Claims
- 1. A direct field sound making system for providing a direct path sound masking signal to a predetermined area of a building, said predetermined area including a ceiling and a floor, said system comprising:
a sound masking signal generator operative to provide two or more mutually incoherent electrical sound masking signals; and a plurality of loudspeaker assemblies, each loudspeaker assembly comprising an input coupled to said masking signal generator to receive the electrical sound masking signal from one channel of said generator,
wherein each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is operative to emit an acoustic sound masking signal corresponding to said electrical sound masking signal as modified by the acoustic transfer function of the loudspeaker, wherein each of the loudspeaker assemblies has a low directivity index, and wherein each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is constructed and oriented to provide the acoustic sound masking signal in a direct path into said predetermined area.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of the loudspeaker assemblies includes a speaker output having an effective aperture area that is equal to the area of a circle having a diameter of between 1.25″ and 3″ diameter.
- 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said sound masking signal generator comprises a low pass filter network having a sharp cutoff frequency above the sound masking frequency band of said two or more sound masking signals.
- 4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a remote control unit remotely coupled to said masking signal generator and operative to signal said masking signal generator to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum.
- 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to select another one of the stored sets of information.
- 6. The system of claim 4 wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency band of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to adjust the resultant intensity of the signals within the at least one frequency band.
- 7. The system of claim 4 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via an infrared link.
- 8. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via a radio frequency link.
- 9. The system of claim 1 wherein at least some of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies are disposed in corresponding apertures in said ceiling, wherein said apertures are sized and configured to receive said loudspeaker assemblies, whereby the acoustic sound masking signal emitted by each of the loudspeaker assemblies disposed in said apertures is directly radiated into the predetermined area.
- 10. The system of claim 9 wherein at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed in apertures in the ceiling are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a uniform sound level of the acoustic sound masking signal throughout the predetermined area.
- 11. The system of claim 9 wherein at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed in apertures in the ceiling are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a diffuse sound masking field comprised of the plurality of acoustic sound masking signals emitted by the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies disposed throughout the predetermined area.
- 12. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies are disposed within the predetermined area a predetermined height above the floor, whereby the acoustic sound masking signal emitted by each of the loudspeaker assemblies disposed in said predetermined area a predetermined height above the floor is directly radiated into the predetermined area.
- 13. The system of claim 12 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed a predetermined height above the floor are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a uniform sound level of the acoustic sound masking signal throughout the predetermined area.
- 14. The system of claim 12 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed a predetermined height above the floor are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a diffuse sound masking field comprised of the plurality of acoustic sound masking signals emitted by the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies disposed throughout the predetermined area.
- 15. A direct field sound making system for providing a direct path sound masking signal to a predetermined area of a building, said predetermined area including a ceiling and a floor, said system comprising:
a sound masking signal generator operative to provide two or more mutually incoherent electrical sound masking signals; and a plurality of loudspeaker assemblies, each loudspeaker assembly comprising an input coupled to said masking signal generator to receive the electrical sound masking signal from one channel of said generator,
wherein each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is operative to emit an acoustic sound masking signal corresponding to said electrical sound masking signal as modified by the acoustic transfer function of the loudspeaker, wherein each of the loudspeaker assemblies has a low directivity index, and wherein each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is constructed and oriented to provide the acoustic sound masking signal in a direct path into said predetermined area; and wherein the acoustic sound masking signal has a corresponding sound masking spectrum, said sound masking spectrum having a roll off of between 2 and 4 dB between 800-1600 Hz, a roll off of between 3 and 6 dB between 1600-3200 Hz, and a roil off of between 4 and 7 dB between 3200-6000 Hz.
- 16. The system of claim 154 wherein the sound masking spectrum further includes a 1 dB roll off between 500-800 Hz and is substantially flat between 200-500 Hz.
- 17. The system of claim 15 wherein the sound masking spectrum further includes a 3 dB roll off between 5000-8000 Hz.
- 18. The system of claim 15 wherein each of the loudspeaker assemblies includes a speaker output having an effective aperture area that is equal to the area of a circle having a diameter of between 1.25″ and 3″ diameter.
- 19. The system of claim 15 wherein at least some of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies are disposed in corresponding apertures in said ceiling, wherein said apertures are sized and configured to receive said loudspeaker assemblies, whereby the acoustic sound masking signal emitted by each of the loudspeaker assemblies disposed in said apertures is directly radiated into the predetermined area.
