Patent Application
20230220681
Noise and vibration transmission is a significant design concern in any building. This is especially true with the rapidly growing design approach of using components of multi-layered laminated wood (i.e., mass timber) instead of concrete for structural elements of buildings. The mass timber slabs in a mass timber building have poor acoustic properties – they easily transmit ambient and impact noises and vibrations to the floor below. However, noise and vibration transmission is of concern in all buildings both vertically (floor to ceiling), and horizontally (e.g., office to conference room next door). These issues need to be controlled/mitigated.
The present systems and methods, etc., provide solutions to decrease footfall noise and vibration transmission (i.e., increases the IIC Rating of the assembly) between floors of buildings, such as buildings ranging from offices to multi-family to data centers, and/or solutions to one or more other needs associated with such buildings, and/or provide one or more other advantages in building projects such as mass timber building.
The present systems, devices and methods, etc., provide noise/vibration reduction assemblies and systems that reduce transmission of noise and/or vibration or otherwise improve the acoustic insulation properties between floors of buildings, such as mass timber buildings.
In some aspects, such improvement can be referred to as improving Impact Insulation Class rating (“the IIC rating”) or Sound Transmission Class rating (“the STC rating”, together the “IIC-STC rating”), which is an acoustical rating that measures the sound insulation and transmission of impact noise, such as vibrations or footsteps, on a floor-ceiling assembly. https://knowledgebank.materialbank.com/terms/iic-rating/ ,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_transmission_class .The IIC rating of a floor product can be expressed using whole numbers and is based on the performance of the entire floor-ceiling assembly, including the floor covering itself and any applicable underlayment, subfloor, and ceiling system. In some embodiments, the noise/vibration reduction assemblies and systems herein exceed IIC ratings/IIC-STC ratings of about 50, 55, 60, 65 or 70. This includes floor-ceiling assemblies, particularly for separating dwelling units or commercial or office buildings having multiple floors.
Surprisingly, the thin acoustic isolators herein can be as or more effective than relatively thick full-floor isolators. For example, Applicant has found that cruciform shaped (X-shaped) acoustic isolators of ribbed, ⅛″ thick vinyl sized to fit between the pedestal base plate and subfloor topping material (e.g., concrete, Gypcrete) produced similar IIC rating performance as floor assemblies with acoustic membrane materials beneath the entire area of subfloor topping material (full-floor cover) solutions despite the thin acoustic isolator having about 99% less material by weight or volume. For example, in some embodiments, ⅛″ thick RAF pedestal acoustic isolators installed beneath the pedestal base have been found to perform as well as ¼″ of acoustic isolator material installed over 100% of the subfloor area.
More specifically, testing found:
The cruciform shape, and S-shapes and empty-space shapes (i.e., a hollow shape such as an empty square, rectangle, triangle, circle, etc.), as well as shapes that do not extend to and therefore do not touch the perimeter of the pedestal head or base, can be advantageous for high volume manufacturing with little or no scrap/manufacturing waste. Further, such shapes can permit desirable amounts of pedestal adhesive to be distributed between the pedestal base plate and subfloor topping (or between the pedestal head and RAF) for an effective bond. Such shapes, including the cruciform shape, can also be particularly forgiving for installation. In addition, providing acoustic isolators only beneath the pedestal base and subfloor topping or between the pedestal head and RAF panel above, such as a TecCrete® panel, instead of installing a floor-wide mat made of an acoustic isolation material, i.e., a noise and vibration reduction material, to substantially cover the full subfloor or RAF area, for example the mat covering at least about 90%, 95% up to about 100% of the area of the subfloor or RAF, which drastically reduces the cost and quantity of acoustic dampening material ensconced in the building.
In some typical flooring constructions, a raised access floor panel sits on steel pedestals (creating a raised access floor (RAF) system) which in turn sit on a building subfloor (which can also be the ceiling of the occupant space below), such as a mass timber slab assembly, with a concrete topping or topping of other suitable materials. The steel pedestals can themselves, however, act as noise transmitters from the raised access floor to the ceiling below.
