Biased soft mount for reducing loudspeaker induced forces

Abstract

The invention relates to a biased soft mount for reducing loudspeaker induced forces. A speaker assembly includes a first speaker including a first diaphragm facing a first direction and a first voice coil movably coupled to a first magnet assembly, where the first diaphragm faces the first direction, the first voice coil moving in the first direction along a first axis when driven by an audio signal, and the first magnet assembly is coupled to the fixed structure through a first compliant mounting member; and a second speaker laterally offset from the first speaker and including a second diaphragm and a second voice coil movably coupled to a second magnet assembly wherein the second diaphragm faces a second direction different from the first direction, the second voice coil moves in the second direction along a second axis when driven by an audio signal, and the second magnet assembly is coupled to the fixed structure through a second compliant mounting member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to biased and soft mounted speaker configurations for force reduction, and more particularly to speaker configurations having multiple biased drivers decoupled from a device housing using a soft mounting method. Other aspects are also described and claimed. Background Art

[0002] Electronic devices sometimes include a pair of loudspeakers to generate sound from an electrical audio signal. Typically, the pair of loudspeakers are fixedly mounted in a common housing and may be acoustically and mechanically in phase. For example, the loudspeakers may be acoustically in phase because they generate sound from the same audio signal, and the loudspeakers may be mechanically in phase because the same audio signal drives the respective diaphragms of the loudspeakers simultaneously in the same direction. However, the forces generated by the loudspeakers may induce vibrations and hums in various components of the electronic device. This, in turn, may result in a poor user experience when playing music and other sound recordings. Summary of the invention

[0003] In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to a loudspeaker configuration with drivers that are offset relative to each other and softly mounted to a device housing (or otherwise decoupled therefrom) for inducing force reduction. As previously described, the forces generated by the speakers transmitted to the system can induce vibrations and hums in various components of the system, resulting in a poor user experience. One force reduction technique that has been attempted includes a stacked driver configuration for force elimination. However, such a configuration may not be suitable when the speaker z-height is constrained in the system. In addition, an offset speaker configuration or a soft-mount configuration may be implemented to avoid z-height constraints, but each of these configurations individually has limitations in terms of force reduction. For example, a speaker configuration in which the driver is fixedly mounted to the system in a lateral offset arrangement may not be optimal for high-frequency force reduction. On the other hand, if the design goal is to maintain force reduction at low frequencies, a speaker configuration in which the driver is not softly mounted on the housing but is stacked or has a non-biased configuration may break in a product drop test. Therefore, the limitations of each of these configurations individually cause challenges. Thus, the present disclosure proposes a configuration that exploits the advantages of biasing and soft mounting configurations while overcoming their limitations and improving force reduction performance over nearly the entire frequency range of interest. The proposed approach can potentially be used in portable electronic devices and other devices, especially where the z-height of the speaker is constrained and stacking force cancellation cannot be used.

[0004] More specifically, one aspect relates to a speaker assembly, the speaker assembly comprising: a first speaker, the first speaker including a first diaphragm and a first voice coil movably coupled to a first magnet assembly, wherein the first diaphragm faces a first direction, the first voice coil moves in the first direction along a first axis when driven by an audio signal, and the first magnet assembly is coupled to a fixed structure through a first compliant mounting member; and a second speaker, the second speaker is laterally offset from the first speaker and includes a second diaphragm and a second voice coil movably coupled to the second magnet assembly, wherein the second diaphragm faces a second direction different from the first direction, the second voice coil moves in the second direction along a second axis when driven by an audio signal, and the second magnet assembly is coupled to the fixed structure through a second compliant mounting member. In some aspects, the first speaker and the second speaker are coupled to the fixed structure independently of each other through the first compliant mounting member and the second compliant mounting member, respectively. In some aspects, the first compliant mounting member directly couples the yoke of the first magnet assembly to the first portion of the fixed structure, and the second compliant member directly couples the yoke of the second magnet assembly to the second portion of the fixed structure. In further aspects, the first speaker is fixedly coupled to the second speaker. In some aspects, the first magnet assembly is mounted to the second magnet assembly to fixedly couple the first speaker to the second speaker. In further aspects, the first compliant mounting member or the second compliant mounting member may include a leaf spring. In some aspects, the first compliant mounting member and the second compliant mounting member are operable to inhibit the transmission of forces generated by the first speaker and the second speaker to the fixed structure. In further aspects, the third speaker is laterally offset from the first speaker and the second speaker, and includes a third diaphragm and a third voice coil movably coupled to the third magnet assembly, wherein the third diaphragm faces the first direction, and the third voice coil moves in the first direction along the first axis when driven by an audio signal. The third speaker can be fixedly coupled to the first speaker and the second speaker.In some aspects, the fixed structure includes a speaker module or an electronic device housing.

