Acoustic speaker system
First Claim
1. An electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising:
- an electro-acoustic transducer comprising;
a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face,an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, andan electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and
a sound dampening body having an outer surface and a mass density that substantially continuously increases away from said outer surface;
wherein;
said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An acoustic speaker system according to this invention is provided that includes a conventional woofer, an electro-acoustic converter that functions as a tweeter, and a system enclosure. The converter includes an electro-acoustic transducer and a variable density hollow body. The transducer includes a piezoelectric sheet and two conductive electrodes. One electrode is disposed on each face of the sheet. Coatings are optionally disposed on each side of the transducer. The transducer is wrapped around a variable density body which may be filled with an acoustic dampening material. The acoustic speaker system enclosure includes a hollow ellipsoidal woofer enclosure with a portion of its outer surface for mounting an electro-acoustic converter, and optionally, a converter cover. The acoustic speaker system also includes an elastomeric cover that is fastened to the dome portion of a woofer.
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Citations
170 Claims
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1. An electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising:
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an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a sound dampening body having an outer surface and a mass density that substantially continuously increases away from said outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising:
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an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a body having an outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane, and wherein each of said layers comprises silver dispersed in polyurethane. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An acoustic speaker system comprising:
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an electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a body having an outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane, and wherein each of said layers comprises silver dispersed in polyurethane; a woofer having a woofer frame; a woofer enclosure having a woofer mounting hole and a tweeter mounting portion for mounting said electro-acoustic converter, said woofer mounting hole having an edge; and an acoustically opaque woofer mounting apparatus for minimizing acoustic absorption by said enclosure, said apparatus comprising; a plurality of acoustically opaque resilient woofer fasteners for fastening a portion of said woofer frame to a portion of said woofer enclosure adjacent to said woofer mounting hole edge; and a substantially acoustically opaque gasket sandwiched between said woofer frame and said portion of said woofer enclosure adjacent to said woofer mounting hole edge. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. An acoustic speaker system comprising:
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an electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a body having an outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane, and wherein each of said layers comprises silver dispersed in polyurethane; and an electromagnetic acoustic speaker having a portion with a dome shape; and a dome-damper for dampening predetermined portions of an audible frequency range comprising an elastomeric cover that is fastened to said portion, said cover being deformed to have substantially the same shape as said portion having a dome shape. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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47. An acoustic speaker system comprising:
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an electro-acoustic converter comprising; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a sound dampening body having an outer surface and a mass density that substantially continuously increases away from said outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane;
said acoustic speaker system further comprising;a woofer having a rigid substantially circular outer frame; and an acoustic system enclosure comprising a hollow woofer enclosure having; a substantially ellipsoidal outer surface, said outer surface having a woofer mounting hole with an edge for mounting a woofer, and a mounting portion on said outer surface for mounting a tweeter. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99)
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100. An acoustic speaker system comprising:
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an electro-acoustic converter comprising; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet, wherein at least one of said conducting layers comprises silver dispersed in polyurethane; and a body having an outer surface;
wherein;said transducer is disposed against at least a portion of said outer surface of said body such that said sheet is deformed out of said plane;
said acoustic speaker system further comprising;a woofer having a rigid substantially circular outer frame; and an acoustic system enclosure comprising a hollow woofer enclosure having; a substantially ellipsoidal outer surface, said outer surface having a woofer mounting hole with an edge for mounting a woofer, and a mounting portion on said outer surface for mounting a tweeter.
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101. An electro-acoustic converter for converting between electrical and acoustic energy, said converter comprising:
an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, said sheet being deformed into a non-planar shape, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, said first layer having edges disposed away from said first edge of said sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet; and a first transducer coating for at least one of (a) partially dampening vibration of said transducer and (b) retarding oxidation of said transducer, said first coating comprising; a first portion which is disposed on said first conducting layer; and a second portion which is disposed on said first face of said sheet between said edges of said first conducting layer and said edges of said sheet. - View Dependent Claims (102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128)
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129. An acoustic speaker system comprising:
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an electro-acoustic converter comprising; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising; a flexible piezoelectric sheet defining a plane, and having a first edge, a second edge opposed to said first edge, a first face, and a second face opposite said first face, said sheet being deformed into a non-planar shape, an electrically conducting first layer disposed on said first face of the sheet, said first layer having edges disposed away from said edges of said sheet, and an electrically conducting second layer disposed on the second face of said sheet, wherein at least one of said electrically conducting layers comprises silver dispersed in polyurethane; and a first transducer coating for at least one of (a) partially dampening vibration of said transducer and (b) retarding oxidation of said transducer, said first coating comprising; a first portion which is disposed on said first conducting layer; and a second portion which is disposed on said first face of said sheet between said edges of said first conducting layer and said edges of said sheet;
wherein;said sheet is deformed out of said plane;
said acoustic speaker system further comprising;a woofer having a rigid substantially circular outer frame; and an acoustic system enclosure comprising a hollow woofer enclosure having; a substantially ellipsoidal outer surface, said outer surface having a woofer mounting hole with an edge for mounting a woofer, and a mounting portion on said outer surface for mounting a tweeter. - View Dependent Claims (130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170)
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Specification