Shallow Speaker Diaphragm with Cylindrical Subcone
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shallow loudspeakers face challenges in maintaining excursion capability while minimizing depth, often requiring intricate manufacture and high-risk glue joints, which can lead to reliability issues and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a diaphragm with a top portion, an outer perimeter portion sloped downward, a depressed central portion, and an annular cylindrical subcone that engages the spider, along with a tinsel embedded in a channel, and a radially outer circumferential adhesive well for easier assembly, reducing the number of glue joints and simplifying manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If the speaker depth is reduced to create a shallow speaker, then the speaker can be used in mounting environments with limited space, but the excursion capability of the diaphragm is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The diaphragm is segmented into a top portion and a depressed central portion, allowing different regions to serve different functions. The depressed central portion provides the necessary excursion capability while the top portion maintains a compact profile, enabling the speaker to achieve shallow depth without sacrificing diaphragm movement range.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of reducing excursion by simply flattening the diaphragm, the invention introduces vertical dimensionality through the depressed central portion. This creates a three-dimensional structure that allows the diaphragm to maintain adequate excursion capability while presenting a shallower overall profile from the front view.
2Length of stationary object
If intricate manufacture is used to maintain excursion in shallow speakers, then the speaker design can achieve shallow depth, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The spider assembly is merged with the diaphragm structure through direct engagement with the depressed central portion. This integration eliminates the need for separate mounting brackets, complex adhesives, or multiple alignment steps, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining the shallow speaker design.
Solution Approach 2:
The depressed central portion of the diaphragm is designed to self-align and self-engagement with the spider assembly. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for precision alignment fixtures, complex adhesive applications, or multiple assembly steps, significantly simplifying the manufacturing process.
3Ease of manufacture
If high-risk glue joints are used in shallow speaker construction, then the speaker can be assembled, but the reliability decreases due to strain hardening and stress fracture
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the high-risk glue joints from the critical load-bearing paths by designing direct mechanical engagement between the spider assembly and the depressed central portion of the diaphragm. This eliminates or minimizes the reliance on adhesive bonds in areas subjected to high stress and strain during diaphragm excursion.
Solution Approach 2:
The depressed central portion acts as an intermediary mechanical structure that transfers forces between the diaphragm and spider assembly through rigid engagement rather than through adhesive bonds. This intermediary structure provides a reliable force transmission path that is immune to the aging and degradation issues that plague glue joints.
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
This approach allows for efficient, inexpensive, and reliable shallow speaker production with maintained sound quality and excursion capability, while minimizing depth and reducing the risk of glue joint failures.
Implementation Method 1
The voice coil, which rests in the magnetic field of a magnet assembly, receives an audio-encoded electrical signal, or 'audio signal', which causes varying current in the voice coil. By interaction of the voice coil current with the magnetic field of the magnet assembly, sound-producing movement of the former and diaphragm results.
Data Source
AI summary
An improved shallow speaker is disclosed having a molded diaphragm with an outer, depending, annular cylindrical subcone that connects to a channel formed in the outer perimeter of the spider. Embodiments for round and cornered (polygonal, etc.) speakers are provided. The top plate has a raised outer annular portion for receiving an annular spider flange with or without screw holes for clamping the inner spider flange with a spider ring. In the cornered speaker embodiments, flanges extend from the cylindrical portions to the cornered portions including from a diaphragm inner glue flange over the depressed central portion and from the annular cylindrical subcone both outwardly and inwardly to top diaphragm portions. Routing of the tinsel may be through one or more openings in the annular cylindrical subcone and along the diaphragm inner surfaces, with channels in or on those surfaces for securely routing the tinsel.