COMPACT ELECTROACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER AND LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF

Abstract

An improved loudspeaker that has a plurality of electrostatic transducers forming a card stack that is housed in a stack holder. The stack holder can support the loudspeaker perforated grill (or mesh), can secure the card stack to the speaker case, and can provide a watertight electrical connection to the sealed chamber of the loudspeaker (that contains the main circuit board for controlling the loudspeaker).

Claims

1. A loudspeaker system that comprises: (a) a card stack that comprises a plurality of electroacoustic transducers, wherein the electroacoustic transducers in the plurality of electroacoustic transducers comprise a conductive membrane; (b) a card stack holder that houses the card stack; (c) a sealed chamber comprising a circuit board operable for controlling the speaker; and (d) a speaker case having a perforated grill, wherein (i) the card stack holder supports the perforated grill, (ii) the card stack holder secures the card stack to the speaker case; and (iii) the card stack holder provides a watertight electrical connection to the sealed chamber.

2. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the card stack comprises a top cap printed circuit board operable for routing connections of the card stack to a connector.

3. The loudspeaker system of claim 1 further comprising a conductive material that makes the electrical connection to the conductive membranes of the plurality of electroacoustic transducers in the card stack.

4. The loudspeaker system of claim 3, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material.

5. The loudspeaker system of claim 3, wherein the conductive material is a rod that makes electrical connections to the conductive membranes.

6. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker system comprises a plurality of card stack holders.

7. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the card stack holder housing the card stack is a watertight driver assembly.

8. The loudspeaker system of claim 7, wherein the watertight driver assembly is a watertight electrostatic driver assembly.

9. The loudspeaker system of claim 7, wherein the watertight driver assembly is sealed with a UV cure epoxy or hot-melt glue.

10. The loudspeaker of claim 1, wherein the card stack holder is an injection molded plastic part.

11. A method comprising: (a) forming a card stack holder; (b) mounting a card stack that comprises a plurality of electroacoustic transducers within the card stack holder, wherein the electroacoustic transducers in the plurality of electroacoustic transducers comprise a conductive membrane; (c) connecting stator tabs and conductive membrane connections of the card stack, wherein the conductive membrane connections comprise a conductive material; and (d) sealing the card stack holder with a sealant material to seal the connected stator tabs and the conductive membrane connections.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising incorporating the watertight driver assembly in a loudspeaker system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the watertight driver assembly is a watertight electrostatic driver assembly.

14. The loudspeaker system of claim 12, wherein the card stack comprises a top cap printed circuit board operable for routing connections of the card stack to a connector.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein (a) the loudspeaker system has a sealed chamber comprising a circuit board operable for controlling the speaker, and (b) the method further comprises electrically connecting the watertight driver assembly to the circuit board.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein (a) the loudspeaker system further comprises a speaker case having a perforated grill; (b) the card stack holder supports the perforated grill; (c) the card stack holder secures the card stack to the speaker case; and (d) the card stack holder provides a watertight electrical connection to the sealed chamber.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the conductive material is a rod that makes electrical connections to the conductive membranes.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the sealant material is a UV cure epoxy or hot-melt glue.

20. The method of claim 12 further comprising incorporating a plurality of watertight driver assemblies in the loud speaker system.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein (a) the loudspeaker system further comprises a speaker case having a perforated grill; (b) the card stack holders in the plurality of watertight driver assemblies support the perforated grill; (c) the card stack holder secure each of the card stacks to the speaker case; and (id) the card stack holders provide a watertight electrical connection to the sealed chamber.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the card stack holder is formed by an injection mold process.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0086] FIGS. 1A-1E (which are reproduced from the Pinkerton '353 patent) depict an electrically conductive membrane pump/transducer that utilizes an array of electrically conductive membrane pumps that cause a membrane to move in phase. FIGS. 1A-1B depict cross-section views of the pump/transducer. FIGS. 1C-1E depict overhead views of the pump/transducer.

[0087] FIG. 2 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '353 patent) depicts an electrically conductive membrane pump/transducer that has a stacked array of electrically conductive membrane pumps.

[0088] FIG. 3 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '353 patent) depicts an electrically conductive membrane pump/transducer that utilizes an array of electrically conductive membrane pumps that operates without a membrane or piston.

[0089] FIG. 4 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '353 patent) depicts an electrically conductive membrane pump/transducer 3100 that utilizes an array of electrically conductive membrane pumps and that also includes an electrostatic speaker.

[0090] FIG. 5 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '353 patent) depicts an electrically conductive membrane pump/transducer 3200 that utilizes an array of electrically conductive membrane pumps that cause a membrane to move in phase and that also includes an electrostatic speaker.

[0091] FIG. 6A (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '313 patent) illustrates an electroacoustic transducer (ET, which is also referred to as a pump card) and its solid stator.

[0092] FIG. 6B (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '313 patent) is a magnified view of the electroacoustic transducer of FIG. 6A.

[0093] FIG. 6C (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '313 patent) illustrates the electroacoustic transducer of FIG. 6A having a single stator card before trimming off the vent fingers.

[0094] FIG. 7 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '313 patent) is exploded view of the electroacoustic transducer of FIG. 6A.

