Speaker structure for vehicle

Abstract

To easily transmit the sound of a speaker to a driver while suppressing labor and time regardless of the mounting angle of the speaker to a vehicle meter and a vehicle type.SOLUTION: A vehicular meter includes a speaker 101 attached to a vehicle interior facing surface of a case body 23 of the vehicular meter facing a vehicle interior of a vehicle, a cover member 102 covering the speaker 101 at an interval from the speaker 101, and a tubular lead-out member 103 for leading out a sound output by the speaker 101 from a hole provided in the cover member 102 to an outer side of the cover member 102 opposite to a side where the speaker 101 is located. The cover member 102 is attached to the vehicle interior facing surface of the case body 23 so as to be rotatable in a direction along the vehicle interior facing surface, and the lead-out member 103 is provided such that a sound outlet 103a, which is an outlet of the sound of the speaker 101, is inclined with respect to a shaft around which the cover member 102 rotates with respect to the vehicle interior facing surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle speaker structure. [Background technology]

[0002] Speakers are known that are attached to meters of vehicles such as automobiles. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a meter-integrated speaker unit in which a meter and a speaker are integrated as a speaker for the driver of an automobile. In the speaker unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, a meter is provided in an instrument panel (hereinafter referred to as "instrument panel") of the automobile. The speaker is fixed to the instrument panel so that it fits within the scale plate of the meter when viewed from the viewing direction of the meter. A transparent protective panel that covers the meter and the speaker is attached to the front of the instrument panel. A large number of punched holes are provided in the protective panel in front of the speaker to ensure that the audio output of the speaker is transmitted to the outside of the instrument panel. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-86604 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a speaker is fixed to a case in which a meter is mounted, problems arise. The details are as follows. When a hole in a protective panel for transmitting speaker sound into the vehicle interior is located at a fixed position relative to the speaker, as in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the direction in which the sound is emitted is determined by the angle at which the speaker is attached to the meter. Because the shape of a vehicle's instrument panel differs depending on the vehicle model, if the direction in which the speaker emits sound is determined by the angle at which the speaker is attached, the sound may not be transmitted sufficiently to the driver in some vehicle models. In contrast, adjusting the speaker attachment angle to best transmit sound to the driver for each vehicle model requires a great deal of effort.

[0005] One object of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle speaker structure that makes it possible to easily transmit speaker sound to the driver with minimal effort, regardless of the speaker's mounting angle on the vehicle meter or the vehicle model. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The symbols in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described below as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle speaker structure of the present disclosure includes a speaker (101) attached to the interior-facing surface of a case body (23) of a vehicle meter (20) for use in a vehicle, the surface facing the interior of the vehicle cabin; a cover member (102) that covers the speaker with a gap between the speaker and the cover member; and a tubular outlet member (103) for guiding the sound output by the speaker from a hole provided in the cover member to the outside of the cover member, which is opposite the side on which the speaker is located. The cover member is attached to the interior-facing surface of the case body so as to be rotatable in a direction along the interior-facing surface, and the outlet member is arranged so that an acoustic outlet (103a), which is the outlet for the speaker sound, is inclined with respect to the axis about which the cover member rotates relative to the interior-facing surface of the vehicle cabin.

[0008] According to the above configuration, the speaker is covered by the cover member. Therefore, sound output from the speaker reaches the vehicle cabin through the tubular outlet member provided on the cover member without leaking outside. The speaker is also covered by the cover member at a distance. Therefore, sound output from the speaker in directions other than the outlet member is reflected by the cover member and reaches the vehicle cabin through the outlet member. This allows the sound output from the speaker to be concentrated at the outlet member, enabling the sound to be delivered to the vehicle cabin while maintaining high sound pressure. The sound outlet of the outlet member is inclined with respect to the axis around which the cover member rotates relative to the surface facing the interior of the vehicle. Therefore, by rotating the cover member, the direction of the sound emitted from the outlet member can be changed in accordance with the rotation of the cover member. Therefore, regardless of the vehicle model, the rotation of the cover member makes it possible to adjust the speaker sound to be more easily transmitted to the driver. The ease with which the speaker's sound reaches the driver can be adjusted by rotating the cover member, so when attaching a speaker to a vehicle meter, it is not necessary to adjust the attachment angle at which the speaker's sound reaches the driver easily for each vehicle type. As a result, it is possible to easily transmit the speaker's sound to the driver without hassle, regardless of the attachment angle of the speaker to the vehicle meter or the vehicle type. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle meter unit. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a speaker system. [Figure 3] 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the speaker system taken along a plane passing through the dashed dotted line III-III in FIG. 2. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A number of embodiments for the purpose of disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For the sake of convenience, parts having the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous explanations in the number of embodiments will be given the same reference numerals, and their description may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the explanations in other embodiments may be referred to.

