Offset Bass and Full-Range Transducers for Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with acoustically and mechanically in-phase loudspeakers experience vibration and buzz due to induced forces, leading to poor user experiences and mechanical failures.
Innovation Solution
A transducer assembly with laterally offset transducers of different sizes, arranged in different directions to cancel net torque and reduce undesirable forces, utilizing a large bass driver and smaller full range transducers for force cancellation and haptic experiences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If multiple loudspeakers are arranged in a common enclosure to generate sound, then sound output is improved, but vibration and buzz are induced causing poor user experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies force cancellation by arranging transducers to generate equal and opposite forces that counterbalance each other. Specifically, a first transducer generates a force in a first direction while second and third transducers generate forces in a second direction opposite to the first direction, creating a net force cancellation that reduces vibration and buzz while maintaining sound output.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If transducers are arranged to cancel forces, then vibration and buzz are reduced, but torque is induced causing mechanical issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses asymmetric transducer arrangement where transducers of different sizes are positioned at different locations. The first transducer has a different size than the second and third transducers, and they are arranged in a specific geometric configuration that cancels both force and torque. This asymmetric layout allows the system to generate equal and opposite forces while maintaining balance to prevent torque induction.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If stacked force cancellation is used, then force cancellation is achieved, but z-height is increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stacking transducers vertically (z-direction) to achieve force cancellation, the patent arranges transducers laterally in the horizontal plane. The first, second, and third transducers are positioned side-by-side in a lateral arrangement, allowing force cancellation to be achieved in the vertical direction without increasing the z-height of the enclosure.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If different size transducers are used for force cancellation, then force cancellation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the transducer assembly to serve multiple functions: the same set of transducers used for force cancellation also produces sound output and can provide haptic feedback. The asymmetric transducer configuration enables the system to simultaneously achieve force cancellation, audio reproduction, and tactile output, reducing the need for separate components and overall system complexity.
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 offset transducer configuration effectively cancels forces and reduces torque, providing improved user experiences and low-cost haptic feedback in devices with constrained speaker z-height, while maintaining minimal z-height and enabling stereo output.
Implementation Method 1
a first transducer having a diaphragm of a first size facing a first direction and producing a first force in the first direction when driven by an audio signal
Implementation Method 2
the loudspeakers may be acoustically in-phase because they generate sound from a same audio signal, and the loudspeakers may be mechanically in-phase because the same audio signal drives respective diaphragms of the loudspeakers simultaneously in the same direction
Data Source
AI summary
A transducer assembly comprising: a laterally offset arrangement of different size transducers, the different size transducers comprising at least a first transducer having a diaphragm of a first size arranged in a first direction and a pair of transducers each having a diaphragm of a second size arranged in a second direction to output sound when driven by respective audio signals, and wherein a force produced by the first transducer is cancelled by a sum of forces produced by the pair of transducers when the transduces are driven by the audio signals.