The Audio Technology

Authority

Article prepared for www.audioXpress.com

Gauging
By Steve Mowry

A gauge, sometimes called a shim, is a passive mechani-

cal device that positions a part or a subassembly with
respect to another part or subassembly. The main topic of
Small diameter pin gauges are not conducive to high vol-
ume and speed manufacturing.
High-frequency transducers can also be assembled just
this discussion focuses on the distinction between gauging like cone woofers and midranges, but the soft part and
and locating parts or subassemblies with respect to geomet- hard modular assembly is lost. A voice coil/surround
ric features within a transducer assembly. Gauge is defined subassembly is attached to the hard part subassembly, the
as a measure or an instrument to determine dimensions, terminations soldered and secured, and then the diaphragm
distance, or capacity. Locate is defined as stipulating the is attached just before the transducer is magnetized. This
position of an object, place, or event in relation to other is sometimes referred to as “bottom up” assembly. Unlike
specified objects, places, or events. To gauge is absolute but larger cone type transducer assemblies, on small transduc-
to locate is relative. ers this methodology is not desirable; the hard part and
soft part modular subassembly methodology is preferred.
BACKGROUND Modular assembly has several significant manufacturing
In transducer manufacturing, a hard part gauge (gap advantages in high-frequency transducer applications:
gauge) sets a minimum annular magnetic gap width, while 1. The soft part subassembly can be terminated, inspected,
a soft part gauge (coil gauge) sets a minimum annular clear- and tested prior to final assembly.
ance between the voice coil and a reference gap diameter. 2. The diaphragm subassembly can be made user and/or
In low- and mid-frequency transducers, the soft part gauge factory replaceable—serviceability.
sets a minimum annular clearance between the center pole 3. Critical soft part assembly processes such as adhesive
outside diameter (OD) and the voice coil inside diameter dispense and soldering are easier to control.
(VCID). However, most high-frequency soft part subas- 4. Hard part and soft part subassemblies can be manu-
semblies are not gauged. factured on parallel assembly lines resulting in more
The dome diaphragm can also be considered the dust efficient operations.
cap relative to the low-frequency transducer’s parts list.
There is just no way to get a shim type gauge between SELF-LOCATED ASSEMBLY
the voice coil and the center pole. The diaphragm is in Photos 1 through 7 are “butterfly” type diaphragm
the way from the top, and the yoke (back plate) is in the subassemblies (soft parts) from several popular hi-fi tweeter
way from the rear. Rather, male and female features within assemblies. I am sure that at least some of these will look
the soft parts and hard parts typically locate the voice familiar. The modular subassembly approach to manufac-
coil/diaphragm subassembly. If all dimensions are within turing is a tried and tested methodology that is efficient
appropriate specifications, then the resultant radial voice and effective. Self-locating features within the assembly is
coil position is reasonably centered within the annular also a tried and true manufacturing methodology; how-
magnetic gap. ever, in this case there is a precision magnetic gap in which
Alternatively, you can insert three or more pin type gaug- clearances between the voice coil and the gap OD and ID
es into holes or vents within the yoke or back plate to gauge are an essential dimension that determine the transducer’s
the clearance between the voice coil and the gap boundar- efficiency and quality control.
ies. This has been tried but was found to be problematic in If the voice coil’s outside diameter comes in contact
a manufacturing setting. This method is more common in with the gap outside diameter, then failure is imminent.
lab-built samples or prototypes of new transducer designs. The voice coil bobbin will offer some protection to the
Voice Coil 2008 1
 stated as a probability of being in a certain position. That
probability function is directly related to the theoretical
reject rate. The clearances around the voice coil can be
set very large—about ~0.50mm on the ID—but this will
significantly reduce sensitivity and maximum output along
with a reduction in electromechanical damping; Qes will
increase. Part tolerance can be specified very tight, but this
PHOTO 1: VIFA (Tymphany) soft part will increase cost, complicate incoming inspection, and
subassembly.
PHOTO 2: SEAS EXCEL soft part limit the supplier selection pool.
subassembly. High-frequency transducers are known for their high
rates of rejection. In some designs, the soft part assembly is
inexpensive and the hard part subassembly is recycled with
a new soft part assembly until it passes the buzz, rub, and
tick sweep test. I have even seen trial and error processes of
searching for the right soft part subassembly to mate with a
