AUDIO EQUIPMENT AND OSCILLATION UNIT

• US 20130089218A1
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Published: 04/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC CASIO Mobile Communications Limited (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Kishinami, Yuichiro, Onishi, Yasuharu, Komoda, Motoyoshi, Murata, Yukio, Kuroda, Jun, Satou, Shigeo
• Granted Patent: US 9,179,214 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/92
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6008 in the transmitter circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6016 in the receiver circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/32 for obtaining desired directional characteristic only specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 17/10 Resonant transducers, i.e. adapted to produce maximum output at a predetermined frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2217/03 Parametric transducers where sound is generated or captured by the acoustic demodulation of amplitude modulated ultrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2307/027 Diaphragms comprising metallic materials
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2400/01 Transducers used as a loudspeaker to generate sound aswell as a microphone to detect sound
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/23 Direction finding using a sum-delay beam-former
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's

Abstract

A mobile phone (100) detects at least a direction of an utterance position of a user from the voice input to a plurality of microphones (121,122) and controls an output direction of a voice out of a speaker unit (110) to match the detected utterance position. Accordingly, it is possible to provide sound with sufficient volume only for a specific user without causing noise in the neighborhood. The microphones may form a matrix together with piezoelectric vibrators that form a speaker unit, or may be formed separately from the speaker unit.

Claims

1. Audio equipment comprising:

a directional speaker unit;

a plurality of microphones to which a voice of a user is input; and

a directivity control unit that detects at least a direction of the user from an input result of the plurality of microphones and controls an output direction of a voice out of the speaker unit on the basis of the detection result.

2. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

wherein each of the microphones has a first piezoelectric element and a first elastic member that supports the first piezoelectric element, and

in the speaker unit, a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators in which a second piezoelectric element is supported by a second elastic member is arrayed together with the microphones so as to form a matrix.

3. The audio equipment according to claim 2,

wherein the microphones are disposed in a part of an outermost periphery of the matrix.

4. The audio equipment according to claim 3,

wherein the microphones are disposed in at least two of four corners of the matrix.

5. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

wherein the microphones are formed separately from the speaker unit.

6. The audio equipment according to claim 5,

wherein each of the plurality of microphones is disposed at a position spaced apart from each other.

7. The audio equipment according to claim 6,

wherein the number of microphones is 3 or more.

8. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

wherein the speaker unit is disposed between the plurality of microphones.

9. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

wherein the microphones receive an input of a call voice of the user,

a call transmission unit that wirelessly transmits the call voice input to the microphone is further provided, and

the directivity control unit detects an utterance position of the user from the wirelessly transmitted call voice.

10. An oscillation unit comprising:

a piezoelectric vibrator in which a first piezoelectric element is supported by a first elastic member; and

a microphone in which a second piezoelectric element is supported by a second elastic member,

wherein a plurality of the piezoelectric vibrators and a plurality of the microphones are disposed so as to form the same matrix.