AUTOMOBILE EQUIPPED WITH SPEAKER UNIT

• US 20100245069A1
• Filed: 02/24/2010
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: NORO, Masao
• Application Number:
  US12/711,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20100245069A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/441
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/008 for signaling silent vehicles, e.g. for warning that a hybrid or electric vehicle is approaching

Abstract

A vehicle of the present invention includes: a vehicle body; an electric motor; wheels that are provided between the vehicle body and a road surface and that are rotated by transmitted motive power, to thus drive the vehicle body; a power transmission section that transmits motive power generated by the electric motor to the wheels; a detection section that detects a driving speed of the vehicle body; a speaker unit that outputs a sound based on a supplied audio signal downwardly from an undersurface of the vehicle body so as to reflect on the road surface, thereby to output the reflected sound to surroundings of the vehicle body; and a supply section that acquires an audio signal and supplies the audio signal to the speaker unit when a driving speed of the vehicle body detected by the detection section is less than a preset speed.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a vehicle body;

an electric motor;

wheels that are provided between the vehicle body and a road surface and that are rotated by transmitted motive power, to thus drive the vehicle body;

a power transmission section that transmits motive power generated by the electric motor to the wheels;

a detection section that detects a driving speed of the vehicle body;

a speaker unit that outputs a sound based on a supplied audio signal downwardly from an undersurface of the vehicle body so as to reflect on the road surface, thereby to output the reflected sound to surroundings of the vehicle body; and

a supply section that acquires an audio signal and supplies the audio signal to the speaker unit when a driving speed of the vehicle body detected by the detection section is less than a preset speed.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

an internal combustion engine; and

a power control unit that drives the internal combustion engine when the driving speed of the vehicle body detected by the detection section comes to a preset speed or more, wherein

the power transmission section transmits motive power generated as a result of driving of the internal combustion engine to the wheels, and

the supply section stops supply of the audio signal when the internal combustion engine is driven.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

a bass speaker unit having

a speaker that is supplied with an audio signal of a low frequency band which is lower than a frequency band of the audio signal supplied to the speaker unit and that outputs sounds based on the audio signal;

a diaphragm that has a resonance frequency in the low frequency band and that produces resonance by means of an output of sounds from the speaker; and

a housing that defines therein a sealed space along with the diaphragm, wherein

the speaker is provided in the sealed space;

the supply section supplies the speaker unit with an audio signal of a frequency band that is higher than the low frequency band and supplies the audio signal of low frequency band to the speaker of the bass speaker unit; and

sound output from the speaker unit exhibits directivity.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit, wherein

the speaker unit includes a speaker array of multiple speakers, and

the control unit controls a direction of the sound output by the speaker unit at a predetermined angle with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined angle is reduced as the driving speed detected by the detection section increases.

6. The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein a magnitude of the predetermined angle changes in accordance with the traveling direction by operation of an operation section.

7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the speaker unit includes a front speaker unit, a rear speaker unit, a right speaker unit, and a left speaker unit, that are provided on a front, a rear, a right, and a left of the vehicle body, respectively.

8. A vehicle comprising:

a vehicle body;

an electric motor;

wheels that are provided between the vehicle body and a road surface and that are rotated by transmitted motive power, to thus drive the vehicle body;

a power transmission section that transmits motive power generated by the electric motor to the wheels;

a speaker unit that outputs a sound based on a supplied audio signal downwardly from an undersurface of the vehicle body so as to reflect on the road surface, thereby to output the reflected sound to surroundings of the vehicle body; and

a supply section that acquires an audio signal and supplies the audio signal to the speaker unit.