Speaker assembly in a display assistant device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10996717-B2
Application number	US-201916597745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2019
Priority date	Oct 8, 2018
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

In a display assistant device, a speaker is mounted in a waveguide structure which is at least partially disposed beneath a display screen. The waveguide structure is mounted in an exterior housing which includes speaker grills distributed on a plurality of surfaces of the exterior housing, permitting sound waves from the speaker to be projected outside the exterior housing. A cover structure is disposed on top of the waveguide structure to conceal the waveguide structure and speaker within the exterior housing. The cover structure has a tilted bottom surface configured to be suspended above the waveguide structure and to be separated by a first space. Sound waves projected from an upper portion of the speaker are reflected by the tilted bottom surface and are guided through the first space to exit the device from a speaker grill portion located on a rear side of the exterior housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A speaker assembly, comprising:
a speaker including a front portion and a rear portion;
a waveguide structure in which the speaker is mounted, the waveguide structure exposing the front portion of the speaker and providing a sealed enclosure for the rear portion of the speaker;
an exterior housing in which the waveguide structure is mounted, wherein the exterior housing further includes a plurality of speaker grill portions distributed on a plurality of sides of the exterior housing, wherein the plurality of speaker grill portions permit sound waves from the front portion of the speaker to be projected outside the exterior housing; and
a cover structure that is disposed on top of the waveguide structure to conceal the waveguide structure and speaker within the exterior housing, wherein the cover structure has a tilted bottom surface configured to be suspended above the waveguide structure and to be separated therefrom by a first space, wherein the cover structure includes a substantially flat display panel substantially parallel to the tilted bottom surface;
wherein the front portion of the speaker includes an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion facing the tilted bottom surface of the cover structure and the lower portion facing a front side of the exterior housing, such that (i) sound waves projected from the lower portion of the speaker exit the speaker assembly from a first speaker grill portion located on the front side of the exterior housing, and (ii) sound waves projected from the upper portion of the speaker are reflected by the tilted bottom surface of the cover structure and are guided through the first space to exit the speaker assembly from a second speaker grill portion located on a rear side of the exterior housing.

2. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide structure includes two shoulders each of which is recessed and separated from the exterior housing by a respective second space, such that (iii) sound waves projected from the front portion of the speaker are reflected by the tilted bottom surface of the cover structure and the front side of the exterior housing and guided through the second spaces to exit the speaker assembly from two third speaker grill portions located on two peripheral ends of the exterior housing.

3. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second spaces have respective depth components and respective height components, wherein each respective depth component is smaller than each respective height component.

4. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cover structure includes a protrusion structure that protrudes into the exterior housing to provide at least part of the tilted bottom surface, and the first space is formed between the at least part of the tilted bottom space and a top surface of the waveguide structure.

5. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cover structure further includes a printed circuit board to which a protrusion structure is attached, and the protrusion structure includes a heatsink that is configured to absorb heat generated from the printed circuit board.

6. The speaker assembly of claim 5 , wherein the heatsink is hollow, and filled with a plastic insert.

7. The speaker assembly of claim 5 , wherein when sound waves generated by the front portion of the speaker are guided through the first space, heat absorbed by the heatsink from the printed circuit board is carried away by an air flow of the guided sound waves.

8. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cover structure further includes a cover plate to which a protrusion structure is attached, and the cover plate is separated from the cover structure by a third space, such that the sound projected from the upper portion of the speaker is configured to be guided through the third space in addition to the first space to exit the speaker assembly from the second speaker grill portion located on the rear side of the exterior housing.

9. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the exterior housing is asymmetric, and the front side of the exterior housing is substantially lower than a rear side of the exterior housing.

10. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the display panel leans backward from a vertical position by an angle of 15 degrees such that the display panel faces slightly upward.

11. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the front portion of the speaker faces slightly downward by an angle of 15 degrees.

12. The speaker assembly of claim 1 , wherein the exterior housing further includes a plurality of crush ribs formed on an interior surface of the exterior housing that is located underneath the second speaker grill portion, and the plurality of crush ribs are configured to guide the sound projected from the upper portion of the speaker through the first space to exit the speaker assembly via the second speaker grill portion.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Castro James
• Cepress Carl
• Tseng Liang Ching
• Torrie Darren
• Kwee Frances
• Price Rex

Classifications

• H04R1/02 Primary

  Casings; Cabinets {; Supports therefor;} Mountings therein (H04R1/28 takes precedence {; attachments for microphones H04R1/08; mounting of transducers in earpieces H04R1/1075}) · CPC title

• H04R2227/005

  Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use · CPC title

• G06F1/1626

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• G06F1/1671

  Special purpose buttons or auxiliary keyboards, e.g. retractable mini keypads, keypads or buttons that remain accessible at closed laptop (G06F1/1666 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F21/6245

  Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes · CPC title