Portable speaker for vehicles

A portable speaker for vehicles which includes a shaped, box-like structure having front and rear sound chambers having top segments disposed in different planes and port holes communicating with the sound chambers, respectively, with front and rear speaker units provided in the respective sound chambers. In a preferred embodiment, the portable speaker is shaped to serve as an arm rest between bucket seats in a vehicle and can be positioned in several different configurations in order to provide sound of desired intensity and quality.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to speakers and speaker systems and more 
particularly, to a portable automobile speaker which is characterized by a 
shaped, box-like structure having the top segments of front and rear sound 
chambers disposed in different planes, with front and rear speaker units 
provided in the sound chambers, respectively, and separate, 
oppositely-disposed port holes communicating with the top and bottom sound 
chambers to facilitate entry and exit of air during operation of the 
speaker units. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the portable 
speaker is configured for disposition between the bucket seats in a 
vehicle and can be situated to rest on one of several surfaces in order to 
produce sound of desired intensity and quality. 
In recent years there has developed a great demand for quality speaker 
systems in automobiles and other vehicles and particularly, for speakers 
which are portable. In a typical speaker system used in cooperation with 
sophisticated stereophonic amplifiers in modern vehicles, the speakers are 
located in strategic positions in order to enhance the quality of sound 
emitted therefrom. In most cases, these speakers are located in the doors 
and in the rear panel area adjacent the rear window, in order to provide a 
desired spacing necessary to enhance the quality of sound emitted from the 
speakers. Some installations feature separate speaker boxes or cabinets 
which are not permanently mounted to the vehicle doors or rear panel and 
which can be moved to various locations inside the vehicle in order to 
produce the desired sound effects. One of the problems associated with 
such speakers is the requirement of constant adjustment in order to 
maintain a proper spacing and positioning, since operation of the vehicle 
causes the speakers to move and bounce and redistributes the sound. 
Furthermore, each of the speakers must be wired to the amplifier and is 
therefore tethered in some manner to the speaker location, thereby 
limiting effective movement and repositioning of the speakers. 
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and 
improved portable speaker for vehicles and particularly for vehicles which 
are designed with bucket seats, which speaker is characterized by a shaped 
box-like structure defining a front and rear sound chamber with front and 
rear speaker units located in the sound chambers, respectively, and 
separate port holes communicating with the respective sound chambers, to 
facilitate entry and exit of air to and from the sound chambers. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved portable 
speaker for vehicles which includes a shaped, box-like structure having 
front and rear sound chambers with top segments disposed in different 
planes, and upper and lower speaker units disposed in the sound chambers, 
respectively, and further including a pair of oppositely disposed air 
ports communicating with each of the sound chambers in order to facilitate 
the entry and exit of air during speaker operation. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a portable speaker for 
vehicles and particularly vehicles having bucket seats, which speaker is 
shaped to define separate sound chambers, each fitted with a speaker unit 
and cooperating, oppositely-disposed air port holes communicating with the 
sound chambers, respectively, the portable speaker shaped for positioning 
between the bucket seats on various shaped surfaces to produce sound of 
desired intensity and quality in the vehicle. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved 
portable, shaped, box-like speaker for vehicles which speaker contains a 
pair of isolated speaker units and is capable of being removed from the 
vehicle and used outside of the vehicle, as desired. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved portable 
speaker which is characterized by a pair of speaker units mounted in 
separate plenums defined by a shaped, box-like structure and separated by 
a partition, the plenums further provided with oppositely-disposed air 
port holes, respectively, in order to facilitate the entry and exit of air 
to and from the plenums, respectively, during operation of the portable 
speaker. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved 
portable speaker having separate sound chambers or plenums fitted with air 
ports and speaker units mounted in the plenums, the speaker unit grills 
situated in separate planes, which portable speaker can be used both 
inside and outside of an automobile or other vehicle and is particularly 
useful as an arm rest disposed between bucket seats and in various 
positions deployed on various surfaces, to produce sound from the port 
holes, the quality of which sound varies with the positioning of the 
speaker. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects of the invention are provided in a new and improved 
portable speaker for vehicles, which includes a shaped, generally box-like 
structure having a rear top segment and an adjacent front top segment 
tapering from the rear top segment, the structure enclosing a pair of 
separate sound chambers or plenums, each plenum having a speaker unit 
installed therein, the portable speaker further provided with 
oppositely-disposed air port holes communicating with each plenum, in 
order to facilitate entry and exit of air to and from the plenums during 
speaker operation, with a variation in sound quality and intensity 
determined by positioning the speaker on various surfaces provided on the 
speaker structure. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
Many speakers and speaker systems for vehicles are known in the prior art. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,580,220, dated Apr. 13, 1926, to H. Schwarze, discloses a 
"Telephone Installation" for vehicles, which is characterized by a 
telephone set which includes a receiver adjacent the driver's station and 
a transmitter conveniently located for the use of the passenger. A typical 
installation includes an enclosure which receives the telephone apparatus 
and conveniently provides an out-of-the-way location for the telephone. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,905,215, dated Apr. 25, 1933, to J. O. Cadieux, discloses 
a "Telephone System and Apparatus" which is similar to the Schwarze 
system, in that it includes a built-in speaker and enclosure system for 
installing a telephone system in a vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,151, dated 
Oct. 11, 1938, to P. Rittenhouse, details a "Radio Receiving System for 
Automobiles" which includes a loud speaker unit located in such a position 
in the vehicle that the aural reception is approximately the same as to 
volume and fidelity of acoustical reproduction, for all occupants, 
wherever located in one or more seats in the vehicle. The speaker is 
provided in an enclosure in order to more easily mount it either on one of 
the seats or in the dash of the vehicle. French Pat. No. 2,343,389, 
discloses a mount for radios which includes a speaker and an enclosure of 
relatively small size for positioning in a desired location in the vehicle 
.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, the portable speaker of 
this invention is generally illustrated by reference numeral 1 and is 
characterized by a shaped enclosures 2, defined by parallel sides 3, a 
generally flat bottom 4 and generally parallel front end 5 and base end 6. 
