EP0475486A1

EP0475486A1 - Sound-damping cover and method for manufacturing same

Info

Publication number: EP0475486A1
Application number: EP91202103A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Johannes Petrus Cornelius Vroomen
Original assignee: Rockwool Lapinus BV
Current assignee: Rockwool Lapinus BV
Priority date: 1990-08-17
Filing date: 1991-08-19
Publication date: 1992-03-18
Also published as: NL9001840A

Abstract

The invention relates to a sound-damping cover (27) intended for placing over a light fixture (22) arranged in a ceiling construction (20) in order to reduce the sound transmission therethrough, which cover (27) consists at least substantially of mineral wool and has a form such that it can rest on the ceiling construction (20) with its bottom edge at least substantially without clearance, and to a method for manufacturing a sound-damping cover (27), comprising the steps of:

(1) providing a plate substantially consisting of mineral wool;
(2) forming two mutually perpendicular pairs of parallel curve lines, which together bound the upper plate and which, with the associated edge of the plate, each bound the standing walls;
(3) removing the corner zones bounded by intersecting fold lines; and
(4) bending the thus created edge zones through substantially 90° in the same direction such that these edge zones form the standing walls.

Description

The invention relates to a ceiling construction in which light fixtures are arranged. Such fixtures are used for example in offices and are incorporated as components in system ceilings consisting of a suspended support construction which carries ceiling panels and light fixtures. The office rooms are often only mutually separated by system walls which extend from the floor to the ceiling construction. Since most light fixtures are acoustically relatively transparent, an undesirable sound transmission can take place from the one room to the other via the light fixtures which are all connected to the space above the ceiling construction.
The object of the invention is to offer provisions using which the sound transmission through the light fixtures can be reduced to inoffensive proportions.
The invention provides for this purpose a sound-damping cover intended for placing over a light fixture arranged in a ceiling construction in order to reduce the sound transmission therethrough, which cover consists at least substantially of mineral wool and has a form such that it can rest on the ceiling construction with its bottom edge at least substantially without clearances.
The cover can display the particular feature that it comprises four standing walls and an upper plate.
In order to achieve good results with minimal material costs a variant can advantageously have the feature that the shape of the cover is adapted to the shape of the light fixture.
The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a sound-damping cover of the said type. This method comprises the steps of:

(1) providing a plate substantially consisting of mineral wool;
(2) forming two mutually perpendicular pairs of parallel bend lines which together bound the upper plate and which, with the associated edge of the plate, each bound the standing walls;
(3) removing the corner zones bounded by intersecting fold lines; and
(4) bending the thus created edge zones through substantially 90° in the same direction such that these edge zones form the standing walls.
Depending on the rigidity of the thus obtained construction it may optionally be desired to make use of the step of:
(5) after step (4) mutually coupling the edges of the mutually adjoining standing walls.
The invention can further comprise the step of:
(6) performing step (1) by selecting a plate which is covered on both main surfaces.
This method can comprise of:
(7) performing step (6) by selecting a plate which is covered respectively with aluminium foil and a mineral membrane, consisting for example of glass.
The method of the first described type is preferably performed by making use of:
(8) performing step (4) such that the aluminium foil is situated on the outside and the mineral membrane on the inside.
A very practical manner of arranging the fold lines is that comprising the step of:
(9) performing step (2) by arranging grooves, for example by milling.
In particular this method can be performed by:
(10) performing step (9) such that the walls form angles of substantially 90° with each other and of 45° with the main surface of the plate. By folding through 90° along the fold lines a natural shape fitting can hereby be obtained, which results in a mechanically very strong and rigid construction, particularly after application of step 5.
The method of the above described type can comprise the step of:
(11) performing step (10) such that the depth of the grooves amounts to 80-99% of the thickness of the plate. This method is preferably performed by means of:
(12) performing step (11) such that the depth of the grooves amounts to about 95% of the thickness of the plate. This ensures on the one hand that the outer edges are adhered to each other with sufficient mechanical strength while on the other hand the bending process can take place with relatively little force.
The method can further comprise of:
(13) performing step (5) by arranging adhesive tape over the corners.
This method can comprise of:
(14) performing step (13) by selecting adhesive tape that consists of aluminium foil provided with an adhesive layer.

