Multifunction acoustic device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6711269
  • Patent Number
    6,711,269
  • Date Filed
    Friday, March 8, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 23, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
A multifunction acoustic device has a rotor rotatably supported in a frame, a stator provided in the frame. A permanent magnet is provided on the rotor, a coil is provided for forming magnetic fluxes between the rotor and the stator. Voltage detecting means is provided for detecting a voltage generating at the coil. A voltage detected by the voltage detecting means in the operation of the acoustic device is compared with a reference voltage which corresponds to a voltage generating at abnormal rotation of the rotor and for producing an abnormal signal when the detected voltage is equal or higher than the reference voltage. In response to the abnormal signal, the rotor is rotated from a low speed.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a multifunction acoustic device used in a portable instrument such as a portable telephone.




There has been provided an acoustic device of the portable instrument in which a speaker is provided for generating sounds of calling signals, and a vibrating motor is provided for informing the receiver of calling signals without generating sounds. In such a device, since both of the speaker and the motor are mounted in the device, the device is increased in size and weight, and in manufacturing cost.




In recent years, there is provided a multifunction acoustic device in order to remove the above described disadvantages. The multifunction acoustic device comprises a speaker having a vibrating plate and a permanent magnet magnetically connected to a voice coil mounted on the vibrating plate of the speaker. The permanent magnet is independently vibrated at a low frequency of 100-150 Hz so as to inform the receiving of calling signals by the vibration of the case of the device, which is transmitted to the body of the user of the device.





FIG. 9

is a sectional view of a conventional electromagnetic induction converter disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open 5-85192. The converter comprises a diaphragm


506


mounted in a case


512


at a periphery thereof, a voice coil


508


secured to the underside of a central portion


507


of the diaphragm


506


, a spring plate


511


mounted in the case


512


, and a permanent magnet


510


secured to a central portion of the spring plate


511


, inserted in the voice coil


508


.




By applying a low or high frequency signal to the voice coil


508


, the spring plate


511


is vibrated in the polarity direction Y of the magnet


510


.




In the device, the diaphragm


506


and the spring plate


511


are relatively moved through the magnetic combination between the voice coil


508


and the magnet


510


. Consequently, when a low frequency signal or a high frequency signal is applied to the voice coil


508


, both of the diaphragm


506


and the spring plate


511


are sequentially vibrated. As a result, sounds such as voice, music and others generated from the device are distorted, thereby reducing the quality of the sound. In addition, vibrating both of the voice coil


508


and the magnet


510


causes the low frequency vibration of the magnet to superimpose on the magnetic combination of the voice coil


508


and the magnet


510


, which further largely distorts the sounds.





FIG. 10

is a sectional view showing a conventional multifunction acoustic device. The device comprises a speaker vibrating plate


603


made of plastic and having a corrugated periphery


603




a


and a central dome, a voice coil


604


secured to the underside of the vibrating plate


603


at a central portion, and a magnet composition


610


. The vibrating plate


603


is secured to a frame


609


with adhesives.




The magnetic composition


610


comprises a lower yoke


605


, a core


601


formed on the yoke


605


at a central portion thereof, an annular permanent magnet


602


mounted on the lower yoke


605


, and an annular upper yoke


606


mounted on the permanent magnet


602


. The lower yoke


605


and the upper yoke


606


are resiliently supported in the frame


609


by spring plates


607


and


608


. A magnetic gap


611


is formed between a periphery


601




a


of the core


601


and an inside wall


606




a


of the upper yoke


606


to be magnetically connected to the voice coil


604


.




When an alternating voltage is applied to the voice coil


604


through input terminals


612




a


and


612




b,


the speaker vibrating plate


603


is vibrated in the direction Y to generate sounds at a frequency between 700 Hz and 5 KHz. If a low frequency signal or a high frequency signal is applied to the voice coil


604


, the speaker vibrating plate


603


and the magnetic composition


610


are sequentially vibrated, since the magnetic composition


610


and the speaker vibrating plate


603


are relatively moved through the magnetic combination of the voice coil


604


and the magnet composition


610


.




