Voice Cancellation Chamber with Sound Decelerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing voice muffling devices are ineffective in preventing the uncontrolled propagation of vocal sounds, making private phone conversations difficult in public spaces, as they require an airtight seal that restricts breathing and are not practical for everyday use.
Innovation Solution
A voice cancellation system featuring a sound muffling chamber with a microphone to detect vocal sounds, a sound decelerator to slow sound waves, and a signal processing system generating out-of-phase sound waves to destructively interfere with the original vocal sounds, ensuring privacy and minimizing disturbance to others.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If an airtight mask is used to prevent vocal sound leakage, then voice privacy is improved, but breathing and vocalization become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical passive muffling system (airtight mask) with an active electronic system consisting of microphones, signal processors, and speakers. The system captures the user's voice, processes it electronically to reduce intelligibility, and plays back the modified audio, thereby achieving voice privacy without requiring an airtight seal that would restrict breathing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary electronic processing system between the user's voice and the surrounding environment. Instead of directly blocking sound waves with a physical barrier, the system uses microphones to capture voice, signal processors to modify it, and speakers to emit the processed audio, creating a mediated solution that preserves breathability while maintaining privacy
2Ease of operation
If ventilation capacity of airtight masks is improved, then breathing becomes easier, but effectiveness of voice muffling diminishes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the fundamental contradiction by replacing the mechanical airtight mask system with an active electronic system. The new system uses microphones to capture voice inside a breathable chamber, processes the audio signal to reduce intelligibility, and plays back the modified audio through speakers, thereby maintaining both ventilation capacity and voice muffling effectiveness simultaneously
3Loss of time
If a sound decelerator is added to slow sound waves, then processing time is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical sound decelerator (tortuous path structure) with an electronic timing approach. The signal processor captures the voice signal, applies the appropriate time delay electronically to match the acoustic path delay, and processes the signal accordingly. This electronic timing method achieves the same effect as a mechanical decelerator without adding physical complexity to the device structure
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 system effectively reduces the loudness and intelligibility of the user's voice to the surrounding environment while allowing comfortable breathing and easy use, providing a robust sound barrier that is elastic and foldable for convenience.
Implementation Method 1
the sound decelerator includes material to increase a traveling time of sound waves from the sound muffling chamber to the sound silencing chamber
Implementation Method 2
the voice cancellation signal includes one or more frequency components having a same frequency and amplitude but a 180 degrees out of phase from one or more frequency components of the voice signal
Data Source
AI summary
A sound muffling chamber covers a nose and mouth in an airtight manner. The sound muffling chamber includes a microphone that detects vocal sound waves in the sound muffling chamber and generates a voice signal. A digital signal processing system analyzes the voice signal and generates a voice cancellation signal. A sound silencing chamber includes a speaker that generates out of phase sound waves in response to the voice cancellation signal that superimposes on and cancels the vocal sound waves. A sound decelerator is positioned between the sound muffling chamber and the sound silencing chamber and configured to increase a traveling time of the vocal sound waves such that the vocal sound waves' arrival at the sound silencing chamber may be synchronized with the arrival of a voice cancellation signal. The sound muffling chamber may include inflatable cells separated by slats such that the sound muffling chamber is foldable.