Patent Grant
12022253
The present application relates to a venting device, and more particularly, to a venting device capable of eliminating an occlusion effect.
Nowadays, wearable sound devices, such as in-ear (insert into ear canal) earbuds, on-ear or over-ear earphones, etc. are generally used for producing sound or receiving sound. Magnet and moving coil (MMC) based microspeaker have been developed for decades and widely used in many such devices. Recently, MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) acoustic transducers which make use of a semiconductor fabrication process can be sound producing/receiving components in the wearable sound devices.
Occlusion effect is due to the sealed volume of ear canal causing loud perceived sound pressure by the listener. For example, the occlusion effect occurs while the listener does specific motion(s) generating a bone-conducted sound (such as walking, jogging, talking, eating, touching the acoustic transducer, etc.) and uses the wearable sound device (e.g., the wearable sound device is filled in his/her ear canal). The occlusion effect is particularly strong toward bass due to the difference of acceleration based SPL (sound pressure level) generation (SPL∝a=dD2/dt2) and compression based SPL generation (SPL∝D). For instance, a displacement of merely 1 μm at 20 Hz will cause a SPL=1 μm/25 mm atm=106 dB in occluded ear canal (25 mm is average length of adult ear canals). Therefore, if the occlusion effect occurs, listener hears the occlusion noise, and the quality of listener experience is bad.
In the traditional technology, the wearable sound device has an airflow channel existing between the ear canal and the ambient external to the device, such that the pressure caused by the occlusion effect can be released from this airflow channel to suppress the occlusion effect. However, because the airflow channel always exists, in the frequency response, the SPL in the lower frequency (e.g., lower than 500 Hz) has a significant drop. For example, if the traditional wearable sound device uses a typical 115 dB speaker driver, the SPL in 20 Hz is much lower than 110 dB. In addition, if a size of a fixed vent configured to form the airflow channel is greater, the SPL drop will be greater, and the water and dust protection will become more difficult.
In some cases, the traditional wearable sound device may use a speaker driver stronger than the typical 115 dB speaker driver to compensate for the loss of SPL in lower frequency due to the existence of the airflow channel. For example, assuming the loss of SPL is 20 dB, then the required speaker driver to maintain the same 115 dB SPL in the presence of the airflow channel will be 135 dB SPL, were it to be used in a sealed ear canal. However, the 10× stronger bass output requires the speaker membrane travel to also increase by 10× which implies the heights of both the coil and the magnet flux gap of the speaker driver need to be increased by 10×. Thus, it is difficult to make the traditional wearable sound device having the strong speaker driver have the small size and light weight.
Therefore, it is necessary to improve the prior art, so as to suppress the occlusion effect.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a venting device capable of suppressing an occlusion effect.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a venting device disposed within a wearable sound device or to be disposed within the wearable sound device. The venting device includes an anchor structure, a film structure and an actuator. The film structure includes an anchor end anchored on the anchor structure and a free end, and the film structure is configured to form a vent or close the vent. The actuator is disposed on the film structure. The film structure partitions a space into a first volume and a second volume, and the first volume and the second volume are connected via the vent when the vent is formed. The venting device is controlled by the controller to seal the vent when the controller determines to close the vent.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
To provide a better understanding of the present invention to those skilled in the art, preferred embodiments and typical material or range parameters for key components will be detailed in the follow description. These preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings with numbered elements to elaborate on the contents and effects to be achieved. It should be noted that the drawings are simplified schematics, and the material and parameter ranges of key components are illustrative based on the present day technology, and therefore show only the components and combinations associated with the present invention, so as to provide a clearer description for the basic structure, implementing or operation method of the present invention. The components would be more complex in reality and the ranges of parameters or material used may evolve as technology progresses in the future. In addition, for ease of explanation, the components shown in the drawings may not represent their actual number, shape, and dimensions; details may be adjusted according to design requirements.
In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include”, “comprise” and “have” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”. Thus, when the terms “include”, “comprise” and/or “have” are used in the description of the present invention, the corresponding features, areas, steps, operations and/or components would be pointed to existence, but not limited to the existence of one or a plurality of the corresponding features, areas, steps, operations and/or components.
