Patents Examined by B. R. Fuller
  • Patent number: 4887690
    Abstract: A speaker grille assembly (800) includes a speaker grille 410), a felt (200), and a speaker (300). The speaker grille has a front surface (420), and a rear surface (430). The speaker grille (410) has plurality of equally spaced channels (440) for passage of sound. The sound channels (440) are formed such that that the rear surface port (422) is substantially larger than front surface port (411) thereby enhancing acoustic power transfer by increasing the effective sound passage space.The sound channels (440) can be formed such that the passage through the grille (410) are provided with either gradual or sudden transition from front port (411) to the rear port (422) resulting in a larger rear surface apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: Bakulesh B. Patel
  • Patent number: 4887692
    Abstract: A number of embodiments of silencing devices for marine propulsion units using acoustical lenses that are positioned across either the air inlet device, the air exhaust device or both. The acoustical lenses direct the sound waves in such a way so as to effect silencing while, at the same time, ensuring that water will not enter the engine combustion chambers. The invention is shown in conjunction with both outboard motors and inboard mounted engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Assignee: Sanshin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroaki Outani, Seiji Inoue
  • Patent number: 4887691
    Abstract: A post and panel wall system for use as sound barriers and the like utilizes a precast post which is disposed upon a foundation having a tensioning cable extending upwardly therefrom and recesses into which depending anchoring rods on the posts are placed. The tensioning cable is tensioned and then the recesses in the foundation are filled with a cementitious mixture or grout to thoroughly bond the anchoring rods into the foundation. The posts have channels in which the vertical edges of the wall panels are seated, and desirably the wall panels have reduced thickness end portions with arcuate edges to permit some adjustment within the channels. The posts and panels may be erected seriatim, or the posts may initially erected and the panels then lowered into place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Assignee: Rotondo/Penn-Cast
    Inventor: Richard J. Rotondo
  • Patent number: 4887693
    Abstract: A construction for housing a microphone is disclosed. The construction is configured to improve the wind and noise protection for a small diameter microphone by providing a large diameter opening tapering to a smaller microphone aperture. The construction comprises a housing for a microphone transducer, and an adapter mateable with the transducer and housing. The adapter includes a plate having a greater diameter than the microphone aperture, and tapering to the smaller microphone diameter opening. In the preferred embodiments of the construction, a windscreen is included covering the tapered portion of the adapter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1987
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Assignee: Shure Brothers, Inc.
    Inventor: Gerald W. Plice
  • Patent number: 4884656
    Abstract: A mount capable of being pressed into an installed position in a hole in a plate. The mount has inner and outer concentric annular elements connected together by an intermediate flexible thermoplastic elastomeric web. The outer annular element has a peripheral groove which receives the plate and a deflectable wall with a chamfered outer surface and a series of slots. The flexible web permits the inner element to vibrate with respect to the plate and thereby isolate an item from the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1989
    Assignee: Lord Corporation
    Inventors: Ram J. Baheti, Dennis P. McGuire, Kaya A. Kosar
  • Patent number: 4884657
    Abstract: A muffler includes a cylindrical body, a gas passage pipe insertedly mounted within the cylindrical body, and a sound absorber mounted upon the gas passage pipe in an encircling manner. Gas is discharged from the gas passage pipe through the cylindrical body and sound absorber. The cylindrical body has a disk-like partitioning wall axially dividing the interior space thereof. The gas passage pipe has an outer flange and a plurality of pawls cooperating with the flange so as to clamp the partitioning wall therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1989
    Assignee: Nifco, Inc.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Osada
  • Patent number: 4884655
    Abstract: A tower-type speaker cabinet assembly for plural speakers of a high fidelity audio system, including a vertically elongated tower cabinet having a pair of front wall segments adjacent the uppermost and lowermost ends of the tower speaker cabinet and an intermediate forwardly opening cavity extending between the upper and lower front wall segments, a pair of vertically spaced large subwoofer speakers in the respective upper and lower front wall segments with associated inner cabinets forming sound boxes therefor, and a swivelled movable center subcabinet spanning the vertical distance between said front wall segments, having a woofer, a mid-bass speaker and a pair of tweeters carried by a front wall portion of the center subcabinet in vertical alignment. The subcabinet has a range of swivel movement horizontally through predetermined angles about a vertical axis located a short distance rearwardly from the front wall of the swivelled subcabinet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1989
