JP2001521299A - Sound playback device that can be attached to the user's body - Google Patents

Abstract

A sound reproducing device for multiple channel sound reproduction has at least three sound transducers (10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 30) driven each by an electric signal and a holder (2) that carries the sound transducers and can be mounted on the body of the user. The holder (2) is designed in such a way that it can be mounted on a part (20) of the body of the user other than the head (22), placing the sound transducers (10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 30) next to each other and at such a distance from the head (22) of the user that the head (22) of the user remains free to move relative to the holder (2) and therefore relative to the sound transducers (10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 30). The holder carries an electronic circuit for processing the electric signals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to sound reproduction having at least two sound transducers (sound transducers), each controlled by an electrical signal, and a holder supporting the sound transducer for attachment to a user's body. Related to the device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Devices having two transducers are conventionally known as headsets.
The headset has two earpieces, each of which has at least one sound transducer. In each case, the headset must be mounted on the user's body either with the open side of the earpiece resting directly on one of the user's ears or with the headset overhead so that the earpiece covers the ears It is carried out by a method of arranging in The sound transducer thus provided in the sound transducer or earpiece sends the acoustic signal directly to the ear (thus known headsets are more suitably "earphones").
Should be described as ). It is a feature of the headset that the left ear is supplied exclusively with the left audio signal of the headset, and the right ear is exclusively supplied with the right audio signal of the headset.

[0003] While playing multi-channel sound recordings with just a multi-channel headset, and in particular, playing multi-channel Dolby surround chord music and movie sound recordings with a corresponding Dolby surround headset, the multi-channel sound reproduction is performed. Precise spatial coupling is, unfortunately, only slightly or impossible with difficulty, as the sound waves spread directly to the ear, as explained at the outset. It has been proven that

In practice, multi-channel sound reproduction with better spatial coupling can be achieved by distributing an appropriate number of loudspeakers separately in a room. However, such loudspeakers require expensive installation costs and a large amount of space, whereby the acoustics of the room are significantly affected with respect to the reproduction quality, the loud volume disturbs the surrounding environment, and in particular high quality systems Quite expensive.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [0005] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sound of the type first mentioned by achieving high quality sound reproduction with improved spatial coupling. A further improvement of the playback device. It is an object of the present invention, in particular, to enable multi-channel sound reproduction,
Additional sound reproduction devices that do not cause loudspeaker system mounting problems and are not affected by the acoustics of the room, thereby allowing the sound reproduction device to be used and operated particularly in small spaces. It is to improve.

[0006] The solution is to have a sound reproducing device of the type mentioned at the outset, so that the holder can be attached to a part of the body other than the head of the user, while at the same time the sound transducer is The holder is made such that it can be placed close to and at a distance from the user's head (this allows the user's head to move freely with respect to the holder, and thus the user's head Free movable with respect to the sound transducer) and the holder has an electric circuit for processing the electric signal.

The fact that the left and right ears can receive all playback channels, whereby the individual transmission functions of the user's head are included in the playback, is a feature for achieving the invention. As a result, the direction of the sound collision can be determined unambiguously by the listener, similar to when the listener hears the sound in a natural surrounding environment. This is also supported by the fact that it has a fixation device but allows the head to rotate, which simplifies the positioning of the sound source as in natural listening.

[0008] According to the present invention, a so-called head-related sound playback device is provided in which the sound transducer or transducer itself is separated from the head without directly touching the head, with the holder attached to the user's body. It is made so that it can be placed and installed, so that the head can be rotated, so that the sound transducer or transducer does not move with the head. Thus, according to the arrangement specified by the invention, a precise spatial coupling is achieved.

Furthermore, according to the sound reproducing device specified by the present invention, all transmission functions of the head are further available, which is not possible with headphones. Because the headphones are not exactly "headphones" but rather "earphones", the earpiece is placed directly over or covers the ear, and the sound transducer inside the earpiece directs the acoustic signal directly to the ear. Because I send. In contrast, in the sound reproduction device according to the invention, in addition to being transmitted acoustically directly to the ear, the structurally supporting sound transmission (due to the arrangement of the sound transducer or the transducer located away from the ear). structure-bones
sound transmission). However, especially by including the transmission function of the user's head, the sound effect becomes "more natural" to the listener.

[0010] As a result, the sound reproduction device identified by the present invention can be used without the need for large spaces, without the mounting problems that occur in loudspeaker systems, and without being affected by room acoustics. High quality sound reproduction can be achieved with a person aware of the exact spatial arrangement.

Finally, according to the present invention, without making the surrounding environment and especially the neighborhood noisy,
Sound playback can recognize very loud volumes. Since the sound transducer is located very close to the user's ear, a relatively low sound pressure in the regenerative transducer is sufficient for the user to recognize the loud volume.

