GB2551335A

GB2551335A - Improvements in or relating to organic material

Info

Publication number: GB2551335A
Application number: GB1610223.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Alston Lever Simon
Original assignee: Levco Ltd
Current assignee: Levco Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-13
Filing date: 2016-06-13
Publication date: 2017-12-20
Also published as: GB201610223D0

Abstract

A hood 210 for a loudspeaker 60 that is placed in an aperture 72 formed in a ceiling or wall 70. The hood is formed from a layer of intumescent material and comprises an inner rim 42 for attaching the hood to the ceiling or wall. The hood may be defined by a lid 20, wall 30 and a base 40; the base may comprise an inwardly extending lip/rim 42. The hood may have a circular of polygonal cross area and made from a layered flexible intumescent material. The layer structure may be an acoustic foam (14, Fig. 3) sandwiched between two layers of intumescent material (12, 16, Fig. 3). The hood may also comprise an air tight outer layer (19, Fig. 4) of acoustic damping material. The hood may contain a compressible shaped filler (52, Fig. 4) of acoustic foam or damping material that is attached to the hood by acoustic damping mountings (54, Fig. 4); the filler shaped to accommodate the speaker. Inner rim of the hood may have a seam 44 that acts as a resizing guide. The hood may be foldable to aid installation.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO ORGANIC MATERIAL

[001] The present invention relates to an improved speaker hood.

[002] It is common to conceal speakers for use with audio-visual equipment in the ceiling or walls of the room in which they are placed. This is because it allows careful positioning of the speaker which can be bulky if they are not concealed in this way. In order to place a speaker in the ceiling or in a wall, it is necessary to cut a hole to receive the speaker. Such an alteration to the ceiling or wall for a room may affect its fire resistance in that the ceiling or wall may be less effective at containing a fire in that room. It is known to place a hood of intumescent material around the speaker to improve the fire rating but these hoods are not easy to use.

[003] A way of ameliorating this problem has been sought.

[004] According to the invention there is provided a hood for a speaker for placing in an aperture formed in a ceiling or wall wherein the hood is formed from a layer of intumescent material and wherein the hood comprises an inner rim for attaching the hood to the ceiling or wall.

[005] The advantages of the invention include that by providing the inner rim, the hood may more easily be attached to the ceiling or wall, improving speed of installation, acoustic absorption and fire resistance.

[006] In some embodiments, the hood may be formed from a wall, a lid and a base. In some embodiments, the hood may form a hood void for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker. In some embodiments, the inner rim may be formed by the base of the hood. In some embodiments, the inner rim may be inwardly extending. In some embodiments, the hood may have a circular or polygonal cross-sectional shape such as a triangular, square or hexagonal cross-sectional shape; in some embodiments, the hood may have a circular cross-sectional shape.

[007] In some embodiments, the hood may be formed from at least one layer of flexible intumescent material. In some embodiments, the hood may have a sandwich construction comprising two layers of intumescent material which sandwich a layer of fire resistant acoustic foam. In some embodiments, the sandwich construction may be capped by end pieces or the sandwich construction may be sealed by a seam.

[008] The inner rim of the hood forms an aperture for receiving at least part of a speaker, for example a speaker cone. In some embodiments, the inner rim may have a seam to act as a guide for re-sizing the inner rim to fit around a speaker having a wider diameter and for the application of a bead of sealant when mounting the hood around a ceiling aperture.

[009] In some embodiments, the wall, lid and base of the hood may form a space for receiving a shaped filler to act as an acoustic barrier. In some embodiments, the shaped filler may be formed from a fire resistant acoustic foam or one or more layers of acoustic damping material. In some embodiments, the shaped filler may be attached to the wall, lid and base of the hood by mountings which may be formed from an acoustic damping material. In some embodiments, the shaped filler may form the hood void for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker. In some embodiments, the shaped filler may be compressible such that the hood may be folded and inserted through a ceiling aperture for installation.

[0010] In some embodiments, the hood may comprise a layer of acoustic damping material, for example the wall of the hood may comprise a layer of acoustic damping material such as an outer layer. Suitable acoustic damping materials include a fire proof mass loaded vinyl material and/or a constrained layer damper such as Dynamat Xtreme (registered trademark). In some embodiments, the layer of acoustic damping material may provide the hood with an air tight seal to improve the sound proof properties of the hood.

