WO2009051347A1

WO2009051347A1 - Flat speaker

Info

Publication number: WO2009051347A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/005382
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seock-Ho Kim; Sang-Yun Ban
Original assignee: Vanns Tech Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-10-15
Filing date: 2008-09-11
Publication date: 2009-04-23
Also published as: KR100822766B1

Abstract

Disclosed therein is a flat speaker, which can be mounted anywhere, such as on the surface of a wall or a floor, using an attachment magnet mounted on the speaker, provide an effect of a large- sized speaker as a small-sized speaker and treat sound signals of various frequency bands since the surface of the wall or floor, to which the flat speaker is attached, serves as a diaphragm for amplifying sounds, improve frequency characteristics since a vibration sheet made of carbon or glass laminate is attached on the speaker, and receive signals from sound source generating means, such as CD players, MP3 players, and so on, by radio through Bluetooth communication.

Description

Description FLAT SPEAKER

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a flat speaker, and more particularly, to a flat speaker, which can be mounted anywhere, such as on the surface of a wall or a floor, provide an effect of a large-sized speaker as a small-sized speaker, treat sound signals of various frequency bands, and receive signals from sound source generating means, such as CD players, MP3 players, and so on, by radio. Background Art

[2] Comparing with a conventional cone speaker using a stereoscopic cone diaphragm, a flat speaker has great merits in aspects of design and special efficiency since it is in a thin plate form.

[3] Korean Patent Laid-open Nos. 2001-0080381 and 2001-0023649 disclose internal structures of such a flat speaker.

[4] As shown in FIG. 1, the flat speaker according to the prior arts includes a flat diaphragm 1 forming a front face thereof, and an exciter 3 having a magnet and a voice coil for providing a predetermined vibration to the diaphragm 1 to generate sounds.

[5] The diaphragm 1 is generally constructed of a sandwich structure or a beehive structure, and includes a rigid cellular core made of light metal and synthetic material and two skins attached to the rigid cellular core and made of paper, cardboard, synthetic material and light metal.

[6] The diaphragm 1 is relatively rigid lightweight, generally used at high frequency, and shows a weak acoustic reaction in medium or low frequency bands.

[7] Furthermore, the conventional flat speaker has a problem in that it is mounted on the surface of a wall or on a plane inconveniently and instably since it has no accessory to mount it on another medium and is put on a horizontal plane or hung on the wall using additional mounting means. Particularly, in case where the flat speaker is put on the horizontal plane, since the speaker is not fixed but moved by vibration generated during a sound output, the flat speaker may be damaged due to a drop or is not fixed at a wanted position.

[8] Moreover, since a separate wire jack for communication with the sound source generating means, such as the CD players, MP3 players, and so on, or a separate holder for electrically connecting the sound source generating means with the speaker is needed, the flat speaker has another problem in that jack mounting position and space and a jack length must be considered for communication with the sound source generating means. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[9] Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior arts, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a flat speaker, which can be mounted anywhere, such as on the surface of a wall or a floor, using an attachment magnet mounted on the speaker, provide an effect of a large-sized speaker as a small-sized speaker and treat sound signals of various frequency bands since the surface of the wall or floor, to which the flat speaker is attached, serves as a diaphragm for amplifying sounds, improve frequency characteristics since a vibration sheet made of carbon or glass laminate is attached on the speaker, and receive signals from sound source generating means, such as CD players, MP3 players, and so on, by radio through Bluetooth communication. Technical Solution

[10] To accomplish the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a flat speaker comprising: a case opened at a front face and having an attachment magnet and a circuit part (not shown) mounted therein, the circuit part including a voice coil for outputting sounds; a cover detachably mounted on the front face of the case and having a through hole for generating sounds; the attachment magnet mounted on an inner circumferential surface of the cover; and a vibration sheet attached on the outer surface of the cover and made of carbon or glass laminate, in which carbon or glass fiber and resin are mixed together at the ratio of 6:4 or 8:2, whereby the flat speaker can be mounted anywhere, such as the surface of a wall or a floor, provide an effect of a large-sized speaker as a small-sized speaker and treat sound signals of various frequency bands since the surface of the wall or floor, to which the flat speaker is attached, serves as a diaphragm for amplifying sounds.

[11] Furthermore, the circuit part of the flat speaker includes a wireless sending/receiving part for receiving signals from sound source generating means by radio through Bluetooth communication. In order to provide stereo outputs using a plurality of the flat speakers, the speaker (hereinafter, called "main speaker") including the wireless sending/receiving part further includes a wire sending/receiving part and a connection terminal for connecting a jack thereto, and another speaker (hereinafter, called "auxiliary speaker") corresponding to the main speaker includes only a wire sending/ receiving part for receiving a control signal from the main speaker and a connection terminal for connecting a jack thereto, whereby an operation of the auxiliary speaker can be controlled according to the control signal of the main speaker.

