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US 6,636,612 B1Granted
Speaker for use in confined spaces
AssigneeAlgo Sound, Inc.
InventorsDonald J. North, Dai Z. Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides a speaker having a number of features that cooperate to provide a small speaker 10 having a high sound pressure level output capability (volume), a wide frequency range, in particular from below 200 Hz to 20,000 Hz, low distortion, and that is magnetically shielded. The speaker 10 is suitable for mounting in, for example, a television where spaces are confined and stray magnetic fields are undesirable, yet high output is desirable and a wide frequency range is desirable to avoid the need for separate middle frequency (midrange) and high frequency (tweeter) speakers.
Claims17
A speaker, comprising:
- a casing having an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a pole piece within the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the pole piece;
- a substantially circular magnet structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on an outer surface, so as to create a line of magnetic flux following a loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnet structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnet structure, the casing, the pole piece and the magnet structure being mounted to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap;
- a diaphragm;
- a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure;
- an electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure and externally of the magnet assembly, the travel of the diaphragm being at least 0.1 times a diameter of the diaphragm;
- and
- an anti-rocking member having a first portion connected to the magnet assembly and a second portion connected to the diaphragm to limit rocking of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly.
5 more elements
A speaker, comprising:
- a casing having an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a pole piece within the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the pole piece;
- a substantially circular magnet structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on an outer surface so as to create a line of magnetic flux following a loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnet structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnet structure, the casing, the pole piece and the magnet structure being mounted to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap;
- a diaphragm;
- a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure;
- and
- an electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure and externally of the magnet assembly, the electric coil having a diameter that is at least 0.5 times as wide as a width of the diaphragm.
4 more elements
A speaker, comprising:
- a casing having an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a pole piece within the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the pole piece;
- a substantially circular magnet structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on an outer surface so as to create a line of magnetic flux following a loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnet structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnet structure, the casing, the pole piece and the magnet structure being mounted to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap;
- a diaphragm;
- a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure;
- and
- an electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure and externally of the magnet assembly, a ratio of a length of the coil to a length of the coil gap falling outside the range of from 0.67 to 1.5.
4 more elements
A speaker, comprising:
- a casing having an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a pole piece within the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the pole piece;
- a substantially circular magnet structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on an outer surface so as to create a magnetic loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnet structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnet structure, the casing, the pole piece and the magnet structure being mounted to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap;
- a dome-shaped diaphragm;
- a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure;
- and
- an electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure and externally of the magnet assembly, the diaphragm being less than 2 times as wide as a diameter of the coil, a length of the coil being less than 0.67 times the length of the coil gap, and the air venting passage being at least 0.5 times as wide as the diameter of the coil.
4 more elements
A speaker, comprising:
- a casing having an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a pole piece within the casing, having an outer surface, and an inner surface defining a venting passage therethrough, a substantially annular gap being defined between the inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the pole piece;
- a substantially circular magnet structure in the annular gap, being radially polarized so as to have a first polarity on an inner surface and a second polarity on an outer surface so as to create a magnetic loop sequentially from the outer surface of the magnet structure to the casing, from the casing to the pole piece, and from the pole piece to the inner surface of the magnet structure, the casing, the pole piece and the magnet structure being mounted to one another to form a magnet assembly which defines an annular coil gap with the path of the loop being across the coil gap;
- a dome-shaped diaphragm;
- a suspension mechanism having a first portion attached to the magnet assembly and a second portion attached to the diaphragm so as to mount the diaphragm to the suspension mechanism, the suspension mechanism allowing for travel of the diaphragm relative to the magnet assembly, the diaphragm and the suspension mechanism jointly defining at least part of an enclosure;
- and
- an electric coil located in the coil gap and having a portion connected to the diaphragm so that an electric current in the coil causes movement of the diaphragm, movement of the diaphragm causing movement of air through the venting passage between the enclosure and externally of the magnet assembly, the diaphragm being less than 2 times as wide as a diameter of the coil, the travel of the diaphragm being at least 0.1 times a diameter of the diaphragm, the length of the coil being less than 0.67 times the length of the coil gap, and the air venting passage being at least 0.5 times as wide as the diameter of the coil.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.