Apple patents speaker design that cancels vibration using mixed drivers
Apple has secured a patent for a speaker assembly that combines one large driver with two smaller ones arranged side-by-side. The design uses the smaller drivers to counteract the physical push and pull of the larger driver, reducing unwanted vibrations.
In the filing’s own words
A transducer assembly comprising: a laterally offset arrangement of different size transducers, the different size transducers comprising at least a first transducer having a diaphragm of a first size arranged in a first direction and a pair of transducers each having a diaphragm of a second size arranged in a second direction to output sound when driven by respective audio signals, and wherein a force produced by the first transducer is cancelled by a sum of forces produced by the pair of transducers when the transduces are driven by the audio signals.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A transducer assembly comprising: a laterally offset arrangement of different size transducers, the different size transducers comprising at least a first transducer having a diaphragm of a first size arranged in a first direction and a pair of transducers each having a diaphragm of a second size arranged in a second direction to output sound when driven by respective audio signals, and wherein a force produced by the first transducer is cancelled by a sum of forces produced by the pair of transducers when the different size transducers are driven by the audio signals, and at least one of the first transducer or the pair of transducers comprises a full range driver.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Balanced offset force cancellation using bass and full range transducers
- Patent number
- US12756980B2
- Application number
- 18602970
- Filed
- Mar 12, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04R 7/02 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Audio & voice
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.