U.S. patent number 3,596,733 [Application Number 04/888,990] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-03 for flat diaphragm for sound transducers and method for manufacturing it.
Invention is credited to Jose Juan Bertagni.
United States Patent |
3,596,733 |
Bertagni |
August 3, 1971 |
FLAT DIAPHRAGM FOR SOUND TRANSDUCERS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING
IT
Abstract
A flat diaphragm for sound transducers and a method for
producing it, including providing in a cellular platelike member a
pretensioned front face and a rear face defining an irregularly
shaped figure portion including a central stiffened portion at a
zone out of the geometric center of said figure portion, and a
marginal vibration damper portion substantially circumscribing said
figure portion, said central stiffened portion defining a center
for capturing vibrations. The flat diaphragm is preferably made of
a granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff, imperforated
plastics platelike member.
Inventors: |
Bertagni; Jose Juan (Buenos
Aires, AR) |
Family
ID: |
3461607 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/888,990 |
Filed: |
December 29, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 30, 1968 [AR] |
|
|
218.851 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
381/431; 181/157;
156/229; 264/321; 381/354 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R
7/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04R
7/00 (20060101); H04R 7/04 (20060101); G10k
013/00 (); H04r 007/00 (); B32b 031/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;181/32,31.1
;156/229,196,223 ;264/321,45,51 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tomsky; Stephen J.
Claims
I claim:
1. A substantially flat diaphragm to be used in sound transducers,
made of a cellular, strong, stiff platelike member, having a flat
front face, a rear face and side faces connecting said front and
rear faces, a layer including said front face, additional layers
between said layer including said front face and said rear face,
said front face defining a front face plane, said layer including
said front face being pretensioned in a direction substantially
perpendicular to said front face plane and in a direction within
said front face plane and said additional layers of said platelike
member between said front face and said rear face are gradually
under minor stresses from said front face towards said rear
face.
2. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
marginal vibration damper portion, a figure portion, a central
stiffer portion, and wherein said platelike member defines said
marginal vibration damper portion which substantially circumscribes
said figure portion on said rear face, said figure portion
including said central stiffer portion at a zone out of the
geometric center of said figure portion, and said central stiffer
portion defining a center for capturing vibrations.
3. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 2, wherein said platelike
member is made of granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff,
plastics.
4. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 1, wherein said front face is
sheathed with a tensioned thin sheet member having marginal
portions anchored on said side faces.
5. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 4, wherein said side faces are
irregular to increase the anchoring surface for said marginal
portion of said sheetlike member.
6. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 4, wherein said sheetlike
member is adhesively adhered to said front face and said side
faces.
7. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 4, wherein said sheetlike
member is paper.
8. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 4, wherein said sheetlike
member is a fabric. 9. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said figure
portion is ear shaped. 10. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 2,
wherein said central stiffer portion is of larger width than the
remaining
portions of said figure portion. 11. The diaphragm as claimed in
claim 10, further comprising a cylindrical projection and wherein
said central stiffer portion is integral with said cylindrical
projection, said
cylindrical projection is adapted for supporting a voice coil. 12.