In the following description and in the claims, when “a A1 component is formed by/of B1”, B1 exist in the formation of A1 component or B1 is used in the formation of A1 component, and the existence and use of one or a plurality of other features, areas, steps, operations and/or components are not excluded in the formation of A1 component.
In the following description and in the claims, the term “substantially” generally means a small deviation may exist or not exist. For instance, the terms “substantially parallel” and “substantially along” means that an angle between two components may be less than or equal to a certain degree threshold, e.g., 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees or 1 degree. For instance, the term “substantially aligned” means that a deviation between two components may be less than or equal to a certain difference threshold, e.g., 2 μm or 1 μm. For instance, the term “substantially the same” means that a deviation is within, e.g., 10% of a given value or range, or mean within 5%, 3%, 2%, 1%, or 0.5% of a given value or range.
In the description and following claims, the term “horizontal direction” generally means a direction parallel to a horizontal surface, the term “horizontal surface” generally means a surface parallel to a direction X and direction Y in the drawings (i.e., the direction X and the direction Y of the present invention may be considered as the horizontal directions), the term “vertical direction” generally means a direction parallel to a direction Z and perpendicular to the horizontal direction in the drawings, and the direction X, the direction Y and the direction Z are perpendicular to each other. In the description and following claims, the term “top view” generally means a viewing result viewing along the vertical direction. In the description and following claims, the term “cross-sectional view” generally means a viewing result viewing a structure cutting along the vertical direction along the horizontal direction.
Although terms such as first, second, third, etc., may be used to describe diverse constituent elements, such constituent elements are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only to discriminate a constituent element from other constituent elements in the specification, and the terms do not relate to the sequence of the manufacture if the specification do not describe. The claims may not use the same terms, but instead may use the terms first, second, third, etc. with respect to the order in which an element is claimed. Accordingly, in the following description, a first constituent element may be a second constituent element in a claim.
It should be noted that the technical features in different embodiments described in the following can be replaced, recombined, or mixed with one another to constitute another embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
In the present invention, a venting device (or a MEMS venting device) capable of suppressing an occlusion effect may be related to an acoustic apparatus and/or disposed within an acoustic apparatus (such as a wearable sound device). For instance, the venting device may be disposed within the wearable sound device (e.g., an in-ear device), but not limited thereto.
In the present invention, the acoustic apparatus may include an acoustic transducer configured to perform an acoustic transformation, wherein the acoustic transformation may convert signals (e.g. electric signals or signals with other suitable type) into an acoustic wave, or may convert an acoustic wave into signals with other suitable type (e.g. electric signals). In some embodiments, the acoustic transducer may be a sound producing device, a speaker, a micro speaker or other suitable device, so as to convert the electric signals into the acoustic wave, but not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the acoustic transducer may be a sound measuring device, a microphone or other suitable device, so as to convert the acoustic wave into the electric signals, but not limited thereto. Owing to the existence of the venting device of the present invention, the occlusion effect would be suppressed, so as to make the user have a good experience of the acoustic transformation provided by the acoustic apparatus.
In the following, the venting device of the present invention may be related to and disposed in the wearable sound device configured to produce the acoustic wave, and the following explanation is configured to make those skilled in the art better understand the present invention.
Referring to
In
The venting device 100 includes at least one anchor structure 140 and a film structure 110 anchored by the anchor structure 140, wherein the anchor structure 140 is disposed outside the film structure 110. The film structure 110 and the anchor structure 140 may include any suitable material(s). In some embodiments, the film structure 110 and the anchor structure 140 may individually include silicon (e.g., single crystalline silicon or poly-crystalline silicon), silicon compound (e.g., silicon carbide, silicon oxide), germanium, germanium compound (e.g., gallium nitride or gallium arsenide), gallium, gallium compound, stainless steel or a combination thereof, but not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the film structure 110 and the anchor structure 140 may have the same material.
In the operation of the venting device 100, the film structure 110 may be actuated to have a movement, and the anchor structure 140 may be immobilized. Namely, the anchor structure 140 may be a fixed end (or fixed edge) respecting the film structure 110 during the operation of the venting device 100. In some embodiments, the film structure 110 may be actuated to move upwards and downwards, but not limited thereto. In the present invention, the terms “move upwards” and “move downwards” represent that the film structure 110 moves substantially along the direction Z.
