Microspeaker

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6690809
  • Patent Number
    6,690,809
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, October 16, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 10, 2004
    21 years ago
Abstract
A case comprises an upper case and a lower case. A vibrating plate is secured to the upper case, a voice coil is secured to an underside of the vibrating plate. Each end portion of the voice coil is engaged in a groove formed in the upper case.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a microspeaker used in a portable communication equipment such as a portable telephone and other equipments.




Referring to

FIGS. 4 and 5

showing a conventional microspeaker, a yoke


2


made of magnetic material is embedded in a case


1


made of plastic by insert molding. A permanent magnet


3


is secured to the yoke


2


, and a top plate


4


made of magnetic material is adhered to the magnet


3


to form a magnetic circuit and to form a magnetic gap between the top plate


4


and the yoke


2


.




A vibrating plate


6


is secured to the case


1


at the periphery thereof. A voice coil


5


secured to the underside of the vibrating plate


6


is inserted in the magnetic gap. A protector


7


made of metal is secured to the case


1


, interposing the vibrating plate


6


. A plurality of sound discharge holes are formed in the case


1


and the protector


7


.




A pair of ends


9


of the voice coil


5


are adhered to the underside of the vibrating plate


6


as shown in FIG.


4


. Each of the ends


9


is outwardly extended from the case


1


passing through a groove formed in a peripheral wall of the case. On the underside of the case


1


, a substrate


8


made of plastic is adhered, and a pair of terminal plates


10


are secured to the substrate


8


. Each of the terminal plate has a V-shape and each end


9


is connected to one of the branches of the terminal plate


10


by solder


11


. The other branch of the terminal plate


10


is used for connecting the end


9


to a circuit of the equipment to be mounted therein.




Thus, when a signal current is applied to the voice coil


5


through the terminal plates


10


, the vibrating plate


6


vibrates to produce sounds.




In the conventional speaker, the voice coil


5


must be secured to the vibrating plate


6


before the vibrating plate is fixed to the case


1


. However, since the vibrating plate


6


is made of a thin plastic film which is poor in stiffness, it is difficult to manipulate the vibrating plate, and to automatize the voice coil securing manufacturing process.




Furthermore, since the ends


9


of the voice coil are inserted between the case


1


and the protector


7


, the vibrating plate


6


is slightly floated, which renders the adhesion of the vibrating plate irregular. In addition, the end


9


is stressed by the pressure for the adhesion of the vibrating plate.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is to provide a microspeaker which may obviate the above described troubles.




According to the present invention, there is provided a microspeaker comprising a case comprised of an upper case and a lower case, a yoke made of magnetic material, a permanent magnet provided in the lower case, a vibrating plate secured to the upper case, a voice coil secured to an underside of the vibrating plate, and a protector plate secured to the upper case.




Each end portion of the voice coil is engaged in a groove formed in the upper case.




End portions of the voice coil are adhered to the underside of the vibrating plate.




These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a sectional view of a microspeaker of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a plan view of the microspeaker of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along a line IIIā€”III of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of a conventional microspeaker; and





FIG. 5

shows an underside of the microspeaker of FIG.


4


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, a case


12


made of plastic is divided into an upper case


12




a


and a lower case


12




b


, and both the cases


12




a


and


12




b


are adhered to each other by an adhesive. The microspeaker of the present invention comprises a yoke


13


made of magnetic material and embedded in the lower case


12




b


by insert molding, a permanent magnet


14


secured to the yoke


13


, and a top plate


15


adhered to the magnet


14


.




A vibrating plate


17


is secured to the underside of the upper case


12




a


at the periphery thereof. A voice coil


16


secured to the underside of the vibrating plate


17


is inserted in the magnetic gap between the top plate


15


and the yoke


13


. A protector plate


18


made of metal is secured to the upper case


12




a


. A plurality of sound discharge holes are formed in the lower case


12




b


and the protector plate


18


.




A pair of ends


20


of the voice coil


16


are adhered to the underside of the vibrating plate


17


. Each of the ends


20


is outwardly extended from the upper case


12




a


passing through a groove


23


formed in a peripheral wall of the upper case, and bent along the peripheral wall of the lower case


12




b


and fixed to a terminal plate on a substrate


21


by solder


24


. The terminal plate has the same shape as the conventional terminal plate


10


of FIG.


5


. The terminal plate is contacted with a terminal of an equipment in which the microspeaker is mounted.





FIGS. 2 and 3

show conditions of the case


12


before assembling.




In the conventional speaker of

FIG. 4

, the voice coil


5


must be secured to the vibrating plate


6


before the vibrating plate


6


is fixed to the case. In the embodiment of the present invention, the voice coil


16


may be secured to the vibrating plate


17


after the vibrating plate is fixed to the upper case


12




a


. Therefore, the assembling operation can be easily performed since the vibrating plate


17


is enforced by the upper case


12




a


. Furthermore, since the vibrating plate


17


is secured to the upper case


12




a


, the positioning of the voice coil


16


can be easily carried out.




Since the vibrating plate


17


is enforced by the upper case


12




a


as described above, the securing operation of the voice coil


16


can be performed by automatic operation.




Thus assembled upper case


12




a


is adhered to the lower case


12




b


, and the ends


20


are bent as shown in FIG.


1


. Since the end


20


is engaged in the groove


23


, the end is not compressed by the upper case


12




a.






In accordance with the present invention, the case is divided into the upper case and the lower case, and the vibrating plate is secured to the upper case. Therefore, the vibrating plate is enforced by the upper case, so that the voice coil can be easily fixed to the vibrating plate.




While the invention has been described in conjunction with preferred specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood that this description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A microspeaker comprising:a case comprising an assembled upper case and an assembled lower case; the assembled lower case having a lower case portion, a yoke made of a magnetic material and secured to the lower case portion, a permanent magnet secured to the yoke, and a pair of terminal plates secured to the underside of the lower case portion; the assembled upper case having an upper case portion with an annular peripheral wall, a vibrating plate secured to the upper case portion, a voice coil secured to an underside of the vibrating plate, and a protector plate secured to the peripheral wall; and means for securing the assembled upper case to the assembled lower case; the voice coil having a pair of ends outwardly extended from the coil, each of the ends being secured to an underside of the vibrating plate, passed through a groove formed in the peripheral wall of the upper case, and through a peripheral wall of the lower case, and connected to one said terminal plate.
  • 2. The microspeaker according to claim 1, wherein the means for assembling comprises adhesive.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-338397 Nov 2000 JP
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
4315112 Hofer Feb 1982 A
4376233 Kamon Mar 1983 A
6400825 Miyamoto Jun 2002 B1