The diaphragm as claimed in claim 2, wherein said platelike member
has a blind bore, a thin short metal insert inserted in said
platelike member and accessible from said rear face through said
blind bore present in said platelike member, and said metal insert
passing through said marginal vibration damper portion and being
partially housed in said figure
portion. 13. The diaphragm as claimed in claim 3, wherein said
plastics platelike member has predetermined zones formed by
preexpanded granules of
different sizes. 14. A loudspeaker comprising a substantially flat
diaphragm made of a granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong,
stiff plastics platelike, imperforate member, having a flat front
face, a rear face and side faces connecting said front and rear
faces, said platelike member defining a marginal vibration damper
portion, a figure portion on said rear face, said marginal
vibration damper portion substantially circumscribing said figure
portion, a layer including said front face and defining a front
face plane, said layer being pretensioned in a direction
substantially perpendicular to said front face plane and in a
direction within said front face plane, additional layers between
said layer including said front face and said rear face, said
additional layers of said platelike member between said front face
and said rear face are gradually under minor stresses from said
front face towards said rear face, a central stiffer portion, said
figure portion including said central stiffer portion at a zone out
of the geometric center of said figure portion, a frame having a
rear portion, at least a part of said side faces being rigidly
framed in said frame, said frame projecting with its rear portion
beyond said rear face of said diaphragm, a nonmagnetic crossbar
mounted in said frame and spaced away from said rear face of said
diaphragm, a magnetic assembly including a voice coil supported by
said nonmagnetic crossbar and in vibration-transmitting
relationship with said central stiffer portion, a tensioned thin
sheet member having marginal portions, said front face of said
diaphragm being sheathed with said sheet member, said marginal
portions being anchored on said side faces of said
diaphragm. 15. The loudspeaker as claimed in claim 14, further
comprising a cover lid including frustoconical damping projections,
said rear portion of said frame being closed by said cover lid,
said frustoconical damping projections being directed towards the
rear face of said diaphragm, said frame having a bore connecting
the inside between said diaphragm and said
cover lid with the outside. 16. The loudspeaker as claimed in claim
14, wherein a damper plate is mounted on said marginal vibration
damper
portion of said diaphragm. 17. A method for manufacturing a
substantially flat diaphragm to be used in sound transducers,
comprising the steps of:
a. forming a granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff
plastics platelike member having a flat front face, a rear face and
side faces connecting said front and rear faces, said platelike
member defining a marginal portion substantially circumscribing a
figure portion on the rear face, said figure portion including a
central stiffer portion at a zone out of the geometric center of
said figure portion, thereby defining in said figure portion
substantially straight channels of different length between said
central stiffer portion and said marginal portion,
b. adhering to said flat front face a thin sheetlike member having
a free marginal portion projecting beyond said front face,
c. bending said platelike member with said adhered sheetlike member
to define a concavely shaped front face,
d. urging said bent platelike member with the adhered sheet member
into substantially planar condition,
e. adhering the marginal portion of said sheetlike member to at
least said side faces,
f. framing said side faces having said marginal portion of said
sheetlike member adhered thereto into a shape-retaining frame to
maintain said platelike member in substantially planar condition,
and
g. providing damper means on the rear face of said marginal portion
capable
of substantially damping vibrations in said marginal portion. 18.
The method as claimed in claim 17, comprising the additional step
of subjecting said platelike member to heat in order to remove
moisture from said platelike member and sealing by spray said faces
of said platelike
member from the outside prior to adhering said sheetlike member.
19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said platelike
member is bent prior
to adhering said sheetlike member thereto. 20. The method as
claimed in claim 17, wherein said sheetlike member is of the
shrinkable type and is adhered by adhesive to said flat front face
to produce the bending of said
platelike member by shrinkage of said sheetlike member. 21. A
method for manufacturing a substantially flat diaphragm to be used
in sound transducers, comprising the steps of:
a. forming a granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff
plastics platelike member having a flat front face, a rear face and
side faces connecting said front and rear faces, said platelike
member defining a marginal portion substantially circumscribing a
figure portion on the rear face, said figure portion including a
central stiffer portion at a zone out of the geometric center of
said figure portion, thereby defining in said figure portion
substantially straight channels of different length between said
central stiffer portion and said marginal portion,
b. bending said platelike member to define a concavely shaped front
face,
c. adhering to said flat front face a substantially unshrinkable
thin sheetlike member having a free marginal portion projecting
beyond said front face,
d. urging said bent platelike member with said adhered sheet member
into substantially planar condition,
