SPEAKER DIAPHRAGM

Abstract

The present invention is configured such that, a ring member is bonded to a cone section formed on the outer circumference of a vibration plate body, and the inner circumferential section of an edge is bonded to the outer circumference section of the ring member or the cone section. Thus, the stiffness is increased without requiring a change in the shape of the vibration plate body, that is, the stiffness is improved without causing an increase in the weight of the vibration plate body, and a degradation in acoustic pressure at high frequencies is prevented.

Claims

1. A speaker diaphragm comprising: a body member including a center cap part and a cone part on an outer periphery of the center cap part; a ring member joined to the cone part of the body member; and an edge having an inner periphery joined to an outer periphery of the ring member or an outer periphery of the cone part.

2. The speaker diaphragm of claim 1, wherein the center cap part has a dome shape, and the ring member having the same shape as the cone part is joined to a front surface or a back surface of the cone part.

3. The speaker diaphragm of claim 1, further comprising: a diaphragm fixing ring joined to an outer periphery of the edge.

4. The speaker diaphragm of claim 1, wherein the body member and the ring member are made from a material obtained through addition of biocellulose and carbon fiber to pulp.

5. The speaker diaphragm of claim 1, wherein the cone part having the ring member joined thereto has a rising shape that rises frontward.

6. A headphone comprising the speaker diaphragm of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an example of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the example in an assembled state.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the example.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a half cross-sectional view of the example.

[0035] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing frequency characteristics of an example of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of frequency characteristics of a conventional example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037] The following describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

[0038] A speaker diaphragm according to an embodiment of the present invention is mainly applied to headphones. The speaker diaphragm is preferably made from a paper material and is of free-edge type.

[0039] In FIG. 1, reference character 1 denotes a body member of a diaphragm. The body member 1 includes a dome-shaped center cap part 1a and a flange-shaped cone part 1b bulging radially outward from the outer peripheral edge of the center cap part. Reference character 2 denotes a ring member having substantially the same shape as the cone part 1b. The ring member 2 and the cone part 1b are stacked on one another and integrated by being bonded together with a urethane or rubber-based adhesive through heat-pressing. The ring member 2 is paper that is formed separately from the body member 1 into a simple flat plate shape that allows for easy production. By forming the ring member 2 and the cone part 1b into substantially the same shape, the present invention makes it possible to increase the rigidity of the cone part 1b without changing the shape of the cone part. By forming the ring member 2 into a ring shape, the present invention also makes it possible to precisely bond the ring member 2 to the ring-shaped cone part 1b of the body member 1, and thus to give the diaphragm a configuration that is uniform in the circumferential direction. This allows the ring member 2 to be bonded to the entire periphery of the cone part 1b of the body member 1. Thus, the entirety of the body member 1 can move in phase. Note that the ring member 2 is bonded to a front surface of the cone part 1b in FIG. 1. However, the ring member 2 may be bonded to either the front surface or a back surface of the cone part 1b.

[0040] The ring member 2 and the body member 1 including the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b are preferably made from the same material, which for example is a material improved in rigidity through addition of biocellulose and a carbon fiber reinforcing material in predetermined amounts to pulp (cellulose) such as wood pulp or non-wood pulp. The reinforcing material is not limited to being microfiber or carbon fiber, and other reinforcing materials may be used.

[0041] The amounts of the biocellulose and the reinforcing material such as carbon fiber to be added to the pulp are selected as appropriate to give an optimum blending ratio according to the use of the speaker diaphragm.

[0042] Furthermore, in FIG. 1, the reference character 3 denotes a ring-shaped edge having a dome cross section, and the reference character 4 denotes a metal diaphragm fixing ring.

[0043] The inner periphery of the edge 3 is joined to the outer periphery of the ring member 2 or the outer periphery of the cone part 1b with an adhesive. The diaphragm fixing ring 4 in a state illustrated in FIG. 1 is located on the back side of the edge 3 and joined to the outer periphery thereof. However, the diaphragm fixing ring 4 may be located on the front surface of the edge 3 under certain circumstances.

[0044] FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively a perspective view and a plan view of the speaker diaphragm in an assembled state.

[0045] FIG. 4 is a half cross-sectional view of the speaker diaphragm 10 in a state in which the diaphragm fixing ring 4 bonded thereto is disposed on a speaker frame 5, and a voice coil bobbin 6 is joined to the back surface of the boundary between the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b of the body member 1.

