US3630309A - Portable shell - Google Patents

Daryl D. Douglas; Erich Harimann, all of Owatonna, Minn. [21] Appl. No. 831,917 [22] Filed June 10, 1969 Patented Dec. 28, 1971 [73] Assignee Wenger Corporation [54]

PORTABLE SHELL

27 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, a portable acoustical shell structure generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a sound-reflecting reflecting panel structure which may be used in suitable multiples to define a shell generally designated 11 such as for use in reflecting sound in connection with the performing arts. lllustratively, the shell may be used as a choral shell, a symphonic shell, a shell suitable for reflecting sound with smaller groups such as dramatic groups, ensembles, etc. As shown in FIG. 1 in the shell arrangement, the plurality of

shell structures

10 are disposed in side-by-side arrangement to form effectively a portable wall. In the illustrated embodiment, each

shell structure

10 includes a first

fixed panel

12, a second

movable panel

13, an

upper canopy panel

14, and a

kicker panel

15. In the sound-reflecting arrangement, the panels are arranged in a vertical series in edgewise adjacency with

panels

15, 12 and 13 extending substantially vertically upright and

canopy panel

14 adjustably positioned to extend at an angle forwardly from the top of

panel

13. Thus,

shell

11 effectively defines an acoustical freestanding floor unit shell with the arrangement being adjustable to accommodate different areas and types of performing arts.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the

shell structure

10 includes an

upright frame

16 and a

base

17. The

base

17 is provided with suitable wheel means, such as

casters

18 for facilitated movement of the shell structure as desired. The rearmost casters may be provided with

suitable locking brakes

19 to hold the shell structure in position when desired.

The frame includes a left upright 20 and a right upright 21 secured as by

bolts

22 to

suitable gussets

23 on the

base

17. The fixed

panel

12 is secured to the

uprights

20 and 21 by a pair of fixed

lower panel brackets

24 and a pair of upper

lockable panel brackets

25 cooperating with

clips

26 and 27 respectively on the uprights as best seen in FIG. 4. The

kicker panel

15 may be retained in an upper storage position forwardly facially juxtaposed to the fixed

lower panel

12 as by means of suitable clips 28.

Base

17 is provided with a

suitable counterweight

29 which may be bolted to a rear crosspiece comprising a

second counterweight

30 thereof as by

suitable bolts

31. As shown in FIG. 2, the length of

crosspiece

30 is substantially less than the spacing between

uprights

20 and 21 whereby the

sidcpieces

32 of the base are angled inwardly toward the rear thereof. Thus, the base narrows rearwardly for improved facilitated nesting as will be brought out more fully hereinafter.

Canopy panel

14 is hingedly secured to

second panel

13 by a

suitable hinge

33. The panels may be held together as during storage by

suitable clip

34 at the top thereof, as shown in FIG. 2.

Panel

13 is provided with a pair of

hinge connectors

35 which are secured to the upper ends of the uprights 2t) and 21, which as shown in FIG. 3 permit the assembled

canopy panel

14 and

panel

13 to be swung as a unit from a storage position as shown in FIG. 2 to an upright position as shown in FIG. 6. In the storage position, the

panel

13 is rearwardly facially juxtaposed to

panel

12 and

canopy panel

14 is rearwardly facially juxtaposed to

panel

13. The total thickness of the three panels in the storage position shown in FIG. 2 is preferably small, and in the illustrated embodiment, is less than one-third the foreand-aft dimensions of

base

17. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6,

panel

14 may be provided with

stiffeners

36,

panel

13 may be provided with a

stiffener

37,

panel

12 may be provided with a

stiffener

38, and

kicker panel

15 may be provided with a

stiffener

39. As shown in FIG. 6, clips 28 may be retained on

stiffener

38 when not in use and

clip

34 may be stored on one of

stiffeners

36 when not in use.

Panel

13 is provided with a pair of

upright extensions

40 which are secured thereto by

suitable brackets

41. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the

hinge connectors

35 includes a

bracket

42 which is fixedly secured to the

upright extension

40 and a

pivot

43 which is secured to the

uprights

20 and 21. The

panel

13 is retained in the upright position, when the

bracket

42 is swung from the upside down position of FIG. 2 to the upright position of FIG. 6, by a locking

pin

44 received in a pair of aligned

holes

45 in the

bracket

42 and removably retained therein by

suitable spring

46 connected to the pin. In the upright positions as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the

lower edge

47 of

panel

13 abuts the

upper edge

48 of

lower panel

12 with the panels in edgewise juxtaposed alignment. As shown in FIG. 5, when

panel

13 is swung to the upright position of FIG. 4, the

canopy panel

14 is carried therewith to lie forwardly of

panel

13.