e. adhering the marginal portion of said sheetlike member to at
least said side faces,
f. framing said side faces having said marginal portion of said
sheetlike member adhered thereto into a shape-retaining frame to
maintain said platelike member in substantially planar condition,
and
g. providing damper means on the rear face of said marginal portion
capable
of substantially damping vibrations in said marginal portion. 22. A
method for manufacturing a substantially flat diaphragm to be used
in sound transducers, comprising the steps of:
a. forming a granular expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff
plastics platelike member having a flat front face, a rear face and
side faces connecting said front and rear faces, said platelike
member defining a marginal portion substantially circumscribing a
figure portion on the rear face, said figure portion including a
central stiffer portion at a zone out of the geometric center of
said figure portion, thereby defining in said figure portion
substantially straight channels of different length between said
central stiffer portion and said marginal portion,
b. adhering, by means of a liquid adhesive, to said flat front
face, a thin shrinkable fabric having a free marginal portion
projecting beyond said front face,
c. allowing liquid of said adhesive to be soaked in by said
fabric,
d. allowing shrinking of said fabric and thereby bending said
platelike member to define a concavely shaped front face,
e. urging said bent platelike member with the adhered fabric into
substantially planar condition,
f. adhering the marginal portion of said fabric to at least said
side faces,
g. framing said faces having said marginal portion of said fabric
adhered thereto into a shape-retaining frame to maintain said
platelike member in substantially planar condition, and
h. providing damper means on the rear face of said marginal portion
capable of substantially damping vibrations in said marginal
portion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a substantially flat diaphragm to
be used in sound transducers and to a method for manufacturing said
substantially flat diaphragm and more particularly, the present
invention is mainly used in connection with so-called "flat
loudspeakers" which provide an excellent reproduction of sound,
although it may likewise be used in connection with the manufacture
of microphones.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the vibration-transducing art for loudspeakers
and microphones, that either the coil of the magnet assembly has to
vibrate the diaphragm (in the case of a loudspeaker) or the
diaphragm has to capture the vibrations, to transmit them to the
coil of the magnet assembly (in the case of a microphone). In both
events, the diaphragm is resiliently supported by its edge or
marginal portion and has to vibrate in a plane substantially
perpendicular to the axis of the coil. In other words the coil
(hereinafter called "voice coil") of the magnet assembly drives or
is driven by the diaphragm in a pistonlike manner. Thus a mass of
air is required in front and behind the diaphragm and which is
moved thereby.
During the following description, reference will be mainly made to
the diaphragm of the present invention in connection with
loudspeakers, although it will be obvious to those skilled in the
art, that the concept of the invention is likewise applicable to
microphones.
According to recent developments certain attempts have been made to
replace the conical diaphragm configuration, where the conical
diaphragms are formed from paper pulp and the like, by flat
diaphragms made of expanded cellular plastics materials such as
polystyrene, where the voice coil is mounted in a perforation of
the diaphragm or in a recess made in said diaphragm, and the
diaphragm as such operates on the same principle as to the
to-and-fro vibrations, as in the well-known above-mentioned conical
diaphragms. Some attempts have also been made to provide diaphragms
of planar form but with a central funnel-shaped portion defining an
opening where the voice coil is to be housed. While all these flat
loudspeaker embodiments operate on the same principle as the
above-mentioned conical loudspeakers, the housings for these flat
loudspeakers are smaller in depth.
In all these loudspeakers either the low frequencies or the high
frequencies lack in fidelity upon being electroacoustically
reproduced, so that in practice, additional woofers or tweeters are
required for high fidelity arrangements. The aim is of course, to
provide a single loudspeaker capable of providing a high
efficiency, both within the upper and lower frequency ranges.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In this connection the present invention represents an important
advance in the art, by providing a flat diaphragm which does not
require a substantial mass of air in front and behind the
diaphragm, because the latter does not vibrate according to the
old, above-explained, principle. The diaphragm is preferably made
of a granular, expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff plastics
platelike member, such as polystyrene or polyurethane, where at
least the layer including the front face is pretensioned both in a
direction substantially perpendicular to the front face plane and
in a direction within said front face plane, so that said layer
could be compared with a tensioned hide of a drum, while the
additional or remaining layers between said front face and the rear
face of said platelike member are, considered from said front face
toward said rear face, under decreasing stresses, so that any
percussion or vibration applied to the rear face will substantially
move through those layers towards the front face and will mainly
there be diverted or decomposed substantially perpendicularly to
its original direction due to the high tension of the front
layer.
