Microphone device and portable recorder comprising same

• US 8,315,397 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2009
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Obata, Yasushi, Miyamoto, Hitoshi, Sato, Hiroyoshi, Uchida, Shinya
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Robinson, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US12/612,015
• Publication Number:
  US 20100111326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• Field of Search: 381 26- 27, 381/92, 381/170, 381355-358
• US Class Current: 381/26
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F

Abstract

A first microphone device according to the present invention comprises a pair of directional microphones with high directivity in a sound collecting direction, a pair of nondirectional microphones with low directivity in the sound collecting direction, and a casing accommodating the pair of directional microphones and the pair of nondirectional microphones. The pair of nondirectional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from both side surface walls of the casing, while the pair of directional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from a front surface wall of the casing and intersect each other in vicinity of the front surface wall. All or a part of the pair of directional microphones is accommodated in a space sandwiched by the pair of nondirectional microphones.

Claims

1. A microphone device comprising:

a pair of directional microphones with high directivity in a sound collecting direction, a pair of nondirectional microphones with low directivity in the sound collecting direction, and a casing accommodating the pair of directional microphones and the pair of nondirectional microphones,

wherein the pair of nondirectional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from both side surface walls of the casing, while the pair of directional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from a front surface wall of the casing and intersect each other in vicinity of the front surface wall, and

all or a part of the pair of directional microphones is accommodated in a space sandwiched by the pair of nondirectional microphones;

wherein each of the pair of directional microphones includes a first sound collecting surface and a second sound collecting surface facing opposite to each other, and the first sound collecting surface faces a first sound collecting hole provided to the front surface wall of the casing, while the second sound collecting surface faces a second sound collecting hole provided to a rear surface wall of the casing.

2. The microphone device according to claim 1, wherein the casing is provided therein with a sound collecting space extending from the second sound collecting hole of the casing to the second sound collecting surface of each of the pair of directional microphones.

4. A portable recorder comprising the microphone devices according to claim 1 and a recorder main body recording an audio signal obtained by the microphone device.

3. A microphone device comprising:

a pair of directional microphones with high directivity in a sound collecting direction, a pair of nondirectional microphones with low directivity in the sound collecting direction, and a casing accommodating the pair of directional microphones and the pair of nondirectional microphones,

wherein the pair of nondirectional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from both side surface walls of the casing, while the pair of directional microphones is arranged so that sound collecting directions thereof are outward from a front surface wall of the casing and intersect each other in vicinity of the front surface wall, and

all or a part of the pair of directional microphones is accommodated in a space sandwiched by the pair of nondirectional microphones;

wherein the casing is provided therein with a holder comprising a first holder part retaining the pair of directional microphones and a pair of second holder parts retaining the pair of nondirectional microphones, the first holder part is interposed between the pair of second holder parts, the first holder part includes a top surface wall and a bottom surface wall which are elastically deformable, and each of the top surface wall and the bottom surface wall is provided with a pair of rectangular openings arranged in a V-shape, with the pair of rectangular openings in the top surface wall and the pair of rectangular openings in the bottom surface wall facing each other.