Canopy panel

14 is hingedly secured to the upper edge of

panel

13 by the

hinge

33 permitting the canopy panel to be swung upwardly from the dotted position of FIG. to the full line position thereof. To effect the swinging movement and positioning of

panel

14, a pair of articulated lifting

arms

49 are provided. Each lifting

arm

49 includes a

first rod

50 secured to a

side stiffener

51 on the back of the

canopy panel

14 and a

second rod

52 pivotally connected to

rod

50 by a suitable pivot means 53 and provided at its lower end with a

suitable turnbuckle

54. The turnbuckle is arranged to engage a

pin

55 on the frame uprights 20 and 21 respectively. As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, suitable adjustment of the

turnbuckles

54 will adjust the angular position of the

canopy panel

14 about the axis of

hinge

33.

The kicker panel is hingedly connected to the lower end of

panel

12 by a

suitable hinge

56 permitting the kicker panel to be swung downwardly from the dotted position of FIG. 3 to the full line position thereof by removal of the retaining clips 28. As indicated above, when the clips are so removed, they may be stored on the

stiffener

38 as shown in FIG. 6. The weight of

composite counterweight

29 and 30 is preselected to balance

shell structure

10 at all times including when the

canopy panel

14 is angularly forwardly disposed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Thus, while the

base

17 extends substantially only rearwardly of the frame uprights and 21 and the panels carried thereby, the shell structure comprises a stable unit. Further, all of the mechanism for mounting and positioning the panels in relation to the frame is mounted rearwardly of the panels so that the panels present forwardly, as shown in FIG. I, a continuous sound-reflecting surface structure. Further as shown in FIG. 1,

canopy panel

14 is trapezoidal, narrowing upwardly whereby the shell structures may be arranged in a turned series with the canopy panels in abutment with each other to form a closed upper panel portion of the complete shell. The canopy panels may be readily adjusted by means of the

turnbuckles

54 and the shell structure may be readily movably positioned on

casters

18 to provide an accurate fit thereof providing the continuous series across the top of the shell as shown in FIG. 1.

As best seen in FIG. 6, when viewing the shell structure from forwardly thereof,

kicker panel

15 effectively hides the

base

17. However, when the

kicker panel

15 is swung upwardly on

hinge

56, the

base

17 is exposed below the

bottom edge

57 of

panel

12. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of

shell structures

10 may be nested with each other in close juxtaposition by movement of the respective bases below the

panel edge

57. The narrowing arrangement of the

sidcpieces

32 of the base 17 permits the unimpeded movement of the next base thereinto. The arrangement of the shell structures in the storage position of FIG. 2 is preferably such that the total thickness of the panels and stiffeners is relatively small compared to the depth of the base 17 so that the shell structures may be nested in effectively minimum space. Illustratively, with the shell structures disposed in the storage arrangement of FIG. 2, six

such shell structures

10 may be nested in a space of approximately 72% inches wide by 64 inches deep by M2 inches high. In the partially folded position of FIG. 4, six of the

shell structures

10 may be nested in a space of approximately 72% inches wide by 84 inches deep by 74% inches high. In the storage arrangement of FIG. 2, the shell structures may be individually moved through conventional door openings and the like as the depth of the

base

17 is smaller than the width and the length of the unit is less than the height of the conventional door opening. In the illustrated embodiment, the base has a depth of approximately 34% inches. Thus, while the shell structures have a width of approximately 6 inches in use, by folding them to the storage arrangement of FIG. 2, and moving the shell structures in a direction parallel to the flat plane of the panels, the shell structures may be readily moved on the

casters

18 to and from performing and storage areas.

In erecting the shell structures to the sound-reflecting arrangement of FIG. 6 from the storage arrangement of FIG. 2, the user merely positions the shell structures on the casters in the desired location and then swings the assembly of the

upper panel

13 and

canopy panel

14 on the

pivots

43 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 3 to bring the

canopy panel

14 forwardmost in the arrangement shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. The

clip

34 is removed to permit swinging of the

canopy panel

14 about the

hinge

33. At this time, the lifting

arms

49 are connected only to the

canopy panel

14 and, thus, swing upwardly therewith to the dotted position of FIG. 5. The

turnbuckles

54 are then brought downwardly from the dotted position of FIG. 5 to the full line position thereof and engaged with the

pins

55. Suitable adjustment of the turnbuckles may then be effected to dispose the

canopy panel

14 at the desired angle. The

kicker panel

15 may be swung downwardly upon removal of the

clips

28 to complete the erection. The entire shell structure may be locked in position on the floor by suitable operation of the

brakes

19 on the

rearward casters

18.