[0011] In some embodiments, the hood may be foldable such that it may be fitted through a ceiling aperture for a speaker during installation. In use, when a ceiling or wall speaker is to be installed at a location, an aperture is formed in the ceiling or wall surface at the location. As a next step, a hood according to the invention is folded and inserted through the aperture. The hood is then unfolded and mounted around aperture by placing a bead of adhesive sealant on the lower surface of rim, optionally using seam as a guide. The speaker then may be installed as usual.

[0012] The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the following Figures of the accompanying drawings which are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention: FIGURE 1 shows a schematic overhead perspective view of a first embodiment of a hood according to the invention; FIGURE 2 shows a schematic underneath perspective view of the first embodiment of the hood according to the invention; FIGURE 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the hood according to the invention; FIGURE 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the hood according to the invention; FIGURE 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of the hood according to the invention; and FIGURE 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the third embodiment of the hood according to the invention mounted on a ceiling cavity with a ceiling speaker.

[0013] A first embodiment of a hood according to the invention is indicated generally at 10 on Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. Hood 10 has a cylindrical shape and includes a wall 20, an upper lid 30 and a base 40. Wall 20, upper lid 30 and base 40 of hood 10 form a hood void 50 for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker 60. Base 40 has an inner rim 42 which is inwardly extending and is for sealing the hood 10 around an aperture 72 formed in a ceiling 70 to receive a speaker 60. In an alternative embodiment, as an alternative to a circular cross-sectional shape hood 10 may have a polygonal cross-sectional shape such as a triangular, square or hexagonal cross-sectional shape.

[0014] As shown in Figure 3, the wall 20, lid 30 and base 40 of hood 10 have a sandwich construction having an outer layer 16, a middle layer 14 and an inner layer 12 which are capped by end pieces 18. Outer and inner layers 16,12 and end pieces 18 are formed from a flexible intumescent material whereas middle layer 14 is formed from a fire resistant acoustic foam. In an alternative embodiments, end pieces 18 may be replaced by a sewn seam.

[0015] Inner rim 42 forms an aperture 46 for receiving at least part of a speaker 60, for example a speaker cone. Inner rim 42 has a seam 44 which acts as a guide for re-sizing inner rim 42 to fit around a speaker 60 having a wider diameter whilst reducing fraying of the layers of material 16,14,12 used to form the inner rim 42.

[0016] A second embodiment of a hood according to the invention is indicated generally at 110 on Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings. Hood 110 has a cylindrical shape and includes a wall 20, an upper lid 30, a base 40 and a shaped filler 52. Wall 20, upper lid 30 and base 40 of hood 10 form a space for receiving the shaped filler 52 which is attached by mountings 54 which are formed from an acoustic damping material. In an alternative embodiment, as an alternative to a circular cross-sectional shape hood 110 may have a polygonal cross-sectional shape such as a triangular, square or hexagonal cross-sectional shape.

[0017] Shaped filler 52 is formed from a fire resistant acoustic foam. The shaped filler 52 forms hood void 50 for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker 60. The shaped filler 52 is compressible such that the hood 50 may be folded and inserted through a ceiling aperture 70 for installation. In an alternative embodiment, shaped filler 52 may be formed from folded layers of acoustic damping material.

[0018] Base 40 has an inner rim 42 which is inwardly extending and is for sealing the hood 10 around an aperture 72 formed in a ceiling 70 to receive a speaker 60.

[0019] The wall 20, lid 30 and base 40 of hood 10 comprises two layers which include an outer acoustic layer 19 and an inner intumescent layer 12. Inner intumescent layer 12 is formed from a flexible intumescent material. Outer acoustic layer 19 and mountings 54 are formed from an acoustic damping material such as a fire proof mass loaded vinyl material and/or a constrained layer damper such as Dynamat Xtreme (registered trademark). Outer acoustic layer 19 provides an air tight seal for hood 10 so as to improve the acoustic properties of the hood. In an alternative embodiment, the acoustic layer 19 may be provided as an inner layer and the intumescent layer 12 may be provided as an outer layer.