- 20. The system of claim 19 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed in apertures in the ceiling are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a uniform sound level of the acoustic sound masking signal throughout the predetermined area.
- 21. The system of claim 19 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed in apertures in the ceiling are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a diffuse sound masking field comprised of the plurality of acoustic sound masking signals emitted by the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies disposed throughout the predetermined area.
- 22. The system of claim 15 wherein at least a portion of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies are disposed within the predetermined area a predetermined height above the floor, whereby the acoustic sound masking signal emitted by each of the loudspeaker assemblies disposed in said predetermined area a predetermined height above the floor is directly radiated into the predetermined area.
- 23. The system of claim 22 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed a predetermined height above the floor are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a uniform sound level of the acoustic sound masking signal throughout the predetermined area.
- 24. The system of claim 22 wherein the at least a portion of loudspeaker assemblies that are disposed a predetermined height above the floor are spaced apart a predetermined distance to provide a diffuse sound masking field comprised of the plurality of acoustic sound masking signals emitted by the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies disposed throughout the predetermined area.
- 25. The system of claim 15 further comprising a remote control unit remotely coupled to said masking signal generator and operative to signal said masking signal generator to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum.
- 26. The system of claim 25 wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to select another one of the stored sets of information.
- 27. The system of claim 25 wherein wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency band of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to adjust the resultant intensity of the signals within the at least one frequency band.
- 28. The system of claim 25 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via an infrared link.
- 29. The system of claim 25 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via a radio frequency link.
- 30. A sound making system for providing a sound masking signal to a predetermined area of a building, said predetermined area including a ceiling and a floor, said system comprising:
a sound masking signal generator operative to provide one or more channels of mutually incoherent electrical sound masking signals, the sound masking signal generator including a plurality of stored sets of information for providing from a recipient loudspeaker assembly an acoustic sound masking signal having a selected sound masking spectrum, wherein one of the stored plurality of sets of information is selected and used to provide the one or more electrical sound masking signals; and a plurality of loudspeaker assemblies, each loudspeaker assembly comprising an input coupled to said masking signal generator to receive the electrical sound masking signal from one channel of said generator, wherein each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is operative to emit an acoustic sound masking signal corresponding to said electrical sound masking signal as modified by the acoustic transfer function of the loudspeaker, and wherein the acoustic sound masking signal has a sound masking spectrum corresponding to the selected stored set of information; and a remote control unit remotely coupled to said masking signal generator and operative to signal said masking signal generator to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum.
- 31. The system of claim 30 wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency component of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to select another one of the stored sets of information.
- 32. The system of claim 30 wherein the remote control is operative to adjust at least one frequency band of the selected sound masking spectrum by instructing the masking signal generator to adjust the resultant intensity of the signals within the at least one frequency band.
- 33. The system of claim 30 wherein the at least one frequency band is between 200-8000 Hz.
- 34. The system of claim 30 wherein the at least one frequency band is between 500-6000 Hz.
- 35. The system of claim 30 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via an infrared link.
- 36. The system of claim 30 wherein the remote control unit is remotely coupled to the masking signal generator via a radio frequency link.
- 37. A bolt and nut threading system for positioning and locking a nut on a bolt, said system comprising
a bolt portion comprising an axial shaft, the exterior surface of said shaft comprising one or more axially oriented regions comprising threads oriented substantially orthogonally to the axial direction of said shaft and one or more axial oriented regions without threads; and a nut portion, the interior surface of said nut portion comprising one or more axially oriented regions comprising threads oriented substantially orthogonally to the axial direction of said shaft and one or more axial oriented regions without threads,
wherein the surface area of said one or more regions on the exterior surface of said bolt shaft with threads is equal to the surface area of said one or more regions on said nut interior surface without threads and wherein the surface area of said one or more regions on said nut interior surface with threads is equal to the surface area of said one or more regions on the exterior surface of said bolt shaft without threads.
- 38. The bolt and nut threading system of claim 37, wherein the exterior surface of said bolt shaft and the interior surface of said nut contain two regions of equal surface area with threads alternating with two regions of equal surface area without threads, whereby after said nut is positioned on said bolt, a quarter turn of said nut locks said nut in place on said bolt.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/345,362 entitled Sound Masking System, filed Oct. 24, 2001, and under 35 USC §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/280,104 entitled Sound Masking System, filed Oct. 24, 2002, the whole of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60345362 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10280104 |
Oct 2002 |
US |
Child |
10420954 |
Apr 2003 |
US |