JP7717544B2 - Soundproof walls and soundproofing panels used therein - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a soundproof wall that blocks noise generated from a noise source, and to a soundproof panel used therein.

On expressways, soundproofing walls are generally installed to block noise generated by passing vehicles and to prevent that noise from spreading to surrounding areas. Many of these soundproofing walls consist of multiple sound-insulating panels between H-shaped steel pillars erected at specified intervals on the roadside or in the median strip. These types of soundproofing walls are also sometimes installed to block noise generated by noise sources such as railway vehicles traveling on the tracks or factories.

In the above-mentioned type of soundproof wall, the lower ends of the supports are typically attached by welding or other means to a base plate placed on top of the foundation, and the base plate is then fixed to the foundation with anchor bolts, allowing the supports to stand upright.

Furthermore, when soundproof walls are installed on the roadside of bridges or elevated roads (viaducts), inspecting the bolts and other components used in the support attachment points involves little work when inspecting the front side, but inspecting the rear side, which is on the outside of the road, requires the use of an overhead work vehicle such as an overhead work vehicle, which poses a significant workload.

In response to this, Patent Document 1 and other documents propose reducing the burden of inspecting soundproof walls by providing an inspection hatch that opens to the front side of the soundproofing board that makes up the main body of the soundproof wall (hereinafter referred to as the "soundproof wall main body"), allowing inspection of bolts and other components used in the support post mounting parts on the rear side of the soundproof wall from the front side.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-42657

When an inspection hatch like the one above is installed in a soundproof wall, it is conceivable to keep the hatch closed with a door or lid during normal times other than during inspections. However, depending on how the door or lid is attached, the structure of the opening of the inspection hatch, including the door or lid, may become complicated, or inspection work may become difficult. For example, a lid may require a storage compartment, and if the door is to slide relative to the soundproof wall body, rails or the like may be required. Furthermore, if the lid is bolted to the soundproof wall body, it becomes difficult to attach and remove the lid during inspection.

The present invention aims to provide a soundproof wall with an inspection hatch that can be opened and closed on the front side, with a structure for the opening on the front side of the inspection hatch that is simple and makes inspection work easy.

To solve the above problem, the soundproof wall of the present invention is configured so that an inspection hatch that opens onto the front side of the soundproof wall body is provided, and a front cover that opens and closes the front side of the inspection hatch is attached to the soundproof wall body so that it can swing freely.

With the above configuration, the front cover that opens and closes the front side of the inspection hatch can be freely swung, eliminating the need to provide a storage compartment for the front cover in the soundproof wall body, simplifying the structure of the opening on the front side of the inspection hatch. Furthermore, the inspection hatch can be easily opened and inspection work can be performed simply by swinging the front cover from the front side of the soundproof wall body.

Furthermore, in the above configuration, it is desirable to provide a fixing means for fixing the front cover to the soundproof wall main body when the front cover closes the front side of the inspection hatch. Here, the fixing means can be comprised of a latch provided on the front cover and a latch receiver provided on the soundproof wall main body. Furthermore, by configuring the front cover so that it can be fixed to the soundproof wall main body when it swings inward of the soundproof wall main body and opens the front side of the inspection hatch, inspection work can be performed more easily.

Furthermore, if the front cover is configured to abut against the peripheral edge of the front opening of the inspection hatch from the inside of the soundproof wall main body when the front side of the inspection hatch is closed, there is no risk of the front cover swinging outward from the soundproof wall main body even if the front cover that closes the front side of the inspection hatch becomes unfastened from the soundproof wall main body, thereby maintaining safety.

The soundproofing panel of the present invention is a soundproofing panel that constitutes the soundproof wall having the above-described configuration, and is equipped with the inspection hatch and the front cover.

As described above, the soundproof wall and soundproof panel of the present invention are provided with a swingable front cover that opens and closes the front side of the inspection hatch. This allows the structure of the opening on the front side of the inspection hatch to be simple, without a lid storage section, and inspection work can be carried out by easily opening the inspection hatch from the front side of the soundproof wall body.

1 is a front view of a sound-proofing plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1A is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIa-IIa in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIb-IIb in FIG. 1. Enlarged front view of the main part of Figure 1 FIG. 2B is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the state in which the front side of the inspection hatch is open. 1 is a front view of a main part of a soundproof wall according to an embodiment of the present invention; 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state during inspection corresponding to FIG. 6 .

