Patent Application
20250175742
Aspects disclosed herein generally relate to a flexible loudspeaker cone including a flexible circuit board. These aspects and others will be discussed in more detail herein.
The notion of combining illumination along with loudspeakers is generally advantegous as loudspeaker manufacturers can include both the illumination and audio driver as a single integrated unit. Further, by combining illumination along with loudspeakers, it is possible for loudspeaker manufacturers to provide a controlled user experience. In some cases, this may be difficult to achieve and may be very time consuming for manufacturers in ensuring that homogeneity between the lighting and the audio output of the speakers falls within specific requirements.
In at least one embodiment, a loudspeaker assembly including a magnetic assembly and a diaphragm is provided. The diaphragm includes a plurality of electronics positioned directly thereon. The diaphragm generates an audio output and is moved along a first axis in response to the magnetic assembly being energized with an input signal.
In at least one embodiment, a loudspeaker assembly including a magnetic assembly and a diaphragm. The diaphragm includes a plurality of lighting elements positioned directly thereon to illuminate light therefrom. The diaphragm generates an audio output and is moved along a first axis in response to the magnetic assembly being energized with an input signal.
In at least one embodiment, a loudspeaker assembly including a magnetic assembly and a diaphragm. The diaphragm includes a flexible circuit board having a plurality of electronics positioned directly thereon. The diaphragm generating an audio output and is moved along a first axis in response to the magnetic assembly being energized with an input signal.
The embodiments of the present disclosure are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, other features of the various embodiments will become more apparent and will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompany drawings in which:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. It is recognized that one or more of the Figures may include reference to similar reference numerals and these reference numerals may be similar to one another unless otherwise stated. Similarly, if the reference numerals are introduced with one or more of the Figures, such reference numerals may not be referenced for other Figures where they appear if there is no change in their respective function and/or structure.
Embodiments disclosed herein generally provide a loudspeaker assembly that includes, among other things, a flexible printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB may include a plurality of lighting devices, such as but not limited to, light emitting diodes (LEDs) that enable new user experiences. Such user experiencers may include animations and other visual stimulants to be displayed. The flexible PCB may also include other components such as transceivers that enable Near Field Communication (NFC), batteries (or power storage devices), etc.
In general, the magnetic assembly 110 is generally configured to move vertically in both directions. For example, the magnetic assembly 110 (e.g., the voice coil 126), when energized (e.g., when the loudspeaker assembly 100 receives an AC based input signal), generates a magnetic field that crosses the air gap 132 and interacts with a magnetic field generated by the first plate 120, the magnet 122, and the second plate 124. The center post 128 serves as a magnetic flux return path and receives a magnetic field from the first plate 120, the magnet 122, and the second plate 124. Thus, the travel of the magnetic field within the magnetic assembly 110 causes the magnetic assembly 110 to move vertically in both directions (e.g., upward and downward) along the first axis 130. This movement also causes the diaphragm 114 to move vertically in both directions along the first axis 130. The spider 112 includes a first end attached to the center post 128 and a second end attached to an outer rim 140 of the loudspeaker assembly 100. The spider 112 prevents the magnetic assembly 110 from rocking or tilting (i.e., cocking) about the first axis 130.
The diaphragm 114 may include a plurality of lighting elements 150 positioned thereon that illuminate. In one example, the lighting elements 150 are generally configured to illuminate when the loudspeaker 102 transmits an audio signal. In this regard, the lighting elements 150 may transmit light sequentially or non-sequentially. In addition, the lighting elements 150 may illuminate in a synchronized manner or in a non-synchronized manner relative to the audio transmitted by the loudspeaker 102. It is recognized however that the lighting elements 150 may also illuminate when audio is not being played back by the loudspeaker assembly 100. While
In one example, the plurality of lighting elements 150 may be light emitting diodes (LEDs). The diaphragm 114 may be formed from a flexible printed circuit board (PCB). In this case, the plurality of lighting elements 150 may be positioned on the PCB. In one example, one or more controllers (not shown) may be positioned external to the loudspeaker 102 to transmit control signals to the plurality of lighting elements 150 to control such lighting elements 150 accordingly. The loudspeaker 102 may include an electrical connector 155 for receiving a mating connector (not shown) to provide the control signals from the one or more controllers positioned remote from the loudspeaker 102 to the lighting elements 150.
