JP2007336432A - Headphone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headphone the height positions of the headphone units of which can steplessly be adjusted and which can be worn to the head without stress over a long time by making a press contact force of a head band to the head almost constant irrespective of differences of head shapes of users. <P>SOLUTION: In the headphone 10 provided with: a pair of the right and left headphone units 30; a head band 20 both ends of which support each of the headphone units 30 and which is formed into nearly a U-shape in a manner of being arranged along the head of the user; and an adjust mechanism 40 including an extension and contraction means between the head band 20 and each headphone unit 30, a constant weight spring 43 is employed for the extension and contraction means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a headband headphone, and more particularly to a headphone having an adjustment mechanism for appropriately arranging a headphone unit supported by the headband at a user's pinna position.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the headband headphone 1 has a substantially inverted U-shaped headband 2 arranged along the top of the user's head as a basic configuration, and at both ends of the headband 2. A pair of left and right headphone units 3 and 3 incorporating a headphone driver (electroacoustic transducer) are supported.

  The headband 2 is made of an elastic plate or wire, and has a substantially curved U-shape (or C-shape) with a predetermined curvature so that the width between both ends is narrower than the average head width of a general adult. Formed). When using the headphones 1, the user pushes the headband 2 in the left-right direction in FIG. 9 and wears the headphone units 3 and 3 in contact with the auricles.

  In this way, when the headphones 1 are worn, the headband 2 is curved and deformed so as to increase the radius of curvature, and thus the headband 2 generates a biasing force in a direction to recover the original radius of curvature. Thus, a predetermined lateral pressure is applied to the headphone units 3 and 3.

  By the way, since there is considerable variation in the human head shape (here, the distance from the pinna to the top of the head), the position of the headphone unit 3 is adjusted according to the shape of the user's head when worn. It needs to be adjusted. In addition, it is desired that the size can be reduced in consideration of the convenience of carrying or storing the headphones.

  Therefore, in many models, as shown in FIG. 9, an adjustment mechanism 4 having an expansion / contraction means is provided between the headband 2 and the headphone unit 3, and more preferably the headphone unit 3 is connected via a universal joint-shaped hanger 5. It can swing.

  Various proposals have been made for the expansion / contraction means of the adjustment mechanism 4. For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, as one type using sliding friction, a slide lever is nested in an elongated cylindrical body, and either one of them is used. In addition, an elastic piece having an engaging convex portion is provided on the other, and a plurality of engaging grooves serving as counterparts of the engaging convex portion are formed on one of the other, so that the length can be adjusted while generating a click force.

  In Patent Document 3, a headband and a headphone unit are connected by a wire such as a piano wire, and the wire is urged in the winding direction by an elastic force accumulating means such as a coil spring, for example. The headphone unit can be adjusted to the auricular position by winding it around a winding device so that the wire is fed out from the wire winding device according to the shape of the head when the headphones are worn.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-182086 JP 2005-277617 A JP-A-8-256390

  However, the adjustment mechanisms described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 cannot be adjusted steplessly, particularly in the case of a click method, so that a just fit may not be obtained depending on the shape of the user's head.

  In order to make fine adjustment possible, it is only necessary to reduce the pitch of the engaging groove or rely only on sliding friction without forming the engaging groove. The position may not be maintained. In addition, when the size is reduced during carrying or storage, there is also the inconvenience that the adjusting mechanism must be shortened manually each time.

  On the other hand, according to the adjustment mechanism described in Patent Document 3, adjustment can be performed steplessly, and if the headphones are removed from the head, the wire is taken up by the wire take-up device. Although it is automatically reduced, this also has the following problems.

  First of all, it requires a bobbin-shaped wire winding device for winding the wire and an elastic force accumulating means such as a coil spring that urges the wire winding device in the winding direction. The structure must be complicated and large, and is not preferable in terms of cost.

  Secondly, in an elastic force accumulating means such as a coil spring, the urging force varies depending on the amount of wire drawn. This means that when the head hand 2 is brought into contact with the user's head and the height of the headphone unit 2 is adjusted to match the position of the auricle, the contact force of the head hand 2 against the head depends on the adjustment position. It means to change.

