EP1602261B1 - Integrated loudspeaker system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a loudspeaker system comprising several sonic converters (2) which are fixed in or to the rear of sound passage openings (3) in a carrier plate. The loudspeaker system is characterized in that the carrier plate is embodied in the form of a wall plate (1) for the interiors or outer facades of buildings and in that the sonic converters (2) are integrated into the carrier plate. The inventive loudspeaker system makes it possible to acoustically irradiate an area without the need for esthetically troublesome loudspeakers.

Description

Technical application

The present invention relates to a loudspeaker system having a plurality of sound transducers mounted in or behind sound passage openings of a support plate.

Loudspeaker systems are used both in the private and in the commercial sector to realize certain sound effects. Especially the multi-channel technology in the audio sector requires the use of a constantly increasing number of speakers. This poses increasing problems for the user with regard to the arrangement and installation of the loudspeakers, since as a rule the aesthetic aspect of the integration of the loudspeakers in the room also plays an essential role.

State of the art

To reduce this problem so far different approaches are known. Thus, for example, image speakers are offered, which can be fixed because of their flat design and optical design as an image on the wall. However, a disadvantage of such picture speakers is that they can not consistently be placed as required by the specification for the intended sound application. Also the number of such picture speakers, which are accommodated in a room can, without affecting the optical balance, is limited.

Furthermore, it is known to integrate speakers in furniture doors, so that they do not form separate objects in space for the user. Even with this solution, however, the freedom in the arrangement of the individual speakers and their number is very limited.

The US 4593404A describes a method for improving the acoustics of a hall, especially in concert performances. In this method, box-shaped wall elements are installed with built-in speakers in the hall, which provide for a suitable additional sound. The wall elements are constructed similar to conventional speakers, but without sound holes, since the front panel of the wall elements directly serves the sound radiation.

The US 3992586A shows a conference room sound amplification system, which in one embodiment includes a speaker system in a separate enclosure mounted to the ceiling. The speakers are located in this speaker system behind sound passage openings of the housing.

The DE 100 01 410 A1 describes a flat speaker assembly with multiple panel loudspeakers that can be seamlessly stacked like tiles on a room wall. In this way, a full-surface wall covering can be obtained, through which the flat speaker arrangement is formed.

The US US 6098743 discloses a special sound absorbing plate 40. In Figure 12, a speaker is located in the well 112 of the plate 40, where, in the limit, the speaker may be as thick as the plate 40, thus integrated into the plate.

Finally, the shows DE 199 22 395 C1 a ceiling element with the function of a ceiling speaker. The ceiling element consists of a plate-shaped component with transducers, which form a plate loudspeaker, wherein the plate-shaped component is held under tension with a box-shaped clamping device, which also serves to suspend the ceiling element. The speaker is used with the clamping device directly as a ceiling element.

The object of the present invention is to specify a loudspeaker system which offers greater freedom in terms of the number and arrangement of the individual sound transducers, without disturbing the aesthetics of the room in which the loudspeaker system is used.

Presentation of the invention

The object is achieved with the speaker system according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the speaker system are the subject of the dependent claims or can be taken from the following description and the exemplary embodiments.

The present speaker system consists in a known manner of a plurality of sound transducers, which are fixed in or behind sound passage openings of a support plate. The present speaker system is characterized in that the support plate is designed as a wall panel for the interior or exterior facades of buildings and the sound transducers are integrated into the support plate so that they do not have over survive the back of the support plate. As a sound transducer can any known speaker types, such as dome speakers or flat speakers, are used.

The speaker wall plate formed in this way, at least consisting of the wall plate with the sound passage openings and the sound transducers, combines the audio technology with the construction technique. The speaker wall plate is mounted in drywall on a substructure of metal, wood or the like, as is the case with known wall panels for interiors, which are usually made of plasterboard. The present speaker wall plate can be used both in the rebuilding of walls or be applied to existing walls. The rooms can be disguised exclusively with such speaker wall panels or formed from these or only partially include such speaker wall panels at the desired locations. Thus, a disguised or built space with one or more speaker wall plates can thus directly include a multi-channel audio playback system without having to set up separate speakers in the room.
Although the preferred embodiment of the present speaker system wall panels for interiors of buildings provides as support plates, so it is of course also possible to use appropriate wall panels for external facades of buildings as support plates to make the sound of an outdoor area in front of a building can. The speaker wall panels are then used as exterior cladding of the building.

The present loudspeaker system, referred to in the following as well as in the preceding sections as a loudspeaker wall plate, is used primarily in event rooms, in cinemas and in the home (living room, TV room) application. The wall plate preferably has dimensions of at least 250 × 60 cm (height × width), so that it can easily be used for standard room heights.

