A VENTED LOUDSPEAKER ENCLOSURE WITH LIMITED DRIVER RADIATION

Abstract: A loudspeaker enclosure includes a rectangular cabinet (10) having an acoustical port (14) mounted in one of its vertical walls. A loudspeaker (18) is installed in a bottom wall (16) of the cabinet facing away from an interior volume of the cabinet. A highly resistive acoustic foam (20) is positioned in front of the loudspeaker to restrict the direct radiation of the loudspeaker, so that the usable acoustic radiation emanates from the acoustical port.

Description: A vented loudspeaker enclosure with limited driver radiation The subject invention relates to loudspeaker enclosures, and more particularly, to vented loudspeaker enclosures. The invention further relates to a television receiver. It is difficult to provide a high quality loudspeaker reproduction of the lowest audio frequencies without resorting to large bulky enclosures. One solution to this problem is the vented enclosure. US-A 3,037,081 discloses such an enclosure in the form of an acoustic resonator in which the diaphragm of the loudspeaker forms a part of the wall of the resonator. The enclosure includes at least one port. While such an enclosure has, at low frequencies, a smooth frequency response curve, good transient response and low non-linear distortion, the low frequency performance still tends to be lacking. An object of the invention is to provide a loudspeaker enclosure or unit which has small size and exhibits good low frequency performance. The above object is achieved in a loudspeaker enclosure or unit comprising a cabinet for containing a loudspeaker mounted in a wall of said cabinet, said loudspeaker facing away from an internal volume of said cabinet; a port mounted in a further wall of said cabinet; and acoustic resistive foam material positioned in front of said loudspeaker for limiting the amount of direct radiation from the loudspeaker thereby causing most of the usable acoustic radiation to emanate from said port. Applicant has found that below the tuned frequency of a reflex enclosure, the driver and port radiation are in phase opposition which tends to cancel the usable acoustic output. By limiting the direct speaker radiation, the port radiation can extend the low frequency response of the vented enclosure by at least one octave. Embodiments of the loudspeaker unit according to the invention are defined in Claims 2 and 3. The television receiver according to the invention is characterized as defined in Claim 4. With the above and additional objects and advantages in mind as will hereinafter occur, the invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a loudspeaker enclosure incorporating the subject invention; Fig. 2 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention; Fig. 3 shows response curves of the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention in which the amount of direct radiation is varied; and Fig. 4 shows response curves of the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention in which the loudspeaker enclosure is installed in a secondary enclosure. Fig. 1 shows an elevational view, partly in section, of a loudspeaker enclosure. The enclosure includes a rectangular cabinet 10 having at least one vertical side wall 12. An acoustic port 14 is mounted in this side wall 12. A bottom wall 16 of the cabinet 10 has a loudspeaker 18 mounted therein, where the loudspeaker 18 is facing away from the interior volume of the cabinet 10. The area directly in front of the loudspeaker 18 is filled with a highly resistive acoustic foam material 20. Arranged as such, the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention exhibits at least an octave extension of the low frequency response, for example, from 60Hz to 30Hz. In a practical embodiment of the loudspeaker enclosure, the cabinet is a cube having 13 inch sides. This yields an internal volume of the cabinet of approximately 1 cu. ft. The port has a length of 2.65 inches and an area of 12.57 sq. in. The loudspeaker has a nominal impedance of 7 ohms and a diameter of 8 in. Fig. 2 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of the loudspeaker enclosure. An AC voltage source, simulating an input to the loudspeaker, is connected to a resistor Rl and an inductor LI. The parallel combination of an inductor L2, a capacitor Cl, a resistor R2, a second capacitor C2 and a series combination of a capacitor C3 and a resistor R3 connect the inductor LI to ground. A series arrangement of an inductor L3 and a resistor R4 are connected to the inductor LI, and the resistor R4 is connected to ground via the parallel combination of a capacitor C4, a resistor R5, and a series combination of a capacitor C5 and a resistor R6. The junction between capacitor C3 and resistor R3 is connected through a resistor R7 to the inverting input of operational amplifier Al, a resistor R8 connecting the non-inverting input to ground, and a resistor R9 connecting the inverting input to the output of operational amplifier Al. A resistor RIO connects the junction between capacitor C5 and resistor R6 to the output of the loudspeaker, while a resistor Rl 1 connects the output of operational amplifier Al to the loudspeaker output. The operational amplifier Al serves to create the necessary phase reversal to simulate the difference between the direct radiation of the loudspeaker, applied to the inverting input of operational amplifier Al, and the rear radiation of the loudspeaker, applied to the output through resistor RIO. The value of these components are as follows: RESISTORS VALUE Rl 7.5D R2 47.43D R3 O.ID R4 0.51D R5 984.6D R6 0.67D R7 4.732KD R8, R9, R11 lOKt) RIO 2.041KD CAPACITORS VALUE Cl 79.82UF C2, C3 77.54UF C4 354.39UF C5 124.67UF INDUCTORS VALUE LI 1MH L2 32.85MH L3 11.63MH Fig. 3 shows response curves of the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention, in which the amount of direct driver radiation is varied. It should be noted that when the driver is allowed to freely radiate, while the high frequency response (over 100 Hz) is satisfactory, the low frequency response (under approx. 70 Hz) drops off rapidly. When the driver radiation is limited, while the high frequency response is somewhat restricted, the low frequency response is significantly enhanced. While one may suspect that by completely blocking the driver's direct radiation should even more enhance the performance, the response curves show that while the low frequency response may by somewhat enhanced, the high frequency response suffers significantly. The loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention may be used within a larger cabinet, as would be the case when the loudspeaker enclosure is used in, for example, a projection television receiver. In that case, the port should vent to the outside of the cabinet of the television receiver. Fig. 4 shows response curves when the loudspeaker enclosure of the subject invention is placed within a secondary cabinet of varying sizes. Numerous alterations and modifications of the structure herein disclosed will present themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the above described embodiment is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A loudspeaker enclosure comprising: a chamber for containing a loudspeaker (18) mounted in a wall (16) of said chamber, said loudspeaker (18) facing away from an internal volume of said chamber; a port (14) mounted in a further wall (12) of said chamber; and highly resistive acoustic foam material (20) positioned in front of said loudspeaker (18) for limiting the amount of direct radiation from the loudspeaker (18), thereby causing most of the usable acoustic radiation to emanate from said port (14). 2. The loudspeaker enclosure as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said chamber is rectangular. 3. The loudspeaker enclosure as claimed in claim 2, wherein said port (14) is mounted in a wall (12) adjacent to the wall (16) in which said loudspeaker (18) is mounted. 4. A television receiver comprising: a cabinet; circuits mounted within said cabinet for processing television signals to form video and audio signals; a display mounted in said cabinet and connected to said circuits for displaying said video signals; and sound reproduction means mounted in said cabinet and connected to said circuits for reproducing said audio signals, wherein said sound reproduction means comprises at least one loudspeaker enclosure as claimed in claim 1, in which said port (14) radiates outside of said cabinet.

Inventors: SCHOTT WAYNE M, SCHOTT, WAYNE, M.
Applicants: KONINKL PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NV, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: H04R
IPC codes: H04R1