[0095] FIG. 8A (which is reproduced from the Badger '088 PCT Application) illustrates an exploded view of an electroacoustic transducer.

[0096] FIG. 8B (which is reproduced from the Badger '088 PCT Application) illustrates the electroacoustic transducer shown in FIG. 8A in fabricated form.

[0097] FIGS. 9A-9B (which are reproduced from the Pinkerton '073 application) illustrate a loudspeaker with stacked arrays of electrostatic venturi membrane-based pump/transducer (EVMP) cards.

[0098] FIG. 10 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '438 PCT Application) illustrates a dipole loudspeaker having electrostatic transducers.

[0099] FIGS. 11A-11B (which are reproduced from the Pinkerton '438 PCT Application) illustrate the null sound plane (NSP) of the speaker of FIG. 10.

[0100] FIG. 12 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '669 application) is a photograph of two different sized cards used in card stacks of the present invention.

[0101] FIG. 13 (which is reproduced from the Pinkerton '669 application) is a photograph of a speaker with a narrow card stack and wider card stack (with the face plate of the speaker removed so that the card stacks can be viewed).

[0102] FIG. 14 is a photograph of an improved card stack having a stack holder.

[0103] FIGS. 15A-15B are illustrations (at different perspectives) of an improved card stack assembly that includes an improved card stack and card stack holder.

[0104] FIGS. 16-17 are photographs of a plurality of improved card stacks prior to being installed in stack holders.

[0105] FIG. 18 is an illustration of a speaker having a plurality of improved card stacks that are secured to the speaker with stack holders.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0106] The present invention relates to a loudspeaker having improved pump cards in the loudspeakers disclosed and taught in the Pinkerton Patents and Applications, such as the cards disclosed and taught in the Pinkerton '669 application (such as the cards with a 12 mm membrane span). The improved card stack assembly utilizes a card stack holder (which can be an injection molded plastic part) that houses the card stack. The card stack holder can support the loudspeaker perforated grill (or mesh), can secure the card stack to the speaker case, and can provide a watertight electrical connection to the sealed chamber (that contains the main circuit board for controlling the loudspeaker).

[0107] FIG. 14 is a photograph of an improved card stack assembly 1403 of the present invention, which has the pump cards 1404 that are arranged in the stack holder 1405 (which can be made by an injection mold process). The card stack 1404 can further include a top cap printed circuit board that can route all the stack connections to a commercially available connector 1406. FIGS. 15A-15B are illustrations of card stack assembly 1403. FIGS. 16-17 are photographs of a plurality of improved card stacks (prior to being installed in stack holders).

[0108] A conductive material, such as a metal material, can be used to make the electrical connection to the conductive membranes in the card stack 1404. For instance, as shown in FIG. 16, a gold-plated rod 1601 can be used to quickly and inexpensively make an electrical connection to all of the conductive membranes in each of the card stacks.

[0109] Once the stack of pump cards 1404 are is mounted in the stack holder 1405, the soldered stator tabs and membrane connections can be sealed with UV cure epoxy or hot-melt glue. This will help to make the card stack assembly 1403 watertight.

[0110] The end result of mounting the pump cards in a stack holder and then sealing the unit is a very compact, robust, low cost and watertight electrostatic driver assembly. One or more of these card stack assemblies can be incorporated into a speaker, such as shown in FIG. 18.

[0111] While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the invention. The embodiments described and the examples provided herein are exemplary only, and are not intended to be limiting. Many variations and modifications of the invention disclosed herein are possible and are within the scope of the invention. The scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above, but is only limited by the claims which follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.

[0112] The disclosures of all patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, to the extent that they provide exemplary, procedural, or other details supplementary to those set forth herein.

[0113] Amounts and other numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a numerical range of approximately 1 to approximately 4.5 should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1 to approximately 4.5, but also to include individual numerals such as 2, 3, 4, and sub-ranges such as 1 to 3, 2 to 4, etc. The same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value, such as less than approximately 4.5, which should be interpreted to include all of the above-recited values and ranges. Further, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristic being described.

[0114] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the presently disclosed subject matter belongs. Although any methods, devices, and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the presently disclosed subject matter, representative methods, devices, and materials are now described.

[0115] Following long-standing patent law convention, the terms a and an mean one or more when used in this application, including the claims.

[0116] Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in this specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the presently disclosed subject matter.

[0117] As used herein, the term about and substantially when referring to a value or to an amount of mass, weight, time, volume, concentration or percentage is meant to encompass variations of in some embodiments 20%, in some embodiments 10%, in some embodiments 5%, in some embodiments 1%, in some embodiments 0.5%, and in some embodiments 0.1% from the specified amount, as such variations are appropriate to perform the disclosed method.

[0118] As used herein, the term substantially perpendicular and substantially parallel is meant to encompass variations of in some embodiments within 10 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, in some embodiments within 5 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, in some embodiments within 1 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, and in some embodiments within 0.5 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively.

[0119] As used herein, the term and/or when used in the context of a listing of entities, refers to the entities being present singly or in combination. Thus, for example, the phrase A, B, C, and/or D includes A, B, C, and D individually, but also includes any and all combinations and subcombinations of A, B, C, and D.