Patent Application
20080013782
In order that the invention may more readily be understood, a description is now given of specific embodiments, by way of example only, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In order to acoustically seal the audio component 20 within the electronic apparatus 10, a gasket 50 is provided having an aperture 52.
During assembly of the electronic apparatus 10, the respective apertures 16, 52 and 22 of the casing 12, gasket 50 and audio component 20 must be aligned within a certain manufacturing tolerance, such that the audio component 20 is in optimum sonic communication with the aperture 16 in the casing 12. The gasket aperture 52 is larger than both the casing aperture 16 and audio component aperture 22. A dust cloth 54 protects the audio component 20 from the ingress of dust through the respective apertures of the gasket 50 and audio component 20.
The gasket 100 includes a plurality of elongate channels 102 extending through the gasket 100. In this way, the gasket 100 provides a lower acoustic resistance through the channels 102 than transverse to the channels 102. In this embodiment, adjacent channels 102 are formed in a honeycomb arrangement, although it is to be understood that this an example and that any arrangement of adjacent channels would be appropriate. For example, the channels 102 may be arranged in rows and columns instead of the staggered arrangement of the honeycomb, although it will be appreciated that the honeycomb arrangement provides a higher density of channels 102. Moreover, while the honeycomb arrangement implies a certain geometric shape of the channel opening 104 (as seen in
When the gasket 100 is uncompressed, the channels 102 extend in a parallel, rectilinear fashion through the gasket 100. The gasket is formed of a compressible elastomer material.
The channels 102 are smaller than the audio component aperture 22 and the casing aperture 16.
Each channel 102 is dimensioned to inhibit the passage of dust through the channel 102. In this embodiment, in order to provide an optimum dust-inhibiting effect whilst still providing for sonic communication, the diameter of each channel opening 104 is preferably in the range of about 0.05 mm to about 0.2 mm, and more preferably about 0.1 mm. The density of channels 102 is preferably in the range of about 20 per cm2 to about 200 per cm2 (when viewing the top surface of the gasket 100 as shown in
As seen, the gasket 100 is interposed between the audio component 20 and the aperture region 14 of the casing 12, and is under compression between the audio component 20 and the aperture region 14. The gasket 100 is arranged such that its channels 102 extend between the aperture 22 of the audio component 20 and the aperture 16 of the casing 12, so as to provide for sonic communication between those two apertures, and to acoustically seal the audio component 20 from other components within the apparatus 10. It will be understood that, although the gasket 100 is compressed (in this case elastically compressed), its channels 102 still extend between the audio component 20 and the aperture 16 in the casing 12. The compression may result in the porosity of the material from which the gasket 100 is made being decreased, thereby improving the acoustical sealing. Since the gasket 100 can be positioned anywhere so long as it covers both the apertures 22 and 16, the problems of mechanical tolerance found with the prior art gasket 50 are obviated.
The gasket 100 may be made from a material which has little or no porosity to air and/or water. The gasket 100 may be considered to be made from an air/water tight material. The gasket 100 may not have any channels in any direction other than in the direction of sonic communication (aligned to be substantially parallel to the axis of the aperture 16 of the casing 12 and aperture 22 of the audio component 20). The gasket 100 may be fixed (e.g. adhered) to (e.g. the upper/side) face(s) of the audio component 20 and or the PWB 18. The gasket 100 may be made from a material which is sufficiently rigid to obviate the need for any stretching in order to hold the gasket 100 in place.
The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features.
In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. Although the embodiments shown relate to a single audio component (sonic) aperture 22 and a single exterior casing (sonic) aperture 16, it will be appreciated that the present invention can also be applied to a plurality of adjacent sonic component/casing apertures.
While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. Furthermore, in the claims means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.
