JPH1023588A - Earphone with switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an additional mechanism for an earphone which is used by putting its casing on an external auditory canal, and switches a speaker or the earphone or turn on or off a power source by the additional mechanism. SOLUTION: At part of the casing 2 of the earphone 1 which is used on the external auditory canal, a projection 3 which retracts when pressed is provided and in the casing 2, a switch 5 is provided which operates when the projection 3 retracts. This switch 5 operates to switch the earphone or speaker, or turn on or off the power source. The speaker can be made to sound while its plug is inserted into a jack. Further, when the earphone 1 comes out of the ear, the power source is turned off.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an earphone with a switch used for a portable radio or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Earphones used in portable radios and the like are used by inserting a plug attached to the end of a cord into a jack provided in the portable radio or the like. The jack generally has a switching piece, so that the speaker circuit operates only when the plug is not inserted. Therefore, when listening through a speaker, the plug of the earphone must be unplugged from the jack.

[0003] Separately, since a portable radio or the like uses a small battery as a power source, in order to prevent battery consumption, it is preferable that the power supply circuit be turned on only when used and turned off when not used. However, in actual use, even when the earphone is simply removed from the ear canal, the battery continues to be consumed unless the power switch is turned off. Therefore, if such a state becomes longer, the battery life is shortened.

As a power saving mechanism in a conventional portable radio or the like using an earphone, there has been a mechanism that is automatically turned off when, for example, about one hour has elapsed after the power switch was turned on. As a result, the consumption of the battery due to forgetting to turn off the switch could be prevented to some extent, but the only way to turn off the battery in a shorter time than the predetermined time for automatically turning off was to artificially turn off the power switch. . In addition, when used for a long time, there is a problem that the power switch is turned off during use and listening is interrupted.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it has been proposed that a mechanism for switching between an earphone and a speaker and a mechanism for turning on the power only during use be provided in the ear canal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch-equipped earphone that is automatically switched in a state of not being operated.

[0006]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, in the invention according to the first aspect, a part of a casing of an earphone used by being attached to an ear canal is pressed. When the projection is retracted, a switch that operates when the projection is retracted is provided inside the casing, the switch is connected to an earphone plug via a cord, and a jack side into which the earphone plug is inserted. And a circuit which is switched by the operation of the switch.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, the switch is a changeover switch, and the circuit on the jack side is a changeover circuit for an earphone and a speaker. The earphone circuit is connected when the projection is retracted, and is switched to the speaker circuit when the projection is extended.

Further, in the invention described in claim 3, in the invention described in claim 1, the switch is a single-pole switch, the jack-side circuit is a power supply circuit, and the protrusion is pulled. The power supply is connected when the power supply is turned on, and is shut off when the power supply is protruded.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of the earphone 1, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. A projection 3 projects from a part of the casing 2 of the earphone 1. The projection 3 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the casing 2, and when the earphone 1 is attached to an external auditory canal (not shown), the projection 3 hits a part of the external auditory canal and can be pressed and retracted.

As shown in FIG. 3, a conversion unit 4 for converting an audio signal into a sound and a switch 5 are provided inside the casing 2.
Is housed. The switch 5 is a push button type having a button 6, and the button 6 is in contact with the projection 3. The button 6 is urged in a projecting direction by the elastic force of a spring housed therein. When the button 6 is pressed by the projection 3 and retracted, the internal contact moves to operate the circuit switching or to perform the ON / OFF switching operation. As described above, the protrusion 3 protruding from the casing 2 is in contact with the button 6 inside the casing 2. As a result, when the projection 3 is pressed by attaching the earphone 1 to the ear canal, the button 6 is retracted.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the switch 5 is a changeover switch, which automatically switches between an earphone and a speaker. One end of the conversion unit 4 is connected to one fixed contact 5 a of the switch 5, and the other end is connected to the ground pole 8 of the three-pole plug 7. Ground electrode 8 is insulator 9
The central electrode 10 is in contact with the tip electrode 12 via the insulator 11.

The switch 5 has another fixed contact 5b.
And a movable contact 5c that selectively contacts one of these two fixed contacts 5a and 5b. The fixed contact 5b is connected to the center pole 10 of the three-pole plug 7, and the movable contact 5c is connected to the tip pole 12.

FIG. 4 shows that the three-pole plug 7 is
And the ground pole 14 and the center pole 15 of the three-pole jack 13
And each pole of the tip pole 16 is a ground pole 8 of a three-pole plug 7,
The state which contacted the center pole 10 and the front-end | tip pole 12, respectively is shown. The ground pole 14 is connected to a ground circuit, and the center pole 15 is connected to one pole of a speaker 17. The output side of the amplifier 18 is connected to the tip pole 16. The other pole of the speaker 17 is connected to a ground circuit.
The input side of the amplifier 18 is connected to a detection unit or the like if the audio device is a radio, or to a magnetic head or the like if the audio device is a tape recorder. Center pole 15 and tip pole 16 of jack 13
A switching piece 19 is provided therebetween.

