This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-44819, filed on Feb. 20, 2004.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exciter directly attached to a board for vibrating the board. In particular, the present invention relates to an exciter for directly vibrating a board which is designed so that when attached to a board via a bracket member, it will not be insufficiently fastened to the bracket member.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, in stereo systems, PCs, mobile phones, and other electronic apparatuses, speakers have been used to output audio information from various media. In such speakers, vibration boards for emitting sound are attached to exciters supplied with the drive signals for audio output. These vibration boards have horn shapes specially designed for such speakers. For example, the vibration boards have voice coils of exciters affixed to them. Sound is output by these voice coils vibrating by magnetic circuits.
Such speakers are also used to reproduce music or speech in vehicles, for example, the compartments of passenger cars. These speakers are for example built into the doors of the front seats or are placed on the rear trays. Usually a plurality of speakers are arranged attached to at least one of the front seat and rear seat sides.
In addition to arranging speakers for audio reproduction inside the front seat doors or on the rear trays, arrangement of speakers including direct drive exciters at the ceiling panels of the compartments has for example been disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 6-45865. When attaching usual speakers in a compartment, there are restrictions on the positions of attachment of the speakers. Speakers of too large nominal sizes cannot be used. To deal with this, in the speakers proposed above, instead of the conventional speakers having large nominal sizes, exciters are directly attached to the ceiling panels and the ceiling panels are used as vibration boards.
Various exciters for directly vibrating boards able to be used for such car-mounted speakers have been proposed as disclosed for example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-143690. The proposed exciter for directly vibrating board is provided with a coupler member. It is for example directly fixed to a board such as an interior panel used for vehicles so as to thereby form speakers. If however the coupler member is fixed to the board, when for example the exciter is damaged and the speaker no longer function, it is not possible to replace only the exciter. That is, the entire board with the exciter attached has to be replaced.
Therefore, considering the servicing, just the exciter is made able to be replaced by fixing a bracket member to the board, attaching the exciter via the bracket member, and using the exciter to vibrate the board through the bracket member. That is, the exciter is attached to the board through the bracket member. This bracket member is shaped as a disk at the center of which a projection with male thread is provided. The coupler member is in turn provided at the center with recesses with female thread.
When the bracket member is for example fixed to the surfaces of the interior panel of vehicles, when attaching the exciter to the interior panel, the recesses formed at the coupler member and the projection of the bracket member is screwed together, that is, the exciter is turned to fasten it.
However, if workers manually turn exciters when attaching them, the fastening torques in the turning work cannot be made constant and sometimes sufficient fastening torques cannot be applied. The insufficient fastening at the time of attachment of the exciter causes loose attachment and degrades the performances of the speaker. Further, the exciters may even drop off.
To prevent insufficient fastening at the time of attachment of exciter, use of work tools such as wrenches able to easily give the required fastening torques may be considered. However, the only places for the ends of the work tools to be brought into contact with the exciter are the outer circumference of the outside yoke. The ends of the work tools end up slipping at the outer circumference, so sufficient fastening torques cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, if too strongly fastening the exciter—not only when attaching it, but also when detaching it for replacement, the ends of the work tools end up slipping at the outer circumference of the outside yoke and therefore the exciter cannot be turned.
An object of the present invention is to provide an exciter for directly vibrating a board which enables a sufficient rotational torque to be obtained by a work tool at the time of attachment or detachment.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an exciter for directly vibrating a board including a magnetic circuit unit having a dish-shaped outside yoke comprised of a side wall and a bottom connected with each other, a permanent magnet fastened to the bottom, and an inside yoke placed on the permanent magnet and provided with a clearance from the side wall; a coil wound around a bobbin and inserted into the clearance, which vibrates said board when a drive signal is supplied to; and a coupler member fastening the bobbin and provided with supports for supporting an elastic member connected to the magnetic circuit unit; wherein the coupler member having a mount for attachment to a bracket member attached to the surface of the board; and engagement means able to engage with a work tool being provided at the exciter for attachment/detachment of the coupler member with respect to the bracket member.
