Sept. 28, 1954 S. E.

LEVY ET AL 2,690,231
ACOUSTIC DEVICE
Filed March 9, 1950

INVENTORS
SIDNEY E. LEVY
SAUL J. WHlTE
-ABRAHAM B. COHEN
BY THEIR ATTORNEYS
 Patented Sept. 28, 1954
2,690,231

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ACOUSTIC DEVICE
Sidney;Levy,- White Plains,= Saul :J; White, New
Rochelle, and. Abraham B. Cohen; Bronx; ,N; Y.',,_
assignors > to University Loudspeakers, 111%.,
White ,Plains, N; Y.', a corporation-ofNew-rYorka
ApplicationMarch 9, 1950, Serial No'.'148,656i
3' Claims. (Cl. 18127)
1 2.;
This invention hasitondo ,Withhorn-tYDe loud
speakers adapted. tov produce- wide-angle distri The cross-sectionalharea"of-the horn 10 from
bution of sound. , the throat, I5<to the- mouth- ll? increases at a
The horn-type loudspeaker of the. present in predetermined rate, which may beat'any- of the
vention produces more uniform dispersion of expansion rates used/in horn construction. The
1 exponential rate of 'expansionais thatmost com
sound over the area in the horizontal plane rep
resented by a semi-circle in \front of the speaker monly-employed, aformula for which is as fol
lows:
with greater signal amplitude than has previous
ly been attained. ' C"'=velocity,of sound in airin .cm. per second,
Conventional round horn-type loudspeakers 10 F='desir'ed cut-off , frequency,
produce a signal of maximum amplitude directly M :?are, factor.
in front of the speaker but the amplitude cfthe 41F
signal decreases rapidly as the listener moves Then
away from the-vcenterzaxis of-the speaker. As a
result,- attempts have been made to design horns The horn l?'is constructed so .asto provide in
capable of producing, sound with'greater uni effect two successive'chambers with similar rates
formity over a wide angle in the vhorizontal plane, of :"area' expansion. In "the ?rst chamber, the ex
but theseprior horns radiated-sound over:un pansion takes place .mainly in a vertical direc
necessarily wide angles in thevvertical plane: as tion and, in the second, mainly in. a horizontal
well, and an excessive energy loss occurredso direction. In'the ?rst chamben'the lateral walls
that dispersion of , radiation: in, the horizontal IZare'inclined upwardlygan-d downwardly, while
plane was accomplished at the loss of consider the verticalwalls .H are substantially parallel or,
able signal energy. ' to simplify casting operations, may be provided '
In thew-horn-type loudspeaker of the present with .a slight outward flare: An inward flare
invention, sound radiation in~.the. vertical plane should be avoided when the horn is to be cast.
is held to the minimum necessary and the sig Theang-l'e of divergence between- the lateral walls
nal energy thus conserved is utilized to expand I2 is chosen so that the cross-sectional area of
the radiation in the horizontal plane. As a re the horn will increase at the selected expansion
suit, a relatively uniform signal can be main~ rate. The ?rst chamber is extended preferably
tained over a large are on either side of the cen to a point where the distance between the lateral
ter axis of the horn and of substantially greater walls is approximately one-third of the wave
amplitude than any previously attained in direc length of the desired cut-off frequency.
tional loudspeakers. This is accomplished by ar In the second chamber, the lateral walls 12b
ranging the horn walls so that in the initial stage extend from the ?rst chamber substantially hori
the acoustic signal is expanded in a vertical di- zontally or are slightly ?ared from the horizon
rection .at the desired rate and, during the ?nal tal depending on circumstances to be described.
stage, the signal is expanded in the horizontal On the other hand, the vertical walls [db in the
direction at the same rate. During the ?nal second chamber are ?ared sharply as shown, the
stage, the lateral or top and bottom walls re degree of ?aring being chosen so that the cross
strict the expansion of the wave in the vertical sectional area in the second chamber will con
plane, thus building up pressure which increases tinue to expand at the selected rate. For best
the signal energy radiated in the horizontal results, this second chamber should extend from
plane. the ?rst chamber approximately one-third of the
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a wave length of the desired cut-off frequency. If
perspective view of the horn; the preferred dimensions given above for the two
Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along line chambers in relation to the cut-off frequency are
2-2 of Figure 1; and . utilized, the axial lengths of the two chambers
Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken along are, as shown in the drawings, approximately
line 3-3 of Figure 1. equal.
The horn IE1 is connected to a conventional Depending on the rate of expansion chosen
driver (not shown) through any convenient cou and the cut-off frequency selected, it may not
pling, such as the neck i I with internally tapped be possible to maintain this rate of expansion in
threads. For best results, the internal diameter the second chamber to its mouth merely by the
of the horn throat l5 should be the same as the ?aring of the vertical walls, i. e. the curve of the
diameter of the driver sound throat. 55 vertical walls may become tangential to a cross
sectional plane of the horn before the desired
 2,690,231
3 4
distance to the mouth has been reached. In that
event, the lateral walls 12b may be slightly ?ared
so as to have the ?are of the vertical ?anges
reach a tangential point at the point where it
is desirable to have the mouth of the second ex
pansion chamber located while still maintaining
the desired rate of expansion.
It will be observed that in the second chamber
Where the lateral walls 121) are disposed horizon
tally or at most have only a slight ?are, vertical 10 outwardly at a rate such that the cross-sectional
expansion of the sound Waves is largely prevent
ed and this restriction on vertical expansion
builds up pressure which serves to add energy to
.and aid the dispersion of the sound waves in a
horizontal direction which, due to the ?aring of
the vertical walls Mb, is relatively unopposed.
As before observed, the cross-sectional area of
the horn increases progressively at the selected
rate throughout its entire length from the throat
to the mouth of the horn. Although at the junc
tion 15 of the two chambers there appears to be
a break or discontinuity, there is no break or dis
continuity in the rate of area increase through
out the horn length. The impression of discon
tinuity arises solely from the outward physical
appearance of the horn and does not in fact exist
a matter of air column expansion. As a result,
the air column loading upon the diaphragm is
uniform at all frequencies above the selected cut
on frequency, and within this range standing
waves or reflections within the horn caused by
abrupt changes in horn loading are substantial
iy avoided.
In the above description, the terms horizon
tal and vertical are used for the purposes of
convenience to represent two planes .at right an
gles to each other. The point to be emphasized is
.i the axis shown as 3~3 in Figure l, and re
ferred to in the speci?cation as the horizontal
plane, constitutes the plane on which the widest 40
dispersion of sound will take place regardless of
the direction that this horn axis is placed with
respect to the horizon.
1'. claim:
1. A loudspeaker horn for producing wide-an
gle distribution formed by vertical and lateral
walls, in which for a portion of the horn the ver
tical walls are substantially parallel to each other
and the lateral walls are inclined away from
each other at an angle such that the cross-sec
tional area of said portion progressively increases
at a selected rate, and for the remaining portion
of the horn the lateral walls are substantially
parallel to each other and the vertical walls ?are
area of said remaining portion progressively in
creases at a selected rate, the axes of the two
portions being straight and in alignment and the
length of the axis of the second portion being
approximately equal to the distance between the
lateral walls at the exit from the ?rst portion.
2. A loudspeaker horn for producing wide-an
gle distribution according to claim 1 wherein the
rates of increase of the cross-sectional areas of
the ?rst and remaining portions respectively of
the horn are substantially the same.
3. A loudspeaker horn for producing wide-an
gle distribution as claimed in claim 2, in which
the distance between the lateral walls at the end
of said ?rst portion is approximately one-third
of the desired cut-off frequency and in which said
remainder of the horn extends from the end of
said ?rst portion a distance approximately one
third of the wave length of the desired cut-off
frequency.
References Cited in the ?le of this patent
UNITED STATES PATENTS
Number Name Date
1,314,980 Pognowski ________ __ Sept. 2, 1919
1,477,556 Grissinger ________ __ Dec. 18, 1923
1,689,009 Byrns ____________ __ Oct. 23, 1928
1,747,830 Harrison ________ __ Feb. 18, 1930
1,754,425 Hinckley ________ __ Apr. 15, 1930
2,537,141 Klipsch __________ __ Jan. 9, 1951
FOREIGN PATENTS
Number Country Date
775,561 France ____________ __ Jan. 4, 1935
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