Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Electromagnetic
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-17
2002-01-22
Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2747)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Electromagnetic
C381S423000, C381S430000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06341167
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speaker for use in a television receiver and in various audio/video apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most of television receivers, a speaker is located at both sides of a cathode ray tube. Speakers of an oblong profile, such as square, oval, etc. have been used for the application. Recently, an increasing number of cathode ray tubes are assuming the screen dimensions of a laterally expanded aspect ratio. As a result, the speakers are requested to have a narrower profile. The speakers are also requested to be able to reproduce high-quality sound corresponding to an improved picture quality.
A conventional oblong speaker is described next with reference to
FIG. 6
, FIG.
7
and FIG.
8
.
FIG. 6
is an exploded perspective view,
FIG. 7
is a perspective view of an integral unit consisting of voice coil bobbin unit and a diaphragm unit, and
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of a sheet for the integral unit consisting of the voice coil bobbin and the diaphragm before they are formed into the integral unit.
An integral unit
1
consists of a diaphragm unit
1
a
of an oblong shape having a non-axial symmetry with the major axis and the minor axis for generating the air vibration and a voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
. The periphery of diaphragm unit
1
a
is supported by a frame
3
via an edge
2
. A supplement cover
9
a
,
9
b
is adhered to the diaphragm unit at both ends of the major axis, which are the portions of the diaphragm which are not formed.
A truss
8
is provided bridging the inner circumference of voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
, and connected to about the middle of a damper
7
having an approximate shape of a letter “S”, so that the voice coil bobbin unit is supported by the frame
3
in a freely vibrating manner.
The frame
3
is provided in the middle hollow part with a plurality of magnetic circuits
6
formed of a yoke
4
and a magnet
5
. A coil
1
c
is attached firmly around the voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
, and the coil
1
c
is placed in the gap of magnetic circuit
6
. The voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
makes a piston motion in accordance with a drive current supplied to the coil
1
c
. Thus the diaphragm unit
1
a
vibrates to radiate sound waves.
A gasket
3
a
is provided to fix the edge
2
on the frame
3
.
The integral unit
1
consisting of the voice coil bobbin and the diaphragm is prepared by first producing the diaphragm unit
1
a
and the voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
out of an oblong sheet
1
d
of hard aluminum, paper, resin film, or the like materials, as shown in
FIG. 8
, by forming it into the shape of an inverse letter “U”, and then winding a magnet wire around it using a winding jig for forming the coil
1
c
. The conventional integral unit
1
consisting of the voice coil bobbin and the diaphragm thus prepared, however, bears with it the drawbacks as described below.
1. The conventional integral unit is provided by forming an oblong sheet into the shape of an inverse letter “U” to produce the voice coil bobbin unit
1
b
and the diaphragm unit
1
a
, and then the coil
1
c
is wound around it. As a result, the voice coil in the semi-circular portions at both ends of the major axis is formed with the coil
1
c
alone. Therefore, the rigidity is not high enough, and the coil
1
c
easily gets loosened.
2. The conventional integral unit
1
consisting of the voice coil bobbin and the diaphragm is provided by forming an oblong sheet into the shape of an inverse letter “U”, and winding the coil
1
c
around it, and then a diaphragm supplement cover
9
a
,
9
b
made of paper, resin or other such material that is suitable for manufacturing the diaphragm formed into a semi-spherical shape is attached with adhesives in advance or during the assembly process on the diaphragm at both ends of the major axis, or the places void of the diaphragm. This not only lowers productivity of the manufacturing, but the added weight due to the supplement covers
9
a
,
9
b
and the adhesives deteriorates the level of sound pressure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above described drawbacks, and aims to provide a speaker that has an improved sound quality and performance at a reduced cost of assembly. A speaker of the present invention comprises a magnetic circuit containing at least the magnetic gap, a frame connected to the magnetic circuit, and an integral unit consisting of a voice coil bobbin unit and a diaphragm unit connected at the periphery of the frame via an edge. The integral unit is formed of a ring shape voice coil bobbin unit which is wound around with coil to be placed in the magnetic gap and a diaphragm unit formed in the shape of an inverse letter “U” which is disposed on the upper edge of the voice coil bobbin unit. Since the voice coil bobbin unit is formed to a ring shape in the above described configuration, the rigidity is enhanced. This prevents an irregular winding of a coil on the voice coil bobbin, and the coil does not get loosened easily.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5664024 (1997-09-01), Furuta et al.
patent: 5862242 (1999-01-01), Takewa et al.
patent: 5-93198 (1923-12-01), None
patent: 7-298389 (1995-11-01), None
Fujii Mutsufumi
Okuyama Masatoshi
Okuzawa Kazurou
Sumiyama Masahide
Kuntz Curtis
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Inc.
Ni Suhan
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
LandOfFree
Speaker does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Speaker, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Speaker will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2841776