US2975853A - Sound absorbent translucent building block - Google Patents

Description

March 21, 1961 A. w. FRIEND 2,975,853

SOUND ABSORBENT TRANSLUCENT BUILDING BLOCK Filed Nov. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.4 *1

INVENTORI ALBERT W. FRIEND ATTYS.

March 21, 1961 A. w. FRIEND 2,975,853

SOUND ABSORBENT TRANSLUCENT BUILDING BLOCK Filed Nov. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v v v v v v v v v v v (FREQUENCY m was FE/P JECO/YD) MENTOR: ALBERT W. FRIEND ATTYS.

March 21, 1961 A. w. FRIEND SOUND ABSORBENT TRANSLUCENT BUILDING BLOCK Filed Nov. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORZ ALBERT W. FRIEND ATTYS.

March 21, 1961 A. w. FRIEND 2,975,853

SOUND ABSORBENT TRANSLUCENT BUILDING BLOCK Filed Nov. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORI ALBERT W. FRIEND BY WW ATTYS.

United States Patent "ice .SOUNDABSORBENT TRANSLUCENT BUILDING BLOCK Albert W. Friend, 1334 Montgomery Ave., Narberth, Ia.

Filed Nov. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 694,959

19 Claims. (Cl. 18133) This invention relates to a translucent acoustical structure for use in building. The invention concerns a building block which may be made of incombustible material. It may be made to pass or seal out air or other vapors, and it may be made to transmit essentially all rays of light or to transmit some and reject others. Additionally, it may be made essentially transparent or essentially translucent, and may incorporate known heat insulating structure, if desired.

In the prior art much attention has been devoted to room bounding materials capable of sound-proofing or acoustical damping. Particular emphasis has been directed to ceiling covering materials, but building materials of other types have also been sound proofed. Translucent building materials, however, such as glass blocks, by their very nature have proved among the most difficult materials to sound proof, and those materials of this type which are currently available continue to have the objectionable property of being highly reflective of sound. Because of their tendency to produce acoustical echoes and other undesirable effects, translucent building materials have been rejected for jobs for which they might otherwise be well suited.

My present invention is directed to a number of modifications of building blocks or tiles, or the like, having both light-transmitting and acoustic-absorbing qualities. These structures preserve the desirable features of mechanical strength and pleasing appearance. In fact some of. the constructions proposed in accordance with my present invention lead to unusual and highly desirable means of varying appearance including color, texture and light transmission qualities.

Specifically, in accordance with the present invention,

there is provided a translucent sound-absorbent building block which comprises pieces of solid translucent material bonded together to provide a porous sound-absorbent yet solid unit. The material employed may be of irregular size and shape or irregular in one respect and not the other. Alternatively, the materials bonded together may be of regular size and shape, and in many cases may even provide essentially parallel passages therethrough. One form of the present invention employs a plurality of elongated discrete translucive elements assembled generally parallel to one another. These elements may be rods in some cases, and may be tubes in others. In still other cases, there might be a combination of rods and tubes, all arranged parallel to one another. Preferably; the building block is provided with some sort of solid framing portion, and the porous portion is located within the frame. The frame may be simply a rectangular enclosure or it may be a relatively solid member having a number of openings in it. In the latter case, the nature and size of the openings in many instances will to some extent determine the type of material used within. the opening. Additionally, the block may be completely open from one side to the other, and hence freely permit the passage of gases and vapors, or they may be closed and, in fact, in some instances may be 2,975,853 Patented Mar. 21, 1961 closed by a double wall which may even be evacuated or pressurized for insulating purposes.

The present invention also contemplates the method of forming certain translucent sound-absorbent blocks comprising certain simple method steps including a step of bonding or fusing together the pieces making up the blocks.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical block of the present invention from its interior surfaces;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same block from the exterior surface;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the block of Fig. 1 in which tubular elements are employed;

Fig. 4 is a view of part of an interior surface of a wall employing building blocks constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is the exterior surface of the wall of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail view similar to that of Fig. 3 but showing a modified form in which greater fusion has taken place between the elements in a structure which may completely do away with the frame;

Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view of one method of construction of the block of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7 but showing a modified form of block made with tubular elements;

Fig. 9 is another sectional view showing still another modified form of the block made of tubular elements;