As indicated briefly above, in forming the completed

shell wall

11, the plurality of

shell structures

10 are disposed in side-by-side relationship with the

canopy panel

14 inclined forwardly suitably to align with the adjacent canopy panels to form a continuous inclined upper wall portion. The

tumbuckles

54 may be adjusted to assure that each of the canopy panels extends to the same uppermost position. The

shell structures

10 may be moved on the

casters

18 to bring the individual structures to proper relationship with the adjacent structures to close any gaps between the canopy panels.

Where sufficient height is available, the shell structures may be stored in the partial storage arrangement of FIG. 4. Alternatively, they may be stored in the full storage arrangement of FIG. 2. Further, the desired arrangement of the shell structures in the storage disposition may be affected by the dimensions of doorways, etc., through which the shell structures are moved as between the performing and storage areas. In either of the partial or full storage arrangements, the shell structures are fully counterbalanced so as to provide facilitated move ment thereof on the

casters

18.

In rearranging the shell structures from the sound-reflecting extended position of FIG. 6, the user need merely firstly raise the kicker panel and secure it in the raised position by the

clips

28. The

tumbuckles

54 are then removed from the

pins

55 permitting the

canopy panel

14 to gently drop into face-toface juxtaposition with the

upper panel

13. The panels may then be allowed to remain in the partial storage position of FIG. 4, or swung about

pivots

43 to the full storage position of FIG. 2 as desired.

11. The acoustical shell structure of

claim

10 wherein said arm means includes threaded means for threadedly adjusting the arrangement of the arm, said threaded means being disposed fully rearwardly of said vertical plane.

12. The acoustical shell structure of

claim

11 wherein said threaded means comprises turnbuckle means for providing the adjustability thereof.

13. The acoustical shell structure of

claim

10 wherein said support means and arm means are provided with cooperating detachable pin and connector means for connecting the arm means to the support means.

15. The acoustical shell structure of

claim

14 wherein said mounting means comprises hinge means swingably mounting said second panel on said support means and said third panel on said second panel.

16. The acoustical shell structure of

claim

14 further including a fourth panel, said mounting means being arranged to dispose said third and fourth panels at an angle to said first panel in said sound-reflecting position.

18. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said first panel is spaced above the base to permit facilitated longitudinal relative movement of said base into the nested relationship.

19. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said second panel is disposed rearwardly of said first panel and said canopy panel is disposed rearwardly of said second panel, said panels being in facial juxtaposition in the storage position, the first panel of said second shell structure being rearwardly facially juxtaposed to the canopy panel of the first shell structure in the nested storage arrangement.

20. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said second panel is hingedly mounted on said frame.

21. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said canopy panel is hingedly mounted on said second panel.

22. The portable acousticalshell structure of

claim

17 wherein said second panel is disposed rearwardly of said first panel and said canopy panel is disposed rearwardly of said second panel, said panels being in facial juxtaposition in the storage position, the thickness of said juxtaposed first, second, and canopy panels in the storage position being less than onethird the fore-and-aft dimension of said base.

23. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein the shell structure has a length less than 6 feet 6 inches and a fore-and-aft dimension of less than 3 feet when the panels are in said storage position whereby said shell structure may be moved freely through a conventional doorway.

24. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said shell structure may be arranged with said first and second panels in edgewise adjacency and said canopy panel facially adjacent said second panel in a partial storage arrangement of the shell structure.

25. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein a counterweight is provided on the base having a weight and spacing rearwardly of the frame preselected to counterbalance the panel arrangement with the canopy panel extending angularly upwardly from an upper portion of said first sound-reflecting panel.

26. The portable acoustical shell structure of

claim

17 wherein said first panel is spaced above the base and said shell structure further includes a counterweight in the base and a kicker panel selectively movable to extend downwardly from said first panel to the level of the bottom of said base in a sound-reflecting position, and upwardly from the bottom of said first panel in a retracted position permitting nesting of said bases.