Granted Patent B2

US 12,401,948 · App. 18/031,331 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Inventors: Masahiro Fukui (Tokyo, JP); Kazunori Kobayashi (Tokyo, JP); Noriyoshi Kamado (Tokyo, JP)

Assignee: NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION

H04R5/023H04R3/12H04R2205/024H04R2499/13

Abstract

Claims (31)

1. A speaker system that emits, by using at least four speaker units arranged in a seat of a vehicle, acoustic signals obtained on a basis of a reproduction target such that the acoustic signals are not able to be heard or hardly heard outside a predetermined range near a user who uses the seat, wherein

at least two speaker units of the at least four speaker units are arranged on a right side from a center of the seat,

at least two speaker units of the at least four speaker units are arranged on a left side from the center of the seat,

a (2R-1)-th speaker unit that is one of the at least two speaker units arranged on the right side is arranged at a position closer to a right ear of the user seated on the seat as compared with a 2R-th speaker unit that is another one of the at least two speaker units arranged on the right side,

a (2L-1)-th speaker unit that is one of the at least two speaker units arranged on the left side is arranged at a position closer to a left ear of the user seated on the seat as compared with a 2L-th speaker unit that is another one of the at least two speaker units arranged on the left side,

the acoustic signals obtained on the basis of the reproduction target are emitted from the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the 2R-th speaker unit to be opposite in phase to each other,

the acoustic signals obtained on the basis of the reproduction target are emitted from the (2L-1)-th speaker unit and the 2L-th speaker unit to be opposite in phase to each other, and

the acoustic signals are emitted from the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the (2L-1)-th speaker unit not to be opposite in phase to each other, and

at least one of the speaker units is arranged toward a direction in which the user is seated in the seat.

2. A speaker system that emits, by using at least four speaker units arranged in a seat of a vehicle, acoustic signals obtained on a basis of a reproduction target such that the acoustic signals are not able to be heard or hardly heard outside a predetermined range near a user who uses the seat, wherein

a (2R-1)-th speaker unit and a 2R-th speaker unit that are two speaker units of the at least four speaker units are arranged on a right side from a center of the seat,

a (2L-1)-th speaker unit and a 2L-th speaker unit that are two speaker units of the at least four speaker units are arranged on the right side from the center of the seat,

the (2R-1)-th speaker unit emits a (2R-1)-th acoustic signal that is one of the acoustic signals obtained on the basis of the reproduction target,

the 2R-th speaker unit emits a 2R-th acoustic signal that is an acoustic signal having a phase opposite to that of the (2R-1)-th acoustic signal,

the (2L-1)-th speaker unit emits a (2L-1)-th acoustic signal that is one of the acoustic signals obtained on the basis of the reproduction target,

the 2L-th speaker unit emits a 2L-th acoustic signal that is an acoustic signal having a phase opposite to that of the (2L-1)-th acoustic signal, and

the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the (2L-1)-th speaker unit are arranged closer to a right ear and a left ear of the user who uses the seat than the 2R-th speaker unit and the 2L-th speaker unit, respectively, or

the 2R-th speaker unit and the 2L-th speaker unit are arranged closer to the right ear and the left ear of the user who uses the seat than the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the (2L-1)-th speaker unit, respectively, and

at least one of the speaker units is arranged toward a direction in which the user is seated in the seat.

3. A speaker system that emits a sound based on a first acoustic signal, . . . , and a sound based on a (2N-1)-th acoustic signal such that the sounds are able to be heard only in a vicinity,

where N is any integer greater than or equal to 2 and a (2n-1)-th acoustic signal (n=1, . . . , N) is an acoustic signal obtained on a basis of a reproduction target, the speaker system comprising

an n-th speaker unit pair (n=1, . . . , N) including a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a positive speaker unit) that emits a sound based on the (2n-1)-th acoustic signal and a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a negative speaker unit) that emits a sound based on a 2n-th acoustic signal that is an acoustic signal having a phase opposite to that of the (2n-1)-th acoustic signal, wherein

an R-th speaker unit pair is arranged on a right side from a center of the seat, where R is any of 1, . . . , and N,

an L-th speaker unit pair is arranged on a left side from the center of the seat, where L is any of 1, . . . , and N, and R≠L,

the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the (2L-1)-th speaker unit are arranged closer to a right ear and a left ear of a user who uses the seat than the 2R-th speaker unit and the 2L-th speaker unit, respectively, or

the 2R-th speaker unit and the 2L-th speaker unit are arranged closer to the right ear and the left ear of the user who uses the seat than the (2R-1)-th speaker unit and the (2L-1)-th speaker unit, respectively, and

at least one of the speaker units is arranged toward a direction in which the user is seated in the seat.

4. The speaker system according to claim 3 , wherein

a direction in which the n-th speaker unit pair faces the user is defined as an n-th user direction (n=1, . . . , N),

the n-th speaker unit pair is sandwiched between two members in the n-th user direction and a direction opposite to the n-th user direction, and the two members sandwich a sound absorbing material on a side surface of a space sandwiched between the two members, and

one of the members in the n-th user direction is provided with a hole such that sound passes through, one of the members in the direction opposite to the n-th user direction is not provided with a hole such that sound does not come out, and the sound absorbing material is a member that has a higher sound absorbing effect at a higher frequency and is absorbed less at a lower frequency.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (9)

Cited By (1)

US 12,583,373