As is more particularly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings, a rear top 
segment 7 extends from the base end 6 of the enclosure 2, to a partition 
22, which extends from the bottom 4, to define a rear sound chamber 13. 
Furthermore, a frontal top segment 8 tapers from the partition 22 to the 
front end 5, to enclose and define a separate front sound chamber 14. In a 
most preferred embodiment of the invention the front end 5 extends from 
the bottom 4 at a first angle of about 84 degrees and the base end 6 
extends from the bottom 4 at a second angle of about 96 degrees. 
Furthermore, the frontal top segment 8 extends from the rear top segment 7 
to the front end 5 at a third angle of about 149 degrees with respect to 
the rear top segment 7 and the partition 22 is therefore-most preferably 
fastened to the bottom 4 in perpendicular relationship and joins the rear 
top segment 7 and the frontal top segment 8 at the third angle, as 
heretofore described. The rear top segment 7 is provided with a rear 
speaker opening 9, which faces a rear speaker unit 11 and the frontal top 
segment 8 is provided with a front speaker opening 10, which accommodates 
a front speaker unit 12. Referring again to FIG. 1, in another most 
preferred embodiment of the invention a rear speaker grill 20 covers the 
rear speaker opening 9 and protects the rear speaker unit 11, while a 
front speaker grill 21 covers the front speaker opening 10 and likewise 
protects the front speaker unit 12. As in the case of conventional 
speakers, the grill fasteners 16, which may be wood screws or like 
fasteners, are used to secure the rear speaker grill 20 to the rear top 
segment 7 and the front speaker grill 21 to the frontal top segment 8, of 
the portable speaker 1. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2-8 of the drawings, in another most preferred 
embodiment of the invention a port hole 15 is provided in each of the 
sides 3 in oppositely-disposed relationship communicating with both the 
rear sound chamber 13 and the front sound chamber 14, respectively. As 
further illustrated in FIG. 5, each port hole 15 is provided in a port 
hole block 18 which is fitted with a radius 19 on one surface thereof, to 
accommodate the rear speaker unit 11 and the front speaker unit 12, as 
also illustrated in FIG. 2. Each port hole 15 also extends through the 
sides 3 of the enclosure 2, and the upholstery foam 23, more particularly 
illustrated in FIG. 1, and also through the upholstery 24, enclosing the 
upholstery foam 23 and terminates in a port hole cover 25, which is 
secured to the port hole blocks 18 by means of wood screws 27. Fastener 
apertures 17 in the port hole blocks 18 and cover apertures 26, align the 
wood screws 27 through the port hole cover 25, sides 3 and the port hole 
blocks 18. Accordingly, in another preferred embodiment of the invention 
the entire portable speaker enclosure 2 is covered with the upholstery 
cover 24, which in turn, covers the upholstery foam 23. The upholstery 
cover 24 is situated around the bottom 4, sides 3, front end 5 and the 
base end 6 and is folded beneath the rear speaker grill 20 and the front 
speaker grill 21 and is secured to the enclosure 2 by means of the grill 
fasteners 16, as illustrated in FIG. 1. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 9-11 of the drawings, it will be appreciated 
by those skilled in the art that various positioning of the portable 
speaker 1 results in a variation in the intensity and quality of sound 
emitted from the rear speaker unit 11 and the front speaker unit 12. For 
example, referring initially to FIG. 1, positioning of the portable 
speaker 1 resting on the bottom 4 of the enclosure 2 between the vehicle 
seats 29, facilitates a relatively evenly distributed sound of high 
intensity at any given volume setting of the amplifier, since both the 
front speaker unit 12 and the rear speaker unit 11 are unobstructed and 
are facing upwardly and forwardly to evenly distribute the sound. 
Referring now to FIG. 9 of the drawing, when the portable speaker 1 is 
turned to the position illustrated, resting on the rear speaker grill 20, 
it will be appreciated that the sound emitted from the rear speaker unit 
11 is muted, while the sound emitted from the front speaker unit 12 is 
directed downwardly toward the floor of the vehicle, to reduce the 
intensity of the sound from the portable speaker 1. Accordingly, when the 
portable speaker 1 is in the position illustrated in FIG. 9, the sound is 
lessened in intensity, producing a softer effect for a selected setting of 
the amplifier controls. Referring now to FIG. 10 of the drawings, when the 
portable speaker 1 is positioned on the base end 6 with the sides 3 
substantially parallel to the back rest 30 of the vehicle seat 29, both 
the rear speaker unit 11 and the front speaker unit 12 are positioned in a 
forward direction toward the dash of the vehicle and a sound of higher 
intensity and better quality is realized. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a 
highly muted, low intensity sound can be realized by positioning the 
portable speaker 1 such that the enclosure 2 is fitted between the vehicle 
seats 29 resting on the front speaker grill 21, with the sound emitted 
from the rear speaker 11 directed downwardly and away from the listeners. 
In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention a long speaker wire is 
provided between the portable speaker 1 and the amplifier, such that the 
portable speaker 1 can be removed from the vehicle and positioned on the 
hood or top of the vehicle or at a distance from the vehicle and still 
operate by manipulation of the amplifier controls in the vehicle. As in 
the positioning of the portable speaker 1 on various surfaces of the 
vehicle, the portable speaker 1 can also be varied in position, as 
illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 9-11, to produce a desired intensity and 
sound quality to suit the occasion.