Woofer module of a portable computer

Details Woofer module of a portable computer Woofer module of a portable computer

2003-03-19

2004-09-28

Chang, Yean-Hsi (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S689000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06798654

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a woofer module, and more particularly, to a removable woofer module of a portable computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, multimedia technology becomes so popular that a user can interact with a computer system to efficiently access variety of desired audio data and image data. Therefore, how to make a portable computer providing the user with amazing audio effects has become a key concern for computer manufacturers. Please refer to
FIG. 1
, which is a diagram of a first prior art portable computer
10
. The portable computer
10
has a housing
12
and a plurality of speakers
14
a
,
14
b
,
14
c
. The speakers
14
a
,
14
b
respectively correspond to a left channel and a right channel for generating stereo sound. In addition, the speaker
14
c
is a woofer used to generate low-frequency signals. To make output signals generated by the speaker
14
c
to have lower frequencies, the portable computer
10
has to comprise a cavity for resonating the output signals generated from the speaker
14
c
. Only the existing spare space inside the interior of the portable computer
10
can be utilized to install the speaker
14
c
in conjunction with the required resonating cavity. In addition, the speaker
14
c
is fixed in the portable computer
10
at a predetermined location, that is, the speaker
14
c
is not designed to be a removable module. When the speaker is in unused state, the occupied space cannot be freed for other purposes.
Please refer to
FIG. 2
in conjunction with FIG.
3
.
FIG. 2
is a diagram of a second prior art portable computer
20
.
FIG. 3
is a diagram of a power module
26
shown in FIG.
2
. The portable computer
20
has a housing
22
, which is also referred to as a first housing, two speakers
23
a
,
23
b
, two expansion slots
24
a
,
24
b
, a hard-disk drive
25
, and a power module
26
(batteries for example). The expansion slots
24
a
,
24
b
are respectively used to install expansion devices such as the hard-disk drive
25
and the power module
26
. Two speakers
23
a
,
23
b
respectively correspond to a left channel and a right channel for generating stereo sound. The power module
26
is installed in the expansion slot
24
b
and is removable from the expansion slot
24
b
. The power module
26
not only provides the portable computer
20
with a predetermined voltage used to power the portable computer
20
, but also provides a function for outputting low-frequency signals. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the power module
26
includes a battery device
28
and a woofer
30
. The battery device
28
is used to output the predetermined voltage, and the woofer
30
is used to output the low-frequency signal. There is a cavity located inside the housing of the power module
26
for the purpose of resonating the low-frequency signals generated from the woofer
30
. Though the module design of woofer
30
couple with battery device
28
is efficient, but the power capacity provided by the battery device
28
is greatly reduced because of the additional woofer
30
in the power module
26
. In other words, the battery life of the portable computer
20
is shortened due to the reduced power capacity. In addition, the cavity for resonating the signals is too narrow to make the signals have lower frequencies. It is noteworthy that the low-frequency signals outputted from the woofer
30
would generate noticeable vibration. The prior art portable computer
20
does not provide any devices to lessen or isolate the vibrations. When a hard-disk drive or an optical disk drive accesses the data, the data access operation is prone to be influenced by the vibrations causing the access to be corrupted or stopped. In addition, the vibrations make a disturbing noise while the user is using the portable computer.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a removable woofer module with shock-absorbing ability to solve the above-mentioned problem.
According to the claimed invention, a portable computer comprises a first housing having an expansion slot and a woofer module installed in the expansion slot for generating a low-frequency signal. The woofer module is removable from the expansion slot, and the woofer module comprises a second housing, a speaker unit positioned in the second housing for generating the low-frequency signal, a predetermined room positioned in the second housing for resonating the low-frequency signal, and a bass reflex duct positioned in the second housing. The bass reflex duct is used to connect an output vent of the predetermined room and an output vent of the second housing so that the low-frequency signal is outputted from the output vent of the second housing.
The claimed invention not only provides the portable computer with low-frequency signals, but also protects the portable computer from being disturbed by the vibration caused by the low-frequency signals.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5523524 (1996-06-01), Prokisch et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Woofer module of a portable computer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Woofer module of a portable computer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Woofer module of a portable computer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3269437