Thus, the pertinent portion of the platelike member will vibrate
from the axis of the center of percussion towards its edge portion
and may thereby transform the vibration into sound. According to
this principle, it is believed that this diaphragm is the first
diaphragm which vibrates in its own plane from a center of
percussion and substantially perpendicularly to the direction of
said percussion.
When the diaphragm is used for a loudspeaker, the percussion is of
course produced by the voice coil which is operatively connected to
the rear face of the platelike member.
A further feature according to the present invention is that the
point of connection or center of percussion of said voice coil with
regard to the rear face of said platelike member is such that it is
out of the geometric center of the active rear portion of the
platelike member which is intended to be vibrated. Thus, a number
of straight channels are at least theoretically formed between the
center of percussion and the edge of the portion of the platelike
member which is intended to be vibrated, which channels have
different lengths, so that in principle only the channels which
coincide with the length of the transmitted frequency will vibrate,
thereby providing high fidelity without distortion.
Still a further feature of the present invention is to manufacture
the portion of the platelike member which is to be operatively
connected to the voice coil in such a way that it becomes a stiffer
portion than the rest of the platelike member, so as to achieve a
better sound reproduction for high frequencies.
Tests have shown that the better the edge of the marginal portion
of the platelike member is rigidly retained withing a frame member
or clamping means, the more accurate is the sound reproduction and
it is also important, that the platelike member is an integral
member without the usual central perforation, as used in the prior
art diaphragms, because such a perforation tends towards a state of
resonance.
Accordingly, the present invention refers to a substantially flat
diaphragm to be used in sound transducers made of a cellular,
strong, stiff platelike member, having a flat front face, a rear
face and side faces connecting said front and rear faces, a layer
including said front face, said layer being pretensioned in a
direction substantially perpendicular to the front face plane and
in a direction within said front face plane and the remaining
layers of said platelike member between said front face and said
rear face are gradually under minor stresses from said front face
towards said rear face.
The present invention is likewise concerned with a loudspeaker
including a flat diaphragm of the type hereinbefore defined,
wherein at least a portion of said side faces is rigidly framed in
a frame projecting beyond the rear face of said diaphragm and
supporting a magnetic assembly including a voice coil in
vibration-transmitting relationship with a central stiffer portion
of said diaphragm, which is outside the geometric center of said
diaphragm.
FInally, this invention refers also to a method for manufacturing a
substantially flat diaphragm to be used in sound transducers,
comprising the steps of forming a granular expanded-bonded
cellular, strong, stiff plastic platelike member, having a flat
front face, a rear face and side faces connecting said front and
rear faces, said platelike member defining a marginal portion
substantially circumscribing a figure portion of the rear face,
said figure portion including a central stiffer portion at a zone
out of the geometric center of said figure portion, thereby
defining in said figure portion substantially straight channels of
different length between said central portion and said marginal
portion, adhering to said flat front face a thin sheetlike member
having a free marginal portion projecting beyond said front face,
bending said platelike member with said adhered sheetlike member to
define a concavely shaped front face, urging said bent platelike
member with the adhered sheet member into substantially planar
condition, adhering the marginal portion of said sheetlike member
to at least said side faces, framing said side faces having said
marginal portion of said sheetlike member adhered thereto into a
shape-retaining frame to maintain said platelike member in
substantially planar condition, and providing damper means on the
rear face of said marginal portion capable of substantially damping
vibrations in said marginal portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features and details of the present invention will become
more apparent during the course of the following description,
wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which
facilitate the explanation of the present invention and wherein a
number of embodiments of loudspeakers are also shown by way of
example. More particularly,
FIG. 1, is a sketch showing the granular arrangement of an
expanded-bonded cellular, strong, stiff plastics platelike
member.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are similar views as FIG. 1, showing said same
platelike member during different steps of the process to
manufacture the diaphragm in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 4 is a sketch in perspective view of a parallelepipedic
platelike member which enables explaining the theory of
decomposition of vibrations.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the rear face of a platelike member
defining a diaphragm in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross section along line VI-VI of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view mainly showing the front side of a
flat loudspeaker, using the diaphragm in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section through the loudspeaker of FIG.
