US3287869A - Removable partition walls - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent 3,287,869 REMOVABLE PARTITION WALLS Featherston A. Kilgore, 54 Riverwood Parkway, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed June 21, 1963, Ser. No. 289,669 6 Claims. (Cl. 52-270) This invention relates to sound insulating partition walls. It is particularly directed to self-supporting sound absorbing and insulating panel constructions which can be interconnected to form effective sound attenuating partition wall structures.

Prefabricated sectional partition panels are well known and widely used in floors and interior walls of buildings for temporary or semi-permanent subdivision of building interior space into offices, convention rooms, auditoriums and the like. Heretofore, sectional partion panel constructions have had several inherent disadvantages which have largely precluded ready public acceptance and use. For example, most partition panels are extremely cumbersome and too heavy for convenient ease of handling and portability. The locking mechanisms necessary to secure the panels together to form a unitary structure are relatively complex requiring considerable time for erection or dismantling. Where it is desired to obtain optimum sound attenuation characteristics, conventional panels either provide insufficient sound absorbing and insulating characteristics to 'be practicable or, conversely, if they are provided with sufficient sound absorbing and insulating material to be efficient, are too heavy and cumbersome to be practical.

Sound insulation for normal commercial and industrial purposes is usually directed to the frequency range of from about 125 to about 4,000 cycles per second (c.p.s.) in that although the human ear may be capable of hearing sounds over a frequency range of from about 20 to about 20,000 c.p.s., the frequencies between 125 and 4,000 c.p.s. sound louder than frequencies at equal intensities above and below this sound range. Portable lightweight panels heretofore have provided insufficient sound insulation, that is, insufficient resistance to sound transmission, to be effective due to a lack of mass and due to a resonance occurring within the panel within the critical frequency range of 125 to 4,000 c.p.s. The resonance result from flexural vibration of the barrier itself set up by incidental sound waves and is dependent on the mass and construction of the barrier as Well as the frequency of the sound. The rigidity necessary to support the light-weight panel usually places the resonance of the panel within the objectionable range.

We have discovered that a novel combination of a thin lead sheet with a porous sound absorbing material arranged in spaced relation one to the other within a rigid wall structure provides efficient sound absorbing and insulating properties permitting the facile use of portable light-weight prefabricated panel constructions in partition wall structures.

It is, therefore, a principal object of our invention to provide a novel panel construction which has effective sound absorbing and insulating properties together with light-weight portability.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a panel construction which will provide uniformly effective sound attenuating properties over the frequency range of 125 to 4,000 c.p.s.

3,287,869 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 It is still another object of the present invention to provide a plurality of panel constructions which can be arranged to co-act with each other to form a rigid self-sup porting partition wall structure which retains the sound attenuating characteristic-s of the individual panels that constitute the said wall structure to provide an effective sound barrier.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a partition wall structure assembly which can be quickly and readily assembled for use and dismantled for storage.

These and other objects of the present invention and the manner in which they can be attained will become apparent from the following detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a partition wall assembly embodying the structure of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the connections made between adjacent panel constructions constituting the wall structure and the connection made between the partition wall structure and abutted permanent wall;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the connection between the panel constructions of the partition wall and ceiling;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the connection between two intersecting partition wall structures; and

FIGURE 5 is a transverse section taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 illustrating a locking mechanism employed to secure the panels together.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawing.

The partition wall assembly of the present invention illustrated generally by FIGURE 1 comprises a plurality of panels 10 adapted to be interlocked one with another to form a continuous and substantially air-tight and soundproof partition wall structure 11. Each of the panels 10 comprises a framework 12 having a pair of spaced, longitudinal post members 13 and 14 and a pair of spaced, transverse connecting head and foot members 15 and 16. The central opening defined by the framework 12 is closed on one side by a sheet 18 of a limp, heavy material such as sheet lead or woven lead and lead impregnated cloth fabrics which preferably is co-extensive with the outer edge of the framework.

The opposite side of the panel opening preferably is closed by a layer 19 of porous material such as cellular plastic or fiberglass which may be secured along each edge to the interior of framework 12. A space 21 substantially co-extensive with the aforesaid panel opening preferably is formed between sheet 18 and layer 19 for reasons which will become apparent as the the description proceeds. Although space 21 is shown defined between sheet 18 and layer 19, it will be understood that this arrangement is illustratory only of the structure of the present invention and space 21 could be formed on the opposite side of layer 19 by abutting layer 19 against sheet 18.

