EP0869696A1 - Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur - Google Patents

Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0869696A1
EP0869696A1 EP97105555A EP97105555A EP0869696A1 EP 0869696 A1 EP0869696 A1 EP 0869696A1 EP 97105555 A EP97105555 A EP 97105555A EP 97105555 A EP97105555 A EP 97105555A EP 0869696 A1 EP0869696 A1 EP 0869696A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
transmitter
receiver
stereo
telephone
circuit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP97105555A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Noburo Yamaguchi
Masao Konomi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Pan Communications Inc
Original Assignee
Pan Communications Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Pan Communications Inc filed Critical Pan Communications Inc
Priority to EP97105555A priority Critical patent/EP0869696A1/fr
Publication of EP0869696A1 publication Critical patent/EP0869696A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R1/00Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • H04R1/10Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones
    • H04R1/1041Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R3/00Circuits for transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R1/00Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • H04R1/10Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones
    • H04R1/1008Earpieces of the supra-aural or circum-aural type
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R1/00Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
    • H04R1/10Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones
    • H04R1/1016Earpieces of the intra-aural type
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2201/00Details of transducers, loudspeakers or microphones covered by H04R1/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2201/10Details of earpieces, attachments therefor, earphones or monophonic headphones covered by H04R1/10 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2201/107Monophonic and stereophonic headphones with microphone for two-way hands free communication
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04RLOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R5/00Stereophonic arrangements
    • H04R5/033Headphones for stereophonic communication

