Transducer surround with air pressure vent

Abstract

The invention relates to a transducer surround with a barometric vent. A transducer assembly includes a frame positioned within an interior chamber defined by a housing, the housing including a port to an ambient environment; an enclosure including a fixed portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion dividing the interior chamber into a front volumetric chamber coupling a first side of the enclosure to the port and a rear volumetric chamber coupled to a second side of the enclosure, the enclosure including a fixed portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion dividing the interior chamber into a front volumetric chamber coupling a first side of the enclosure to the port and a rear volumetric chamber coupling to a second side of the enclosure; and a pneumatic vent coupled to the fixed portion to expel pressure between the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a transducer surround having a pneumatic vent.Other aspects are described and claimed. Background Art

[0002] A portable communication or listening device (e.g., a smart phone, a headset, etc.) has one or more transducers located therein that convert an input electrical audio signal into a sound pressure wave output that can be heard by a user or convert a sound pressure wave input into an electrical audio signal. The transducer (e.g., a speaker) can be used, for example, to output a sound pressure wave corresponding to a far-end user's voice (such as during a phone call), or to output a sound pressure wave corresponding to sounds associated with a game the user wants to play or music the user wants to play. Due to the relatively thin profile of the portable device, the profile of the transducer is also relatively thin, which in turn can make it difficult to maintain optimal sound quality. Summary of the invention

[0003] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a device and / or transducer assembly having an air pressure vent formed through a surround to reduce the equipment footprint required for the air pressure vent and increase the internal volume to improve acoustic performance. Representatively, in some aspects, the air pressure vent is used to balance the pressure between the chambers (e.g., the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber) in the transducer. In order to accommodate the air pressure vent, the transducer housing or frame footprint is usually increased to include an additional area or structure forming an opening between the chambers and a membrane sealed on the opening to form the air pressure vent. However, this increased footprint can detract from the acoustic volume in the housing and reduce the size of the internal chamber (e.g., reduce the rear volume chamber). This in turn may reduce the acoustic performance of the transducer. On the other hand, the present disclosure provides an air pressure vent through a surround so that it is not necessary to increase the frame footprint. Representatively, in one aspect, the surround may include an extension sealed to the frame, and the air pressure vent may be stacked on top of the extension. Because the air pressure vent is stacked on top of the surround to frame seal, a smaller footprint is achieved. A smaller footprint means there is more volume and XY space for other features, such as additional rear volume or additional space for a harp mesh, which provides low frequency performance benefits.

[0004] Representatively, in some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a transducer assembly, the transducer assembly comprising: a frame, the frame is positioned in an internal chamber defined by a shell, the shell including a port leading to the surrounding environment; a surround, the surround including a fixed portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion that divides the internal chamber into a front volume chamber and a rear volume chamber, the front volume chamber connecting a first side of the surround to the port, and the rear volume chamber connecting to a second side of the surround; and a pneumatic vent connected to the fixed portion to exhaust pressure between the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber. In some aspects, the fixed portion may include an extension extending radially outward from the movable portion, and the pneumatic vent is connected to the extension. The movable portion may include a rectangular shape, and the extension extends radially outward from a corner of the rectangular shape. In other aspects, the movable portion may include a hexagonal shape, and the extension extends radially outward from one side of the hexagonal shape. The extension may extend radially outward from a portion of the entire periphery of the movable part. In some aspects, the air pressure vent may include a breathable membrane that covers the opening of the fixed part and the frame through the surround, and the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the fixed part. In some aspects, the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the top side of the fixed part of the surround, and the bottom side of the fixed part of the surround directly below the periphery is sealed to the frame. In some aspects, the air pressure vent includes a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a square shape, an elliptical shape or a runway shape. In yet another aspect, the movable part may include a roll-up portion that surrounds a piston portion that is operable to vibrate to produce sound. In other aspects, the movable part is symmetrical about two axes.