Fig. 10 shows a front elevational view of the block of Figs. 1 and 3 using tubular elements in its construction;

Fig. 11 is a modified form of the block shown in Fig. 8 in which the ends of the tubes are closed;

Fig. 12 is a block which may be similar to the blocks of Figs. 7-9 but employs rods instead of tubes;

Fig. 13 shows a variation of the arrangement of Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 shows still another variation having openings in solid block material;

Fig. 15 shows a modified form of any of the blocks previously illustrated in which the individual discrete elements are not horizontal or parallel to some part of the framing means;

Fig. 16 shows another modification of the same feature which also provides for diffusion surfaces on the block; P Fig. 17 is a detail view of a portion of the structure of Fig. 18 is a graph illustrating damping characteristics which might be expected of a typical block of the type described;

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of a modified form of block;

Fig. 20 shows a modified form of a block of the general type of Fig. 19;

Fig. 21 shows a sectional view through the block of Fig. 19 or Fig. 20;

Fig. 22 shows still another modified form of block using sound absorbent material of the type employed in Figs. 19 and 20;

Fig. 23 is a sectional view of the block of Fig. 22 on line 2323;

Fig. 24 shows in perspective a modified form of soundabsorbent material for insertion in the openings of the block of Fig. 20;

Fig. 25 shows in perspective a modified form of material for insertion in the block of Figs. 22 and 23;

Fig. 26 shows in perspective still another version of the present invention employing parallel plates;

Fig. 27 is a sectional view taken along line 27-47 of Fig. 26;

Fig. 28 is a perspective partially expanded view of the plate structure of the block of Fig. 26;

Fig. 29 shows in perspective a block employing plates in a form modified from the plates of Figs. 2628;

Fig. 30 is a detail taken from Fig. 29; and

Fig. 31 shows an individual element employed in the structure of Fig. 29.

Referring to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings; a typical block made in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The detailed construction of the block is shown in the upper left hand corner of Fig. l which shows only the detailed part of the block in full lines and the rest of the block in phantom. The detail arrangement of elements of the structure can be seen in Fig. 3 to consist of a matrix of hollow tubular members preferably of translucent material such as glass. These tubular members are arranged within a hollow frame 11, which as shown may be square or of any other suitable shape and preferably cast'of glass or other translucent material. The outer faces are flat in the sense that they are intended to provide faces to oppose similar flat faces on other blocks over their entire length. It will be understood that there may be channeling or other discontinuities in these faces without eliminating their general flatness. The frame is closed at its external surface by a plate 12, usually of the same material as the frame, which, as seen in Fig. 2, may be provided with a corrugated light refracting external surface. The tubular members of Fig. 1 may be arranged in various patterns and, additionally, may be colored and so arranged that the colors form a pattern in the face of the blocks. Patterns in the blocks, in turn, make possible designs or other patterns in a wall, such as that shown in Fig. 4 illustrating a decorative design at an interior wall surface employing blocks which are made of a composite of tubular glass pieces of two different colors. The external surface of the wall may be seen by reference to Fig. 5. The arrangement shown employs an assembly of the patterned glass blocks which has the rows staggered so that only alternate rows provide a vertical column. Other pattern arrangements are, of course, possible within individual blocks or over the interior and/or exterior wall surface.

It will be appreciated that a structure of the type shown in Figs. 1 to 3 may be a composite of glass tubes which are preferably fused together in some manner. This may be done by placing them in a furnace, raising the temperature to a point of plasticity of the glass and permitting slight fusion and coalescence to occur. A different effect can be achieved by permitting greater fusion to occur which, however, may require higher temperatures and require greater care in and control over the process to assure the effect desired. Such a different effect may be seen in Fig. 6. The tubular members 10 may be assembled and separately heat treated, or may be placed in their frame 11 and treated in place. In some cases, a frame 11 may not be employed and may not be desirable, but a frame is intended to lend somewhat greater strength to the structure as a whole and to provide a suitable surface for mortar in accordance with techniques well known in the art. The material of the blocks is preferably glass, as previously suggested, although other translucent materials may be used. In particular, it is usually desirable to make the frame 11 of glass even if the internal structure should be made of another material, such as certain plastic materials, for example, polyvinyl chloride products, or the like.