[0011] (Embodiment 1) <General Configuration of Vehicle Meter Unit 1> A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a vehicle meter unit 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The vehicle meter unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 is intended for use in a vehicle. In other words, the vehicle meter unit can be used in a vehicle. The vehicle meter unit 1 may be mounted on a vehicle, or may be in a state prior to being mounted on a vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle meter unit 1 includes a speaker system 10 and a vehicle meter 20. When the vehicle meter unit 1 is mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle meter 20 of the vehicle meter unit 1 corresponds to the instrument panel of the vehicle. Although the vehicle using the vehicle meter unit 1 is not necessarily limited to an automobile, the following description will be given taking the case of use in an automobile as an example.

[0012] <General Configuration of Vehicle Meter 20> Here, the general configuration of the vehicle meter 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle meter 20 includes a tachometer 21, a speedometer 22, and a case body 23. What is shown in Fig. 1 is merely an example, and the vehicle meter 20 may include other instruments such as an odometer, a fuel gauge, etc.

[0013] The tachometer 21 is an instrument that displays a scale corresponding to the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine or the driving motor of the vehicle. The tachometer 21 may be a mechanical instrument. The tachometer 21 may be a display that displays an image of the scale corresponding to the rotational speed. The speedometer 22 is an instrument that displays a scale corresponding to the speed of the vehicle. The speedometer 22 may be a mechanical instrument. The speedometer 22 may be a display that displays an image of the scale corresponding to the speed of the vehicle.

[0014] The case body 23 functions as a holding member for holding instruments such as the tachometer 21 and the speedometer 22. The case body 23 may be made of, for example, synthetic resin. When the vehicle meter 20 is mounted in a vehicle, the case body 23 is mounted so that the surface on which the instruments are arranged faces the interior of the vehicle. This surface on which the instruments are arranged is hereinafter referred to as the "interior-facing surface." The "interior-facing surface" refers to the surface that faces the interior of the vehicle when the vehicle meter 20 is used in the vehicle. The vehicle meter 20 is mounted in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle. In other words, the "interior-facing surface" can also be referred to as the surface of the case body 23 of the vehicle meter 20 that faces the driver's seat. The surface of the case body 23 opposite to the interior-facing surface is hereinafter referred to as the "non-interior-facing surface." Furthermore, the driver's seat side when the vehicle meter 20 is mounted in a vehicle is hereinafter referred to as the "driver's seat side" of the case body 23.

[0015] Circuit boards for instruments such as the tachometer 21 and the speedometer 22 are disposed inside the case body 23 or on the side of the case body 32 that faces away from the interior of the vehicle. The surface of the case body 23 that faces the interior of the vehicle may be, for example, a transparent cover panel. The cover panel may be made of a transparent synthetic resin such as PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate resin) or PC (polycarbonate). The cover panel may also be made of glass. In this case, the instruments such as the tachometer 21 and the speedometer 22 are disposed inside the transparent cover panel of the case body 23.

