Speaker system

• US 8,315,401 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2007
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Katta, Noboru, Matsuda, Junichi, Hayakawa, Takahiro, Noguchi, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Han, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US12/373,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20100272271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,003 Days
• Field of Search: 381/59, 381300-303, 381307-310
• US Class Current: 381/59
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0217 for loud-speakers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0092 with motorization
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/323 for loudspeakers H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A loudspeaker system capable of simultaneously providing listeners with a listening environment not giving them a feeling of strangeness. The loudspeaker system (100) comprises drive motors (111 to 113, 121 to 123) for so driving at least first R-channel loudspeaker (101) that the current first listening position is substantially included in the perpendicularly bisecting plane of a line joining the intersecting point of the first R-channel speaker (101) and its directivity axis and the intersecting point of the second R-channel loudspeaker (120) and its directivity axis and so driving at least fourth L-channel loudspeaker (104) that the current second listening point is substantially included in the perpendicularly bisecting plane of the line joining the intersecting point of a third L-channel loudspeaker (103) and its directivity axis and the intersecting point of a fourth L-channel loudspeaker (104) and its directivity axis. The loudspeaker system (100) further comprises their motor driver section (130).

Claims

1. A speaker system, comprising:

a first speaker unit including a first speaker outputting a sound to be heard in a first listening position and a second speaker outputting a sound to be heard in a second listening position;

a second speaker unit including a third speaker outputting a sound to be heard in the first listening position and a fourth speaker outputting a sound to be heard in the second listening position;

a driver configured to independently drive at least the first speaker such that a current first listening position is substantially included in a vertical bisector plane of a line connecting an intersection of the first speaker and a directivity axis of the first speaker and an intersection of the second speaker and a directivity axis of the second speaker, and to independently drive at least the fourth speaker such that a current second listening position is substantially included in a perpendicular bisector plane of a line connecting an intersection of the third speaker and a directivity axis of the third speaker and an intersection of the fourth speaker and a directivity axis of the fourth speaker, wherein the first speaker unit and the second speaker unit are separated by a predetermined distance; and

a position detecting section that detects a current front-back position and a current reclining angle of a seat,

wherein the driver further determines the current first listening position and the current second listening position according to a calculated head position of a seated listener in the seat, and

wherein the calculated head position is calculated from the position detecting section that detects the current front-back position and the current reclining angle of the seated listener.

2. The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein:

one of the first speaker and the second speaker receives as an input an in-phase signal of a sound source and an other of the one of the first speaker and the second speaker receives as an input a reverse phase signal of the in-phase signal; and

one of the third speaker and the fourth speaker receives as an input an in-phase signal of a same sound source and an other of the one of the third speaker and the fourth speaker receives as an input a reverse phase signal of the in-phase signal.

3. The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein:

the directivity axis of the first speaker is directed toward a first reflecting plane;

the directivity axis of the second speaker is directed toward the second listening position;

the directivity axis of the third speaker is directed toward the first listening position; and

the directivity axis of the fourth speaker is directed toward a second reflecting plane.

4. The speaker system according to claim 3, wherein:

a path length through which the sound outputted from the first speaker is reflected by the first reflecting plane and reaches the first listening position, and a path length through which the sound to be outputted from the third speaker reaches the first listening position, are substantially equal; and

a path length through which the sound to be outputted from the second speaker reaches the second listening position, and a path length through which the sound to be outputted from the fourth speaker is reflected by the second reflecting plane and reaches the second listening position, are substantially equal.

5. The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein:

the second speaker and the third speaker are fixedly installed; and

the driver drives the first speaker and the fourth speaker.

6. The speaker system according to claim 5, wherein the driver changes a difference of an angle of elevation of the first speaker with respect to the second speaker by driving the first speaker at least in a perpendicular direction or changes a difference of angle of elevation of the fourth speaker with respect to the third speaker by driving the fourth speaker at least in a perpendicular direction.

7. The speaker system according to claim 1, wherein the driver drives the first speaker to the fourth speaker.

8. The speaker system according to claim 7, wherein the driver rotates the first speaker unit or the second speaker unit.

9. A speaker system, comprising:

a first speaker unit including a first speaker that outputs a sound to be heard in a first listening position and a second speaker that outputs a sound to be heard in a second listening position;

a second speaker unit including a third speaker that outputs a sound to be heard in the first listening position and a fourth speaker that outputs a sound to be heard in the second listening position;

a motor driver configured to independently drive at least one first driving motor to move at least the first speaker such that a current first listening position is substantially included in a vertical bisector plane of a first line connecting a first point sound source of the first speaker along a directivity axis of the first speaker and a second point sound source of the second speaker along a directivity axis of the second speaker, and to independently drive at least one second driving motor to move at least the fourth speaker such that a current second listening position is substantially included in a vertical bisector plane of a second line connecting a third point sound source of the third speaker along a directivity axis of the third speaker and a fourth point sound source of the fourth speaker along a directivity axis of the fourth speaker, and

a position detecting section that detects a current front-back position and a current reclining angle of a seat,

wherein the motor driver further determines the current first listening position and the current second listening position according to a calculated head position of a seated listener in the seat, and

wherein the calculated head position is calculated from the position detecting section that detects the current front-back position and the current reclining angle of the seated listener.

10. The speaker system according to claim 9, wherein the motor driver independently calculates the vertical bisector plane of the first line connecting the first point sound source of the first speaker along the directivity axis of the first speaker and the second point sound source of the second speaker along the directivity axis of the second speaker, the motor driver independently calculating the vertical bisector plane of the second line connecting the third point sound source of the third speaker along the directivity axis of the third speaker and the fourth point sound source of the fourth speaker along the directivity axis of the fourth speaker.