[0005] In a further aspect, an electronic device includes: a housing having a first wall and a second wall; a first transducer, the first transducer including a first voice coil movably coupled to a first magnet assembly, wherein the first voice coil is operable to move in a first direction along a first axis, and the first magnet assembly is coupled to the first wall by a first compliant mounting member; and a second transducer, the second transducer including a second voice coil and a second magnet assembly, wherein the second voice coil is operable to move along a second axis laterally offset from the first axis and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and the second magnet assembly is coupled to the second wall by a second compliant mounting member. In some aspects, the first magnet assembly and the second magnet assembly are decoupled from each other and are independently coupled to the first wall and the second wall, respectively. In some aspects, the first compliant mounting member directly couples a yoke of the first magnet assembly to a first portion of the fixed structure, and the second compliant member directly couples a yoke of the second magnet assembly to a second portion of the fixed structure. In some aspects, the first transducer is rigidly coupled to the second transducer. In further aspects, the first magnet assembly is mounted to the second magnet assembly to rigidly couple the first transducer to the second transducer. In some aspects, the first compliant mounting member or the second compliant mounting member includes a leaf spring. In further aspects, the first compliant mounting member and the second compliant mounting member are operable to inhibit the transmission of forces generated by the first transducer and the second transducer to the fixed structure. In some aspects, the third transducer is laterally offset from the first transducer and the second transducer and includes a third diaphragm and a third voice coil movably coupled to a third magnet assembly, wherein the third diaphragm faces the first direction, and the third voice coil moves in the first direction along the first axis when driven by an audio signal. The third transducer can be fixedly coupled to the first transducer and the second transducer. In some aspects, the first transducer or the second transducer is a speaker, and the first voice coil or the second voice coil is driven by an audio signal to move along the first axis or the second axis.

[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 implemented by all suitable combinations of the various aspects summarized above and 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] Several 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 "one" or "an" aspect in the present 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 transducer assembly is shown.

[0009] Figure 2 A cross-sectional side view of another aspect of the transducer assembly is shown.

[0010] Figure 3 A cross-sectional side view of another aspect of the transducer assembly is shown.

[0011] Figure 4 A block diagram illustrating some of the components of an aspect of an electronic device that may implement one or more aspects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] 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 only used for illustrative purposes. In addition, although many details are set forth, it should be understood that some aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented without these details. In other cases, well-known structures and technologies are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the understanding of this description.

[0013] The terms used herein are only for describing specific aspects and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Spatial related terms such as "under ... ", "under ... ", "lower part", "above ... ", "upper part" can be used in this article for the convenience of description to describe the relationship between an element or feature and another element or feature, as shown in the figure. It should be understood that the spatial relative terms are intended to cover different orientations during the use or operation of the equipment except for the orientation shown in the drawings. For example, if the equipment in the figure is turned over, the elements described as "under" or "under" other elements or features will be oriented to "above" other elements or features. Therefore, the exemplary term "under ... " can cover these two orientations above ... and below .... Equipment can be oriented in other ways (for example, rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially related descriptors used in this article are interpreted accordingly.

[0014] 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 will be further understood that the terms "include" and / or "comprise" specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0015] The terms "or" and "and / or" as used herein should be interpreted as inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Thus, "A, B or C" or "A, B and / or C" means "any 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.