7.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view from the rear side of the loudspeaker
shown in FIG. 7, with the rear lid being removed.
FIG. 10 is a schematic detail, in longitudinal section of a
preferred way of connecting the voice coil to the diaphragm.
FIG. 11 is a detail in plan view, of a portion of a loudspeaker in
accordance with the present invention, having a special arrangement
to become the equivalent of a tweeter.
FIG. 12 is a cross section along line XII-XII of FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a mold, filled with a particular
arrangement of starting material to manufacture a diaphragm
according to another alternative.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a portion of the side face of the
plastics platelike member according to a further alternative.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The diaphragm which could be defined as the "core portion" of the
present invention, is preferably manufactured as a granular,
expanded bonded cellular, strong, stiff, plastics platelike member,
conveniently made of polystyrene or polyurethane. The platelike
member 22 (see FIG. 1) consists of expanded granules 20 which,
although in this figure are shown as all being of substantially the
same size, are in practice, not so uniform. These granules 20 are
glued together forming in between them alveolar cells 21 which
contain moisture as an intrinsic feature arising during the
production of the platelike member 22. The granules 20 are rather
resilient. The platelike member 22 has usually a substantially
parallelepipedic shape and comprises a front face 23, a rear face
24 and side faces 25. For the purpose of this invention is may be
considered that between the front face 23 and the rear face 24 a
number of layers are formed which for convenience of explanation
will be defined by the rows of granules shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the
front face 23 which defines a front face plane is defined by a
front face layer 26, the rear face 24 forms part of a rear face
layer 27 and there are in between both a number of intermediate
layers 28, 29 and 30. Obviously in practice each layer may be
formed of more than one row of granules and the granules will not
be so perfectly aligned in rows as shown in FIG. 1. Due to the fact
that the granules 20 are rather resilient and in between the
granules there are the alveolar cells 21, the platelike member 22
provides in itself an internal damping, if a percussion or a
vibratory movement is, for instance, applied to the rear face 24,
as indicated by arrow 31.
To achieve a good sound reproduction it is however desirable to
eliminate as far as possible, this damping feature which tends to
produce distortions, and reduces the output.
To this end it is advisable to remove the moisture from the cells
21 as far as possible, which can be achieved by subjecting the
manufactured platelike member 22 to heat and thereafter sealing the
faces 23, 24 and 25, such as by spraying thereon a thin coating of
a suitable resin, sufficiently fluid so as to permit the coating
operation and capable of being cured into a sealing film. Since
these resins are readily available on the world market, it is not
considered necessary to forward more details thereabout.
According to the present invention is is however not necessary to
perform the sealing step as a separate step, but may be carried out
simultaneously with another step which will now be explained.
Even if the moisture is substantially withdrawn from the platelike
member 22, the physical constitution of the granules themselves is
still too resilient to provide an optimum capacity for transforming
vibrations without distortion, and to avoid loss of vibration
transmission energy.
It is well known that in percussion instruments, such as for
instance, drums, the percussion impact is transformed into sound if
the hide of the drum is under suitable tension. The vibrations move
from the center of percussion towards the edge of the drum and if
the center of percussion does not coincide with the geometric
center of the tensioned hide, particular sound effects may be
achieved presumably due to the fact that not all, so to say,
"radial vector" sections or channels will vibrate, but only those
which are within the particular frequency range.
Reference will later on be made to this particular aspect, as
related to the present invention.
