Horn-Shaped Ceiling Loudspeaker for Bass and Wide Dispersion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ceiling-mounted loudspeakers face challenges in reducing size while maintaining performance, often resulting in loss of bass frequencies and reduced sound dispersion due to the lack of a baffle for coaxially mounted tweeters and mid-bass drivers, leading to frequency response anomalies and narrow sound dispersion patterns.
Innovation Solution
A ceiling-mounted loudspeaker design featuring a horn-shaped enclosure with a slanted woofer and a speaker module with a baffle plate, where the woofer is mounted at the top of a tubular enclosure and the midrange and tweeter are positioned at the bottom, allowing for enhanced sound dispersion and fitting through smaller ceiling openings while maintaining bass performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the size of the ceiling loudspeaker is reduced, then the ceiling opening size is reduced, but the bass frequency performance and sound dispersion are degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested structure where the midrange and tweeter drivers are positioned inside the horn-shaped enclosure that houses the woofer. This allows multiple drivers of different sizes to be integrated into a compact overall form factor, enabling reduced ceiling opening size while maintaining bass performance through the nested woofer configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a traditional planar speaker mounting to a three-dimensional horn-shaped enclosure with drivers positioned at different depths and angles. The woofer is slanted relative to the ceiling plane, and the midrange/tweeter are positioned within the horn volume, creating effective sound dispersion without increasing the ceiling opening footprint
2Area of stationary object
If coaxial mounting of tweeter and mid-bass driver is used, then the speaker size is reduced, but sound dispersion and frequency response are degraded due to lack of baffle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the speaker system into distinct functional zones: the woofer occupies the horn-shaped enclosure, while the midrange and tweeter are separately positioned on the front baffle. This segmentation allows each driver to operate with its own optimized mounting structure, with the baffle providing proper acoustic support for the midrange and tweeter without requiring them to be coaxially mounted
Solution Approach 2:
The front baffle serves as an intermediary structure that properly supports the midrange and tweeter drivers, providing the necessary acoustic barrier and mounting surface. This baffle intermediary enables the midrange and tweeter to achieve proper sound dispersion without being constrained by coaxial mounting requirements
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design provides improved bass frequency output and sound dispersion, overcoming the limitations of traditional ceiling speakers by using a slanted woofer and baffle configuration, which allows for a larger radiating area without increasing the speaker's footprint, resulting in performance comparable to a standard speaker one size larger.
Implementation Method 1
a hollow, generally tubular enclosure which serves as a horn-shaped acoustic waveguide for the low-range speaker
Implementation Method 2
A first acoustic driver, or speaker, which preferably is a low-frequency-range speaker, or woofer, that is mounted on a top end of a hollow, generally tubular enclosure which serves as a horn-shaped acoustic waveguide
Data Source
AI summary
A ceiling-mounted loudspeaker includes a horn-shaped enclosure, an acoustic driver, and a front module. The tubular or horn-shaped enclosure carries a slanted woofer or loudspeaker driver which radiates into an angled or slanted first opening. The tubular enclosure terminates at bottom in a second, circular opening substantially parallel to a second plane, wherein the woofer's slanted plane is inclined with respect to the second plane. The slanted woofer can be oval and radiates sound through the enclosure's interior lumen and outwardly through ports defined in a substantially circular baffle carrying the front module and connected to the second opening. The baffle carries a midrange and tweeter near the ceiling where they can provide enhanced sound dispersion.