Patent Grant
8567557
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of floor tiling systems and more specifically relates to an improved sound-muffling flooring and tiling system for installation on a planar surface for dampening sound waves thereby reducing sound from traveling in various directions when a user travels across the flooring, while also providing smooth and level surfaces for flooring installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Members of today's society often live in close quarters to one another as the world's population is constantly increasing. Consequently, it is not uncommon for people to share a common dwelling space, living within close proximity. For example, apartment complexes may provide multi-level buildings for people to occupy and live on different floors within a commercial dwelling. Occupants who may live on a level with other occupants living above may experience noise disturbances when the upstairs occupants move across their floors. Many times, this results in noise pollution traveling from floor to floor. This may cause high noise levels for the individuals living below, which may ultimately cause headaches, loss of sleep, and other frustrating and inconvenient conditions. Although individual rooms may be somewhat soundproofed, floors and ceilings typically cannot due to the lack of soundproofing products available for the floor installation process.
Furthermore, sound may travel horizontally thus disturbing occupants who reside on the same level. For example, a person who is exercising in a living room may create noise when jumping up and down or running in place. This sound may travel to other rooms on the same level and may thus disturb those who are in those rooms. A more effective solution is needed to dampen and reduce sound waves from multi-directional travel.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,886,488 to Stephen W. Payne, Jr. et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,577 to Kenneth B. Garner; U.S. Pat. No. 7,987,645 to Brandon Tinianov; U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0230699 to James R. Keene; U.S. Pat. No. 2004/0016184 to Robert J. Huebsch et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,957 to James S. Holtrop. This prior art is representative of sound dampening means. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a sound muffling system should be lightweight, durable, reasonably easy to install, and integrally comprise a sound muffling, leveling and insulating layer. The present invention is designed to operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable sound muffling flooring tile system to provide a flooring system for ideal use in a multi-story building or dwelling, wherein this unique flooring system may dampen sound waves produced when a user moves about thereby minimizing noise travel while also providing additional insulation and to avoid the above-mentioned problems.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known flooring underlay art, the present invention provides a novel sonic foam-enhanced underlay board system; a sound muffling and insulating flooring underlay tile system.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a novel sound muffling tile assembly which may comprise a solid base member, a cushiony foam layer, and a fastening means for securing the foam layer to the base member. A plurality of assembled sound muffling tiles may then be installed underneath a floor, which may serve to dampen and limit sound from traveling when a user moves about the floor. Furthermore, the cushiony foam layer of the present invention may serve as an insulator and as a leveler. As an insulator, the film layer of sound muffling tile assembly may help retain heat or cool air within a room.
The cushiony film layer of the present invention may comprise a flexible foam or rubber substrate. In one embodiment, the cushiony film layer may comprise reticulated foam. Furthermore, the base member may comprise a hard substrate such as plywood or a medium-density or high-density fiberboard. In its contemplated ideal use, the sound muffling underlay tile may serve to reduce noise from traveling between floors of a residential or professional building as a consequence of the cushiony film layer which serves as a sound wave dampener. Sound waves caused by movement on a floor may be obstructed from traveling to the floor beneath by the foam layer. The cushiony film layer may be securely attached to the base member via a fastening means. In one embodiment, the fastener may be glue. However, in other embodiments, the film layer may be otherwise attached to the base member via a double-sided adhesive or other suitable equivalent bonding may be used.
The present invention holds significant improvements and serves as a sound muffling flooring underlay tile systems. For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and method(s) of use for the present invention, sonic foam-enhanced underlay board for the sound-muffling flooring underlay tile system, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present invention.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to a sound-muffling system and more particularly to a sound-muffling flooring underlay tile system used to provide an additional sound barrier between floors within the same dwelling to inhibit the noise disturbance and sound pollution between individuals sharing a common commercial building or residence. In turning now to the drawings there is shown in
In continuing to refer to
As further shown in
In another embodiment of sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100, foam 155 may comprise closed-cell foam, such as syntactic foam. Closed-cell foam may integrally comprise hollow particles embedded in a matrix material. One main advantage of syntactic foams is that they have a very high strength-to-weight ratio. Although open-cell structure is lighter in weight, the increased density of closed-cell foam may serve to further muffle sound from transferring through sound-muffling tile assembly 110 when in assembled condition 150 as shown in
In referring now to
In still referring to
In referring now to
As shown, sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100 may comprise slatted tile assembly 300. This embodiment may comprise foam strips 310 which may be attached to a top surface of flooring base member 115 via fastener 130. As is further shown in
In referring now to
Referring now to
As shown, upstairs tenant 420 is walking on flooring substrate 400 comprising sound-muffling tile assembly 110. As upstairs tenant 420 moves around, sound waves 410 created by her footsteps are muffled as they pass through flooring substrate 400. As shown in
As previously mentioned, sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100 is a sound-muffling and noise-dampening tile underlay system which may be installed underneath a floor surface for reducing noise transfer between rooms and between floors within a building or dwelling. Sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100 may comprise sound-muffling tile assembly 110. Sound muffling tile assembly 110 may comprise flooring base member 115, cushioning film layer 120, and fastener 130. Flooring base member 115 and cushioning film layer 120 may comprise approximately identical dimensions. In assembled condition 150, bottom surface of cushioning film layer 120 is attachable to a top planar surface of flooring base member 115 via fastener 130. Cushioning film layer 120 may comprise foam 155. Foam 155 may comprise an open cell structure, such as reticulated foam, which may serve to muffle sound waves and provide insulation. Open-cell structured foams contain pores which may be connected to each other and form an interconnected network that is soft, flexible, and sufficiently durable. In one embodiment of sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100, foam 155 may comprise foam-rubber which may comprise an open-cell structure form. Flooring base member 115 may comprise plywood 160. Fastener 130 may comprise adhesive fastener 220 for adhering cushioning film layer 120 to flooring base member 115. Alternatively, sound-muffling flooring underlay tile systems 100 may comprise slatted tile assembly 300 comprising a plurality of foam strips 310 attached to a top surface of flooring base member 115. It should be noted that slatted tile assembly 300 may comprise tongue-and-groove profile 320 for ease of inter-connecting.
A kit may be provided for sale of the present invention. Upon reading this specification, it should be appreciated that, under appropriate circumstances, considering such issues as design preference, user preferences, marketing preferences, cost, structural requirements, available materials, technological advances, etc., other kit contents or arrangements such as, for example, including underlays, fasteners such as adhesives or the like, different flooring combinations, parts may be sold separately, etc., may be sufficient.
It should be noted that the steps described in the method of use can be carried out in many different orders according to user preference. Upon reading this specification, it should be appreciated that, under appropriate circumstances, considering such issues as design preference, user preferences, marketing preferences, cost, structural requirements, available materials, technological advances, etc., other methods of use arrangements such as, for example, different orders within above-mentioned list, elimination or addition of certain steps, installing pre-assembled systems, installing non-preassembled systems, including or excluding certain maintenance steps, etc., may be sufficient.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
The present application is related to and claims priority from prior provisional application Ser. No. 61/429,488, filed Jan. 4, 2011 which application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5052157 | Ducroux et al. | Oct 1991 | A |
| 5867957 | Holtrop | Feb 1999 | A |
| 6576577 | Garner | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 7886488 | Payne, Jr. et al. | Feb 2011 | B2 |
| 7987645 | Tinianov | Aug 2011 | B2 |
| 20040016184 | Huebsch et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
| 20050193670 | Niese et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20060230699 | Keene | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20080010931 | Pervan et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20090313915 | Kellner | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20110030300 | Liu | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120167370 A1 | Jul 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61429488 | Jan 2011 | US |
