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US 9,002,050 B2Granted
Triangle speaker for tablet computer
AssigneeBby Solutions, Inc.
InventorsRoger Widner, Amy Prescott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A speaker bar for a tablet computer is presented. The speaker bar is sized to fit inside a cover of the tablet computer by folding or rolling the speaker bar inside the cover. The speaker bar has retractable speaker members that extend outward beyond the edges of the speaker bar housing along a longitudinal axis of the speaker bar. Power is provided to the speaker bar when the retractable members are extended, and the power is turned off when the retractable members are retracted. The speaker bar connects to a tablet computer via Bluetooth wireless connection.
Claims18
A speaker for a tablet computer, the speaker comprising:
- a) an elongated housing having
- i) a longitudinal axis,
- ii) a first housing recess at a first end of the housing,
- iii) a second housing recess at a second end of the housing opposite the first end of the housing;
- b) a first retractable member sized to fit within the first housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the first retractable member having a first speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- c) a second retractable member sized to fit within the second housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the second retractable member having a second speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- the speaker having a first configuration in which the first and second retractable members are enclosed within the first and second housing recesses, and a second configuration in which the first and second retractable members are at least partially outside of the first and second housing recesses;
- wherein the first configuration and second configuration are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the housing and the distance between the first retractable member and second retractable member is larger in the second configuration than in the first configuration;
- and further comprising:
- d) wireless communication circuitry;
- wherein the wireless communication circuitry receives wireless audio signals when the first and second retractable members are in the second configuration, and the wireless communication circuitry does not receive wireless audio signals when the first and second retractable members are in the first configuration.
8 more elements
A speaker for a tablet computer, the speaker comprising:
- a) an elongated housing having
- i) a longitudinal axis,
- ii) a first housing recess at a first end of the housing,
- iii) a second housing recess at a second end of the housing opposite the first end of the housing;
- b) a first retractable member sized to fit within the first housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the first retractable member having a first speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- c) a second retractable member sized to fit within the second housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the second retractable member having a second speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- the speaker having a first configuration in which the first and second retractable members are enclosed within the first and second housing recesses, and a second configuration in which the first and second retractable members are at least partially outside of the first and second housing recesses;
- wherein the first configuration and second configuration are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the housing and the distance between the first retractable member and second retractable member is larger in the second configuration than in the first configuration;
- further wherein electrical power is provided to the first and second speaker assemblies when the first and second retractable members are in the second configuration, and electrical power is not provided to the first and second speaker assemblies when the first and second retractable members are in the first configuration.
6 more elements
A speaker for a tablet computer, the speaker comprising:
- a) an elongated housing having
- i) a longitudinal axis,
- ii) a first housing recess at a first end of the housing,
- iii) a second housing recess at a second end of the housing opposite the first end of the housing;
- b) a first retractable member sized to fit within the first housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the first retractable member having a first speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- c) a second retractable member sized to fit within the second housing recess and moveable along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the second retractable member having a second speaker assembly for projecting sound;
- the speaker having a first configuration in which the first and second retractable members are enclosed within the first and second housing recesses, and a second configuration in which the first and second retractable members are at least partially outside of the first and second housing recesses;
- wherein the first configuration and second configuration are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the housing and the distance between the first retractable member and second retractable member is larger in the second configuration than in the first configuration;
- wherein the housing is sized to fit inside a cover of the tablet computer, the length of the housing is equal to the length of the tablet computer cover, and the housing is enclosed inside the tablet computer cover with a friction fit.
6 more elements
A method for coupling a speaker bar with a tablet computer cover, the speaker bar having first, second, and third speaker bar sides and a longitudinal axis, the tablet computer cover being apportioned into segments including a first cover segment, a second cover segment adjacent lengthwise to the first cover segment, and a third cover segment adjacent lengthwise to the second cover segment, the method comprising:
- a) placing the first speaker bar side in physical contact with the first tablet computer cover segment and maintaining the contact;
- b) rotating the speaker bar around the longitudinal axis so as to place the second speaker bar side in physical contact with the second tablet computer cover segment and maintaining the contact;
- and
- c) rotating the speaker bar around the longitudinal axis so as to place the third speaker bar side in physical contact with the third tablet computer cover segment and maintaining the contact;
- wherein the speaker bar and tablet computer cover couple with a friction fit.
2 more elements
A system comprising:
- a) a tablet computer;
- b) a speaker bar having
- i) an elongated speaker housing having a longitudinal axis and a speaker housing length,
- ii) first and second retractable speaker members disposed at opposite ends of the speaker housing, the first and second retractable speaker members being movable along the longitudinal axis between a recessed position inside the speaker housing and an extended position at least partially outside of the speaker housing, and
- iii) wireless communication circuitry able to receive wireless audio signals from the tablet computer;
- c) a tablet computer cover having first, second, and third longitudinally adjacent segments forming a triangular prism configuration;
- wherein the speaker bar is coupled with the tablet computer cover in the triangular prism configuration to provide a stand for the tablet computer.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.