阅读说明：本技术 用于扬声器的振动板及扬声器 (Diaphragm for loudspeaker and loudspeaker ) 是由 牟雅静 李美玲 凌风光 李春 于 2020-11-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种用于扬声器的振动板及扬声器。振动板由单层发泡聚酯材料制成,发泡聚酯材料形成为表面致密而内部具有多个封闭性泡孔的结构,发泡聚酯材料的密度范围为0.2g/cm～3-1.2g/cm～3,振动板形成为一体成型的凸包结构,振动板包括第一拱起部和围绕第一拱起部呈环状设置的第二拱起部,第一拱起部与第二拱起部相连,第二拱起部的外周与所述扬声器的外壳相连。根据本发明的振动板,通过采用单层发泡聚酯材料制成一体成型的凸包结构,发泡聚酯材料具有较高的比模量,使扬声器在中高频方面展现更好的声学性能。而且一体成型的凸包结构不仅可以简化振动板的装配流程,还可使其在振动过程中具有很好的一致性,从而可以大幅度提升扬声器的发声效果。(The invention discloses a vibrating plate for a loudspeaker and the loudspeaker. The vibration plate is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material, the foamed polyester material is formed into a structure with a compact surface and a plurality of closed cells inside, and the density range of the foamed polyester material is 0.2g/cm 3 ‑1.2g/cm 3 The vibrating plate is formed into an integrally formed convex hull structure and comprises a first arch part and a second arch part annularly arranged around the first arch part, the first arch part is connected with the second arch part, and the periphery of the second arch part is connected with the shell of the loudspeaker. According to the vibrating plate of the invention, the convex hull structure which is integrally formed is made of the single-layer foaming polyester material, the foaming polyester material has higher specific modulus,the loudspeaker shows better acoustic performance in medium and high frequency. And the convex hull structure of integrated into one piece not only can simplify the assembly flow of vibration board, still can make it have fine uniformity at the vibration in-process to can promote the sound production effect of speaker by a wide margin.)

1. A vibration plate for a speaker, wherein the vibration plate is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material formed in a structure having a dense surface and a plurality of closed cells inside, and the foamed polyester material has a density in the range of 0.2g/cm³-1.2g/cm³The diaphragm is formed into an integrally formed convex hull structure, and comprises a first arch part and a second arch part annularly arranged around the first arch part, wherein the first arch part is connected with the second arch part, and the periphery of the second arch part is connected with the shell of the loudspeaker.

2. A diaphragm for a speaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein a horizontally extending terrace portion for adhesive connection with a voice coil is provided between the first and second raised portions.

3. A vibration plate for a speaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second domes is provided with a pattern on an outer surface thereof.

4. The vibration plate for a speaker according to claim 1, wherein the foamed polyester material has a specific modulus of 750MPa/g/cm or more³。

5. A vibration plate for a speaker according to claim 1, wherein a diameter d of the cell hole satisfies: d is more than or equal to 2um and less than or equal to 30 um.

6. A vibration plate for a speaker according to claim 1, wherein a thickness L of the foamed polyester material satisfies: l is more than or equal to 0.02mm and less than or equal to 0.3 mm.

7. The vibration plate for a speaker according to claim 1, wherein the room temperature loss factor range of the foamed polyester material is 0.01 or more.

8. The vibration plate for a speaker according to claim 1, wherein the foamed polyester material has an elongation at break ranging from 100% or more.

9. A vibration plate for a speaker according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the foamed polyester material comprises foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

10. A vibration plate for a speaker according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the foamed polyester material comprises any one of foamed polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polyarylate (PAR), and Polycarbonate (PC).

11. A speaker characterized by comprising the vibration plate for a speaker according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of speakers, in particular to a vibration plate for a speaker and the speaker.

Background

The speaker is an important acoustic component in the portable electronic device, and is mainly used for converting a sound wave signal into a sound signal and outputting the sound signal to achieve a sound production effect. The diaphragm is an important component of the speaker, plays an important role in the sound production performance of the speaker, and determines the conversion quality of the speaker from electric energy to sound energy.

In the related art, in order to improve the middle-high frequency performance of the speaker, the vibrating plate is often made of a material with high rigidity, but the material density corresponding to the material with high rigidity is also high, so that the weight of the vibrating plate is increased, the frequency response sensitivity of the speaker is affected, and the sound quality of the speaker is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the invention provides a vibrating plate for a loudspeaker, which has the advantages of high sensitivity and good medium-high frequency performance.

