MOBILE DEVICE AND SYSTEM COMPRISING A LOUDSPEAKER AND AN AMPLIFIER

Abstract

The invention relates to a system which comprises a loudspeaker, an amplifier, a position measuring device, a receiving device, and a sending device. The loudspeaker comprises a magnet system, a membrane movably mounted with respect to the magnet system, and a voice coil attached to the membrane. The position measuring device is configured to generate a position signal indicative of the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet during operation of the loudspeaker. The sending device is configured to generate and to send a signal via the electric leads to the receiving device in response to the position signal. The signal comprises an information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet, the receiving device is configured to extract the information from the signal, and the amplifier is configured to generate the electric signal in response to the extracted information.

Claims

1. A system, comprising: a loudspeaker, which comprises a magnet system, a membrane movably mounted with respect to the magnet system, and a voice coil attached to the membrane, the magnet system comprising a magnet and the voice coil being operatively coupled with the magnet, an amplifier connected to the voice coil by means of electrical leads and configured to drive the loudspeaker by applying an electric signal to the voice coil, a position measuring device configured to generate a position signal indicative of the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet during operation of the loudspeaker, or configured to have a varying electric property indicative of the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet during operation of the loudspeaker, a receiving device, and a sending device coupled to the position measuring device, coupled to the electric leads and configured to generate and to send a signal via the electric leads to the receiving device in response to the position signal or the electric property, the signal comprising an information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet, the receiving device being configured to extract the information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet from the signal, and the amplifier being configured to generate the electric signal in response to the extracted information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the amplifier comprises the receiving device, and/or wherein the loudspeaker or the magnet system comprises the sending device, and/or wherein the sending device comprises an integrated circuit.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the sending device comprises at least one discrete electronic component connected to the integrated circuit.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sending device is configured to generate a modulated carrier signal as the signal, the modulated carrier signal comprising an information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet, and the receiving device is configured to demodulate the modulated carrier signal in order to extract the information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet from the modulated carrier signal.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the amplifier is configured to generate and to deliver to the electric leads an electric power signal having a frequency greater than 20 kHz.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the loudspeaker comprises the position measuring device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the position measuring device comprises a capacitive device whose electric capacity as the electric property is indicative of the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the capacitive device comprises a first plate electrode fixed to the magnet system or to the magnet, and a second plate electrode fixed to the membrane and operatively coupled with the first plate electrode, the first and second plate electrodes forming a plate capacitor whose electric capacitance is indicative of the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the magnet has a bottom side and a top side, the magnet system comprising a pot made from metal and a top plate made from metal, the pot comprising side wall sections and a bottom wall section attached to the bottom side of the magnet, the top plate being attached to and covering the top side of the magnet, and the magnet and the side wall sections forming an air gap operatively coupled with the voice coil.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the top plate comprising an aperture, and the first plate electrode being attached to the top side of the magnet and being surrounded by the aperture of the top plate.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the top plate comprises a slit shaped aperture joining the aperture surrounding the first plate electrode, running to a side area of the top plate and surrounding at least one of further electric leads connecting the first plate electrode to the sending device or at least a part of the sending device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the sending device comprises an integrated circuit and the slit shaped aperture surrounds the integrated circuit.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the top plate, the top side and the bottom side of the magnet each have a rectangular or quadratic shape and each have corner regions, and the aperture of the top plate being located centrally with respect to the top plate and/or the slit shaped aperture extending to one of the corners of the top plate.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein at least the corner of the magnet associated with the slit shaped aperture is chamfered, and/or at least a part of the sending device being attached to the magnet in the area of its chamfered corner.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the corner of the magnet associated with the slit shaped aperture is chamfered, the at least one discrete electronic component being attached to the magnet in the area of its chamfered corner.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a voltage-current sense device configured to sense the voltage and current of the electric leads, the amplifier being configured to generate the electric signal in response to the sensed voltage and current.

17. A mobile device, comprising the system of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] FIG. 1 is a top view of a mobile phone;

[0044] FIG. 2 is schematic diagram of a system comprising an amplifier and a loudspeaker;

[0045] FIG. 3 is an amplitude diagram and a schematic diagram of the loudspeaker;

[0046] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a magnet system of the loudspeaker;

[0047] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pot and a magnet of the magnet system;

[0048] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pot, the magnet and a top plate of the magnet system; and

[0049] FIG. 7 is a top view of the magnet system and a voice coil of the loudspeaker.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a mobile phone 1 as an example of a mobile device. The mobile phone 1 comprises a microphone, a wireless sender-receiver unit and a loudspeaker-amplifier system 21 shown in FIG. 2. When, for instance, a person talks with another person utilizing the mobile phone 1, speech signals are received by the sender-receive unit, processed by a central processing unit of the mobile phone 1 and inputted as input signals 22 into the system 21.

