Patent Publication Number: US-6910548-B2

Title: Modular speaker construction

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/416,121 filed Oct. 4, 2002, entitled “Framework for Speaker Construction,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/370,267 filed Apr. 5, 2002, entitled “Modular Construction for Speakers,” the details and disclosure of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     Be it known that I, Mark H. Powell, a citizen of Breat Britain, residing at 13969 Marquesas Way, #207B, Marina Del Ray, Calif., 90292, have invented a new and useful invention entitled, “Modular Speaker Construction.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a loudspeaker cabinet, more particularly, the invention relates to a speaker cabinet useful for professional audio equipment that allows for disassembly, servicing and reconfiguration of the speaker as well as ease of mounting. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Traditional speaker cabinets are generally constructed from six panels (two side panels, a top and a bottom panel, and a front grill and rear panel), such as wooden panels, connected together to form a structural box within which the speaker components are located. In these traditional designs, disassembly for repair, replacement or reconfiguration of the speaker components is cumbersome, if possible at all. Indeed, damage or destruction of the panels is often the case when speaker disassembly is attempted. 
     Moreover, in traditional speaker cabinet designs, mounting of the speaker cabinet, such as in an overhead mounting arrangement often found in professional environments, such as arenas, nightclubs, etc., can be difficult and unwieldy and require mounting hardware to be provided on or in the wooden sides. 
     There is a need in the art for an improved speaker housing construction which would provide for ready interchangeability of parts, ease of access for assembly and replacement or reconfiguration of internal components, and which facilitates mounting in a variety of orientations. Although there are many examples of prior art loudspeaker enclosures, none provide the sought after advantages. For instance, Gaus, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,168, discloses a loudspeaker enclosure comprising layers of metal and plastic to provide density, high modulus of elasticity, and a high damping factor. However, the Gaus configuration does not provide for ease of disassembly for reconfiguration or repair and replacement of components, nor does Gaus provide a ready and convenient mounting method. Meyer, Jr. describes another type of speaker enclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,176 which, according to the inventor, provides unique acoustical and structural properties and which consists of a porous inner core of rigid urethane foam bonded to fiberglass rovings by means of polyester resin and resin tie blocks. Clearly therefore, the Meyer, Jr. construction does not facilitate ease of disassembly or reconfiguration. 
     Lin, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,962, Stark in U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,728, and Kang in U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,350 all claim speaker housings assembled in different manners. None of the disclosed housings, however, provide the modular assembly, ease of disassembly, reconfiguration or replacement of components, and mounting capabilities desired in the art. 
     Thus, there is a continuing need in the art for improved loudspeaker housings which would provide ease of interchangeability of parts for repair or reconfiguration, as well as stable and reliable mounting systems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a speaker housing which comprises a unitary housing skeleton. The unitary housing skeleton includes a plurality of corner elements as well as plurality of cross supports. At least one of the pluralities of cross supports extends between two adjacent corner elements to form a speaker housing skeleton. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the inventive speaker housing skeleton comprises four corner elements or units with cross supports extending between each of the corner elements to thereby define a speaker housing skeleton having top, bottom, front, back, left and right sides. 
     Top, bottom, left and right side housing panels can then be attached to the corner elements and front and rear screens or panels (sometimes also referred to as grills or baffles) also attached to the corner elements, in order to form the speaker housing. Mounting tabs, for further securing the front and rear panels to the cross supports, are provided to provide for the assembly and disassembly of the speaker and removal and/or interchange of speaker components. 
     The corner elements contain integrated slots to facilitate insertion of housing panels, fittings for mounting of front and rear baffles or panels, and external mounting channels for mounting of the speaker. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved construction for a speaker housing. 
     Another object of the present invention is the provision of a speaker assembly having a unitary housing framework or skeleton which provides sufficient structural strength to support the external loads placed upon the housing assembly so that side panels are not required to provide structural strength. 
     Another object of the present invention is the provision of a speaker housing providing access to the internal components of the speaker for ease of manufacture, maintenance and reconfiguration. 
     Still another object of the invention is the provision of a family of speakers having interchangeable components. 