[0016] Figure 1 A cross-sectional side view of one aspect of a transducer assembly is shown. The transducer assembly 100 can be, for example, an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical signal into an auditory (or tactile) output that can be output from a device in which the transducer assembly 100 is integrated. For example, the transducer assembly 100 can be a micro speaker, such as an electric loudspeaker present in a smart phone, a laptop, a notebook, a tablet computer, a portable timer, or another electronic device. In other aspects, the transducer assembly 100 can convert sound into an electrical audio signal and can be referred to as a microphone. The transducer assembly 100 can be enclosed in a housing or shell of a device in which the transducer assembly is integrated, or enclosed in a module integrated into a housing or shell of a device. In some aspects, the transducer assembly 100 can be considered as a relatively small (e.g., having a thickness of about 4 mm or less) micro speaker, micro transducer, or micro actuator.

[0017] The transducer assembly 100 may include a frame, housing, or shell 102, which may be a relatively rigid structure that supports and / or encloses some or all of the components of the transducer assembly 100. In some aspects, the shell 102 may support or enclose or otherwise couple to only the transducer components (e.g., a transducer module) or may enclose all device components (e.g., a computer, portable device, or other electronic device housing). In some cases, the shell 102 may include a first portion or wall 102A, a second portion or wall 102B, and a third portion or wall 102C. In some aspects, these portions or walls 102A-102C may form a cavity or internal chamber for holding the transducer components. In some aspects, these portions or walls 102A-102C may be considered to be fixed structures that may be snap-fitted, welded, adhered, or attached together using some other mechanism or process along their interface surfaces to form the shell 102.

[0018] The transducer assembly 100 may also include transducers 104 and 106 coupled to the housing 102. In some aspects, the transducers 104 and 106 may be any type of electroacoustic transducers capable of converting an electrical audio signal into sound or converting sound into an electrical audio signal. Representatively, the transducers 104 and 106 may be speakers or micro speakers, for example, miniaturized versions of loudspeakers that use moving coil motors to drive sound output. Therefore, in some aspects, the transducers 104 and 106 may be referred to as micro speakers herein. In other aspects, in the case where the transducers 104 and 106 convert sound into electrical audio signals, these transducers may also be further referred to as microphones herein. In this regard, the transducers 104 and 106 may each include a magnet assembly having magnets 108A and 108B mounted to the yokes 110A and 110B, respectively. The yokes 110A and 110B may surround a respective one of the magnets 108A and 108B so that they form a magnetic gap together. A vibrating surface or diaphragm 112A, 112B having voice coils 114A, 114B attached thereto, respectively, is suspended above the magnet assembly so that the voice coils 114A, 114B are positioned within the magnetic gap. Representatively, the diaphragms 112A, 112B may include a compliant or flexible surround around the periphery attached to the yokes 110A, 110B to movably suspend the diaphragms 112A, 112B and the voice coils 114A, 114B above the magnet assembly. In this regard, applying an electric current (or signal) through the voice coils 114A, 114B generates a magnetic field that causes the voice coils 114A, 114B to react to the magnetic field of the magnets 108A, 108B. This in turn moves the voice coils 114A, 114B along the vibration axis, which in turn causes the diaphragms 112A, 112B to vibrate and output sound.

[0019] However, as previously described, the vibration of the diaphragm 112A, 112B (and other transducer components) may unintentionally transfer force to the system, resulting in undesired system hum and / or mechanical failure from vibration that affects the user experience. In order to reduce these forces transferred to the system, the transducers 104, 106 may have a biased and decoupled mounting arrangement that operates to eliminate some of these forces. Representatively, the transducers 104, 106 may be arranged so that they are laterally offset along the x-axis and face different directions, as shown. For example, the transducer 104 is aligned with the axis 116, and the transducer 106 is aligned with the axis 126. The axes 116, 126 may be parallel to the z-axis and laterally offset relative to the x-axis. The transducer 104 is further arranged so that the top side of the diaphragm 112A faces a first direction (e.g., vertically upward along the z-axis) and vibrates or otherwise moves in a direction parallel to the axis 116. For example, the top side of the diaphragm 112A of the transducer 104 can be the sound output side or surface that outputs sound to the user when the diaphragm 112A vibrates along the axis 116. On the other hand, the transducer 106 is arranged so that the top side (e.g., the sound output side) of the diaphragm 112B faces a second direction (e.g., a vertical downward direction along the z-axis) and vibrates or otherwise moves in a direction parallel to the axis 126. Therefore, the axes 116 and 126 may also be referred to as vibration axes in this article. The diaphragm 112A of the transducer 104 can be driven in the opposite direction to the diaphragm 112B of the transducer 106 (as shown by the arrow). Therefore, this mechanical out-of-phase arrangement of the transducers 104 and 106 can eliminate the undesirable forces that could otherwise be output to the system by the transducer vibration.