  Therefore, if the urging force of the elastic force accumulating means (the contact force of the head hand 2 with respect to the top of the head) is optimally designed based on, for example, a person having an average head shape, the distance from the auricle to the top of the head When a person who is shorter than the average wears it, the contact force of the headband 2 with respect to the top of the head is weakened by the amount of feeding of the wire, so that the headband 2 floats from the top of the user, It becomes unstable.

  On the other hand, when a person whose distance from the pinna to the top of the head is longer than the average is worn, the contact force of the headband 2 with respect to the top of the head increases as the feeding amount of the wire increases. When used, it can be painful for the user.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a headphone having an adjustment mechanism for appropriately arranging a headphone unit supported by a headband at a pinna position of a user, while the structure of the adjustment mechanism is extremely simple, The height position of the unit can be adjusted steplessly, the size is automatically reduced when carrying or storing, and the headband abutment force against the head regardless of the user's head shape difference Is to provide a headphone that can be worn for a long time without stress.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a pair of left and right headphone units with a built-in headphone driver, and the headphone units supported at both ends, as described in claim 1, on the top of the user's head. A headband formed in a substantially inverted U shape and disposed along the headphone, wherein an adjustment mechanism having a stretching means is provided between the headband and each headphone unit. A constant load mainspring is used.

  In this case, as described in claim 2, the winding base end portion of the constant load spring is rotatably supported by the support shaft on the headphone unit side, and the end portion on the drawer side is the end of the headband. Or a winding base end portion of the constant load spring is rotatably supported on a support shaft on the headband side, and an end portion on the drawer side is supported as described in claim 3. You may fix to the said headphone unit side.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to facilitate the rotation of the winding base end portion of the constant load spring, the winding base end portion of the constant load spring is connected to the support shaft via a radial bearing. It is preferably supported rotatably.

  Further, as described in claim 5, a telescopic guide member made of a low friction material is provided between the headband and each headphone unit, and the guide member is provided in the guide member. The constant load mainspring is preferably housed.

  Further, the present invention includes an aspect in which the adjusting mechanism includes a hanger that swingably supports the headphone unit, as described in claim 6.

  The constant load spring is a type of thin plate spring that is obtained by winding a spiral spring plate material tightly in a spiral shape. The free end side is pulled out with the winding base end rotatably attached to the cylindrical shaft that is the central axis. And a characteristic that shows a constant pull-out load (constant load) regardless of the pull-out amount from the time when the pull-out amount exceeds a certain initial value.

  In the present invention, by applying the constant load mainspring having such characteristics to the expansion / contraction means of the adjustment mechanism, the structure of the adjustment mechanism is greatly simplified, and the height position of the headphone unit can be adjusted steplessly. In addition, headphones that can be worn without stress for a long time with the headband's abutment force almost constant regardless of the user's head shape, regardless of the difference in the user's head shape when carrying or storing. Is provided.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing an example of a headphone according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an adjustment mechanism provided in the headphone of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a constant load mainspring included in the adjustment mechanism. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a support shaft.

  In FIG. 1, the user's head is shown as a vertically long ellipse by a chain line, but the headphones 10 are substantially inverted U-shaped (C-shaped) with a predetermined curvature so as to be arranged along the top of the user's head. And a pair of left and right headphone units 30 and 30 are supported at both ends via adjustment mechanisms 40 and 40, respectively.

  The headband 20 is made of a band plate or a rod-like body made of an elastic material such as metal or synthetic resin, and has a radius of curvature and material so that a good biasing force can be exhibited based on an average head width. Furthermore, it is preferable to design in consideration of the structure and the like.

  Each headphone unit 30 has a housing 31 containing a headphone driver (electroacoustic transducer) (not shown). An ear pad 32 made of, for example, a sponge material is provided on the sound emitting surface side of the housing 31. The model may be either a sealed type or an open air type.

