It could be a joke or one of those miracle products that we can see in online stores like Aliexpress that then are not what we are looking for. But the truth is that these anti-noise screws have been created by researchers at the University of Malmö and endorsed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
What’s more, the institution itself has listed it as one of the 100 most interesting inventions of so far in 2021. What is special about these screws? More than anything, they promise much more accurate soundproofing than current ones, especially at home with wood-frame ceilings, which tend to have more acoustic problems.
What this screw does is dampen the sound to reduce the exterior noise of the houses by almost 9 decibels.
In the montage is success
As is often the case in these cases, innovation comes from the design of the screws themselves. As you can see, the screw seems to have been split in half, and then a spring has been placed in the middle and then it is sealed again.
When these screws are inserted into the wall, the tip of the screw itself must be perfectly screwed into the wood, generating a vacuum and insulation, while the head of the screw is completely flush with the outer surface of the plaster.
“With our screw, plasterboard can be mounted directly to the walls freeing up floor space, and one square meter of floor space can be worth thousands,” explains one of the lead authors of the research, Håkan Wernersson, professor in the Department of Materials Sciences and Applied Mathematics from the University of Malmö.
Tests
Before starting to use these screws, the research team conducted tests in the sound lab, and the results showed a reduction of up to 9 decibels in noise levels . In addition, they installed this system in a salon where they did not have to remove the old screws to fit the new ones and achieve superior noise isolation.
“When building blocks of flats, there are legal requirements for partitions and certain noise levels. However, they are not mandatory when it comes to single-family homes in which only one family resides, but, of course, our system would also be an excellent solution to reduce noise between rooms ” concluded in a statement Wernersson, who aspires that his screws, Sound Screw can be put on sale soon through the manufacturing company that they have created to market them, Akoustos.
