Apparatus for producing sound and vibration

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for producing sound and vibration (10) for a user to hear and feel via surface contact, which comprises a damper mass plate (15) and an inertial actuator (16) attached thereto, which inertial actuator (16) comprises a damper mass (14), which is via a primary suspension (11) supported in a springing manner on the inertial actuator (16) to be moving substantially in one linear direction, which inertial actuator comprises a power source for the damper mass (14). The device (10) comprises a secondary suspension (12) and a mechanical limiter (13) for improving the performance of the inertial actuator and/or protecting it from external disturbances.

Claims

1. A device for producing sound and vibration for a user to hear and feel via a surface contact, the device comprising: a damper mass plate and an inertial actuator attached thereto, the inertial actuator comprising a damper mass and a power source for the damper mass, the damper mass being supported via a primary suspension in a springing manner on the inertial actuator to be moving in one linear direction, wherein the device further comprises a secondary suspension and a mechanical limiter in order to improve the performance of the inertial actuator and/or protect it from external disturbances, and a mechanically dampened resonator arranged to protect the inertial actuator from hits and/or pressure load directed onto it, which mechanical dampened resonator is equipped with a divided reaction mass designed in an advantageous manner.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the secondary suspension is a non-linear, elastic spring structure, which circles the inertial actuator's outer contours at a distance and is supported on the surface of the inertial actuator's damper mass.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the mechanical limiter is placed to circle the inertial actuator externally at a distance from the inertial actuator's outer surface centrally or eccentrically.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the secondary suspension is attached to the mechanical limiter.

5. The device according to claim 2, wherein the secondary suspension is supported on outer contours of the damper mass.

6. The device according to claim 3, wherein the mechanical limiter comprises several support shafts placed on outer contours of the limiter at a distance from each other.

Description

(1) In the following, the invention is described in more detail with reference to the Figures of the appended drawing, where

(2) FIGS. 1A-1B show in a schematic manner one advantageous embodiment of a device according to the invention for producing sound and vibration,

(3) FIGS. 2A-2B show in a schematic manner a second advantageous embodiment of a device according to the invention for producing sound and vibration and

(4) FIG. 3 shows in a schematic manner a third advantageous embodiment of a device according to the invention for producing sound and vibration.

(5) In the following description and corresponding figures, the same reference markings are used to refer to corresponding parts or part assemblies, if nothing else is mentioned. Some recurring reference markings may have been left out of the figures for the sake of clarity. In this description and the claims, terms expressing direction and/or location have been used when necessary, with reference to the examples shown in the figures and/or to facilitate understanding of the figures.

(6) In the advantageous example shown in FIGS. 1A-1B the device 10 for producing sound and vibration comprises an inertial actuator 16 attached on a damper mass plate 15 i.e. stand 15, which inertial actuator creates the vibration transmitted to the plate 15 for producing sound and vibration. In order to produce sound, a frame of the inertial actuator has also been attached to the stand 15. The inertial actuator's damper mass 14 is via a primary suspension 11 supported in a springing manner to the inertial actuator's frame 16 to be moving substantially in the vertical direction.

(7) The power source of the inertial actuator's damper mass 14 is a linearly moving actuator, which can be based on an electric magnet, smart material, piezo, hydraulics, pneumatics etc. The device 10 is advantageously a device as described in Finnish patent application 20140019 for producing sound and vibration. In order to protect the inertial actuator from external disturbances, such as vibration and hits, the device 10 comprises a secondary suspension 12 and a mechanical limiter 13. The secondary suspension 12, which thus to its basic structure advantageously is a nonlinear spring structure, functions as a shock absorber and acoustic dampener by causing mechanical and acoustic losses. The mechanical limiter 13 is placed to circle the inertial actuator externally at a distance from the inertial actuator's outer surface centrally or eccentrically. The mechanical limiter 13 comprises two or more support shafts, which are placed on the outer contours at a distance from each other. The distance between two adjacent support shafts can always be the same length or different lengths. In the example shown in the figure the support shafts of the mechanical limiter 13 are placed around the periphery at 120 angular spacing. The outer contours of the mechanical limiter 13 in the direction can be a circle, an ellipsis, a polygon or another desired shape. The mechanical limiter 13 also comprises in the figure a horizontal support surface, on the bottom surface in the figure of which has been attached a secondary suspension 12, which is in the outer contour direction substantially continuous and is supported on the upper surface of the damper mass 14 in the figure. The secondary suspension 12 is an elastic damping part, which circles the outer contour and is supported on the surface of the damper mass 14 substantially over the entire periphery of the damper mass 14. Advantageously, the secondary suspension 12 is a rotationally symmetrical damping material with a thickness, which can comprise one or more damping material layers/sectors. The secondary suspension 12 can for example be a porous, foam-like or felt-like texture. The secondary suspension 12 advantageously dampens in a nonlinear, progressive manner, whereby it prevents sudden changes and achieves a to its form soft damping, and it also aids in controlling resonance frequencies, preventing e.g. resonance frequency spikes, and damping them. The secondary suspension 12 can be formed from one or several material layers, which are the same or different materials. The material of the secondary suspension 12 is advantageously felt, foam polymer, batt material. It can also be a cable damper or a hydraulic or pneumatic damper.

