US-12621608-B2 - Rigid linear diaphragm loudspeaker and mounting system

US12621608B2US 12621608 B2US12621608 B2US 12621608B2US-12621608-B2

Abstract

A frame has an elongate form with elongate rest shelves on lateral sides thereof to support ceiling tiles. Ends of the frame are connected to T-bars within a suspended ceiling, as one example of mounting system for the loudspeaker of this invention. A yoke is fixed within a channel of the frame. The yoke has a pair of arms supporting magnets on ends thereof. A gap is provided between the magnets. A voice strip is located within this gap between the magnets and has a piston thereon which includes a diaphragm. A voice coil associated with the voice strip interacts with a magnetic field created by the magnets to cause the piston to vibrate, and in turn to cause the diagram to emit sound waves. The diaphragm is elongate with a width less than 10% of its length. A surround supports a perimeter of the diaphragm relative to the frame.

Inventors

Silvio Porciatti
Lewis Athanas

Assignees

JLC-TECH IP, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230616

Claims (13)

1 . A rigid linear diaphragm loudspeaker, comprising in combination: an elongate yoke having a plurality of magnets supported thereby, said magnets in two rows with a gap therebetween; a voice strip of elongate form having a conductive pathway extending along a majority of a length of said voice strip; said voice strip located within said gap and movable within said gap and perpendicular to a length of said gap; said conductive pathway coupled to an audio signal source; a sound wave producing piston fixed to said voice strip, said piston including a diaphragm formed of rigid material; and wherein edges of said piston are supported by a flexible surround, said flexible surround anchored at least indirectly to said yoke.
2 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein said plurality of magnets include at least two left bar magnets oriented end to end and at least two right bar magnets oriented end to end.
3 . A rigid linear diaphragm loudspeaker, comprising in combination: an elongate yoke having a plurality of magnets supported thereby, said magnets in two rows with a gap therebetween; a voice strip of elongate form having a conductive pathway extending along a majority of a length of said voice strip; said voice strip located within said gap and movable within said gap and perpendicular to a length of said gap; said conductive pathway coupled to an audio signal source; a sound wave producing piston fixed to said voice strip, said piston including a diaphragm formed of rigid material; wherein said plurality of magnets include at least two left bar magnets oriented end to end and at least two right bar magnets oriented end to end; and wherein said at least two left bar magnets are oriented with a north end of a first magnet adjacent to a south end of a second magnet.
4 . The loudspeaker of claim 3 wherein said gap has a constant width between said left bar magnets and said right bar magnets.
5 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein said conductive path includes said voice strip being formed of conductive material, with said conductive material making up at least a portion of said conductive path.
6 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein said conductive path includes at least one wire extending along a length of said voice strip.
7 . The loudspeaker of claim 6 wherein said wire conductive path includes a coil of wire with a plurality of turns around a spine of said voice strip, said spine located within said gap.
8 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein a housing includes at least two laterally spaced legs with said surround coupled on outboard edges thereof to said at least two laterally spaced legs, and wherein said at least two laterally spaced legs are spaced apart by a distance greater than a width of said yoke, and with said yoke supported between said at least two laterally spaced legs of said housing.
9 . The loudspeaker of claim 8 wherein said housing includes a pair of rest shelves outboard of said at least two laterally spaced legs, each said rest shelf positioned to support an edge of a ceiling tile when said at least two laterally space legs are oriented extending vertically downwardly with said housing adjacent to a ceiling of a building space.
10 . The loudspeaker of claim 9 wherein a grill extends between lower portions of said rest shelves and underlying said at least two laterally spaced legs and underlying said yoke and said piston.
11 . The loudspeaker of claim 10 wherein said housing includes two inner tips and two outer tips outboard of said inner tips, with two of said tips extending from each of said at least two laterally spaced legs, said yoke located inboard of said inner tips, said surround coupled to each of said inner tips at ends of said inner tips, said rest shelves coupled to said outer tips and extending outwardly in opposite directions from each other, from said outer tips.
12 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein said diaphragm is formed of Rohacell.
