings, they are costly to produce. Also, the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 have no decorations.

Moreover, the sound reflecting plate 1 and the sound scattering plate 2 have no additional fixing devices. Thus, if children touch the sound reflecting plate 1 or the sound scattering plate 2, it easily falls down. As a result, accidents occur.

Disclosure of the Invention To solve the above problems, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose sound plate which can easily be used to control the reflection rate and scattering rate of sound by controlling the angle of each of a plurality of wings of the multipurpose sound plate, and which is conveniently installed and arranged.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose sound plate which can be freely installed anywhere to easily control reflected sounds, easily connect a plurality of sound plates

to each other, and freely control the angle of each of a plurality of wings thereof.

It is a third object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose sound plate which can be folded to reduce required storage space, firmly fixed, constituted as a simply assembled body to reduce production costs, and used for decoration.

Accordingly, to achieve the above objects, there is provided a multipurpose sound plate. The multipurpose sound plate includes a body having a flat shape and a plurality of wings, each of which is hinged on one surface of the body to pivot and which are arranged in a plurality of rows.

The body may have at least one folding section so that it is easy to store. The body may have either a frame for a picture or a photo or a decoration on a back surface thereof.

The ends of the wings may be hinged to a connection bar enabling them to be pivoted together at the same angle.

The multipurpose sound plate may further include a wing guide for covering an entire row of wings at the same time to set all of the wings in the row to the same angle.

The multipurpose sound plate may further include a supporting means for supporting the body at a predetermined height from a floor.

The supporting means may include a support pole which penetrates through a penetration hole formed on the body and whose both ends are elongated and shortened to closely contact the floor and a ceiling.

The supporting means may further include a tightening screw which is installed between the body and the supporting means to control an inclination angle of the body, through which the support pole vertically penetrates so that the body can rotate about the support pole, and which presses the support pole and a fixed angle controlling

member through which a horizontal fixing shaft penetrates so that the body rotate can pivot up and down about the horizontal fixing shaft.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional sound reflecting plate ; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional sound scattering plate ; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a multipurpose sound plate according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention ; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the multipurpose sound plate shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view explaining the operation of the multipurpose sound plate shown in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a multipurpose sound plate according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a multipurpose sound plate according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a plan view of a multipurpose sound plate installed according to the present invention ; FIG. 9 is a view of an inclination angle controller according to the present invention ; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a multipurpose sound plate according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention ; and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a multipurpose sound plate according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinafter, a multipurpose sound plate according to preferred

embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, a multipurpose sound plate 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a body 12, wings 14, a wing guide 16, and a support pole 18.

The body 12 has a rectangular plate shape, a back protrusion through which the support pole 18 penetrates, and a front surface on which a plurality of wings are formed. The body 12 is combined with the support pole 18, rotates about, and slides up and down along the support pole 18.

As shown with dotted chain lines in FIG. 7, a plurality of bodies 12 may extend from the body 12 which is connected to the support pole 18 to widen a reflecting area. The body 12 may be formed of various materials such as a metal and wood as well as light synthetic resin-based material.

An inclination angle controller having various structures may be installed between the body 12 and the support pole 18 to control upper and lower inclination angles as well as left and right inclination angles of the body 12. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the support pole 18 vertically penetrates through the inclination angle controller so that the body 12 can rotate about the support pole 18. The inclination angle controller includes a tightening screw 13, a pivot shaft 12c, and an inclination angle controlling member 15. The tightening screw 13 is installed to apply pressure to the support pole 18. The pivot shaft 12c is fixed at the body 12 and penetrates through the inclination angle controlling member 15 so that the body 12 can pivot up and down.

The inclination angle controller may use various joints, i. e., ball joints or brackets, for controlling upper and lower inclination angles as well as left and right inclination angles of the body 12. Inclination angle controllers are well known and commonly used, thus a detailed

description of the inclination angle controller will be omitted.

The body 12, as shown in FIG. 7, may have one or more folding sections (three sections shown in FIG. 7). Thus, the body 12 may be unfolded when used and folded when not used.

Here, the body 12 having a folded structure may include various structures such as thin folding lines 12a or hinges.

The body 12 can be used for decoration by displaying various designs, pictures, photos, letters, and the like on the back surface thereof. Also, a frame 12b in which designs/pictures/photos/letters are displayed may be formed on the back surface of the body 12.

Thus, a user may fold the body 12 of the present invention to use it as the frame 12b, and unfold the body 12 to use it as a sound plate when listening to music or watching movies.

The wings 14 are hinged on one side of the body 12 to be able to pivot and are arranged in several rows. A user can adjust the angle of each of the wings 14 by hand.

The wings 14 have a thin plate shape and stand up straight as shown in FIG. 4. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the wings 14 may be folded to closely contact the body 12. Thus, when the multipurpose sound plate 10 of the present invention is stored, the wings 14 are folded as shown in FIG. 5 to reduce the required storage area.

The wings 14 can be used for decoration by displaying designs, pictures, photos, letters, and the like on the surfaces thereof.