The invention also provides a loudspeaker with the vibrating plate.

The diaphragm for a speaker according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material formed in a structure having a dense surface and a plurality of closed cells inside, and has a density in a range of 0.2g/cm³-1.2g/cm³The diaphragm is formed into an integrally formed convex hull structure, and comprises a first arch part and a second arch part annularly arranged around the first arch part, wherein the first arch part is connected with the second arch part, and the periphery of the second arch part is connected with the shell of the loudspeaker.

According to the vibration plate for the loudspeaker of the embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the single-layer foamed polyester material is adopted to be made into the integrally-formed convex hull structure, and the foamed polyester material has a high specific modulus, so that the loudspeaker can show better acoustic performance in the aspects of medium-high frequency. Set the diaphragm to integrated into one piece's convex hull structure, can simplify the assembly flow of diaphragm, improve production efficiency, the material uniformity of diaphragm is better moreover for the vibration system of speaker has fine uniformity at the vibration in-process, thereby can promote the sound quality of speaker by a wide margin.

According to some embodiments of the invention, a horizontally disposed terrace portion is disposed between the first raised portion and the second raised portion, and the terrace portion is used for being bonded and connected with the voice coil.

According to some embodiments of the invention, at least one of the first and second domes is provided with a pattern on an outer surface thereof.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the foamed polyester material has a specific modulus ≥ 750MPa/g/cm³。

According to some embodiments of the invention, the diameter d of the cells satisfies: d is more than or equal to 2um and less than or equal to 30 um.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the thickness L of the foamed polyester material satisfies: l is more than or equal to 0.02mm and less than or equal to 0.3 mm.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the room temperature dissipation factor of the foamed polyester material is in the range of 0.01 or more.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the foamed polyester material has an elongation at break in the range of ≥ 100%.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the foamed polyester material comprises foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

According to some embodiments of the invention, the foamed polyester material comprises any one of foamed polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polyarylate (PAR) and Polycarbonate (PC).

A speaker according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes the diaphragm for a speaker according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention.

According to the loudspeaker of the second aspect of the present invention, by setting the vibration, the vibration plate is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material to form an integrally formed convex hull structure, so that not only the assembly efficiency of the loudspeaker can be improved, but also the sound production effect of the loudspeaker can be improved.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is an overall structural view of a vibration plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion circled by A in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram comparing frequency response curves of a vibration plate according to an embodiment of the present invention with those of general vibration.

Reference numerals:

the vibration plate 100 is provided with a vibration plate 100,

the first arch part 1, the second arch part 2, the platform part 3 and the foam hole 4.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar components or components having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

A vibration plate 100 for a speaker according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

The vibration plate 100 for a speaker according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material, and the foamed polyester material has characteristics of low density and large overall rigidity, so that the foamed polyester material has a high specific modulus. As shown in fig. 3, the diaphragm 100 made of the foamed polyester material has a greater thickness with the same mass of the diaphragm 100, and thus the high frequency cut-off frequency of the speaker is shifted to a high frequency, and the high frequency corresponding range of the speaker is wider, so that the speaker exhibits better acoustic performance in medium and high frequencies.

As shown in fig. 3, the foamed polyester material may be formed in a structure having a dense surface and a plurality of closed cells 4 inside, and the plurality of cell structures may reduce the weight of the vibration plate 100 while providing good mechanical strength thereto, whereby the durability and reliability of the vibration plate 100 may be improved.

Wherein the density range of the foaming polyester material is 0.2g/cm³-1.2g/cm³. It will be appreciated that when the density of the foamed polyester material is less than 0.2g/cm³The modulus of the foamed polyester material is reduced, so that the high-frequency cut-off frequency of the loudspeaker is influenced, and the sound production effect of the loudspeaker is influenced. When the density of the foaming polyester material is more than 1.2g/cm³In this case, the mass of the diaphragm 100 increases, which affects the mid-frequency characteristics of the speaker. Through multiple tests of the inventor, when the density range of the foaming polyester material is 0.2g/cm³-1.2g/cm³In this case, the weight of the vibration plate 100 is moderate, the medium frequency response of the speaker is more sensitive, and the sound effect is better. Further, the density range of the foamed polyester material may be further 0.2g/cm³-0.6g/cm³。