13 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 wherein said voice strip includes a spine within said gap, said spine formed of Kapton.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit under Title 35, United States Code § 119(e) of United States Provisional Application No. 63/353,107 filed on Jun. 17, 2022. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The following invention relates to loudspeakers having a long and thin geometry. More particularly, this invention relates to loudspeakers having a long and thin geometry and which also have high quality frequency response for a variety of frequencies, including long wavelength bass frequencies, and which are configured to also support ceiling tiles adjacent to the loudspeaker and integrating the loudspeaker within a suspended ceiling. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Most loudspeakers are of a type called dynamic loudspeakers. They utilize a coil of wire placed within a magnetic field. By varying current through the wire (or adjusting the magnetic field) the coil of wire is caused to move perpendicular to the magnetic field. A diaphragm is fixed to the coil of wire (also called the voice coil). A sound signal is encoded into an electric signal sent along the wire, generally in the form of an analog alternating current passing along the wire. Forces vary based on the instantaneous current passing through the coil of wire at the voice coil. Interaction between this current and magnetic field causes these varying forces to be applied to the voice coil, moving the voice coil perpendicular to the magnetic field, and causing the diaphragm to also move. The diaphragm (also called the cone) interacts with air molecules to cause them to move in a manner (and frequencies) which creates sound waves in the air which can then be heard by individuals (or detected by other sensors) nearby. The diaphragm is made stiff enough so that it can rapidly move. The diaphragm is made large enough to move a sufficient volume of air to produce a desired sound intensity. Sound waves having different frequencies are encountered by the individual as different “pitch” sounds. Diaphragms of differing sizes tend to optimize sound output for a subset of all frequencies which can be heard by an individual. Thus, some loudspeakers have multiple speaker elements therein with different sized diaphragms optimized for different frequencies. Generally, lower frequencies benefit from having larger diaphragms. Loudspeakers are often provided in indoor spaces. Where premium sound quality is a priority, speakers of optimal shape and size are provided within cabinets which rest on the floor or stand on pedestals or are mounted to walls (or suspended from ceilings) of the indoor space. Such sizing and mounting of loudspeakers typically takes up floor and wall space, and so is typically only done in rooms where sound quality is a high priority. In many indoor spaces quality sound is desirable, but not the highest priority. Rather, other priorities such as preserving floor space for furniture, corridors, flexible open floor space, and a variety of other equipment and items take precedence over large speakers standing on the floor or mounted to and extending out from the walls. In such indoor spaces, it is desirable to mount loudspeakers to the ceiling. Such a positioning of loudspeakers has the benefit of keeping floor space and wall space free for other equipment, while still providing sound for the space. In such situations, high quality sound is often still a priority, as well as sound intensity. Other priorities also become important for such speakers including ease of installation, aesthetic appearance, and integration into existing ceiling elements. In one instance, desirable aesthetic appearance for the ceiling mounted speakers could include minimizing or completely concealing the speakers within the ceiling. Many ceilings for indoor spaces are provided in the form of “suspended ceilings” (also called “dropped ceilings”), which include a grid of T-bars suspended from overlying structure, and with generally planar acoustic ceiling tiles supported at their edges by the T-bars. In the prior art, speakers have been primarily mounted within such dropped ceilings by replacing a ceiling tile with a speaker grill and mounting a loudspeaker facing downwardly above the speaker grill and within space between the dropped ceiling and overlying structure. Such speaker grills typically have a size similar to a ceiling tile and are configured so that at least the grill thereof can be supported by the T-bars. Typically holes pass through the grill at the location of the diaphragm of the speaker, so that sound waves can efficiently pass through the grill. The grill can either have a similar color and other appearance characteristics to those of adjacent ceiling tiles for maximizing concealment type aesthetic attributes, or can be contrasting in appearance in a manner which still provides a desirable overall design appearance for the ceiling. Such ceiling mounted speakers integrate effectively into existing dropped ceilings, in that the same T-bar grid is