If a user sets all of the wings 14 to the same tilt angle, a sound wave can be reflected in a desired direction. Thus, the multipurpose sound plate 10 of the present invention can serve as a conventional sound reflecting plate. Also, if the user makes the angles of all of the wings 14 different, a stationary wave is reduced. Thus, the multipurpose sound plate 10 can serve as a conventional scattering plate. As a result, a user does not need to have a sound reflecting

plate and a separate sound scattering plate because the multipurpose sound plate 10 of the present invention can serve as both a sound reflecting plate and a sound scattering plate.

Here, the reflection rate and scattering rate of sound waves are proportional to the regularity and the irregularity of the angles of the wings 14. Thus, it is possible to precisely control the reflection rate and scattering rate of sound waves by controlling the tilt angles of the wings 14.

A user can change the angles of the wings 14 by hand. However, the wing guide 16 is used to control the angles of the wings 14 rapidly and at the same time. In other words, the wing guide 16 has a rectangular sleeve shape, whose one side is open to guide the wings 14 and cover the wings 14 at the same time to set the wings 14 to the same angle. An entire row of wings 14 is put into the open mouth of the guide 16 to set the wings 14 in the row to the same angle rapidly.

The wings 14 may have various structures. As shown in FIG. 6, ends of the wings 14 are hinged to a connection bar 20 to be connected to each other so that the wings 14 are tilted at the same angle together.

As shown in FIG. 10, the connection bar 20 is connected to the wings 14 and to an actuator 22 having a motor to automatically control the inclination angle of the wings 14. A wireless remote controller 24 controls the actuator 22 to automatically control the wings 14.

The actuator 22 and the wireless remote controller 24 are well known and thus may easily be changed and modified by one of ordinary skill in the art.

The support pole 18 supports the body 12 at a predetermined height from the floor, penetrates through a penetration hole formed on the body 12, and may be elongated and shortened so that both ends thereof closely contact the floor and the ceiling. Also, the support pole 18 includes an upper pole 18a and a lower pole 18b. The upper pole

18a is inserted into the lower pole 18b to be joined with each other.

Buffering members, which contact the ceiling and the floor, are installed at an upper end of the upper pole 18a and a lower end of the lower pole 18b. A fixing means is installed between the upper pole 18a and the lower pole 18b to fix the elongated or shortened length of the support pole 18.

The support pole 18 is well known and widely used and may be changed and modified in various ways by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Also, the support pole 18 may fix various speakers or acoustic equipment. Thus, it is possible to maximally utilize space.

As shown in FIG. 11, horizontal support bars 30, whose ends are fixed on the support pole 18 and which rotate about the support pole 18, are installed. A speaker 7 and the body 12 are installed at the horizontal support bars 30 so that the installation positions of the speaker 7 and the body 12 are controlled.

A process of installing the multipurpose sound plates 10 of the present invention will now be described. The multipurpose sound plates 10, as shown in FIG. 8, can fully create the same sound effect as in a sound room or in the living room of a typical house which has one side open. Supporting sticks 18 are set up on both sides of main speakers 7 so that direct sound from the speakers 7 can effectively be reflected to a listener 8. The support poles 18 are elongated to closely contact the floor and ceiling so that bodies 12 are fixed at a predetermined height from the floor, i. e., at a height corresponding to the speakers 7. Support poles 18 are also set up on left and right sides of the listener 8 so that direct sound from the speakers 7 can effectively be reflected to the listener 8. Also, support poles 18 may be set up behind a user and then bodies 12 may be fixed at a predetermined height from the floor A user can fold the body 12 to use it as the frame 12b or some

other decoration, and can unfold and widen the body 12 when using the body 12 and optimize reflection rate and scattering rate by controlling the angles of the wings. As a result, the highest quality of sound can be obtained.

In general, sound plates 10 installed on left and right sides of speakers or a listener have uniformly tilted wings to reflect sound.

However, sound plates 10 installed behind the listener have irregularly tilted wings to scatter a stationary wave.

Therefore, the multipurpose sound plate of the present invention is very easily installed and set up. Tilt angles of a plurality of wings are controlled to control the reflection rate and scattering rate of sound.

Extendable/retractable support poles are freely installed to control reflected sound in various spaces such as an open living room, as in a sound room. Also, if children touch the multipurpose sound plate of the present invention, the multipurpose sound plate does not easily fall down.

Accidents can thus be avoided. Since the multipurpose sound plate is small, light, and fabricated, it is convenient to store, inexpensive to manufacture, and can be used as a frame or a decoration.

The present invention must not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but rather it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

For example, extendable/retractable support poles were given as an example in the described embodiments of the present invention.

However, various brackets or screw assemblies, which are fixed on a wall, may be used instead of supporting poles.

Accordingly, the scope of the present invention must not be limited to the scope of the detailed description, but rather determined based on the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Industrial Applicability As described above, in the multipurpose sound plate of the present invention, the tilt angles of wings are controlled to easily control the reflection rate and scattering rate of sound. The multipurpose sound plate is conveniently installed and set up. Also, the multipurpose sound plate is freely installed anywhere so that reflected sound can properly be controlled. Moreover, a plurality of bodies can easily be connected to each other at freely controlled angles. The bodies can be folded to reduce space required for storage, fixed at certain angles, and constituted as a simply assembled body. Also, the multipurpose sound plate can be manufactured at low cost and the bodies can be folded up and used as a frame or some other kind of decoration.