Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Electromagnetic
Reexamination Certificate
1996-11-13
2001-07-31
Young, Lee (Department: 3729)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Electromagnetic
C381S409000, C381S404000, C029S594000, C174S116000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269167
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to improvement in the spiders of moving coil loudspeakers and in methods of making such spiders. More specifically, this invention relates to a novel loudspeaker spider material and loudspeaker construction, and to means and methods of electrically connecting the moving voice coil to the fixed loudspeaker terminals.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are several proposals in the prior art to incorporate into the spiders of such loudspeakers the conductors to the loudspeakers voice coil. There are, for example, the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,906,066; 1,906,379; 1,907,687; 2,221,068; 2,538,621; 2,922,850; 3,014,996; 3,079,471; 4,313,040; 4,565,905; 5,008,945; and 5,091,958; United Kingdom patent specifications 638,080 and 686,934: German patent specification 3,511,802: and Japanese patent applications: 59-259, 547; 61-137,498; 62-155,851; 64-897; 1-295,599; 2-241,297; and, 3-208,497. This listing is not intended as an exhaustive listing of the prior art, nor as a representation that no more pertinent prior art exists, nor should any such representation be inferred.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,996 discloses weaving the conductors through which electrical contact is made with the voice coil into the spider cloth. The problem with such techniques has been fatigue of the conductor as the loudspeakers operates. As the loudspeaker operates, the voice coil and its supporting mechanism, including the spider, are in constant motion and under constant flexural stress. Although the flexure of the spider is distributed across its radial width, the conductors woven into it inevitably fatigue and break, opening the electrical circuit to the voice coil.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Objectives of this invention are to provide a practical method to reduce the cost of manufacturing speakers by minimizing the number of discrete steps required to complete the assembly, and to simplify speaker assembly by reducing the component count in the final assembly process.
According to the invention a method is provided for making a loudspeaker spider incorporating the voice coil leads which enhances the flexibility of the voice coil leads.
This invention provides a new method for forming a flexible conductive path through the spider component which is well controlled, in a known position, improves productivity over other known configurations, and uses well known processes to achieve an improved configuration.
This invention also provides a composite “audio cloth ” material which contains the flexible conductive path through the spider prepared by the method of this invention.
The invention also provides a molded spider component with integrally woven flexible conductive paths made from this audio cloth.
The invention also provides a method for eliminating the typical solder used as the interconnecting medium between the voice coil wires and the flexible conductors, and its attendant structural and processing problems.
The invention also provides a method to prevent stiffening and contamination of the flexible conductive cord during the process of impregnating the cloth with phenolic resin.
The invention further provides a method to produce a spider cloth and subsequently a molded spider, which method facilitates the attachment of the flexible conductors to the loudspeaker terminals.
The invention further provides the spider cloth and subsequent molded spider component made by this method.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method of making a woven spider comprises selecting a thread of the cloth from which the spider is to be woven, wrapping the selected thread with an electrical conductor, and weaving the wrapped thread at the selected locating in the cloth.
Illustratively, the method further comprises the steps of, after weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location in the cloth, forming the cloth into a spider, incorporating the spider into a moving coil transducer, and making electrical contract to the moving coil of the moving coil transducer through the electrical conductor wrapped around the thread.
Further according to the invention, the step of weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location in the cloth comprises the step of weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location with a “float” or “overshoot.” The step of forming the cloth into a spider comprises the step of forming a region of the cloth adjacent the float or overshoot as a perimeter of the spider.
The step of wrapping the selected thread with an electrical conductor illustratively comprises wrapping multiple threads with multiple electrical conductors, and the step of weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location illustratively comprises weaving the multiple wrapped threads at a single shed or course in the cloth.
Additionally, illustratively, the method further comprises, after wrapping multiple threads with electrical conductors and before weaving the multiple wrapped threads at a single shed or course in the cloth, the step of twisting the multiple wrapped threads together.
Further, illustratively, the method comprises, after wrapping the selected thread with an electrical conductor and before weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location in the cloth, the step of treating the wrapped thread with a first substance to render the wrapped thread relatively impervious to a second substance, and then, after weaving the wrapped thread at the selected location in the cloth, the step of treating the cloth with the second substance.
Illustratively, first substance comprises a wax. Illustratively, the second substance comprises a phenolic resin.
Additionally, illustratively, making electrical contact to the moving coil of the transducer through the electrical conductor wrapped around the thread comprises the step of applying a conductive adhesive to at least one of the electrical conductor wrapped around the thread and a lead of the moving coil.
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Mango, III Louis A.
Steere John F.
Barnes & Thornburg
Harman International Industries Incorporated
Tugbang A. Dexter
Young Lee
LandOfFree
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