[0046] The cone part 1b having the ring member 2 joined thereto has a rising shape that rises toward the front of the speaker. This configuration facilitates positioning (centering). This configuration therefore facilitates production. The rising shape of the cone part 1b also rises from the inner periphery toward the outer periphery. The rigidity resulting from the shape of the cone part increases with an increase in the angle of the rising shape.

[0047] The vertex of the center cap part 1a is at a position higher than the outer periphery of the cone part 1b having the rising shape. However, in the case of a model that is not subject to height constraint, the outer periphery of the cone part 1b may be at a position higher than the vertex of the center cap part 1a.

[0048] Note that, as is well known, a voice coil is wound around the outer periphery of the voice coil bobbin 6, and the voice coil is disposed in a magnetic gap of a magnetic circuit (both not shown) to form a headphone speaker. Upon input of a sound signal to the voice coil, the speaker diaphragm 10 having the above-described configuration and coupled to the voice coil bobbin oscillates and emits sound.

[0049] Note that the term “headphones” refers to speakers that are worn on or around a head, and is not limited to those that cover ears, such as overhead headphones. Headphones include so-called earphones, such as canal headphones, in-ear headphones, and behind-the-ear headphones. The voice coil may be joined to the speaker diaphragm 10 with the interposition of the voice coil bobbin 6 or may be directly joined to the speaker diaphragm 10 without the interposition of the voice coil bobbin 6. Directly joining the voice coil to the speaker diaphragm 10 allows for a weight reduction.

[0050] FIG. 5 shows a comparison between the frequency characteristics of the speaker diaphragm according to the present invention and the frequency characteristics of a conventional speaker diaphragm composed of a single component formed from a paper material. A solid line A represents Invention Example, and a broken line B represents Conventional Example. Note that the frequency characteristics shown in FIG. 5 were measured in an anechoic chamber. Invention Example A and Conventional Example B were produced using paper materials each having a different basis weight and containing pulp, carbon fiber, and biocellulose at the same blending ratio.

[0051] With respect to each of the speaker diaphragms of Invention Example A and Conventional Example B, the state of oscillation at 10 kHz and 12 kHz was observed. Both of the diaphragms of Invention Example A and Conventional Example B exhibited excellent sound pressure characteristics at 10 kHz as shown in FIG. 5, with the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b in each of A and B oscillating in phase. At 12 kHz, the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b in the diaphragm of Invention Example A oscillated in phase, whereas the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b in the diaphragm of Conventional Example B oscillated in anti-phase. As described above, the center cap part 1a and the cone part 1b in the speaker diaphragm of Invention Example A oscillate in phase even at 12 kHz, successfully reducing breakup mode. This enables Invention Example A to have better sound pressure characteristics than Conventional Example B even at 12 kHz in a high frequency range over 10 kHz as shown in FIG. 5.

[0052] Various experiments were performed on the paper material of Conventional Example B to find that blending specifics giving a basis weight of 50 g/m.sup.2 through addition of carbon fiber and biocellulose to pulp were the best for a speaker having an aperture diameter (outer diameter of the diaphragm fixing ring) φ of 14 mm. However, even such specifics resulted in a decrease in the sound pressure in the high frequency range over 10 kHz in the frequency characteristics. Another speaker diaphragm, not shown, was composed of a single component formed from a paper material having the same material blending ratio as in Conventional Example B and having a basis weight of 75 g/m.sup.2. This speaker diaphragm resulted in a mass increase and a decrease in the sound pressure in all frequency ranges.

[0053] By contrast, the specifics of Invention Example A having the same aperture diameter, in which the ring member 2 having a basis weight of 40 g/m.sup.2 was joined to the cone part 1b of the body member 1 having a basis weight of 40 g/m.sup.2, successfully reduced the rate of mass increase and brought about favorable frequency characteristics by ensuring sufficient sound pressure at frequencies up to approximately 20 kHz.

[0054] Note that, as described above, the frequency characteristics of this example are finely adjustable by varying the blending ratio of carbon fiber and biocellulose relative to pulp.

[0055] The rigidity of the illustrated example, in which one ring member 2 is bonded to the cone part 1b, is also adjustable by adopting a structure including a plurality of ring members bonded to the cone part 1b.

[0056] Furthermore, the combination of the body member 1 and the ring member 2 is not limited to those made from the same material, and may be those made from different materials, such as a resin and a metal.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0057] 10 Speaker Diaphragm [0058] 1 Body Member [0059] 1a Center Cap Part [0060] 1b Cone Part [0061] 2 Ring Member [0062] 3 Edge [0063] 4 Diaphragm Fixing Ring [0064] 5 Frame [0065] 6 Voice Coil Bobbin (Voice Coil) [0066] A Invention Example [0067] B Conventional Example