US2590204A

US2590204A - Acoustical venetian blind

Info

Publication number: US2590204A
Application number: US171415A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hardy K Phillips
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-06-30
Filing date: 1950-06-30
Publication date: 1952-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1969-03-25

Description

March 25, 1952 H. K. PHILLIPS ACOUSTICAL VENETIAN BLIND 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed June 30. 1950 INVEN TOR HARDY K PH/LL/PI 59 6% ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 25, 1952 ACOUSTICAL VENETIAN BLIND easy a. Phillips, Morganton, N. 0.

Application June 30, 1950, Serial No. 171,415

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a Venetian blind and more specially to a Venetian blind slat which is so constructed as to have acoustical properties so that the slats of the blinds will absorb sound waves impinging thereagainst.

It is another object of this invention to provide a Venetian blind having a plurality of slats,

each of said slats being constructed with suitable insulating properties such as insulating fibers to absorb and trap sound waves and to prevent such sound waves from passing through the blind.

In conventional Venetian blinds, the slats may be adjusted to regulate the admission of light and air and it is another object of this invention to so construct the blinds that when the slats are in a slanted position sound waves reflected from one side of the slats will bounce against the under surface of an adjacent slat and be absorbed by the acoustical material and will not pass through the blinds. This will permit the blinds to be used in Windows and the like of a room to keep noise from passing through the windows to thus sound condition the room.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a Venetian blind embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view looking up along the line 3--3 in Figure 1 and showing the under surface of the improved slat;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of a modified form of slat;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view through a blind slat similar to Figure 5 but showing another modified form;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view through a slat similar to Figure 5 but showing another modified form;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view through a slat similar to Figure 5 but showing still another modified form.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral It! indicates the upper frame member or supporting member of the Venetian blind which is adapted to be secured to'the upper portion of a window frame or the like by any suitable means, not shown, such as brackets attached to each end of the supporting member It or by screws penetrating the supporting member H3.

2 Suitable means such as conventional brackets II and Ila are secured to the lower surface of the supporting member H] for supporting the Venetian blind assembly. The structure of" the Venetian blind assembly is conventional and comprises a head member 12 which is rotatably mounted in the brackets H and Ha. and is pro- .vided with suitable cords l3 and conventional means, not shown, for raising and lowering'the blinds. The assembly is also provided with cords l5 and suitable mechanism broadly indicated at 6 for rotating the head member l2 to change the angle at which the slats are disposed.

A pair of depending tapes I! and I8 are secured at their upper ends to the head member [2 and the tapes I! and 18 are provided with a plurality of substantially horizontally disposed transverse tapes 20. Each of the transverse tapes 20 supports a slat 2 I. The lowermost ends of the tapes I! and I8 are secured to a bottom piece 22, The cords 13 for raising and lowering the blinds extend downwardly through each of the slats 2| and are secured to the lower surface of the bottom piece 22 in a conventional manner. I

Heretofore the slats 2| used in a Venetian blind assembly of the type described have been of various shapes and forms, and it is an object of this invention to so construct these slats as to give them acoustical properties so that they may be used to prevent sound from passing through the Venetian blinds. To this end there is provided a slat as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 having an outer shell member 30 which is concave and may be formed of any suitable material such as metal or plastic which is curved under at its opposed edges thereof forming flanges 3| and 31a and a bridging member 32 which is also concave extends between the flange portions 31 and am of the shell member 30 and is secured thereto in any suitable manner as by welding or fusing. The bridging member 32 is preferably made of plastic but may be of any suitable material and may be provided with a plurality of bores 33. The space between the bridging member 32 and the shell 30 is filled with suitable sound absorbent insulating material 35 which may be fibrous such as fibrous glass or the like. The outer shell 30, the insulating material 35 and the bridging member 32 are each provided with coinciding

slots

36 and 3! spaced from each end thereof, said slots being penetrated by-the cords i3.

It-wiil be noted that opposed ends of the upper shell 38 of the slats 2| are turned under as-at 38 and 39 to seal the respective ends of the slat.

flanges

62 and 63.

