Electronic device having mechanically out-of-phase speakers

• US 10,499,143 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2018
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Crosby, Justin D., Boothe, Daniel K., Farahani, Houtan R., Sweet, Edward T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Sean H
• Application Number:
  US16/159,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20190082253A1
• Time in Patent Office: 417 Days
• Field of Search: 381401
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2819 for loudspeaker transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2896 for loudspeaker transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/323 for loudspeakers H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers

Abstract

An electronic device having several speaker modules that are acoustically in-phase and mechanically out-of-phase is disclosed. Embodiments include a pair of speaker modules mounted at respective ends of a lateral link, and the lateral link may be supported relative to a housing of the electronic device. The speaker modules may receive a same audio signal, and the audio signal may drive a first voicecoil in a first direction and a second voicecoil in a second direction. Accordingly, the speaker modules may be driven in mechanically different directions by the same audio signal, such that reactive forces cancel and/or mechanical energy is dissipate in the lateral link between the speaker modules. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing including a display and a manual input device;

an anchor mounted on the housing;

a cantilever extending laterally within the housing from the anchor to a first free end, wherein the anchor is stiffer than the housing and the cantilever such that the first free end is decoupled from the housing; and

a first speaker module mounted on the cantilever at the first free end, the first speaker module including a first voicecoil, wherein the first voicecoil moves along a first axis in a first direction orthogonal to the cantilever when driven by an audio signal.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising:

a second cantilever extending laterally within the housing from a second anchor in an opposite direction of the cantilever to a second end; and

a second speaker module mounted on the second cantilever at the second end, the second speaker module including a second voicecoil, wherein the second voicecoil moves along a second axis in a second direction opposite to the first direction when driven by the audio signal.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 further comprising:

a first gasket between the housing and the first speaker module; and

a second gasket between the housing and the second speaker module, wherein the gaskets provide acoustically opaque paths to direct sound from respective speaker modules to a surrounding environment.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the first speaker module includes a first front volume in fluid communication with an enclosure within the housing, wherein the second speaker module includes a second back volume, and wherein the first front volume and the enclosure have a combined spatial volume equal to the second back volume.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the enclosure is laterally between the first front volume and the second back volume within the housing.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the first speaker module includes a first back volume ported through a first slot in a first wall of the housing, and wherein the second speaker module includes a second front volume ported through a second slot in a second wall of the housing opposite of the first wall.

7. A speaker module assembly, comprising:

an anchor;

a cantilever extending laterally from the anchor to a first free end, wherein the anchor is stiffer than the cantilever such that the first free end is decoupled from a housing when the anchor is mounted on the housing; and

a first speaker module mounted on the cantilever at the first end, the first speaker module including a first voicecoil, wherein the first voicecoil moves along a first axis in a first direction orthogonal to the cantilever when driven by an audio signal.

8. The speaker module assembly of claim 7 further comprising:

a second cantilever extending from a second anchor in an opposite direction of the cantilever to a second end; and

a second speaker module mounted on the second cantilever at the second end, the second speaker module including a second voicecoil, wherein the second voicecoil moves along a second axis in a second direction opposite to the first direction when driven by the audio signal.

9. The speaker module assembly of claim 8 further comprising:

a housing;

a first gasket between the housing and the first speaker module; and

a second gasket between the housing and the second speaker module, wherein the gaskets provide acoustically opaque paths to direct sound from respective speaker modules to a surrounding environment.

10. The speaker module assembly of claim 9, wherein the first speaker module includes a first front volume in fluid communication with an enclosure within the housing, wherein the second speaker module includes a second back volume, and wherein the first front volume and the enclosure have a combined spatial volume equal to the second back volume.

11. The speaker module assembly of claim 10, wherein the enclosure is laterally between the first front volume and the second back volume within the housing.

12. The speaker module assembly of claim 11, wherein the first speaker module includes a first back volume ported through a first slot in a first wall of the housing, and wherein the second speaker module includes a second front volume ported through a second slot in a second wall of the housing.

13. A electronic device, comprising:

a housing;

a first cantilever extending laterally within the housing from an anchor to a first end;

a second cantilever extending laterally within the housing from the anchor to a second end; and

a plurality of speaker modules mounted on respective ends of the first cantilever and the second cantilever, each speaker module including a respective voicecoil, wherein the respective voicecoils move along respective axes in opposite directions when driven by an audio signal.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the second cantilever extends laterally in an opposite direction of the first cantilever.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 further comprising:

a plurality of gaskets, each gasket between the housing and a respective speaker module.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of speaker modules have respective front volumes and respective back volumes, wherein a front of a first speaker module is in contact with a respective gasket, and wherein a back of a second speaker module is in contact with a respective gasket.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 further comprising a partition within the housing between the first speaker module and the second speaker module.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the partition is located such that a back volume of the first speaker module is equal to a front volume of the second speaker module.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the front volume of the first speaker module is ported through a first slot in a first wall of the housing, and wherein the back volume of the second speaker module is ported through a second slot in a second wall of the housing.