In certain embodiments, the systems, etc., herein comprise acoustic isolators disposed between the pedestal base plate and a building subfloor – including a topping on the subfloor such as a gypsum topping on such building subfloor, and/or acoustic isolators disposed between the height adjustable pedestal head and raised access floor panel. The pedestal can be height adjustable or a set length as desired. The acoustic isolators are sized and configured to have a diameter substantially similar to a diameter of the corresponding RAF pedestal base plate or RAF pedestal head, respectively. In this regard, the diameter can overhang or otherwise extend beyond the diameter of the pedestal head/base, but the acoustic isolators herein cannot be large enough to constitute an acoustic mat, subfloor, etc.
Various materials can be selected for the acoustic isolator, for example rubber, plastic, etc. The acoustic isolator can be configured in different shapes, thicknesses, hardness, etc., as desired, to accomplish the sound wave disruption. In some embodiments, the acoustic isolators can comprise rubber gasket types of material, or small “feet” configurations that do not provide a full gasket. The acoustic isolators can be about 3″, 4″, 5″ or 6″ in diameter (or other diameters as desired), and can consist essentially of ribbed vinyl.
Also included herein are methods comprising making or using the systems, assemblies, devices, etc., herein.
In some aspects, the present systems, devices and methods, etc., provide raised access floor (RAF) pedestals, wherein the RAF pedestal comprises a RAF pedestal base plate, a vertical pedestal tube or other suitable pedestal body, and a RAF pedestal head. The RAF pedestal can be height adjustable and the RAF pedestal head can be inserted into the vertical tube or other pedestal body therebetween, and wherein the RAF pedestal further comprises at least one of a first acoustic isolator attached to a bottom surface of the RAF pedestal base plate and a second acoustic isolator attached to an upper surface of the RAF pedestal head, wherein each of the first acoustic isolator and the second acoustic isolator is sized and configured to significantly reduce noise and vibration transmission thru the floor-ceiling slab assembly and then delivered to the building space below or below (depending on the origin of the vibration/noise). The acoustic isolators can be between a ceiling below and operably connected to the raised access floor (RAF) pedestal or between a floor above and operably connected to the raised access floor (RAF) pedestal.
The raised access floor (RAF) pedestal can further comprise both the first acoustic isolator and the second acoustic isolator, and the RAF pedestal can be steel, galvanized steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, or any other desired material of adequate strength. The first acoustic isolator and second acoustic isolator can comprise substantially only a same acoustic isolator material (i.e., the first acoustic isolator and second acoustic isolator are made of a same material(s)), or can be comprised of different acoustic isolator materials (i.e., the first acoustic isolator and second acoustic isolator are each made of different material(s)). The individual acoustic isolators each can comprise a single acoustic isolator material or more than one acoustic isolator material. Additional, non-acoustic isolator materials can also be used if desired. The acoustic isolators can be provided separately from the RAF pedestal, bound to the RAF pedestal or unitary with the RAF pedestal (e.g., press-fit, cast into, or molded into the pedestal).
As examples, the acoustic isolators can be each primarily one of plastic or rubber, cork, vinyl, ribbed vinyl, rubber, felt, closed cell foam or cork & rubber, as well as combinations thereof or other materials of significant acoustic isolation. Acoustic isolator materials can have a durometer or shore hardness, for example, of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100 on the Shore 00 scale, 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 on the Shore A scale, or between 0, 10, 20 or 30 on the Shore D scale.
The acoustic isolators can be from about 1/16″ thick, ⅛″ thick, ¼″ thick, ⅜″ thick, ½″ thick or more. The acoustic isolators can substantially cover the entire RAF pedestal head or the RAF pedestal base plate, or can be configured and sized to not touch the perimeter of the RAF pedestal head or the RAF pedestal base plate. The acoustic isolators and their corresponding RAF pedestal heads and/or the RAF pedestal base plates can comprise cooperatively located holes for mechanical fasteners or other cooperatively located structures such as slots in the acoustic isolators corresponding to locator bumps, flanges, etc., in the RAF pedestal heads and/or the RAF pedestal base plates. The acoustic isolators can cover less than 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20% or less of the RAF pedestal head or the RAF pedestal base plate, respectively.
The acoustic isolators can have any desired shape, such as an empty-space shape, an S-shape or an X-shape.
Some further aspects herein provide noise and vibration reduction assemblies in a multi-floor building. The assemblies comprise a subfloor, a raised access floor (RAF) and an array of RAF pedestals such as those discussed above between such subfloor and RAF. The assemblies further comprise at least one of a first acoustic isolator disposed between the subfloor and a bottom surface of the RAF pedestal base plate and/or a second acoustic isolator disposed between an upper surface of the RAF pedestal head and a raised access floor (RAF) panel of the raised access floor (RAF) system.
