Speaker assembly and speaker

This application relates to the technical field of speakers and discloses a speaker assembly. The sound-raising assembly includes a first housing, the first housing forms a cavity. The sound assembly includes a cavity, a diaphragm and an armature member, a perimeter of the diaphragm is connected to an inner wall of the cavity, and a side of the diaphragm is provided with a voice coil, the voice coil for driving the vibration of the diaphragm. The armature member is set relative to the cavity and is located on the side of the diaphragm where the voice coil is set. The present application could improve the sound quality of the speaker.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Technology Field

This application relates to the technical field of speakers, and in particular to a speaker assembly and a speaker.

Technique of the Prior Art

Dynamic is a kind of speaker transducer. A driving mode of dynamic headphones is driven by a voice coil in a permanent magnetic field to drive the vibration of a diaphragm connected to the voice coil, so as to output sound. The voice coil inside an armature headphones is wound on a balanced armature located in the center of a permanent magnetic field, the balanced armature drives the diaphragm under the action of magnetic force to produce sound.

At present, in order to combine the respective advantages of dynamic headphones and armature headphones, coil-iron headphones combining dynamic and armature are provided. However, current coil-iron headphones usually have a separating armature unit and dynamic unit, the separation leads to a large sound wave phase difference, and reduce the sound quality of the headphones.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present application provides a speaker assembly and a speaker to solve the above problems and to improve sound quality of the speaker.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the application provides a speaker assembly comprising: a first housing, an inner side wall of the first housing constitutes a first cavity; a diaphragm disposed in the first cavity, a circumference of the diaphragm is connected to the inner wall of the first housing; a voice coil disposed on one side of the diaphragm; and an armature member disposed in the first cavity, the armature member is located on a same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil.

In an embodiment of the application, a direction from the diaphragm to the armature member is a sound out direction of the speaker assembly.

In an embodiment of the present application, the speaker assembly further comprises a magnet and a second housing embedded in the first cavity, an inner side wall of the second housing forming a holding cavity. wherein the magnet, the holding cavity, and the voice coil are located on a same side of the diaphragm and are fixed in the first cavity. the second housing is provided with an opening connected to the holding cavity, the opening is oriented in the same direction as the sound out direction, at least part of the armature member is housed in the holding cavity through the opening.

In an embodiment of the present application, the magnet is a annular magnet and the holding cavity is located in a center of the annular magnet. A voice coil cavity is disposed between the inner wall of the first housing and an outer wall of the second housing, the voice coil is a ring around the holding cavity, and at least an end of the voice coil is embedded in the voice coil cavity. the voice coil cavity is formed by an inner wall of the annular magnet and an outer wall of the second housing, or formed by an outer wall of the annular magnet and the inner wall of the first housing.

In an embodiment of the present application, the annular magnet includes an outer annular magnet and an inner annular magnet. An inner wall of the inner annular magnet abuts against the outer wall of the second housing, an outer wall of the outer annular magnet abuts against the inner wall of the first housing. The voice coil cavity is formed by an inner wall of the outer annular magnet and an outer wall of the inner annular magnet.

In an embodiment of the present application, the second housing includes an extension, the extension is provided with a first through hole and the first through hole is connected to the voice coil cavity to form a first sound outlet channel.

In an embodiment of the present application, the second housing is provided with a second through hole, the second through hole communicates with the holding cavity to form a second sound outlet hole.

In an embodiment of the present application, at least part of the second housing is formed by magnetic conductor.

In an embodiment of the present application, the diaphragm comprises a recessed first membrane flap, and the holding cavity is at least partially housed in the first membrane flap.

In an embodiment of the present application, a first part, a second part axially connected to the first part, and a connector connecting the first part and the second part. A diameter of the first part is greater than a diameter of the second part. A perimeter of the diaphragm is attached to the first portion or the connector. The armature member is provided in the second part. The connector is provided with a third sound outlet hole.

