Seals

Seals are used at the top and bottom of the panels to ensure an acoustic fit with the overhead track and the floor. There are several seal combinations that can be used as depicted below.

Seal & Sound Ratings

Testing done at RMIT, one of Australia’s leading laboratories, to Australian Standard 1191-2002 has found that sweep seals do not compromise acoustic performance. All tests up to RW 53 have been done using sweep seals at the top and bottom of the panels, demonstrating that it is not necessary to adopt retractable seals to achieve all but the highest sound rating required. Lotus offer RW 36 to RW 55, which is about the highest achieved for an operable wall in Australian tests. The main purpose of retractable seals is for ease of use with certain layouts, site conditions and panel weights. Be sure to consult Lotus for the best seal combination to meet your acoustic performance requirements and budget.

Sweep Seals fitting the job	Sweep vs. Retractable Seals
Top seals are set at a fixed 30mm. Seals are 2 x triple fingers for excellent acoustics. If the floor level varies, Lotus goes to the trouble of bevelling each panel so it’s shape precisely matches its set up location. Sweep seals accommodate +/–5mm floor level variation, often more, particularly if the floor slopes downwards towards the stacking end.	Retractable bottom seals’ main benefits are ease of movement, the ability to cope with more out of level floors and overhead beam deflections. Retractable top seals offer other advantages so they are therefore recommended only when special circumstances justify the extra cost.

1 Sweep/ Sweep	2 Sweep/ Retractable	3 Retractable/ Retractable	4 Sweep/ Retractable XT	5 Sweep/ Sweep & Retractable	6 Retractable/ Sweep & Retractable