Microphone apparatus

• US 5,226,087 A
• Filed: 04/20/1992
• Issued: 07/06/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Hiroshi, Matsumoto, Michio, Ono, Kiminori, Yamashina, Yuji, Naono, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Isen, Forester W.
• Application Number:
  US07/870,631
• Time in Patent Office: 442 Days
• Field of Search: 381/92, 381/26, 381/94, 381/122
• US Class Current: 381/92
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/1082 Microphones, e.g. systems using "virtual" microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/111 Directivity control or beam pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/3028 Filtering, e.g. Kalman filters or special analogue or digital filters
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/3045 Multiple acoustic inputs, single acoustic output
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2410/07 Mechanical or electrical reduction of wind noise generated by wind passing a microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A microphone apparatus comprises two non-directional microphones in case of monaural sound pickup or three non-directional microphones in case of stereo sound pickup, and a signal processing means for processing output signals of the non-directional microphones so that a directivity becomes non-directional in a low frequency region and a first order pressure gradient type in a high frequency region. Accordingly, the microphone apparatus can attenuate the level of unwanted acoustic and vibration noises caused by its onboard moving mechanism as well as wind noise, thus ensuring no declination in the S/N ratio during sound pickup action.

Claims

1. A microphone apparatus comprising:

first and second non-directional microphones arranged at a distance from each other;

a first highpass filter for eliminating a low frequency component of an output signal of the first non-directional microphone;

a second highpass filter for eliminating a low frequency component of an output signal of the second non-directional microphone;

a phase shifter for phase shifting an output signal of the second highpass filter;

a subtractor for subtracting a phase shifted signal from the phase shifter from an output signal of the first highpass filter; and

a lowpass filter for eliminating a high frequency component of an output signal of the subtractor.

2. A microphone apparatus comprising:

first and second non-directional microphones arranged at a distance from each other;

a third non-directional microphone arranged on a line extending perpendicularly from a middle point between the first and second non-directional microphones;

a first highpass filter for eliminating a low frequency component of an output signal of the first non-directional microphone;

a second highpass filter for eliminating a low frequency component of an output signal of the second non-directional microphone;

a third highpass filter for eliminating a low frequency component of an output signal of the third non-directional microphone;

a phase shifter for phase shifting an output signal of the third highpass filter;

a first subtractor for subtracting a phase shifted signal from the phase shifter from an output signal of the first highpass filter;

a second subtractor for subtracting the phase shifted signal from the phase shifter from an output signal of the second highpass filter;

a first lowpass filter for eliminating a high frequency component of an output signal of the first subtractor; and

a second lowpass filter for eliminating a high frequency component of an output signal of the second subtractor.