given hard part subassembly. Try this one; no, try that one.
PHOTO 4: AUDAX (HARMAN) soft
In such a case, the tolerance may be larger than the nominal
PHOTO 3: PEERLESS (Tymphany)
soft part subassembly. part subassembly. clearance. Reject rates of 5% are considered quite good for
tweeter manufacturing, whereas low- and mid-frequency
voice coil wire, if the voice coil ID were to contact the transducers are typically manufactured with a reject rate of
gap ID, but repeated ID contact also indicates imminent less than or equal to 5%.
failure from friction-generated heat and extraneous output. Assuming the voice coil location can be controlled,
Photos 1 through 7 are courtesy of Madisound Speaker adequate voice coil clearance is ~0.13mm on the ID and
Components (www.madisound.com). ~0.23mm on the OD. The voice coil expands when heat-
With regard to Fig. 1, there is a radial stack-up tolerance ed. Just for reference, the famous BOSE 4½″ driver has
issue, where: ~0.18mm/~0.28mm clearances, whereas large voice coil
t1 is the tolerance on the ID of the female soft part loca- woofers typically have ~0.63mm/~0.75mm clearances. When
tion feature; I recently dissected several 40mm headphone transducers
t2 is the tolerance on the location of the female soft part from BOSE, Beyerdynamic, and OEM brands, I was amazed
feature; to find clearances of ~0.30mm/~0.30mm! When I questioned
t3 is the tolerance on the diameter of the male locating OEM manufacturers in China, they replied that 0.30mm
feature; clearance was typical and required for a “high yield.”
t4 is the tolerance on the location of the male locating Typically, in headphone transducers a polymer film dia-
feature; phragm’s OD locates the voice coil relative to an ID feature
t5 is the tolerance on the location of the voice coil relative on the frame. Cone type transducers, 50mm and up, with
to the locating features. dust caps or phase plugs on the center poles are almost
always gauged assemblies. The clearances around the voice
There is also the issue coils typically go as the size and power handling of the
of the voice coil’s transducer. Moving mass and maximum displacement are
position with respect also considerations. In any case, rarely are nominal clear-
to the magnetic gap ances greater than 0.8mm/1.0mm used except perhaps in
being effectively the very largest transducers.
unknown. The posi-
tion has a tolerance SELF-GAUGED ASSEMBLY
that is the sum of Although a simple methodology, gauging is the most
the part tolerances. effective of all assembly manufacturing processes for criti-
PHOTO 5: Morel Supreme soft part The location of the cal positioning. The gauge ensures a minimum clearance
subassembly.
voice coil must be equal to the wall thickness of the gauge material. The clear-
ances can be stated as no less
than and the voice coil posi-
tion within the magnetic gap
is then known. The gauges
also implement a check to
incoming inspection QC. If
one or both of the gauges
fail to engage the parts, then
this is a strong signal that
PHOTO 6: JBL (Harman) soft part subassembly. PHOTO 7: FOSTER/FOSTEX soft part subassembly.
something is wrong with the
2 Voice Coil 2008 www.audioXpress .com
 critical magnetic gap dimensions and the part dimension t6 and t7, where t6 is the tolerance of the OD of the short-
should be rechecked. ing ring and t7 is the tolerance of the OD of the magnetic
The gap inside diameter is typically held to a close toler- gap, the gap (front) plate ID.
ance, in most tweeters ±0.03mm. The copper-shorting ring Only with gauging is it possible to control variability to
can be extruded and also held to close tolerance. Processes within 4 to 6 standard deviations (4 to 6 sigma manufac-
have been developed for medical tubing applications that turing) for the voice coil rub failure mode while utilizing
facilitate very high precision. reasonable clearance, certainly not 0.30 to 0.50mm. Please
In 2001 I began to design integral gauges into high- remember that a 5% reject rate represents only 2 standard
frequency transducers. With regard to Fig. 2, a self-gauged deviations, 2 sigma quality control. Save your money,
tweeter assembly topology example is illustrated. The robotics is not the answer either. Having worked with fully
copper-shorting ring is also an integral gauge that positions automated assembly lines and having knowledge of the
the soft part subassembly within the hard part subassembly. failed “Zero Defect Transducer Project,” there is no meth-
The clearance between the voice coil OD and the shorting odology that can reduce variability of gap clearances more
ring ID is gauged and thus a minimum voice coil OD effectively than simple shim gauging, but those who work
clearance is set. The hard part subassembly is gauged in in manufacturing know that. The semi-automated assem-
exactly the same manner as typical transducers of all sizes. bly line with gauging represents state-of-the-art transducer
In this way the radial stack-up is reduced to two variables, manufacturing and is well suited for Asia.