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 4 show a sound-insulating panel 1 used in a soundproof wall according to the embodiment described below. As shown in Figures 1 and 2(a) and (b), the sound-insulating panel 1 is a horizontally elongated rectangle that constitutes the soundproof wall body as a whole. It comprises a front panel 11 that forms the front surface, a back panel 12 that forms the back surface, side panels 13 that form the left and right sides, a bottom panel 14 that forms the bottom surface, and a thick sound-absorbing material 15 housed in the space surrounded by the front panel 11, back panel 12, both side panels 13, and bottom panel 14. The front panel 11 is made of an aluminum alloy plate, the back panel 12 is made of a plated steel plate or laminated steel plate, and the side panels 13 and bottom panel 14 are made of plated steel plate. The sound-absorbing material 15 may also be made of glass wool. An inspection hatch 17 is formed at the bottom on both sides of the soundproofing plate 1, opening to the front and using part of the back panel 12 as the back wall, and a front cover 18 is provided to open and close the roughly rectangular opening on the front side of the inspection hatch 17.

The front panel 11 has a number of louver-shaped sound-absorbing holes on the front portion 11a other than the front opening of the inspection hatch 17, and has an upper plate portion 11b at the top that is bent toward the rear.

The upper part of the back panel 12a extends parallel to the front panel 11a of the front panel 11, and a recess 12b is provided in the center extending in the longitudinal direction of the sound-proofing panel 1. This recess 12b is intended to improve the overall cross-sectional strength. The lower part of the back panel 12a is formed with a sloped surface that bulges diagonally downward from the bottom end of the recess 12b, and a section that extends parallel to the front panel 11a of the front panel 11 from the bottom end of this sloped surface. The upper end of the back panel 12 is also provided with an upper panel 12c that is bent toward the front and overlaps the upper panel 11b of the front panel 11 and is connected to it by rivets (not shown), and L-shaped notches 12d are provided at both corners of the lower end.

The side panels 13, not shown in the figure, consist of a member that forms a rectangular portion extending vertically on the side of the sound-proofing plate 1, and a member that forms a trapezoidal portion that expands along the bulge toward the rear of the rear panel 12. They are connected to the front panel 11 with rivets and to the rear panel 12 by rivets or spot welding.

The bottom panel 14 slopes slightly downward from the rear side to the front side, with the front side connected to the inward bent portion at the lower end of the front panel 11 and the downward bent portion at the rear side connected to the rear portion 12a of the back panel 12. Furthermore, a support member 19 with a roughly U-shaped cross section is attached to the underside of the bottom panel 14 along its entire length except for the side portions, with its opening facing downward. Both legs of the support member 19 extend to the same position as the lower end of the back panel 12 to support the front side of the bottom panel 14, and the front-side legs form the lower edge of the front of the sound-proofing panel 1. Meanwhile, gap members 20 with a roughly U-shaped cross section and smaller than the support members 19 are attached to both sides of the underside of the bottom panel 14 with their openings facing downward. The gap members 20 are intended to seal gaps that occur at the lower ends of both sides of the sound-proofing panel 1 when it is installed, as described below.

Sound-absorbing material 15 is housed in the space surrounded by the front panel 11, rear panel 12, side panel 13, and bottom panel 14, which are all connected together and integrated, except for the inspection hatch 17.

The inspection hatch 17 has a partition plate 17a that forms the inner side wall, with part of the bulging portion of the back surface 12a of the back panel 12 as the back wall, part of the bottom panel 14 as the bottom wall, and part of the lower part of the side panel 13 as the outer side wall. The bottom wall (on both sides of the bottom panel 14) has a rectangular bottom opening 17b on the back side, with a bottom lid 21 that can be opened and closed to close the bottom opening 17b. The bottom lid 21 is made of rubber and has a protrusion 21a on its underside that engages with the periphery of the bottom opening 17b. It can be attached and detached from the bottom wall by simply passing the protrusion 21a through the bottom opening 17b while elastically deforming it.

Above the inspection hatch 17, a receiving member 22 with a roughly U-shaped cross section is provided to support the sound-absorbing material 15. The receiving member 22 is attached on both sides to the partition plate 17a and side plate 13 of the inspection hatch 17, with its opening facing upward and its bottom sloping slightly downward from the rear side to the front side.