[0016] <General Configuration of Speaker System 10> Next, the schematic configuration of the speaker system 10 will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the speaker system 10. Figure 2 is a diagram of the part indicated by the dashed rectangle in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the speaker system 10, showing a cross section cut along a plane passing through the dashed line III-III in Figure 2.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 1, the speaker system 10 is provided on the side of the case body 23 of the vehicle meter 20 facing the interior of the vehicle cabin. The speaker system 10 is provided so that at least a cover member 102 and an output member 103, which will be described later, are exposed on the side facing the interior of the vehicle cabin. The speaker system 10 may be provided, for example, on the transparent cover panel described above. The speaker system 10 is preferably provided in a position that does not hide the instruments of the vehicle meter 20 when viewed from the driver's seat when the vehicle meter unit 1 is mounted on the vehicle. In other words, the speaker system 10 is preferably provided in a position that does not overlap the instruments of the vehicle meter 20 when viewed from the viewing direction of the instruments.

[0018] 1 to 3, the speaker system 10 includes a speaker 101, a cover member 102, and a lead-out member 103. This speaker system 10 corresponds to a vehicle speaker structure.

[0019] The speaker 101 may be, for example, disk-shaped. The speaker 101 outputs sounds such as warning sounds. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the speaker 101 is attached to the interior-facing surface of the case body 23 of the vehicle meter 20. The speaker 101 includes, for example, a permanent magnet, a voice coil, and a diaphragm. An audio signal is supplied from a drive circuit to the voice coil, and sound is output from the speaker 101. The drive circuit may be disposed inside the case body 23 or on the surface of the case body 32 not facing the interior of the vehicle. The audio signal may be supplied from the drive circuit to the speaker 101 using wiring.

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover member 102 covers the speaker 101 with a gap therebetween. The cover member 102 may be dome-shaped with a hole formed in a portion thereof, as shown in FIG. 3. Here, the dome-shaped shape refers to a shape with a circular base and symmetry around the central axis of this circle. The cover member 102 may be hemispherical. A hemispherical shape is a shape that falls under the category of a dome shape and has a semicircular cross section. A dome-shaped shape includes shapes with an elliptical cross section. For example, the cover member 102 may have one hole, as shown in FIG. 3. The cover member 102 may be made of, for example, a synthetic resin. In this embodiment, the description will continue with an example in which the cover member 102 is dome-shaped, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0021] The cover member 102 is attached to the surface of the case body 23 of the vehicle meter 20 facing the interior of the vehicle cabin so as to be rotatable in a direction along the surface. As shown by the arrow in FIG. 2, the cover member 102 is rotatable in a direction along the surface facing the interior of the vehicle cabin. In other words, the cover member 102 is attached so as to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the surface facing the interior of the vehicle cabin. The cover member 102 may be manually rotated by a vehicle occupant pinching and rotating the cover member 102.

[0022] The cover member 102 may be attached via the rotation mechanism 102a so as to be rotatable in a direction along the interior-facing surface of the vehicle interior. The rotation mechanism 102a may be provided at the boundary between the cover member 102 and the interior-facing surface of the case body 23. The rotation mechanism 102a may be provided in a circular shape so as to be rotatable. The rotation mechanism 102a may be a part of the cover member 102 or a part of the interior-facing surface of the case body 23. The rotation mechanism 102a may also be comprised of a part of the cover member 102 and a part of the interior-facing surface of the case body 23. The rotation mechanism 102a may be realized, for example, by a ring-shaped ball bearing. The rotation mechanism 102a may also be realized by fitting the cover member 102 slidably into a circular groove. This groove may be formed, for example, in the interior-facing surface of the case body 23. Note that this groove may be formed in a ring-shaped member attached to the interior-facing surface.

[0023] The output member 103 is a tubular member for guiding the sound output by the speaker 101 to the outside through a hole provided in the cover member 102. The output member 103 may be made of, for example, a synthetic resin. The "outside" here refers to the side of the cover member 102 opposite to the side on which the speaker 101 is located. The side of the cover member 102 on which the speaker 101 is located is referred to as the inside of the cover member 102. The inside of the cover member 102 can be rephrased as the side covered by the cover member 102. The outside of the cover member 102 can be rephrased as the side not covered by the cover member 102. As shown in FIG. 3 , the output member 103 is provided so as to extend from a hole provided in the cover member 102 to the outside of the cover member.

