JPH10243492A - Earphone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust a relative position relation among components by providing a shaft member that supports a speaker and a member supporting freely turnably the shaft member to an ear hook section consisting of an elastic member so as to make a relative turning range constant between the support member and the shaft member. SOLUTION: A shaft member 2 fitted to an upper part of a rear side of a speaker section 1 is made of a hollow rod, a wire 3 leading to a speaker unit is led out of its upper end face and a flange section 2a is projected to an outer circumference of the upper end. An ear hook section 4 curved in a shape of '?' mark is made of an elastic material, and a flat projection part 4b is extended in a crescent shape to a curved outside of a rod part 4a. A hollow cylinder section 4c is integrally formed to an upper end of the rod part 4a as a support member that supports the shaft member 2 freely turnably and freely movably in a vertical direction with a proper friction force. Moreover, a flexible tube 5 is fixed to the lower end and a microphone 6 is fitted to a tip of the tube 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small and lightweight earphone, and more particularly to an earphone that can be used while moving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional small and lightweight earphones are widely used in audio devices such as cassette tape recorders and AM / FM radios. Ear-hook type earphones that do not fall off are known.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional earphones, the ear-hook portion is formed so as to be hung on the outer periphery of the ear, but is formed of a hard synthetic resin, so that the ear-hook portion has good adhesion to the ear. However, since the speaker is fixed, it does not fit the shape of the ear depending on the user, and the wearing feeling is poor.

[0004] Further, in such an earphone, the earphone falls off from the ear depending on the relative positional relationship between the ear hanging part and the speaker part and the ear of the wearer, and the original purpose of the ear hanging type is sufficiently achieved. Can not.

Therefore, an earphone has been conceived in which the speaker is configured to be rotatable and the relative positional relationship with the ear to be worn is adjusted so that the wearability and the fall-prevention property are improved. If the speaker rotates freely, the wiring will be cut off and the reliability and durability will decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can adjust the relative positional relationship between an ear hook portion and a speaker portion according to the shape of an individual ear of a user. An object of the present invention is to provide an earphone with high operability and durability.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an earphone according to the present invention, comprising: a speaker section mounted on an ear hole for reproducing sound; and a speaker section fixed to the speaker section. A rod-shaped shaft member to be supported, an ear hook portion made of an elastic member curved to be wound around the outer periphery of the ear, and a support member provided on the ear hook portion and rotatably supporting the shaft member. The relative rotation range between the support member and the shaft member is limited to a certain range.

According to this configuration, the mounting angle of the speaker with respect to the ear hook can be changed by rotating the support member and the shaft member provided on the ear hook with respect to each other. It is possible to adjust the relative positional relationship with the part and fit it to the ear. Further, by restricting the relative rotation range between the support member and the shaft member to a certain range, the wiring between the ear hook portion and the speaker portion can be prevented from being screwed or broken.

Here, as described in claim 2,
It is preferable that the relative position between the shaft member and the support member be displaced not only in the rotation direction but also in the axial direction of the shaft member, because the mounting property and fit to the ear are further improved.

[0010] In the earphone according to the first or second aspect, as described in the third aspect, a radio circuit for receiving a radio wave generated from the main unit and reproducing sound in the speaker unit is provided. And a receiver such as a wireless headphone stereo.

Further, as described in claim 4, if a microphone is attached to a lower end of the ear hook portion,
It can be used as a receiver for a hands-free telephone device.

In the microphone, when the ear hook portion is wound around the outer periphery of the ear and is mounted near the mouth, the microphone may be arranged as follows.
This is preferable because confidentiality during a call is improved.

