Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Mounting or support feature of housed loudspeaker
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-13
2001-03-13
Kuntz, Curtis A. (Department: 2743)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Mounting or support feature of housed loudspeaker
C381S387000, C381S395000, C381S431000, C381S425000, C181S171000, C181S161000, C181S142000, C181S287000, C181S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06201878
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to portable compact disc players and more particularly to such players incorporating loudspeakers comprising panel-form acoustic radiating elements.
BACKGROUND ART
It is known from GB-A-2262861 to suggest a panel-form loudspeaker comprising:
a resonant multi-mode radiator element being a unitary sandwich panel formed of two skins of material with a spacing core of transverse cellular construction, wherein the panel is such as to have ratio of bending stiffness (B), in all orientations, to the cube power of panel mass per unit surface area (&mgr;) of at least 10;
a mounting means which supports the panel or attaches to it a supporting body, in a free undamped manner;
and an electro-mechanical drive means coupled to the panel which serves to excite a multi-modal resonance in the radiator panel in response to an electrical input within a working frequency band for the loudspeaker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,575 of GOLDSTAR CO. discloses a portable compact disc player comprising a slim body and a pair of loudspeakers detachably hinged to the body.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention use members of nature, structure and configuration achievable generally and/or specifically by implementing teachings of our co-pending application Ser. No. 08/707,012. Such members thus have capability to sustain and propagate input vibrational energy by bending waves in operative area(s) extending transversely of thickness often but not necessarily to edges of the member(s); are configured with or without anisotropy of bending stiffness to have resonant mode vibration components distributed over said area(s) beneficially for acoustic coupling with ambient air; and have predetermined preferential locations or sites within said area for transducer means, particularly operationally active or moving part(s) thereof effective in relation to acoustic vibrational activity in said area(s) and signals, usually electrical, corresponding to acoustic content of such vibrational activity. Uses are envisaged in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/707,012 for such members as or in “passive” acoustic devices without transducer means, such as for reverberation or for acoustic filtering or for acoustically “voicing” a space or room; and as or in “active” acoustic devices with transducer means, such as in a remarkably wide range of sources of sound or loudspeakers when supplied with input signals to be converted to said sound, or in such as microphones when exposed to sound to be converted into other signals.
This invention is particularly concerned with active acoustic devices e.g. in the form of loudspeakers for portable compact disc players. In the following description and claims, it is to be understood that the term ‘compact disc’ is intended to encompass analogous digitally encoded discs, such as for example digital video discs.
Members as above are herein called distributed mode radiators and are intended to be characterised as in the above copending parent application and/or otherwise as specifically provided herein.
The invention is a portable compact-disc player characterised by an opposed pair of panel-form loudspeakers, and in that each loudspeaker comprises a member having capability to sustain and propagate input vibrational energy by bending waves in at least one operative area extending transversely of thickness to have resonant mode vibration components distributed over said at least one area and have predetermined preferential locations or sites within said area for transducer means and having a transducer mounted wholly and exclusively on said member at one of said locations or sites to vibrate the member to cause it to resonate forming an acoustic radiator which provides an acoustic output when resonating. The portable compact-disc player may comprise a body portion having a turntable and a lid adapted to close over the turntable, and the loudspeakers may be mounted to the lid. Thus the loudspeakers may be hinged to the lid. Alternatively the loudspeakers may each be housed in a slot in the lid for sliding movement between a stored position, in which the loudspeakers are substantially wholly housed in the slot, and a use position in which the loudspeakers are positioned on opposite sides of the lid. Each radiator may comprise a stiff lightweight panel having a cellular core sandwiched by opposed skin layers. The radiator may be supported in a surrounding frame. A resilient suspension may be interposed between the frame and the radiator.
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Azima Henry
Colloms Martin
Harris Neil John
Foley & Lardner
Harvey Dionne
Kuntz Curtis A.
New Transducers Limited
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