  The adjustment mechanism 40 adjusts the height position of the headphone unit 30 in accordance with the user's head shape (distance from the pinna to the top of the head), but the left and right adjustment mechanisms 40 have the same configuration. Therefore, one adjustment mechanism 40 (the right side in FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG.

  The adjustment mechanism 40 includes a guide member 41 for guiding the headphone unit 30 in the vertical direction along the user's temporal region. In this example, the guide member 41 includes an upper sleeve 41 a and a lower sleeve 41 b that are fitted in a telescopic manner. The upper sleeve 41 a is fixed to the end side of the headband 20, and the lower sleeve 41 b is a housing 31 of the headphone unit 30. It is fixed on the side. The upper sleeve 41a and the lower sleeve 41b are preferably cylindrical, but may be rectangular cylinders or the like.

  In the guide member 41, a constant load mainspring 43 is provided as expansion / contraction means. The constant load mainspring 43 is connected between the headband 20 and the headphone unit 30. In this example, a support shaft 45 is provided in the housing 31 of the headphone unit 30, and the constant load mainspring 43 is provided by the support shaft 45. The winding base end portion 43 a is rotatably supported, and the pull-out side end portion 43 b which is the free end of the constant load mainspring 43 is fixed to the end portion of the headband 20.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the support shaft 45 in this example includes a vertical shaft 45a inserted into the housing 121 and a horizontal shaft bent substantially at a right angle from the upper end because of being provided in the housing 31 of the headphone unit 30. 45b, and the winding base end 43a of the constant load mainspring 43 is rotatably supported on the horizontal shaft 45b. At that time, in order to obtain a smooth rotation, it is preferable to interpose a radial bearing 46 between the horizontal shaft 45b and the winding base end portion 43a.

  Further, in order to satisfactorily exhibit the characteristics of the constant load mainspring 43, the upper sleeve 41a and the lower sleeve 41b constituting the guide member 41 are formed of a low friction material such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or carbon. Is preferred. Furthermore, in order to further reduce the friction between the upper sleeve 41a and the lower sleeve 41b, for example, a mechanism using the principle of a ball bearing can be applied.

  Note that a pin corresponding to the horizontal shaft 45b may be driven into the lower sleeve 41b in the diametrical direction to serve as a support shaft for the winding base end portion 43a of the constant load mainspring 43. Further, a similar support shaft is driven into the upper sleeve 41a side, the winding base end portion 43a of the constant load spring 43 is rotatably supported by the support shaft, and the drawer side end portion 43b is supported on the housing 31 side of the headphone unit 30. It may be fixed to.

  Next, the basic configuration and characteristics of the constant load spring 43 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4A, the constant load mainspring 43 is a kind of thin plate spring formed by winding a spring plate material tightly in a spiral shape and applying quenching or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the support shaft 45 is inserted into the center hole of the winding base end 43a of the constant load mainspring 43 and the constant load mainspring 43 is rotated, while the end 43b on the drawing side is shown in FIG. When pulled out as in (a) to (e), there is a relationship as shown in the graph of FIG. 6 between the pull-out amount X and the pull-out load F at that time.

That is, when it exceeds a certain initial value X ₀ where there is withdrawal-amount X, thereafter as long as the spring is present, has a load F = F ₀ regardless of the withdrawal-amount X relationship. Referring also to the graph of FIG. 6, FIG. 5B shows a state in which the amount of withdrawal is X ₀ and the load F has reached a constant value F ₀ at that time. FIGS. 5C to 5E show a state in which the amounts of withdrawal are sequentially large and become X ₁ , X ₂ , X _3, and even in this case, each load F is a constant load value F _0. Is shown.

