Patent Application
20070036369
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a speaker cover, and more particularly, to a removable speaker cover having aesthetic qualities and fitting over or around a speaker device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
For purposes of this disclosure, a speaker or speaker device is defined as a sound producing device including, for example, a driver (e.g., a diaphragm and transducer) housed in an enclosure such as speaker cabinet, an enclosure-less driver, an electrostatic plate or any other device used or sold for the purpose of producing sound such as music, voices and the like. Enclosure-less drivers and electrostatic plates may be mounted to support frames so as to be capable of freestanding on a surface, such as a floor, shelf or desk.
Speakers are often components of entertainment systems such as stereos, multi-media systems, and computers. Speakers can be used indoors or outdoors, and are made to fit in a particular space such as, for example, a floor, a wall, a bookshelf, or a garden. Due to limited numbers of conventional shapes of speaker devices, such as, cubes or spheres, the speaker devices often do not blend with an existing decor. Conventional speakers and cabinets can stand out from the existing decor and may be visually unpleasant.
Speakers with different colors or designs which blend into the environment such as a rock speaker and a planter speaker are available on the market. However, surrounding shells designed in the shape of a rock or a planter to blend with an existing landscape are not replaceable with a different style cover.
A removable decorative speaker cover enables a speaker to blend with an existing decor. Since the decorative speaker cover is removable from the speaker, the look of the speaker can be changed. Thus, a multitude of decorative options for a single speaker are available with a removable decorative speaker cover.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cover is for a speaker device having a sound producing portion and a structure for supporting the sound producing portion. The cover includes an opening and an internal cavity for receiving and enclosing the speaker device, and a first portion capable of passing produced sound therethrough, wherein the first portion is formed to be disposed opposite the sound producing portion of the speaker device.
The first portion may be acoustically transparent or acoustically modifying. The structure may be a speaker cabinet or a support frame. The cover may further include a second portion comprising a soundproofing material and a sound dampening material. The first portion may include at least one opening, cloth, a grill, perforations, acoustic foam and/or venting.
The cover may further include an edge portion for engaging a groove in the structure, such as, for example, in the case of attaching the cover to a wall mounted speaker. Further, the cover may include one or more holes formed in the cover for receiving fixing devices for attaching the cover to a surface, such as, for example, a wall.
The speaker device may be a subwoofer, a woofer, a full-range, a mid-range, a tweeter or a combination thereof.
The cover may be shaped as a vase, a chest, a trunk, a wall sconce, a box, a column, an urn, a bookend, a faux book, a clock, a candle holder, or a planter. The cover may also include a light fixture and/or a storage unit.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cover is for a speaker device having a sound producing portion and a cabinet for housing the sound producing portion. The cover includes an opening and an internal cavity for receiving and enclosing the speaker device, and a first portion capable of passing produced sound therethrough.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cover is for a speaker device having a sound producing portion and a structure for supporting the sound producing portion. The cover includes an opening and an internal cavity for receiving and enclosing the speaker device, wherein the opening is formed on a bottom side of the cover, and a spacer formed on the bottom side of the cover for spacing the bottom side of the cover from a surface on which the cover rests, whereby the produced sound projects through the opening.
These and other features of the present invention may be better and more completely understood by studying the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments together with the drawings, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The speaker 15 comprises a sound producing portion 16 disposed in a housing 17. The sound producing portion 16 includes, for example, a diaphragm and a transducer for projecting acoustic signals. When the housing 17 of the speaker 15 is placed in the cover 10, the housing 17 is covered by the cover 10.
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the speaker 15 can be, for example, a bookshelf style speaker or a floorstanding style speaker. The speaker 15 can also be, for example, any of subwoofer, woofer, full-range, midrange, and tweeter types or combinations thereof.
The cover 10 preferably comprises a structure and materials having acoustical transparency and resistance to mechanical vibration or resonation that can be caused by the speaker 15. For the acoustical transparency, a side of the cover 10 may comprise an acoustically transparent portion 11 that is positioned opposite the sound producing portion 16 when the cover 10 covers the speaker 15. Acoustic signals can pass through the acoustically transparent portion 11 of the cover 10 without significant reduction of sound propagation.
In one embodiment, the acoustically transparent portion 11 includes cloth 12 as shown in
In the alternative, an acoustically modifying portion may be substituted for the acoustically transparent portion. The acoustically modifying portion can be located in the same position as the acoustically transparent portion, but may include different materials or configurations from the acoustically transparent portion to alter output level, directionality and frequency response from the sound producing portion 16. The different materials and configurations are known to those of skill in the art, and may include, for example, grill mesh to attenuate high frequency or variable density foam to change directionality.
It is to be understood that the terms acoustically transparent and acoustically modifying are defined to include substantially acoustically transparent or modifying based on allowable manufacturing tolerances and errors known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
For preventing the cover 10 from being affected by the mechanical vibration or resonation, which can be caused by the speaker 15, the remaining portion of cover 10 can be made from a soundproofing material. Composite foams, a felt type material or other material can be used as the soundproofing material. A sound dampening material may be incorporated into the cover 10 to further reduce the mechanical vibration or resonations. The sound dampening material may include, for example, a water-based sound dampening compound or a self-adhesive sound dampening sheet.
It is to be understood that the terms soundproofing and sound dampening are defined to include substantially soundproofing or sound dampening based on allowable manufacturing tolerances and errors known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The cover 40 can be attached and detached to and from a wall using one or more holes 42 for receiving, for example, hooks, screws, or nails (not shown) to be connected to the wall. The speaker 45 can be mounted to the wall using the same hooks, screws or nails that secure the cover 40 to the wall. Alternatively, the speaker 45 can rest inside the cover 40, for example, on a shelf therein, such that the cover 40 supports the speaker 45. Like the covers 10-30, an acoustically modifying portion may be substituted for the acoustically transparent portion and the remaining portion of the cover 40 can be made from a soundproofing material. A dampening material may be incorporated into the cover 40 to further reduce the mechanical vibration or resonation.
Referring to
Referring to
As in the previous embodiments, the remaining portion of the cover 60 can be made from a soundproofing material and a dampening material may be incorporated into the cover 60 to further reduce the mechanical vibration or resonation.
Referring to
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, any shapes and/or colors of covers can be used. For example, the cover can also be shaped as a decorative column or urn, a bookend, faux books, a clock, a candle holder, or a planter. Furthermore, the surface of the cover may contain an artistic work like a picture, design, custom photograph or print. Also, the covers can include appropriately located holes or openings to accommodate wires leading to and from the speakers.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.