In prior art, the side of the diaphragm away from the voice coil is usually designed with a protective structure such as a front cover, so it is not possible to set the armature member on the side of the diaphragm away from the voice coil, resulting in the distance between the armature member and the diaphragm cannot be further reduced. Since the distance between the diaphragm and the armature member is usually less than a minimum wavelength of audio, the greater the distance between the armature member and the diaphragm, the greater the phase difference between the output sound waves. Excessive phase differences can lead to audio separation between the sound output by the armature member and the diaphragm, reducing the sound quality of the speaker.

To overcome this problem, the application sets the voice coil and the armature member on a same side of the diaphragm, further reducing the distance between the armature member and the diaphragm. This setting can reduce the phase difference between the sound waves output by the armature member and the diaphragm, improve the phenomenon of audio separation, and thus improve the sound quality of the speaker.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the object, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the following exemplary embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for the purpose of explaining the present application only and are not a limitation of the present application. It should also be noted that for ease of description, the accompanying drawings show only some, but not all, of the structures relevant to this application. Based on the embodiments of this application described in this application, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative labor shall fall within the scope of protection of this application.

The terms “first”, “second”, etc. in this application are used to distinguish between different objects and are not used to describe a particular order. In addition, the terms “includes” and “has”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes steps or units that are not listed, or optionally also includes other steps or units that are inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

References herein to “embodiments” mean that particular features, structures or characteristics described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The occurrence of the phrase at various points in the specification does not necessarily mean the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

Referring toFIG. 1,FIG. 1is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the speaker assembly in the prior art.

The speaker assembly includes a diaphragm2aand an armature member3a, the voice coil21ais located on one side of the diaphragm2a, the armature member3ais located on the other side of the diaphragm2a, that is, the voice coil21aand the armature member3aare located on both sides of the diaphragm2a. A side of the diaphragm2aback away from the voice coil21is provided with a front cover5, the front cover5is located between the diaphragm2aand armature member3a. Therefore, it is not possible to set the armature member on the side of the diaphragm away from the voice coil, so the distance between the armature member and the diaphragm cannot be further reduced. Since the distance between the diaphragm2aand armature member3ais usually less than the minimum wavelength of audio, the greater the distance between the armature member3aand the diaphragm2a, the greater the phase difference between the output sound waves. Excessive phase differences can lead to audio separation between the sound output by the armature member3aand the diaphragm2a, reducing the sound quality of the speaker.

In order to overcome this problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a first housing, an inner side wall of the first housing constitutes a first cavity; a diaphragm disposed in the first cavity, a circumference of the diaphragm is connected to the inner wall of the first housing; a voice coil disposed on one side of the diaphragm; and an armature member disposed in the first cavity, the armature member is located on a same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil.

Referring toFIG. 2andFIG. 3,FIG. 2is an exploded diagram of the speaker assembly in the first embodiment of the present application, andFIG. 3is a cross-sectional diagram of the speaker assembly shown inFIG. 2.

As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, in one embodiment, the speaker assembly includes a first housing1, an inner wall of the first housing1forms a first cavity1a. Further, the first cavity1aruns through the first housing1. The diaphragm2is provided in the first cavity1a, and a circumference of the diaphragm2is connected to the inner wall of the first housing1. The diaphragm2is set on the side where the voice coil21is set. The speaker assembly also includes a armature member3, which is set on the same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil21. The speaker assembly also includes a magnet (such as the annular magnet12described below), the magnet is provided on the same side of the diaphragm as said voice coil21.

The diaphragm2could adopt the structure of the diaphragm in prior art, in which the voice coil21is placed in a magnetic field, by passing AC current to the voice coil21, thus driving the movement of the voice coil21under the interaction of the magnetic field and the voice coil21, and drives the diaphragm2to vibrate and produce sound.

The armature member3can adopt a armature unit of current armature headphones, and its sound output principle can also adopt the sound output principle of the armature unit of current armature headphones. The diaphragm2and armature member3in this embodiment correspond to the traditional dynamic unit and armature unit, that is, the speaker assembly elaborated in this embodiment is a coil-iron speaker assembly. The diaphragm2and the armature member3have different audio performance capabilities in different frequency bands. Diaphragm2has good audio performance in the middle and low frequency bands, i.e., the audio output from diaphragm2in the middle and low frequency bands has good sound quality. Armature member3in the high frequency band has good audio performance, that is, the armature member3output of the high frequency band of audio with good sound quality. Diaphragm2and armature member3complement each other, so that the audio output from the speaker assembly has a good sound quality.