The cords i3 may be manipulated in a conventional manner to cause the transverse tapes to be disposed in an angle relative to the horizontal, whereby sound waves from one side of the blind directed against the under surfaces of the slats 21 will penetrate the bores 33 and be absorbed by the acoustical material 35, and thus will not pass through the blind.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, there will be observed a modified form of this invention which comprises a slat broadly indicated at 5%, said slat being adapted to be used with a plurality of identical slats arranged in a manner similar to those shown in Figure l. The slat 59 comprises an upper or outer shell member 5| which may be formed of any suitable material such as metal or plastic and which is preferably concave and has its opposed edges turned under to form

side flanges

52 and 53 and

end flanges

54 and 54a. The shell 51 is filled with sound absorbing material 55 such as any suitable fibrous material such as fibrous glass. In order to hold the fibrous glass in position within the shell 5|. a woven cloth 56 of substantially the same configuration as the slat 59 is positioned adjacent the lower surface of the sound absorbing material 55.

The cloth 55 may be made of any suitable material and if desired may be made with plastic yarns to further assist in absorbing sound. To hold the cloth 56 and fibrous sound absorbing material 55 in position within the shell 51, a plurality of transversely extending leaf spring members 5'! are provided, said leaf members 57 having small flanges 58 on each'end thereof which fit under the

flanges

52 and 53 and are held in position thereby. The leaf spring members 51 thus assume a concave shape and hold the sound absorbing material 55 and the woven material 56 in position within the shell 55.

The shell50, sound absorbing material 55 and the cloth 55 have coinciding spaced bores 59 which are penetrated by the cords I3.

The slats 50 are adapted to be used in the same manner as the slats 2| and the woven material 56 will partly absorb sound and permit some sound to pass therethrough and be absorbed by the fibrous sound absorbing material 55 to thus preventsound from passing through the Venetian blind.

Referring to Figure 6, there will be observed another modified form of this invention in which a slat broadly designated at 6:] is provided with an outer shell 6! preferably concave in shape and having its opposed edge portion turned under to form

flanges

62 and 63 and being provided with a bridging member 85 which is concave in shape conforming to the concave shape of the shell member El and which extends between the ing member 65 and the outer shell BI is filled with any suitable sound absorbing material 56 such as fibrous glass or the like. The bridging member 55 in this form of the invention is formed of a solid sheet of sound absorbing plastic. This plastic will absorb sound waves hitting thereagainst and such waves will be cushioned and retained by the sound absorbing material disposed between the sound absorbing plastic 65 and the outer shell 6 Referring now to Figure 7 another form of the invention will be observed in which a slat H3 is provided, the slat if! being substantially flat and which is formed of an outer shell H which has The space between the bridga fiat upper surface and which may be formed from any suitable material such as wood, metal or plastic and which has its outer edges turned under to form flanges 12 and "E3. Disposed adjacent the under surface of the shell member .i and between the flanges 12 and i3 is a sheet of sound absorbent material 15 which may be of any suitable material such as fibrous glass or the like and which is compressed into an almost solidified rectangular unit and is held in position between the

flanges

12 and 13 by said flanges.

Referring to Figure 8 still another modified form of slat broadly indicated at 89 will be observed. The slat may be of any suitable size shape and is preferably rectangular in shape and is formed from sound absorbing material such as fibrous glass and the like indicated at 81 This material is compressed into a solid sheet to form a slat of the desired shape. If desired, suitable adhesive such as glue may be mixed with the fibrous material when compressing the same to increase the tensile strength thereof to cause the slat SE to maintain its shape.

The slats 2%, 5b, 5%), l5 and 89 are all adapted for identical use wherein a plurality of like slats are positioned in a Venetian blind such as shown in Figure 1 and whereby the slats may be disposed at an angle so that sound waves directed against the under surface thereof will be absorbed by .ie sound absorbing material of the slats t prevent sound from passing through the blind.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and althoughspecific terms are employed, they are used in a descriptive and generlc sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A slat for Venetian blind comprising a etaliic outer shell member which is concavo convex in cross section and having the side edges thereof bent inwardly toward each other to overlap the concave surface of the shell member, a layer of fibrous sound absorbent material disposed against the concave side of the shell memand a perforated strip disposed against the concave side of the fibrous material and confined in position by the inturned edges of the shell member.

2, A slat for a Venetian blind comprising an elongated shell member which is concavo-convex in cross section and having its side edges bent inwardly towards each other and overlapping in spaced relation to the concave side of the shell iember, a layer of absorbent material disposed against the concave side of the shell member and extending into the space between the main portion of the shell member and the inturned edges thereof.

HARDY K. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,851,782 Sugiura Mai. 29, 19.32 2,169,638 Bedell et a1 May 30, 1939 2,174,249 Pratt Sept. 26, 1939 2,325,063 Beckwith et al. -M- July 20, 1943