BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 depicts a mathematical description of the acoustic directivity function of a loudspeaker line array;
FIG. 2 depicts a curved array directivity function;
FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of a geometric model of a spiral line array source;
FIG. 4 depicts a comparison of the sound energy directivity of an arcuate and a spiral array, according to one embodiment;
FIGS. 5A-5B depict one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a constant horizontal coverage;
FIGS. 6A-6B depict one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having linearly changing horizontal coverage;
FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram showing the coverage of the embodiment of FIGS. 6A-6B;
FIG. 8 depicts one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having non-linearly changing horizontal coverage;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a constant horizontal coverage;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a changing horizontal coverage;
FIGS. 11A-11B depict front and back views of one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a constant horizontal coverage and segmented by a plurality of acoustic vanes;
FIGS. 12A-12B depict front and back views of another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a linearly changing horizontal coverage and segmented by a plurality of acoustic vanes;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a constant horizontal coverage and segmented by a plurality of acoustic vanes; and
FIGS. 14A-14B are front and cross section views of one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker having a constant horizontal coverage and segmented by a plurality of phase plugs.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
According to one aspect of the invention, a plurality of electro-acoustical drivers may be arranged in a curved line array using a single waveguide. While in one embodiment the curved line array may be a spiral array, in another embodiment it may be any curved line array. One such array has all sources at a constant radial distance from an imaginary point of rotation. In contrast, lines normal to the surface of a spiral line array do not converge to a common point.
In one embodiment of the invention, the electro-acoustical drivers are physically and acoustically coupled directly to a waveguide without the use of a throat section. The waveguide and the electro-acoustical drivers may thus be oriented in line along the selected curve so as to produce the desired vertical angular coverage. In another embodiment, the electro-acoustical drivers are direct-radiating transducers.
The vertical angular coverage afforded by a curved line array corresponds to the included angle of the arc. In one embodiment, the array may be comprised of a number of identical sources tightly grouped along the length of the array, the upper portion of the array would have several elements overlapping and the radiated sound pressure in the direction of aiming would be high. In the case of a spiral array, the spiral array becomes progressively tighter as you move down its length, and the radiation axes of the sources diverge, resulting in a progressive reduction in coverage overlap and a gradual lowering of the sound pressure.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a loudspeaker comprised of the aforementioned plurality of electro-acoustical drivers arranged in a curved line array. In one embodiment, the waveguide to which the plurality of electro-acoustical drivers are coupled provides a constant horizontal coverage across a prescribed coverage area throughout the length of the array. In another embodiment, the waveguide may be designed to provide a linearly-changing horizontal coverage so as to provide equal coverage to an essentially rectangular shaped area. It should further be appreciated that non-linearly changing waveguides designs may be used to provide coverage to areas having numerous other shapes and configurations.
In another embodiment, the waveguide may provide horizontal coverage that, although constant over the length of the array, is nonetheless offset from a centerline of the array so as to bias coverage towards one of two horizontal directions.
Another aspect of the invention is to intersperse a plurality of phase plugs between adjacent drivers to equalize the sound path lengths from the electro-acoustical drivers, maintain uniform phase between adjacent drivers at the mouth of the waveguide. In one embodiment, the plurality of phase plugs essentially prismatic frustum wedge segments extending outward from a driver mounting surface to a point no further than a mouth of the waveguide.
Referring now to FIG. 1, depicted is a mathematical description of the acoustic directivity function of a loudspeaker line array. In this embodiment, the line source, l, directs sound energy through an angle, α, which is the angle between a line perpendicular to the line source, l, and the distant observation point. FIG. 2, in contrast, depicts the curved array directivity function is given by the following Equation 1:
where,
α=the angle between the radius drawn through the central point and the line joining the source and the distant observation point;
R=radius of the arc;
2 m+1=number of points;
θ=angle subtended by any two points at the center of the arc; and
K=index.
FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of a geometric model of a spiral line array source. As shown, any position along the spiral source may be given by Equations 2 and 3 below:
where,
x(s)=position along the x-axis;
η=number of elements;
ΔΨ=incremental angle between elements=2Ω/M(M+1); and
L=length of the array.