As shown in
In the present invention, the number of the slit(s) 130 included in the film structure 110 may be adjusted based on requirement(s), and the slit(s) 130 may be disposed at any suitable position of the film structure 110 and have any suitable top-view pattern. For example, the slit 130 may be a straight slit, a curved slit, a combination of straight slits, a combination of curved slits or a combination of straight slit(s) and curved slit(s).
The venting device 100 includes an actuator 120 disposed on the film structure 110 and configured to actuate the film structure 110. For instance, in
As shown in
The actuator 120 has a monotonic electromechanical converting function with respect to the movement of the film structure 110 along the direction Z. In some embodiments, the actuator 120 may include a piezoelectric actuator, an electrostatic actuator, a nanoscopic-electrostatic-drive (NED) actuator, an electromagnetic actuator or any other suitable actuator, but not limited thereto. For example, in an embodiment, the actuator 120 may include a piezoelectric actuator, the piezoelectric actuator may contain such as two electrodes and a piezoelectric material layer (e.g., lead zirconate titanate, PZT) disposed between the electrodes, wherein the piezoelectric material layer may actuate the film structure 110 based on driving signals (e.g., driving voltages and/or driving voltage difference between two electrodes) received by the electrodes, but not limited thereto. For example, in another embodiment, the actuator 120 may include an electromagnetic actuator (such as a planar coil), wherein the electromagnetic actuator may actuate the film structure 110 based on a received driving signals (e.g., driving current) and a magnetic field (i.e. the film structure 110 may be actuated by the electromagnetic force), but not limited thereto. For example, in still another embodiment, the actuator 120 may include an electrostatic actuator (such as conducting plate) or a NED actuator, wherein the electrostatic actuator or the NED actuator may actuate the film structure 110 based on a received driving signals (e.g., driving voltage) and an electrostatic field (i.e. the film structure 110 may be actuated by the electrostatic force), but not limited thereto. In the following, the actuator 120 may be a piezoelectric actuator for example.
In this embodiment, the venting device 100 may optionally include a chip CP disposed on the top surface SH of the base BS, wherein the chip CP may include the film structure 110, the anchor structure 140 and the actuator 120 at least. The manufacturing method of the chip CP is not limited. For example, in this embodiment, the chip CP may be formed by at least one semiconductor process to be a MEMS chip, but not limited thereto.
In addition, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The film structure 110 may be actuated to move upwards and downwards by the actuator 120. Therefore, as shown in
As shown in
In the condition “the vent 130T is closed”, the air is hard to flow between the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 through a space between two opposite sidewalls of the slit 130. In the condition “the vent 130T is formed/opened”, the air easily flows between the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 through a space between two opposite sidewalls of the slit 130. In some embodiments, an opening size between two opposite sidewalls of the slit 130 in the first mode (i.e., the vent 130T is closed) is much less than an opening size between two opposite sidewalls of the slit 130 in the second mode (i.e., the vent 130T is formed/opened). For instance, when the vent 130T is closed, the film structure 110 is parallel or substantially parallel to the top surface SH of the base BS, and two opposite sidewalls of the slit 130 partially or fully overlap with each other in the horizontal direction, but not limited thereto. For instance, when the vent 130T is formed/opened, the film structure 110 is not parallel or not substantially parallel to the top surface SH of the base BS.
As shown in
Since the width of the gap 130P should be sufficiently small, the airflow through the gap 130P (i.e., a narrow channel) can be highly damped due to viscous forces/resistance along the walls of the airflow pathways, known as boundary layer effect within field of fluid mechanics. Accordingly, the airflow flowing between the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 through the gap 130P in the first mode is significantly small or negligible. In other words, when the venting device 100 is in the first mode, the vent 130T is closed and even sealed.
In the first mode, since the airflow flowing between the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 through the gap 130P in the first mode is significantly small or negligible, the wearable sound device user would experience the acoustic transformation with high performance (e.g. high performance sound) in whole audio frequency range, wherein the acoustic transformation is provided by the acoustic transducer of the wearable sound device WSD.
When the vent 130T is temporarily opened, the airflow may be formed to flow between the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 due to the pressure difference between the two sides of the film structure 110, such that the pressure caused by the occlusion effect may be released (i.e., the pressure difference between the ear canal and the ambient of the wearable sound device WSD may be released through the airflow flowing through the vent 130T), so as to suppress the occlusion effect.