A particular advantage of the playback device is also that the electrical circuits for processing the electrical signals for the sound transducer are integrated in its holder. This is made possible by the fact that the holder is supported substantially stronger, for example on the shoulder, rather than overhead. The integration of the circuits in the holder makes the operation of the sound reproducing device substantially easier by eliminating the need for a corresponding external device.

A great advantage of the circuit integrated in the holder is that the circuit can have filters and sub-circuits for equalizing the sound transducer. Thus, the sound transducer can be electrically equalized in a particularly effective way that can improve the reproduction quality.

A circuit with an amplifier stage is particularly preferred so that the sound reproduction device can be connected directly to a signal source, for example a CD player.

If, in a preferred refinement, the circuit comprises a sub-circuit for decoding the encoded multi-channel signal, the circuit may serve for decoding, for example, a Dolby surround signal, A corresponding external combiner may be unnecessary. In this case, to listen to a CDS recorded by Dolby Surround processing at true Dolby Surround quality, for example, without adding other equipment,
It is sufficient to connect the sound playback device directly to the CD player.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A sound reproducing device according to a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has a housing or frame 2 having a rear portion 4 and two bent side portions 5 and 6. Having. The two bent sides 5 and 6 are adjacent to each other on either side and have free ends 7 and 8
end with. As a result, the frame 2 has a broken “O” in the top view (see FIG. 2).
Or "U" having a free end bent rightward therein.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, first and second sound transducers 10 and 11 before and third and fourth sound transducers 12 and 1 after.
3 and the later bass sound transducers 10 to 14 are installed in the frame 2. According to this, the frame 2 is used for mounting sound transducers 10-14. The sound transducers 10-14 form a multi-channel Dolby surround playback system, with the first and second sound transducers 10 and 11 being provided as main transducers for reproducing the front right and left information, and the rear. The third and fourth sound transducers 12 and 13 are provided as subsequent transducers for reproducing additional spatial information (surround channels), while the rear bass sound transducer 14 reproduces the low frequency portion. Further, two acoustic wirings 15 and 16 are provided in the frame 2. One acoustic wiring 15 extends from the rear bass sound transducer 14 to one side 4 and ends close to the rear third sound transducer 12 in an outlet 17 installed therein, and the other. The acoustic wiring 16 extends from the rear bass sound transducer 14 to another side 6 and terminates close to the rear fourth sound transducer 13 in the outlet 18.

An electrical circuit 40 to which the sound transducers 10-14 are connected via electrical wires 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46 is also provided in the frame 2. Further electrical wiring 47 serves to connect the sound reproduction device to the signal source.

The control circuit 40 comprises various sub-circuits, ie, a sub-circuit for equalizing the separate sound transducers 10 to 14, a sub-circuit for decoding the encoded multi-channel sound signal and the individual sounds. It may have a sub-circuit for amplifying the signal to the transducer. The encoded multi-channel sound signal is provided to circuit 40 via line 47, where it is decoded and amplified. Furthermore, the signals for the individual sound transducers are processed taking into account the distortions that are characteristic of the sound transducers, and the sound transducers reproduce a signal that is often free of distortion.

The difference between the embodiment of the sound reproduction device shown in FIGS. 1 and 1 a is that the sound signal of the circuit 40 ′ is supplied wirelessly rather than via the wiring 47. For this purpose, the circuit has a corresponding receiver 48, for example an infrared receiver or an HF receiver. In addition, the circuit is also equipped with its own battery-powered energy source. This allows the wearer of the sound reproduction device to move freely in the room.

For acoustic reasons, the sound transducers 10 to 14 are coplanar, avoiding the ends. Otherwise, it will cause a reflection of the sound,
It also interacts with the sound emitted directly by the sound transducer.

The first to fourth sound transducers 10 to 13 are arranged to emit noise from an opening (not shown in more detail). The opening is provided inside the inner frame 2 covered by the frame 2. In this case, the frame 2 is covered at least in said opening, but is preferably completely covered in a fibrous layer or other protective layer (not shown in more detail). However, this is not absolutely necessary. Since the support 2 itself is formed from a high-level sound-absorbing material, it does not contribute to the reproduction and transmission of sound.

Although the frame 2 is configured as a molded part as shown in FIG. 1, other configurations for the holders of the sound transducers 10 to 14 and modifications of the acoustic wiring 15 and 16 are also possible. If desired, the acoustic wires 15 and 16 may not be used. Of course, this basically applies to the number and improvement of the individual sound transducers.