[0024] The lead-out member 103 is provided such that the sound outlet 103a, which is the outlet for sound from the speaker 101, is inclined with respect to an axis (hereinafter referred to as a rotation axis) RS about which the cover member 102 rotates with respect to the opposing surface inside the vehicle cabin. In other words, the lead-out member 103 is provided such that the central axis TS of the pipe of the lead-out member 103 is inclined with respect to the rotation axis RS, as shown in FIG.

[0025] According to the above configuration, the speaker 101 is covered by the cover member 102. Therefore, sound output from the speaker 101 reaches the interior of the vehicle through the lead-out member 103 without leaking from anywhere other than the lead-out member 103. The speaker 101 is also covered by the cover member 102 at a distance. Therefore, sound output from the speaker 101 in directions other than the lead-out member 103 is reflected by the cover member 102 and reaches the interior of the vehicle through the lead-out member 103. This allows the sound output from the speaker 101 to be concentrated in the lead-out member 103, enabling the sound to be delivered to the interior of the vehicle while maintaining a high sound pressure. The sound outlet 103a of the lead-out member 103 is inclined with respect to the axis around which the cover member 102 rotates, relative to the surface of the case body 23 facing the interior of the vehicle. Therefore, by rotating the cover member 102, the direction of the sound emitted from the lead-out member 103 can be changed in accordance with the rotation of the cover member 102. Therefore, regardless of the vehicle type, it is possible to adjust the angle at which the sound of the speaker 101 is easily transmitted to the driver by rotating the cover member 102. Because the ease with which the sound of the speaker 101 is transmitted to the driver can be adjusted by rotating the cover member 102, when attaching the speaker 101 to the vehicle meter 20, it is not necessary to take the time and effort to adjust the attachment angle at which the sound of the speaker 101 is easily transmitted to the driver for each vehicle type. As a result, it is possible to make the sound of the speaker 101 easily transmitted to the driver with minimal effort, regardless of the attachment angle of the speaker 101 to the vehicle meter 20 and the vehicle type.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 3, the outlet member 103 preferably has a tubular shape that widens from a hole provided in the cover member 102 toward the sound outlet 103a. In other words, the outlet member 103 preferably has a horn or trumpet shape. By forming the outlet member 103 in such a shape, the sound pressure can be increased and the sound can be propagated efficiently. As a result, the sound from the speaker 101 can be transmitted more easily to the driver.

[0027] (Embodiment 2) In the above embodiment, the speaker 101 is described as having a disk shape, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the speaker 101 may have a shape other than a disk shape.

[0028] (Embodiment 3) In the above-described embodiment, the cover member 102 is described as having a dome or hemispherical shape, but this is not necessarily limited to this. The cover member 102 may have a shape other than a dome or hemispherical shape as long as it can cover the speaker 101 with a gap therebetween and can be rotated in a direction along the surface of the case body 23 facing the interior of the vehicle.

[0029] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 1 Vehicle meter unit, 10 Speaker system (vehicle speaker structure), 20 Vehicle meter, 23 Case body, 101 Speaker, 102 Cover member, 103 Lead-out member, 103a Sound outlet

Claims

1. a speaker (101) attached to a vehicle interior facing surface of a case body (23) of a vehicle meter (20) for use in a vehicle, the surface facing the interior of the vehicle; a cover member (102) that covers the speaker with a gap therebetween; a tubular outlet member (103) for guiding the sound output from the speaker through a hole provided in the cover member to the outside of the cover member, the outside being on the opposite side to the side on which the speaker is located; the cover member is attached to the interior-facing surface of the case body so as to be rotatable in a direction along the interior-facing surface, The output member has an acoustic outlet (103a) that is an outlet for sound from the speaker, which is inclined with respect to an axis about which the cover member rotates relative to the surface facing the interior of the vehicle.

2. 2. The vehicle speaker structure according to claim 1, The output member has a tube shape that widens from the hole toward the sound outlet.

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