All items tagged with patent review (45)

Patent Review: A Speaker Device Offering Extended Bass Performance

May 17, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: A Speaker Device Offering Extended Bass Performance

This review discusses an intriguing speaker design patented by Walter Ka Wai Chu, from Taiwan. The design allows the speaker device to potentially improve the bass performance in the entire low-frequency band instead of being limited to only a few low-frequency points, the inventor claims. While James Croft confesses to being somewhat skeptical of whether, in its current disclosed form, the device will provide a useful advantage, he found the design sufficiently interesting to be analyzed in more detail.

Patent Review: An Acoustic Device from Bose

May 12, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: An Acoustic Device from Bose

This patent analysis looks at an interesting wearable acoustic device, patented by five inventors on behalf of Bose Corp, and which the company would later apply in its Bose SoundWear Companion - the brand's own iteration of an around-the-neck or neckband concept, launched at the end of 2017. With a significant number of claims, the awarded patent describes “a neck loop that is constructed and arranged to be worn around the neck," with drivers located, one each, below the left and right ears of the user, and two acoustically coupled waveguides.

Patent Review: Compact Wideband Bass and Midrange Horn-Loaded Speaker System

March 23, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: Compact Wideband Bass and Midrange Horn-Loaded Speaker System

This patent describes, a compact high-fidelity sound reproduction system achieving high efficiency, low distortion, wide bandwidth, and extended low-frequency reach, and which can be used as a sub-bass woofer, bass woofer, mid-bass woofer, and mid-range speaker for residential or commercial large venue applications. The system includes a dynamic driver driven bass horn, a looped resonator duct (ring geometry), which can be folded, and an adjustable feedback duct allowing sound characteristics to be tailored. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2016.

Patent Review: Apparatus Using Missing Fundamental Frequencies to Improve Loudspeaker Sound Focusing

March 16, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: Apparatus Using Missing Fundamental Frequencies to Improve Loudspeaker Sound Focusing

This review discusses an invention that promises to successfully process an audio signal to focus an acoustic signal by an arrangement of a plurality of loudspeakers, using a frequency analyzer, a signal processor, and a signal output interface. The frequency analyzer is configured to determine a fundamental frequency and the signal processor configured to adapt an overtone of the fundamental frequency. An approach that can work quite well, even though there are well-known drawbacks that the patent intends to resolve.

Patent Review: Virtual Height Filter for Reflected Sound Rendering Using Upward Firing Drivers

February 17, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: Virtual Height Filter for Reflected Sound Rendering Using Upward Firing Drivers

This review discusses a patent that applies to speakers designed for new immersive audio formats in home applications and Dolby Atmos, in particular. Not surprisingly, the patent was awarded to Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp. As the patent was granted, Voice Coil provided an extensive and informative review - recommended reading for anyone considering entering this important home-theater market segment. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2016.

Patent Review: Extended Duct with Damping for Improved Speaker Performance

January 11, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: Extended Duct with Damping for Improved Speaker Performance

This article reviews a patent granted to Apple, describing an electronic audio device including an enclosure having an acoustic output opening and a speaker positioned within the enclosure, as implemented in the company’s range of iMac desktop computers. The speaker and the acoustic output opening are acoustically coupled by an acoustic output pathway and damping chamber. Apple’s patent cites the Matsushita patent as prior art, but this is a more developed concept. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2015.

Patent Review: Loudspeaker Having a Passive Radiator US9426548B2

January 3, 2022 by James Croft

Patent Review: Loudspeaker Having a Passive Radiator US9426548B2

This article discusses a very interesting design and patent granted in August 2015 to Gary A. Rayner and James C. Larsen, as the inventors, on behalf of Treefrong Developments, from San Diego, CA. The patent abstract details a loudspeaker using one or more active drivers, with a passive radiator connected to each driver and dedicated processors and amplifier per channel - a slightly different approach to a familiar concept. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2015.

Patent Review: The Zoltan Bay Loudspeaker Patent

November 3, 2021 by James Croft

Patent Review: The Zoltan Bay Loudspeaker Patent

In this article, James Croft reviews a loudspeaker patent granted in 2015 to Zoltan Bay (Tiszaalpar, Hungary). The invention, which is the foundation for the BRS tweeter used in a remarkable series of Bayz Audio loudspeakers, basically describes a horizontally, omnidirectional transducer, using a multiple set of four to eight rolling, half-cylinder film diaphragms arranged in a circle to form a generally omni-directional radiator. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, September 2015.

Patent Review: Definitive Technology Bipolar Speaker with Improved Clarity

July 14, 2021 by James Croft

Patent Review: Definitive Technology Bipolar Speaker with Improved Clarity

An interesting patent review of a Bipolar Speaker assigned to Definitive Technology, the Maryland-based company that is now part of Sound United. The patent describes a forward-focused bipolar loudspeaker design with front-facing and rear facing driver-arrays, adjusted to generate a front-to-back acoustical output balance equal to a 2:1 ratio (about 6dB reduction) in the output of the rear firing transducers relative to the direct forward output. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2015

Patent Review: Bose Transmission Line Loudspeaker

July 7, 2021 by James Croft

Patent Review: Bose Transmission Line Loudspeaker

In this Voice Coil Acoustic Patents article, James Croft discusses an interesting Transmission Line Loudspeaker patent assigned to three engineers from Bose regarding an electro-acoustic driver and acoustic waveguide that includes “an enclosure, an acoustic transmission line formed within the enclosure, and a plurality of acoustic transducers contained within the enclosure and disposed along a length of the acoustic transmission line.” As Croft notes, this seems to be an improvement over the Tapped Horn loudspeaker architecture patented by Tom Danley, assigned 10 years ago. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2015

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