Patent Application
20140112512
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound channel formed in a case to redirect sound with respect to a speaker of an electronic device positioned in the case
2. Description of the Related Art
Smartphone and computer tablet cases provide a protective cover to absorb shock when the device is dropped or subject to damaging forces. A case design may include an opening in the cover that exposes a speaker on the device to allow sound to project through the opening in the case.
Embodiments are described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale, wherein:
Certain electronic devices, such as tablet computes and smartphones, include a speaker on a rear surface opposite the side having the display screen. For instance, the iPad® 2 from Apple, Inc. positions the speaker on a lower area of the rear surface. (iPad is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. in the United States and other countries). Smartphone and tablet cases often have a hard back cover to protect the device from shock. Placement of a speaker on a back surface of the tablet or smartphone poses a challenge for case manufacturers because the back cover of the case may interfere with the sound projection from the rear surface of the device.
To address these challenges, certain described embodiments provide a case having a cover in which an electronic device having a rear speaker is positioned so as to provide a sound channel between the rear speaker and an inner surface of the cover that redirects sound from the rear speaker to an opening at a front of the device. In this way, the sound is redirected from the rear speaker towards a user positioned with respect to the front surface of the electronic device. Additional described embodiments may address channeling the sound for speakers other than a rear speaker.
Reference below will be made to the drawings wherein like structures may be provided with like reference designations. In order to show the structures of various embodiments most clearly, the drawings included herein include diagrammatic representations of components of a case and an electronic device with a speaker. Thus, the actual appearance of the case and electronic device structures may appear different while still incorporating the claimed structures of the illustrated embodiments. Moreover, the drawings may show only the structures necessary to understand the illustrated embodiments. Additional structures known in the art have not been included to maintain the clarity of the drawings.
The cross section of
In an embodiment where the speaker at the speaker location 20 projects sound outward from a back surface 8b of the electronic device 8, at least some of the sound 18 waves may deflect off the inner surface 26 of the back cover 6 at a deflection area 32 and then be redirected toward the opening 28 and front cover opening 14a, so that the sound is projected outward from the opening 14a adjacent to the front surface 8a of the electronic device 8.
In
The sound channel 22 may be defined as an enclosed space by the speaker surface 42, the sleeve sidewalls 16a, 16b, 16c, the inner surface 6a of the back cover 6, and a ledge portion 40 of the back cover 6 extending toward the front surface 8a of the electronic device 8. The opening 28 is formed by the ledge portion 40 of the back cover 6, a side 30 or edge of the electronic device 8 extending across the opening 28, the edge portions 54a, 54b of the sidewalls 16a and 16c adjacent to the front surface 8a of electronic device 8, and the sleeve portion 36 that extends across an upper part of the opening 28. Arrows 56a and 56b show some of the sound waves projected from the speaker surface 42, redirected through the sound channel 22 through the opening 28 toward a user facing the front surface 34 of the electronic device 8.
The above described embodiments show one speaker location and sound channel. In additional embodiments, there may be one or more additional speakers at different locations on the back surface 8b such as in different corners, on different sides, etc. A separate sound channel structure as shown above may be provided for the additional speakers at different locations on the back surface 6b of the electronic device 8. In one configuration, each speaker may have a separate sound channel structure, each sound channel having a separate opening 50 in the sleeve 6. In a further configuration, there may be multiple speakers adjacent to one another and a single sound channel may be formed to include the multiple speakers. If a single sound channel includes multiple speakers, then the opening 50 in the sleeve may surround the multiple speakers to provide the sound space through which sound from the multiple speakers is redirected.
The above described embodiments show a speaker location 20 on a lower left section of the back surface 6b. In alternative embodiments, the speaker 20 and corresponding sound channel may be positioned at different locations on the back surfaces 8a and 6b, such as in different corners, along the sides of the back surfaces 8a and 6b or between a center and a side of the back surfaces 8a and 6b.
If a speaker is located on a side of the device 8, between the front 8a and back 8b surfaces, then the sound channel may be positioned on the side of the case adjacent the side speaker to direct the sound outward from the front surface 8a or the back surface 8b of the electronic device 8. In a still further embodiment, the speaker may be located on a front surface 8a of the device 8, and the sound channel located adjacent to the speaker on the front surface 8a may redirect the sound outward from the front 8a or back 8b surfaces of the device 8. In a yet further embodiment, a speaker may extend across at least two of a front surface 8a, a back surface 8b, and a side between the front 8a and the back 8b surfaces of the device, and the sound channel would be located adjacent to the speaker extending across multiple of the front 8a, back 8b, and side surfaces. Additional orientations of the location of the speaker and positioning of the sound channel may also be realized to redirect sound in different directions outward from the device 8.
Certain described embodiments provide a case cover for use with an electronic device, such as a computer tablet or smartphone, that has a rear speaker on the back of the electronic device. The case cover forms a sound channel or enclosed sound space between the inner surface of the cover and the rear speaker to redirect sound projected from the rear speaker outward from a front surface of the electronic device toward a user positioned with respect to the front surface of the electronic device, such as in front of the front surface.
Terms such as “top”, bottom”, “upper”, “lower”, “rear”, “front”, “back”, “outer”, “inner”, “bottom”, “left”, “right” and the like may be used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting. Embodiments may be manufactured, used, and contained in a variety of positions and orientations.
In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and that embodiments are not restricted to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described since modifications may occur to those having ordinary skill in the art.