Given a position {x(s), y(s)} along the spiral array, the radius along which sound energy is directed may be found using Equation 4 below:
r
s=√{square root over ((r−x(σ))2+(y(M)−y(σ))2)}{square root over ((r−x(σ))2+(y(M)−y(σ))2)}{square root over ((r−x(σ))2+(y(M)−y(σ))2)} (4)
where,
rs=relative distance at index s along the spiral;
σ=relative distance; and
M=number of elemental length segments=L/ΔL.
FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a comparison of the sound directivity of an arcuate array and a spiral array. As shown in FIG. 4, the arcuate array 410 has all sources at a constant radial distance from an imaginary point of rotation. In contrast, the spiral line source 420 has a radius which changes along the length of the array. That is, lines normal to the surface of a spiral line array do not converge to a common point. As shown by the sound energy directivity patterns 430 and 440 in FIG. 4, the spiral line source 420 “tilts” the polar response to direct more sound energy toward the back of the coverage area, while providing less energy to the front of the coverage area. The arcuate array, on the other hand, provides a uniform polar response across the array.
FIGS. 5A-5B depict one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker 500 providing constant horizontal coverage along the length of the array. While in one embodiment, the loudspeaker 500 may be comprised of a spiral array, in another embodiment the loudspeaker 500 may be comprised of any curved array. FIG. 5A depicts a front view of the loudspeaker 500 with N drivers 5101-N running along the length of the loudspeaker 500, whereas FIG. 5B depicts a perspective view of the loudspeaker 500. It should be noted that the appearance of the drivers 5101-N changes from circular to elliptical toward the bottom of the loudspeaker when viewed from the front, since the array gradually spirals away from the field of view towards the lower portions of the array.
As will be described in more detail below, drivers 5101-N may be grouped tightly enough along the array such that the sound radiation axes at the upper portion of the array are nearly parallel to one another, resulting in overlapping coverage from the proximate drivers. This overlapping coverage provides for an increase in sound pressure for auditors seated at the further distances from the array. As the spiral becomes progressively tighter towards the bottom of the array, the sound radiation axes diverge, thereby decreasing the sound pressure relative to the top portion of the array. Since the bottom of the array is responsible for coverage of the lower positions, and since lower positions are typically closer than higher seating, the net effect is a relatively constant level of sound pressure across the distance gradient.
Continuing to refer to FIGS. 5A-5B, constant horizontal coverage is provided by waveguide 520, which spans along the left and right sides of the drivers 5101-N, as depicted in FIGS. 5A-5B. In one embodiment, the angle θ between the left and right sides of waveguide 520 may vary between approximately 60 degrees and 120 degrees. It should further be appreciated that, in the embodiments of FIGS. 5A-5B, drivers 5101-N are oriented in a forward position adjacent to the waveguide 520 and are directly connected to the waveguide. In one embodiment, the absence of a connecting throat section advantages reduced distortion, improved sound quality coherence and reduced complexity of design.
Referring now to FIGS. 6A-6B, depict is another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker 600 viewed from the front, in the case of FIG. 6A, and from a perspective view, in the case of FIG. 6B. As with FIGS. 5A-5B, the loudspeaker 600 may be comprised of a spiral array or an arcuate array. However, in the embodiment of FIGS. 6A-6B, loudspeaker 600 has a linearly changing horizontal coverage. That is, the angle θT near the top portion of the array is less than the angle θB toward the bottom portion of the array. In one embodiment, angle θT is approximately 60 degrees, but may vary from about 40 degrees to about 80 degrees. In another embodiment, or in addition to the previous embodiment, angle θB is approximately 120 degrees, but may vary from about 75 degrees to about 140 degrees. In this fashion, the spiral array loudspeaker 600 may be used to provide sound coverage for a specified area. For example, FIG. 7 depicts one embodiment of a sound source 700 (e.g., curved array loudspeaker 600) that is to provide sound coverage to the area 710—defined by distance D and width W. Since the top portion of the array provides coverage to the rear portion of area 710, the waveguide angle θT is smaller relative to the waveguide angle θB. as shown in FIG. 7. Linearly varying the waveguide angle θ along the length of the waveguide, as done in the embodiment of FIGS. 6A-6B, may be used to provide coverage to an essentially rectangular shaped area, such as area 710.
FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment (viewed from the front) of a curved array loudspeaker 800 with a changing horizontal coverage provided by waveguide 820. In this embodiment, however, the waveguide angle changes in a non-linear fashion along the length of the array. That is, the angle Tθ near the top portion of the array varies as you move down the array in a non-linear fashion until the angle equals θB. This non-linear variation of the waveguide angle along the length of the waveguide may be done to provide coverage to target areas of varying shapes (e.g., oval, circular, parabolic, etc). Again, the curved array loudspeaker 400 may be comprised of a spiral array or any curved array.
Referring now to FIG. 9, depicted is one embodiment of a perspective view of a curved array loudspeaker. As with FIGS. 5A-5B. loudspeaker 900 includes a constant waveguide horizontal angle θ that provides a constant horizontal coverage along the length of the array. In contrast, the loudspeaker 1000 of FIG. 10 provides a linearly changing horizontal coverage by having a waveguide angle θT near the top portion of the array that is smaller than the angle θB toward the bottom portion of the array. In one embodiment, angle θT is approximately 60 degrees, but may vary from about 40 degrees to about 80 degrees. In another embodiment, or in addition to the previous embodiment, angle θB is approximately 120 degrees, but may vary from about 75 degrees to about 140 degrees.
FIGS. 11A-11B depict one embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker 1100 having a constant horizontal coverage along the length of the array. While in one embodiment, the loudspeaker 1100 may be comprised of a spiral array, in another embodiment the loudspeaker 1100 may be comprised of an arcuate array. FIG. 11A depicts a front view of the loudspeaker 1100 with N drivers 11101-N running along the length of the loudspeaker 1100, whereas FIG. 11B depicts the loudspeaker 1100 from a rear view. In addition, loudspeaker 1100 is designed with a plurality of vanes 11301-i interspersed between the drivers 11101-N. In one embodiment, vanes may serve to separate portions of the waveguide to assist in guiding the sound path. Moreover, as with the previously-described FIGS. 5A-5B, the waveguide 1120 of FIGS. 11A-11B is adapted to provide a constant horizontal coverage by having a constant angle between the left and right sides of the waveguide 1120 along the length of the array.
FIGS. 12A-12B, in turn, depict another embodiment of a curved array loudspeaker 1200 viewed from the front, in the case of FIG. 12A, and from the back, in the case of FIG. 12B. As with previously-described embodiments, the loudspeaker 1200 array may be comprised of a spiral array or an arcuate array. However, in the embodiment of FIGS. 12A-12B, loudspeaker 1200 has a linearly changing horizontal coverage. That is, the angle θT near the top portion of the array is less than the angle θB toward the bottom portion of the array. As previously mentioned, varying the waveguide horizontal angle along the length of the waveguide may be used to provide coverage to a predefined coverage area. In addition, loudspeaker 1200 is designed with a plurality of vanes 8301-i interspersed between the drivers 12101-N.
Referring finally to FIG. 13, depicted is another embodiment of a perspective view of a curved array loudspeaker designed with a plurality of vanes 13301-i interspersed between the drivers 13101-N. In this embodiment, loudspeaker array 1300 includes a constant waveguide horizontal angle θ that provides a constant horizontal coverage by having a constant angle between the left and right sides of the waveguide 1320 along the length of the array.
FIGS. 14A-14B depict a curved array 1400 consistent with one embodiment of the invention in which a plurality of phase plugs 14301-i are used to help equalize sound path lengths from the drivers 14101-N inlets to the waveguide mouth. In one embodiment, the plurality of phase plugs 14301-i may be used to maintain a constant phase between adjacent drivers at the mouth of the waveguide. As shown in FIG. 14A, phase plugs 14301-i span from the bottom of a higher adjacent driver 14101-N to the top of a lower adjacent driver 14101-N. However, it should equally be appreciated that the phase plugs 14301-i may be narrower than the gap between drivers 14101-N. FIG. 14B, which depicts a cross section view of the curved array, depicts one embodiment of how the drivers 14101-N and phase plugs 14301-i may be oriented relative to one another.
While the invention has been described in connection with various embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is capable of further modification. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention, and including such departures from the present disclosure as, within the known and customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains.
Patent Application
20080085027