The invention will now be elucidated with reference to the annexed drawing, in which:

figure 1 shows a cross section through a plate of mineral wool which is covered on both sides;
figure 2 shows a perspective view of the plate according to figure 1 after it has been provided with V-shaped milled grooves;
figure 3 is a perspective view of a cover obtained by removing the corners and folding over the edge zones of the plate according to figure 2;
figure 4 shows a partially broken away perspective view of a cover according to the invention in position of use;
figure 5 shows a partially broken away perspective view of a room area with a ceiling construction in which a number of covers according to the invention are used; and
figure 6 shows a view corresponding with figure 4 of a variant of a cover according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a plate 1 with a core 2 consisting of mineral wool, a first skin plate 3, consisting of a mineral membrane, in particular consisting of glass, and a second skin plate 4, consisting of aluminium foil, preferably glass fibre-reinforced aluminium foil.
Figure 2 shows that by means of a milling process not drawn here but per se generally known, two pairs of parallel V-shaped grooves 5,6; 7,8 are arranged in the plate 1. The depth of the grooves amounts to about 95% of the total thickness of the plate 1. The walls of the grooves stand mutually perpendicular to each other and form angles of 45° with the main surface of the plate 1.
The corner zones 9, 10, 11, 12 are removed from the plate 1 according to figure 2 by cutting through the grooves bounding these corner zones. The edge zones 13, 14, 15, 16 are then bent through 90°, all in the same direction as indicated with arrows 17. The form as depicted in figure 3 is hereby obtained. In this manner the edge zones 13, 14, 15, 16 form the standing walls which are joined to the upper plate 18 over the fold lines.
In order to further improve the integrity of the thus obtained sound-damping cover 19 a strip of aluminium adhesive tape 20 is fastened over the aluminium outer skin over the corners between the adjoining walls 13, 14, 15, 16.
Figure 4 shows a suspended ceiling construction 20 which comprises bearing means 21 for carrying a light fixture 22. During assembly of the ceiling construction 20 the very light sound insulating cover 19 is placed over the arranged light fixture 22. The arrangement of the further construction is then continued.
Figure 5 shows a finished construction. It becomes apparent once again from this figure in which manner the sound insulating covers according to the invention make a substantial contribution to the reduction of the sound transmission between the respective light fixtures 22 and therewith the sound transfer from the one room to the other. Shown with broken lines 23 is a simple partition wall between two respective rooms 24 and 25. A distinct, undesired sound transmission could occur via the light fixtures in the respective rooms. Due to the presence of the sound insulating covers 19 over the various fixtures the transmission path via the space 26 above the ceiling construction 20 is effectively interrupted with very simple means. The improvement in the sound insulation through use of the cover according to the invention is found in practice to be very impressive.
Figure 6 shows a cover 27 according to the invention which rests on a ceiling construction 20 on which a layer of rockwool 28 is arranged to increase sound insulation while leaving open the light fixture 22. In this case a heat discharging slit 29 between the cover 19 or 27 and a ceiling tile 30 is filled with rock wool. Slits 33 are arranged in the long side surfaces 31 and 32 of the cover 27 for discharging heat.

Claims

Sound-damping cover intended for placing over a light fixture arranged in a ceiling construction in order to reduce the sound transmission therethrough, which cover consists at least substantially of mineral wool and has a form such that it can rest on the ceiling construction with its bottom edge at least substantially without clearance.
Cover as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cover comprises four standing walls and an upper plate.
Cover as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the form of the cover is adapted to the form of the light fixture.
Method for manufacturing a sound-damping cover as claimed in claim 2, comprising the steps of:
(1) providing a plate substantially consisting of mineral wool;

(2) forming two mutually perpendicular pairs of parallel curve lines, which together bound the upper plate and which, with the associated edge of the plate, each bound the standing walls;

(3) removing the corner zones bounded by intersecting fold lines; and

(4) bending the thus created edge zones through substantially 90° in the same direction such that these edge zones form the standing walls.
Method as claimed in claim 4, comprising the step of:
(5) after step (4) mutually coupling the mutually adjoining edges of the standing walls.
Method as claimed in claim 4, comprising the step of:
(6) performing step (1) by selecting a plate which is covered on both main surfaces.
Method as claimed in claim 6, comprising the step of:
(7) performing step (6) by selecting a plate which is covered respectively with aluminium foil and a mineral membrane, consisting for example of glass, and preferably

(8) performing step (4) such that the aluminium foil is situated on the outside and the mineral membrane on the inside.
Method as claimed in claim 4, comprising the step of:
(9) performing step (2) by arranging grooves, for example by milling.
Method as claimed in claim 8, comprising the step of:
(10) performing step (9) such that the walls form angles of substantially 90° with each other and of 45° with the main surface of the plate.
Method as claimed in claim 9, comprising the step of:
(11) performing step (10) such that the depth of the grooves amounts to 80-99%, preferably to about 95% of the thickness of the plate.