    Assignee: Sparkomatic Corporation
    Inventors: Tommyca Freadman, John F. Castagna
  • Patent number: 4883144
    Abstract: A housing for enclosing motorized appliances consists of a structure constructed of noise absorbing materials. A door on the housing, when closed, activates internal circuitry for supplying power to the enclosed appliance. The housing absorbs much of the noise generated during operation of the appliance, allowing conversation and entertainment to continue in a normal manner without noise interruption from the appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 28, 1989
    Inventors: Frederick W. Haushalter, John S. Robinson
  • Patent number: 4883143
    Abstract: To manufacture an anechoic coating which prevents a wall from reflecting acoustic waves, the wall is coated with an elastic material of low compressibility, which is highly absorbent under shear stresses, and then with a highly compressible layer of material. A set of plates covers the second layer and vibrates under the effect of the acoustic waves. Rods fixed to these plates transmit these vibrations to the first layer which is thus subjected to shear stresses and dissipates the energy of the vibrations, thus making it possible to avoid the sonar detection of submarines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 28, 1989
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventor: Michel Lagier
  • Patent number: 4881616
    Abstract: In a hearing aid of the type including a battery containing housing normally supported rearwardly of the ear auricle by an elongated hook joining one end of the housing to an ear opening contained ear molding, an elongated tube is secured, at it respective ends, with resilient bands which surround respective end portions of the hearing aid housing and in combination with the hearing aid housing, forms an endless configuration which surrounds the ear auricle at its juncture with the head and positions the hearing aid housing rearwardly of the ear auricle and maintains it in this position by the strand fitting snugly adjacent the user's head and forwardly of the tragus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Inventors: Gwen V. Janssen, Roy C. Rowland
  • Patent number: 4881618
    Abstract: An acoustic lens for use in an acoustic microscope including a solid state medium for propagating an acoustic wave having a wavelength .lambda. and having opposed end surfaces, an electric-acoustic transducer applied on one end surface of the solid state medium and having a radius a, and a spherical lens portion formed in the other end surface of the solid state medium and having an aperture of a radius w. The length l and the aperture radius w are normalized by the transducer radius a such that Z=l.lambda./a.sup.2 and W=w/a. Values of Z and W are selected from such a region in a first quadrant of the Z-W coordinate system that desired power and/or phase are obtained. The region neighboring the point Z=1 and W=1 is excluded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1987
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Tateoka, Fumio Uchino
  • Patent number: 4882472
    Abstract: A fluoride supplement calculator utilizes two concentrically positioned relatively rotatable disks. A front disk has a plurality of fluoride level apertures which overlie groups of fluoride dosage amounts carried on the second disk. An age scale is also placed on the obverse surface of the second disk. The second disk has a single aperture which is used in conjunction with the reverse surface of the first disk to depict fluoride uptake and enamel formation in teeth of patients of various ages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Assignee: Bristol-Myers Company
    Inventors: Susan J. Sigman, Paula A. Meade
  • Patent number: 4881617
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to an improved acoustic speaker having a cone located about a transducer wherein the cone has a plurality a thin, pie-shaped segments radiating outwardly from the transducer with each of the segments having an accuated cross-section, thereby creating a concave side and a convex side. The segments are highly concave at the transducer and less concave with increasing radial distance from the transducer. The segments are made from a metal foil and the width of the segments may increase lineraly with radial distance so as to create a constant acoustical resistance radially. The segments preferably terminate at a flexible, high sound absorption ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Inventor: Alexander Faraone
  • Patent number: 4882471
    Abstract: Electronic equipment includes a keyboard portion arranged on an electronic equipment body, for inputting data, a solar cell, arranged on the electronic equipment body, for supplying power, a cover for protecting the solar cell, and a display portion arranged on the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tomoko Kai
  • Patent number: 4880078