In the present invention, the size of the vent 130T may be determined by the distance between the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114. The effect of suppressing the occlusion effect may be enhanced by increasing the size of the vent 130T.
Accordingly, as shown in
In transition from the first mode, such as the one illustrated in
In addition, in transition from the first mode shown in
In an embodiment, the first displacement Uz_a and the second displacement Uz_b may be of substantially equal in distance, but opposite in direction. The first displacement Uz_a of the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second displacement Uz_b of the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114 may be (temporarily) symmetrical. The movements of the first free end FE1 and the second free end FE2 are substantially equal length wise, but opposite in direction over any period of time. Namely, if the first flap 112 and the second flap 114 are maintained as their first positions to be the first mode (as shown in
When the movements of the first free end FE1 and the second free end FE2 are temporarily symmetrical, regarding one slit 130, a first air movement is produced because the first flap 112 is actuated to move toward the first direction, a direction of the first air movement is related to the first direction, a second air movement is produced because the second flap 114 is actuated to move toward the second direction opposite to the first direction, and a direction of the second air movement is related to the second direction. Since the first air movement and the second air movement may be respectively related to the opposite directions, at least a portion of the first air movement and at least a portion of the second air movement may cancel each other when the first flap 112 and the second flap 114 are simultaneously actuated to open/close the vent 130T.
In some embodiments, the first air movement and the second air movement may substantially cancel each other when the first flap 112 and the second flap 114 are simultaneously actuated to open/close the vent 130T (for example, the first displacement Uz_a toward the first direction and the second displacement Uz_b toward the second direction may be equal in distance but opposite in direction). Namely, a net air movement produced due to opening/closing the vent 130T, which contains the first air movement and the second air movement, is substantially zero. As the result, since the net air movement is substantially zero during the opening and/or closing operation of the vent 130T, the operations of the vent 130T produces no acoustic disturbance perceivable to the user of the venting device 100, and the opening and/or closing operation of the vent 130T is said to be “concealed”.
Optionally, as shown in
In the third mode shown in
Moreover, as shown in
The actuator 120 may receive at least one suitable driving signal to actuate the film structure 110, so as to make the film structure 110 maintain or change its position, thereby causing the mode of the venting device 100 to be maintained or changed. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the present invention, since the size of the vent 130T may be determined by the distance between the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114, the size of the vent 130T may be changed and controlled by the driving signal(s) based on requirement(s).
In addition, due to the design of the driving signal DV1_2 and the driving signal DV2_2, the movements of the first free end FE1 and the second free end FE2 are temporarily symmetrical with respect to the first position and the flat position. For example, a different between the driving signal DV1_2 and the first threshold value may be the same as a different between the driving signal DV2_2 and the second threshold value, but not limited thereto.
As shown in
According to the driving signals in these modes, the venting device 100 has the lowest power consumption in the third mode. In some embodiments, no voltage is applied on the actuator 120 (i.e., the driving signal applied on the actuator 120 is 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating) in the third mode. Therefore, in order to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 100, the venting device 100 may be in the third mode normally (i.e., the vent 130T is closed), and the venting device 100 may be changed to the first mode or the second mode if necessary (e.g., the venting device 100 may be changed to the first mode for the acoustic transformation with high performance, the venting device 100 may be changed to the second mode for suppressing the occlusion effect), but not limited thereto.
In some embodiments, the driving signal applied on the first actuating portion 122 and the driving signal applied on the second actuating portion 124 may be unipolar with respect to the ground voltage. For example, according to the aforementioned driving signals DV1_1, DV1_2, DV1_3, DV2_1, DV2_2 and DV2_3, the driving signal applied on the first actuating portion 122 and the driving signal applied on the second actuating portion 124 may range from 0V to 30V, but not limited thereto.
In the present invention, the driving signal applied on the actuator 120 does not exceed a breakdown voltage of the actuator 120, so as to make the operation of the venting device 100 stable or to make the venting device 100 less distorted, but not limited thereto. For example, if the driving signal applied on the actuator 120 is greater than 0V, the driving signal may be less than an maximum voltage output from a controller (e.g., a driving circuit), but not limited thereto.