As shown in fig. 1, the diaphragm 100 is formed in an integrally molded convex hull structure, and the diaphragm 100 may include a first dome portion 1 and a second dome portion 2 annularly disposed around the first dome portion 1, the first dome portion 1 being connected to the second dome portion 2, and an outer circumference of the second dome portion 2 being connected to a housing of the speaker. Specifically, the first arching portion 1 and the second arching portion 2 are substantially formed into an arch shape, the second arching portion 2 is arranged on the outer side of the circumference of the first arching portion 1 and connected with the first arching portion 1, wherein the vibration system of the loudspeaker comprises a vibration plate 100 and a voice coil, and after the voice coil is electrified and receives an alternating current signal, the voice coil can receive magnetic force of a magnetic circuit system and does reciprocating cutting motion of a magnetic induction line under the action of the magnetic force, so that the vibration plate 100 is driven to vibrate, and air is driven to make sound. The first dome 1 can now act as a dome for the vibration system, which mainly improves the medium-high frequency performance of the sound. The second arch part 2 can be used as a corrugated ring part of the vibration system, and can be realized without additionally bonding engineering plastic diaphragms (such as peek, par and the like), elastomer materials (such as tpu, tpee, silicon rubber and the like), adhesive films (such as acrylate adhesives, organic silicon adhesives and the like) and the like, so that the fatigue resistance of the vibration plate can be obviously improved and the polarization can be inhibited while the low-frequency performance of sound is improved.

From this, through the aforesaid setting, set diaphragm 100 to integrated into one piece's convex hull structure, can simplify the assembly flow of diaphragm 100, improve production efficiency, the material uniformity of diaphragm 100 is better moreover for the vibration system of speaker has fine uniformity at the vibration in-process, has reduced the emergence of vibration in-process polarization phenomenon, thereby can promote the sound production effect of speaker by a wide margin.

Optionally, the inner diameter D of the first arch 1₁The size range is as follows: d is not more than 0.4cm₁Less than or equal to 2 cm. Further, the inner diameter D of the first arching portion 1₁The size range further satisfies: d is not more than 0.4cm₁Less than or equal to 1 cm. Optionally, the height H of the first arching portion 1₁The size range of (a) satisfies: h is not more than 0.06mm₁Less than or equal to 10mm, and further the height H of the first arch part 1₁Further satisfies the following dimensional ranges: h is not more than 0.08mm₁≤8mm。

Optionally, the inner diameter D of the second arch 2₂The size range is as follows: d is not more than 0.02mm₂Less than or equal to 3 mm. Further, the inner diameter D of the second raised portion 2₂The size range further satisfies: d is not more than 0.05mm₂Less than or equal to 2 mm. Optionally, the height H of the second arch 2₂The size range of (a) satisfies: h is not more than 0.06mm₂Less than or equal to 5mm, and further the height H of the second arch part 2₂Further satisfies the following dimensional ranges: h is not more than 0.08mm₂≤3mm。

In one specific example of the present invention, the vibration plate 100 may be formed in an integrally formed convex hull structure by using a pneumatic molding method. Wherein, its shaping procedure can include: preheating a material belt, forming by differential pressure, and cooling and drawing. The material area that the polyester material of foaming made at first heats to the settlement temperature, then places the material area in the mould, pressurizes on the mould to the mould, utilizes the pressure differential between the last mould of mould and the lower mould to press the material area into the structure that vibration board 100 set up, cools down to the mould at last, just can obtain fashioned convex closure structure after the die sinking. The air pressure forming process is simple, the production efficiency is high, and the temperature and the pressure at each position in the die cavity are consistent, so that the product state at each position of the formed vibrating plate 100 is excellent, and the product quality of the vibrating plate 100 can be improved.