Fig. 7 shows a preferred internal construction of the block of Figs. 1-3 wherein the tubular members are open at each end and are terminated somewhat short of the external face plate. The structure shown in Fig. 7 may be modified as shown in Fig. 8 by extending the tubes all the way to the back closure thereby closing their ends and achieving a different acoustical effect.

Fig. 9 shows still another version where no back plate is employed. This construction will probably find fewer uses but might be employed in such application as outdoor walls where it is not necessary to provide a barrier to wind and vapors yet it is desirable to pass a certain amount of light and at the same time to dampen sound.

Fig. 10 is a face view of the front of the building blocks shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 illustrating that the ex-- ternal appearance of the surface of the block used for interior walls is unchanged no matter which of the Figs. 7-9 is employed. This pleasing optical effect is therefore possible with a wide range of acoustical effects.

Refer-ring to Figs. 11 and 13, there is shown a modified form of structure in which tubes 10 are made with closed ends in the form of very deep cups. This will have the effect of closing off some of the passages through the block and leaving others open so that a mixed resonance effect is obtained. Open passages occur between the various tubes. Fig. 13 illustrates in greater detail a modified arrangement of elements of the type employed in Fig. 11 with passages between the tubes closed at the same end as the closed ends of the tubes.

Fig. 12, by contrast, shows the use of rods 14 as opposed to tubes. This construction may assume the form of any of the constructions of Figs. 7-9.

Fig. 14 illustrates still another arrangement wherein openings are provided periodically in the face of a block and may be formed by fusion of glass tubes, by casting the block or by boring.

The rod or tube elements of Figs. l-4 all are arranged to enhance light transmission by providing light guiding paths of transparent material from one side to the opposite side. The light may enter the rods or tubes at one end and emerge from the other, being confined at the transparent-materialato-ainboundary surfaces because of the ratio of refraction indices of the transparent material and air which causes almost total reflection at these surfaces, at large incident light angles. This effect minimizes light scattering and reflection back to the side of light entry. The application of tubes or rods in this manner possesses a definite advantage in greater light transmission as compared with the use of cavities in glass building blocks filled with randomly oriented strands of Fiberglas or closely packed glass powder in embodiments to be later described.

In most applications where the incident light comes down at an angle from the sky, it is of advantage to bevel the surface on which light impinges to as much as 45 as shown in Fig. 7. If plate 12 does not present repetitively beveled ridges, as shown, the outer ends of the rods or tubes may be beveled to reduce the light reflection at the incident surfaces and so to increase the light transmission just as does the horizontally ridged surface of back plate 12.

In a variation of the above light directing means, the rods or tubes may be tilted downward as they progress inward through the block, as shown in Figs. 15 and 16. Their upturned outer ends will more effectively receive the incoming light and they will transmit it through their entire lengths with a minimum of reflections, and hence with maximum efliciency. Under such conditions a still further improvement may be made by beveling the inward ends of the rods or tubes, so that their lower edges are undercut, to refract the light at a higher angle, as shown in Fig. 17. Alternately, the ends may he randomly oriented or rounded to scatter the inward propagating light in all directions.

Fig. 16 also shows a modified frame arrangement wherein frame member 12 has beveled surfaces to carry the tubular members.

If wall sections (blocks or panels) are formed as shown in Fig. 10, for example, by fusing or cementing together aggregates of parallel short lengths of glass or plastic tubing, the wall surface formed by the ends of the tubes is perforated bythe tube bores and also by the apertures between the outside surfaces of the tubes. An incident sound wave is subdivided into a group of individual waves which travel through the tubular passages, and a wave reflected back into space; 'The waves transmitted in the passages are attenuated. If the passages are open to the air on the opposite side, to allow air to pass through the wall, then some of the remaining sound energy will be propagated into the air on that side and some will be reflected and will return through the tubular passages toward the first side, being attenuated in the process. If the opposite side is closed by a solid panel or by closure of the individual tubular passages, then the remaining sound energy will be almost entirely reflected, except for a small amount of energy transmitted through the solid material of plate 12. This reflected energy will likewise be attenuated in the passages. In either of these wall types the remaining sound energy reflected back, and having survived two passages through the tubes will be partially transmitted back into the air on the side of original incidence, to add vectorially to the original reflected wave. Due to the discontinuity a barrier effect may be present causing a small portion to pass back into the passages, adding to any new incident energy in the passageways, and so on through a new cycle. These same processes take place in any material of this type regardless of its light transmissive properties.