Preferably, the engagement means comprise at least one flat surface formed at an outer circumference of the side wall of the outside yoke, and, when mounting the coupler member to or detaching it from the bracket member, a flat surface is gripped by being brought into abutment with a flat surface of an end of the work tool and the work tool is turned to attach/detach the coupler member with respect to the bracket member. More preferably, the engagement means comprise at least one pair of parallel facing flat surfaces.
Alternatively, the engagement means comprise at least one groove formed at an outside surface of the bottom of the outside yoke, and, when mounting the coupler member to or detaching it from the bracket member, a groove receives an end of the work tool and the work tool is turned to attach/detach the coupler member with respect to the bracket member. More preferably, grooves are formed in a cross shape.
Alternatively, the engagement means comprise projecting parts formed at the plurality of elastic member supports supporting the elastic member and provided at the coupler member, and, when mounting the coupler member to or detaching it from the bracket member, the projecting parts are engaged with grooves provided at ends of the work tool and the work tool is turned to attach/detach the coupler member with respect to the bracket member.
As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an exciter for directing vibrating a board utilized as a vibration board wherein the coupler member of the exciter is provided with engagement means enabling engagement with an end of a work tool when attaching the coupler member to a bracket member attached to the board or when detaching it from the bracket member, so a sufficient fastening torque can be obtained when mounting the exciter to the board and a sufficient release torque can be obtained when replacing an exciter.
Since the engagement means may be comprised of two facing flat surfaces provided at the outer circumference of the outside yoke forming part of the exciter or a groove provided on the bottom of the outside yoke, there is no need to provide any special parts and there is no effect on the performance of the exciter. It is possible to obtain a sufficient fastening torque or release torque by turning the work tool by a simple method.
Further, the engagement means may utilize the plurality of elastic member supports provided at the coupler member forming part of the exciter and form projecting parts at the elastic member supports, so it is possible to make the ends of a work tool engage with the projecting parts and possible to obtain a sufficient fastening torque or release torque.
By providing these engagement means at the exciter, the turning work is improved when attaching the exciter to the board or when detaching the exciter from the board.
Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given with reference to the drawings in which the same reference numerals designate the same or corresponding parts throughout several views, in which:
To clarify the effects given rise to by the present invention, first, the configuration of an already proposed exciter for directly vibrating a board and on which the present invention is based will be explained in detail below. A specific example of this proposed exciter will be explained with reference to
This exciter 1 is provided with a coupler member 6 for attachment to the interior panel 2. The coupler member 6 is provided with a plurality of elastic member supports 61-1 to 61-3 for vibratably supporting the magnetic circuit unit comprised of the outside yoke 3, permanent magnet 4, and inside yoke 5 with respect to the coupler member 6.
As shown in
The interior panel 2 is usually formed by a material such as urethane or polypropylene foam, so the interior panel 2 itself can act as a vibration board. Therefore, if the coil is given a drive signal, the interior panel 2 is made to vibrate through the coupler member 6 connected to the bobbin 7 around which the coil is wound and a sound corresponding to the frequency of the signal can be generated.
By using the interior panel 2 as a vibration board in this way, formation of a good sound field becomes possible. Further, while the exciter 1 shown in
The coupler member of the exciter for directly vibrating a board, as shown in
In
Here, the bracket member 10 is for example fastened to the surface of the interior panel 2 of a vehicle. When attaching the exciter 1 to the interior panel 2, the screw socket 63 formed at the coupler member 6 and the screw projection 10-1 of the bracket member 10 are aligned and the exciter 1 is turned to fasten and mount it.
However, as explained above, if using the method of attachment of the exciter to a board explained here, the fastening torque when mounting the exciter 1 will not become uniform or a sufficient fastening torque will not be obtained and the insufficient fastening at the time of mounting the exciter will lead to loose engagement and degrade the performance of the speaker. Further, the exciter may also fall off.
Even if using a work tool such as a wrench at the time of mounting, the only place for the ends of the work tool to be brought into abutment is the outer circumference of the outside yoke of the exciter. The ends of the work tool end up slipping at the outer circumference, so sufficient fastening torque cannot be obtained. Further, if too strongly fastening the exciter—not only when attaching it but also when detaching it for replacement, the ends of the work tool will slip at the outer circumference of the outside yoke and therefore the exciter will not be able to be turned.