In that case, as described in claim 6,
When a wireless circuit is provided and an audio signal collected by a microphone is transmitted to a main device, the audio signal can be used as a hands-free receiver of a mobile phone device.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an earphone according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols, without redundant description.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing an earphone according to a first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a speaker unit for reproducing sound by being mounted on an ear hole, which has a substantially hemispherical appearance, and a speaker unit (not shown) is built therein. A surface of the mesh facing the surface of the speaker unit is covered with a slightly convex mesh-like metal net so that the sound generated by the speaker unit can be heard.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a shaft member fixed to an upper portion of the back surface of the speaker portion 1, which is made of a hard plastic having a hollow round bar shape, and a wiring 3 to the speaker unit is drawn out from an upper end surface thereof. In addition, a flange portion 2a is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end so as to protrude to the outer periphery.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an ear hook portion which is formed in a substantially "?" Shape in accordance with the shape of the outer periphery of the human ear, and is made of an elastic member such as rubber. A flat overhang 4b extends in a crescent shape outside the curved outside. At the upper end of the rod-shaped portion 4a, a hollow cylindrical portion 4c having an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft member 2,
The shaft member 2 is integrally formed as a support member that supports the shaft member 2 rotatably and vertically movable with an appropriate frictional force, and a flexible tube 5 is fixed to a lower end portion thereof.
A microphone 6 is attached to the tip of the tube 5.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the vicinity of the shaft member 2 and the hollow cylindrical portion 4c. Reference numeral 7 denotes a stopper pin provided on the upper rear surface of the speaker unit so as to be parallel to the shaft member 2 from the speaker unit when viewed from the shaft member 2. The stopper pin 7 turns the shaft member 2 with respect to the hollow cylindrical portion 4c. When it is moved, it pivots left and right integrally with the shaft member 2. When the shaft member 2 is rotated, the stopper pin 7 comes into contact with the rod portion 4a, so that the rotation range of the shaft member 2 is restricted to a certain range (about 270 ° in the present embodiment). It has become. That is, the shaft member 2 is configured to be unable to rotate 360 ° or more.

Next, a method of using the earphone according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing each step of a specific wearing procedure of the earphone.

In order to mount the earphone 2, the shaft member 2 is rotated and moved up and down with respect to the hollow cylindrical portion 4c in advance according to the shape and size of the user's ear, so that the speaker portion 1 and the ear hook portion are mounted. The relative position of the speaker 4 is adjusted so that the surface of the speaker 1 is approximately positioned above the ear canal.

Here, the outer diameter of the speaker portion 1 is set to be large enough to be inserted between the ear hole, which is the entrance of the ear canal, and the tragus and antitragus, which are ear projections located thereon. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the speaker unit 1 is inserted between the tragus and the antitragus with the surface of the speaker unit 1 facing the ear hole.

Next, while holding the lower surface of the ear hook 4 with the left hand while holding the back of the speaker with the right index finger, the distance between the ear hook 4 and the speaker 1 is increased while the distance between the ear hook 4 and the speaker 1 is increased. Is located behind the earring.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), while holding down the speaker unit 1 with a finger and placing the ear hook unit 4 behind the earring, as shown in FIG. The speaker unit 1 is held so as to be wound around the outer periphery of the earphone.

In such a series of mounting, the shaft member 2
Is rotated in the hollow cylindrical portion 4c, so that the ear hook portion 4 is not twisted and the speaker portion 1 does not hit the ear hole obliquely, and it is possible to keep the optimum position after mounting.

In this earphone, since the curved rod portion 4a and the overhang portion 4b have elasticity, the rod portion 4a
The earphones are mounted so that the ears are sandwiched between the earphones and the speaker unit 1, so that the ears do not fall off from the ears even when a heavy exercise is performed. Therefore, if a connection cord (not shown) is connected to a small and lightweight audio device and the audio device is put in clothes or worn on a belt, it is possible to enjoy sports while listening to music.

When the use of the earphone is finished, the user can easily remove the earphone from his / her ear by grasping the overhang 4b.

(Modification 1) Next, another example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the relative rotation of the support member and the shaft member without using the stopper pin 7 of the above embodiment. This embodiment differs from the above embodiment in that the range is restricted.

That is, a window-like opening 4d is opened at the center of the hollow cylindrical portion 4c, and the shaft member 2 is held by the upper and lower annular portions 4e. Wiring 3 was drawn out. If you do this,
The shaft member 2 can rotate and move up and down, and the wiring 3 can contact the left and right edges of the opening 4 d to restrict the rotation range of the shaft member 2. As long as the shaft member 2 is not twisted with excessive force, the wiring 3 is not excessively loaded, and effectively functions as a means for restricting the rotation range of the shaft member 2. In addition, the durability of the portion of the wiring 3 that is in contact with the edge of the opening 4d can be further improved by winding the protective member.