As can be seen above, the armature member3and the voice coil21of the diaphragm2are set on the same side, to reduce the distance between the armature member3and the diaphragm2, thereby to reduce the phase difference between the output sound waves of the armature member3and the diaphragm2. The sound separation of the armature member3and the diaphragm2is reduced, and the sound quality of the speaker is improved.

In order to set the armature member3on the same side as the voice coil21of the diaphragm2, this application adapts an acoustic curve of the speaker assembly, so that the acoustic curve of the speaker assembly of this application differs from that of the prior art. This difference prevents the prior art from directly setting the armature member3on the same side as the voice coil21of the diaphragm2as in the present application.

As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, in one embodiment, a direction from the diaphragm3to the armature member2is a sound out direction of the speaker assembly. In other words, a side of the diaphragm2setting the voice coil21is the sound output direction. In the prior art, a side that not set the voice coil faces the sound output direction of the diaphragm, and the side with the voice coil is used to drive the vibration of the diaphragm. In this embodiment, the diaphragm2is inverted so that the side (or back) of the diaphragm2with the voice coil21is set facing the direction of the sound output from the speaker assembly. The armature member3and the voice coil21are set on the same side, thereby the armature member3and the diaphragm2has a same sound output direction, and the diaphragm2will not block the sound of the armature member3.

In coil-iron headphones of the prior art, the side of the diaphragm back to the voice coil is the front side, and facing the direction of the sound output from the speaker assembly. Protective structures such as front cap are set in the side of the diaphragm back to the voice coil, so the armature member has to be set away from the diaphragm, and lead to a great phase difference between the sound waves output by the diaphragm and the armature member. If referring to the coaxial unit structure of large size speakers, opening a hole on the center of the dynamic diaphragm and putting the armature unit in the hole, a sound output ability of the armature unit could be obtained. However, the hole in the center of the dynamic diaphragm would result interference of the sound waves produced by both sides of the dynamic diaphragm, reducing the sound performance of the dynamic diaphragm. Further, it's hard to open a hole in the center of the dynamic diaphragm in small size speakers.

In this application, a side (or back) of the diaphragm2setting the voice coil21faces the sound direction of the speaker assembly, eliminating the constraints of the front cover and other protective structures in the prior art, further reducing the distance between the armature member3and the diaphragm2, reducing the phase difference between the sound waves output by the armature member3and the diaphragm2, and improving the sound quality of the speaker assembly.

Moreover, the diaphragm2does not need to be opened, which can keep the surface of the diaphragm2completing, thus avoid the sealing problem and acoustic interference caused by the opening of the diaphragm2. The distance between the armature member3and the diaphragm2is reduced, so that the sound path from the armature member3and diaphragm2to the human ear eardrum is highly similar in structure (i.e., the sound wave transmission process is highly similar in structure), thus the mutual interference between the armature member3and the diaphragm2caused by the different structure of the sound path is effectively avoided, which is conducive to obtaining a better effect of the combination of the armature member3and diaphragm2, and improve the overall sound quality of the speaker assembly.

As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, in one embodiment, the speaker assembly includes a magnet and a second housing11embedded in the first cavity1a, an inner side wall of the second housing11forming a holding cavity11a. Both the magnet and the holding cavity11aare located on the side of the diaphragm2where the voice coil21is set, and are fixed in the cavity1a. The magnet is set on the side where the voice coil21is set. The second housing11is provided with an opening111connected to the holding cavity11a.

The opening111is oriented in the same direction as the sound output direction of the speaker assembly. The armature member3is at least partially housed in the holding cavity11a. That is, the at least part of the armature member3is housed in the holding cavity11athrough the opening111, so that the direction of sound output of the armature member3is the same as the direction of sound output of the speaker assembly.