As a result, sounds such as voice, music and others generated from the device are distorted, thereby reducing the quality of the sound. In addition, the driving of both the voice coil


604


and the magnetic composition


610


causes the low frequency vibration to superimpose on the magnetic combination of the voice coil


604


and the magnetic composition


610


, which further largely distorts the sounds.





FIG. 11

is a sectional view showing another conventional multifunction acoustic device. The device comprises the speaker vibrating plate


603


made of plastic and having the corrugated periphery


603




a


and the central dome, the voice coil


604


secured to the underside of the vibrating plate


603


at a central portion, and the magnet composition


610


. The vibrating plate


603


is secured to the frame


609


with adhesives.




The magnetic composition


610


comprises a lower yoke


703


, core


601


formed on the yoke


703


at a central portion thereof, an annular permanent magnet


702


secured to the lower yoke


703


, and annular upper yoke


606


having a peripheral wall


606




b


and mounted on the permanent magnet


702


. The upper yoke


606


is resiliently supported in the frame


609


by spring plates


707


and


708


. A first magnetic gap


701


is formed between the periphery


601




a


of the core


601


and the inside wall


606




a


of the upper yoke


606


to be magnetically connected to the voice coil


604


. A second gap


705


is formed between a periphery


703




a


of the lower yoke


703


and inside wall


606




a


of the upper yoke


606


. A driving coil


706


is secured to the frame and inserted in the second gap


705


.




When an alternating voltage is applied to the voice coil


604


through input terminals


612




a


and


612




b,


the speaker vibrating plate


603


is vibrated in the direction Y to generate sounds at a frequency between 700 Hz and 5 KHz. If a low frequency signal or a high frequency signal is applied to the voice coil


604


, the speaker vibrating plate


603


and the magnetic composition


610


are sequentially vibrated, since the magnetic composition


610


and the speaker vibrating plate


603


are relatively moved through the magnetic combination of the voice coil


604


and the magnet composition


610


.




When a high frequency signal for music is applied to the voice coil


604


, only the speaker vibrating plate


603


is vibrated. Therefore, there does not occur distortion of the sound. Furthermore, when a low frequency signal is applied to the driving coil


706


, only the magnetic composition


610


is vibrated, and the speaker vibrating plate


603


is not vibrated.




However if a high frequency signal is applied to input terminals


612




a,




612




b,


and a low frequency signal is also applied to input terminals


704




a,




704




b,


the speaker vibrating plate


603


and magnetic composition


610


are sequentially vibrated, thereby reducing the sound quality.




In the above described conventional devices, both the speaker vibration plate and the magnetic composition are vibrated when a low frequency signal or a high frequency signal is applied to the voice coil. This is caused by the reason that the low frequency vibrating composition is vibrated in the same direction as the high frequency vibrating direction.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is to provide a trouble shooting for the multifunction acoustic device which may deal with trouble such as the stopping of a rotor by shock applied to the device.




According to the present invention, there is provided a multifunction acoustic device comprising a frame, a rotor rotatably supported in the frame, a stator provided in the frame, a permanent magnet provided on the rotor, a diaphragm supported in the frame, a coil for forming magnetic fluxes between the rotor and the stator, voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage generating at the coil, comparing means for comparing a voltage detected by the voltage detecting means in the operation of the acoustic device with a reference voltage which corresponds to a voltage generating at abnormal rotation of the rotor and for producing an abnormal signal when the detected voltage is equal to or higher than the reference voltage, speed control means responsive to the abnormal signal for starting to rotate the rotor from a low speed.




The reference voltage is a voltage which corresponds to a voltage when the rotor starts to rotate at a low speed.




The abnormal rotation is the stopping of the rotation of the rotor.




The speed control means sets the speed of the rotor at the starting of the rotation and at a constant speed during the sound generating condition.