The assemblies can also comprise a subfloor dry board topping, which can for example be 4′ × 8′ and ½” to ¾” thick, which can be comprised of highly compressed, mesh reinforced magnesium oxide (MgO). Rather than being poured over the slab as a liquid as with some other toppings herein, the MgO boards can be laid on the slab, with or without a floor-wide acoustic mat, and screwed in place. The RAF pedestal with acoustic isolators can be glued to the magnesium oxide board.
In some embodiments, the lower acoustic isolators directly contact the subfloor and the upper acoustic isolators directly contact the raised access floor (RAF) panels. For example, there is no other acoustic isolator between the acoustic isolators and their attachment points, such as RAF pedestal base plates and the building’s subfloor or slab assembly. In some such embodiments, the multi-floor building has at least two occupied levels but does not have therebetween any acoustic, substantially floor-wide mat made of a noise and vibration reduction isolation material, for example in some embodiments there is no vibration and acoustic isolator material such as a gypsum topping or panel, a Tecrete® panel, or rubber or cork matting, etc. between the floors of the building.
Also provided herein are the noise and vibration reduction acoustic isolators themselves, such acoustic isolators sized and configured for attachment to the (RAF) pedestal, the raised access floor (RAF) panels, the subfloors, etc., within the building, as well as for attachment between walls of occupied rooms sharing a floor within the building; in such room-to-room embodiments, the pedestal may not have an hourglass shape nor have the structural strength of the RAF pedestals herein.
The aspects and embodiments herein also provide methods of making and using the acoustic isolators and other components herein. For example, such methods include constructing multi-floor buildings such as mass timber buildings including installing and utilizing the acoustic isolators herein wherein the construction comprises installing an array of raised access floor (RAF) pedestals herein between adjacent subfloor and raised access floor (RAF) of the multi-floor building. In some embodiments, the multi-floor building comprises mass timber slabs between a lower first floor and a higher second floor, or any and all of the upper floors, of the multi-floor building, for example where the mass timber slabs form the subfloor of the given level of the building, and in some instances the ceiling of the room below. The adjacent subfloor and raised access floor (RAF) of the multi-floor building can separate occupied spaces within the multi-floor building.
The methods further can comprise not installing an acoustic, substantially floor-wide acoustic mat made of a noise and vibration reduction isolation material between the adjacent subfloor topping and the raised access floor (RAF) of the multi-floor building.
These and other aspects, features and embodiments are set forth within this application, including the drawings. Unless expressly stated otherwise, all embodiments, aspects, features, etc., can be mixed and matched, combined and permuted in any desired manner.
The present systems, devices and methods, etc., provide noise and vibration reducing acoustic isolators, and assemblies and systems comprising such noise and vibration reducing acoustic isolators. The noise and vibration reducing acoustic isolators, assemblies, etc., significantly reduce transmission of noise and/or vibration or otherwise improve the acoustic insulation properties between floors of buildings, such as mass timber buildings.
In some aspects, such improvement can be referred to as improving Impact Insulation Class rating (“the IIC rating”) or Sound Transmission Class rating (“the STC rating”, together the “IIC-STC rating”), which is an acoustical rating that measures the sound insulation and transmission of impact noise, such as vibrations or footsteps, on a floor-ceiling assembly. https://knowledgebank.materialbank.com/terms/iic-rating/ ,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_transmission_class .
For example, the assemblies, etc., herein can be tested as follows:
Test Procedure for Lab Testing: The test chambers consist of one reverberation room located directly above another reverberation room with a test opening between them. The product or assembly is installed into a test frame which is then placed in the opening between the test chambers. Care is taken that the only significant sound transmission path between the rooms is by way of the test specimen. The tapping machine is operated in four different locations on the floor (as specified in the standard) while the sound pressure levels are measured at four microphone locations in the room below. With the test specimen in place, the sound absorption and the background sound levels are also measured in the receiving room. The tapping machine sound pressure levels and the sound absorption in the receiving room are used to calculate the normalized sound pressure level, Ln, at the standard ⅓ octave band frequencies from 100 to 3150 Hertz.
End Result: The test report will include the normalized sound pressure level from 100 to 3150 Hertz, and the IIC rating. The ISO 10140-3 test can also be performed and the normalized impact sound pressure level, Ln can be calculated in accordance with ISO 717-2. Sound transmission loss measurements may be conducted at some lower frequencies if requested in advance.
