Evacuation of liquid from acoustic space
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsJesse A. Lippert, Nikolas T. Vitt, Christopher Wilk, Rex Tyler Ehman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An acoustic module, such as a microphone or speaker module, includes an acoustic membrane that vibrates to produce acoustic waves and an acoustic cavity through which acoustic waves produced by the membrane travel. A liquid removal mechanism removes liquid from the acoustic cavity. Such a liquid removal mechanism may include the acoustic membrane, heating elements, hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic surfaces, and so on. In some cases, the liquid removal mechanism may remove liquid from the acoustic cavity upon connection of the acoustic module and/or an associated electronic device to an external power source.
Claims20
An acoustic module, comprising:
- an acoustic membrane;
- an acoustic cavity through which acoustic waves associated with the acoustic membrane travel;
- and
- at least one liquid removal mechanism that removes liquid from the acoustic cavity by:
- causing the acoustic membrane to produce a first acoustic signal to force the liquid from the acoustic cavity;
- determining that the liquid is still present in the acoustic cavity;
- and
- causing the acoustic membrane to produce a second acoustic signal having a different frequency than the first acoustic signal.
An acoustic module, comprising:
- an acoustic membrane operable to vibrate;
- an acoustic cavity through which acoustic waves associated with the acoustic membrane travel;
- at least one liquid removal mechanism operable to remove liquid from the acoustic cavity;
- and
- a screen element separating the acoustic cavity from an external environment;
- wherein
- a first surface of the screen element that is external to the acoustic cavity is hydrophobic;
- and
- a second surface of the screen element that is internal to the acoustic cavity is hydrophilic.
An acoustic module, comprising:
- an acoustic membrane;
- an acoustic cavity through which acoustic waves associated with the acoustic membrane travel;
- at least one liquid removal mechanism that removes liquid from the acoustic cavity;
- and
- a screen element that separates the acoustic cavity from an external environment and is configurable between a hydrophobic state and a hydrophilic state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.