The magnet is used to generate a magnetic field, and the voice coil21of the diaphragm2is placed in the magnetic field generated by the magnet. Through the interaction between the magnetic field and the voice coil21, the voice coil21is driven to move, which in turn drives the diaphragm2to vibrate and produce sound. In the embodiment, the magnetic field generated by the magnet is a permanent magnetic field, and the voice coil21is fed with alternating current, allowing the voice coil21to move back and forth, which in turn drives the diaphragm2to vibrate. Of course, the voice coil21can also be energized with direct current, and the magnetic field generated by the magnet is variable in direction, driving the voice coil21back and forth through the magnetic field that changes direction, no limitation here.

Further, the magnet may be an annular magnet12. The outer side of the annular magnet12is provided adjacent to the inner wall of the first housing1. The second housing11is located in a center of the annular magnet12. Correspondingly, the voice coil21may also be annular in shape so that an area of the action surface of the voice coil21and the magnet is maximized to increase the efficiency of the magnetically driven movement of the voice coil21.

In an embodiment, a voice coil cavity131is provided between the inner wall of the first housing1and the outer wall of the second housing11, the voice coil cavity131being annular around said holding cavity, said voice coil21being at least end-embedded in said voice coil cavity131. The voice coil cavity131is located between the annular magnet12and the first housing1(as shown inFIG. 3), or between the annular magnet12and the inner wall of the second housing11(as shown inFIG. 6), or in the annular magnet12(as shown inFIG. 7). It can be shown that at least one side wall of the voice coil cavity131is near the annular magnet12.

Since the side walls of at least one side of the voice coil cavity131are annular magnets12, it is possible to ensure a relatively strong interaction between the voice coil21and the annular magnets12. Meanwhile, the voice coil cavity131is used to provide space for the movement of voice coil21, which moves back and forth axially in the voice coil cavity131, thus driving the diaphragm2to vibrate and produce sound.

In one embodiment, the outer wall of the annular magnet12abuts the inner wall of the first housing1, and the space between the inner wall of the annular magnet12and the corresponding outer wall of the second housing11forms the voice coil cavity131, i.e., the magnet of the speaker assembly is an external magnetic structure. The speaker assembly illustrated inFIG. 3is a rotationally symmetric structure, the direction defined by its rotationally symmetric axis is the axial X of the speaker assembly, and the direction perpendicular to its rotationally symmetric axis is the radial Y of the speaker assembly. The space between the side walls extending along the axial direction X of the speaker assembly on the second housing11and the inner wall of the annular magnet12forms the voice coil cavity131.

Further, an edge of the second housing11extends radially Y outwardly to form an extension112, and the extension112abuts the inner wall of the first housing1. The magnet (i.e., the annular magnet12) abuts against the inner surface1121of the extension112on the side facing the sound exit direction of the sound raising assembly. The extension112is provided with a first through hole1122. The first through-hole1122connects to the voice coil cavity131to form the first outlet channel13. That is, the voice coil cavity131is not only used to provide space for the movement of the voice coil21, but also serves as an outlet channel involved in transmitting the sound waves generated by the vibration of the diaphragm2.

As shown inFIG. 3, in one embodiment, the voice coil21in the voice coil cavity131does not extend partially to the first through hole1122in the extension112. The voice coil cavity131is annular and around the holding cavity11a, the extension112is provided with a plurality of first through-holes1122which are spaced circumferentially around the extension112as the end of the first sound outlet channel13.

In other embodiments, the first through-holes1122may also be annular corresponding to the voice coil cavity131, and forms a complete pathway structure with the voice coil cavity131to form the acoustic pathway of the diaphragm2.

For the coil-iron headphones in the prior art, it is difficult to achieve effective magnetic shielding because the components inside the armature member3are susceptible to external magnetic interference. Thereby, at least a portion of the second housing11near the holding cavity11aof this embodiment comprises a magnetic conductor, and a magnetic conductivity of the holding cavity is greater than a magnetic conductivity of air to shield the magnetic field of the annular magnet12from interference with the armature member3.