According to the above, the slit 130 of the present invention may be driven to serve as a dynamic front vent of the venting device 100, wherein the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 in the housing structure HSS are connected when the dynamic front vent is opened/formed, and the first volume VL1 and the second volume VL2 in the housing structure HSS are separated from each other when the dynamic front vent is closed.
Moreover, the venting device 100 of the present invention may have the better water protection and the better dust protection due to the dynamic front vent.
Referring to
The sensing device 150 may be configured to sense any required factor outside the wearable sound device WSD and corresponding to generate a sensing result. For example, the sensing device 150 may use an infrared (IR) sensing method, an optical sensing method, an acoustic sensing method, an ultrasonic sensing method, a capacitive sensing method or other suitable sensing method to sense any required factor, but not limited thereto.
In some embodiments, whether the vent 130T is formed is determined according to the sensing result. The vent 130T is opened (or formed) when a sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result crosses a certain threshold with a first polarity, and the vent 130T is closed when the sensed quantity crosses the certain threshold with a second polarity opposite to the first polarity. For instance, the first polarity may be from low to high, and the second polarity may be from high to low, such that the vent 130T is opened when the sensed quantity is changed from lower than the certain threshold to higher than the certain threshold, and the vent 130T is closed when the sensed quantity is changed from higher than the certain threshold to lower than the certain threshold, but not limited thereto.
Moreover, in some embodiments, a degree of opening of the vent 130T may be monotonically related to the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result. Namely, the degree of opening of the vent 130T increases or decreases as the sensed quantity increases or decreases.
In some embodiments, the sensing device 150 may optionally include a motion sensor configured to detect a body motion of the user and/or a motion of the wearable sound device WSD. For example, the sensing device 150 may detect the body motion causing the occlusion effect, such as walking, jogging, talking, eating, etc. In some embodiments, the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result represents the body motion of the user and/or the motion of the wearable sound device WSD, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T is correlated to the motion sensed. For instance, the degree of opening of the vent 130T increases as the motion increases.
In some embodiments, the sensing device 150 may optionally include a proximity sensor configured to sense a distance between an object and the proximity sensor. In some embodiments, the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result represents the distance between the object and the proximity sensor, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T is correlated to the distance sensed. For instance, the vent 130T is opened (or formed) when this distance smaller than a predetermined distance, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T increases as this distance decreases. For instance, if the user wants to open (or form) the vent 130T, the user can use any suitable object (e.g., the hand) to approach the wearable sound device WSD, so as to make the proximity sensor sense this object to correspondingly generate the sensing result, thereby open/form the vent 130T.
In addition, the proximity sensor may further have a function for detecting that the user (predictably) taps or touches the wearable sound device WSD having the venting device 100 because these motions may also cause the occlusion effect.
In some embodiments, the sensing device 150 may optionally include a force sensor configured to sense the force applied on the force sensor of the wearable sound device WSD, the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result represents the force pressing on the wearable sound device WSD, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T is correlated to the force sensed.
In some embodiments, the sensing device 150 may optionally include a light sensor configured to sense an ambient light of the wearable sound device WSD, the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result represents the luminance of the ambient light sensed by the light sensor, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T is correlated to the luminance of the ambient light sensed.
In some embodiments, the sensing device 150 may optionally include an acoustic sensor, such as microphone, configured to sense the sound outside the wearable sound device WSD to detect the occlusion event. For example, the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result represents the SPL of the sound sensed by the acoustic sensor, and the degree of opening of the vent 130T is correlated to the sound sensed by the acoustic sensor, but not limited thereto. For example, the venting device 100 is actuated to open the vent 130T when the acoustic sensor detects that the occlusion event occur, but not limited thereto.
The controller 160 is configured to generate the driving signals applied on the acoustic transducer and the venting device 100, so as to control the acoustic transducer to perform the acoustic transformation and to control the mode of the venting device 100.
The controller 160 may be designed based on requirement(s), and the controller 160 may include any suitable component. For example, in
The controller 160 generates the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 of the venting device 100, so as to control the mode of the venting device 100. Thus, the controller 160 controls the venting device 100 to form the vent 130T for suppressing the occlusion effect or close the vent 130T for making wearable sound device user experience the acoustic transformation with high performance in whole audio frequency range.