(8) The advantageous example of a device according to the invention for producing sound and vibration shown in FIGS. 2A-2B to its basic structure corresponds to the example shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, further comprising a protective hood formed from a mechanically dampened resonator 17, for example to protect the device from hits and/or excessive loads directed toward it in the movement direction of the damper mass, from above in the figure. The mechanical dampened resonator 17 can also be equipped with a reaction mass 18, which is for example made of steel or another solid material, for intensifying the protection. The mechanical dampened resonator 17 is advantageously manufactured from a non-uniform structure, for example a perforated plate, stiff wire or a frame structure, which is for example made of a metallic material.

(9) The advantageous example of a device according to the invention for producing sound and vibration shown in FIG. 3 to its basic structure corresponds to the example shown in FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2B, comprising an additional suspension 20 creating a springing support arranged between the damper mass 14 and the mechanical limiter 13. Additionally in this example, damping material 19 has additionally been placed between the mechanically dampened resonator 17 and damper mass 14, which damping material can comprise one or more damping material layers/sectors and can be for example a porous, foam-like or felt-like texture. The damping material 19 can be placed apart from the damper mass 14 or attached to it, and can function also as a mechanical limiter in addition to the limiter 13.

(10) In accordance with the advantageous characteristics according to the advantageous examples shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B and 3, the device's 10 inertial actuator equipped with a damper mass 14 moving substantially in the vertical direction and forming a sound and vibration source is protected from external vibrations, hits etc. with a secondary suspension 12 and a mechanical limiter 13. The protective structure formed from the secondary suspension 12 and mechanical limiter 13 thus prevents malfunction caused by external impacts or its own resonances in the inertial actuator's movement and the vibration it creates. The mechanical limiter 13 is fitted to extend from the support shafts located on the periphery of the part providing the inertial force i.e. of the inertial actuator or as a part formed by the support shaft and it prevents an excessively large deviation of the damper mass and thus detachment of the damper mass from the structure. Advantageously the part of the device which forms the sound and vibration source is formed with a moving magnet principle to create an inertial force. The device's 10 inertial force can also be created in another manner known as such, for example using a mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic actuator. Via the mechanical limiter 13 and the secondary suspension 12, a controlled elastic, progressive springing can be achieved for the movement of the damper mass 14. Advantageously the device 10 also comprises a protective structure formed from a mechanically dampened resonator 17, for example for protecting the device from hits and/or excessive loads directed toward it in the movement direction of the damper mass, from above in the figures. The mechanical dampened resonator 17 can also be equipped with a divided reaction mass 18 designed in an advantageous manner for improving vibration characteristics. The mechanical dampened resonator 17 is advantageously manufactured from a non-uniform structure, for example a perforated plate or a frame structure. Damping material can also be added to the mechanical dampened resonator 17, such as for example felt, foam-like polymer. The mechanical dampened resonator 17 can also be arranged to be operationally combined with the device's 10 external wrapper, such as the perception pillow material. The protective structures 12, 13, 17, 18 of the device 10 are advantageously manufactured from a material with a low specific gravity, so that the device 10 is altogether light and so that the weight of the protective structures does not disturb the operation of the damper mass plate 15.

(11) The device 10 according to the invention is meant to function as a vibration source over a wide frequency band of 0-10 kHz. Thus, the device's 10 damper mass 14 is arranged to be supported on an especially elastic mechanical primary suspension 11, so that particularly low frequencies are attainable. Thus, the springing of the primary suspension 11 limits the movement of the damper mass 14 in a desired manner while the movement of the damper mass 14 creates vibration of the damper mass plate 15 in a desired frequency range. The primary suspension 11 can also be formed from several separate suspensions arranged side-by-side and/or in layers.

(12) The invention has been described above only with reference to one advantageous example of it, to the details of which it is however not meant to narrowly limit the invention, but many other modifications and variations are possible within the inventive idea defined by the following claims.