Active protection for acoustic device

• US 9,357,299 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2012
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Kwong, Kelvin
• Primary Examiner(s): EASON, MATTHEW A
• Application Number:
  US13/679,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20140140558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• Field of Search: 381/55, 381/189, 381/345
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/007 Protection circuits for transducers

Abstract

A device comprises a housing, an acoustic component coupled to an exterior of the device through an acoustic passage in the housing, and an actuated mechanism operable to close the acoustic passage between the acoustic component and the housing. The actuated mechanism is operable to close the acoustic passage in response to a control signal, where the control signal is indicative of a pressure differential transmittable from the exterior of the device through the acoustic passage to the acoustic component.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a housing surrounding one or more components of the device, the housing defining an acoustic passage;

an acoustic component contained within the housing, wherein the acoustic component generates an audible audio signal and is acoustically coupled to an exterior of the device via the acoustic passage; and

an actuation mechanism operable to close the acoustic passage between the acoustic component and the housing in response to a control signal indicative of a pressure differential transmitted from the exterior of the device along the acoustic passage to the acoustic component.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the control signal comprises a feedback signal generated by the acoustic component, the feedback signal indicative of the pressure differential as transmitted from the exterior of the device along the acoustic passage to the acoustic component.

3. The device of claim 1, further comprising a controller in signal communication with the actuation mechanism and the acoustic component, the controller configured to generate the control signal based on the pressure differential as transmitted to the acoustic component.

4. The device of claim 3, further comprising a motion sensor in signal communication with the controller and operable to generate a sensor signal indicative of motion of the device, wherein the control signal is indicative of the pressure differential as transmittable to the acoustic component based on the motion of the device.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the motion sensor comprises an accelerometer.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to generate the control signal based on an orientation of the device, the orientation defined by the sensor signal from the accelerometer.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a cover glass having the acoustic passage defined therein.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the acoustic component comprises a speaker coupled to the exterior of the device through the acoustic passage in the cover glass.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises an electromagnetic actuator operable to close the acoustic passage by actuation of a shutter or valve.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a microelectrical mechanical or solid state actuator having the acoustic aperture defined therein.

11. An electronic device comprising:

a housing defining an acoustic port;

an acoustic device within the housing, the acoustic device adapted to generate an audible audio signal and having an acoustic coupling to an exterior of the housing through the acoustic port; and

an actuator configured to open and close the acoustic port, such that the acoustic coupling is substantially reduced when the acoustic port is closed;

wherein the actuator closes the acoustic port in response to a control signal indicative of sensed movement of the electronic device and a pressure differential transmittable from the exterior of the housing through the acoustic port to the acoustic device.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the housing comprises a cover glass having the acoustic port therein.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the acoustic device comprises a microphone having the acoustic coupling to the exterior of the housing through the acoustic port in the cover glass.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising a controller in signal communication with the acoustic device and the actuator, the controller operable to generate the command signal based on feedback from the acoustic device, wherein the feedback is indicative of the pressure differential as transmitted through the acoustic port.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the movement of the electronic device is determined by a motion sensor in signal communication with the controller.

16. A method comprising:

generating an audio signal with a speaker coupled to an external acoustic field via an acoustic passage in a housing of a portable electronic device;

opening the acoustic passage between the acoustic device and the housing such that the audio signal corresponds to the external acoustic field;

generating a control signal based on a pressure differential transmitted through the acoustic passage from the exterior of the housing to the acoustic device; and

closing the acoustic passage such that the acoustic device is substantially isolated from the pressure differential when the pressure differential exceeds a threshold.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising generating a sensor signal indicative of motion of the portable electronic device, wherein generating the control signal is based on the sensor signal as indicative of the pressure differential transmitted through the acoustic passage based on the motion of the portable electronic device.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein closing the acoustic passage comprises causing an actuation mechanism to move a shutter from a first position to a second position.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising closing the acoustic passage based on detected movement of the portable electronic device.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the movement of the portable electronic device is detected by an accelerometer.