     These objects and others which will be apparent to the skilled artisan can be achieved by the provision of a housing for a loudspeaker which has two side panels, a top panel, a bottom panel, a front panel and a back panel, and which includes a plurality of corner units typically four corner units: two top units and two bottom units), each of the corner units having a first end and a second end and comprising a first inner spline extending therefrom and a second inner spline extending therefrom, the first and second inner splines defining planes offset from each other by an angle of from about 75° and about 105°; and a first outer spline extending therefrom and running generally parallel to the first inner spline and a second outer spline extending therefrom and running generally parallel to the second inner spline, wherein the first inner spline and the first outer spline cooperate to form a first slot sized to receive a top panel or a bottom panel and the second inner spline and the second outer spline cooperate to form a second slot sized to receive a side panel. 
     The inventive corner units further have a fitting at each end thereof, each fitting sized to receive a mounting element for one of the front and back panels. The corner units further include at least one (and preferably two) mounting channel(s) extending along the length thereof; when two mounting channels are present, they each defining a plane extending generally orthogonal to each other. 
     The inventive speaker housing further comprises a cross support extending between the first inner spline of a first bottom corner unit and the first inner spline of a first top corner unit; a cross support extending between the first inner spline of a second bottom corner unit and the first inner spline of a second top corner unit; a cross support extending from the second inner spline of a first top corner unit and the second inner spline of the second top corner unit; and a cross support extending from the second inner spline of a first bottom corner unit and the second inner spline of the second bottom corner unit. Thus, the corner units and cross supports combine to form a housing skeleton. 
     Two side panels, a top panel and a bottom panel are each engaged in the slots formed by the inner and outer splines of the corner units. In addition, a front panel (which can be a baffle, grill or screen) is attached to the housing skeleton by a mounting element engaged by the fittings at the front end of the corner units. And, a back panel is attached to the housing skeleton by a mounting element engaged by the fittings at the back end of the corner units. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the invention and are intended to provide an overview or framework of understanding and nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a speaker housing in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of a speaker housing in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevation view of the speaker housing of FIG.  2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a side elevation view of the speaker housing of FIG.  2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of a speaker housing skeleton in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of one of the corner units in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a front plan view of the speaker housing skeleton of FIG.  5 . 
         FIG. 8  is a side plan view of the speaker housing skeleton of FIG.  7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a bottom plan view of the speaker housing skeleton of FIG.  7 . 
         FIG. 10  is a plan view of one of the corner units in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a front perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a speaker housing in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail. Like or similar reference numerals will be used whenever possible, although, for greater clarity, not all reference numerals will be used in all drawings. The housing skeleton of the present invention will be described in terms of inclusion of a professional loudspeaker apparatus; such is for convenience only. It will be understood that the inventive housing can be applied to any speaker system or indeed any container having the same general requirements. Likewise, the invention will be described with respect to a specific orientation and relationship of elements with respect to each other, but it will be recognized by the skilled artisan that other orientations and relationships will be equally applicable. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 5 and 7 , a speaker housing skeleton is illustrated by the reference numeral  10 . Housing skeleton  10  comprises a plurality of corner units (also sometimes referred to as corner elements)  20 . Most preferably, speaker housing  10  comprises four corner units  20 , one for each of the two top corners of speaker housing skeleton  10  and one for each of the two bottom corners of speaker housing skeleton  10 . As can be seen in  FIG. 7 , corner units  20 A and  20 B comprise the upper corners of housing skeleton  10  and corner units  20 C and  20 D comprise the lower corners of housing skeleton  10 . 
     This description is written generally in terms of the speaker configuration shown in  FIGS. 2-4 , that is, a generally rectangular speaker; it will be recognized, however, that other speaker configurations, such as that illustrated in  FIG. 11 , can also be provided using the speaker housing skeleton  10  concepts taught herein. 
     Corner units  20  can be formed of aluminum or other like metal, plastic resins or the like and can be formed by extruding, casting, machining or other like processes familiar to the artisan. Although, as illustrated in  FIG. 10 , corner units  20  assume a rounded orientation at  21 A, in fact portion  21 A can be a right angle or other shape as desired. 