[0005] In yet another aspect, a portable electronic device is disclosed, the portable electronic device comprising a housing having a top cover and a bottom cover defining an internal chamber and an acoustic port leading to the internal chamber; a frame positioned within the internal chamber and sealed to the top cover or the bottom cover; a surround comprising a peripheral portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion operable to produce sound, the movable portion dividing the internal chamber into a front volume chamber and a rear volume chamber, the front volume chamber coupling a first side of the movable portion to the acoustic port, the rear volume chamber coupling to a second side of the movable portion; and an air pressure vent comprising an air permeable membrane sealed to the peripheral portion to exhaust pressure between the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber. In some aspects, the peripheral portion comprises an extension extending radially outward from the movable portion, and the air pressure vent is coupled to the extension. In yet another aspect, the movable portion comprises a rectangular shape, and the extension extends radially outward from a corner of the rectangular shape. In other aspects, the movable portion may include a hexagonal shape, and the extension extends radially outward from one side of the hexagonal shape. The extension may extend radially outward from a portion of the entire periphery of the movable portion. In some aspects, the air pressure vent includes a breathable membrane that covers the opening of the peripheral portion and the frame through the surround, and the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the peripheral portion. In some aspects, the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the top side of the peripheral portion of the surround, and the bottom side of the fixed portion of the surround directly below the periphery of the surround is sealed to the frame. In some aspects, the air pressure vent includes a triangular shape. In yet another aspect, the movable portion includes a roll-up portion that surrounds a piston portion that is operable to vibrate to produce sound. The movable portion may further be symmetrical about two axes.

[0006] The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of the present disclosure. It is contemplated that the present disclosure includes all systems and methods that can be practiced by all suitable combinations of the various aspects summarized above and those disclosed in the detailed description below and specifically pointed out in the claims filed with this patent application. Such combinations have specific advantages not specifically recited in the above summary. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Various aspects are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements. It should be noted that reference to "an" or "an" aspect in this disclosure is not necessarily the same aspect, and it means at least one.

[0008] Figure 1 A cross-sectional side view of one aspect of a portable electronic device and / or transducer assembly having an air pressure vent is illustrated.

[0009] Figure 2 Illustrated Figure 1 An enlarged cross-sectional side view of a portion of a pneumatic vent of a portable electronic device and / or transducer assembly.

[0010] Figure 3 Illustrated Figure 1 A top view of a representative configuration of an air pressure vent for a portable electronic device and / or transducer assembly.

[0011] Figure 4 Illustrated Figure 1 A top view of another representative configuration of an air pressure vent for a portable electronic device and / or transducer assembly.

[0012] Figure 5 Illustrate the implementation Figures 1 to 4 A block diagram of one aspect of a transducer assembly for a portable electronic device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] In this section, we will explain several preferred aspects of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever the shapes, relative positions, and other aspects of the described components are not clearly defined, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the components shown, which are intended for illustrative purposes only. In addition, although numerous details are stated, it should be understood that some aspects of the present disclosure can be practiced without these details. In other cases, well-known structures and technologies are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the understanding of this specification.

[0014] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific aspects and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Spatially related terms, such as "under ... ", "below ... ", "below", "above ... ", "on" etc. may be used herein for ease of description to describe the relationship between an element or feature and one or more other elements or features, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that spatially relative terms are intended to cover different orientations of the device during use or operation other than the orientation depicted in the accompanying drawings. For example, if the device in the figure is flipped, the element described as "below" or "below" other elements or features may be oriented to be "above" other elements or features. Therefore, the exemplary term "below ... " may cover both orientations above ... and below .... The device may be oriented in other ways (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations), and the spatially related descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

[0015] 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 should be further understood that the terms "include" and / or "comprise" define the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0016] The terms "or" and "and / or" used herein should be interpreted as including or meaning any one or any combination. Thus, "A, B or C" or "A, B and / or C" means "any one 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 only occur if a combination of elements, functions, steps or actions are inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

[0017] Figure 1 A cross-sectional side view of one aspect of a transducer assembly that can be integrated into a portable electronic device is illustrated. Assembly 100 may include a housing, cover, or outer housing 102 that defines or encloses a chamber in which the component electronic components of assembly 100 are contained. In some aspects, it is conceivable that assembly 100 may be a transducer module, or a portable or mobile communication device, an in-ear device, a portable timing device, or any other device in which a transducer can be implemented, in which the module is integrated. In some aspects, housing 102 may include a top cover 102A that is coupled to bottom cover 102B to separate the surrounding environment from an enclosed space or internal chamber 104 formed in housing 102. In some cases, housing 102 completely isolates or seals off the entire internal chamber 104 or a portion thereof from the surrounding environment. For example, housing 102 may form a waterproof and / or airtight waterproof or acoustically isolated portion of internal chamber 104 that is impermeable and / or airtight. Internal chamber 104 may have sufficient volume and / or size to accommodate the components of assembly 100. In some aspects, the housing 102 may also include one or more acoustic ports 106. The acoustic port 106 may be, for example, a sound output port through which sound may be output from a transducer, such as a speaker, positioned within the interior chamber 104. In other aspects, where a microphone is positioned proximate to the housing acoustic port 106, the housing acoustic port may be a sound input port that allows sound to be input to the microphone.