It is recognized that the other electronics may be positioned on the diaphragm 114 in other embodiments. For example, the one or more controllers (not shown) may be positioned on the diaphragm 114 for driving the lighting elements 150. The controllers may include current drivers for driving the lighting elements 150 to illuminate in any one or more colors based on the current drivers adjusting pulse width modulation (PWM) signals to the lighting elements 150. Additional electronics may also be positioned on the diaphragm 114 such as batteries (or power storage devices, etc.) and/or transceivers that enable bi-directional wireless communication to and from the loudspeaker 102. The transceivers may enable wireless communication via Near Field Communication (NFC) or other suitable communication devices.
The flexible circuit board of the diaphragm 114 surrounds the loudspeaker cap 116. The loudspeaker 102 includes a surround 152 that is formed on outer side. The loudspeaker 102 also includes a baffle 154 positioned on an outer surface thereof for receiving the surround 152. The baffle 154 is also radially centered along the first axis 130 and receives a first side of the surround 152. A second side of the surround 152 is directly attached with (or integrated with) the diaphragm 114. In generally, the surround 152 may be attached to the baffle 154. The surround 152 may be at least partially arcuate to enable the diaphragm 114 to move in both directions (upward and downward) along the first axis 130 when the surround 152 is attached to the baffle 154. The surround 152 may be formed of a flexible material such as, for example, rubber, foam, silicone or similar materials. It is generally contemplated that the surround 152 may include at least portion of the flexible circuit board formed therein. In this case it is also possible for the surround 152 to include the plurality of lighting elements 150 and/or other electronics positioned thereon.
In general, given that the PCB is flexible and forms the diaphragm 114, such a flexible PCB generally enables the diaphragm 114 to move (or vibrate) to generate the audio waves that are heard by a user. Similarly, the flexible PCB is configured to receive and retain the plurality of lighting elements 150 such that the lighting elements 150 illuminate one or more colors while the diaphragm 114 generates the audio output. The plurality of lighting elements 150 may be configured to generate the one or more lighting colors that coincide with a sequence or pattern that is either synchronized or not synchronized with the audio being transmitted from the loudspeaker 102.
It is recognized that the audio and lighting controller 410 may transmit audio input signals and lighting input signals over the data communication bus such as a digital audio bus (e.g., A2B, LIN, or CAN, etc.) to the various controllers of the plurality of electronics 404. In turn, the controllers of the plurality of electronics 404 may process the digital data and provide signals indicative of the lighting input signals to the lighting drivers. The lighting drivers may transmit PWM signals or other signal indicative of the desired lighting scheme (or sequence) to the lighting elements 150 of the loudspeaker assembly 100. Similarly, the controllers of the plurality of electronics 404 may process the digital data and provide signals indicative of the audio input signal to the loudspeaker assembly 100 for audio playback. In this regard, it is recognized that the system 400 provides the plurality of electronics 404 remote from the loudspeaker assembly 100 (i.e., the plurality of electronics is not positioned on the flexible circuit board 300.
It is recognized that the controllers as disclosed herein may include various microprocessors, integrated circuits, memory devices (e.g., FLASH, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or other suitable variants thereof), and software which co-act with one another to perform operation(s) disclosed herein. In addition, such controllers as disclosed utilize one or more microprocessors to execute a computer-program that is embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed to perform any number of the functions as disclosed. Further, the controller(s) as provided herein includes a housing and the various number of microprocessors, integrated circuits, and memory devices ((e.g., FLASH, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM)) positioned within the housing. The controller(s) as disclosed also include hardware-based inputs and outputs for receiving and transmitting data, respectively from and to other hardware-based devices as discussed herein.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
