Public address housing assembly

May 8, 1956 j. _B. hellon 2,744,584

PUBLIC ADDRESS HOUSING ASSEMBLY

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United States Patent Office ^{2 744}’⁵⁸⁴ . _______ Patented May 8, 1956

2,744,584

PUBLIC ADDRESS HOUSING ASSEMBLY James B. Helion, San Francisco, Calif.

Application June 19,1952, Serial No. 294,460

Claims. (Cl. 181—31)

The present invention relates to housing support assemblies for loud speakers and the like. More particularly, the invention is concerned with incorporating such assemblies in walls and ceilings of buildings to provide an attractive installation substantially flush with the supporting wall or ceiling.

Present day trends toward the modernization of building structures frequently demand functional installations, such as public address systems or intercommunication systems. Electrical components and systems are, however, subject to failure, and accordingly some means of access must be provided for the individual units to enable timely repairs and alterations or changes to be made. The present invention is primarily intended to be incorporated during the erection of a building as a permanent fixture therein; however, it should be understood that the housing assembly comprising the instant invention may be incorporated in existing structures to provide an equally effective and attractive arrangement.

Although the housing unit of the present invention is capable of mounting various electrical components, the invention will be described in connection with the application thereof to a conventional type loudspeaker; a feature of the invention residing in structure capable’of receiving various types of loudspeakers, all of which are obtainable in the open market.

Broadly speaking, in practicing the invention, a box support having a loudspeaker accommodating opening in a surface thereof is secured to an appropriate reinforcing or structural member incorporated within a building wall or ceiling. Consequently the dimensions of the box support may be predicated upon the wall or ceiling dimensions, the thickness of the box being less than the thickness of the wall or ceiling and the width of the box being less than or equal to the spacing between adjacent wall studs, it being borne in mind that the dimensions of the box must also be sufficient to accommodate the particular size loudspeaker selected for the building system. Ideally the box width is just equal to the spacing between adjacent studs, thereby enabling the box to be rigidly secured to each of the studs, although attachment to a single support only is also contemplated. Preferably, the box is provided with much smaller openings in other surfaces thereof to permit the free circulation of air through the box. If desired suitable sound absorbent material may be deployed along the inner surface of the box opposed to the loudspeaker opening.

A mounting sleeve of substantially the diameter of the loudspeaker opening is provided with a peripheral flange on one end thereof. The unflanged end of the sleeve is inserted through the loudspeaker opening and the sleeve is then secured rigidly to the box support leaving sufficient spacing between the box and the sleeve flange to accommodate wall or ceiling lath and plaster. This construction enables a loudspeaker to be placed substantially through the sleeve with the conventional mounting lip of the speaker being in juxtaposition with the sleeve flange.

and the apex of the speaker cone extending internally of the box support. As the lip of conventional speakers which surround the cone base is usually provided with holes for mounting purposes an equal number of holes 5 properly distributed may be drilled and tapped in the sleeve flange. In order to protect the speaker cone and to provide an attractive appearance a grille and facing member are respectively stacked on the mounting lip of the speaker and provided with holes positioned in ac10 cordance with those in the speaker lip. The speaker, grille and facing member are then secured to the sleeve flange by means of screws thereby admitting of ready access to the speaker unit. To enhance the flushness of appearance of the assembly the facing member may be 15 provided with an inwardly turned peripheral lip which abuts the wall or ceiling plaster surrounding the sleeve.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention are the following: to provide a housing assembly for incorporating sound reproducing apparatus such as radio 20 equipment operated from a central control unit or controllable from any desired point within the walls or ceilings of buildings; to provide such a housing assembly which when viewed from within a room appears to be substantially flush with the wall or ceiling; and to pro25 vide a rugged and inexpensive housing assembly for sound reproducing devices, such as public address units, which admits of ready internal access for removing and repairing the unit.

Other and further objects of the instant invention will 30 become more apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein;

Fig. 1 is a view in cross section taken through a build35 ing wall or ceiling which shows a completed housing assembly in accordance with the present invention included within the wall or ceiling structure;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the box support of Fig. 1 shown in juxtaposition with a building stud;

⁴⁰ Fig. 3 is a view in cross section of the components of the structure of Fig. 1 which are permanently incorporated within the building structure;

Fig. 4 is a view in plan of the mounting sleeve so that only the peripheral flange used to contact the mounting ⁴⁵ surface is visible;

Fig. 5 is a view in plan of a conventional type grille suitable for covering the base of the loudspeaker cone;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the facing member applied to the structure of Fig. 1; and ⁶⁰ Fig. 7 is a detailed cross sectional view of a portion of the structure of Fig. 1 showing a preferred means for securing the facing member, grille and loudspeaker to the mounting sleeve flange.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. ⁵⁵ 1 there is shown a conventional type loudspeaker having a motor unit 11 and a connection transformer 13 mounted on the supporting web or spider 15 which forms the usual protecting or mounting lip 17 surrounding the base of the speaker cone 19. This structure is representative ⁰⁰ of most commercially available loudspeakers.

The housing assembly of the present invention which is adapted to accommodate such commercially available loudspeakers comprises the box support 21 best shown in Fig. 2. The box 21 is adapted to be incorporated within the building wall or ceiling structure to form a rigid support for the loudspeaker. Accordingly, the dimensions of the box are determined in accordance with the wall or ceiling dimensions wherein the box is to be 7θ incorporated, as well as, by the size loudspeaker to be accommodated. The former is best illustrated in Fig. 2 . wherein the thickness of the box is shown comparable

2,744,684

It should be noted that ready access to the loudspeaker may be had by merely removing the screws 53, facing ring 47 and grille 43. Thus, replacement of loudspeakers mounted in accordance with the present invention re5 quires only a minimum of time and effort.