Patent Publication Number: US-8111867-B2

Title: Electronic device with a speaker

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with a speaker. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     With the rapid development of technologies, the design of electronic devices, such as cellular phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and so on, is being driven by the marketplace towards providing more and more multimedia functions. At the same time, consumer and user demand has continued to push a dramatic reduction in the size of electronic devices. 
     To comply with the multimedia requirements, most electronic devices today include a speaker. Quality of the sound from speakers strongly influences customers buying decisions. 
       FIG. 4  shows a typical electronic device including a housing  12 , a speaker  14 , a washer  16 , and a circuit board  18 . The housing includes a chamber  122  defined therein for receiving the speaker  14 . The speaker  14  includes a diaphragm  142  and a conductive surface  144  opposite to the diaphragm  142 . The diaphragm  142  is an outer surface of the speaker  14  for propagating sounds. The conductive surface  144  is an internal surface for electrically connecting the speaker  14  to the circuit board  18 . Two elastic sheets  146  are protrusively arranged on the conductive surface  144  for resisting the circuit board  18  to electrically connect the speaker  14  to the circuit board  18 . 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  show the typical electronic device with the speaker  14  arranged therein. The diaphragm  142  is close to a bottom of the chamber  122  and a plurality of vent holes are defined in the bottom of chamber  122 . The elastic bodies  146  electrically connect the speaker  14  to the circuit board  18 . The washer  16  is arranged on a top of sidewalls of the chamber  122 . However, as electronic components are mainly arranged in a middle portion of the circuit board  18 , edges of the circuit board  18  will be slightly raised due to the weight of the electronic components. In this way, interstices  124  between the chamber  122  and the circuit board  18  result in sound leakage. The leaked sounds interfere with the sounds dissipating from the vent holes of the chamber  122  and decrease the overall sound quality of the electronic device. One solution to solve the above problems is to provide an airtight chamber for the speaker  14 . However, the need for the airtight chamber of the electronic device conflicts with the drive to produce smaller devices. 
     In addition, the speaker  14  is electrically connected to the circuit board  18  using the elastic bodies  146  as shown in  FIG. 5 . It is difficult to precisely position the elastic bodies  146  during assembly. Moreover, the circuit board  18  may be damaged due to great elasticity of the elastic bodies  146 . 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the electronic device can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present electronic device. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled view showing the electronic device in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric view of a typical electronic device. 
         FIG. 5  is an assembled view showing the typical electronic device in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows an electronic device  100  including a housing  20 , a speaker  30 , an adhesive layer  40 , two connecting bodies  50 , a cover  60 , and a circuit board  70 . 
     A substantially rectangular cavity  22  is defined in one end of the housing  20  and is divided into a first chamber  224  and a second chamber  226  by an arcuate plate  222 . The first chamber  224  is for enclosing electronic components therein and the second chamber  226  is for accommodating the speaker  30 . The height of the arcuate plate  222  is lower than sidewalls of the cavity  22 . The second chamber  226  includes a bottom  2262  and peripheral edges  2264 . A plurality of vent holes are defined in the bottom  2262  (not shown) of the second chamber  226 . However, the plurality of vent holes may be defined in sidewalls of the second chamber  226 . The peripheral edges  2264  are defined on a lower part of the sidewalls of the second chamber  226 . 
     The speaker  30  is an independent component for receiving electrical signals from the circuit board  70  and convert the electric signals into acoustic signals. In the exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the speaker  30  is less than the depth of the second chamber  226 , and substantially equals the height of the arcuate plate  222 . The speaker  30  includes a diaphragm  32  and a connecting surface  34  opposite to the diaphragm  32 . The acoustic signals drive the diaphragm  32  of the speaker  30  to oscillate to generate sound waves. The sound waves are propagated by the plurality of vent holes defined in the bottom  2262  of the second chamber  226 . The dimension of the diaphragm  32  substantially equals that of the bottom  2262  so the speaker  30  is engageable with the second chamber  226 . In addition, the connecting surface  34  further includes two elastic sheets  342  arranged in peripheral portions for electrically connecting to the circuit board  70 . 