[0020] Inner rim 42 forms an aperture 46 for receiving at least part of a speaker 60, for example a speaker cone. Inner rim 42 has a seam 44 which acts as a guide for re-sizing inner rim 42 to fit around a speaker 60 having a wider diameter whilst reducing fraying of the layers of material 16,14,12 used to form the inner rim 42.

[0021] A third embodiment of a hood according to the invention is indicated generally at 210 on Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings. Hood 210 has a cylindrical shape and includes a wall 20, an upper lid 30 and a base 40. Wall 20, upper lid 30 and base 40 of hood 10 form a hood void 50 for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker 60. Base 40 has an inner rim 42 which is inwardly extending and is for sealing the hood 10 around an aperture 72 formed in a ceiling 70 to receive a speaker 60. In an alternative embodiment, as an alternative to a circular cross-sectional shape hood 110 may have a polygonal cross-sectional shape such as a triangular, square or hexagonal cross-sectional shape.

[0022] The wall 20, lid 30 and base 40 are formed from intumescent layer 12. Layer 12 comprises a flexible intumescent material. In an alternative embodiment, layer 16 may comprise two or more layers of flexible intumescent material.

[0023] Inner rim 42 forms an aperture 46 for receiving at least part of a speaker 60, for example a speaker cone. Inner rim 42 has a seam 44 which acts as a guide for re-sizing inner rim 42 to fit around a speaker having a wider diameter whilst reducing fraying of the layers of material 16,14,12 used to form the inner rim 42.

[0024] As shown in Figure 6, in use, when a ceiling or wall speaker 60 is to be installed at a location, an aperture 72 is first formed in the ceiling or wall 70 at the location. A hood 210 is folded and inserted through the aperture 72. The hood 210 is then unfolded and mounted around aperture 72 by placing a bead 80 of adhesive sealant on the lower surface of base 40, optionally using seam 44 as a guide. Pressure is then applied to the inner rim 42 such that the sealant bead 80 seals the hood 10 to the ceiling or wall 70. The speaker 60 then may be installed as usual with hood 210 providing fire resistance for the ceiling. The speaker 60 has fold out clips 62 to each side which help tension the speaker hood 110 against ceiling 70 to help seal the speaker hood 110 to improve fire resistance and acoustic properties. In an alternative embodiment, hood 10 according to the first embodiment of the invention or hood 110 according to the second embodiment of the invention may be used instead of hood 210.

Claims

1. A hood for a speaker for placing in an aperture formed in a ceiling or wall wherein the hood is formed from a layer of intumescent material and wherein the hood comprises an inner rim for attaching the hood to the ceiling.

2. A hood as defined in Claim 1 wherein the hood comprises a wall, a lid and a base wherein the inner rim is formed by the base.

3. A hood as defined in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the inner rim is inwardly extending.

4. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood has a circular or polygonal cross-sectional shape.

5. A hood as defined in Claim 4 wherein the hood has a circular cross-sectional shape.

6. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood is formed from a flexible intumescent material.

6. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood is formed from at least one layer of intumescent material.

7. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood has a sandwich construction comprising two layers of intumescent material which sandwich a layer of fire resistant acoustic foam.

8. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the inner rim has a seam to act as a guide for re-sizing the inner rim.

9. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood comprises a shaped filler.

10. A hood as defined in Claim 9 wherein the shaped filler comprises an acoustic foam and/or one or more layers of acoustic damping material.

11. A hood as defined in Claim 9 or Claim 10 wherein the shaped filler is attached by a mounting.

12. A hood as defined in Claim 11 wherein the mounting is formed from an acoustic damping material.

13. A hood as defined in any one of Claims 9 to 12 wherein the shaped filler is compressible.

14. A hood as defined in any one of Claims 9 to 13 wherein the acoustic foam filler forms the hood void for receiving a ceiling or wall speaker.

15. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood may comprise a layer of acoustic damping material.

16. A hood as defined in Claim 15 wherein the layer of acoustic damping material is air tight.

17. A hood as defined in Claim 15 or Claim 16 wherein the layer of acoustic damping material is provided as an outer layer.

18. A hood as defined in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the hood is foldable such that it may be fitted through a ceiling aperture for a speaker during installation.

19. A hood substantially as hereinbefore described and/or illustrated in one of more of the Figures of the accompanying drawings.