The constant load value F ₀ of the constant load mainspring 43 and the value of the pull-out amount X _{0 from which} the constant load value F ₀ is obtained are the material and shape to be used, that is, the plate thickness t, shown in FIGS. It is determined by the width b, the inner diameter R ₁ , the outer diameter R ₂ and the longitudinal elastic modulus which is a physical property of the material.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 (a) shows a person whose distance from the auricle to the top of the head is shorter than the average, FIG. 7 (b) shows a person having an average head shape, and FIG. 7 (c) shows a person from the auricle to the top of the head. It is a schematic diagram which shows the figure of the person whose distance is longer than an average, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 7 (b), when the person with an average head shape wears the headphones 10, the amount of the constant load mainspring 43 pulled out is Xb, from the auricle shown in FIG. A person whose distance to the head is shorter than the average is Xa, and the distance from the auricle to the crown shown in FIG. 7C is longer than the average when the headphone 10 is worn. Let Xc be the amount of pulling out of the constant load spring 140 when the headphones 10 are attached.
Xa <Xb <Xc
It becomes.

Thus, although the head shape of a user (Distance from auricle to the top portion) is lead X of the constant force spiral spring 43 different, constant as even the shortest lead amount X ₁ is a constant load is obtained by designing the force spiral springs 43, one of the pull-out amount Xa, Xb, even if Xc, it is possible to obtain the biasing force F ₀ constant as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, the height adjustment (position adjustment with respect to the auricle) of the headphone unit 30 can be performed in a stepless manner, regardless of the adjustment position, that is, the difference in the head shape of the user. Since the contact force of the headband 20 with respect to the headband 20 can be made substantially constant, the headphone units 30 and 30 can be worn without stress for a long time in a state in which the headphone units 30 and 30 are just fitted to the auricle.

  Moreover, since the constant load mainspring 43 does not particularly require a winding device, the configuration of the adjustment mechanism 40 can be greatly simplified. Further, when the headphone 10 is removed from the head, the constant load mainspring 43 is automatically retracted when being carried or stored because the pull-out end 43b is wound around the winding base 43a by its own winding force. Will be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the adjustment mechanism 40 is integrated with the housing 31 of the headphone unit 30, but a joint-shaped hanger (see the hanger 5 shown in FIG. 9) is connected to the lower end of the adjustment mechanism 40. Thus, the headphone unit 30 may be supported to be swingable.

The front view which shows typically an example of the headphones of this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an adjustment mechanism provided in the headphones of the present invention. The expansion perspective view which shows the constant load spring and support shaft which are included in an adjustment mechanism. The perspective view which shows the basic form of a constant load mainspring. Explanatory drawing which shows the extraction amount and characteristic of a constant load mainspring. 6 is a graph showing the amount of withdrawal versus load characteristics of the constant load spring corresponding to FIG. 5. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the effect | action of this invention. The graph which shows the amount of drawer | drawing-out versus load characteristics of the constant load spring in FIG. The typical perspective view which shows the headphones which have the conventional adjustment mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Headphone 20 Headband 30 Headphone unit 40 Adjustment mechanism 41 Guide member 41a Upper sleeve 41b Lower sleeve 43 Constant load mainspring (expansion / contraction means)
43a Winding base end portion 43b Pull-out side end portion 45 Support shaft 46 Radial bearing

Claims (6)

A pair of left and right headphone units incorporating a headphone driver, and a headband formed in a substantially inverted U shape that supports each headphone unit at both ends and is disposed along the top of the user's head. In a headphone provided with an adjusting mechanism having an expansion / contraction means between the band and each headphone unit,
A headphone characterized in that a constant load mainspring is used as the expansion / contraction means.   The headphone according to claim 1, wherein a winding base end portion of the constant load spring is rotatably supported by a support shaft on each headphone unit side, and an end portion on the drawer side is fixed to an end portion of the headband.   The headphone according to claim 1, wherein a winding base end portion of the constant load mainspring is rotatably supported by a support shaft on the headband side, and an end portion on the drawer side is fixed to the headphone unit side.   The headphone according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a winding base end portion of the constant load mainspring is rotatably supported by the support shaft via a radial bearing.   A cylindrical guide member made of a low friction material is provided between the headband and each headphone unit, and the constant load spring is housed in the guide member. The headphones according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The headphone according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes a hanger that supports the headphone unit in a swingable manner.

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