    Abstract: An exhaust muffler for use with an internal combustion engine has at least one internal suppression chamber, at least one inlet pipe for receiving exhaust gases from the internal combustion engine, and at least one outlet pipe vented to atmosphere. The exhaust muffler comprises a plurailty of component units connected in series with each other and each having the internal suppression chamber. Each of the component units has a casing having an inner layer of a sound-absorbing material which defines the internal suppression chamber, and a connector pipe connected to and extending through the casing, the connector pipe having upstream and downstream ends projecting out of the casing, the connector pipe having at least one opening which opens into the internal suppression chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 14, 1989
    Assignees: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nakagawa Sangyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Inoue, Hiroshi Funabashi, Yukihiro Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 4880077
    Abstract: A base for a loudspeaker enclosure is formed of a lower base disk, an upper support disk and an interposed spacer element which together define an internal hollow space to which structure-borne sound is transmitted. The area of contact between the spacer element and the disks is relatively small is comparison to the area of the disks which defines the hollow space at top and bottom sides thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the disks are formed of a sound-insulating material, preferably rubber, and the spacer element is a spacer ring that peripherally defines the hollow space. Also, a bracing foot, preferably of an inverted frustoconical shape, may be carried upon the upper support disk, for which purpose a support plate is centrally mounted thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 14, 1989
    Inventors: Gisbert Verse, Michael Schroder
  • Patent number: 4878561
    Abstract: An omnidirectional sound emitter with separate sound sources (1, 2), each comprising a funnel-shaped horn (4), is characterized in that the sound sources (1, 2) are mutually arranged such that the acoustic main axes (6) of the horns (4) lie in essentially one and the same plane (7) and the sound-emitting open ends (8) of the horns are directed towards the central portion of the sound emitter and located at a distance (B.sub.S ; B.sub.D) from one another. Slot-shaped openings (9) are so arranged between the open ends (8) of adjacent horns (4) that sound emitted by the horns is caused to pass in a direction from the sound emitter through the slot-shaped openings (9), thereby to be dispersed through 360.degree. in the said plane (7) such that the sound representation from the sound emitter corresponds to the sound representation from a line source perpendicular to said plane (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 7, 1989
    Assignee: Satt Communications AB
    Inventors: Goran Tengstrand, Boris Lindblom, Jerry Nilsson, Peter Lunden
  • Patent number: 4878560
    Abstract: An integrally formed earmold is provided which supports a headset or stethoscope, for example, without requiring either a headband or arms extending into the ear canal. The earmold is formed from a soft, flexible elastic plastic and has an inwardly extending conical portion adapted to fit into the concha and outer portion of the auditory canal, terminating in a rectangular knob with a small flange thereon, the knob sealing off the meatus of the external ear canal without substantially penetrating the external ear canal. A hollow cylinder extends laterally from the knob a sufficient distance to form a support for a headset or the like. The earmold is sufficiently flexible that standard sizes will fit the general population, without requiring molds formed for particular users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 7, 1989
    Inventor: Robert T. Scott
  • Patent number: 4877106
    Abstract: A noise attenuating assembly for use in conjuction with an air conditioning unit having a sloped discharge opening is disclosed. The assembly includes a front wall and a pair of side walls forming a flow path for the conditioned air which is discharged to the space containing the unit. The assembly has a layer of sound attenuating material attached to the inside surface of the walls so that the assembly deflects and absorbs line-of-sight sound produced by the unit fan, thus reducing the noise level of the unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 31, 1989
    Assignee: Carrier Corporation
    Inventors: Donald G. Neville, David A. Giordano, Mark R. Hogan
  • Patent number: 4877105
    Abstract: A rear speaker unit for a motor vehicle is disposed in an elongate space such as a space which is defined between one of opposite sides of a rear seat and a vehicle body side panel. The speaker unit is made up of a tubular and substantially cylindrical speaker box and a speaker which is supported by the front end of the speaker box. The speaker box is elongate in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and has a front end portion which is so bent as to face the center of a passenger compartment of the vehicle. Hence, the speaker mounted on the front end of the speaker box also faces the center of the passenger compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 31, 1989
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Norio Mugikura