Lightweight speaker enclosure
First Claim
1. An enclosure for a sound speaker comprising:
- a box section having side walls and a back wall which define a space for containing a speaker wherein said walls of said box section comprise a rigid substantially seamless outer layer, a middle sound absorbing layer, and a rigid substantially seamless inner layer, wherein the middle sound layer is able to resist compression along a first direction more than along a second direction that is generally perpendicular to the first direction;
a baffle section having at least one opening for allowing a diaphragm of said speaker to communicate therethrough wherein said baffle section is bonded to said front face of said box section to thereby enclose said speaker in an interior of said speaker enclosure; and
at least one adhering layer between the outer layer and the middle sound absorbing layer, or between the middle sound absorbing layer and the inner layer, wherein the at least one adhering layer can be formed under a first condition that that does not cause a compression of the middle sound layer beyond a threshold value along the first direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A speaker enclosure having a substantially seamless rigid outer skin, a middle sound absorbing layer, and a substantially seamless inner skin results in a lightweight speaker having sound absorbing characteristics. The speaker enclosure is comprised of two basic parts, a box section and a baffle section where each of these sections include a rigid outer skin, the middle sound absorbing layer and a seamless inner skin and are made according to the same method. The outer skin is formed from a layer of sheet molding compound, the middle sound absorbing layer includes pieces of honeycomb material, and the inner skin is formed from a layer of sheet molding compound. The layers of material are placed into a mold and then cured through vacuum bagging and heating thereby producing a strong, lightweight speaker enclosure made of materials which attenuate the transmission and retransmission of errant sound waves in the enclosure thereby reducing distortion of the sound signal produced by the speaker.
27 Citations
28 Claims
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1. An enclosure for a sound speaker comprising:
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a box section having side walls and a back wall which define a space for containing a speaker wherein said walls of said box section comprise a rigid substantially seamless outer layer, a middle sound absorbing layer, and a rigid substantially seamless inner layer, wherein the middle sound layer is able to resist compression along a first direction more than along a second direction that is generally perpendicular to the first direction;
a baffle section having at least one opening for allowing a diaphragm of said speaker to communicate therethrough wherein said baffle section is bonded to said front face of said box section to thereby enclose said speaker in an interior of said speaker enclosure; and
at least one adhering layer between the outer layer and the middle sound absorbing layer, or between the middle sound absorbing layer and the inner layer, wherein the at least one adhering layer can be formed under a first condition that that does not cause a compression of the middle sound layer beyond a threshold value along the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13)
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11. A method for forming a speaker enclosure comprising the steps of:
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providing a mold that resembles the exterior finished size and shape of said enclosure;
providing an outer layer by cutting and folding a single sheet of sheet molding compound to substantially conform to the size and shape of said mold;
providing a middle layer by placing a plurality of pieces of a sound absorbing material onto said outer layer thereby substantially covering the surface area thereof;
providing an inner layer by cutting and folding a single sheet of sheet molding compound to substantially conform to the size and shape of said mold;
curing the enclosure by exposing said mold, said outer layer, said middle layer, and said inner layer to temperatures and pressures sufficient to cure said outer layer and said inner layer, wherein said pressures are less than a compression threshold value of the middle layer, and wherein the use of the sheet molding compound allows a relatively fast curing process performed under sub-compression threshold conditions.
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14. A method of forming a speaker enclosure, the method comprising:
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positioning a first layer of resin impregnated material having resin that flows when exposed to a selected temperature and pressure into a mold in a pattern that defines a substantially seamless outer skin;
positioning sound absorbing material over the resin impregnated material positioned within the mold;
positioning a second layer of resin impregnated material having resin that flows when exposed to a selected temperature and pressure onto the sound absorbing material in a pattern that defines a substantially seamless inner skin;
exposing the first layer, the second layer and the sound absorbing material to the selected temperature and pressure such that the resin in the resin impregnated materials flows to form the substantially seamless layers and such that the sound absorbing material is substantially coated by the resin in the resin impregnated material, wherein the selected pressure is less than a compression threshold value of the sound absorbing material, and wherein the use of the resin impregnated material allows for a relatively fast formation of the substantially seamless layers while under a sub-compression threshold pressure condition; and
curing the first layer, the second layer and the sound absorbing material such that the first and second layers form substantially rigid layers and such that the sound absorbing materials are adhered to the first and second layers substantially over the entire area of the sound absorbing materials. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A speaker enclosure comprising:
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an outer substantially seamless layer of cured sheet molding compound;
an inner substantially seamless layer of cured sheet molding compound;
a sound absorbing layer interposed between the outer and inner layers of cured sheet molding compound, wherein the outer and inner layers are contoured to define an interior space that receive the speaker components, and wherein the sound absorbing layer is able to resist compression along a first direction more than along a second direction that is generally perpendicular to the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification