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The purpose of these acoustical patent reviews is to provide enough information for a Journal reader to decide whether to seek more information from the patent itself. Any opinions expressed here are those of the reviewers as individuals and are not legal opinions. Patents are available via the internet at the USPTO website, and also at Google Patents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reassigned spectrogram (RS) has emerged as the most accurate way to infer vocal tract resonances from the acoustic signal [Shadle, Nam, and Whalen (2016). "Comparing measurement errors for formants in synthetic and natural vowels," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 139(2), 713–727]. To date, validating its accuracy has depended on formant synthesis for ground truth values of these resonances. Synthesis is easily controlled, but it has many intrinsic assumptions that do not necessarily accurately realize the acoustics in the way that physical resonances would. Here, we show that physical models of the vocal tract with derivable resonance values allow a separate approach to the ground truth, with a different range of limitations. Our three-dimensional printed vocal tract models were excited by white noise, allowing an accurate determination of the resonance frequencies. Then, sources with a range of fundamental frequencies were implemented, allowing a direct assessment of whether RS avoided the systematic bias towards the nearest strong harmonic to which other analysis techniques are prone. RS was indeed accurate at fundamental frequencies up to 300 Hz; above that, accuracy was somewhat reduced. Future directions include testing mechanical models with the dimensions of children's vocal tracts and making RS more broadly useful by automating the detection of resonances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of these acoustical patent reviews is to provide enough information for a Journal reader to decide whether to seek more information from the patent itself. Any opinions expressed here are those of the reviewers as individuals and are not legal opinions. Printed copies of United States Patents may be ordered at $3.00 each from the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, DC 20231. Patents are available via the Internet at http://www.uspto.gov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of these acoustical patent reviews is to provide enough information for a Journal reader to decide whether to seek more information from the patent itself. Any opinions expressed here are those of the reviewers as individuals and are not legal opinions. Printed copies of United States Patents may be ordered at $3.00 each from the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, DC 20231. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews several acoustical patents, including a patent for Ported Audio Speaker Enclosures, a patent for Display-based Speaker Structures for Electronic Devices, and a patent for a Vibration-dampening Musical Performance Riser.

The article evaluates several acoustical patents as of July 2015, including systems and methods for harvesting vibrational energy from vehicles, apparatus and method for ultrasonic testing and sonic drill head.

The article reviews acoustical patents. It includes the Wearable Air Blast Protection Device, Electrostatic Loudspeaker Capable of Dispersing Sound Both Horizontally and Vertically, Loudspeaker, Electrodynamic Sound-Emitting Device, Speaker Unit and Active Speaker Device, and Electronic Sound Level Control in Audible Signaling Devices.

The article reviews the patent entitled "Imaging Probe With Combined Ultrasound and Optical Means of Imaging."

The article reviews the patent entitled "Methods and Apparatuses of Microbeamforming With Adjustable Fluid Lenses."

The article reviews the patent entitled "Reducing False Positives in Speech Recognition Systems."

The article reviews the patent entitled "Eardrum Implantable Devices for Hearing Systems and Methods."

The article reviews the patent entitled "Hearing Device With an Open Earpiece Having a Short Vent."