US Patent 10482865 Vibration damped sound shield

A sound absorption panel (201) is constructed on an acoustically thin sheet (203) to provide an acoustic/vibrational energy absorption metamaterial structure. A plurality of dampers (101) are fixed to the acoustically thin sheet (203), and at least a subset of said dampers (101) comprise a support (103) and a flexible membrane (105) supported by the support. The flexible membrane (105) has one or more masses or platelets (107) attached. The dampers (101) in combination with the sheet (203) result in absorption of energy of movement of the sheet (203) resulting from sound transmission or vibrations across the sheet.