New Transducers Limited

Nct Group, Inc.

Anthony Malcolm McDonald

Gillian Margaret Davis

Thomas Lundie

Martin James Stone

Robin Meredith Courtney Pain

A loudspeaker, for example, for an in-vehicle hands-free commnunication system or an in-vehicle entertainment system is provided as part of a vehicle sun visor ( ), or as an attachment ( ) to a vehicle sun visor so that the loudspeaker can be placed relatively close to the driver's ears and in front of the driver. Accordingly, there will not be any significant tendency for the driver to turn their head when listening to the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker comprises a flat panel ( ) which is driven by a piezo-electric actuator ( ), enabling an extremely thin construction to be realised and the loudspeaker to be conveniently integrated into the sun visor, or provided as an unobtrusive attachment for the sun visor.

Vehicle loudspeakers

An electro-acoustic transducer comprises first and second panels (,A,,B) each of which can be vibrated to generate sound, a frame (,) for mounting the panels, and first and second seals (,A,B) arranged between the frame and the edges of the panels for holding the panels in the frame, substantially isolating the frame acoustically from the edges of the panel, and substantially sealing the frame to the edges of the panel. One or more actuators (,), such as piezoelectric elements, are provided for receiving a driving signal and vibrating in response thereto, and the actuators are mechanically and acoustically coupled to the first panel at one or more locations remote from the edges of the first panel so that the first panel vibrates in response to vibration of the actuators. The second panel is mechanically and acoustically coupled to the first panel and/or to the actuators at one or more locations remote from the edges of the second panel so that the second panel also vibrates in response to vibration of the actuator means. The acoustic properties of the panels, the seals, the actuators and the couplings can be chosen to obtain a required frequency response from the transducer. Different embodiments are described in which the panels are driven in phase, in anti-phase, and in a more complex manner.

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Earith, United Kingdom

Anthony Malcolm McDonald