Soundbar with Angled Speaker Array for Multi-Directional Audio
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sound bars struggle to provide multi-directional audio output, particularly failing to direct sound towards both walls and ceiling effectively, which limits the immersive audio experience for TV viewers, especially when mounted on flat screens where upward audio output is often blocked or muffled.
Innovation Solution
A sound bar design featuring an elongate housing with a front, back, bottom, and top surface, and an angled output surface housing speakers, equipped with an audio processor for 3D audio processing, allowing the sound bar to be mounted horizontally or vertically while directing audio output towards both forward and upward directions, and incorporating an orientation detection system to reconfigure audio channels as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If speakers are placed on the front surface of the sound bar, then audio output is directed forward toward listeners, but audio output cannot reach the ceiling to create immersive 3D sound
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new dimension to audio output by adding an upward-facing speaker array on the top surface of the sound bar. This allows sound to be projected not only forward horizontally but also upward toward the ceiling, creating multi-directional 3D audio coverage that enhances immersion without compromising forward-facing audio performance
2Device complexity
If the sound bar is designed with front-facing speakers only, then the structure remains simple, but it cannot provide upward audio output for ceiling reflection
Solution Approach 1:
The sound bar is designed with universal functionality by equipping both the front surface and top surface with speaker arrays. This dual-speaker configuration allows the device to provide effective audio output regardless of mounting orientation—whether mounted horizontally on a wall below a TV or vertically on the side of a TV—thereby achieving mounting orientation flexibility while maintaining relatively simple structural additions
3Reliability
If multiple speakers are placed around the room for strategic placement, then excellent audio quality is achieved, but the system becomes complex and expensive with extensive wiring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple speaker functions into a single integrated sound bar unit. By integrating both forward-facing and upward-facing speaker arrays in one device, it consolidates what would otherwise require separate speakers placed around the room, thereby achieving excellent audio quality through multi-directional output while avoiding the complexity and expense of extensive wiring and multiple discrete speaker installations
4Ease of operation
If the sound bar is mounted on a shelf or table, then it provides forward audio output, but upward audio output is blocked by the shelf or table
Solution Approach 1:
The sound bar employs asymmetric speaker placement by positioning speaker arrays on both the front surface and the top surface at different orientations. This asymmetric configuration ensures that when mounted on a shelf or table, the upward-facing top speakers can project sound upward toward the ceiling without being blocked by the mounting surface, while the front speakers continue to provide forward audio output
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 design enhances the audio experience by providing multi-directional 3D audio output that bounces off both walls and ceiling, creating a more immersive sound environment without the need for additional ceiling speakers and maintaining aesthetic appeal by being sleek and versatile in mounting options.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of speakers disposed in the output surface
Implementation Method 2
providing sound that not only travels toward the viewer (i.e., in a generally horizontal direction away from the sound bar and towards the walls in a room), but that also travels upwards towards the ceiling, thus providing a signal that bounces off walls of a room as well as off the ceiling
Data Source
AI summary
A sound bar is provided which includes a generally elongate rectangular structure, with one angled output face having a plurality of speakers disposed therein, to thereby provide enhanced audio output. The sound bar is beneficially provided with a single mounting surface configured and arranged such that the sound bar can be mounted on both a table/shelf (horizontal orientation) and a wall (vertical orientation) via the single mounting surface by rotating the sound bar 180°, wherein the audio output in both mounting orientations is a multi-directional 3D audio output that travels to and bounces off both the walls and the ceiling of a room in which the sound bar is located.