An embodiment of the invention is directed to an acoustic mesh for attenuating wind noise without impacting a frequency response of an associated microphone. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
Portable listening devices can be used with a wide variety of electronic devices such as portable media players, smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, stereo systems, and other types of devices. Portable listening devices have historically included one or more small speakers configured to be placed on, in, or near a user's ear, structural components that hold the speakers in place, and a cable that electrically connects the portable listening device to an audio source. Other portable listening devices can be wireless devices that do not include a cable and instead, wirelessly receive a stream of audio data from a wireless audio source. Such portable listening devices can include, for instance, wireless earbud devices or in-ear hearing devices that operate in pairs (one for each ear) or individually for outputting sound to, and receiving sound from, the user.
While wireless listening devices have many advantages over wired portable listening devices, they also have some potential drawbacks. For example, it may be difficult to achieve high-end acoustic performance from the listening devices due to the limited amount of space available within each listening device. Also, some wireless listening devices that extend into the ear canal to achieve better performance can often have an improper seal between the portable listening device and the ear canal, causing the user to experience lower quality sound. Further, the small size of wireless listening devices often causes a compromise in user interface features, blockage of sensors and/or microphones, and lower overall user experience.
Portable listening devices such as earbuds may include a microphone, for example, an external microphone that picks up sounds from the ambient environment surrounding the device. For example, the microphone may pick up the user's voice, pick up ambient noise (e.g., for noise cancellation), or be used for other purposes. A microphone picking up sounds from the ambient environment may, however, be sensitive to undesirable sounds such as wind noise, particularly in cases where the microphone signal is amplified. To reduce the sensitivity of the microphone to undesirable wind noise, the instant invention includes an acoustic shield coupled to an acoustic port from the ambient environment to the microphone. The acoustic shield may be an acoustic mesh that has particular dimensions that have been found to reduce (or attenuate) wind noise (or other undesirable ambient sounds) without impacting a frequency response of the microphone (e.g., without attenuating desired sounds such as speech). For example, the acoustic mesh may be acoustically closed at a center portion and acoustically open around a perimeter portion. The acoustically open and acoustically closed portions may be specially selected to provide the same wind protection (or attenuation) as opening the whole area (e.g., an acoustic mesh without an acoustically closed center portion) without impacting the frequency response of the microphone. In some aspects, the acoustic mesh including open and closed portions may achieve a maximum wind attenuation up to 10 decibels (dB).
In one aspect, an acoustic mesh includes a first portion that is acoustically closed; and a second portion that surrounds the first portion and is acoustically open. The acoustic mesh may be configured to provide comparable wind noise attenuation in comparison to an acoustic mesh without the first portion, without affecting a frequency response of a microphone to which the acoustic mesh is acoustically coupled. In some aspects, the first portion is at a center of the acoustic mesh. The first portion may be acoustically closed by coupling a support member to a surface of the first portion. The second portion may be near a perimeter of the acoustic mesh. The second portion may be a ring shaped portion positioned around the first portion. The first portion may include a number of portions that acoustically close different sections of the acoustic mesh. The first portion have a diameter, and the diameter of the first portion may be 1.5 cm or less. The attenuation of wind noise may be 10 decibels or less. The acoustic mesh may be coupled to an acoustic port of an enclosure that the microphone is positioned within.
In another aspect, an acoustic shielding assembly includes an acoustic mesh, a support member coupled to the acoustic mesh to acoustically close a portion of the acoustic mesh, and a dimension of the support member is selected to allow the acoustic mesh to attenuate wind noise without affecting a frequency response of a microphone to which the acoustic mesh is acoustically coupled. In some aspects, a portion of the acoustic mesh is a first portion and a second portion of the acoustic mesh surrounding the first portion is acoustically open. In some aspects, a dimension of the support member is a radius and the acoustic mesh comprises a radius that is greater than the radius of the support member. In some aspects, a diameter of the acoustic mesh is 1.5 cm or less. The attenuation of the wind noise may be 10 decibels or less. The acoustic mesh may be coupled to an acoustic port that opens to an acoustic cavity of the microphone. The support member may be a post positioned within the acoustic cavity and that extends to the acoustic mesh.
In another aspect, a portable electronic device includes an enclosure having an acoustic port that acoustically couples an acoustic cavity within the enclosure to a surrounding ambient environment; a microphone positioned within the enclosure and acoustically coupled to the acoustic cavity; and an acoustic mesh coupled to the acoustic port, the acoustic mesh having a first portion that is acoustically closed and a second portion that is acoustically open and surrounds the first portion, and wherein the acoustic mesh attenuates wind noise from the ambient environment without affecting a frequency response of the microphone. The acoustically closed first portion may prevent a wind noise from the ambient environment from entering the acoustic cavity. The acoustically closed first portion may be at a center of the acoustic mesh. A support member may extend from the acoustic cavity to the first portion of the acoustic mesh to acoustically close the first portion of the acoustic mesh, and wherein the support member comprises a radius that is smaller than a radius of the acoustic port.