As shown in
In particular, in the third mode shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 of the venting device 100 may be generated according to the sensing result, but not limited thereto. In some embodiments, since the degree of opening of the vent 130T may be monotonically related to the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result, the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 may have a monotonic relationship with the sensed quantity indicated by the sensing result.
When the sensing device 150 includes the motion sensor, magnitudes of the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 may increase (or decrease) as the motion increases, but not limited thereto. Similarly, when the sensing device 150 includes the proximity sensor, magnitudes of the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 may increase (or decrease) as the distance decreases or decreases below a threshold, but not limited thereto. Similarly, when the sensing device 150 includes the force sensor, magnitudes of the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 may increase (or decrease) as the force increases, but not limited thereto. Similarly, when the sensing device 150 includes the light sensor, magnitudes of the driving signals applied on the actuator 120 may increase (or decrease) as the luminance of the ambient light decreases, but not limited thereto.
Referring to
The frequency range of the acoustic wave produced by each acoustic transducer may be designed based on requirement(s). For instance, an embodiment of acoustic transducer may produce the acoustic wave with the frequency range covering the human audible frequency range (e.g., from 20 Hz to 20 kHz), but not limited thereto. For instance, another embodiment of acoustic transducer may produce the acoustic wave with the frequency higher than a specific frequency, such that this acoustic transducer may be a high frequency sound unit (tweeter), but not limited thereto. For instance, another embodiment of acoustic transducer may produce the acoustic wave with the frequency lower than a specific frequency, such that this acoustic transducer may be a low frequency sound unit (woofer), but not limited thereto. Note that the specific frequency may be a value ranging from 800 Hz to 4 kHz (e.g., 1.44 kHz), but not limited thereto. The details of the high frequency sound unit and the low frequency sound unit may be referred to U.S. application Ser. No. 17/153,849 filed by Applicant, which is not narrated herein for brevity.
The acoustic transducers SPK1 and SPK2 may be the same or different. For example, the acoustic transducer SPK1 may be a high frequency sound unit (tweeter), and the acoustic transducer SPK2 may be a low frequency sound unit (woofer), but not limited thereto.
The front chamber FBC of the wearable sound device WSD shown in
The sensing devices 150, which may include acoustic sensor(s) (e.g., microphone(s)), may be disposed in the front chamber FBC and/or the back chamber BBC of the wearable sound device WSD, wherein the sensing devices 150 is configured to detect the occlusion event.
The venting device 100, the acoustic transducers SPK1 and SPK2 and the sensing devices 150 may be electrically connected to the controller 160. The controller 160 may apply acoustic driving signals on the acoustic transducers SPK1 and SPK2, such that the acoustic wave produced by the acoustic transducers SPK1 and SPK2 may be corresponding to the acoustic driving signals. The controller 160 may apply the driving signal based on the sensing result of the sensing device 150 on the venting device 100, so as to open or close the vent 130T for suppressing the occlusion effect. For example, the controller 160 may include a device controller 168a and a device driver 168b, but not limited thereto. For instance, the device controller 168a may determine the voltages applied on or to be applied on the actuating portions of the actuator 120 according to the sensing result generated by the sensing device 150, but not limited thereto.
The venting device of the present invention is not limited by the above embodiment(s). Other embodiments of the present invention are described below. For ease of comparison, same components will be labeled with the same symbol in the following. The following descriptions relate the differences between each of the embodiments, and repeated parts will not be redundantly described.
In the following embodiments, the venting device is designed for making the vent 130T be formed/opened under the condition of low power consumption. Note that the venting device is not limited to the following embodiments.