Preferably, the wall plate on the front side of the entire surface is covered by a visually appealing film or a visually appealing tissue, so that the individual sound transducer of the wall plate remain invisible. They are part of the walls that make up the space. The cabling of the individual sound transducers takes place with the present loudspeaker system on the back of the wall plate, so that also this wiring remains invisible for the user. The present speaker system can be advantageously used for the reproduction of sound sources after the wave field synthesis, as can easily be integrated into the wall panels a minimum number of six speakers per meter wall width. In this embodiment, the overall aesthetic impression of the room when using the present speaker system is not disturbed because all the sound transducers are integrated into the walls of the room and remain invisible to the user in the preferred embodiment.

The connections for the loudspeaker system are preferably arranged as a separate connection field in a region of the front side of the wall plate, preferably in a lower edge region when the wall plate is installed as intended. This connection panel can then be concealed by appropriate baseboards or decorative profiles, which allow an internal guidance of the connection cable.

In a preferred embodiment of the present wall plate and the necessary audio amplifier in analog or digital technology are integrated together with all the necessary means for controlling the individual sound transducer in the wall plate or attached to the rear side. In this embodiment, therefore, only connections for the supply of the corresponding audio data, for example from a multimedia system or a CD or DVD player with digital preamplifier, to the amplifiers required.

The wall panels are preferably treated on the front surface in such a way that they can be erected as wall elements without additional finishing or as additional coverings applied to existing walls. This can be achieved for example by the use of the above-mentioned film or the fabric. A final treatment as with plasterboard deleted. This results in much shorter installation times, with a shortening of the wall panels to different ceiling heights is possible at any time. Of course you will be there different surfaces, ie surfaces in different designs and colors, offered to meet the wishes of the user. The transport and storage of such wall panels is also simple, as they are readily stackable.

Fig. 1

ein erstes Beispiel einer Lautsprecher-Wandplatte;

Fig. 2

ein zweites Beispiel einer Lautsprecher-Wandplatte;

Fig. 3

ein drittes Beispiel einer Lautsprecher-Wandplatte;

Fig. 4

ein viertes Beispiel einer Lautsprecher-Wandplatte; und

Fig. 5

ein Beispiel für eine Zwischenwand zwischen zwei benachbarten Räumen, in denen erfindungsgemäße Lautsprecher-Wandplatten installiert sind.

The present speaker system and the present wall plate will be briefly explained again with reference to embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. Hereby show:

Fig. 1

a first example of a speaker wall plate;

Fig. 2

a second example of a speaker wall plate;

Fig. 3

a third example of a speaker wall plate;

Fig. 4

a fourth example of a speaker wall plate; and

Fig. 5

an example of an intermediate wall between two adjacent rooms in which loudspeaker wall panels according to the invention are installed.

Ways to carry out the invention

Fig. 1 shows by way of example a loudspeaker wall plate according to the present invention with the dimensions of a plasterboard panel of 60 x 260 cm (width x Height) and a thickness of 25 mm in plan view and side view. In this wall plate 1, a rectangular recess is introduced as a sound passage opening 3, in which an array of transducers in DML technology (DML: Distributed Mode Loudspeaker) is used. This array of transducers 2 consists in the present example of a special sandwich plate 10 with dimensions of 65 x 50 cm in a thickness of about 7 mm, are mounted on the four exciter 11 of the company Elac by means of adhesive. The plate 10 is glued into the corresponding sound passage opening 3 of the wall plate 1. The side view also shows the front-side applied film 13 and highly schematic the back wiring 12th

Below the sound passage opening 3, an amplifier system 5 consisting of digital amplifiers and a control electronics is mounted on the back, which is mounted by means of an aluminum plate in the corresponding rectangular recess 4 of the wall plate 1. The control electronics is equipped with DSP's and has the function to prepare the data supplied via a data line (cable 12) data and to control the digital amplifier accordingly. The data flow between control electronics and digital amplifiers is carried out in the present example according to the known I ² S specification.

Below the amplifier system 4, a connection field 6 can be seen, via which the data reach the amplifier system. The data stream from an intelligent audio system to the control electronics takes place in this example according to the Fire Wire specification. The supply line and the FireWire data cable are routed to connection field 6.

Basically, the wall plate 1 both in the present and in the following embodiments of different materials, such as pressboard or MDF (medium-density fiberboard) exist. As a starting material can be used on commercially available plates from which by cutting and / or milling the wall plate 1 with the required recesses or sound passage openings for sound transducer 2, amplifier 5 and 6 terminal panel are produced. The wall plate 1 can also be produced with the corresponding recesses or sound passage openings, especially with a suitable device and / or a tool designed for this purpose, by a pressing or casting process. To dampen reflections, the wall plate can also be provided with a grid holes.