As shown in Figure 3, the front cover 18 is a generally flat, U-shaped member with roughly the same shape and dimensions as the front opening of the inspection hatch 17 when viewed from the front. It is arranged inside the soundproof wall body of the soundproofing panel 1 and is attached to the underside of the receiving member 22 via a hinge 23 at the center of the width of the upper end, allowing it to swing freely. The front cover 18 is made of aluminum and is thicker than the front panel 11, although the material is not particularly limited. Furthermore, because the hinge 23 is located on the inside of the soundproofing panel 1, it is less likely to become entangled with foreign matter and is less susceptible to the effects of rainwater.

A latch 24 is provided at the center of the width of the lower end of the front cover 18, and a latch receiver 25 is provided on the inside surface of the lower edge of the inspection hatch 17. The latch 24 is of a type that manually moves in and out using a pin 24b attached to a case 24a that is fixed to the front cover 18 and can be moved in a retractable manner. The pin 24b has a knob 24c that penetrates the front of the case 24a and the front cover 18 and protrudes toward the front side of the soundproofing panel 1, and is pressed from both sides by springs (not shown) inside the case 24a, so it is designed not to move easily due to external forces other than the operation of the knob 24c.

With the front cover 18 closing the front opening of the inspection hatch 17, the knob 24c of the latch 24 can be operated from the front side of the soundproofing panel 1 to cause the pin 24b to protrude downward from the case 24a and engage with the latch receiver 25, thereby securing the front cover 18 to the soundproofing wall body of the soundproofing panel 1. In other words, the latch 24 and latch receiver 25 form a securing means for securing the front cover 18 to the soundproofing wall body. Furthermore, when the front cover 18 closes the front opening of the inspection hatch 17, the four corners of its periphery abut against the four corners of the front opening of the inspection hatch 17 from the inside of the soundproofing wall body (see Figure 3).

On the other hand, to open the front opening of the inspection hatch 17, the knob 24c of the latch 24 is operated to retract the pin 24b into the case 24a, disengaging it from the latch receiver 25, and then the front cover 18 is swung toward the inside of the soundproof wall body. At this time, as shown in Figure 4, after the front cover 18 has been swung to a nearly horizontal position, the pin 24b of the latch 24 is extended. This engages with an L-shaped cross-section receiving bracket 26 attached to the back portion 12a of the back panel 12, restricting the front cover 18 from swinging toward the front of the inspection hatch 17 and securing it to the soundproof wall body with the front opening of the inspection hatch 17 open.

Figures 5 and 6 show the main parts of an embodiment of a soundproof wall that uses soundproof panels 1 of the above-described configuration. This soundproof wall has posts 3 erected at predetermined intervals on the top surface of a foundation 2, with multiple soundproof panels 1, 1' provided between the posts 3.

The support pillars 3 are made of H-shaped steel, and a base plate 4 that rests on the top surface of the foundation 2 is attached to their lower ends by welding. The support pillars 3 are then fixed to the foundation 2 together with the base plate 4 by anchor bolts 5 that penetrate the base plate 4 and are embedded in the foundation 2.

The base plate 4 has, on its upper surface, a pair of horizontal ribs 4a extending in the longitudinal direction of the sound insulation panel 1 (hereinafter also referred to as "left and right") and a pair of vertical ribs 4b extending in the thickness direction of the sound insulation panel 1 (hereinafter also referred to as "front and back"), with each pair aligned front and back. The lower end of the web 3a of the support column (H-shaped steel) 3 is positioned in the gap between the left and right horizontal ribs 4a, and the lower end of the flange 3b of the support column 3 is sandwiched between the left and right vertical ribs 4b, thereby integrating the support column 3 and the base plate 4. Anchor bolts 5 that secure the base plate 4 to the foundation 2 are positioned on the front and back sides, sandwiching each pair of horizontal ribs 4a.

The sound-insulating panels 1, 1' are arranged such that the sound-insulating panel 1 shown in Figures 1 to 4 is placed on the lowest level between the support posts 3, with multiple levels of conventional sound-insulating panels 1' stacked on top of it. The conventional sound-insulating panel 1' serves as the base for the sound-insulating panel 1 of the embodiment placed on the lowest level, and does not have an inspection hatch or front cover like the sound-insulating panel 1, nor does it have a bulging portion at the bottom of the back panel. The entire panel is filled with sound-absorbing material made of the same material as the sound-insulating panel 1.