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a stereo/telephone change-over transmitter/receiver with which the stereo sound can be heard through receivers such as right and left headphones or earphones when listening to a stereo program, and with which the voice can be picked up by a transmitter which is a microphone when talking over a telephone, the voice from the receiver closer to the transmitter being suppressed but the voice from the other receiver only being picked up, so that clear communication can be realized over the telephone.
  • a person When a person receives a telephone call while he is listening to the sound of a compact disk or a TV using a computer through a stereo receiver such as earphones or headphones, the person removes the stereo receiver from the ears, holds the handset of the telephone by hand, and puts it to his ear to talk. That is, the person must remove the stereo receiver, hold the handset of the telephone located at another place, and must talk over the telephone.
  • a stereo receiver such as earphones or headphones
  • the transmitter/receiver since the transmitter/receiver is worn near the ears, the volume of voice is less picked up in front of the mouth, and amplification of the voice using an amplifier to compensate for the volume of voice is liable to pick up ambient noise and ambient reverberation. It therefore becomes necessary to use a transmitter which is short and has sharp directivity, as well as an ambient noise suppressing circuit.
  • the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem and its object is to provide a stereo/telephone change-over transmitter/receiver with which a person is allowed to listen to the stereo using two receivers upon switching over the switching means and, when using the telephone, is allowed to hear the talk using a receiver which has not been fabricated integrally with the transmitter. Accordingly, a sufficient distance is maintained between the transmitter and the receiver, and highly clear communication can be realized without quite accompanied by howling.
  • the stereo/telephone change-over transmitter/receiver of the present invention was proposed to accomplish the above-mentioned object, and comprises first and second receivers that can be connected to a stereo unit, a transmitter mounted close to said first receiver, a transmitter/receiver circuit which is a telephone to which said transmitter and the second receiver can be connected, and a switching means which, when listening to the stereo, connects said stereo unit and said first and second receivers together and, when talking over the telephone, connects said transmitter and said second receiver together.
  • said switching means is constituted by a reception detector circuit which effects the change over when a ringing is received from said transmitter/receiver circuit.
  • said transmitter has a bidirectional microphone that is formed integrally with said receiver and is held nearly at the central portion of a cavity, and is stuffed with a sound-absorbing material at both ends thereof, or has two unidirectional microphones held at both ends of said cavity.
  • an ambient noise suppressing circuit is connected to said transmitter, said ambient noise suppressing circuit comprising a gain controller which inputs AC output, a band-pass amplifier which permits the passage of a particular frequency band only in the AC output from said transmitter, and a peak-holding circuit which includes a peak detector for taking out the output corresponding to a peak value in the AC output that has passed through said band-pass amplifier and a holding circuit for holding the output level of said peak detector from being attenuated for a predetermined period of holding time, and the gain of said gain controller is controlled depending upon the output signal level of said peak-holding circuit.
  • FIG. 1 An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in connection with a personal computer 4 shown in Fig. 1 which is connected to a telephone circuit 3 as well as to a transmitter/receiver 1 and to a second receiver 2 that will be described later.
  • the personal computer 4 includes the above-mentioned stereo unit 4a, a transmitter/receiver circuit 4b for connecting the telephone circuit 3 to the personal computer 4, and a reception detector circuit 4d which detects a ringing from the telephone circuit 3 and controls a relay 4c that has normally-closed contacts 4c1 of two circuits and normally-open contacts 4c2 of two circuits.
  • a second receiver 2 comprising an earphone only, and a hands-free-type transmitter/receiver 1 in which are fabricated, as a unitary structure, a first receiver 1a which is a speaker for listening to the reproduced stereo sound or talking over the telephone and a transmitter 1b which is a microphone.
  • FIG. 2 wherein reference numeral 11 denotes a case made of a synthetic resin having nearly an L-shape.
  • a swollen member 11a of a size that fits to the inlet of the external auditory miatus is detachably attached to the case 11 on the side of the receiver, which is the short-piece side of the L-shape.
  • the swollen member 11a are formed in the swollen member 11a in the swollen member 11a.
  • the case 11 is formed of a plastic material such as ABS resin as a unitary structure.
  • the case 11 further has a vertically elongated cavity lid with its both ends open being formed on the side of the transmitter, which is the long-piece side of the case 11, and a transmitter 1b is contained nearly at the central portion of the cavity 11d, the transmitter 1b being a microphone of the type of electret having bidirectivity or being two unidirectional microphones with their backs fitted to each other.
  • a mesh 12 is attached to the upper and lower openings of the cavity 11d, and the cavity is stuffed with a sound-absorbing material 13 between the transmitter 1b and the mesh 12.
  • a first receiver 1a which is an electromagnetic type speaker is contained in the cavity 11b of the swollen member 11a, and the sound from the first receiver 1a is emitted through a sound hole only formed in the sound-emitting portion 11c.
  • Reference numeral 14 denotes connection cords from the transmitter 1b and the receiver 1a, and are bundled into one and are guided to an external unit running on the outer side of the cavity 11d.
  • the connection cord from the second receiver 2 is bundled into one on the way of the connection code 14.
  • a small and highly sensitive electret microphone is best suited as the transmitter 1b. Since the connection cords 14 generate contact noise, it is desired to use the microphone of the back-electret type since it picks up little vibration that is directly conducted.
  • the swollen member 11a of the case 11 is inserted in a concha and is fitted thereto.
  • the sound-emitting portion 11c has been so shaped as will not completely close the external auditory miatus. Therefore, a person wearing the voice terminal device does not feel that his ear is closed but is permitted to hear external sound, and there is no problem from the standpoint of safety. Besides, little voice leaks from the sound-emitting portion 11c.
  • a voice is emitted from the receiver 1a.
  • the voice emitted from the receiver 1a is further emitted into the external auditory miatus through the sound hole in the sound-emitting portion 11c.
  • the voice of a person wearing the device is transmitted to the transmitter 1b through the meshes 12 at the openings and through the sound-absorbing material 13, and is converted through the transmitter 1b into electric signals which are then output through the connection cords 14.
  • the cavity 11d is so close to the mouth of the person wearing the device, a delay develops between the voice level input through one end of the cavity 11d and the voice level input through the other end by the length of the cavity 11d. Accordingly, the voice level of the person wearing the device output from the transmitter 1b is not so much decreased.
  • the noise sources are remote like those of ambient noise, therefore, the sound waves of noise are input to both surfaces of the transmitter 1b in phase and are canceled by each other.
  • the voice of a person wearing the device on the other hand, the lower side of the transmitter 1b is close to the mouth. Therefore, a louder voice is input from the lower side of the transmitter 1b than from the upper side of the transmitter 1b; i.e., the voice is picked up maintaining sufficient sensitivity even though it is subtracted to some extent.
  • a lead wire to the first receiver 1a and a lead wire from the transmitter 1b are guided to a lead wire-holding portion 11e running through a lead wire-insertion pipe (not shown) formed on the side surface of the case 11, and are guided to an external unit from the lead wire-holding portion 11e being bundled into one.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates an example where the transmitter/receiver 1 is worn in one ear, and a stereo receiver 2 of the earphone type is worn in the other ear
  • Fig. 4 illustrates an example where the above-mentioned transmitter is fitted to one receiver 1a between the two receivers 1a and 2 of the headphone type.