A rigid sheet 22 secured to one side of framework 12 by nails, screws or the like securing means is adapted to enclose lead sheet 18 and co-a-ct with the side of the framework 12 to tightly engage the edges of the lead sheet therebetween. Rigid sheet 23 likewise secured to the opposite side of the framework 12 by nails, screws or the like securing means preferably is adhesively secured to one face of the porous material. The lead sheet and porous material are thus supported within the panel construction. The rigid sheets interact with the framework to provide a self-supporting structural panel unit.

To provide lateral rigidity to each panel, it may be preferred to incorporate an angle member 24 longitudinally within each panel whereby the angle is secured to head and foot members 15 and 16.

Each of longitudinal members 13 is provided with a tongue 25 along its exposed edge and each of longitudinal members 14 is provided with a tongue receiving groove 26 along its exposed edge. Header frame member 15 has a tapered tongue 27 formed along its exposed edge, as most clearly illustrated in FIGURE 3.

With reference to FIGURES l, 2 and 3, it will be evident that the panels are arranged in an edge-to-edge abutting relationship when erected to form a continuous partition wall. Tongue 25 of each longitudinal frame member 13 is inserted in groove 26 of opposed longitudinal member 14 of the next adjacent panel. Gasket material 28 disposed within each groove 26 is of sufficient thickness to be compressed by tongue 25 to provide an effective air-tight seal. To ensure maintenance of an airtight connection between the abutting panels, a plurality of locking devices preferably are positioned at intervals along the longitudinal edges of the panels for locking the panels together. Each lock comprises a rotatable flanged cam latch member 29 pivotally mounted in one edge of a panel and a lug or pair of lugs 30 rigidly secured to the opposing edge of the adjacent panel adapted to receive said flanged cam latch. The flanged cam latch and lugs interact to draw tongue 25 into groove 26 and tightly compress gasket :matreial 28 therebetween, as shown in FIG URE 5.

Tongue 27 formed in header is received within a groove 31 formed longitudinally in elongated, rigid member 32 secured to the ceiling of the room by means of flanges 33 extending therefrom connected to a ceiling beam. A rubber lining 35 seated in groove 31 is adapted to be compressed by tongue 27 when panel 10 is positioned in its vertical position to effect an airtight seal therebetween. A dense rubber strip 36 secured to the exposed edge of foot member 16 is compressed by the weight of the panel to effect an effective air-tight seal between the floor and the panel.

Terminal or end panel 37 has a tongue 38 formed along the exposed edge of longitudinal side member 13 adapted to be inserted into recess 39 for-med in a vertically disposed member 40 secured to a permanent wall of the room. Member 40 is rigidly secured to the room wall by means of a pair of flanges 41 having securing means driven therethrough into wall post 42. A resilient compressible material such as foam rubber 43 is seated within recess 39 such that said rubber is compressed by tongue 38 when the panels are in their installed positions.

FIGURE 4 illustrates another embodiment of panel construction having a pair of longitudinal side members 45 and 46 formed with longitudinal tongues 47 and grooves 48 as has been described hereinabove. A longitudinal intermediary member 49 disposed centrally within panel 46 is adapted to extend through external sheet 50 and provide a longitudinally extending lateral tongue 51 as illustrated. It will be evident from FIGURES l and 4 that panels 10 can be arranged to abut and receive tongue 51 of panel 46 for wall arrangements within room areas.

' The exterior surfaces of the rigid outer sheets 22 and 23 preferably are coated with a thin layer of a veneering material such as polyvinyl chloride or the like fabric 55 to provide an aesthetic appearance to the panels and to match the decor of the room in which the partition wall is assembled.

To install the partition wall structure, panel 37 normally is first placed into position by inserting tongue 27 in ceiling groove 31, positioning the panel vertically, and

sliding the panel such that longitudinal tongue 38 is received in vertical groove 39. Allowing space for the next adjacent panel 10, the remaining panels 10 are raised into a substantially vertical position, tongues 27 inserted into grooves 31, and the panels connected into a tight fitting abutting relationship by means of the locking devices. The panel adjacent to terminal panel 37 is last installed in position by forcing panel 37 to the left as viewed in FIGURE 1 to compress foam rubber gasket 43, positioning panel 10* adjacent to panel 37, and then forcing panel 37 to the right as viewed in FIGURE 1 such that it abuts in tight fitting relationship and is locked with said adjacent last-installed panel 10. Foam rubber gasket 43 expands to fill recess 39 and maintain a substantially air-tight connection between the partition wall 11 and the permanent wall.