As mentioned earlier, another reason that constrains the prior art from setting the armature member3on the same side as the voice coil21is that it is more difficult to achieve effective magnetic shielding inside the headphones of the prior art from setting the armature member3. Directly set the armature member3and the voice coil21on the same side, will make the armature member3too close to the voice coil21and annular magnet12, the external magnetic field will inevitably cause serious interference to the armature member3. In this embodiment, a magnetic shield is formed by the second housing11composed of a magnetic conductor, which is provided at the periphery of the armature member3and can effectively shield the magnetic field of the voice coil21and the annular magnet12from interfering with the armature member3.

Further, to improve the magnetic shielding effect of the second housing11, the second housing11is composed entirely of magnetic conductors. The magnetic conductivity of the second housing11is greater than the air in the environment in which the holding cavity11ais located. The magnetic field generated by the annular magnet12is located in the atmosphere, and the magnetic induction lines of the annular magnet12all pass through the sidewall of the second housing11at the intersection of the atmosphere and the second housing11, while there are fewer magnetic induction lines inside the holding cavity11a, thus achieving a good magnetic shielding effect.

The magnetic conductivity of the second housing11may be much greater than the magnetic conductivity of the air in the environment in which the holding cavity11ais located, to further improve the magnetic shielding effect of the second housing11. Thereby the armature member3and diaphragm2are able to adjacent to each other, the influence of the magnetic field in the prior art which set away the armature member and the dynamic is eliminated, the problem of the large phase difference between sound waves outputting by the armature member and the dynamic is thus solved.

The magnetic conductor can be T-iron, etc., which is pure iron in texture and is not limited here.

Please refer toFIG. 5. In an embodiment, a second through hole113is opened in the part of the second housing11relative to the opening111. That is, a second through hole113is opened at the bottom of the second housing11. The second through hole113communicates with the space in the holding cavity11aand the opening111to form the second outlet hole14. This embodiment improves the sound quality of the speaker assembly by adding a second outlet hole14to increase the number of sound outlets on the speaker assembly.

Please refer toFIG. 3andFIG. 4. In an embodiment, the first housing1includes a first part15and a second part16that are axially connected. The diameter of the first part15is larger than the diameter of the second part16, and the first part15and the second part16are connected by a connector17. The perimeter of the diaphragm2is attached to the inner wall of the first part15or the inner wall of the connector17.FIG. 3shows the diaphragm2with its circumferential edge attached to the inner wall of the first part15. The armature member3is provided in the second part16.

In the speaker assembly illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, the perimeter of the diaphragm2is attached to the inner wall of the first part15. The connector17is provided with a third sound outlet hole18. The third outlet hole18is provided corresponding to the part of the circumference of the diaphragm2, in order to further increase the number of outlets on the speaker assembly and thus improve the sound quality of the speaker assembly.

It should be noted that at least one of the first outlet channel13, the second outlet hole14, and the third outlet hole18serves as the outlet hole of the speaker assembly. It is possible that the first outlet channel13, the second outlet hole14, and the third outlet hole18are all used as the outlet holes of the speaker assembly. Or any two of the first outlet channel13, the second outlet hole14, and the third outlet hole18are combined as the outlet holes of the speaker assembly. Or any one of the first outlet channel13, the second outlet hole14, and the third outlet hole18is used as the outlet holes of the speaker assembly.

It should also be noted that the speaker assembly described in this embodiment is mainly used in small size speakers, and can improve the combination of the armature unit and the dynamic unit in small size speakers. It can be used in speakers such as wired headphones or wireless headphones. It will be appreciated that the speaker assembly set forth in this embodiment may also be applied in the field of medical devices, such as hearing aids, no further limitation herein.

In summary, the voice coil of the diaphragm is set on the same side as the armature member, which allows the armature member to be set close to the sound outlet position of the diaphragm, to reduce the phase difference between output sound waves of the armature member and the diaphragm, and then reduce sound separation to improve the sound quality of the speaker.

Referring toFIG. 6,FIG. 6is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the speaker assembly in the third embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment, the speaker assembly includes a first housing1, an inner wall of the first housing1forms a first cavity1a. The diaphragm2is provided in the first cavity1a, and a circumference of the diaphragm2is connected to the inner wall of the first housing1. The diaphragm2is set on the side where the voice coil21is set. The speaker assembly also includes a armature member3, which is set on the same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil2.