According to the vibration plate 100 for a speaker according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, by making the integrally molded convex hull structure of a single layer of foamed polyester material, the foamed polyester material has a high specific modulus, so that the speaker exhibits better acoustic performance in medium and high frequencies. Set diaphragm 100 to integrated into one piece's convex hull structure, can simplify the assembly flow of diaphragm 100, improve production efficiency, the material uniformity of diaphragm 100 is better moreover for the vibration system of speaker has fine uniformity at the vibration in-process, thereby can promote the sound production effect of speaker by a wide margin.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a platform portion 3 extending horizontally may be disposed between the first arching portion 1 and the second arching portion 2, two ends of the platform portion 3 are respectively connected to the first arching portion 1 and the second arching portion 2, and the platform portion 3 is configured to be adhesively connected to the voice coil, so that, by the above arrangement, the platform portion 3 extends horizontally, thereby facilitating the assembly of the diaphragm 100 and the voice coil, and further improving the assembly firmness between the diaphragm 100 and the voice coil.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the first and second domes 1 and 2 may be provided with a pattern (not shown) on an outer surface thereof. That is, a pattern may be provided on the outer surface of the first raised part 1, a pattern may be provided on the outer surface of the second raised part 2, or a pattern may be provided on both the outer surfaces of the first raised part 1 and the second raised part 2. By providing a pattern on the outer surface of the first dome 1 and/or the second dome 2, the rigidity of the diaphragm 100 can be improved, and the sensitivity of the mid-frequency response of the speaker can be improved.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the foamed polyester material has a specific modulus ≥ 750MPa/g/cm³. It will be appreciated that when the specific modulus of the foamed polyester material is less than750MPa/g/cm³When the specific modulus of the foamed polyester material is too low, the high-frequency cut-off frequency of the loudspeaker is shifted to the left, so that the high-frequency response range of the loudspeaker is narrowed, and the sound production effect of the loudspeaker is influenced. When the specific modulus of the foaming polyester material is more than or equal to 750MPa/g/cm³In time, the high-frequency response range of the loudspeaker can be enlarged, and the sound production effect of the loudspeaker is improved. Alternatively, the specific modulus of the foamed polyester material may be 1000MPa/g/cm³。

In some embodiments of the present invention, the diameter d of the cells 4 may satisfy: d is more than or equal to 2um and less than or equal to 30 um. Specifically, when the diameter d of the cells 4 is too small, the overall weight reduction of the vibration plate 100 is less, and when the diameter d of the cells 4 is too large, the structural strength of the foamed polyester material is affected. When d is greater than or equal to 2um and less than or equal to 30um, the sound production effect of the vibrating plate 100 made of the foamed polyester material is better. Further, the diameter d of the cells 4 may further satisfy: d is more than or equal to 5um and less than or equal to 15 um.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the thickness L of the foamed polyester material may satisfy: l is more than or equal to 0.02mm and less than or equal to 0.3 mm. It is understood that, when the thickness of the foamed polyester material is less than 0.02mm, the thickness of the foamed polyester material is too thin, resulting in insufficient rigidity of the vibration plate 100, and the vibration plate 100 is easily polarized during vibration. When the thickness of the foamed polyester material is greater than 0.3mm, the thickness of the foamed polyester material is too thick, so that the margin of the vibration space of the vibration plate 100 is reduced, and the increase of the vibration thickness also increases the overall mass of the vibration system, so that part of the sensitivity of the vibration plate 100 is lost, and the sound production effect of the loudspeaker is affected. When the thickness L of the foamed polyester material satisfies that L is not less than 0.02mm and not more than 0.3mm, the vibrating plate 100 can satisfy the rigidity requirement and also can satisfy the sensitivity requirement of the vibrating plate 100, thereby meeting the manufacturing requirement of the loudspeaker. Optionally, the thickness L of the foamed polyester material may further satisfy: l is more than or equal to 0.06mm and less than or equal to 0.18 mm.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the room temperature dissipation factor range of the foamed polyester material is ≧ 0.01. It can be understood that the higher the room temperature loss factor of the foamed polyester material is, the stronger the polarization suppression capability of the vibration system in the vibration process is, and the better the vibration consistency of the vibration system is, so that the sound production effect of the loudspeaker can be improved. Alternatively, the room temperature dissipation factor of the foamed polyester material may be 0.5.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the elongation at break of the foamed polyester material may range from ≧ 100%. It will be appreciated that the more flexible the material, the greater its elongation at break and the greater the resistance of the material to failure. Therefore, when the breaking elongation of the foamed polyester material is more than or equal to 100%, the flexibility of the foamed polyester material can be improved, and the problem that the foamed polyester material is easy to break during molding can be effectively solved.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the foamed polyester material may comprise foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly known as polyester resin, which is prepared by exchanging dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol or by esterifying terephthalic acid with ethylene glycol to synthesize dihydroxy ethyl terephthalate, followed by polycondensation. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has higher rigidity and smaller density, and greatly improves the specific modulus of the foaming polyester material, thereby obviously improving the medium-high frequency acoustic performance of the vibrating plate.