Fig. 18 is a chart showing how the regular hollow or tubular elements of Figs. 1-17 tend to damp sounds sele ctively.

Cylindrical tubes of 0.025 inch inside diameter or less are effective attenuators within the audible sound range, for. instance, if they are of lengths exceeding possibly one to 'two inches, or more. An example of acoustic energy attenuation in such a small tube of 0.025 inch inside diameter and 4.5 inches length is plotted as a function of frequency in Fig. 18. It will be noted that the attenuation increases from 2.5 decibels at 100 cycles per second to 47.5 decibels at 7200 cycles per second. This is for a single'transmission. When'reflection's occur at the far end of such tubes the attenuation is doubled.

If greater low frequency sound transmission attenuation or sound absorption is required the value of the diameter of the openings must be made quite small or their tubular lengths must be increased. A flattening or' irregularity of surface of the tubular passages is also useful in increasing acoustic energy absorption. This eifect is produced by the mounting together of parallel cylindrical rods or tubes, as in Figs. or 12, by the action of the spaces between the outer surfaces as tubes with convex inner surfaces formed by the outsides of adjacent rods or tubes.

The advantage of the structures. of Figs. 1-17 (and Figs. 26-31) of my invention is the combination of excellent acoustical absorption properties with maximum transmission of light incident from the side opposite the sound incidence (the second side), while also providing great mechanical strength, rigidity, fire resistance, and freedom from the need for added surface decoration or protection from not and fungus attack. All these are provided by the structures of Figs. 1-17 when glass or other vitreous substance is the sole material and when all tubes or rods are solidly fused together. If translucent plastics are used one or more of these properties may be deteriorated, depending upon the specific plastic used, but the material may be more resistant to mechanical shock and more flexible.

The tube or rod structures of Figs. l-l7 may be produced by cutting to length the required small size lengths of tube or rod of glass or plastic, assembling them into the desired size units, possibly with one or more outer covering plates, and heating the assembly sufficiently to lightly fuse the whole together. Flame heating may be used to seal one end of the tube or rod array passages, instead of using a cover plate. As an alternate method of production, a group of coalescing rods or tubes may be simultaneously drawn, and may be sawed into the desired short lengths after cooling to harden.

Other modified forms of the present invention are shown in Figs. 19-23. These forms in their various embodiments may have superior sound absorption characteristics but poorer light transmission properties than those of Figs. 1-17. In these arrangements discrete particles, strands or fabric surfaces may be fused together in a highly porous form within openings in framing solid blocks. Where porous material in discrete pieces is employed, the pieces may be small in size or may be of the size of marbles or larger. The particles may be uniform in size and shape or may be varied in one respect or the other. The porous material may be formed, for example, of glass powder beads, or granules solidly packed and slightly sintered to cause it to coalesce into a mass mechanically strong but still porous. Blocks of this form have generally poorer light transmission properties than other types but can be produced at low cost. In the actual structure, the divided material 20 within the frame 22 fills the block to the back plate 21. The material .20 may be precast in a block and inserted, but preferably is first packed in place and then fused or sintered by some process bonding the particles together but leaving openings throughout the structure.

The openings in the block of Fig. 20 differ in shape and size from those of Fig. 19, but in other respects are similar. This, of course, necessitates the use of porous material plugs 20' of appropriate size and shape. However, as can be seen from Fig. 21, the vertical cross section of both blocks of Figs. '19 and 20 is essentially the same.

The same remarks are true of the block of Fig. 22 in which the frame 22" is of a different shape and provides generally cylindrical holes for the insertion of plugs of sound absorbent material 20" which, as may be seen in Fig. 23, extends clear through the block to back plate 21".