[0051] The system 21 comprises an amplifier 23 and a loudspeaker 31.

[0052] The amplifier 23 may be of any suitable design. Preferably, the amplifier is a class D amplifier.

[0053] The amplifier 23 may comprise an input 24 for receiving the input signals, an amplification stage 25 a control unit 26 and an output 27.

[0054] The amplifier 23 and the loudspeaker 31 are connected via electric leads 28. The electric leads 28 may be connected with one of its ends to the output 27 of the amplifier 23.

[0055] FIG. 3 shows a frequency diagram 30 to be described below and a more detailed schematic diagram of the loudspeaker 31 of the present preferred embodiment.

[0056] The loudspeaker 31 may comprise a magnet system 41 shown in FIG. 4, and a membrane 32 movably mounted with respect to the magnet system 41.

[0057] For the present embodiment, the magnet system 41 comprises a pot 42 made from metal and a magnet 43 attached to the pot 42. A perspective view of the pot 42 and the magnet 43 is shown in FIG. 5.

[0058] The magnet 43 may have a rectangular or quadratic shape and may have corner regions 43a. At least one of the corner regions 43a may be chamfered as shown in FIG. 5. In the present embodiment, all four corner regions 43a are chamfered.

[0059] The magnet 43 comprises a top side 44 and a bottom side.

[0060] The pot 42 may comprise a bottom wall section 42a and side wall sections 42b. the magnet 43 is attached with its bottom side to the bottom wall section 42a of the pot 42. Then, the magnet 43 and the side wall sections 42b form an air gap 45. The side wall sections 42b may be combined into a single side wall section.

[0061] The magnet system 41 comprises a top plate 46 which is attached to the top side 44 of the magnet 43. The top plate 46 is made from metal and covers the magnet 43. A perceptive view of the pot 42, the magnet 43 and the top plate 46 is shown in FIG. 6.

[0062] The top plate 46 may have a rectangular or quadratic shape. For the present embodiment, the top plate 46 comprises an aperture 47 which may be of a circular shape and may be placed centrally. The top plate 46 may also comprise a slit-shaped aperture 48 joining the aperture 47 and running up to a side area of the top plate 46. For the present embodiment, the slit-shaped aperture 48 runs up to one of the corners of the top plate 46.

[0063] The loudspeaker 31 comprises the membrane 32 and a voice coil 33 attached to the membrane 32. The voice coil 33 is shown in FIG. 7. The membrane 32 is movably mounted with respect to the magnet system 41, particularly with respect to the magnet 43. The voice coil 33 is operatively coupled with the magnet 43. The voice coil 33 is at least partly be located within the air gap 45 in order to be operatively coupled with the magnet 43.

[0064] FIG. 7 also shows an electric connection 38 connecting the voice coil 33 to the electric leads 28. In order to see the voice coil 33 better, two of the side wall sections 42b are omitted in FIG. 7.

[0065] The system 21 comprises a position measuring device 50 configured to generate a position signal indicative of the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 during operation of the loudspeaker 31, or configured to have a varying electric property indicative of the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 during operation of the loudspeaker 31.

[0066] For the example embodiment shown in the figures, loudspeaker 31 comprises the position measuring device 50, i.e. the position measuring device 50 is integrated into the loudspeaker 31.

[0067] For the present embodiment, the position measuring device 50 comprises a first plate electrode 51 fixed to the magnet system 41, in particular to the magnet 43, and a second plate electrode 52 fixed to the membrane 32. The two plate electrodes 51, 52 are operatively coupled with each other. Preferably, the first plate electrode 52 is attached to the top side 44 of the magnet 43 and the aperture 47 of the top plate 46 surrounds the first plate electrode 51.

[0068] The first plate electrode 51 and the second plate electrode 52 form a plate capacitor. Since the second plate electrode 52 is fixed to the membrane 32 and, thus, moves with the membrane 32 during operation of the loudspeaker 31, the electric capacitance of the plate capacitor is indicative of the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43.

[0069] The system 21 comprises a receiving device 29. The receiving device 29 may, as it is shown in FIG. 2, be integrated into the amplifier 23.

[0070] The system 21 comprises a sending device 34 coupled to the position measuring device 50, coupled to the electric leads 28 and configured to generate and to send a signal via the electric leads 28 to the receiving device 29 in response to the position signal or the electric property. The signal comprises an information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43.

