Audio equipment and oscillation unit

• US 9,179,214 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Kishinami, Yuichiro, Onishi, Yasuharu, Komoda, Motoyoshi, Murata, Yukio, Kuroda, Jun, Satou, Shigeo
• Primary Examiner(s): Teshale, Akelaw
• Application Number:
  US13/805,401
• Publication Number:
  US 20130089218A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,573 Days
• Field of Search: 381/190, 381/189, 381/191, 381/173, 381/354, 381/71.1, 381/77, 381/315, 381/387, 381/71.6, 381/80, 381/92, 381/26, 381/91, 381/71.2, 381111-117, 381/162, 381/164
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 directional speaker unit on the basis of the detection result,

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

wherein, in the directional 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,

wherein a first microphone among the microphones is disposed at a first corner among four corners of the matrix,

wherein a second microphone among the microphones is disposed at a second corner among the four corners of the matrix, the second corner being a different corner from the first corner,

wherein no microphone is disposed between the first corner and the second corner in the matrix, and

wherein the piezoelectric vibrators are disposed between the first corner and the second corner in the matrix.

2. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

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

3. The audio equipment according to claim 1,

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

the audio equipment further comprises a call transmission unit that wirelessly transmits the call voice input to the microphone, and

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

4. 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 a matrix,

wherein the oscillation unit further comprises a directivity control unit that detects at least a direction of a user from an input result of the plurality of the microphones and controls an output direction of a voice out of a directional speaker unit on the basis of the detection result,

wherein a first microphone among the microphones is disposed at a first corner among four corners of the matrix,

wherein a second microphone among the microphones is disposed at a second corner of the four corners of the matrix, the second corner being a different corner from the first corner,

wherein no microphone is disposed between the first corner and the second corner in the matrix, and

wherein the piezoelectric vibrators are disposed between the first corner and the second corner in the matrix.