Therefore, the exciter for directly vibrating a board of the present invention, in view of these problems, enables a work tool to be used to obtain sufficient rotational torque by providing engagement means enabling engagement with an end of the work tool. Next, embodiments of the exciter for directly vibrating a board according to the present invention will be explained with reference to
First Embodiment
The exciter for directly vibrating a board according to the first embodiment is similar to the exciter 1 shown in
The state of formation of the engagement means at the outer circumference of the side wall of the outside yoke 3 of the exciter 1 is shown in
On the other hand,
Here, as an example when mounting the exciter 1 to the bracket member or when detaching the mounted exciter 1, in the case of a work tool 11 with a distance between the ends fixed to the width H between the flat surface P1 and the flat surface P2, as shown in
Further, as another example, when the distance between the ends 11-1 of the work tool 11 is adjustable, as shown in
Note that as the engagement means of the exciter 1 shown in
In this case, if assuming use of the work tool 11 shown in
Note that when the engagement means formed on the outside yoke 3 of the exciter 1 are comprised of one flat surface or two flat surfaces as explained above, the inconvenience arises that the directions by which the two ends 11-1 of the work tool 11 abut against the flat surfaces P1 and P2 are limited. A modification of the engagement parts for improving on this point is shown in
Further, the work tool 11 shown in
By forming a plurality of pairs of facing flat surfaces at the outer circumference of the outside yoke 3 of the exciter 1 in this way, it is possible to increase the directions of abutment of the ends 11-1 of the work tool 11, so a sufficient rotational torque can be obtained and also the work of attachment of the exciter 1 to the board or the work of detachment of the exciter 1 becomes easy.
Note that the engagement means of the exciter explained up to here were basically flat surfaces, but instead of flat surfaces, it is also possible to form a plurality of relief shapes at the outer circumference of the outside yoke. It is further possible to provide relief shapes corresponding to these shapes at the ends of the work tool. By doing this, there is the same effect as if the engagement means comprised flat surfaces. Further, the ends of the work tool can grip the outer circumference of the outside yoke from any direction and, in the turning work, a sufficient rotational torque can be obtained without slipping.
Second Embodiment
The engagement means in the exciter for directly vibrating a board according to the second embodiment are shown in
The exciter for directly vibrating a board shown in
The engagement means shown in
If forming a single groove S1 or cross-shaped grooves S2 at the bottom of the outside yoke 3 of the exciter 1 in this way and forming the end of the work tool 11 to a line shape like that of the head of a screwdriver for line recessed head screw or to a cross shape like that of the head of a screwdriver for cross recessed head screw, when mounting or detaching the exciter, by engaging the end of the work tool with the engagement means of the exciter and turning the work tool, a sufficient rotational torque can be obtained and also the work of attachment of the exciter 1 to the board or the work of detachment of the exciter 1 becomes easy.
Third Embodiment
The engagement means in an exciter for directly vibrating a board according to a third embodiment are shown in
The exciter for directly vibrating a board shown in
The elastic member supports 61-1 to 61-3 shown in
The tip of the work tool 11 is provided with three ends 11-3 at positions corresponding to the elastic member supports 61-1 to 61-3. Further, as shown in
In this way, when mounting or detaching the exciter, by engaging the ends of the work tool with the engagement means of the exciter, that is, the projecting parts, and turning the work tool, sufficient rotational torque can be obtained and also the work of attachment of the exciter 1 to the board or the work of detachment of the exciter 1 becomes easy.
Note that while the elastic member supports provided at the coupler member were used for the projecting parts for engaging with the ends of the work tool, the projecting parts may also be integrally formed with the coupler member at positions other than the elastic member supports. Further, in
While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments chosen for purpose of illustration, it should be apparent that numerous modifications could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic concept and scope of the invention.
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2004-044819 | Feb 2004 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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6-45865 | Jun 1994 | JP |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050184607 A1 | Aug 2005 | US |