[12] Moreover, the case or the cover further comprises vacuum attachments disposed on the outer circumferential surface thereof, whereby the flat speaker can be attached to the surface of the wall or floor via vacuum if it cannot be attached to the surface of the wall or floor via the attachment magnet. [13] In addition, the outer surface of the vibration sheet is coated with soft urethane to prevent a slide of the flat speaker when it is put on the surface of the wall or a horizontal plane. [14] Furthermore, the flat speaker may further include a separate steel sheet having adhering means, such as adhesives, mounted on one side thereof, whereby the flat speaker can be adhered on the surface of a wall, which has no magnetic substance, by adhering the steel sheet on the surface of the wall. [15]

Advantageous Effects

[16] As described above, according to the present invention, the flat speaker can be mounted anywhere, such as on the surface of a vertical wall or a horizontal floor, using an attachment magnet mounted on the speaker so that it is convenient in use since it is not restricted in mounting position and space, and provide an effect of a large-sized speaker as a small-sized speaker and treat sound signals of various frequency bands since the surface of the wall or floor, to which the flat speaker is attached, serves as a diaphragm for amplifying sounds.

[17] Furthermore, the flat speaker can improve frequency characteristics of medium/high sounds since the vibration sheet made of carbon or glass laminate is attached to the speaker.

[18] Moreover, the flat speaker is not restricted in mounting position and space without needing to pay attention to electric wiring since it receives signals from the sound source generating means, such as CD players, MP3 players, and so on, by radio through Bluetooth communication, and can provide a stereo sound effect using a plurality of the flat speakers. Brief Description of the Drawings

[19] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[20] FIG. 1 is a view of a flat speaker according to a prior art;

[21] FIG. 2 is a plan exploded perspective view of a flat speaker according to the present invention;

[22] FIG. 3 is a rear plan exploded perspective view of the flat speaker according to the present invention;

[23] FIGS. 4 and 5 is a partially sectional view showing a coupling structure of a case and a cover; [24] FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view showing a mounting structure of an attachment magnet;

[25] FIG. 7 is a graph showing data of frequency characteristics by a vibration sheet;

[26] FIG. 8 is a view showing a state where vacuum attachments are mounted on the flat speaker according to the present invention;

[27] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an electric configuration of the flat speaker according to the present invention; and

[28] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an electric configuration of the flat speaker according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[29] Reference will be now made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

[30] FIG. 2 is a plan exploded perspective view of a flat speaker according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a rear plan exploded perspective view of the flat speaker.

[31] The flat speaker according to the present invention includes: a case 10 opened at a front face and having an attachment magnet and a circuit part (not shown) mounted therein, the circuit part including a voice coil for outputting sounds; a cover detachably mounted on the front face of the case 10 and having a through hole formed at the center thereof for generating sounds; the attachment magnet 30 mounted on an inner circumferential surface of the cover 20; and a vibration sheet 40 attached on the outer surface of the cover 20 and made of glass or carbon laminate.

[32] Coupling means for coupling the case 10 and the cover 20 with each other may include a projection 52 formed on the case 10 and a fixing hole 53 formed on the cover 20 in such a way as to correspond and forcedly fit with each other as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the coupling means may include a coupling projection 54 formed on the case 10 and having a projection portion 54a at an end thereof and a coupling hole formed on the cover 20 in such a way as to correspond with each other as shown in FIG. 5. Besides the above, the coupling means can be constructed through various methods by those skilled, and hence, a detailed description of the coupling means will be omitted.

[33] Furthermore, the attachment magnet 30 may be attached to the cover 10 through adhesives (not shown), or as shown in FIG. 6, fixing projections 62 respectively having projection portions 62a at ends thereof are formed on the case 10 and spaced from each other at an interval corresponding to dimensions of the attachment magnet 30 to fix the attachment magnet 30. Besides the above, the attachment magnet 30 can be fixed through various methods, and hence, a detailed description of the attachment magnet 30 will be omitted. [34] In the meantime, the vibration sheet 40 is made of carbon or glass laminate, and attached on the outer circumferential surface of the cover 20 through adhesives. When the vibration sheet 40 is used, as shown in FIG. 7, characteristics of low sound are improved a little but characteristics of medium/high sound are improved greatly, and the surface of an object, to which the flat speaker is attached, serves the low sound characteristics. In FIG. 7, the X-axis indicates frequency.

[35] Additionally, the outer surface of the vibration sheet 40 is coated with soft urethane to form a soft urethane coated film, whereby the flat speaker does not slide when it is put on the surface of a wall or on a horizontal plane.