The switching piece 19 contacts the tip pole 16 when the three-pole plug 7 is not fitted to the three-pole jack 13,
As shown, when the center pole 15 is pushed open by fitting the three-pole plug 7 into the three-pole jack 13, the tip pole 1
6 away from it. Therefore earphone 1
Is not used (when the three-pole plug 7 is not fitted to the three-pole jack 13), the speaker 17 operates and the earphone 1
When the three-pole plug 7 is fitted to the three-pole jack 13 to use the speaker, the circuit of the speaker 17 is cut off.

The earphone 1 configured as described above
When the casing 2 is attached to the ear canal for use, the projection 3 is pushed by a part of the ear canal and retracted. Thereby, the movable contact 5c of the switch 5 contacts the fixed contact 5a. Due to this contact, the output current of the amplifier 18 flows to the conversion unit 4, so that the earphone 1 can be used. At this time, the speaker 17
Does not work because the circuit is interrupted by the three-pole plug 7 being fitted into the three-pole jack 13. When the three-pole plug 7 is removed from the three-pole jack 13, the speaker 17 operates in the same manner as in the conventional case.

When the need arises during use of the earphone 1 and the casing 2 is detached from the ear canal, or when sleeping and detached from the ear canal, the projection 3 projects from the casing 2. Then, the movable contact 5c of the switch 5 switches to the fixed contact 5b. As a result, the circuit of the conversion unit 4 is turned off, and the output current of the amplifier 18 is changed to the tip poles 16 and 12, the movable contact 5c of the switch 5,
The current flows to the speaker 17 via the fixed contact 5b and the center poles 10, 15, and the speaker 17 is blown. That is, when the three-pole plug 7 is fitted to the three-pole jack 13,
Works.

FIG. 5 shows an example where the switch 5 is a single-pole switch, in which the switch 5 functions as a power switch. To explain this, the conversion unit 4 is connected to the ground pole 8 and the tip pole 12 of the three-pole plug 7, one pole of the switch 5 is on the ground side of the conversion unit 4, and the other pole is of the three-pole plug 7. Central pole 10
It is connected to the. Reference numeral 20 denotes a battery. The battery 20 serves as a power source of the audio equipment. A circuit 21 (including the amplifier 18) is connected to the positive electrode, and a negative electrode is connected to the center electrode 15 of the three-pole jack 13.

In the earphone 1 configured as described above, when the casing 2 is attached to the ear canal for use, the projection 3 is pushed into a part of the ear canal and retracted. This allows switch 5
Turns on. When turned on, the ground electrode 8 of the three-pole plug 7 and the center electrode 10 are short-circuited, so that the negative electrode side of the battery 20 is connected to the ground circuit. The power is turned on by connection to the ground circuit, and the audio equipment operates. The projection 3 projects from the casing 2 when the earphone 1 needs to be detached from the ear canal during use, or when the earphone 1 has fallen off the ear canal after sleeping. Then, the switch 5 is turned off and the power supply ends.

[0019]

Since the present invention is an earphone with a switch configured as described above, when the switch is used as a changeover switch for a switch circuit between a speaker and an earphone, the casing is connected to the ear canal to use the earphone. When it is attached to the speaker, the speaker that was sounding before is cut off and audio current flows through the earphone. When the casing is detached or detached from the ear canal, it is automatically switched to the speaker side, so that usability is remarkably improved.

When the switch is used as a single-pole switch in the power supply circuit, when the casing is attached to the ear canal to use the earphone, the power supply which has been off until then is turned on. It turns off automatically when the casing is removed from or removed from the ear canal. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform the switching operation of the speaker and the earphone or the operation of the power switch, which is conventionally required. Since the power is automatically turned off, the power saving effect is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of an earphone with a switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 as viewed from the left.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion along a line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram when FIG. 1 is used for an earphone and a speaker switching circuit.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram when the power supply switch circuit shown in FIG. 1 is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Earphone 2 Casing 3 Projection 4 Conversion unit 5 Switch 6 Button 7 3 pole plug 13 3 pole jack 17 Speaker 18 Amplifier 20 Battery

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A part of a casing of an earphone which is used by being attached to an external auditory canal, wherein a projection which is retracted when pressed is provided, and a switch which operates when the projection is retracted is provided inside the casing. An earphone with a switch, characterized in that a switch is connected to an earphone plug via a cord, and a circuit for switching by operation of the switch is provided on a jack side into which the earphone plug is inserted. 2. The switch is a changeover switch, and the circuit on the jack side is a changeover circuit for an earphone and a speaker. The earphone circuit is connected when the projection is retracted, and is switched to the speaker circuit when the projection is extended. The earphone with a switch according to claim 1, wherein the earphone is configured as described above. 3. The switch is a single-pole switch, and the circuit on the jack side is a power supply circuit. When the projection is pulled in, power is connected, and when the projection is projected, the power is shut off. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
An earphone with a switch according to.