[0071] In the present example embodiment, the sending device 34 is connected to the two plate electrodes 51, 52 in order to obtain the information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43.

[0072] The receiving device 29 is configured to extract the information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 from the signal.

[0073] The amplifier 23 is connected to the voice coil 33 by means of the electrical leads 28 and is configured to drive the loudspeaker 31 by applying an electric signal 30a to the voice coil 33. The electric signal may have a frequency range up to 20 kHz but may also be extended to ultrasonic regions, if required.

[0074] The electric signal 30a is, for instance, an electric voltage.

[0075] The amplifier 23 is configured to generate the electric signal 30a in response to the extracted information about the current position of the membrane with respect to the magnet 43. The receiving device 29 is configured to extract the information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 from the signal, and the amplifier 23 is configured to generate the electric signal 30a in response to the extracted information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43. Particularly, the receiving device 29 feeds the extracted information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 to the control unit 26 which controls the amplification stage 25.

[0076] The sending device 34 preferably comprises an integrated circuit 35, for instance, an ASIC.

[0077] The sending device 34 is preferably integrated into the loudspeaker 31, preferably into its magnet system 41. In the present embodiment, the integrated circuit 35 of the sending device 34 is attached to the top side 44 of the magnet 43 and within the slit-shaped aperture 48.

[0078] The sending device 34 or the integrated circuit 35, respectively, may be located at the chamfered corner 43a associated with the slit-shaped aperture 48.

[0079] FIGS. 4 and 7 show further electric leads 53 which may be attached to the top side 44 of the magnet 43 and being placed within the slit-shaped aperture 48. The further electric leads 53 connect, for instance, the first plate electrode 51 with the sending device 34, in particular to the integrated circuit 35.

[0080] The sending device 34 and the receiving device 29 may be of any suitable engineering design.

[0081] In particular, the sending device 34 may be configured to generate a modulated carrier signal 30b as the signal. The modulated carrier signal 30b comprises the information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43. The receiving device 29 is configured to demodulate the modulated carrier signal 30b in order to extract the information about the current position of the membrane 32 with respect to the magnet 43 from the modulated carrier signal 30b. Generally, any suitable signal modulation techniques can be utilized, such as digital modulation. The carrier signal 30b can also be modulated using an analog or a hybrid modulation technique.

[0082] In particular, the carrier signal 30b has a frequency well above audible frequencies. The carrier signal 30b may have a frequency above 20 kHz, for instance in the ultrasonic range.

[0083] In the present embodiment, the amplifier 23 is configured to generate and to deliver to the electric leads 28 an electric power signal 30c having a frequency greater than 20 kHz.

[0084] The system 21 may comprise an electronic device, for instance an electronic circuitry connected to the electric leads 28 and configured to generate a d.c. voltage from the electric power signal for supplying the sending device 34 with electric energy. The electronic device may comprise at least one discrete electronic component, such as a capacitor which may be integrated into the loudspeaker 31 or into the magnet system 41, i.e. the loudspeaker 31, in particular the magnet system 41 may comprise the electronic device.

[0085] The sending device 34 may comprise at least one discrete electronic component, in particular at least one passive component connected to the integrated circuit 35. The passive component may, for instance, be a capacitor 36. Preferably, the capacitor 36 is integrated into the loudspeaker 31 or into its magnet system 41. The frequency of the power signal 30c differs from the frequency of the modulated carrier signal 30b. Preferably, the frequency of the power signal 30c is greater than the frequency of the modulated carrier signal 30b.

[0086] In the present embodiment, the capacitor 36 is located at the chamfered corner 43a associated with the slit-shaped aperture 48.

[0087] The system 21, in particular the loudspeaker 31 may comprise an inductor 37 connected between the sending device 34 and the voice coil 33. The additional inductor 37 suppresses at least partly a frequency spectrum which cannot be sensed by humans, potentially reducing the risk to over heat the loudspeaker 31 due to that frequency spectrum, and, thus, potentially increasing reliability of the entire system 21.

[0088] For an improved operation of the system 21, the system 21 may comprise a voltage current sense device configured to sense the voltage and current of the electric leads 28, in particular at an output 27 of the amplifier 23. Then, the amplifier 23 may be configured to generate the electric signal 30a in response to the sensed voltage and current. Preferably, the amplifier 23 comprises the voltage current sense device, i.e. the voltage current sense device is integrated into the amplifier 23. The voltage current sensing device and the receiving device 29 may be a single component.

[0089] Although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the invention to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of his contribution to the art.