Solid-state transducer, system, and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10943577-B2
Application number	US-201816473998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 2, 2018
Priority date	Jan 3, 2017
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

The present disclosure includes solid-state transducers, a system, and a method. In one embodiment, a solid-state transducer includes a housing, a first end portion, a second end portion, a plurality of electrical conductors, and a thin-film resistive material. The thin-film resistive material is disposed between and in electrical communication with a plurality of electrical conductors. The thin-film resistive material is configured to receive one or more electrical signals from the plurality of electrical conductors, and generate thermal oscillations to create pressure waves in a medium in response to receiving the one or more electrical signals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A solid-state transducer comprising:
a housing having a first end and a second end, the housing defining an aperture between the first end and the second end;
a first end portion positioned at the first end of the housing, the first end portion defining a first main aperture and a first plurality of apertures;
a second end portion positioned at the second end of the housing, the second end portion defining a second main aperture and a second plurality of apertures;
a plurality of electrical conductors, wherein a first group of the plurality of electrical conductors is within and extends from one of the first plurality of apertures to the second end portion, and wherein a second group of the plurality of electrical conductors is within and extends from one of the second plurality of apertures to the first end portion; and
a thin-film resistive material disposed between and in electrical communication with the plurality of electrical conductors, the thin-film resistive material configured to
receive one or more electrical signals from the plurality of electrical conductors, and
generate thermal oscillations to create pressure waves in a medium in response to receiving the one or more electrical signals.

2. The solid-state transducer of claim 1 , wherein the housing is comprised of a solid high temperature resistant material, and wherein the first end portion and the second end portion are comprised of an electrically insulating material.

3. The solid-state transducer of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film resistive material has a heat capacity per unit area of 10 −3 J/m 2 K or lower, and wherein the thin-film resistive material has a thickness on an order of micrometers or nanometers.

4. The solid-state transducer of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film resistive material is a material selected from a group consisting of
carbon nanotube films,
an array of carbon nanotube wires,
porous carbon foams,
freestanding graphene,
graphene on a substrate,
an array of metal nanowires,
nanoscale thickness metal films,
conductive polymer thin films, and
boron nitride nanotubes.

5. The solid-state transducer of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of apertures defined by the first end portion surrounds the first main aperture defined by the first end portion, and wherein the second plurality of apertures defined by the second end portion surrounds the second main aperture defined by the second end portion.

6. The solid-state transducer of claim 5 , wherein the first plurality of apertures defined by the first end portion form one or more first concentric rings, and wherein the second plurality of apertures defined by the second end portion form one or more second concentric rings.

7. The solid-state transducer of claim 5 , wherein the pressure waves that are generated are at least one of simple plane waves or higher order propagating wave modes.

8. The solid-state transducer of claim 5 , wherein the first main aperture is configured to attach to an exhaust pipe of a internal combustion engine or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

9. The solid-state transducer of claim 1 , further comprising an acoustically transparent diaphragm within and extends from the first main aperture to the second main aperture.

10. A system comprising:
an audio amplifier configured to generate one or more electrical signals; and
a solid-state transducer including
a housing having a first end and a second end, the housing defining an aperture between the first end and the second end;
a first end portion positioned at the first end of the housing, the first end portion defining a first main aperture and a first plurality of apertures;
a second end portion positioned at the second end of the housing, the second end portion defining a second main aperture and a second plurality of apertures;
a plurality of electrical conductors, wherein a first group of the plurality of electrical conductors is within and extends from one of the first plurality of apertures to the second end portion, and wherein a second group of the plurality of electrical conductors is within and extends from one of the second plurality of apertures to the first end portion; and
a thin-film resistive material disposed between and in electrical communication with the plurality of electrical conductors, the thin-film resistive material configured to
receive the one or more electrical signals from the plurality of electrical conductors, and
generate thermal oscillations to create pressure waves in a medium in response to receiving the one or more electrical signals.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
an input sensor configured to
measure acoustic noise entering the solid-state transducer, and
output a measurement signal indicative of the acoustic noise that is measured; and

an electronic controller communicatively connected to the input sensor and the audio amplifier, the electronic controller configured to
receive the measurement signal, and
control acoustic waves exiting the solid-state transducer by controlling the audio amplifier to generate the one or more electrical signals based on the measurement signal.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the input sensor is a sensor selected from a group consisting of:
a microphone,
a pressure sensor,
an accelerometer, and
a tachometer.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the housing is comprised of a solid high temperature resistant material, and wherein the first end portion and the second end portion are comprised of an electrically insulating material.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the thin-film resistive material has a heat capacity per unit area of 10 −3 J/m 2 K or lower, and wherein the thin-film resistive material has a thickness on an order of micrometers or nanometers.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the thin-film resistive material is a material selected from a group consisting of
carbon nanotube films,
an array of carbon nanotube wires,
porous carbon foams,
freestanding graphene,
graphene on a substrate,
an array of metal nanowires,
nanoscale thickness metal films,
conductive polymer thin films, and
boron nitride nanotubes.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first plurality of apertures defined by the first end portion surrounds the first main aperture defined by the first end portion, and wherein the second plurality of apertures defined by the second end portion surrounds the second main aperture defined by the second end portion.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first plurality of apertures defined by the first end portion form one or more first concentric rings, and wherein the second plurality of apertures defined by the second end portion form one or more second concentric rings.

18. The system of claim 10 , further comprising an acoustically transparent diaphragm within and extends from the first main aperture to the second main aperture.

19. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first main aperture is configured to attach to an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

20. A method for operating a solid-state transducer, the method comprising:
generating, with an audio amplifier, one or more electrical signals;
receiving, with a plurality of electrical conductors of the solid-state transducer, the one or more electrical signals from the audio amplifier;
receiving, with a thin-film resistive material of the solid

Assignees

• Univ Michigan Tech

Inventors

• Barnard Andrew Robert

Classifications

• H04R23/006

  using solid state devices (solid state devices per se H10) · CPC title

• G10K15/04

  Sound-producing devices (G10K15/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10K11/161 Primary

  in systems with fluid flow (G10K11/162 takes precedence; gas flow silencers or exhaust apparatus for machines or engines in general or for internal combustion engine F01N, noise absorbers in pipes or pipe systems F16L55/02; noise absorption in air conditioning and ventilation F24F13/24; silencing exhaust or propulsion jets in aircraft B64D33/06) · CPC title

• G10K2210/3027

  Feedforward · CPC title

• G10K11/17873

  using a reference signal without an error signal, e.g. pure feedforward · CPC title