     As best illustrated in  FIG. 10 , corner units  20  each comprise first and second inner arms or splines  22 A and  22 B extending therefrom in different directions. First and second inner splines  22 A and  22 B each define a plane which is offset with respect to each other by an angle which can range from about 75° to about 105°; most preferably, inner splines  22 A and  22 B extend from corner units  20  at substantially right angles with respect to each other. 
     Corner units  20  further comprise first and second outer arms or splines  24 A and  24 B, which are oriented with respect to inner splines  22 A and  22 B so as run generally parallel thereto and to form a pair of slots running the length of corner units  20 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 5 ,  7  and  10 , a first slot is formed between splines  22 A and  24 A and a second slot is formed between splines  22 B and  24 B. Because of the orientation of inner splines  22 A and  22 B with respect to each other, the slots formed between inner splines  22 A and  22 B and outer splines  24 A and  24 B extend in planes offset from each other by an angle of between about 75° and 105°; most preferably, the two slots are orthogonal to each other. Based on the orientation of corner units  20  as shown in  FIG. 5 , the slot formed between arms  22 A and  24 A can be referred to as a horizontal slot and the slot formed between arms  22 B and  24 B can be referred to as a vertical slot. 
     Corner units  20  further comprises a fitting  26  which can be used for the mounting of a screen, baffle or other front or rear panel of a speaker housing thereto via a screw, rivet, bolt or other like attachment element. In one embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 5 , corner element  20  has a front fitting  26 A at a front end thereof and a rear fitting  26 B at the other end thereof for the attachment of one or more of panels, baffles, grills, screens, etc. to the front and back of speaker housing skeleton  10 , respectively. Alternatively, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , corner units  120  can comprise a fitting  126  which extends the length of corner element  120  and be used for the attachment of front and back panels, etc. in that manner. 
     In a preferred embodiment, corner units  20  further have formed therein at least one channel  28 , and more preferably, two channels,  28 A and  28 B, as illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 7 . Channels  28 A and  28 B are formed to have a cross sectional profile which adopts standard cargo-style locking track dimensions which are an accepted aerospace industry standard and which are commonly used in the speaker rigging hardware industry. Channels  28 A and  28 B can be formed into corner units  20  during the extrusion or other formation process or they can be milled into units  20  after formation. A plurality of circular hardware attachment points can then be machined into the exterior of channels  28 A and  28 B in any desired location which can be tailored to each specific speaker housings rigging requirements or which can be equally spaced along the entire length of channels  28 A and  28 B. Exemplary of such circular hardware attachment points are illustrated as  228 A and  228 B in FIG.  8 . 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 5 , speaker housing skeleton  10  further comprises a plurality of cross supports  30 , which can be denoted as horizontal cross supports  30 A and vertical cross supports  30 B. Horizontal cross supports  30 A extend between inner spline  22 A in one of corner units  20  and inner spline  22 A of a horizontally adjacent corner unit  20 , and vertical cross supports  30 B extend between inner spline  22 B of one corner unit  20  and inner spline  22 B of a vertically adjacent corner unit  20 . Preferably, and as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , cross supports  30 A and  30 B extend between corner units  20  at both the front end and back end of corner units  20 . Thus, if four cross supports (two each of cross supports  30 A and  30 B) are employed at both the front and back ends of corner units  20 , all four corner units  20  are connected and form a single unitary structural framework or skeleton  10 . Cross supports  30 A,  30 B are attached to inner splines  22 A,  22 B respectively either by welding, by mounting elements such as screws, bolts, rivets, etc. or by any other manner which will reliably secure cross supports  30 A,  30 B to inner splines  22 A,  22 B. Additional supports, such as mid-length supports  30 C can also be employed, if desired. 
     In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the horizontal cross supports  30 A can be provided as an integral unit at both the top and bottom of speaker housing skeleton  10 ; likewise, the vertical cross supports  30 B can also be provided as an integral unit at both the left and right sides of speaker housing skeleton  10 . In this way, the structural strength of speaker housing skeleton  10  is even further improved. 