The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of the present invention. It is contemplated that the invention includes all systems and methods that can be practiced from all suitable combinations of the various aspects summarized above, as well as those disclosed in the Detailed Description below and particularly pointed out in the claims filed with the application. Such combinations have particular advantages not specifically recited in the above summary.
The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one.
In this section we shall explain several preferred aspects of this invention with reference to the appended drawings. Whenever the shapes, relative positions and other aspects of the parts described in the aspects are not clearly defined, the scope of the invention is not limited only to the parts shown, which are meant merely for the purpose of illustration. Also, while numerous details are set forth, it is understood that some aspects of the invention may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known structures and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper”, and the like may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element's or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The terms “or” and “and/or” as used herein are to be interpreted as inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” or “A, B and/or C” mean “any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C.” An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive.
Acoustic shielding assembly 110 may be any type of shielding assembly suitable for attenuating, or otherwise decreasing, undesirable wind noise without impacting a frequency response of transducer 104. Representatively, shielding assembly 110 may include an acoustic material, for example, acoustic mesh 112. Acoustic mesh 112 may be constructed as a single layer with contours that conform to a topography of an external surface of enclosure 102. In some instances, acoustic mesh 112 can be a porous layer that is tuned to a specific acoustic impedance to enable proper operation of the underlying transducer 104. In some embodiments, acoustic mesh 112 is formed of a pliable, porous material, such as a porous polyester. Acoustic mesh 112 can be covered with a hydrophobic coating that enables acoustic mesh 112 to resist ingress of water into the housing of the wireless listening device. In some embodiments, although not shown, acoustic mesh 112 may be positioned between a cosmetic mesh and a stiffener. Acoustic mesh 112 may be attached to enclosure 102, and dimensioned to completely cover acoustic port 108 and acoustic cavity 106. An external surface 112A of acoustic mesh 112 may be exposed (or face) the ambient environment, and in some cases may be planar with the external surface of enclosure 102. An internal surface of acoustic mesh 112 may be exposed, share a volume with, or otherwise face, acoustic cavity 106.
Acoustic shielding assembly 110 may further include support member 114, which may abut, contact, or otherwise be positioned against, internal surface 112A of acoustic mesh 112. Support member 114 may, for example, be any type of structure that provides structural rigidity to acoustic mesh 112 (e.g., prevents mesh 112 from deformation during drop events) and occludes a portion of acoustic mesh 112. Acoustic mesh 112 is therefore acoustically open except where it is covered by support member 114. Acoustic mesh 112 is considered acoustically closed in the regions or areas where it is in contact with, or otherwise covered by, support member 114. The term “acoustically open” is intended to mean that sounds, wind noise, or the like from the ambient environment may pass through acoustic mesh 112 to transducer 104. The term “acoustically closed” is intended to mean that sounds, wind noise, or the like from the ambient environment may not pass, or are otherwise prevented from passing, through acoustic mesh 112 to transducer 104.
The size, surface area and/or dimensions of acoustic mesh 112 relative to support member 114 may be specially selected so that they achieve a wind noise attenuation of, for example, up to 10 decibels (dB) without impacting a frequency response of transducer 104. Representatively, in one aspect, acoustic mesh 112 may have a dimension D1. Dimension D1 may correspond to, for example, an overall maximum dimension (e.g., width, outer radius, outer diameter, surface area, etc) of acoustic mesh 112 covering acoustic port 108. Dimension D1 may therefore also correspond to an overall maximum dimension of acoustic port 108. Support member 114 may have an overall dimension D2. Dimension D2 may correspond to, for example, an overall maximum dimension (e.g., width, inner radius, inner diameter, surface area, etc) of the portion of support member 114 contacting, or otherwise occluding, acoustic mesh 112. Dimension D2 may therefore also be understood as corresponding to an acoustically closed portion, region or surface of acoustic mesh 112. In some aspects, dimension D2 is less than dimension D1 such that at least a portion of acoustic mesh 112 remains open. Dimension D3, in turn, illustrates the difference between dimension D1 and dimension D2, or the open region or portion of acoustic mesh 112 surrounding the closed region (e.g., dimension D1-dimension D2). The dimension D3 may be considered the critical dimension necessary to achieve a maximum wind attenuation without impacting a frequency response. For example, in some aspects, at least 1 percent (%) of acoustic mesh 112 remains open. Therefore, in some aspects, D1, D2 and D3 may be defined relative to one another, for example, as D3/D1>0.01, or D2/D3<99 and D2/D1<0.99. In the illustrated configuration, support member 114 is in contact with a central region of support member 114 so that the acoustic mesh 112 is acoustically closed near the center and acoustically open near the perimeter. The size of the open perimeter portion, dimension or area can be selected to provide comparable wind noise attenuation in comparison to an acoustic mesh without support member 114 (e.g., completely open acoustic mesh).
