Vehicle speaker pod

Details Vehicle speaker pod Vehicle speaker pod

2000-06-22

2003-09-02

Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2743)

Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices

Electro-acoustic audio transducer

Mounting or support feature of housed loudspeaker

C381S086000, C181S150000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06614913

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to speaker cabinets, and more particularly to speaker cabinets for vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The thrill of riding in a convertible with the top down and the stereo blasting is one that is enjoyed by many. A multitude of different types of stereos and speakers are available from the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) of automobiles, usually tailored to the specific design of the vehicle. A further multitude of different types of stereos and speakers are available from after-market suppliers, providing versatile stereos and speakers that can be installed in almost any vehicle by a skilled owner or after-market installer. Typically, the stereo speakers intended to supply sound to the front compartment of the car are mounted in the opposite doors of the car.
Certain models of sports utility vehicles, for example, the Jeep® Wrangler® vehicle, have removable doors for an even greater feeling of openness than is enjoyed by merely having the top down. Such doors, however, are not conducive to having stereo speakers installed in them because once the doors are removed, the speakers would be gone and any speaker wire connecting to the speakers would have to be disconnectable. There are several options available to the owners of such vehicles to provide stereo sound, none of which are satisfactory. For example, it is known to mount speakers to the roll bars, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,806. It is also known to mount speakers between the roll bar and the fender well, which typically provides sound to the rear compartment of the vehicle, or to install an overhead soundbar containing speakers therein. It is also known to provide consoles mounted under the dash between the driver and passenger that provide speakers as well as storage and drink-holding capacity. Such designs are showcased in catalogs of after-market products for Jeep® Vehicles, published for example, under the names Quadratec, J. C. Whitney, and Four Wheel Drive Hardware, or enthusiast's periodicals such as JP Magazine. Roll-bar mounted speakers, as described in the '806 patent, or speakers mounted between the roll bar and fender well, provide sound to the rear of the vehicle, but not to the front. Although an overhead soundbar can be mounted to provide sound to the front compartment of the vehicle, the sound essentially blares right above the ears of the driver and front passenger.
None of the above solutions, however, provides the ideal stereo sound that is provided by having speakers on either side of the car in the front passenger compartment. Thus, there is still a need in the industry to provide speaker cabinets tailored to fit the structures of off-road vehicles with convertible doors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a speaker pod for housing an audio speaker, the speaker pod adapted to be installed in a vehicle having a channel having an effective height and a width defined by the floor, a sidewall, and a top. The speaker pod comprises a multi-sided enclosure having a back plate to extend upwardly from the vehicle floor adjacent to and approximately parallel to the sidewall, a front plate having a projected height and an opening for mounting a speaker therein, and a top connecting the back plate with the front plate. The top has a step with a width approximately equal to the depth of the top of the channel and a riser having a height equal to the projected height of the front plate minus the effective height of the sidewall. The front plate is typically angled relative to the back plate to direct sound from the speaker toward a driver or a passenger in the vehicle.
The speaker pod has a forward-facing side facing the front of the vehicle and a backward-facing side facing the rear of the vehicle. The front plate has a forwardfacing end adjacent the forward-facing side and a backward-facing end adjacent the backward-facing side. The forward-facing end of the front plate may be semi-circular and the backward-facing end of the front plate may have a diagonal truncation in a lower portion thereof. The forward-facing end of the front plate may extend further forward in the vehicle than the forward-facing end of the back plate.
The speaker pod is typically adapted for mounting in a convertible off-road vehicle, such as a vehicle having channel dimensions equal to the channel dimensions of a 1997-model-year Jeep® Wrangler® vehicle, and may be particularly adapted for mountng in the front compartment of the vehicle for providing sound to the front compartment.
The invention also comprises a set of two speaker pods as described above, each comprising a mirror-image of the other. The invention further comprises a vehicle comprising at least one speaker pod of this invention.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4905860 (1990-03-01), Kurihara et al.
patent: 4917212 (1990-04-01), Iwaya
patent: 5414229 (1995-05-01), Rocheleau et al.
patent: 6226927 (2001-05-01), Bertolini et al.

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