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US3818138A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Barrel shaped speaker enclosure

Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1971-07-26
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Granted: 1974-06-18
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Expires: 1991-07-26
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Abstract

Abstract Speaker enclosure having a general barrel-shaped profile containing a plurality of loudspeakers. Two embodiments are shown, one of which utilizes a plurality of full range loudspeakers, the second of which utilizes a plurality of high frequency loudspeakers in combination with a low frequency loudspeaker. The curved shape of the sidewall of the speaker enclosure provides substantial improvement in sound reproduction and, combined with the plurality of speakers, produces an omnidirectional sound source that projects breadth as well as depth to achieve true realism in phonetic reproduction. The speakers are so positioned in the barrel shaped enclosure that the sound emanating from the back of an individual speaker is reflected downwardly by the internal surface of the opposite sidewall to a point other than the back of the same speaker.

Inventors

  • 👤 A Sperrazza

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 22:48
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04R; H04R1/00; H04R1/20; H04R1/32; H04R1/323

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 174 words
A speaker enclosure comprising: a planar top; a planar bottom below said top; a geometrically barrel-shaped sidewall connected between said top and said bottom having a generally circular horizontal cross section with the greatest diameter at approximately the midpoint of the height of said enclosure and curving inwardly both upwardly and downwardly so that the smallest diameter cross section occurs where said sidewall joins said top and said bottom of said speaker enclosure and having an aperture formed therein disposed between the midpoint and the top of said speaker enclosure; and; a speaker element having a longitudinal axis fixedly secured to the interior of said sidewall and directed to penetrate through the aperture formed therein so that the internal surface of the sidewall opposite the speaker which intercepts the longitudinal axis of the speaker is neither parallel to nor tangentially parallel to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the speaker whereby sound emanating from the back of the speaker is reflected downwardly to a point other than the back of the speaker.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 174 words
A speaker enclosure comprising: a planar top; a planar bottom below said top; a geometrically barrel-shaped sidewall connected between said top and said bottom having a generally circular horizontal cross section with the greatest diameter at approximately the midpoint of the height of said enclosure and curving inwardly both upwardly and downwardly so that the smallest diameter cross section occurs where said sidewall joins said top and said bottom of said speaker enclosure and having an aperture formed therein disposed between the midpoint and the top of said speaker enclosure; and; a speaker element having a longitudinal axis fixedly secured to the interior of said sidewall and directed to penetrate through the aperture formed therein so that the internal surface of the sidewall opposite the speaker which intercepts the longitudinal axis of the speaker is neither parallel to nor tangentially parallel to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the speaker whereby sound emanating from the back of the speaker is reflected downwardly to a point other than the back of the speaker.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 28 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 1 wherein the radius of curvature of each vertical portion of the sidewall extends beyond the area bounded by the vertical cross section.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 103 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 1 wherein the sidewall has a plurality of apertures formed circumferentially therein and wherein a plurality of speaker elements having longitudinal axes are fixedly secured to the interior of the sidewall and directed to penetrate through the apertures formed therein so that the internal surface of the sidewall opposite each speaker which intercepts the longitudinal axis of each speaker is neither parallel to nor tangentially parallel to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of that speaker whereby sound emanating from the back of each speaker is reflected downwardly to points other than the back of the speaker.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 14 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 3 wherein said speaker elements are multi-range speaker elements.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 3 wherein said plurality of speaker elements are equidistantly spaced about the circumference of said sidewall.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 24 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 3 wherein said plurality of speaker elements are all disposed circumferentially about said sidewall on the same horizontal plane.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 51 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 3 further comprising a horizontal diaphrAgm dividing said speaker enclosure into two air-tight chambers and wherein said plurality of speaker elements are high frequency speaker elements and are located in the upper chamber and having at least one low frequency speaker disposed in said lower chamber.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 78 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 7 wherein said low frequency speaker is directed downwardly and having means for dispersing said low frequency sound including apertures formed in the sidewall enclosing the lower chamber of said speaker enclosure; and a geometrically shaped member attached to said bottom having a highest point in alignment with the center of said low frequency speaker and sloping downwardly so that its lowest edge is at the circumferential edge of said geometric shaped member.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 27 words
The speaker enclosure of claim 7 further comprising an electrical cross-over network connected with said plurality of high frequency speaker elements and said low frequency speaker element.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US1656085A Cited
US2694462A Cited
GB824245A Cited
US2815087A Cited
US2915588A Cited
US3150739A Cited
US3360072A Cited
US3329235A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1977-06-17 1977-12-17 1978-06-18 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1981-06-17 1981-12-17 1982-06-18 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1985-06-17 1985-12-17 1986-06-18 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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