Sound apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9628882-B2
Application number	US-201414164894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2014
Priority date	May 9, 2013
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

A sound apparatus is disclosed. The sound apparatus includes a body, a bracket coupled to a lower portion of a rear surface of the body, a plurality of upper links, one end of each of the upper links being hinge-coupled to the bracket, a middle frame hinge-coupled to the other end of each of the upper links, a plurality of lower links, one end of each of the lower links being hinge-coupled to the middle frame, and at least one speaker module hinge-coupled to the other end of each of the lower links to vertically move according to rotational movement of the upper links and the lower links, wherein a direction of rotation of the upper link is opposite to a direction of rotation of the lower links, and the middle frame moves in a lateral direction during the rotational movement of the upper links and the lower links.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sound apparatus provided with a speaker vertically movable at a lower side comprising:
a body;
a bracket coupled to a lower portion of a rear surface of the body;
a plurality of upper links, one end of each of the upper links being hinge-coupled to the bracket;
a middle frame hinge-coupled to the other end of each of the upper links;
a plurality of lower links, one end of each of the lower links being hinge-coupled to the middle frame; and
at least one speaker module hinge-coupled to the other end of each of the lower links to vertically move according to rotational movement of the upper links and the lower links,
wherein a direction of rotation of the upper links is opposite to a direction of rotation of the lower links, and the middle frame moves in a lateral direction during the rotational movement of the upper links and the lower links.

2. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a first hinge gear coupled to the other end of each of the upper links and a second hinge gear coupled to the one end of each of the lower links, the first hinge gear and the second hinge gear rotating in engagement with each other during rotation of the upper links and the lower links.

3. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a damper adjoining at least one end of each of the upper links or the lower links to apply frictional force to reduce a rotational speed of the upper links and the lower links.

4. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a guide to guide linear movement of the speaker module when the speaker module vertically moves.

5. The sound apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the bracket comprises a first bracket coupled to the rear surface of the body, and a second bracket protruding from an upper end of the first bracket toward the rear surface of the body,
wherein the guide is a guide pole placed between the second bracket and an upper end of the speaker module, a length of the guide pole being variable.

6. The sound apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the guide comprises:
a vertical guide groove formed in the rear surface of the body or the bracket; and
a guide protrusion protruding from an upper portion of the speaker module, the guide protrusion being inserted into the guide groove to move when the speaker module vertically moves.

7. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the bracket comprises a first bracket coupled to the rear surface of the body, a second bracket protruding from an upper end of the first bracket, and a third bracket protruding from the second bracket and positioned at a back of the speaker module,
wherein the one end of each of the upper links is fastened to the third bracket.

8. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a motor to rotate at least one of the upper links to vertically move the speaker module.

9. The sound apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a drive gear to rotate about a hinge coupled portion of the one end of each of the upper links,
wherein the motor rotates the drive gear.

10. The sound apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a worm coupled to a shaft of the motor to rotate;
a worm wheel engaged with the worm to rotate and adapted to transmit power to the drive gear.

11. The sound apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein:
the shaft of the motor is disposed perpendicular to the drive gear; and
the worm wheel is coupled to the bracket such that a rotation axis of the worm wheel is parallel with a rotation axis the drive gear.

12. The sound apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising a connection gear interposed between the worm wheel and the drive gear to transmit rotational force of the worm wheel to the drive gear.

13. The sound apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a first switch turned on when the speaker module is positioned at an upper portion; and
a second switch turned on when the speaker module is positioned at a lower portion,
wherein operation of the motor is stopped when the first switch or the second switch is turned on.

14. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the middle frame is integrated with both the upper links and the lower links.

15. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a display unit.

16. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a tilting structure to adjust an angle between the body and the speaker module.

17. The sound apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one speaker module includes a plurality of speaker modules,
wherein the number of speaker modules moving to a lower end varies depending upon a kind of output sound.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Bae Joonsub
• Lee Jaejun

Classifications

• H04R1/026 Primary

  Supports for loudspeaker casings · CPC title

• 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