[0018] Representatively, in Figure 1In one aspect shown, the housing acoustic port 106 is an acoustic port that is acoustically open to the transducer 108 positioned within the internal chamber 104. In some aspects, the transducer 108 can be any type of electroacoustic transducer capable of converting an electrical audio signal into sound or converting sound into an electrical audio signal. Representatively, the transducer 108 can be a speaker or a micro speaker, for example, a miniaturized version of a loudspeaker that uses a moving coil motor to drive the sound output. For example, the transducer 108 can include a magnet assembly 110 mounted to the bottom cover 102B. A surround 112 can be positioned above the magnet assembly 110, with a stiffener 114 coupled to the top side of the surround and a voice coil 116 coupled to the bottom side. The periphery of the surround 112 can be sealed to the frame 118, and the rest of the surround 112 can be movable so that the stiffener 114 and the voice coil 116 can vibrate relative to the magnet assembly 110 and output sound. Therefore, in some aspects, the transducer 108 can be referred to as a micro speaker herein. In other aspects, where the transducer 108 converts sound into electrical audio signals, the transducer may be further referred to herein as a microphone.

[0019] In some aspects, the surround 112 can be further considered to divide the internal chamber 104 into a front volume chamber 104A and a rear volume chamber 104B surrounding the transducer 108. In the case where the transducer 108 is a speaker, the front volume chamber 104A can form a chamber having a first volume surrounding the sound output surface or top side of the surround 112. The front volume chamber 104A (and the first volume) can be considered to be acoustically connected to the acoustic port 106 or otherwise acoustically open to the acoustic port. In this aspect, the sound pressure waves output from the top side of the surround 112 of the transducer 108 can pass through the front volume chamber 104A and pass out to the surrounding surrounding environment 120 through the acoustic port 106. The rear volume chamber 104B can have a second volume and surround the rear side of the surround 112. Typically, the front volume chamber 104A is substantially sealed from the rear volume chamber 104B. However, it should be appreciated that in some aspects, the size, volume, pressure, or other aspects of the front volume chamber 104A and / or the rear volume chamber 104B may affect the acoustic performance of the transducer 108. Therefore, modifying the size, volume, and / or pressure of the front volume chamber 104A and / or the rear volume chamber 104B may be used to tune the acoustic performance of the transducer 108. For example, in some cases, it may be desirable to increase the size of the rear volume chamber 104B while also equalizing the pressure between the front volume chamber 104A and the rear volume chamber 104B.

[0020] With this in mind, a pressure vent 122 may be further provided between the front volume chamber 104A and the rear volume chamber 104B to help equalize the pressure between the two chambers. In addition, the pressure vent 122 may have a specific arrangement and / or configuration that also increases the size of the rear volume chamber 104B. For example, it is conceivable that in some aspects, the pressure vent 122 may be arranged within the footprint of the surround 112 and the frame 118, rather than being arranged outside the surround / frame, so that the additional volume 104C may be part of the rear volume 104B, thereby generating an increased rear volume. For example, in some aspects, the additional volume 104C may be a volume that includes an acoustic adsorbent material such as zeolite, which may increase low frequency performance when coupled to the rear volume 104B.

