Ultrasonic speaker system

• US 8,855,333 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2014
• Issued: 10/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kotegawa, Kazuhisa, Konno, Fumiyasu, Takeda, Katsu
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lun-See
• Application Number:
  US14/148,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20140233760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 274 Days
• Field of Search: 381 57- 59, 381103-107, 381/77, 381/79, 181/141, 736/20
• US Class Current: 381/107
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/00 Gain control in amplifiers or frequency changers
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/3005 in amplifiers suitable for low-frequencies, e.g. audio amplifiers H03G3/32, H03G3/34 take precedence

Abstract

An ultrasonic speaker system has a first variable gain block, a modulation block, a second variable gain block, an ultrasonic actuator, and a controller, wherein the controller controls gain of the first variable gain block so that a modulation degree of a modulated signal becomes a predetermined value, and when the controller raises the gain of the first variable gain block, the controller lowers the gain of the second variable gain block, while when the controller lowers the gain of the first variable gain block, the controller raises the gain of the second variable gain block.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic speaker system comprising:

a first variable gain block for receiving a speech signal outputted from a speech signal source;

a modulation block for receiving the speech signal outputted from the first variable gain block;

a second variable gain block for receiving a modulated signal generated in the modulation block based on the speech signal;

an ultrasonic actuator that is driven by the modulated signal outputted from the second variable gain block, coverts the modulated signal to an acoustic wave of a finite amplitude level, and radiates the acoustic wave into a medium; and

a controller that controls the first variable gain block and the second variable gain block,

wherein the controller controls gain of the first variable gain block so that a modulation degree of the modulated signal becomes a predetermined value,

when the controller raises the gain of the first variable gain block, the controller lowers gain of the second variable gain block, and

when the controller lowers the gain of the first variable gain block, the controller raises the gain of the second variable gain block.

2. The ultrasonic speaker system according to claim 1,

wherein the controller receives sound volume information from the speech signal source, and controls the gain of the first variable gain block and the gain of the second variable gain block according to the sound volume information.

3. The ultrasonic speaker system according to claim 1,

wherein the controller receives a part of the speech signal outputted from the speech signal source, derives sound volume information from the inputted speech signal, and controls the gain of the first variable gain block and the gain of the second variable gain block according to the sound volume information.

4. The ultrasonic speaker system according to claim 1, wherein a relationship between a gain value G1 of the first variable gain block and a gain value G2 of the second variable gain block is G1=1/G2.

5. The ultrasonic speaker system according to claim 1, wherein a method for deciding gain value G1 of the first variable gain block and gain value G2 of the second variable gain block includes use of data in a look-up table calculated in advance.

6. The ultrasonic speaker system according to claim 1, wherein the controller sets the gain of the second variable gain block to zero, when a level of the speech signal is a predetermined value or less.