Another test procedure, particularly for Floor-Ceiling systems in buildings:
Test Procedure for Field-Testing: Testing is typically performed on two adjacent rooms, one directly above the other but there may be occasions where the receiving is not located directly below the tapping machine. The tapping machine is operated in four different locations on the floor (as specified in the standard) while the sound pressure levels are measured at four microphone locations in the room below (receiving room). The sound absorption and the background sound levels are also measured in the receiving room. The tapping machine sound pressure levels measured in the receiving room used to obtain the impact sound pressure levels (ISPL). The tapping machine sound pressure levels and the reverberation time (normalized to 0.5 seconds) in the receiving room are used to calculate the reverberation time normalized impact sound pressure levels (RTNISPL). The tapping machine sound pressure levels and the sound absorption measured in the receiving room are used to calculate the absorption normalized impact sound pressure levels (ANISPL).
End Result: The test report will include the impact sound pressure level (ISPL), reverberation time normalized impact sound pressure level (RTNISPL) and/or absorption normalized impact sound pressure level (ANISPL) values from 100 to 3150 Hertz, and the corresponding the impact sound rating (ISR), the normalized impact sound rating (NISR) and/or apparent impact isolation class (AIIC) ratings respectively.
In some embodiments, the noise/vibration reduction assemblies and systems herein meet or exceed IIC ratings/IIC-STC ratings of about 50, 55, 60, 65 or 70. This includes floor-ceiling assemblies, particularly for separating dwelling units or commercial or office buildings having multiple floors.
Surprisingly, the thin acoustic isolators herein can be as or more effective than relatively thick full-floor isolators. More specifically, testing found:
Turning to the acoustic isolators themselves, they can be any desired shape, and are typically thin. For example, the acoustic isolators can have cruciform shapes, and S-shapes and empty-space shapes, as well as shapes that extend precisely to, or beyond, or do not extend to and therefore do not touch, the perimeter of the pedestal head or base plate. Such shapes can be advantageous for high volume manufacturing with little or no scrap/manufacturing waste. Further, such shapes can permit desirable amounts of pedestal adhesive to be distributed between the pedestal base plate and subfloor topping (or between the pedestal head and RAF) for an effective bond. Such shapes can also be particularly forgiving for installation. In addition, providing acoustic isolators only beneath the pedestal base or between the pedestal head and RAF panel above, such as a TecCrete® panel, instead of placing an acoustic, floor-wide mat made of an acoustic isolation material, i.e., a noise and vibration reduction material, to substantially cover the full subfloor whether a concrete or wood or other slab material, for example the mat covering at least about 80%, 90%, 95% up to about 100% of the area of the subfloor or RAF, which drastically reduces the cost and quantity of acoustic dampening material ensconced in the building. The systems, etc., herein can comprise acoustic isolators disposed between the pedestal base plate and a building subfloor - including a topping on the subfloor such as a gypsum topping on such building subfloor, and/or acoustic isolators disposed between the raised access floor panel and the pedestal head which can be height adjustable.
Various materials can be selected for the acoustic isolator, for example rubber, plastic, etc. The acoustic isolator can be configured in different shapes, thicknesses, hardness, etc., as desired, to accomplish the sound wave disruption. In some embodiments, the acoustic isolators can comprise rubber gasket types of material, or small “feet” configurations that do not provide a full gasket.
In the example of an RAF system forming part of a ceiling-to-floor construction, an access floor panel sits on pedestals that which in turn sit on the building subfloor (which can also be the ceiling of the occupant space below). The building subfloor can be a mass timber slab assembly and can include a topping such as a gypsum topping. The steel pedestals themselves, however, act as noise transmitter from the raised access floor to the ceiling below (and vice-versa).
The devices, assemblies, etc., herein are useful for any building construction having pedestals, which can be load-bearing pedestals (e.g., weight for vertical loads or seismic for horizontal forces), that conduct noise or vibration from one end of the pedestal to another, and therefore from one location in the building to another. Exemplary locations include between floors (typically from a floor to a ceiling or vice-versa) or through walls separating one room from another. The systems, assemblies, etc., herein can be particularly useful for mass timber buildings, as well as for concrete, steel, and other surfaces and materials.
In certain embodiments, the systems, etc., herein comprise acoustic isolators disposed between the pedestal base plate and the building subfloor and/or acoustic isolators disposed between the raised access floor panel and the pedestal head. The embodiments herein also include pedestals, or other spacers, having such acoustic isolators, as well as RAF systems having such acoustic isolators, wall systems having such acoustic isolators and buildings having such acoustic isolators.
Various materials can be selected as the acoustic isolator, for example rubber, plastic, cork, vinyl, closed cell foam, etc. The acoustic isolator can be configured in different shapes, thicknesses, hardness, etc., as desired, to accomplish the sound wave disruption. In some embodiments, the acoustic isolators can comprise rubber gasket types of material, or small “feet” configurations that do not provide a full gasket. Pedestal heads can be flat or can have non-flat features such as embossments or contours that locate the access floor panel in the correct location on the pedestal head.
Turning to some further examples and the Figures herein,
The RAF pedestal 6 in this embodiment is substantially an I-shaped, and comprises a RAF pedestal base plate 14, a RAF height adjustable pedestal head 12 and a pedestal body 28 therebetween. The upper acoustic isolator 10 is disposed between the RAF pedestal head 12 of the RAF pedestal 6 and the raised access floor (RAF) panel 24, here being directly attached/abutting each. The lower acoustic isolator 8 is disposed between the RAF pedestal base plate 14 of the RAF pedestal 6 and the subfloor 16, here directly attached to/abutting the RAF pedestal base plate 14 and the topping 18. In other embodiments, the lower acoustic isolator 8 can directly abut the acoustic floor-wide mat made of a noise and vibration reduction isolation material 20, or the mass timber slab 22. In some embodiments, topping 18 and/ or acoustic floor-wide mat made of a noise and vibration reduction isolation material 20 can be omitted entirely or with spaces or cutouts provided in the mat to allow access of the lower acoustic isolator 8 to a desired attachment point and/or material. Similar access holes can be provided above the RAF pedestal 6 if desired. The noise and vibration reduction assembly 2 in this embodiment further comprises an air seal 30 for RAF panels 24 that are above a raised access floor (RAF) space 32 having an underfloor air/HVAC system; the air seal 30 prevents or inhibits undesired flow of such air/HVAC into the occupied space 34.
Also included herein are methods comprising making or using the systems, assemblies, devices, etc. For example, such methods include constructing multi-floor buildings such as mass timber buildings including installing and utilizing the acoustic isolators herein wherein the construction comprises installing an array of raised access floor (RAF) pedestals herein between adjacent subfloor and raised access floor (RAF) of the multi-floor building. In some embodiments, the multi-floor building comprises mass timber slabs between a lower first floor and a higher second floor of the multi-floor building, for example where the mass timber slabs form the subfloor of the given level of the building, and in some instances the ceiling of the room below. The adjacent subfloor and raised access floor (RAF) of the multi-floor building can separate occupied spaces within the multi-floor building.
All terms used herein are used in accordance with their ordinary meanings unless the context or definition clearly indicates otherwise. Also unless expressly indicated otherwise, in the specification the use of “or” includes “and” and vice-versa. Non-limiting terms are not to be construed as limiting unless expressly stated, or the context clearly indicates, otherwise (for example, “including,” “having,” and “comprising” typically indicate “including without limitation”). Singular forms, including in the claims (if any), such as “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless expressly stated, or the context clearly indicates, otherwise.
Unless otherwise stated, adjectives herein such as “substantially” and “about” that modify a condition or relationship characteristic of a feature or features of an embodiment, indicate that the condition or characteristic is defined to within tolerances that are acceptable for operation of the embodiment for an application for which it is intended.
The scope of the present devices, systems and methods, etc., includes both means plus function and step plus function concepts. However, claims are not to be interpreted as indicating a “means plus function” relationship unless the word “means” is specifically recited in a claim, and are to be interpreted as indicating a “means plus function” relationship where the word “means” is specifically recited in a claim. Similarly, claims are not to be interpreted as indicating a “step plus function” relationship unless the word “step” is specifically recited in a claim, and are to be interpreted as indicating a “step plus function” relationship where the word “step” is specifically recited in a claim.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments have been discussed herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the discussion herein.
The present application claims the benefit of copending U.S. Provisional Pat. Application Serial No. 63/222,097, filed Jul. 15, 2021, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63222097 | Jul 2021 | US |