How the sound reproducing device of the above-described embodiment is attached to the body of the user is not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The frame 2 is not used solely for the arrangement of the sound transducers 10 to 14, but by placing the lower surfaces 5a and 6a of the sides 5 and 6 (for example FIG. 1) on the shoulder 20 of the user. It is also used to mount this array on a body. Note that the frame 2 does not need to be supported by the lower surface 4a of the rear part 4 (for example, FIG. 1) on the user's back. A frame 2 is constructed and placed or fixed on the user's shoulder 2, possibly on the user's back, so that the frame 2 is slightly away from the user's head 22 so that the head 22 You can move it freely. Alternatively, the frame may also be configured to attach to other parts of the body. What is important here is that the frame can be attached to a part of the user's body other than the head 22 so that the head 22 can be moved freely with respect to the frame 2 and thus the head 22 can be moved inside it. Only with respect to the sound transducers 10 to 14 provided at the same time, and with respect to the outlets 17 and 18 of the acoustic wirings 15 and 16. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the frame 2 of the embodiment shown in those figures has a collar shape when placed on the shoulder 20 of the user. Thus, the above described sound reproduction device can also be designed as a "listening collar".

Preferably, the mounting is performed such that the center of gravity of the load can be centered on the support surface between the shoulders of the user. Weights 7 and 8 (not shown in further detail) are provided if necessary for this purpose.

Further, the sound transducers 10 to 14 are installed on the frame 2 similarly to the outlets 17 and 18 of the acoustic wirings 15 and 16. Thus, when the frame 2 is mounted on the user's body, the first and second front sound transducers 10 and 11 are in front of the frontal plane F of the coordinate system with respect to the user's head 22 and the third third.
And the fourth sound transducers 12 and 13 are after the frontal plane F,
The outlets 17 and 18 of the acoustic wires 15 and 16 are located slightly below the ears 24 and 25. On the other hand, the rear bass sound transducer 14 is behind the head as shown in FIGS. Furthermore, the first and second sound transducers 10 and 11 before and the third and fourth sound transducers 12 and 13 after it are respectively symmetrical about the median plane of the coordinate system with respect to the head 22 of the user. Placed in On the other hand, the rear bass sound transducer 14 is located on the median plane M as shown in FIG.

The above described sound reproducer results in a head-connected multi-channel reproducer. The sound transducers 10 to 14 are installed around the head 22, but are not installed directly on the head, but at least a little away from the head, so that the head 22 does not move even when rotated. Thus, the user's head 22 is free in itself, which means that if a loudspeaker cabinet is provided in the room,
Three-dimensional reproduction becomes possible. Due to the spatial distance of the sound transducer from the ears 24 and 25, the transmission function of the user's head is included in the sound field, and further a structural support sound transmission takes place, whereby the perception of the reproduced sound is not perceived by the user. "Be more natural."

The sound reproduction device of the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 differs from the first sound reproduction device shown in FIGS.
This is different from the sound reproducing device of the embodiment. Sound transducer 3 before this
0 is generally located in the median plane M of the user's chin area when the frame 2 is placed on the user's shoulder. Compared to the first embodiment for the fixing device of this additional sound transducer 30, the end 7 is extended with an extension 7a or the device is closed towards the front ( 0).

The sound transducer 30 is also connected via a wiring 49 to a circuit 40 ′, and the signals for the sound transducer 30 are also processed by this circuit 40 ′ as described with reference to FIG.

Like the sound reproduction device of FIG. 1, the sound reproduction device of FIG. 4 is also operated wirelessly, and FIG. 4 a illustrates this.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a sound reproducing device.

FIG. 1a shows another embodiment of the sound reproduction device of FIG. 1 for receiving a wireless sound signal.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the embodiment of FIG. 1 (attached to a user's shoulder).

FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 (mounted on a user's shoulder).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the sound reproducing device.

FIG. 4a shows another embodiment of the sound reproduction device of FIG. 1 for receiving a wireless sound signal.

5 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 4 (attached to the user's shoulder).

FIG. 6 is a front view of the sound reproducing device.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a partial cross section of the sound reproducing device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the sound reproducing device viewed from above.

[Procedural Amendment] Submission of translation of Article 34 Amendment of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

[Submission Date] April 17, 2000 (2000.4.17)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. At least three sound transducers (10; 11;
12; 13; 14; 30) and a holder (2) for supporting a sound transducer for attachment to a user's body, for sound reproduction of multi-channel sound, comprising: Each is controlled by an electrical signal and the holder (2) is mounted on the user's head (22).
), And at the same time the sound transducers (10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 30) can be placed close to and at a distance from the user's head. The holder (2) is designed such that the user's head (22) is freely movable with respect to the holder (2) and the sound transducer (10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 30) and a sound reproducing device which is freely movable with respect to a holder supporting an electric circuit for processing an electric signal. 2. The sound reproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sound transducer is in front of a user's head. 3. The sound reproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the circuit has a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter. 4. The circuit of claim 1, wherein said circuit has an amplification stage.
4. The sound reproducing device according to items 3. 5. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuit has a partial circuit for equalizing the sound transducer. 6. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said circuit has a partial circuit for decoding an encoded multi-channel signal.