Although it will be understood the present invention is independent of hypothetical considerations, it is believed the improved sound attenuating characteristics of our panel construction result from the limp lead sheet dampening the amplitude and/ or frequency of vibration of one rigid outer sheet and the layer of porous material adhesively secured to the other outer sheet dampening the amplitude of vibration of the second outer sheet such that the two opposed rigid sheets vibrate at different resonant frequencies thereby cancelling reflected and transmitted sound waves within the air space defined within the panel construction by the porous material on the one side and the heavy lead sheet on the other. The porous material arranged to form one side of the enclosed air space or disposed within the air space absorbs much of the sound energy not cancelled by the two plies vibrating at different frequencies. Thus the resonant frequency is considerably elevated and the effect of the resonance, if present within the frequency range of to 4,000 c.p.s., considerably minimized.

The following example illustrates the construction of individual panels incorporated into a partition wall structure and the sound attenuating characteristics provided thereby. Twenty-six panels each 2 wide and l2-1 long were arranged in a vertical, side-to-side abutting relationship to form a partition wall 54'-()" long and 12-l" high disposed across a room 83-6" long, 54 0" wide and 12'-1" high; dividing the room into two halves. Each panel consisted of a rectangular framework of 2" x 2" wooden members having a sheet of A thick lead underlying a A" thick sheet of plywood rigidly secured to one side of the framework and a 1" thick layer of fiberglass cemented to the inside face of a A thick sheet of plywood which was rigidly secured to the opposite side of the said framework. The exterior surfaces of the two plywood sheets were covered with a thin coating of vinyl fabric.

Flanged cam locks were employed to rigidly secure the panels together such that a tongue formed in the longitudinal edge of one panel abutted and compressed a rubber gasket seated in the groove formed in the opposing edge of the next adjacent panel. Foam rubber gasket material was employed to seal the joints between the partition wall and the permanent wall. Closed-cell neoprene rubber was employed to effect an air-tight seal between the partition wall and floor and ceiling.

Sound insulation field tests were conducted on this wall assembly in accordance with the technique specified in A.S.A. Standard Z 24.19-1957, whereby a cone-type loudspeaker was mouuted 10' from the partition wall facing I away from the wall and a signal produced by a warble tone oscillator using an 8 c.p.s. warble with a modulation of /6 octave up to a maximum modulation of 200 c.p.s. Sound intensity readings for a plurality of frequencies in the range between 125 and 4,000 c.p.s. were observed at several points on the sound source side and the receiving room side of the partition wall and the several readings for each frequency averaged to provide the mean sound intensity on each side of the wall. The sound insulation,

in decibels, provided by the partition wall for the several frequencies tested, is shown in the following table.

Table 1 Frequency, Insulation, cycles/ second: decibels 125 14 175 16.5 250 22 350 27 500 34 700 33 1000 36 2000 38 4000 43 This example clearly illustrates the effectiveness of the partition wall structure as a sound barrier in attenuating sound intensities between the frequency range of 125 to 4,000 c.p.s. The average sound attenuation over the frequency range of 125 to 4,000 c.p.s. is 29 decibels.

The present invention provides a number of important advantages. Heavy lead sheets can be incorporated in prefabricated, light-weight portable panel constructions which can be readily assembled to provide an efficient sound attenuating partition wall structure or disassembled for storage. The combination of heavy, limp sheet material such as lead With a rigid supporting member spaced from a porous sound absorbing material secured to a second rigid supporting member provides a unitary, selfsupporting structure having improved sound attenuating characteristics. The resonance of the wall structure is raised to a frequency range which is not irritating to the ear. The partition Wall dampens and/or cancels the intensity or amplitude of vibrations impinged on one rigid outer sheet before transmission to the opposed rigid outer sheet. The panels can be manufactured for room heights and wall spans heretofore not practicable and assembled or disassembled quickly, readily and positively.

It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be made in the preferred embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A panel construction of the type used as a sound barrier comprising, in combination, a planar reinforcing framework defining an opening therein, at least one lead sheet substantially co-extensive with said framework secured to one side of said framework, at least one layer of a porous material substantially coextensive with the framework opening disposed within said opening such that a space is defined between said lead sheet and said porous material, a pair of rigid sheets substantially coextensive with said reinforcing framework rigidly secured thereto, one of said sheets abutting the lead sheet and the other of said sheets abutting the layer of porous material, means for adhesively securing said porous material to the abutting sheet, a tongue formed along one longitudinal edge of said framework and a groove formed along the opposite longitudinal edge of said framework, and gasket material disposed in said groove.