[0020] In addition, to further prevent the undesired forces generated by the transducers 104, 106 from being output to the system, the transducers 104, 106 may be decoupled or soft mounted to the system housing 102. Decoupling or soft mounting the transducers 104, 106 to the housing 102 also helps reduce the forces on the system by isolating or otherwise preventing the forces generated by the transducer vibrations from being transmitted to the housing 102. It should also be understood that the terms "soft" mounting or "decoupling" are intended to refer to any type of compliant or resilient mounting configuration that inhibits, isolates, or otherwise prevents or reduces the movement or forces of the transducers 104, 106 from being transmitted to the housing to which they are mounted. Representatively, in one aspect, the transducer 104 is softly (or movably) mounted to the housing 102 by compliant members 118A, 118B, 118C, 118D. Similarly, transducer 106 is softly (or removably) mounted to housing 102 via compliant members 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D. Transducer 104 and transducer 106 may be separately and / or independently softly mounted to housing 102, and may also be separately isolated from housing 102. In this regard, transducer 104 may be considered to be decoupled from housing 102 and transducer 106. Similarly, transducer 106 may be considered to be decoupled from transducer 104 and housing 102.

[0021] Representatively, in some aspects, transducer 104 is soft mounted to housing walls 102A and 102C adjacent to transducer 104 by compliant members 118A, 118B, 118C, 118D. For example, compliant member 118A may be mounted to one side of yoke 110A of transducer 104 (e.g., the side forming the magnetic gap) and extend laterally outward therefrom and to housing wall 102A, and compliant member 118B may be mounted to the other side of yoke 110A (e.g., the side forming the magnetic gap) and extend laterally outward therefrom and to housing wall 102C to suspend the top side of transducer 104 from housing 102. The bottom side of transducer 104 may also be suspended from housing 102 by compliant members 118C and 118D extending from the bottom side of yoke 110A to housing walls 102C, 102A, respectively. Transducer 106 is also soft mounted to housing walls 102B and 102C adjacent to transducer 106 by compliant members 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D. For example, compliant member 122A may be mounted to one side of yoke 110B of transducer 106 and extend laterally outward to housing wall 102C, and compliant member 122B may be mounted to the other side of yoke 110B and extend laterally outward to housing wall 102B to suspend transducer 104 from housing 102. The other side of transducer 106 may also be suspended from housing 102 by compliant members 122C and 122D extending from the other side of yoke 110B to housing walls 102B, 102C, respectively. The compliant members 118A-118D and 122A-122D may be any type of structure or material having compliance, elasticity, force absorption, damping, etc. properties that allow one component to move relative to another component and prevent the forces generated by that movement from being transmitted to the housing 102. For example, one or more of the compliant members 118A-118D and 122A-122D may be a leaf spring or other type of spring that can movably mount the transducer to the housing and isolate any undesirable forces generated by the transducer. In other aspects, the compliant members 118A-118D and 122A-122D may be a member of rubber, foam, or another material that can suspend the transducers 104, 106 from the housing 102 and reduce (or dampen) the transmission of transducer vibrations to the housing 102.

[0022] It can also be appreciated that, as previously described, a "soft" or "decoupled" mounting configuration can isolate forces well at higher frequencies, but may not be so effective at lower frequencies. On the other hand, since the structural resonance of the housing can change the antisymmetry of the dynamic forces generated by the transducer, the force reduction achieved by the biasing arrangement may deteriorate at higher frequencies. However, the soft mounting of the transducers 104, 106 in combination with their biasing arrangement solves these problems without, for example, having to adjust the compliance of the mounting configuration to achieve force elimination in a more difficult range. Specifically, the biasing arrangement of the transducers 104, 106 will provide force elimination at frequencies (e.g., frequencies below 600 Hz) that may be outside the ideal range for force elimination achieved by the soft mounting of the transducer, while the decoupling or soft mounting of the transducer can provide force elimination at higher frequencies that are not suitable for force elimination due to the biasing arrangement. For example, for higher frequencies (e.g., above the soft mounting resonant frequency), the biasing transducer arrangement may not achieve optimal force elimination, so the soft mounting can play the role of force elimination at those frequencies, while the biasing transducer arrangement provides force elimination at lower frequencies. In this regard, the isolation resonant frequency can be several hundred hertz higher than the original decoupled mounting design. Furthermore, the degradation of the biasing arrangement at higher frequencies can be compensated by the high frequency isolation contribution of the soft mounting or decoupling of the transducers 104, 106. In this regard, the combined soft mounting (or decoupling) and biasing arrangement of the transducers 104, 106 achieves force cancellation over nearly the entire frequency range of interest.