Bearing in mind the foregoing it is necessary to provide the
platelike member 22 and particularly the granules 20, with oriented
tensions, so as to reduce the resiliency of the granules, at the
same time as the size of alveolar cells is reduced. Furthermore,
since the voice coil of the magnetic assembly (not shown, but which
may be considered as schematically represented by arrow 31) should
be able to transfer the vibrations, in case of a loudspeaker, to
the platelike member 22 and to capture the vibrations, in case of a
microphone, in a rather padded way, the granules of the layer which
are in operative contact with the voice coil should be under no
tension, or a minimum tension. Tests have shown that the best
transmission of vibrations is achieved if for instance, the
percussion center, schematically indicated by arrow 31, is on the
rear face 24 and the opposite face, namely the front face 23, is
the one having granules under the maximum advisable tension and the
intermediate layers 28 to 30 are gradually under minor tension or
stresses.
To achieve this effect it is necessary to subject the granules 20
to two stresses in an increasing proportion from the rear face 24
towards the front face 23. These stresses should be oriented both
substantially perpendicularly to the front face 23 and parallelly
to said front face 23.
Once the platelike member 22 of FIG. 1 has been produced, said
platelike member is curved as shown in FIG. 2, so that the front
face 23 becomes concavely shaped. Due to this bending of the
platelike member 22, the granules of the front layer 26 are subject
to a maximum stress which will elongate them and the successive
layers 28, 29, 30 and 27 will be subject to gradual decreasing
stresses and the entire height of the platelike member 22 will be
reduced. Due to the elongation of the granules 20, the alveolar
cells will be reduced in size; particularly the alveolar cells
existing in the front face layer 26. Once the bending has been
completed, heat may be applied to the platelike member in order to
eliminate at least part of the moisture within the cells 21 and
thereafter the aforementioned sealing film may be applied to the
faces 23, 24 and 25 and said film may be of an adhesive type, at
least for the front face 23 which will then be covered with a
sheetlike member 32 having marginal portions 33 projecting beyond
said front face 23.
The sheetlike member 32 may be for instance made of paper or
fabric. The face opposite the one to be adhered to the front face
23 may have a suitable decoration or design. Instead of using an
adhesive spray for the front face, a mere sealing spray can be used
and the sheetlike member 32 can be adhered to the front face by
other suitable anchoring means such as by means of minuscule spikes
forming part of the same fabric.
As an alternative with regard to the step just described, tests
have shown that the bending of the platelike member 22 can be
automatically achieved, if the sheetlike member is made of a
shrinkable material, for instance a fabric. In that event, after
the drying step and the spraying step, bearing in mind that the
sealing spray, at least for the front face, is of an adhesive
nature, the shrinkable fabric is applied to the front face 23 and
soaks in part of the spray, whereby the fabric shrinks and bends
the platelike member 22.
Due to the fact that the sheetlike member 32 is adhered to the
front face 23, the granules of the front face layer 26 are
substantially barred from relative internal movement so that the
alveolar cell spaces are now more or less maintained in their new
size, which is smaller.
As the next step, it is now necessary to communicate to the
granules 20 a second stress, parallel to the planes defined by the
layers. To this end, the bent platelike member of FIG. 2 is now
urged, with the adhered sheetlike member 32, into substantially
planar condition as shown in FIG. 3. Since the granules are now
tensioned in planes parallel to their layer, they will again become
somewhat more flattened, so that thereby the total height of the
platelike member 22 is further reduced. Simultaneously, the
sheetlike member becomes also tensioned in its own plane and in
order to anchor the sheetlike member in its tensioned state, the
marginal portions 33 are now adhered at least to the side faces 25.
If the length of the marginal portions 33 is somewhat larger, they
may be turned over to cover the edge portions of the rear face 24,
without changing the final result.
Thus, a flat diaphragm with pretensioned layers is achieved, where
the tensions gradually decrease from the front face towards the
rear face.
If the area of the front face 23 of the diaphragm is relatively
small, and the tensions are relatively high, in order to increase
the anchoring surface necessary for anchoring the marginal portions
33 of the sheetlike member 32 on the side faces, these instead of
being flat as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, may be irregular, for instance
defining serrations 34, as shown in FIG. 14.