Instead of the porous plugs formed from discrete particles, fabric-like materials of Fiberglas, or other fibres, thin films or bats of glass wool or the like, may be inserted after being rolled as shown in Fig. 24, or otherwise suitably formed for the openings in the block 22 of Fig. 20, or as shown inFig. 25 for the openings in the block 22 of Fig. 22. I

Still another form of the present invention is shown in Figs. 26 through 30. Here the rod elements may be replaced by an array of very thin parallel flat glass or plastic sheets spaced very close together (about 0.005 to 0.025 inch). These versions, in turn, have variations among themselves as shown, respectively, by Figs. 26-28, and Figs. 29-31. As seen in Fig. 26, the block consists of a frame 30 having a back plate 31. The frame is filled with generally vertically arranged glass plates 32, spaced apart by glass spacers 33 adjacent opposite ends of the plates as shown in Fig. 28. The plates are preferably arranged vertically to give maximum strength in the direction of the highest gradient load, but may be arranged horizontally for other purposes.

Since the use of spacers constitute a tedious assembly job where small quantities do not justify automatic assembly, the form of this version of the invention as shown in Figs. 29-31 will be preferred. In this version no spacers are required since the plates 32' are corrugated, as shown in Fig. 31. The arrangement of the plates 32 to define openings within the frame 30' is shown in Fig. 30. The plates in either version may extend against or be spaced from the back plate 31.

The assemblies of Figs. 26-31 may be made of glass or similar vitreous materials (or of plastic) and fused together (or cemented) to form a rigid building block of very large acoustic absorption.

It will be appreciated that any versions of the present invention employing back plates may be modified to include a dead space between the back plate of the block and an intermediate plate which is placed within the block for the purpose of insulation. Shch a cavity may y be evacuated or use dead air or some other insulating medium.

Other modifications within the scope of the claims, including the various common expedients used by the trade in connection with glass blocks or tiles, are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A translucent building block having peripheral hearing faces and front and rear exposed sides, said block having sound attenuating openings extending inwardly from at least one side thereof, and said block being otherwise solid throughout and capable of bearing load on its peripheral faces.

2. The translucent building block of claim 1 in which the material forming at least a portion of the block is material which consists of pieces so arranged relative to one another that they provide the sound attenuating openings between them.

3. The translucent building block of claim 2 in which the pieces are randomly distributed and fused together.

4. The translucent building block of claim 2 in which the pieces are alongated in a direction extending between front and rear relative to their thickness.

5. The translucent building block of claim 4 in which the pieces are fused together.

6. The translucent building block of claim 2 in which the pieces are fibrous.

7. The translucent building block of claim 1 in which the sound attenuating openings are provided in a portion of the block bounded by a framing portion which provides the peripheral bearing faces.

8. The translucent building block of claim 7 in which the material of the block within the framing portion is fibrous.

9. The translucent building block of claim 8 in which the fibers are in a fabric arranged to occupy the volume left by the framing portion.

10. The translucent building block of claim 7 in which the material within the framing portion consists of a plurality of elongated translucent elements assembled generally parallel to one another.

11. The translucent building block of claim 10 in which the elements are translucent rods.

12. The translucent building block of claim 10 in which the elements are translucent tubes.

13. The translucent building block of claim 12 in which the tubes are open at both ends.

14. The translucent building block of claim 12 in which the tubes are open at one end and closed at the other.

15. The translucent building block of claim 10 in which the elements are translucent plates.

16. The translucent building block of claim 15 in which the translucent plates are spaced apart one another by spacers.

17. The translucent building block of claim 15 in which the translucent plates are corrugated and so arranged that their corrugation create space between them to form the sound attenuating openings.

18. The translucent building block of claim 7 in which the rear exposed side is completely closed by a solid translucent face.

19. The translucent building block of claim 2 in which there is a cavity between the assembly of pieces and the translucent member at the rear of the block.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,483,365 Mazer Feb. 12, 1924 1,878,409 Lyford Sept. 20, 1932 2,011,252 Modigliani Aug. 13, 1935 2,105,174 Zimmerman et al I an. 11, 1938 2,484,003 Simison Oct. 4, 1949 2,596,659 DEustachio May 13, 1952 2,643,020 Dalton June 23, 1953 2,657,759 Creamer Nov. 3, 1953 2,714,816 Pennell Aug. 9, 1955 2,870,857 Goldstein Jan. 27, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 531,610 France Oct. 27, 1921 538,306 Great Britain July 29, 1941 723,621 Great Britain Feb. 9, 1955 1,136,944 France Jan. 7, 1957

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