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US 7,546,897 B2Granted
Speaker diaphragm and method of manufacturing speaker diaphragm
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsToru Takebe, Kunihiko Tokura, Masaru Uryu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A speaker diaphragm made of a resin containing a thermoplastic polymeric material is provided. The speaker diaphragm includes a changed portion formed on the diaphragm that is molded using the resin. The changed portion is formed by partially changing physical properties of the thermoplastic polymeric material for dispersing local vibrations based on a characteristic of local vibrations measured in advance.
Claims12
A speaker diaphragm comprising:
- a cone made of a resin containing a thermoplastic polymeric material, the cone having an aperture at the apex and a cone surface extending from an edge of the aperture to an outer circumference of the cone, the cone shaped with a manufacturing mold configured to allow the resin to flow radially from the aperture to the outer circumference of the cone;
- and
- a changed portion formed within a geometric pattern in and on the cone surface, the changed portion including a plurality of peaks and valleys in and on the cone surface, the plurality of peaks and valleys being separated by a sub-millimeter fixed pitch distance, the changed portion having a Young's modulus different than the cone surface outside the geometric pattern, the changed portion configured to smooth a characteristic of local vibrations.
A method of manufacturing a speaker diaphragm made of a resin containing a thermoplastic polymeric material, the method comprising:
- molding the diaphragm having a center aperture and an outer diaphragm perimeter using the thermoplastic polymeric material, the resin flowing through the mold from the center aperture to the outer diaphragm perimeter;
- measuring a characteristic of local vibrations of the molded diaphragm;
- determining several parameters to smooth the characteristic of local vibrations, the several parameters including
- a geometric pattern of a changed portion upon a portion of the diaphragm,
- a location of the geometric pattern relative to the diaphragm, and
- at least one laser irradiating condition;
- and
- forming the changed portion by irradiating the portion of the diaphragm with a laser beam within the geometric pattern, the at least one laser irradiating condition creating a plurality of peaks and valleys having a sub-millimeter fixed pitch distance in and on the surface of the diaphragm and a reduced Young's modulus of the thermoplastic polymeric material within the geometric pattern.
5 more elements
A speaker unit for acoustic output, the speaker unit comprising:
- a conical diaphragm made of a resin containing a thermoplastic material, the diaphragm having an aperture at the apex and a diaphragm surface extending from the aperture to the outer circumference of the diaphragm, the conical diaphragm configured to allow the resin to flow radially from the aperture to the outer circumference of the diaphragm, the diaphragm having a changed portion in and on a portion of the diaphragm surface defined within a geometric pattern, the changed portion having partially changed physical properties of the thermoplastic polymeric material and a plurality of peaks and valleys in and on the diaphragm surface within the geometric pattern, the plurality of peaks and valleys being separated by a sub-millimeter fixed pitch distance, and the changed portion configured to smooth a characteristic of local vibrations which are measured in advance on the diaphragm without the changed portion;
- a center cap attached to the diaphragm and configured to prevent deformation of the diaphragm in a radial direction;
- a voice coil configured to move up and down around a pole to vibrate the diaphragm;
- a damper configured to hold the voice coil around a pole;
- and
- a frame configured to be attached to the base of the diaphragm.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.