In short, any structure can be used as long as the relative rotation range between the support member and the shaft member can be restricted to a certain range, and breakage of the wiring between the ear hook portion and the speaker portion can be prevented. Means may be adopted.

(Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention
Will be described. In this embodiment, the earphone of the present invention is configured as a hands-free receiver of a mobile phone, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a wireless circuit inside the earphone. Note that the appearance of the earphone of the present embodiment is the same as that of FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an antenna for communicating with a main unit of a portable telephone (not shown) by radio waves, and corresponds to the flexible tube 5 in FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes a receiving circuit which demodulates a radio wave received from the main body of the mobile phone by the antenna 10 into an audio signal.
, And transmitted to the speaker unit 13 in the speaker unit 1 via the wiring 3.

On the other hand, the voice of the wearer of the earphone is received by the microphone 6, FM-modulated by the modulation circuit 14, and then transmitted as a radio wave from the transmission circuit 15 to the antenna 1.
Sent from 0. These wireless circuits for transmission and reception are mounted on a sheet-like printed wiring board made of a crescent-shaped plastic film, and are incorporated in the overhang portion 4b. Also, a small battery power supply is built in the mounting portion of the microphone 6.

In the present embodiment, the main unit of the portable telephone (not shown) once receives radio waves from the base station, FM-modulates the voice of the other party, and sends it out to the earphone of the present invention. On the other hand, the voice of the wearer of the earphone is FM-modulated by the earphone, received by the main body of the mobile phone, and transmitted by the main unit as a radio wave to the base station. As a result, the user of the mobile phone can make a hands-free call by attaching the earphone of the present embodiment to the ear while keeping the main body of the mobile phone in a bag or pocket. It goes without saying that this earphone can be used for computers, industrial equipment, and the like.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the relative positional relationship between the ear hook portion and the speaker portion can be adjusted according to the subtle difference in the shape of the ear of the user. As a result, the ear, the ear hook portion and the speaker portion fit tightly, and the feeling of wearing is improved. At this time, since the relative rotation range between the support member and the shaft member is restricted to a certain range, the wiring connected to the speaker unit is not broken and damaged. The earphone is attached so as to sandwich the ear between the ear hook and the speaker due to the elasticity of the ear hook, so that the earphone does not fall off from the ear even in the case of intense exercise or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing an earphone according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the earphone according to the first embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing each step of a specific wearing procedure of the earphone of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a wireless circuit of an earphone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Speaker part 2 ... Shaft member 2a ... Flange part 3 ... Wiring 4 ... Ear hook part 4a ... Bar-shaped part 4b ... Overhang part 4c ... Hollow cylindrical part (support member) 4d ...
Opening 4e Ring part 5 Flexible tube 6 Microphone 7 Stopper pin 10 Antenna 11 Receiver circuit 12
... Amplifier circuit 13 ... Speaker unit 14 ...
… Modulation circuit 15 …… Transmission circuit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A speaker unit mounted on an ear hole for reproducing sound, a rod-shaped shaft member fixed to the speaker unit and supporting the speaker unit, and an elastic member bent and wound around the outer periphery of the ear. An ear hook portion, and a support member provided on the ear hook portion for rotatably supporting the shaft member, wherein a relative rotation range between the support member and the shaft member is limited to a certain range. An earphone characterized by being made. 2. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein a relative position between the shaft member and the support member is displaceable in the axial direction. 3. The speaker according to claim 1, wherein a radio circuit for receiving a radio wave generated from the main unit and reproducing sound in the speaker unit is provided. earphone. 4. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein a microphone is attached to a lower end of the ear hook. 5. The earphone according to claim 4, wherein the microphone is located near a mouth when the ear hooking part is wound around the outer periphery of the ear. 6. The earphone according to claim 4, further comprising a wireless circuit for transmitting a voice signal collected by said microphone to a main unit.