Referring to
The stationary structure 210 may be designed based on requirement(s). For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, in the top view, the stationary structure 210 may be corresponding to the whole first free end FE1 (i.e., the first free edge) of the first flap 112 and the whole second free end FE2 (i.e., the second free edge) of the second flap 114 in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X). One of the slits 130 is formed between the first flap 112 and the stationary structure 210 (i.e., two opposite sidewalls of this slit 130 respectively belong to the first flap 112 and the stationary structure 210), and another one of the slits 130 is formed between the second flap 114 and the stationary structure 210 (i.e., two opposite sidewalls of this slit 130 respectively belong to the second flap 114 and the stationary structure 210). Therefore, in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X), a distance between the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114 in the venting device 200 of this case (
In some embodiments, in the top view, the stationary structure 210 may be corresponding to a corresponding part of the first free end FE1 (i.e., first free edge) and not corresponding to a non-corresponding part of the first free end FE1 (i.e., first free edge) in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X), and the stationary structure 210 may be corresponding to a corresponding part of the second free end FE2 (i.e., second free edge) and not corresponding to a non-corresponding part of the second free end FE2 (i.e., second free edge) in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X). The slits 130 may be formed between the first flap 112 and the second flap 114, between the first flap 112 and the stationary structure 210 and between the second flap 114 and the stationary structure 210 (i.e., a portion sidewall of the slit 130 belongs to the stationary structure 210). Therefore, in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X), a distance between the corresponding part of the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the corresponding part of the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114 in the venting device 200 of this case (
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the second mode, since the stationary structure 210 exists between the first flap 112 and the second flap 114, the distance between the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114 is enlarged, such that the vents 130T are formed when the first flap 112 and the second flap 114 hang downwards and are below the flat position.
According to the driving signals in these modes, the venting device 200 has the lowest power consumption in the second mode. In some embodiments, no voltage is applied on the actuator 120 (i.e., the driving signal applied on the actuator 120 is 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating) in the second mode. Therefore, in order to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 200, the venting device 200 may be in the second mode normally (i.e., the vent 130T is formed), and the venting device 200 may be changed to the first mode if necessary (e.g., the venting device 200 may be changed to the first mode for the acoustic transformation with high performance), but not limited thereto.
Referring to
In this embodiment, the clamp structure 310 and the stationary structure 210 may be included in the venting device 300, and the clamp structure 310 and the stationary structure 210 may be respectively corresponding to different parts (e.g., the corresponding part and the non-corresponding part described above) of the first free end FE1 and respectively corresponding to different parts (e.g., the corresponding part and the non-corresponding part described above) of the second free end FE2 in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X). Therefore, if the cross-sectional line of the cross sectional view extends along the direction X, the clamp structure 310 and the stationary structure 210 would be shown in different cross sectional views. For instance,
The clamp structure 310 may have any suitable design based on requirement(s). As shown in
In
As shown in
In this embodiment, even if the film structure 110 is constrained by the clamp structure 310, the vent 130T is still formed (e.g., the vent 130T is formed between the flap and the stationary structure 210, as shown in
Because of the existence of the clamp structure 310, the opening sizes of the vents 130T of different venting devices 300 may be substantially the same.
Referring to
The clamp 470 may have any suitable design based on requirement(s), and the clamp 470 may be actuated to move by any suitable method. In some embodiments, the actuation of the clamp 470 may be controlled by the electrical signal(s). For example, the movement of the clamp 470 may be caused by a thermal actuation, an electrostatic actuation, a magnetic actuation, a piezoelectric actuation or other suitable actuation. In some embodiments, the clamp 470 would receive the electrical signal to make the clamp 470 move, and the clamp 470 would not receive the electrical signal to make the clamp 470 stop moving, but not limited thereto.
As shown in
In transition from the first mode to the second mode, the free end FE of the film structure 110 (e.g., the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114) may move upwards to be above the first position by applying a mode-changing driving signal on the actuator 120 (e.g., the first actuating portion 122 and the second actuating portion 124), then, the clamp 470 may move away from the free end FE of the film structure 110, and finally, the free end FE of the film structure 110 (e.g., the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114) may hang downwards to be below the first position and the flat position by applying the second mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_2 and the driving signal DV2_2) on the actuator 120 (e.g., the first actuating portion 122 and the second actuating portion 124).
Conversely, in transition from the second mode back to the first mode, the free end FE of the film structure 110 (e.g., the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114) may move upwards to be above the first position by applying the mode-changing driving signal on the actuator 120 (e.g., the first actuating portion 122 and the second actuating portion 124), then, the clamp 470 may move toward the free end FE of the film structure 110, and finally, the free end FE of the film structure 110 (e.g., the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 and the second free end FE2 of the second flap 114) may move downwards to the first position by applying the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_1 and the driving signal DV2_1) on the actuator 120 (e.g., the first actuating portion 122 and the second actuating portion 124), such that the clamp 470 may hold the film structure 110 at the first position.