[0023] Reference now Figure 2 , Figure 2 A cross-sectional side view of another aspect of the transducer assembly is shown. The transducer assembly 200 is substantially similar to the previously described transducer assembly 200 of FIG. Figure 1 The transducer assembly 100 discussed above and includes substantially the same components as that transducer assembly. In this regard, the components present in the assembly 200 that are previously described with reference to Figure 1The description of the same parts of the discussed assembly 100 is not repeated here. However, in the transducer assembly 200, the transducer 104 and the transducer 106 are fixedly mounted to or otherwise attached to each other. Then, the two transducers 104, 106 are decoupled from the housing 102 together by a soft mounting member. Representatively, one side of the yoke 110A of the transducer 104 is attached to one side of the yoke 110B of the transducer 106 (e.g., by an adhesive, welding, etc.) to form a single integral or inseparable dual transducer structure. As previously described, this single unit including the transducer 104 and the transducer 106 is then coupled to the housing 102 by compliance members 118A, 118D, 122B, 122C. For example, compliant members 118A, 118D may attach one side of transducer 104 to housing wall 102A, and compliant members 122B, 122C may attach the other side of transducer 106 to housing wall 102B. In this regard, utilizing the biasing and soft mounting arrangement as previously described, the two transducers 104, 106 are decoupled together from housing 102 to achieve force cancellation.

[0024] Reference now Figure 3 , Figure 3 A cross-sectional side view of another aspect of the transducer assembly is shown. The transducer assembly 300 is substantially similar to the previously described transducer assembly 300 of FIG. Figure 2 The transducer assembly 200 discussed above includes substantially the same components as that transducer assembly. In this regard, the components present in the assembly 300 are substantially the same as those previously described with reference to FIG. Figure 2Descriptions of the same components of the discussed assembly 200 are not repeated here. However, in the transducer assembly 300, the third transducer 304 is offset from the transducers 104 and the transducer 106 and is fixedly mounted thereto. Representatively, the transducer 304 may be laterally offset (e.g., along the x-axis) from the transducers 104, 106 and arranged along the axis 136. Similar to the transducers 104, 106, the transducer 304 may include a magnet assembly and a diaphragm 112C and a voice coil 114C movably coupled to the magnet assembly, the magnet assembly including a yoke 110C and a magnet 108C. The transducer 304 may be fixedly coupled to the transducer 104 by, for example, attaching the yoke 110C of the transducer 304 to the yoke 110A of the transducer 104. In addition, the transducer 304 may face in a direction opposite to the transducer 104 and face in the same direction as the transducer 106. In other words, the diaphragm 112C of the transducer 304 may face the same direction as the diaphragm 112B of the transducer 106, so that they all output sound in the same direction (as indicated by the arrows). The three transducers 104, 106, 304 are then decoupled from the housing 102 together by the soft mounting member. Representatively, the compliance members 118A, 118D are attached to the transducer 304 and the housing wall 102A to attach one side of the three transducer modules to the housing 102, and the compliance members 122B, 122C are attached to the transducer 106 and the housing wall 102B to attach the other side of the module to the housing 102. In this regard, using the biasing and soft mounting arrangement as described above, the three transducers 104, 106, 304 are decoupled from the housing 102 together to achieve force cancellation. It should also be understood that while up to three transducers are illustrated as coupled together in an offset arrangement, more than three transducers may be coupled together and soft mounted to the housing 102 as desired.