[36] Furthermore, the case 10 or the cover 20 further includes vacuum attachments 70 as shown in FIG. 8. For this, the case 10 or the cover 20 has an attachment member 80 integrally or detachably mounted on the outer circumferential surface thereof, and the attachment member 80 has projection pieces 82 formed thereon. In case where the flat speaker cannot be attached on the surface of the object via the attachment magnet 30, the flat speaker can be attached on the surface of the object via the vacuum attachments 70. A mounting structure of the vacuum attachments 70 is similar to or the same as the coupling structure of the case 10 and the cover 20 and the mounting structure of the attachment magnet 30, and also the attachment member 80 can be joined to the case or cover using a projection and a hole. Accordingly, since the vacuum attachments 70 and the attachment member 80 can be mounted on the case 10 or the cover 10 through various methods by those skilled, their detailed description will be omitted.

[37] In order to provide a stereo sound effect, a plurality of the flat speakers according to the present invention can be connected with one another. For this, as shown in FIG. 9, the flat speaker according to the present invention includes a main speaker 100 and an auxiliary speaker 300. The main speaker 100 includes: a wireless sending/receiving part 110 mounted on the circuit part for receiving signals from sound source generating means 200 through Bluetooth communication; and a wire sending/receiving part 120 and a jack connection terminal 130 for outputting a control signal to the auxiliary speaker 300 by cable. The auxiliary speaker 300 includes a jack connection terminal 330 and a wire sending/receiving part 320 for operating the auxiliary speaker according to the control signal outputted from the main speaker 100.

[38] Since the flat speaker having the above configuration is small-sized and thin, it can be mounted at any wanted place. For an example, on the surface of a wall or a floor, which has magnetism, the flat speaker can be fixed to a wanted place by the attachment magnet if it is just put on the wanted place.

[39] Moreover, if a user wants to attach the flat speaker on a non-magnetic and slick surface like glass, it can be fixed on the surface by the vacuum attachments or can be adhered on the surface using a steel sheet 90 having adhering means disposed on one side thereof.

[40] After the flat speaker is completely mounted, when the sound source generating means generates a sound source and outputs the control signal to the main speaker by radio, the main speaker generates sounds according to the wirelessly transferred control signal and sends the corresponding control signal to the auxiliary speaker by cable. Accordingly, since a plurality of the speakers can output stereo sounds and the surface to which the speaker is mounted serves as a diaphragm, the small-sized flat speaker according to the present invention can provide an effect of a large-sized speaker.

[41] In the meantime, as shown in FIG. 10, the sound source generating means 200, such as MP3s, MP4s, and so on, may be integrally mounted on the flat speaker. In this instance, the circuit part including the voice coil for outputting sounds can be directly connected to the sound source generating means, and if necessary, can be connected to the sound source generating means by radio. Additionally, when the sound source generating means is integrally connected to the speaker, the sound source generating means and the circuit part respectively include controlling parts, so that the controlling part of the sound source generating means can output the control signal to the controlling part of the circuit part for outputting sounds or can serve as the controlling part of the circuit part for outputting sounds.

[42] While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiment, it is not to be restricted by the embodiment but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiment without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

[ 1 ] A flat speaker comprising: a case opened at a front face and having an attachment magnet and a circuit part

(not shown) mounted therein, the circuit part including a voice coil for outputting sounds; a cover detachably mounted on the front face of the case and having a through hole for generating sounds; the attachment magnet mounted on an inner circumferential surface of the cover; and a vibration sheet attached on the outer surface of the cover and made of carbon or glass laminate.

[2] The flat speaker according to claim 1, wherein the circuit part comprises a wireless sending/receiving part for receiving signals from sound source generating means by radio through Bluetooth communication.

[3] The flat speaker according to claim 1, wherein the speaker (hereinafter, called

"Main speaker") comprising the wireless sending/receiving part further comprises a wire sending/receiving part and a connection terminal for connecting a jack thereto, and wherein another speaker (hereinafter, called "auxiliary speaker") corresponding to the main speaker comprises only a wire sending/ receiving part for receiving a control signal from the main speaker and a connection terminal for connecting a jack thereto, whereby an operation of the auxiliary speaker can be controlled according to the control signal of the main speaker.

[4] The flat speaker according to claim 1, wherein the case or the cover further comprises vacuum attachments disposed on the outer circumferential surface thereof.

[5] The flat speaker according to claim 1, wherein the vibration sheet has a soft urethane coated film formed on the outer surface thereof.

[6] The flat speaker according to claim 1, wherein the case comprises sound source generating means mounted integrally thereto.