Loudspeaker arrangement of a vehicle
View Patent ↗A loudspeaker arrangement of a vehicle, comprises a speaker including an at least partially transparent diaphragm and a transducer coupled to the diaphragm, wherein movement of the transducer causes vibration of the diaphragm to generate sound by vibration of the diaphragm, the diaphragm having a front face directed towards an interior of the vehicle and an opposite rear face; and a carrier configured to support the diaphragm by supporting the diaphragm at its edges relative to a window glass of the vehicle such that the rear face of the diaphragm faces and is spaced from the window glass.
1 . A loudspeaker arrangement of a vehicle, comprising:
a speaker including an at least partially transparent diaphragm and a transducer coupled to the diaphragm, wherein movement of the transducer causes vibration of the diaphragm to generate sound by vibration of the diaphragm, the diaphragm having a front face to be directed towards an interior of the vehicle and an opposite rear face;
a carrier configured to support the diaphragm by supporting the diaphragm at its edges relative to a window glass of the vehicle such that the rear face of the diaphragm faces and is spaced from the window glass;
wherein the window glass is part of a moving window of the vehicle having an open state and a closed state; and
wherein the diaphragm is dimensioned to maintain a uniform space between an edge of the diaphragm and a portion of the carrier independent of whether the moving window is in the open state or the closed state, wherein the uniform space is open to air circulation therethrough from outside the vehicle when the moving window is in the open state.
2 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the loudspeaker arrangement is configured to be mounted in a side mirror mounting area of the vehicle.
3 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the window glass is located in the side mirror mounting area of the vehicle and the carrier is configured to position the diaphragm to at least partially overlap the window glass.
4 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 2 , wherein an external side mirror is attached to an exterior portion of the carrier.
5 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein the carrier is configured to support the diaphragm spaced from the window glass by a distance in the range of 2 to 200 mm.
6 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm is attached to the carrier via a spacer extending along at least part of the periphery of the diaphragm.
7 . The loudspeaker of claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm is transparent and/or wherein the diaphragm is tunable from transparent to semi-transparent to opaque.
8 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm is configured to be illuminated to display images and/or information, and/or to provide ambient light.
9 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the window glass is part of a front or rear vent window, a back quarter window, a back window, and a sun roof and the carrier is configured to position the diaphragm to at least partially overlap the window glass.
10 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the window glass is located in a side panel or door panel of the vehicle and the carrier is configured to position the diaphragm to at least partially overlap the window glass.
11 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm includes or is part of a digital side view mirror or a digital rearview mirror and/or wherein the diaphragm includes or is part of a touch screen.
12 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , further including a pattern on the front or rear face of the diaphragm, such as a pattern created by printing, overmolding or etching.
13 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein the surface of the diaphragm is structured to manipulate sound waves emitted from the diaphragm towards the interior of the vehicle and/or towards the window glass.
14 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm is a multi-layer diaphragm comprising a clear damping layer positioned between two clear outer layers.
15 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises a frame, the frame configured to support the diaphragm.
16 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 15 , wherein gaps are formed between the carrier and the frame when the diaphragm is supported by the frame.
17 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 16 , wherein sound directing ribs are provided between the carrier and the frame which extends from an inner perimeter of the carrier to the outer perimeter of the frame.
18 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising a wireless communication component to allow communication between a transmitter of the vehicle and an actuator of the loudspeaker arrangement.
19 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein the diaphragm at least partially overlaps the window glass.
20 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 19 wherein the carrier is configured to support the window glass.
21 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 19 wherein the carrier is configured to be attached to a body-in-white structure of a vehicle.
22 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein a surface of the window glass facing the diaphragm is structured to manipulate sound waves emitted from the diaphragm towards the window glass.
23 . A vehicle comprising the loudspeaker arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm of the respective loudspeaker arrangement is arranged and/or shaped to generate sound waves having a center of propagation directed at individual areas within a vehicle cabin which are adjacent to different passenger head positions.
24 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein the moving window is a hinged window or a sliding window.
25 . The loudspeaker arrangement of claim 1 wherein the space is disposed in front of an opening mechanism of the moving window to provide access to the opening mechanism.