[0025] Figure 4 A block diagram of some of the components of an aspect of an electronic device that may implement one or more aspects is shown. Device 400 may be any of a number of different types of consumer electronic devices. For example, device 400 may be any device equipped with a transducer, such as a cellular phone, a smart phone, a media player, a tablet-type portable computer, a controller, or any other device that may benefit from sound output.

[0026] In this regard, the electronic device 400 includes a processor 412 that interacts with the camera circuit 406, the motion sensor 404, the storage device 408, the memory 414, the display 422, and the user input interface 424. The main processor 412 may also interact with the communication circuit 402, the main power supply 410, the motion sensor 404, the speaker 418, and the microphone 420. The various components of the electronic device 400 may be digitally interconnected and used or managed by a software stack executed by the processor 412. Many of the components shown or described herein may be implemented as one or more dedicated hardware units and / or programmed processors (software executed by a processor, such as the processor 412).

[0027] The processor 412 controls the overall operation of the device 400 by executing some or all of the operations of one or more application programs or operating system programs implemented on the device 400, by executing instructions (software code and data) that may be found in the storage device 408. The processor 412 may, for example, drive the display 422 and receive user input through the user input interface 424 (which may be integrated with the display 422 as part of a single touch-sensitive display panel). In addition, the processor 412 may send audio signals to the speaker 418 and / or the motion sensor 404 to facilitate the operation of the speaker 418 and / or the actuator 404.

[0028] Storage 408 provides relatively large amounts of "permanent" data storage using non-volatile solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory storage) and / or dynamic non-volatile storage devices (e.g., spinning disk drives). Storage 408 may include both local storage space and storage space on remote servers. Storage 408 may store data as well as software components that control and manage different functions of device 400 at a higher level.

[0029] In addition to storage device 408, there may also be memory 414, also referred to as main memory or program memory, which provides relatively fast access to stored code and data being executed by processor 412. Memory 414 may include solid-state random access memory (RAM), such as static RAM or dynamic RAM. There may be one or more processors, such as processor 412, which run or execute various software programs, modules, or instruction sets (e.g., applications) that, while permanently stored in storage device 408, have been transferred to memory 414 for execution to perform the various functions described above.

[0030] Device 400 may include communication circuitry 402. Communication circuitry 402 may include components for wired or wireless communications such as two-way conversations and data transmission. For example, communication circuitry 402 may include RF communication circuitry coupled to an antenna so that a user of device 400 can make or receive calls over a wireless communication network. The RF communication circuitry may include an RF transceiver and a cellular baseband processor to enable calls over a cellular network. For example, communication circuitry 402 may include Wi-Fi communication circuitry so that a user of device 400 can make or initiate calls using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connection to transmit data over a wireless local area network.

[0031] Device 400 may include microphone 420. Microphone 420 may be an acoustic-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound in the air into an electrical signal. Microphone circuitry may be electrically connected to processor 412 and power supply 410 to facilitate microphone operation (eg, tilting).

[0032] The device 400 may include a motion sensor 404, also referred to as an inertial sensor, that can be used to detect movement of the device 400. The motion sensor 404 may include a position, orientation, or movement (POM) sensor, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a light sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, an acoustic sensor, a sound wave or sonar sensor, a radar sensor, an image sensor, a video sensor, a global positioning (GPS) detector, an RF or acoustic Doppler detector, a compass, a magnetometer, or other similar sensors. For example, the motion sensor 404 may be a light sensor that detects movement or the absence of movement of the device 400 by detecting ambient light intensity or a sudden change in ambient light intensity. The motion sensor 404 generates a signal based on at least one of the position, orientation, and movement of the device 400. The signal may include characteristics of the motion, such as acceleration, speed, direction, change of direction, duration, amplitude, frequency, or any other motion characterization. The processor 412 receives the sensor signal and controls one or more operations of the device 400 based in part on the sensor signal.

[0033] The device 400 also includes a camera circuit 406 that implements the digital camera functionality of the device 400. One or more solid-state image sensors are built into the device 400, and each solid-state image sensor may be located at the focal plane of an optical system including a corresponding lens. An optical image of a scene within the camera's field of view is formed on the image sensor, and the sensor responds by capturing the scene in the form of a digital image or picture composed of pixels, which may then be stored in a storage device 408. The camera circuit 406 may also be used to capture a video image of the scene. The device 400 also includes a main power supply 410 such as a built-in battery as a main power source.