[0021] Representatively, reference will now be made to Figure 2 The air pressure vent 122 is described in more detail. Figure 2 Illustrated Figure 112 is an enlarged view of the air pressure vent 122 of the surround 112. It should be understood from this view that the surround 112 includes a movable portion 112B to which a stiffener 114 is attached, which moves up and down or vibrates to output sound, as previously discussed. The rolled portion 112A is further positioned radially outward from the movable portion 112B or otherwise positioned around the movable portion to allow vibration or up / down movement of the movable portion 112B. As can be seen from this view, the rolled portion 112A has a curved or otherwise out-of-plane shape, which allows the movable portion 112B to move up / down relative to the frame 118 in a piston-like manner. A peripheral portion 112D of the surround 112 extends from the rolled portion 112A, which is sealed to the top surface of the frame 118 by a frame seal 208 (e.g., glue or other sealing material). Peripheral portion 112D can therefore be understood as a fixed portion of the connection frame 118 of the surround 112 and the surround 112 suspended from the frame. Peripheral portion 112D can extend around the rolled-up portion 112A as a whole. A protruding or extended portion 112C extends laterally outward from the peripheral portion 112D, which is also sealed to the frame 118 and includes an air pressure vent 122. In this respect, the protruding or extended portion 112C and the frame 118 include an opening 202, which provides a vent or passage between the front volume 104A and the rear volume 104B. Then, a breathable and waterproof membrane 204 is positioned on the opening 202 and is sealed to the top side of the peripheral portion 112D of the surround 112. Representatively, in some aspects, the membrane 204 can be sealed to the top side of the surround peripheral portion 112D using a surround seal 206 (e.g., glue or other sealing material), which is considered to be stacked directly above the frame seal 208 along the bottom side of the surround portion 112D. The membrane 204 can allow air to pass through to equalize the pressure between the front volume 104A and the rear volume 104B, while preventing water from passing between the two volumes. The air pressure vent 122 can be considered to be formed by the stack of the frame 118, the frame seal 208 that seals the surround protrusion 112C to the frame 118, and the surround seal 206 that seals the membrane 204 to the surround protrusion 112C. In this regard, the air pressure vent 122 can be considered to be within the footprint of the frame 118 and does not require or otherwise occupy additional space within the front volume 104A and / or the rear volume 104B. The frame 210 may then be sealed to the top cover 202A by another sealing layer 210 (e.g., glue or other sealing material). It should be further understood that the various sealing layers 206, 208, 210 may extend entirely around the associated components to seal them together and prevent air and / or water from passing therethrough. It should be further understood that the surround 112 is a single integrally formed structure that includes each of the portions 112A-112D as previously discussed.Additionally, the protruding or extending portion 112C may be understood to extend from only a portion of the peripheral portion 112D. In other words, the protruding or extending portion 112C does not extend entirely around the protruding or extending portion 112C.

[0022] Representatively, referring now to the surround 112 in more detail, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 It can be seen that in some aspects, the surrounding piece 112 may have a substantially rectangular shape, wherein the protruding or extended portion 112C extends only from the corner of the rectangular shape. For example, the stiffener 114 may be attached to the central movable portion of the surrounding piece 112, as previously discussed, and has a rectangular shape. The rolled portion 112A extends radially outward from the central movable portion and the stiffener 114 and surrounds the central movable portion and the stiffener as a whole. The rolled portion 112A may further be considered to have a substantially rectangular shape (e.g., with rounded corners). Then, the peripheral portion 112D extends radially outward from the rolled portion 112A and around the rolled portion, and is attached to the frame 118 so that the surrounding piece 112 is suspended above the ventilation opening 202 formed through the frame 118 previously discussed. Then, the protruding portion 112C extends radially outward from one of the corners of the surrounding piece 112, as shown. The air pressure vent 122 is formed through the protruding portion 112C. Representatively, the vent opening 202 is formed through the portion of the protrusion 112C and the frame 118 below the protrusion 112C. Then, the membrane 204 is positioned on the opening 202 and is sealed to the protrusion 112C around the opening 202. As shown in this configuration, in some aspects, the opening and / or the membrane 204 may have an elongated, oval, racetrack-shaped and / or rectangular shape. In this respect, the air pressure vent 122 is considered to be within the occupied area of ​​the frame 118, so that the remaining volume and space of the shell can be used to form the rear volume chamber 104B and / or the front volume chamber 104A as previously discussed. In addition, it should be further understood that although the protrusion 112C is shown as extending from the corner of the surround 112, the protrusion 112C may extend from another part of the periphery of the surround 112. The most important aspect is that the protrusion 112C is within the sealed perimeter portion 112D of the surround 112 and close to the rolled portion 112A so that it remains within the footprint of the frame 118, so that the air pressure vent 112 does not occupy additional frame space that could otherwise be used for the rear volume chamber or the front volume chamber. For example, in some aspects, the protrusion 112C can extend laterally outward from one side of the surround 112 so that the air pressure vent 122 is formed along one side of the surround 112.