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 multifunction acoustic device of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view taken along a line II—II of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is an exploded perspective view of a rotor of the multifunction acoustic device of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is an exploded perspective view of a stator of the multifunction acoustic device of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a driving circuit used in the multifunction acoustic device of the present invention;





FIG. 6

shows a block diagram of a trouble shooting system;





FIG. 7

shows the system flowchart of the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a graph showing characteristics of the system;





FIG. 9

is a sectional view of a conventional electromagnetic induction converter;





FIG. 10

is a sectional view showing a conventional multifunction acoustic device; and





FIG. 11

is a sectional view showing another conventional multifunction acoustic device.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the multifunction acoustic device of the present invention comprises a sound generating device


10


, a rotor


20


and an annular stator


30


provided in a cylindrical frame


1


made of plastic. The sound generating device


10


comprises a speaker diaphragm


14


having a central dome


14




a


and secured to the frame at a periphery


14




b


with adhesives, a voice coil


15


secured to the underside of the speaker diaphragm


14


. The speaker diaphragm


14


is covered by a cover


13


having a plurality of sound discharge holes and secured to the frame


1


at a peripheral edge thereof.




The rotor


20


comprises a lower rotor yoke


23


secured to a rotor shaft


16


rotatably mounted on a base plate of the frame


1


, and an annular side yoke


22


secured to the lower rotor yoke


23


. An annular speaker permanent magnet


17


is secured to the lower rotor yoke


23


around the shaft


16


, and a central top yoke


18


is secured to the magnet


17


by the shaft


16


. The speaker permanent magnet


17


is magnetized in single-polarity in the axial direction. Thus, a first magnetic circuit is formed between the top yoke


18


and the side yoke


22


.




An annular rotor permanent magnet


21


is secured to the peripheral wall of the side yoke


22


and to the lower rotor yoke


23


. As shown in

FIG. 3

, the rotor permanent magnet


21


is magnetized in multiple-polarity in the radial direction, so that the peripheral wall of the rotor permanent magnet has a plurality of magnetic poles. Thus, a second magnetic circuit is formed between the rotor


20


and the stator


30


. The voice coil


15


is disposed in a speaker gap


11


formed between the outside wall of the top yoke


18


and the inside wall of the side yoke


22


.




As shown in

FIGS. 2 and 3

, a semicircular weight


24


made of plastic including heavy particles such as tungsten particles is secured to the outside wall of the side yoke


22


and mounted on the rotor permanent magnet


21


. As another means, the permanent magnet


21


may be eccentrically disposed with respect to the rotor shaft


16


. A motor gap


12


is formed between the periphery of the rotor permanent magnet


21


and the inside wall of the stator


30


. As shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the annular stator


30


is disposed around the rotor


20


.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, the stator


30


comprises an annular stator coil


33


, annular upper and lower shading plates


36


and


35


disposed on the upper and lower sides of the annular coil


33


, and annular upper and lower stator yokes


31


and


32


. The upper stator yoke


31


has four main magnetic poles


31




a




1


,


31




b




1


,


31




c




1


and


31




d




1


, and four auxiliary magnetic poles


31




a




2


,


31




b




2


,


31




c




2


and


31




d




2


. Each of the magnetic poles extends in the axial direction and toward the lower stator yoke


32


. The lower stator yoke


32


has four main magnetic poles


32




a




1


,


32




b




1


,


32




c




1


and


32




d




1


and four auxiliary magnetic poles


32




a




2


,


32




b




2


,


32




c




2


and


32




d




2


.




A couple of upper main and auxiliary magnetic poles


31




a




1


and


31




a




2


and a couple of lower main and auxiliary magnetic poles


32




a




1


and


3




a




2


, and other couples of the magnetic poles are angularly disposed at one magnetic pole pitch of 90 degrees (electric angle 360°). The sum of widths of the main magnetic pole and the auxiliary magnetic pole is within 45 degrees, and the width of the main magnetic pole is larger than that of the auxiliary magnetic pole.




The couple of upper main and auxiliary magnetic poles and the couple of lower main and auxiliary magnetic poles are alternately disposed on the same circle as shown in FIG.


2


.




The upper shading plate


36


has four holes


36




a


,


36




b


,


36




c


and


36




d,


each formed in a projection projected from the inside wall of the shading plate


36


in the radially inward direction. Similarly, the lower shading plate


35


has four holes


35




a


,


35




b,




35




c


and


35




d.