FIGURE 1A: Sectional detail

of soft part subassembly with
female locating feature on the
right.

FIGURE 1B:
Sectional detail
of hard part
gauge inserted
between the
fixed shorting
ring OD and the
gap plate ID and
the male locating
feature on the
right.

FIGURE 1C: Sectional detail of the magnetic

gap with copper cap shorting ring and locating
FIGURE 1: Sectional illustration of a typical hi-fi tweeter, the soft features on the right.
part subassembly, the hard part subassembly with gauge, and the
transducer assembly.

FIGURE 2A: Sectional detail of soft part gauge

inserted between voice coil OD and shorting
ring ID.

FIGURE 2B:
Sectional detail
of hard part
gauge inserted
between the pole
OD and the gap
plate ID.

FIGURE 2C: Sectional detail of the

FIGURE 2: Sectional illustrations of a gauged hi-fi tweeter, the soft part self-gauging shorting ring within the
subassembly with gauge, the hard part subassembly with gauge, and the magnetic gap.
gauged transducer assembly.

Voice Coil 2008 3

 Here’s a tip: When visiting a transducer manufacturer, transducers.
be sure to inspect their gauges, bring your ball tip microm- It’s ironic that the term “butterfly” is commonly used
eters. A transducer manufacturer is only as good as his in Asia as a metaphor to describe something or someone
gauges! that moves or floats around. It’s best to know where the
voice coil is located or at least some reasonable minimum
CONCLUSION “gauged” clearance. Quality is the absence of variation
With engineers and scientists developing materials such about a target value and must be designed in. VC
as CVD diamond, beryllium, magnesium, ceramics, light
metal super alloys, and high-tech composites for high-fre-
quency transducer diaphragm applications, a methodology Steve Mowry, president of SM Audio Engineering, has a
and transducer topology that utilizes shim type assembly BS, Business Administration, from Bryant College, and
gauging should be seriously considered. A copper-shorting a BS and MS, Electrical Engineering, from URI with
ring is essential to high-performance standards in such highest distinction. Steve has worked in R&D at BOSE,
applications. Another option is to use a copper cap on the TC Sounds, EASTTECH, and P.Audio. Steve is currently
ID of the voice coil such as the motor assembly in Fig. 1 an independent consultant/lecturer in project manage-
and also to use the OD shorting ring/gauge shown in Fig. ment/transducer and system design. His website is www.
2. A gap sectional detail of this topology is illustrated in s-m-audio.com.
Fig. 3.
The inherent reduc-
tion in gap clearances
with shim gauging
may offset the thick-
ness of the second
shorting ring. The
copper rings behave
like air with regard to
the DC magnetic flux
within the magnetic
gap. However, the cop-
per shorts the AC eddy
FIGURE 3: Sectional illustration of a currents that induce
magnetic gap with shorting ring on the AC magnetic flux. It is
gap ID and with the self-gauging short- this AC magnetic flux
ing ring gap on the OD.
that modulates with
the DC magnetic flux
to produce flux modulation, while it is this AC magnetic
flux linking back to the voice coil that is the source of
inductance.
The self-gauging topology can also be convenient-
ly retrofitted into existing high-frequency transducers.
Replacement diaphragm assemblies can be made available
as with butterfly type diaphragms. Another way of looking
at this self-gauging topology is that the simplification of
parts (features removed) and the improved QC will offset
the cost of the copper-shorting ring relative to a high-
frequency transducer with a butterfly type diaphragm and
no shorting ring(s). The shorting ring/gauge may pay for
itself in this case. The main issues are always performance,
quality control, and cost; however, performance, quality,
and cost are inherently related, but you know that.
Finally, without locating male and female features, parts
can be simplified and orientation requirements can be
reduced or eliminated. The integral shorting ring/gauge
can be implemented in most high-frequency moving coil
transducers, including neodymium iron boron and ferrite
magnet based motor assemblies, professional compression
drivers, headphone transducers, and dome midrange hi-fi

4 Voice Coil 2008 www.audioXpress .com