[0023] Figure 4A top plan view of another representative surround configuration is illustrated. Similar to the surround 112 configuration discussed previously, the surround 112 may have a movable portion 112B surrounded by a rolled portion 112A and a peripheral portion 112D sealed to the frame 118 below. However, in this configuration, the movable surround portions 112A and 112B define a substantially hexagonal or six-sided surround shape. The movable surround portions 112A and 112B may be further understood to define a shape that is symmetrical about two axes 402, 404. It should be noted that the movable portion of the surround 112 should be symmetrical about the two axes 402, 404 so that the movement is piston-like motion up and down and parallel to the vertical axis, and there is almost no rocking and / or rolling. In addition, in this configuration, the extension or protrusion 112C may extend from one side of the hexagonal surround 112 instead of the corner. For example, the extended or protruding portion 112C may have an almost triangular shape, and the air pressure vent 204 may be a triangular shaped vent formed through the portion 112C, as shown. However, it should be understood that the air pressure vent 204 may have any shape and / or size, as long as it remains within the footprint of the frame 118 and the surround 112 as discussed, and provides the desired pressure equalization between the front volume 104A and the rear volume 104B. For example, the air pressure vent 204 may have a rectangular, square, triangular, oval, racetrack, or any other shape as desired.

[0024] Figure 5 A block diagram illustrating one aspect of an electronic device in which the previously discussed transducer including a pneumatic vent may be implemented. Figure 5 As shown, device 500 may be any type of portable device in which a transducer and / or vent disclosed herein may be desired, such as, for example, a headset (e.g., in-ear headset, hearing aid, etc.), a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable timing device, or other portable device. Device 500 may include storage device 502. Storage device 502 may include one or more different types of storage devices, such as hard drive storage, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically programmable read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., battery-based static or dynamic random access memory), etc.

[0025] Processing circuitry 504 may be used to control the operation of device 500. Processing circuitry 504 may be based on a processor, such as a microprocessor or other suitable integrated circuit. In one suitable arrangement, processing circuitry 504 and storage device 502 are used to run software on device 500, such as an Internet browsing application, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone call application, an email application, a media playback application, operating system functions, etc. Processing circuitry 504 and storage device 502 may be used to implement a suitable communication protocol. Communication protocols that may be implemented using processing circuitry 504 and storage device 502 include Internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols - sometimes referred to as ), protocols for other short-range wireless communication links such as protocols, protocols for handling 3G or 4G communication services (e.g., using Wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology), 2G cellular telephone communication protocols, etc.

[0026] To minimize power consumption, processing circuitry 504 may include power management circuitry to implement power management functions. For example, processing circuitry 504 may be used to adjust the gain setting of an amplifier (e.g., a radio frequency power amplifier circuit) on device 500. Processing circuitry 504 may also be used to adjust the supply voltage provided to portions of the circuitry on device 500. For example, a higher direct current (DC) supply voltage may be supplied to active circuits, and a lower DC supply voltage may be supplied to less active or inactive circuits. If desired, processing circuitry 504 may be used to implement a control scheme in which a power amplifier circuit is adjusted to accommodate a transmit power level request received from a wireless network.

[0027] Input-output devices 506 can be used to allow data to be supplied to device 500 and to allow data to be provided to external devices from device 500. Display screens, microphone acoustic ports, speaker acoustic ports, and docking ports are examples of input-output devices 506. For example, input-output devices 506 may include user input-output devices 508, such as buttons, touch screens, joysticks, click wheels, rollers, touch pads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, etc. A user may control the operation of device 500 by supplying commands via user input devices 508. Display and audio devices 510 may include liquid crystal display (LCD) screens or other screens, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and other components presenting visual information and status data. Display and audio devices 510 may also include audio equipment, such as speakers and other devices for producing sound. Display and audio devices 510 may include audio-video interface equipment, such as jacks and other connectors for external headsets and monitors.

[0028] The wireless communication device 512 may include communication circuits, such as radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuits formed by one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuits, passive RF components, antennas, and other circuits for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals may also be transmitted using light (e.g., using infrared communications). Representatively, in the case of a speaker acoustic port, a speaker may be associated with the port and communicate with an RF antenna for transmitting signals from a remote user to the speaker.

[0029] return Figure 5 , device 500 can communicate with external devices (such as accessories 514, computing equipment 516) and wireless network 518, as shown by paths 520 and 522. Path 520 may include a wired path and a wireless path. Path 522 may be a wireless path. Accessories 514 may include headphones (e.g., wireless cellular headsets or audio headphones) and audio-video equipment (e.g., wireless speakers, game controllers, or other equipment that receives and plays audio and video content), peripherals such as wireless printers or cameras, etc.

[0030] Computing equipment 516 may be any suitable computer. In one suitable arrangement, computing equipment 516 is a computer with an associated wireless access point (router) or an internal or external wireless network card to establish a wireless connection with device 500. The computer may be a server (e.g., an Internet server), a local area network computer with or without Internet access, a user's own personal computer, a peer device (e.g., another portable electronic device), or any other suitable computing equipment.