The corresponding acoustic shielding assembly 110 dimensions, which are determined based on graph 200, are illustrated in
It should further be understood that while a circular configuration is described in
In some instances, acoustic mesh 510 is relatively thin compared to the depth of opening 526. Thus, because external surface 520 of mesh 510 is positioned planar with external surface 506 of enclosure 508, a cavity 516 within enclosure 508 and below external surface 520 of acoustic mesh 510 can be defined by the structure of acoustic mesh 510. The relatively large surface area of external surface 520 of acoustic mesh 510 along with its thin construction and position relative to cavity 516, acoustic mesh 510 may be particularly vulnerable to deformation during drop events. Thus, to resist such deformation, a support member 522 can be abutted against an inner surface 524 of acoustic mesh 510 opposite from external surface 520. Support member 522 can be a support post that is an extension of housing 508 that extends toward, and makes contact with, acoustic mesh 510, and occludes a portion of acoustic mesh 510. Support member 522 can be positioned so that it makes contact with a central region of acoustic mesh 510 as shown. In addition to support member 522, an additional stiffener can be implemented to provide structural rigidity to acoustic mesh 510, and a grounding tab 524 can couple the acoustic mesh 510 to ground for additional support.
Computing system 602 can also be coupled to a user interface system 606, communication system 608, and a sensor system 610 for enabling housing 605 to perform one or more functions. For instance, user interface system 606 can include a driver (e.g., speaker) for outputting sound to a user, microphone for inputting sound from the environment or the user, and any other suitable input and output device. Communication system 608 can include Bluetooth components for enabling housing 605 to send and receive data/commands from host device 630. Sensor system 610 can include optical sensors, accelerometers, microphones, and any other type of sensor that can measure a parameter of an external entity and/or environment.
Housing 605 can also include a battery 612, which can be any suitable energy storage device, such as a lithium ion battery, capable of storing energy and discharging stored energy to operate housing 605. The discharged energy can be used to power the electrical components of housing 605. In some embodiments, battery 612 can also be charged to replenish its stored energy. For instance, battery 612 can be coupled to power receiving circuitry 614, which can receive current from receiving element 616. Receiving element 616 can electrically couple with a transmitting element 618 of a case 603 in embodiments where receiving element 616 and transmitting element 618 are configured as exposed electrical contacts. Case 603 can include a battery 622 that can store and discharge energy to power transmitting circuitry 620, which can in turn provide power to transmitting element 618. The provided power can transfer through an electrical connection 628 and be received by power receiving circuitry 614 for charging battery 612. While case 603 can be a device that provides power to charge battery 612 through receiving element 616, in some embodiments, case 603 can also be a device that houses wireless listening device 601 for storing and provide protection to wireless listening device 601 while it is stored in case 603.
Case 603 can also include a case computing system 619 and a case communication system 621. Case computing system 619 can be one or more processors, ASICs, FPGAs, microprocessors, and the like for operating case 603. Case computing system 619 can be coupled to power transmitting circuitry 620 for operating the charging functionalities of case 603, and case computing system 619 can also be coupled to case communication system 621 for operating the interactive functionalities of case 603 with other devices, e.g., housing 605. In some embodiments, case communication system 621 is a Bluetooth component, or any other suitable communication component, that sends and receives data with communication system 608 of housing 605, such as an antenna formed of a conductive body. That way, case 603 can be apprised of the status of wireless listening device 601 (e.g., charging status and the like). Case 603 can also include a speaker 623 coupled to case computing system 619 so that speaker 623 can emit audible noise capable of being heard by a user for notification purposes.
Host device 630, to which housing 605 is an accessory, can be a portable electronic device, such as a smart phone, tablet, or laptop computer. Host device 630 can include a host computing system 632 coupled to a host memory bank 634 containing lines of code executable by host computing system 632 for operating host device 630. Host device 630 can also include a host sensor system 636, e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, and the like, for allowing host device 630 to sense the environment, and a host user interface system 638, e.g., display, speaker, buttons, touch screen, and the like, for outputting information to and receiving input from a user. Additionally, host device 630 can also include a host communication system 640 for allowing host device 630 to send and/or receive data from the Internet or cell towers via wireless communication, e.g., wireless fidelity (WIFI), long term evolution (LTE), code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobiles (GSM), Bluetooth, and the like. In some embodiments, host communication system 640 can also communicate with communication system 608 in housing 605 via wireless communication line 642 so that host device 630 can send sound data to housing 605 to output sound, and receive data from housing 605 to receive user inputs. Communication line 642 can be any suitable wireless communication line such as Bluetooth connection. By enabling communication between host deice 630 and housing 605, wireless listening device 601 can enhance the user interface of host device 630.
While certain aspects have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that the invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting. In addition, to aid the Patent Office and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wish to note that they do not intend any of the appended claims or claim elements to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.
This application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/906,556, filed Sep. 26, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62906556 | Sep 2019 | US |