According to further embodiments of the present invention, the foamed polyester material may further include any one of foamed polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polyarylate (PAR), and Polycarbonate (PC).

The vibration plate 100 for a speaker of the present invention will be described in detail in one embodiment with reference to fig. 1 to 3. It is to be understood that the following description is only exemplary, and not restrictive of the invention.

As shown in fig. 1, according to a vibration plate 100 of an embodiment of the present invention, the vibration plate 100 is formed in an integrally formed convex hull structure, the vibration plate 100 includes a first arch portion 1 and a second arch portion 2 annularly disposed around the first arch portion 1, an outer periphery of the second arch portion 2 is connected to a housing of a speaker, a horizontally extending terrace portion 3 is disposed between the first arch portion 1 and the second arch portion 2, both ends of the terrace portion 3 are connected to the first arch portion 1 and the second arch portion 2, respectively, and the terrace portion is connected to the first arch portion 1 and the second arch portion 2And 3, the voice coil is connected with the voice coil in an adhesive manner. Wherein the first dome 1 acts as a dome of the vibration system of the loudspeaker, which mainly improves the medium-high frequency performance of the sound. The second dome 2 serves as a corrugated portion of the vibration system of the loudspeaker, which is mainly used to improve the low-frequency performance of sound. Inner diameter D of first arch part 1₁Is 1cm, the height H of the first arch part 1₁Is 8 mm. Inner diameter D of the second raised part 2₂Is 2mm, the height H of the second arch part 2₂Is 1 mm.

The vibration plate 100 is made of a single layer foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, and the thickness L of the foamed polyester material is 0.08 mm. The density of the foamed polyester material is 0.4g/cm³The specific modulus of the foaming polyester material is 1000MPa/g/cm³The room temperature loss factor range of the foaming polyester material is more than or equal to 0.01, and the breaking elongation range of the foaming polyester material is more than or equal to 100%. As shown in fig. 3, the foamed polyester material is formed into a structure having a dense surface and a plurality of closed cells 4 inside, and the diameter d of the cells 4 may satisfy: d is 10 um.

The diaphragm 100 is formed in an integrally formed convex hull structure by air pressure molding. Wherein, its shaping flow includes: preheating a material belt, forming by differential pressure, and cooling and drawing. The material area that the polyester material of foaming made at first heats to the settlement temperature, then places the material area in the mould, pressurizes on the mould to the mould, utilizes the pressure differential between the last mould of mould and the lower mould to press the material area into the structure that vibration board 100 set up, cools down to the mould at last, just can obtain fashioned convex closure structure after the die sinking. The air pressure forming process is simple, the production efficiency is high, and the temperature and pressure at each position in the die cavity are consistent, so that the state of each product of the formed vibrating plate 100 is excellent.

According to the vibrating plate 100 of the embodiment of the invention, because the vibrating plate is made of the foamed polyester material, the foamed polyester material has the characteristics of low density and high rigidity, and has a higher specific modulus, so that the medium-frequency response of the loudspeaker is more sensitive. Since the diaphragm 100 made of the foamed polyester material has a large thickness under the same weight, the high-frequency cutoff frequency of the speaker is shifted to a high frequency, and the high-frequency response range of the speaker is widened. Moreover, the vibrating plate 100 is a convex hull structure manufactured in an integrated manner, so that the production efficiency is improved, and the vibration system can reduce the sound of the polarization phenomenon in the vibration process due to the good consistency of the foaming material, so that the THD is low, and the sound production effect of the loudspeaker is improved.

A speaker according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes the vibration plate 100 for a speaker according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention.

According to the speaker of the second embodiment of the present invention, by providing the vibration plate 100, the vibration plate 100 is made of a single-layer foamed polyester material to form an integrally formed convex hull structure, so that not only the assembly efficiency of the speaker can be improved, but also the sound production effect of the speaker can be improved.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or component in question must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are therefore not to be considered as limiting the invention. Furthermore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; the two components can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and the two components can be communicated with each other. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.