As a sound transducer 2, for example, conventional membrane speakers or, as in the embodiment of Fig. 1 , Speakers are used in DML technology. Fig. 2 shows an example in which sound passage openings 3 are introduced for four conventional speakers in the wall plate 1. The four speakers can be used in a 60 cm wide wall plate 1 with a basket diameter up to about 13 cm in the corresponding recesses of the sound passage openings 2. The further embodiment of Fig. 2 corresponds to the already explained Fig. 1 , Of course, wall panels 1 can be realized with other dimensions, for example, with a double width of 120 cm, in which then preferably twice the number of transducers 2 are arranged side by side.

Also the others Fig. 3 and 4 show in each case comparable embodiments, in which, however, two speaker arrays, in Fig. 3 with conventional speakers and in Fig. 4 in DML technology, in which wall plate 1 are integrated.

In all illustrated embodiments, the surface of the wall plate 1 with a shapely film fabric (film 13, Fig. 1 ), which can be applied in different colors and structures. This is not recognizable in the individual figures.

To install the illustrated wall panels 1 for the construction of a wall to delimit a space, the metal construction of a stud wall is first set up in a known manner and the cavity filled with insulation boards, for example made of mineral wool. The speaker wall panels 1 are then screwed with drywall screws to the uprights. The holes provided in the loudspeaker wall plate are used. The butt joints can be sealed with a decorative strip supplied. In the area of windows, doors and corners are for adaptation blanking plates, ie not equipped with sound transducers and amplifiers wall plates of the same material and look. All fixing screws and / or fixing anchors are covered by caps or strips.

For the supply voltage, a loop is laid. Through insulation displacement connectors, the amplifiers are connected to this loop. The supply voltage is 24 VDC, which is provided by a power supply and placed, for example, in the intelligent audio system. The fire wire data line is looped from speaker wall plate to speaker wall plate. After laying and clamping the supply and the data line, the skirting board is attached. Subsequently, the commissioning of the speaker system can take place.

When attaching the existing wall panels on existing masonry wooden slats are mounted with plugs on masonry, where the wall panels are then fixed.

If two adjacent rooms equipped with the present speaker wall plate 1, a double-stator wall must be established for the acoustic decoupling, as exemplified in the Fig. 5 is shown in side view. On the profile 7 of the double-stator wall then the present speaker wall plates 1 are screwed on both sides, as has already been explained above. The center of the double-stand wall forms a plasterboard 8. Between the plasterboard 8 and the speaker wall panels 1 corresponding insulation panels 9 are introduced.

The present speaker wall plate is particularly designed for direct use in drywall, so that it can be mounted on stud walls or on existing walls similar to plasterboard. The cavity of the stator wall is used as a working volume for the speakers or sound transducers. Shortening to the given room height is possible at any time. The present speaker system or the present speaker wall plate thus combines the audio technology with the construction technique. The speakers are usually invisible because they are integrated into the wall and covered by a foil or thin fabric. The wall panel is preferably already finished, so that a filling, sanding, brushing or wallpapering is omitted in this case. The wiring and wiring of the individual wall elements is possible through the connection field after completion. The wiring can be concealed in a known manner by a skirting board or a decorative profile. The storage and transport of the speaker plate are easy because it is easy to stack. A single packaging as loudspeaker boxes is thus eliminated. The system consists of base plate, sound transducer, preferably amplifiers, surface finishing and possibly installation technology. The speaker system is particularly suitable for the so-called wave field synthesis, without disturbing the aesthetics of the room in which it is placed.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 Speaker Wall Plate 2 transducer 3 Sound passage openings 4 Recess for amplifiers 5 amplifier system 6 connection panel 7 upright profile 8th Plasterboard 9 Insulation Board 10 Sandwich plate special 11 Exciter 12 electric wire 13 Film / tissue

Claims (5)

1. A loudspeaker system having multiple sound transducers (2), which are integrated in sound through openings (3) of a carrier plate,
   the carrier plate being implemented as a wall plate (1) for interiors or external façades, in which a minimum number of six sound transducers per meter of wall width is integrated in the carrier plate, the sound transducers are situated in the carrier plate for playback according to wave field synthesis and/or multichannel playback and are connected to one or more audio amplifiers (5) and driver electronics having DSPs for the audio amplifiers (5), which are situated on a rear side or in recesses (4) of the wall plate (1).
2. The loudspeaker system according to Claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the wall plate (1) has dimensions of at least 250 cm height and 60 cm width.
3. The loudspeaker system according to Claim 1 or 2,
   characterized in that
   the wall plate (1) is covered on the entire area of a front side by a film or a fabric (13).
4. The loudspeaker system according to one of Claims 1 through 3,
   characterized in that
   an attachment panel (6) for the attachment of the loudspeaker system is implemented on a front side of the wall plate (1).
5. The loudspeaker system according to one of Claims 1 through 4, wherein one or more wall plates (1) having the transducers (2) form one or more sections of an inner wall of an interior.

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