[0034] Although certain aspects have been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such aspects are merely illustrative of the broad disclosure and not limiting, and that the disclosure is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the description is to be regarded as illustrative and not limiting. Furthermore, to assist the Patent Office and any reader of any patent issued by this application in interpreting the appended claims, applicants wish to point out that they do not intend any appended claim or claim element to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the phrase "means for" or "step for" is expressly used in a particular claim.

Claims

1. A speaker assembly, comprising: a first speaker comprising a first diaphragm and a first voice coil movably coupled to a first magnet assembly, wherein the first diaphragm faces in a first direction, the first voice coil moves in the first direction along a first axis when driven by an audio signal, and the first magnet assembly is coupled to a fixed structure via a first compliant mounting member; and a second speaker laterally offset from the first speaker and comprising a second diaphragm and a second voice coil movably coupled to a second magnet assembly, wherein the second diaphragm faces in a second direction different from the first direction, the second voice coil moves along a second axis in the second direction when driven by an audio signal, and A second magnet assembly is coupled to the fixed structure via a second compliant mounting member. 2 . The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first speaker and the second speaker are coupled to the fixed structure independently of each other via the first compliant mounting member and the second compliant mounting member, respectively.

3. The speaker assembly of claim 1, wherein the first compliant mounting member directly couples the yoke of the first magnet assembly to a first portion of the fixed structure, and the second compliant member directly couples the yoke of the second magnet assembly to a second portion of the fixed structure. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first speaker is fixedly coupled to the second speaker. 5 . The speaker assembly of claim 4 , wherein the first magnet assembly is mounted to the second magnet assembly to fixedly couple the first speaker to the second speaker.

6. The loudspeaker assembly of claim 1, wherein the first compliant mounting member or the second compliant mounting member comprises a leaf spring.

7. The speaker assembly of claim 1, wherein the first and second compliant mounting members are operable to inhibit transfer of forces generated by the first and second speakers to the fixed structure.

8. The speaker assembly according to claim 1 further includes a third speaker, which is laterally offset from the first speaker and the second speaker and includes a third diaphragm and a third voice coil movably coupled to a third magnet assembly, wherein the third diaphragm faces the first direction, and the third voice coil moves in the first direction along the first axis when driven by an audio signal.

9. The speaker assembly of claim 8, wherein the third speaker is fixedly coupled to the first speaker and the second speaker.

10. The speaker assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixed structure comprises a speaker module or an electronic device housing.

11. An electronic device, comprising: a housing having a first wall and a second wall; a first transducer comprising a first voice coil movably coupled to a first magnet assembly, wherein the first voice coil is operable to move in a first direction along a first axis, and the first magnet assembly is coupled to the first wall via a first compliant mounting member; and A second transducer comprising a second voice coil and a second magnet assembly, wherein the second voice coil is operable to move along a second axis laterally offset from the first axis and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and the second magnet assembly is coupled to the second wall via a second compliant mounting member. 12 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the first magnet assembly and the second magnet assembly are decoupled from each other and are independently coupled to the first wall and the second wall, respectively.

13. The speaker assembly of claim 11, wherein the first compliant mounting member directly couples a yoke of the first magnet assembly to a first portion of the fixed structure, and the second compliant member directly couples a yoke of the second magnet assembly to a second portion of the fixed structure.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first transducer is rigidly coupled to the second transducer.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the first magnet assembly is mounted to the second magnet assembly to rigidly couple the first transducer to the second transducer.

16. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first compliant mounting member or the second compliant mounting member comprises a leaf spring.

17. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first and second compliant mounting members are operable to inhibit transfer of forces generated by the first and second transducers to the fixed structure.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising a third transducer, the third transducer being laterally offset from the first transducer and the second transducer and comprising a third diaphragm and a third voice coil movably coupled to a third magnet assembly, wherein the third diaphragm faces the first direction, and the third voice coil moves in the first direction along the first axis when driven by an audio signal.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the third transducer is fixedly coupled to the first transducer and the second transducer.

20. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first transducer or the second transducer is a speaker, and the first voice coil or the second voice coil is driven by an audio signal to move along the first axis or the second axis.

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