2. A panel construction of the type used in a sound barrier comprising, in combination, a planar reinforcing framework defining an opening therein, at least one lead sheet substantially co-extensive with said framework secured to one side of said framework, a layer of porous material substantially oo-extensive with the framework opening disposed within said opening such that a space is defined between said lead sheet and said porous material a pair of rigid sheets substantially co-extensive with said reinforcing framework rigidly secured to said framework along each edge forming a rigid, unitary self-supporting structure, said lead sheet adapted to abut the interior surface of one of said rigid sheets and the porous material adapted to abut and be adhesively secured to the interior of the other of said rigid sheets, a tongue formed along one exposed longitudinal edge of said framework and a groove formed along the opposite longitudinal edge of said framework, and a compressible material disposed in said groove along the length of said groove.

3. A panel construction as claimed in claim 2 in which said porous material is selected from the group consisting of cellular plastic and glass fiber.

4. A panel construction as claimed in claim 3 in which a tongue is formed along one transverse edge of said panel.

5. A sectional partition structure for dividing room space which comprises a plurality of elongated panels each having a planar reinforcing framework defining an opening therein, at least one lead sheet substantially co-extensive with said framework secured to one side of said framework, at least one layer of a porous material substantially coextensive with the framework opening disposed within said opening such that a space is defined between said lead sheet and said porous material, a pair of rigid sheets substantially co-extensive with said reinforcing framework rigidly secured thereto forming a' rigid, unitary self-supporting structure, said lead sheet adapted to abut the interior surface of one of said rigid sheets and the porous material adapted to abut and be adhesively secured to the interior of the other of said rigid sheets, a tongue formed along one longitudinal edge of each of said panels and a groove formed along the opposite longitudinal edge of each of said panels adapted to receive the tongue of the next adjacent panel, gasket material disposed in each of said grooves adapted to be compressed by a tongue of the next adjacent panel to provide a substantially air-tight seal between each panel, and a tongue formed in the framework at one end of each of said panels adapted to be inserted and received in a recess formed in the ceiling of the room for making an air-tight connection therewith.

6. In a sectional partition structure as claimed in claim 5, a wall having an elongated recess adapted to receive a tongue formed in a longitudinal edge of a panel, said recess having sufficient depth to permit the panel tongue to be displaced laterally therein, and means for providing an air-tight connection between said panel tongue and said wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,790,938 -2/1931 Marcus 181--33.1 X 2,049,190 7/ 1936 Bemis 2024 2,057,071 10/1936 Stranahan 20-4 2,085,436 6/1937 Maurer 181-331 X 2,102,756 12/1937 Smith et al. 181-33.1 X 2,249,203 7/1941 Guignon 189-34 2,256,961 9/1941 Pearson et al. 52-40 7 2,647,287 8/1953 Jones 20--4 2,844,848 7/ 1958 Couse et a1 20-2 FOREIGN PATENTS 563,849 9/ 1958 Canada.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiner.

K. E. PAYNE, A. I. BREIER, Assistant Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A PANEL CONSTRUCTION OF THE TYPE USED AS A SOUND BARRIER COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A PLANAR REINFORCING FRAMEWORK DEFINING AN OPENING THEREIN, AT LEAST ONE LEAD SHEET SUBSTANTIALLY CO-EXTENSIVE WITH SAID FRAMEWORK SECURED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID FRAMEWORK, AT LEAST ONE LAYER OF A POROUS MATERIAL SUBSTANTIALLY CO-EXTENSIVE WITH THE FRAMEWORK OPENING DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OPENING SUCH THAT A SPACE IS DEFINED BETWEEN SAID LEAD SHEET AND SAID POROUS MATERIAL, A PAIR OF RIGID SHEETS SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID RENFORCING FRAMEWORK RIGIDLY SECURED THERETO, ONE OF SAID SHEETS ABUTTING THE LEAD SHEET AND THE OTHER OF SAID SHEETS ABUTTING THE LAYER OF POROUS MATERIAL,. MEANS FOR ADHESIVELY SECURING SAID POROUS MATERIAL TO THE ABUTTING SHEET, A TONGUE FORMED ALONG ONE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID FRAMEWORK AND A GROOVE FORMED ALONG THE OPPOSITE LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID FRAMEWORK, AND GASKET MATERIAL DISPOSED IN SAID GROOVE.

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