Loudspeaker Damper Coating via Asymmetric Masking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for fabricating loudspeaker dampers result in excessive stiffness and irregular coating distribution, leading to inconsistent sound quality due to irregularly shaped softened regions, which affect noise levels and resonance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a printed pattern on a screen with a non-circular inner edge is used to align and distribute a coating material evenly on a fiber fabric, ensuring a consistent shape and reduced noise by maintaining the coating material's regularity and uniformity across the damper's surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a coating material is applied on a predetermined coating region of the damper to soften the region, then the excessive stiffness problem is addressed, but the coating material distributes irregularly due to inward wrinkles in the weft direction, causing inconsistent sound quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by designing a non-circular printed pattern (specifically an oval or elliptical shape) that compensates for the directional wrinkles in the fiber fabric. The pattern's dimensions are specifically calculated to account for the greater wrinkle formation in the weft direction versus the warp direction, ensuring uniform coating distribution despite the fabric's anisotropic behavior.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the coating pattern from a conventional circular shape to a non-circular shape with specific dimensional ratios. This parameter modification allows the pattern to pre-compensate for the directional deformation that occurs during fabric processing, thereby achieving uniform coating distribution across the damper surface.
2Ease of manufacture
If the fiber fabric is extended in the warp direction, then the fabric structure is formed, but the coating region becomes irregularly shaped after baking due to differential extension in warp and weft directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and pre-distorting the coating pattern shape before application. The non-circular pattern is designed in advance to account for the expected differential extension that will occur during fabric formation and baking, so that after deformation, the coated region maintains its intended regular shape.
3Device complexity
If a circular coating region is used, then the design is simple, but the region becomes significantly irregular and oval-shaped after baking, subject to more noise and adverse sound quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the symmetric circular pattern with an asymmetric non-circular pattern that is specifically tailored to counteract the directional deformation. This asymmetric design, while more complex in design than a simple circle, actually simplifies the final outcome by eliminating the need for post-processing corrections and ensuring uniform coating distribution.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of fabricating a damper is described. A printed pattern is formed on a screen, the printed pattern having an outer edge and a non-circular inner edge. A fiber fabric is soaked in a resin bath, and has a damper forming region provided with a predetermined coating region. The fiber fabric is placed below the screen so that the printed pattern is aligned with the predetermined coating region. A coating material is then poured over the screen so as to flow through a gap region of the printed pattern onto the predetermined coating region. After the fiber fabric has undergone baking, the inner edge of the predetermined coating region can be converted from the non-circular shape to a predetermined shape. The coating material thereby is distributed over the surface of the damper in a substantially regular and uniform manner.