     In forming a speaker housing  100  from speaker housing skeleton  10 , side panels  42  can be engaged in the vertical slots of corner units  20 , and top and bottom panels  44  can be engaged in the horizontal slots of corner units  20 . These side, top and bottom panels  42 ,  44  can be formed of wood, nomex, composites of honeycomb or other materials suitable for acoustic requirements. Side, top and bottom panels  42 ,  44  may have edges which are thinned for receipt in vertical and horizontal slots, however, that is not necessarily the case. Front and rear panels  46  and  48  can then be mounted to fittings  26  and thus held in place to form the front and rear of speaker housing  100 . Indeed, when properly dimensioned, front and rear panels  46  and  48 , when secured into place, can also function to hold side panels and top and bottom panels  42 ,  44  in place in the horizontal and vertical slots formed in corner units  20 . Alternatively, or in addition, side and top and bottom panels  42 ,  44  can be glued in place in the horizontal and vertical slots formed in corner units  20 . 
     In the most preferred embodiment, speaker housing  100  is assembled by placing each of the side panels and top panels  42 ,  44  within the horizontal and vertical slots formed in corner units  20 , and then securing the front and rear panels  46 ,  48  to corner units  20  with screws, bolts or the like extending into fittings  26 . 
     Cross supports  30  are preferably formed from strips of aluminum or other metal having a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of inner splines  22 . Most preferably, cross supports  30  are formed of the same material as is used to form corner units  20 . Cross supports  30  are butted up against the butt ends of inner splines arms  22  and are welded or otherwise joined by conventional techniques. The lines or abutment or weld are finished as smoothly as possible to permit easy access of panels  42 ,  44  into the slots formed in corner units  20 . 
     Cross supports  30  are designed to be of the thickness compliant with the requirements of load bearing and therefore are generally equal to the thickness to the inner splines  22  of corner units  20 . For example, cross supports  30  can be constructed from {fraction (3/16)}-inch thick 6061 aluminum alloy. 
     A plurality of mounting tabs denoted  50  can be attached, such as by welding, to cross supports  30 . Each of mounting tabs  50  has a mounting element, such as a bolt hull  52  or similar mounting element defined therein which can be used for further attachment of front and rear panels  46 ,  48 , or of speaker components, such as those illustrated (but not all of which are numbered) in FIG.  1 . 
     A speaker housing  100  utilizing the speaker housing skeleton  10  of the present invention is generally manufactured and assembled in the following manner. Four corner units  20  are prepared as described hereinabove. Cross supports  30  are welded between corner units  20  such that each cross support  30  spans between two corner units  20  and is welded thereto. The cross supports  30  and corner units  20  form a unitary structural framework as shown in FIG.  5 . Following formation of housing skeleton  10 , top, bottom, left side and right side housing panels  42 ,  44  are slid into the slots formed in corner units  20 . Panels  42 ,  44  and/or the slots may first be coated with glue or other adhesive to promote adhesion. Front and back panels  46 ,  48  are then detachably attached to speaker housing skeleton  20  by screw, bolts, or other attachment devices which engage fittings  26 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a speaker system  200  made with speaker housing  100  is illustrated. The speaker system  200  includes handles  201 , some of which is received in a handle pocket  202  which is mounted in a side panel  42 . 
     In terms of internal components, as would be familiar to the skilled artisan, they may include components such as internal port flares, as well as horn perforations, which may also be described as perforated acoustic filters. A horn bell can be received through the central most opening of the front panel  46 . A horn bell can be attached to horn throat. A typical speaker configuration is shown in FIG.  1 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a connector plate  210  can be mounted in the rear panel. 
     Of course, the skilled artisan will recognize that a variety of configurations and components are possible for speaker system  200 . 
     Speaker housing  100  provides several major benefits to the overall design philosophy of a speaker system. First, it provides a sufficiently strong structure to meet or exceed the load bearing requirements of the speaker assembly without relying on any of the side, top or bottom panels or other components for additional structural strength. Secondly, it provides a manufacturing jig for complete assembly of the rest of the speaker&#39;s components, including providing a gluing jig for the four side, top and bottom panels. Rubber gaskets may also be provided to provide a seal between the front and rear baffles and skeleton  20 . The completed assembly is serviceable and upgradeable due to the nature of this construction methodology which allows the front and rear panels to be removed to access and replace or service internal components. 
     All cited patents and publications referred to in this application are incorporated by reference. The invention thus being described, it will be apparent that it may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention and also such modifications which would be apparent to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.