  • Reference numeral 6 denotes a jack to be inserted in a plug such as of a personal computer or the like
  • 5a denotes a box in which is incorporated an ambient noise suppressing circuit 5 that will be described later.
  • the normally closed contacts 4c1 are closed as shown in Fig. 1 and the normally open contacts 4c2 are opened. Therefore, the listener is allowed to listen to a stereo music using the receivers 1a and 2.
  • the reception detector circuit 4d detects the ringing and supplies a current to the relay coil 4c. Therefore, the normally closed contacts 4c1 are opened and the normally open contacts 4c2 are closed, and the voice of talk from the transmitter/receiver circuit 4b is sent to the receiver 2 through one of the normally open contacts 4c2. The voice from the transmitter 1b is sent to the transmitter/receiver circuit 4b through the other normally open contact 4c2, and the person is allowed to talk.
  • the receiver 1a fabricated integrally with the transmitter 1b is cut off from the transmitter/receiver circuit 4b. Besides, a sufficiently large distance is maintained between the receiver 2 and the transmitter 1b. Therefore, the voice from the receiver 1a does not hinder the talk over the telephone, or no howling is caused to the transmitter 1b; i.e., clear communication is maintained.
  • the listener who has noticed a call received by the transmitter/receiver circuit 4b may change over the switch by hand to talk, instead of relying upon the reception detector circuit 4d.
  • the transmitter 1b Since the transmitter 1b is more than 10 cm away from the mouth, the sound volume decreases by more than 10 dB, and the sound must be amplified to compensate for the drop of volume. Accordingly, if a nondirective microphone is used, the ambient sound is picked up by more than 10 dB compared with the system which picks up the sound in front of the mouth. An environment where a computer is used is full of noise such as background music and noise resulting from the operation of keyboard. Besides, reverberation in the room is emphasized. Accordingly, noise around the transmitter 1b must substantially be suppressed.
  • the transmitter connected to the transmitter/receiver circuit contained in the personal computer 4 converts the voice of a person who is talking and the ambient noise into electric signals which are then output.
  • the receiver adds part of the signals from the transmitter to the signals transmitted from another person, so that they are converted into voice. That is, the person who is talking feels easy when he confirms the voice uttered by him through the receiver.
  • the transmission signals are partly added to the reception signals.
  • the transmitter 1b is constituted by containing a bidirectional microphone in a pipe which is longer than 4 cm as shown in Fig. 2.
  • the ambient noise suppressing circuit 5 fabricated in the form of an IC as shown in Fig. 5 is connected to the transmitter 1b, and time zones in which the ambient noise only is transmitted are selectively taken out to control the gain for transmission, in order to greatly improve the practical SN ratio for transmitting the talk.
  • reference numeral 1b denotes the above-mentioned transmitter for outputting the voice of a person who is talking as AC signals
  • 51 denotes a band-pass amplifier for passing the sound of 0.2 to 1 KHz or of 0.2 to 2 KHz
  • 52 denotes a peak-holding circuit comprising a peak detector 52a for detecting a peak value of the sound that has passed through the band-pass amplifier 51 and a holding circuit 52b for holding the peak value detected by the peak detector 52a
  • reference numeral 53 denotes a gain controller for controlling the gain from the transmitter 1b relying upon the output from the peak-holding circuit 52.
  • a band-pass amplifier 51 having characteristics as shown in Fig. 6 is used for discriminating and detecting voiced section and voiceless section, which is the above-mentioned important assignment (1).
  • the band-pass amplifier 51 will have a pass band of 0.2 to 1 KHz or 0.2 to 2 KHz.
  • vowels Japanese language
  • first, second and third formants are synthetic sounds of specific frequency spectra called first, second and third formants.
  • the first and second formants occupy most of the energy.
  • the first formant is distributed over about 0.2 to 1 KHz, and the second formant is distributed over about 0.75 to 2 KHz. Therefore, if the pass band of the band-pass amplifier 51 is set to be 0.2 to 2 KHz, the first and second formants of vowels can be selectively picked up. If the pass band is set to be 0.2 to 1 KHz, the first formant having the greatest energy can be selectively picked up.
  • the ambient noise contains much components of a low-frequency band (50 to 150 Hz) such as of sound of revolution of cars and electric cars as well as components of a high-frequency band (2 KHz or higher) such as frictional sound. Therefore, the pass band of the band-pass amplifier set to be 0.2 to 2 KHz or 0.2 to 1 KHz is very effective in discriminating and picking up voice uttered in the conversation.
  • a gain controller as means for varying the transmission gain for the voiced section and the voiceless section without creating the feeling of incompatibility, which is the above-mentioned important assignment (2), the controller being capable of controlling the gain depending upon the peak-holding value output by the band-pass amplifier 51.
  • the gain controller 53 there can be suitably used an analog multiplier circuit which outputs the multiplied result of a gain control signal and an AC output from the transmitter 1b.
  • V 1 is an AC output of the transmitter
  • Vc is a gain control signal
  • V 0 is a control output
  • K is a proportional constant
  • gain G is K ⁇ Vc.
  • the relationship between the amplitude and the output of the gain controller is a proportional relationship as shown in Fig. 9. It is also allowable to use an FET multiplier (utilizing a change in the channel resistance of FET) in place of the above-mentioned analog multiplier.
  • the time for holding the voiced section may hold the vowels which occupy most of the language voice.
  • the peak-holding circuit 52 may set the holding time Th to hold a peak value of the 5-msec period waveform for a predetermined period of time.
  • the gain control circuit 53 is controlled by the output of the peak-holding circuit 52 for which the holding time Th is set (see Fig. 9), the gain during the conversation varies in proportion to the loudness of voice of the person who is talking and, hence, the voice is not interrupted. Since the peak-holding circuit 52 rises very quickly, a high gain is obtained from the start of conversation, i.e., the sound can be produced in sufficient amounts.
  • this holding time in the peak-holding circuit 52 is defined to be the time in which the attenuation factor from the peak value is not larger than 30%
  • this holding time can be set to be 5 to 65 milliseconds when the peak detector 52a is of the type of unidirectional detection and is set to be 2.5 to 32.5 milliseconds when the peak detector 52a is of the type of bidirectional detection.
  • the holding time is set to be 1 to 13 times as long as the time period of 5 milliseconds which corresponds to a minimum frequency (200 Hz) of the first formant of a vowel which is the greatest element of talk energy
  • the gain after the end of talk can be quickly decreased yet without impairing the transmission of smooth talk, which is practically the best control operation.
  • the peak detector is of the bidirectional detection type, the peak is detected within one-half period compared to that of the unidirectional detection type. Therefore, the optimum holding time will be from 1 to 13 times as long as 2.5 milliseconds.
  • listening to a stereo program and talking over the telephone can be instantaneously changed over using a switching means.
  • a multi-media terminal equipment such as personal computer having a telephone function and a CD player, therefore, there is no need to change over the hands-free transmitter/receiver and the stereo receiver every time when the function is changed over such as talking over the telephone and using the multi-functional voice terminal like listening to a stereo program.
  • the receiver that is fabricated integrally with the transmitter is disconnected, and the other receiver and the transmitter are used to communicate bidirectionally. Therefore, voice does not enter into the transmitter from th receiver, howling is avoided, and clear telephone conversation can be realized.
  • the transmitter/receiver circuit of the telephone is equipped with the ambient noise suppressing circuit so that the user is allowed to talk easily, and ambient noise is suppressed for the telephone signals. Therefore, the user is allowed to communicate clearly even in a noisy environment, and clear communication over the telephone is realized.
EP97105555A 1997-04-03 1997-04-03 Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur Withdrawn EP0869696A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP97105555A EP0869696A1 (fr) 1997-04-03 1997-04-03 Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP97105555A EP0869696A1 (fr) 1997-04-03 1997-04-03 Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur

Publications (1)

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EP0869696A1 true EP0869696A1 (fr) 1998-10-07

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EP97105555A Withdrawn EP0869696A1 (fr) 1997-04-03 1997-04-03 Commutateur stéréo/téléphone-émetteur/récepteur

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2871331A1 (fr) * 2004-06-08 2005-12-09 Sennheiser Electronic Ecouteur, casque et systeme de reproduction pour des signaux audio

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0311808A2 (fr) * 1987-10-12 1989-04-19 Telenorma Gmbh Méthode et circuit pour la compensation de bruit dans un microphone
DE9409256U1 (de) * 1994-06-08 1994-10-13 Winkler Gerald Geräteanordnung zur elektromagnetischen Signalübertragung zwischen Helmen und Fahrzeugen sowie zwischen Helmen untereinander
EP0663748A1 (fr) * 1994-01-18 1995-07-19 Pan Communications, Inc. Circuit de suppression du bruit ambiant pour une voie de transmission téléphonique
US5448637A (en) * 1992-10-20 1995-09-05 Pan Communications, Inc. Two-way communications earset
JPH0879353A (ja) * 1994-09-09 1996-03-22 Hitachi Ltd 電話機一体型位置入力装置

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0311808A2 (fr) * 1987-10-12 1989-04-19 Telenorma Gmbh Méthode et circuit pour la compensation de bruit dans un microphone
US5448637A (en) * 1992-10-20 1995-09-05 Pan Communications, Inc. Two-way communications earset
EP0663748A1 (fr) * 1994-01-18 1995-07-19 Pan Communications, Inc. Circuit de suppression du bruit ambiant pour une voie de transmission téléphonique
DE9409256U1 (de) * 1994-06-08 1994-10-13 Winkler Gerald Geräteanordnung zur elektromagnetischen Signalübertragung zwischen Helmen und Fahrzeugen sowie zwischen Helmen untereinander
JPH0879353A (ja) * 1994-09-09 1996-03-22 Hitachi Ltd 電話機一体型位置入力装置

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 96, no. 7 31 July 1996 (1996-07-31) *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2871331A1 (fr) * 2004-06-08 2005-12-09 Sennheiser Electronic Ecouteur, casque et systeme de reproduction pour des signaux audio
DE102004027803A1 (de) * 2004-06-08 2006-01-05 Sennheiser Electronic Gmbh & Co Kg Kopfhörer

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