Turning now to FIG. 4, the latter shows the tensioned platelike
member 35 sheathed with the sheet like member 32 and the free rear
face is now identified by new reference numeral 36, since said rear
face is now either under no tension or under slight tension.
Assuming that the diaphragm or tensioned platelike member 35 is
used for a loudspeaker and that the voice coil (not shown)
transmits a vibration schematically indicated by line 37, onto the
rear face 36, said vibration will move into the mass of the
platelike member 35 towards the front face, as indicated by dotted
arrow 38 and will there decompose, due to the high tension, into
vibrations 39, which are substantially parallel to the front face
layer 26, whereby the diaphragm will vibrate within its plane. In
practice, the vibration 37, 38 will not entirely move forward up to
the front face, but will in part already be decomposed in the
intermediate layers 28 to 30, so that the entire diaphragm will
mainly vibrate in a plane parallel to the general plane of the
diaphragm. Additional tests have shown that the fidelity of these
vibrations is best, if the side faces of the diaphragm are rigidly
retained within a frame or a clamp, to which reference will be made
later on.
Returning now to FIG. 3, wherein an intermediate stage of the
manufacture of the diaphragm is shown, and bearing in mind the
theoretical explanation given in connection with FIG. 4, the
tensioned platelike member 35 should be so manufactured that it
includes a central stiffer portion which is the portion to which
the voice coil is to be connected. The central stiffer portion is
located in a zone outside of the geometric center of said platelike
member. This may be achieved in different manners, one of which is
shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and another one is shown in FIG. 13.
Dealing first with the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, when molding
the platelike member of FIG. 1, the latter should not be a
parallelepipedic body where the entire rear face 24 is parallel to
the flat front face 23, but the platelike member 40 should have a
flat front face 41, side faces 42 and a rear face defining a
marginal portion 43 substantially circumscribing a figure portion
44 of a particular shape, similar to the human ear. This figure
portion 44 is cap-shaped so that the portion of the maximum height,
due to the maximum height, defines a central stiffer portion 45,
which central stiffer portion is located within a zone of said
figure portion 44 which is out of the geometric center thereof (see
FIG. 5). Conveniently, the flat marginal portion 43 defines a plane
parallel to the flat front face 41 and the maximum height zone of
the cap-shaped figure portion 44 is tangent to said plane.
The sheetlike member 32 including the marginal portions 33 is
likewise shown in FIG. 6. It is obvious that the diaphragm of FIG.
6 has been subjected to the steps as explained in connection with
FIGS. 1 to 3. The central stiffer portion 45 is connected to the
voice coil schematically indicated by arrow 46. The marginal
portion 43 is provided with damper means capable of substantially
damping vibrations in said marginal portion. These damper means may
be achieved by any kind of layer linked to said marginal portion.
For instance, a spray may be applied on said marginal portion 43
and which hardens the latter or any kind of rigid plate, such as
for instance damper plate 47 (see FIG. 8) may be mounted onto the
rear face of said marginal portion. The damper plate 47 has a
central cutout portion corresponding to the figure portion 44,
defining thus an edge 48 which the embodiment as shown in FIG. 6,
is coplanar with the edge 49 of the marginal portion 43.
If the center of percussion, which is defined by arrow 46, is
located within the center of the central stiffer portion 45, then
as is apparent from FIG. 5, the radii which extend from the center
of 45 to the edge 49 are of different lengths. Each radius may be
considered as a sound channel. Since each radius is of a different
length, each sound channel is only able to transmit one particular
sound different from the other sounds. The length of each radius is
equal to a multiple of a predetermined wavelength. Therefore, one
or eventually several channels of similar lengths are capable of
reproducing one particular audible tone. Since the marginal portion
43 is dampened by the damper plate 47 only the figure portion 44 is
in sound-transmitting relationship with the voice coil. This
arrangement may be compared, for instance, with a guitar having
cords of different lengths, each cord corresponding to one of the
sound channels. Therefore, those channels which are out of phase
with a transmitted wavelength, are substantially inoperative. Thus
distortion is very considerably reduced, and the substantial
absence of stationary waves increases the output of the system.