The difference between this embodiment and the above embodiment is that the inner wall of the annular magnet12abuts the outer wall of the second housing11, and the space between the outer wall of the annular magnet12and the inner wall of the first housing1forms the voice coil cavity131, i.e., the magnet of the sound raising assembly is an internal magnetic structure.

Referring toFIG. 7,FIG. 7is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the speaker assembly in the fourth embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment, the speaker assembly includes a first housing1, an inner wall of the first housing1forms a first cavity1a. The diaphragm2is provided in the first cavity1a, and a circumference of the diaphragm2is connected to the inner wall of the first housing1. The diaphragm2is set on the side where the voice coil21is set. The speaker assembly also includes a armature member3, which is set on the same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil2.

This embodiment differs from the above embodiment in that the annular magnet12includes an outer annular magnet121and an inner annular magnet122provided in a nested configuration. The inner wall of the inner annular magnet122abuts against the outer wall of the second housing11, and the outer wall of the outer annular magnet121abuts against the inner wall of the first housing1. In this case, the space between the inner wall of the outer annular magnet121and the outer wall of the inner annular magnet122forms the voice coil cavity131, i.e., the magnet of the speaker assembly is an internal and external magnet structure.

In this way, there are magnets on both sides corresponding to the part of the voice coil21located in the voice coil cavity131. Compared with the internal or external magnet structure in the above-mentioned embodiments, the magnet with the internal and external magnet structure is more efficient in driving the voice coil21, which can ensure that the efficiency of the voice coil21in driving the vibration of the diaphragm2is sufficient to meet the needs in practice.

Referring toFIG. 8,FIG. 8is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the speaker assembly in the fifth embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment, the speaker assembly includes a first housing1, an inner wall of the first housing1forms a first cavity1a. The diaphragm2is provided in the first cavity1a, and a circumference of the diaphragm2is connected to the inner wall of the first housing1. The diaphragm2is set on the side where the voice coil21is set. The speaker assembly also includes a armature member3, which is set on the same side of the diaphragm as the voice coil2.

Further, the diaphragm2includes a first membrane flap22and a second membrane flap23, the second membrane flap23is in annular, the first membrane flap22is located in the center of the second membrane flap23, and connected with the second membrane flap23to form the complete radiation body of the diaphragm2. The voice coil21drives the first membrane flap22and the second membrane flap23vibration to produce sound. The first membrane flap22corresponds to the holding cavity11a, that is, the holding cavity11acorresponds to the central of the diaphragm2, so that the armature member3inside the holding cavity11acorresponds to the central of the diaphragm2, which could ensure the sound path of the armature member3and the diaphragm2is highly similar.

The present embodiment differs from the above embodiment in that the first membrane flap22has a larger curvature and curved surface area, and a side of the first membrane flap22adjacent to the holding cavity11ais recessed, which has an edge221. At least a portion of the holding cavity11ais housed in the recessed first membrane flap22, thereby allowing the armature member3to be located in the space encompassed by the first membrane flap22. Specifically, an end of the armature member3away from the diaphragm2is flush with the edge221of the first diaphragm22to minimize the difference between the sound positions of the armature member3and the diaphragm2, then reduce the phase difference of the sound waves output by the armature member3and the diaphragm2.

Referring toFIG. 9,FIG. 9is a schematic diagram of the structure of a headphone of the present application.

In an embodiment, the headphone4includes a speaker assembly41. The speaker assembly41works to produce sound, thereby enabling the headphone4to output the corresponding audio information to the user. Headphone4can be wired or wireless headphones, in-ear or external headphones, or medical equipment in headphone form, such as hearing aids, no further limitation here. The specific structure and working principle of the speaker assembly41have been detailed in the above-mentioned embodiments, no repeat here.

The above is only an implementation of this application, and is not intended to limit the scope of this application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation using the contents of this application and the accompanying drawings, or any direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, is included in the scope of patent protection of this application.