In some embodiments, since the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_1 and the driving signal DV2_1) may be less than or equal to a driving signal corresponding the first position. For example, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_1 and the driving signal DV2_1) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 400 in the first mode (e.g., the power consumed by the venting device 400 in the first mode may be 0.3 μW), but not limited thereto. Namely, after the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the actuator 120, and the vent 130T is closed (the venting device 400 is in the first mode).
In this case, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_1 and the driving signal DV2_1) and the second mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV1_2 and the driving signal DV2_2) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode and the second mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 400.
Moreover, in some embodiments, after the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470 and the vent 130T is closed, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 400. In some embodiments, after the clamp 470 releases the film structure 110, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 400.
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Referring to
The stationary structure 210 may be designed based on requirement(s). For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, in the top view, the stationary structure 210 may be corresponding to the whole first free end FE1 (i.e., first free edge) or a part of the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112 in the horizontal direction (e.g., the direction X). As shown in
In the second mode (as shown in
Referring to
As shown in
In transition from the first mode to the second mode, the clamps 470 move away from the side edges 110S of the film structure 110 (i.e., the first flap 112) to release the film structure 110 (in
Conversely, in transition from the second mode back to the first mode, the free end FE of the film structure 110 (e.g., the first free end FE1 of the first flap 112) moves upwards to the first position by applying the mode-changing driving signal on the actuator 120 (e.g., the first actuating portion 122), and then, the clamps 470 move toward the side edges 110S of the film structure 110 to hold the film structure 110 at the first position (in
In some embodiments, since the clamps 470 hold the film structure 110 at the first position, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_1) may be less than or equal to a driving signal corresponding the first position. For example, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_1) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 800 in the first mode (e.g., the power consumed by the venting device 800 in the first mode may be 0.3 μW), but not limited thereto. Namely, after the clamps 470 hold the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the actuator 120, and the vent 130T is closed (the venting device 800 is in the first mode).
In this case, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_1) and the second mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_2) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode and the second mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 800.
Moreover, in some embodiments, after the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470 and the vent 130T is closed, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 800. In some embodiments, after the clamp 470 releases the film structure 110, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 800.
Referring to
As shown in
In transition from the second mode (
Conversely, in transition from the first mode (
For instance, since the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_1) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 900 in the first mode (e.g., the power consumed by the venting device 900 in the first mode may be 0.3 μW), but not limited thereto. Namely, after the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the actuator 120, and the vent 130T is closed (the venting device 900 is in the first mode).
In this case, the first mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_1) and the second mode driving signal (e.g., the driving signal DV3_2) may be 0V or ground voltage, or the actuator 120 is floating in the first mode and the second mode, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 900.
Moreover, in some embodiments, after the clamp 470 holds the film structure 110 at the first position, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470 and the vent 130T is closed, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 900. In some embodiments, after the clamp 470 releases the film structure 110, no voltage is applied to the clamp 470, so as to decrease the power consumption of the venting device 900.
Referring to
In the second mode shown in
Moreover, since the film structures 110 may bend downwards, the driving signal DV1_2 and the driving signal DV2_2 may be 0V or ground voltage, or the first actuating portion 122 and the second actuating portion 124 may be floating, but not limited thereto. Thus, the power consumption of the venting device 1000 in the second mode is reduced.
In summary, because of the existence of the slit, the venting device may form the vent for suppressing the occlusion effect or close the vent for making acoustic transducer perform the acoustic transformation with high performance. That is to say, the slit serves as the dynamic front vent of the venting device.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/842,810, filed on Jun. 17, 2022, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/344,980, filed on Jun. 11, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/050,763, filed on Jul. 11, 2020, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/051,885, filed on Jul. 14, 2020, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/171,919, filed on Apr. 7, 2021. Besides, U.S. application Ser. No. 17/842,810 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/320,703, filed on Mar. 17, 2022. Further, this application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/342,161, filed on May 16, 2022. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Parent | 17842810 | Jun 2022 | US |
| Child | 18172346 | US | |
| Parent | 17344980 | Jun 2021 | US |
| Child | 17842810 | US |