Conveniently, the diaphragm or platelike member 40, including
substantially all the features hereinbefore explained, is at least
partially mounted in a frame 50 which firmly grips at least part of
the side faces as clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Frame 50 may be
connected to the damper plate 47 and is furthermore provided with a
pair of inwardly projecting ribs 51, 52 for supporting a
nonmagnetic crossbar 53 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) in spaced relationship
with said diaphragm or platelike member. Crossbar 53 in turn
supports the magnet assembly 54 including the voice coil 55, which
is in vibration-transmitting relationship with the central stiffer
portion 45.
The rear portion of the frame 50 is preferably closed by a cover
lid 56, which may be made of the same material as the diaphragm,
but which conveniently provides an inner face having a
frustoconical damping projections 57.
The frame 50 is provided with at least one perforation 58 arranged
between the diaphragm 40 and the lid 56, so that the air housed
therein is in free communication with the ambient air to maintain
an equilibrium in pressure.
It will be appreciated that when the diaphragm of the present
invention is used as a loudspeaker, practically no sound box is
required, nor is it necessary to have a substantial volume of air
in front and behind the diaphragm, since the sound wave will be
generated by moving within the diaphragm as indicated by vibrations
39 in FIG. 4 and also one of said vibrations is indicated in dotted
lines and identified by reference numeral 59 in FIG. 8.
The sheetlike member 32 will not only cooperate in producing a
better sound transducer but protects at the same time, the plastics
platelike member and in addition affords means for any kind of
illustration or decoration, as previously stated.
The arrangement as shown in FIG. 8 can be embedded within the wall
of a room, precisely because the lid 56 is provided, without
jeopardizing the sound-reproducing qualities.
In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the central stiffer portion 45 of a
platelike member 40' has a cylindrical projection 60, onto which
the voice coil member 55, having the usual coil 61, is fitted,
whereby a good vibration-transmitting relationship is achieved. It
will be appreciated that contrary to the prior art, the portion
where the voice coil is related to the diaphragm is the thickest
portion.
In FIG. 11 a portion of a diaphragm 62 is shown, having the damper
plate 47 and the voice coil 55, similarly as in the previous
embodiment described. In addition, a second magnetic assembly is
provided including the voice coil 63, which is in contact with an
insert 64. In FIG. 12, the proper position of the insert 64 with
regard to the thickness of the diaphragm 62 is shown. The diaphragm
has a blind bore 65 entering from its rear face 66 through which
passes the voice coil 63 (only schematically indicated by an arrow
in FIG. 12) which is in vibrating contact with insert 64 without
entering into contact with the diaphragm 62. The insert 64 is
usually a thin brass or aluminum plate and can act as a tweeter if
so required.
The particular shape of the embodiment of the diaphragm 40 shown in
FIG. 6 and which is provided in order to form the central stiffer
portion 45, can be replaced by producing a parallelepipedic
platelike member to define the diaphragm body, formed of zones
having different hardness or stiffness.
In this alternative embodiment polyurethane particles are
preferably used as starting material. These particles are
preexpanded in different batches to different granular sizes. Care
should be taken that no complete preexpansion of the granules or
particles takes place. The classified different-sized granules are
then housed in a preestablished manner in a mold 67, wherein the
largest particles 68 are housed in the marginal or outer portion of
the mold 67. The next smaller size 69 is then poured into the mold
to define an annular zone and then finally the smallest size
particles or granules 70 are housed in the mold to complete the
mold. This arrangement is then expanded to form a diaphragm. The
stiffest zone will correspond to the zone of the smaller granules.
It is obvious that the shape of the mold can be adjusted to ear
shape to define the figure portion corresponding to the one
identified by reference numeral 44 in FIG. 5, having also a
marginal outer zone.
It will be understood that improvements may be introduced into the
embodiments described by way of example and modifications may be
made in the method employed without departing from the scope of the
invention, specifically defined in the following claims.
* * * * *