     The adhesive layer  40  is formed according to the shape of the cavity  22 . The adhesive layer  40  attaches the cover  60  to the cavity  22  to completely seal the cavity  22 . 
     Each of the connecting bodies  50  includes a base  52  and an adjustable rod  54 . The connecting bodies  50  may be elastic pins, such as pogo pins. The bases  52  are substantially cylindrical with a larger diameter than the adjustable rods  54 . One end of each adjustable rod  54  is affixed within a corresponding base  52 , and the other end of each adjustable rod  54  protrudes out from the base  52 . The adjustable rods  54  may extend from the bases  52  and bend back to the base  52 . 
     The cover  60  is formed by punching a plate. The cover  60  includes a recess  64  and horizontal edges  62  surrounding the recess  64 . One end of the horizontal edges  62  has two circular-shaped through holes  622  defined thereon. The distance between the through holes  622  substantially equals to the distance between the two elastic sheets  342  of the connecting surface  34 . The diameter of the through holes  662  is smaller than the diameter of the bases  52  of the connecting bodies  50 , but is larger than the diameter of the adjustable rods  54  of the connecting bodies  50 . A bottom of the recess  64  is configured for being resisted against by the connecting surface  34  of the speaker  30 . 
     The circuit board  70  is a substantially rectangular-shaped board. The dimension of the circuit board  70  equals a top surface of the housing  20  so that the housing  20  and the circuit board  70  are engageable with each other as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     In assembly, the bases  52  of the connecting bodies  50  are respectively attached to the elastic sheets  342  to electrically connect the connecting bodies  50  to the speaker  30 . The diaphragm  32  of the speaker  30  is then engaged with the bottom  2262  to install the speaker  30  in the second chamber  226 . The connecting surface  34  of the speaker  30  is slightly lower than the arcuate plate  222 . The cover  60  is then attached to the cavity  22  using the adhesive layer  40  to seal the cavity  22 . In this way, a bottom of the recess  64  of the cover  60  is arranged to resist the connecting surface  34  of the speaker  30  and the top surface of the arcuate plate  222 . Further, the adjustable rods  54  of the connecting bodies  50  are arranged to pass through the through holes  622  of the cover  60  respectively. Finally, the circuit board  70  is attached to the housing  20  and the adjustable rods  54  of the connecting bodies  50  are arranged to resist the circuit board  70  to electrically connect the speaker  30  to the circuit board  70 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the assembled electronic device  100  is shown. The diaphragm  32  of the speaker  30  is located close to the bottom  2262  of the second chamber  226 . The speaker  30  is arranged to be engageable with the peripheral edges  2264  of the second chamber  226 . The bases  52  of the connecting bodies  50  are attached to the elastic sheets  342  of the speaker  30  so the adjustable rods  54  are electrically connected to the elastic sheets  342 . As the diameter of the bases  52  is larger than the diameter of the through holes  622 , the bases  52  are configured to elastically resist the cover  60  by the elastic sheets  342  of the connecting surface  34 . The through holes  622  also contribute orienting the connecting bodies  50  and the circuit board  70  to simplify the assembly process. Further, the adjustable rods  54  pass through the cover  60  to resist the circuit board  70  thereby electrically connecting the speaker  30  and the circuit board  70 . In this way, the elasticity generated by the elastic sheets  342  is restrained by the cover  60 , and thus the circuit board  70  will not be deformed from resistance of the adjustable rods  54 . 
     From the foregoing it will be seen that the speaker  30  of the embodiment is installed in an air-tight cavity  22  that functions as an independent speaker enclosure. In this way, the speaker  30  provides a higher fidelity sound without leaking or sizzling. 
     In alternative embodiments, each of the elastic sheets  342  of the speaker  30  and each of the connecting bodies  50  may be integrally formed on the connecting surface  34  of the speaker  30 . In addition, the elastic sheets  342  of the speaker  30  may be emitted by directly soldering the bases  52  of the connecting bodies  50  on the speaker  30 . 
     The connecting bodies  50  may be arranged on the cover  60  in advance. One end of the connecting bodies  50  resists the circuit board  70 , and the other end of the connecting bodies  50  resists the connecting surface  34  of the speaker  30 . In addition, the cover  60  may be a plate-like structure without recess  64  defined thereon. 
     It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.