High Compliance Speaker for Vibration Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional speakers with low mechanical compliance (Cms) transducers in smartphones and consumer electronics face challenges in providing high-quality audio at low frequencies, especially in wearable devices like headsets, due to their large form factor, high power consumption, and unwanted vibrations.
Innovation Solution
A high compliance speaker system with a transducer having a high Cms membrane (greater than 10 mm/N) and an enclosure design featuring a front and rear cavity with output ports, achieving a high equivalent acoustic volume while maintaining a small form factor and low weight, which reduces unwanted vibrations and improves power efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional speakers with low mechanical compliance transducers are used, then audio quality at low frequencies can be achieved, but the device form factor becomes large and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mechanical compliance parameter of the transducer from low (conventional) to high (greater than 10 mm/N), which fundamentally alters the speaker's operational characteristics. This parameter change enables the system to achieve good audio quality while maintaining a compact form factor, as the high compliance transducer is more efficient at converting electrical energy to acoustic energy, particularly at low frequencies.
2Reliability
If conventional speakers with low mechanical compliance transducers are used, then audio quality can be maintained, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the mechanical compliance parameter to high values, the transducer becomes more efficient at converting electrical power to acoustic output. This reduces the overall power consumption required to achieve the same audio quality level, as the high compliance design minimizes energy losses and improves electroacoustic efficiency.
3Reliability
If conventional speakers are used, then audio output can be achieved, but unwanted vibrations are generated in the device structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potentially harmful vibrations into a beneficial effect by using the front and rear cavities to create acoustic cancellation. The vibrations that would normally be harmful are channeled through the cavities to produce out-of-phase sound waves that cancel each other in the far-field, while still delivering audio output to the user's ear in the near-field.
Solution Approach 2:
The speaker system is segmented into distinct functional components: the high compliance transducer for audio generation, the front cavity for sound delivery to the user, and the rear cavity for acoustic cancellation. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, reducing unwanted vibrations while maintaining audio quality.
4Volume of moving object
If a small form factor enclosure is used, then device portability is improved, but equivalent acoustic volume (Vas) is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The high mechanical compliance of the transducer (Cms greater than 10 mm/N) fundamentally changes the acoustic impedance characteristics of the system, enabling a small physical enclosure to achieve a high equivalent acoustic volume. The high compliance allows the transducer to move more air with less force, effectively increasing the acoustic volume without increasing the physical enclosure size.
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 high compliance speaker system delivers high-quality audio with low leakage into the far-field, providing efficient sound delivery to the user's ear while minimizing power consumption and unwanted vibrations in the headset.
Implementation Method 1
The speaker is a high compliance speaker that includes a transducer with mechanical compliance (Cms) that is high
Implementation Method 2
The second portion of the sound is substantially out of phase with the first portion of the sound. The total sound emitted from the audio system may have a dipole configuration, such that the first portion of the sound destructively interferes with the second portion of the sound in the far-field
Implementation Method 3
The speaker is a high compliance speaker that includes a transducer with mechanical compliance (Cms) that is high. The audio system has a relatively low resonance frequency, which improves the power efficiency of the audio system and reduces unwanted vibrations in structures coupled to the enclosure and the speaker
Data Source
AI summary
An audio system includes a speaker configured to emit sound. The speaker is contained in an enclosure, the enclosure forming a front cavity and a rear cavity that are on opposite sides of the speaker. The enclosure includes: at least one output port configured to output a first portion of the sound from the front cavity and at least one rear port configured to output a second portion of the sound from the rear cavity. The second portion of the sound is substantially out of phase with the first portion. The audio system has an equivalent acoustic volume (Vas) greater than ten times a volume of the front cavity and greater than ten times a volume of the rear cavity.