The auxiliary magnetic poles


31




a




2


,


31




b




2


,


31




c




2


and


31




d




2


of the upper stator yoke


31


are inserted in the holes


36




a


-


36




d


of the upper shading plate


36


. Similarly, the auxiliary magnetic poles


32




a




2


,


32




b




2


,


3




c




2


and


32




d




2


of the lower stator yoke


32


are inserted in the holes


35




a


-


35




d


of the lower shading plate


35


.




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 4

, the lower stator yoke


32


has a cylindrical peripheral wall


32




e


. The lower shading plate


35


is mounted on the lower stator yoke


32


between the peripheral wall


32




e


and main and auxiliary magnetic poles. The stator coil


33


, upper shading plate


36


, and upper stator plate


31


are stacked on the lower shading plate


35


in order. Thus, the rotor


20


and stator


30


are composed in a synchronous motor.




It will be understood that the motor can be made into a stepping motor having a permanent magnet rotor having multiple polarities.




The magneto motive force of the permanent magnet


21


is applied to the speaker and motor gaps


11


and


12


in parallel, so that a necessary magnetic flux density is provided.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, a rotor driving circuit


40


comprises a pair of NPN transistors


41


and


43


and a pair of PNP transistors


42


and


44


which are connected crosswise, interposing the stator coil


33


. Bases of the transistors


41


and


42


are connected to an input terminal


48


, bases of the transistors


43


and


44


are connected to the input terminal


48


through an inverter


47


.




In operation, when a high frequency signal is applied to input terminals


19




a


and


19




b


(

FIG. 1

) of the voice coil


15


, the speaker diaphragm


14


is vibrated in the Y direction (

FIG. 1

) to generate sounds.




When a low frequency signal of about 100-300 Hz is applied to input terminal


48


of the driving circuit


40


, the transistors


41


and


44


are turned on at a high level of the input signal. Consequently, a current passes the stator coil


33


through the transistors


41


and


44


from the Vcc to GND. And the current passes through the transistor


43


, coil


33


and transistor


42


at a low level of the input signal. Thus, an alternate current of the low frequency corresponding to the input low frequency signal flows in the stator coil


33


. Consequently, couples of main pole


32




a




1


and auxiliary pole


32




a




2


to poles


32




d




1


and


32




d




2


are energized. At that time, magnetic flux generated by four auxiliary poles


31




a




2


,


31




b




2


,


31




c




2


and


31




d




2


, and magnetic flux generated by four auxiliary poles


32




a




2


,


32




b




2


,


32




c




2


and


32




d




2


are delayed in phase by eddy currents passing through holes


36




a


-


36




d


of the upper shading plate


36


and holes


35




a


-


35




d


of the lower shading plate


35


to produce a shifting magnetic field to generate rotating power in a predetermined direction. Thus, the rotor


20


is rotated at the driving low frequency. Since the weight


24


is eccentrically mounted on the rotor


20


, the rotor vibrates in radial direction. The vibration is transmitted to user's body through the frame


1


and a case of the device so that a calling signal is informed to the user.




The number N of rotation of the rotor is expressed as follows.








N=


60


f/Z


(rpm)  1






where Z is a pair of number of poles of the rotor,




f is driving frequency.




The load torque TL is expressed as follows.








TL=μrRω




2




M


(


N·m


)  2






where M is the mass of weight


24


of the rotor,




R is the length between the center of the rotor shaft


16


and the center of gravity of the weight


24


,




r is the radius of the rotor shaft


16


,




μ is the friction coefficient between the rotor shaft


16


and the rotor


20


,




ω is the number of rotation (rad/sec) of the rotor


20


.




Since the rotor


20


merely bears the load torque TL, the power consumption of the device is small.




If a lower frequency signal is applied to the input terminal


48


to rotate the rotor


20


during the generating sounds by the speaker diaphragm


14


, the magnetic flux density in the first gap


11


does not change from the magnetic flux density when only the speaker diaphragm


14


is vibrated. Therefore, quality of sounds generated by the vibrating plate does not reduce even if the rotor


20


rotates




Although the synchronous motor is used in the above described embodiments, other motors such as a stepping motor, a direct current motor and others can be used. Further, the rotor can be disposed outside the stator.