[0031] Wireless network 518 may include any suitable network equipment, such as cellular telephone base stations, cellular towers, wireless data networks, computers associated with the wireless network, etc. For example, wireless network 518 may include network management equipment that monitors the wireless signal strength of wireless handheld devices (cellular phones, handheld computing devices, etc.) communicating with network 518.

[0032] Although certain aspects have been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that such aspects are merely illustrative of the broad disclosure and not limiting, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, as various other modifications may occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the description is to be regarded as exemplary and not limiting. For example, although a speaker is specifically disclosed herein, the vent disclosed herein may be used with other types of transducers, such as microphones. In addition, although a portable electronic device such as a mobile communication device is described herein, any of the previously discussed valve and transducer configurations may be implemented in a tablet computer, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a headset, etc. In addition, in order to assist the Patent Office and any reader of any patent issued by this application in interpreting the attached claims, the applicant wishes to point out that unless "a member for..." or "a step for..." is explicitly used in a particular claim, the applicant does not intend that any attached claim or claim element refer to 35 U.S.C. 112 (f).

Claims

1. A transducer assembly, comprising: a frame positioned within an interior chamber defined by a housing, the housing including a port to an ambient environment; a surround including a fixed portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion dividing the interior chamber into a front volume chamber coupling a first side of the surround to the port and a rear volume chamber coupled to a second side of the surround; and A pneumatic vent is coupled to the fixed portion to vent pressure between the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber. 2 . The transducer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fixed portion includes an extension extending radially outward from the movable portion, and the pneumatic vent is coupled to the extension. 3 . The converter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the movable portion comprises a rectangular shape, and the protrusions extend radially outward from corners of the rectangular shape. 4 . The converter assembly of claim 2 , wherein the movable portion comprises a hexagonal shape, and the protrusion extends radially outward from one side of the hexagonal shape.

5. The transducer assembly of claim 2, wherein the protrusion extends radially outward from a portion of the entire periphery of the movable portion.

6. The transducer assembly of claim 1, wherein the air pressure vent comprises a gas permeable membrane covering an opening through the fixed portion of the surround and the frame and having a periphery of the gas permeable membrane sealed to the fixed portion.

7. The transducer assembly of claim 6, wherein the perimeter of the gas permeable membrane is sealed to a top side of the fixed portion of the surround, and a bottom side of the fixed portion of the surround directly below the perimeter is sealed to the frame.

8. The transducer assembly of claim 1, wherein the air pressure vent comprises a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a square shape, an oval shape, or a racetrack shape.

9. The transducer assembly of claim 1, wherein the movable portion comprises a rolled portion surrounding a piston portion, the piston portion being operable to vibrate to generate sound.

10. The transducer assembly of claim 1, wherein the movable portion is symmetrical about two axes.

11. A portable electronic device, comprising: a housing having a top cover and a bottom cover defining an interior chamber and an acoustic port leading to the interior chamber; a frame positioned within the interior chamber and sealed to the top cover or the bottom cover; a surround comprising a perimeter portion sealed to the frame and a movable portion operable to produce sound, the movable portion dividing the interior chamber into a front volume chamber and a rear volume chamber, the front volume chamber coupling a first side of the movable portion to the acoustic port and the rear volume chamber coupling to a second side of the movable portion; and A gas pressure vent includes a gas permeable membrane sealed to the peripheral portion to vent pressure between the front volume chamber and the rear volume chamber.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the peripheral portion includes an extension extending radially outward from the movable portion, and the air pressure vent is coupled to the extension.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the movable portion comprises a rectangular shape, and the extensions extend radially outward from corners of the rectangular shape.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the movable portion comprises a hexagonal shape, and the extension extends radially outward from one side of the hexagonal shape.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the extension extends radially outward from a portion of the entire periphery of the movable portion.

16. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the air pressure vent comprises a breathable membrane covering an opening through the peripheral portion of the surround and the frame and having a perimeter of the breathable membrane sealed to the peripheral portion of the surround.

17. A portable electronic device according to claim 16, wherein the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the top side of the periphery portion of the surround, and the bottom side of the periphery portion of the surround directly below the periphery of the breathable membrane is sealed to the frame.

18. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the air pressure vent comprises a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a square shape, an oval shape, or a racetrack shape.

19. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the movable portion comprises a roll-up portion surrounding a piston portion, the piston portion being operable to vibrate to generate sound.

20. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the movable portion is symmetrical about two axes.

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