Sound barrier
AssigneeCarsonite International Corporation
InventorDonald W. Schmanski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sound wall for placement along a roadside for reducing the transmission of sound from a traffic area wherein the sound wall comprises a plurality of stiff, resilient containment members respectfully configured with the channel configuration and having an enclosed channel volume and continuous open side. Each channel volume is filled with a composite composition of rubber chips and binder compressed within the channel and substantially filling the channel volume. These containment members are stacked in nesting relationship to form a wall structure, with the open side being oriented toward the traffic area.
Claims16
A device for reducing the transmission of sound, comprising:
- a stiff, resilient containment member configured as a channel and having an enclosed channel volume and continuous open side, said channel comprising a back wall, and top and bottom walls which are geometrically configured with non-planar, nesting structure to thereby enable a plurality of said devices to be stacked with the respective top wall of a supporting device nesting in the bottom wall of each supported device;
- a composite composition of rubber chips and binder compressed within the channel and substantially filling the channel volume;
- and
- at least one vertical support rod extending through the respective top and bottom walls of each of the devices when said devices are in a stacked configuration to thereby reinforce said stacked configuration, and means for securing the stacked devices with respect to the support rod.
A sound wall for placement along a roadside for reducing the transmission of sound from traffic areas, said sound wall comprising:
- a plurality of stiff, resilient containment members respectively configured as a channel and having an enclosed channel volume and a continuous open side, each channel comprising a back wall and opposing, continuous and parallel top and bottom walls which define top and bottom boundaries of the open side and which are geometrically configured with non-planar, nesting structure to thereby enable a plurality of said containment members to be stacked with the respective top wall of a supporting containment member nesting in the bottom wall of each supported containment member, said parallel top and bottom walls further including a mounting lip configured to receive a cover plate for concealing the composite composition contained within the channel volume;
- means for stacking said containment members horizontally in a nesting relationship of bottom wall to top wall and for securing this stacked configuration to form a wall, said open side being oriented toward the traffic area;
- and
- at least one vertical support rod extending through the respective top and bottom walls of each of the containment members when said containment members are in a stacked configuration to thereby reinforce said stacked configuration, and means for securing the stacked containment members with respect to the support rod;
- said channel volume including a composite composition of rubber chips and binder compressed within the channel and substantially filling the channel volume.
A method of reducing sound transmission from a traffic area comprising the steps of:
- a) preparing a plurality of stiff, resilient containment members, each containment member configured as a channel and having an enclosed channel volume and continuous open side, each channel comprising a back wall, and top and bottom walls which are geometrically configured with non-planar, nesting structure to thereby enable a plurality of said containment members to be stacked with the respective top wall of a supporting containment members nesting in the bottom wall of each supported containment member;
- b) filling each channel volume with a composite composition comprising rubber chips compressed together with a binder to form a substantially integrated material;
- c) compiling said containment members in a nesting relationship of top wall to bottom wall and securing this stacked configuration to form a wall, said open side being oriented toward the traffic area;
- d) fabricating at least one vertical support rod;
- and
- e) positioning said at least one vertical support rod to extend through the respective top and bottom walls of each of the containment members when said containment members are in said stacked configuration to thereby reinforce said stacked configuration, and means for securing the stacked containment members with respect to the support rod.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.