Referring to the trouble shooting system of the present invention, an oscillator


50


is provided for generating a driving signal which is applied to the input terminal


48


of the circuit of

FIG. 5

for driving the rotor


20


. The system comprises a frequency divider


51


, the driving circuit


40


(FIG.


5


), a voltage detecting circuit


52


, a comparator


53


, a sweeper


54


, a hold circuit


55


, and a counter


56


.




The sweeper


54


linearly increases a frequency f fed from the frequency divider


51


from an initial frequency f


so


to an end frequency f


ss


. The rotor


20


is driven by the driving circuit


40


. During the rotating of the rotor, the voltage Vd induced in the stator coil


33


is lower than the voltage Vc at the time when the rotor


20


is stopped by vibration of the acoustic device or shock applied to the device. Therefore, the voltage Vc is set in the comparator


53


as a reference value, so that the stopping of the rotor


20


can be detected by comparing the voltage Vd with the voltage Vc.





FIG. 7

shows the system flowchart. The system flowchart comprises a start


60


, setting step


61


, sweeping step


62


, holding step


63


, voltage checking step


64


, a feedback loop


65


and end


66


.




At the step


61


, frequencies f


so


, f


ss


, voltages Vd, Vc are set. At the step


63


, the frequency f


ss


is held.




At the step


64


, when the voltage Vc equals or is lower than voltage Vd, the program returns to the step


62


passing the feedback loop


65


, so that the frequency starts from f


so


.





FIG. 8

shows variations of the number of rotation N of the rotor


20


and the current induced in the stator coil


33


on the time axis.




The number of rotation N starts from N


so


at a point A in the time τ


1


and reaches N


ss


at a point B. In the case of wobbling tone, the rotation continues for time τ


2


and stops at a point C. Thus, the rotation sequentially repeats the steps A, B, C, D, E.




On the other hand, the current I changes such as M (I


so


), G, H (I


ss


), J. When the rotor is stopped, the current increases to the line K, L. The current difference K−J is detected as voltage difference by the resistance of the stator coil


33


. The voltage difference is detected by the comparator


53


. Thus, the number of rotation N returns to the initial number N


so


, the current I returns to I


so


. Thereafter, the number of rotation and the current gradually increases. Thus, the abnormal stopping of the stator is recovered to a normal condition.




In accordance with the present invention, when the rotor is abnormally stopped, the rotation of the rotor is returned to an initial speed at the start of the operation. Therefore, the rotation speed is stably held, thereby preventing the sound quality from decreasing.




From the foregoing description, it will be understood that the present invention provides a multifunction acoustic device which may generate sounds and vibration of the frame at the same time without reducing sound quality. In the prior art, since the speaker diaphragm and the magnetic composition are vibrated in the same direction, the thickness of the device increases. In the device of the present invention, since the magnetic composition rotates, the thickness of the device can be reduced.




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 multifunction acoustic device comprising:a frame; a rotor rotatably supported in the frame; a stator provided in the frame; a permanent magnet provided on the rotor; a diaphragm supported in the frame; a coil for forming magnetic fluxes between the rotor and the stator; voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage generating at the coil; comparing means for comparing a voltage detected by the voltage detecting means in the operation of the acoustic device with a reference voltage which corresponds to a voltage generating at abnormal rotation of the rotor and for producing an abnormal signal when the detected voltage is equal to or higher than the reference voltage; speed control means responsive to the abnormal signal for starting to rotate the rotor from a low speed.
  • 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the reference voltage is a voltage which corresponds to a voltage when the rotor starts to rotate at a low speed.
  • 3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the abnormal rotation is the stopping of the rotation of the rotor.
  • 4. The device according to claim 1 wherein the speed control means sets the speed of the rotor at the starting of the rotation and at a constant speed during the sound generating condition.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2001-069860 Mar 2001 JP
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
4287389 Gamble Sep 1981 A
4727583 Weber Feb 1988 A
5245296 Miller et al. Sep 1993 A
5625246 Suganuma Apr 1997 A
5668423 You et al. Sep 1997 A
5744897 Takagi et al. Apr 1998 A
6373957 Stewart Apr 2002 B1
6384550 Miyakawa et al. May 2002 B1