Here, both sides of each sound-proofing panel 1, 1' are fitted into the U-shaped cross-sections of the support posts 3 on both sides. Of these, the lowest sound-proofing panel 1 has the lower ends of both legs of the support member 19 and the lower end of the part of the back panel 12 without the notch 12d abutting against the top surface of the foundation 2 between the base plates 4 on both sides, and one corner on the back side of the base plate 4 is fitted into the notch 12d of the back panel 12.

At this time, the gap members 20 provided at the lower ends of both sides of the sound-proofing board 1 are each fitted between the pair of horizontal ribs 4a of the base plate 4. The bottom opening 17b of the inspection hatch 17 of the sound-proofing board 1 opens above the anchor bolt 5 located on the rear side of the pair of horizontal ribs 4a, and is closed by a bottom cover 21. The front opening of the inspection hatch 17 is closed by a front cover 18.

This soundproof wall has the above-mentioned configuration. During inspection, as described above, the latch 24 and latch receiver 25 on the front cover 18 of the soundproof panel 1 are disengaged, the front cover 18 is swung to lock the front opening of the inspection hatch 17 in an open position, and the bottom cover 21 is then removed from the bottom wall of the inspection hatch 17 to open the bottom opening 17b. This allows easy inspection of the condition of not only the anchor bolts 5 on the front side, but also the anchor bolts 5 on the back side from the front side (see Figure 7).

On the other hand, during normal times other than during inspection, the front side of the inspection hatch 17 can be kept closed and the front cover 18 fixed, preventing the entry of debris, birds, snow, etc. into the inspection hatch 17.

In addition, because the front cover 18 is attached to the soundproof wall body of the soundproofing panel 1 in a manner that allows it to swing freely, there is no need to provide a storage section for the front cover on the soundproof wall body, simplifying the structure of the opening on the front side of the inspection hatch 17.

Furthermore, when the front side of the inspection hatch 17 is closed, the front cover 18 abuts against the peripheral edge of the front opening of the inspection hatch 17 from the inside of the soundproof wall body. Therefore, even if the latch 24 of the front cover 18 accidentally disengages from the latch receiver 25 of the soundproof wall body, there is no risk of the front cover 18 swinging outward from the soundproof wall body, ensuring safety. The fact that the front cover 18 is attached with hinges 23 so that it can swing inward from the soundproof wall body, and that the front cover 18 does not require a handle and is designed to have as little protrusion as possible on the front side, also contribute to ensuring safety.

The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not by the meaning described above, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

For example, the bottom cover that closes the bottom opening of the inspection hatch in an openable manner can be omitted, and the fixing means for fixing the front cover to the soundproof wall body is not limited to a latch and latch receiver as in the embodiment, and other appropriate means can be used.

In addition to sound-insulating panels with built-in sound-absorbing material and soundproof walls using such panels, as described in the embodiments, the present invention can also be applied to sound-insulating panels that do not have sound-absorbing material, such as translucent panels and concealing panels, and soundproof walls using such panels.

1, 1' Sound insulation board 2 Foundation 3 Support 4 Base plate 5 Anchor bolt 11 Front panel 12 Rear panel 13 Side panel 14 Bottom panel 15 Sound absorbing material 17 Inspection hatch 18 Front cover 21 Bottom cover 22 Receiving member 23 Hinge 24 Latch 25 Latch receiver 26 Receiving metal fitting

Claims (5)

In a soundproof wall provided with an inspection hatch that opens to the front side of the soundproof wall body, a front cover that opens and closes the front side of the inspection hatch is attached to the soundproof wall body so as to be able to swing freely ,
A soundproof wall characterized in that the front cover can be fixed to the soundproof wall main body in a state where it swings inward of the soundproof wall main body to open the front side of the inspection hatch . A soundproof wall as described in claim 1, characterized in that a fixing means is provided for fixing the front cover to the soundproof wall main body when the front cover is closed on the front side of the inspection hatch. The soundproof wall according to claim 2, characterized in that the fixing means comprises a latch provided on the front cover and a latch receiver provided on the soundproof wall body. A soundproof wall as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that when the front side of the inspection hatch is closed, the front cover abuts against the peripheral portion of the front opening of the inspection hatch from the inside of the soundproof wall main body . 5. A sound-insulating panel constituting the soundproof wall according to claim 1 , comprising the inspection hatch and the front cover.