US 12,225,336 B1
Systems and methods to secure fabric to speaker-based devices
Xuan Geng, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Susan Swindlehurst, Morgan Hill, CA (US); Wentao Cheng, Shenzhen (CN); and Shankar Ganapathysubramanian, Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed by Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed on Sep. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/468,825.
Int. Cl. H04R 1/02 (2006.01); B32B 3/26 (2006.01); B32B 5/02 (2006.01); B32B 7/12 (2006.01)
CPC H04R 1/023 (2013.01) [B32B 3/266 (2013.01); B32B 5/022 (2013.01); B32B 7/12 (2013.01); B32B 2250/02 (2013.01); B32B 2457/00 (2013.01); H04R 2201/029 (2013.01); H04R 2410/00 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A voice-assistant device comprising:
a microphone;
a housing comprising:
a first housing portion devoid of apertures; and
a second housing portion comprising a plurality of apertures, the second housing portion disposed adjacent to the first housing portion, wherein the plurality of apertures comprises a first plurality of first apertures, wherein the second housing portion further comprises a groove formed about each of the first apertures;
a speaker disposed inside the housing and arranged such that sound output from the speaker is directed towards the plurality of apertures;
a fabric comprising:
a first portion disposed over the first housing portion; and
a second portion disposed over the second housing portion; and
a nonwoven material disposed between the fabric and the housing, the nonwoven material comprising:
a third portion disposed between the first portion and the first housing portion; and
a fourth portion disposed between the second portion and the second housing portion; and
a fifth portion disposed about each groove, and wherein the fifth portion being bonded, patterned, and non-liquid;
wherein the third portion comprises a patterned non-liquid adhesive that is bonded to the first portion, and the fourth portion comprises the patterned non-liquid adhesive that is unbonded to the second portion.