KR102077155B1 - Balanced audio cable for potable auido apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

We unveil balanced audio cables for portable audio devices. The present invention provides a balanced audio cable comprising: a first terminal provided at one end of a balanced audio cable and implemented in a 4-pole terminal inserted into a balance port of a portable audio device to receive four signals from the portable audio device; A second terminal disposed at one end of the audio cable in parallel with the first terminal and inserted into an earphone port of the portable audio device and receiving a ground signal from the portable audio device, and provided at the other end of the balanced audio cable; A first XLR terminal having three pins respectively corresponding to two signals among the four signals applied and a ground signal applied to the second terminal, and are arranged in parallel with the first XLR terminal at the other end of the balanced audio cable; Three pins corresponding to the remaining two signals among the four signals applied to one terminal and the ground signal applied to the second terminal are provided. Four lines of the second XLR terminal and the first terminal of the first terminal and the three pins of each of the first and second XLR terminals are electrically connected to two lines and a ground signal applied through the second terminal. And a cable having a branch line that passes to the remaining one of three pins of each of the first and second XLR terminals.

Description

Balanced audio cable for portable audio equipment {BALANCED AUDIO CABLE FOR POTABLE AUIDO APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to balanced audio cables, and more particularly, to an audio cable capable of connecting a portable audio device and another audio component in a balanced manner.

In response to users' demands for listening to high quality music, the performance of high quality sound reproduction of audio systems has been continuously developed. In a conventional audio system, high-quality sound reproduction performance can be provided mainly in a large audio system, and a large audio system is generally configured by combining a plurality of audio components. In an audio system in which a plurality of audio components are combined as described above, the performance of an audio cable that electrically connects a plurality of audio components to each other and transmits a signal is also an important issue.

Conventional audio cables are regarded as components that transmit electrical signals by simply connecting the audio components electrically and are treated like ordinary wires. However, as users demand higher quality sound from audio systems, there has been an increasing demand for improved quality of audio cables that transmit signals between audio components. This is due to the fact that the audio cable is known as a representative noise inflow path among the many audio components and additional devices included in the audio system. According to the demands of these users, audio cables are currently being developed independently from general cables.

Since the audio cable must be configured to transmit signals having different characteristics to be transmitted according to the types of audio components to be connected, the audio cable can be classified into several types according to the types of audio components to be connected. Audio cables are typically classified into speaker cables, interconnector cables, and power cables. Speaker cable refers to the cable connecting the amplifier and speaker in the audio system, and the interconnector cable is between the preamp and the power amplifier or a source device and a preamplifier that acquires a sound source signal. (Or Intiamp) means a cable connecting between. If the speaker is an active speaker with a built-in amplifier, the interconnector cable is also used to connect the speaker and other audio components. The power cable is an audio cable that supplies power to the entire audio system or to each of the audio components.

Among them, the power cable is simply a cable for supplying power to the audio system, and therefore, most types of both terminals of the cable are prescribed. That is, the shape of the power port PP is mostly unified. And in the case of speaker cable, the terminal form of both speaker and amplifier is limited to some shape such as horseshoe type or banana type, or in some cases, it does not need a port by removing part of one end of speaker cable and connecting directly. Use

In contrast, interconnect cables require a variety of audio components to be connected to each other, which can be configured in various ways. In addition, as different audio components are connected, the shape of both terminals is different from each other according to the port shape of each audio component. Therefore, in the interconnector cable, a plurality of signal lines inside the cable may not match each other due to the shape of two different terminals. When the plurality of signal lines inside the cable do not match with each other due to the shape of the two opposite terminals, a normal sound signal may not be transmitted or a great loss may occur even if the sound signal may be transmitted. Therefore, signal line matching between both ends of the interconnect cable is very important.

On the other hand, with the development of technology, the performance of portable audio equipment is also quantum leap forward. Portable audio devices are basically limited to being compact so that users can listen to music regardless of time and space. Therefore, most portable audio devices have been developed for the purpose of listening to music using only earphones or headsets, and have not considered the electrical connection with other audio components using audio cables. In addition to the problem that the performance of portable audio devices is insufficient to reproduce high-power, high-quality sound, if a plurality of ports to which an audio cable can be connected to provide electrical connection with other audio components is provided, This is because miniaturization, which is a basic feature of portable audio devices, is difficult.

Nevertheless, due to the rapid performance improvement of portable audio devices, an increasing number of users want to build a high performance audio system by connecting some audio components with the portable audio device without purchasing a large, expensive audio system. In other words, users are demanding a way to connect a portable audio device with audio components to build an audio system.

Korean Patent No. 10-1106681 (registered on Jan. 10, 2012) discloses an invention for enabling bidirectional digital communication between a speaker management system and a speaker system, but the audio components are disclosed. As a technology for bidirectional transmission of signals between the two devices, it does not provide any technology for connecting portable audio equipment and audio components.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an audio cable for connecting a portable audio device with other audio components without further modification.

An audio cable according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is provided in a balanced audio cable, which is provided at one end of the balanced audio cable and is implemented in the form of a 4-pole terminal inserted into a balance port of a portable audio device. A first terminal receiving four signals from the portable audio device; A second terminal disposed in parallel with the first terminal at one end of the balanced audio cable and inserted into an earphone port of the portable audio device to receive a ground signal from the portable audio device; A first XLR terminal provided at the other end of the balanced audio cable and having three pins respectively corresponding to two of four signals applied to the first terminal and a ground signal applied to the second terminal; Three pins disposed in parallel with the first XLR terminal at the other end of the balanced audio cable and respectively corresponding to the remaining two signals among the four signals applied to the first terminal and the ground signal applied to the second terminal. A second XLR terminal having a; And branching the ground signal applied through the second line and four lines electrically connecting the four poles of the first terminal and the corresponding two pins of each of the first and second XLR terminals. A cable having a branch line for transferring to the remaining one of three pins of each of the first and second XLR terminals; It includes.

The first terminal may be configured to receive a light negative sound source signal, a light positive sound source signal, a left positive sound source signal, and a left negative sound source signal in response to the structure of the balance port of the portable audio device.

The first XLR terminal may include a light positive sound source signal and a light negative sound source signal among the ground signal applied to the second terminal and four sound source signals applied to the first terminal through the cable. .

The second XLR terminal may include a left positive sound source signal and a left negative sound source signal among the ground signal applied to the second terminal and four sound source signals applied to the first terminal through the cable. .

The light positive sound source signal and the light negative sound source signal are inverted phase signals, and the left positive sound source signal and the left negative sound source signal are inverted phase signals.

The balanced audio cable connects the first and second terminals, the four lines, and one end of the branch line to simultaneously insert or remove the first and second terminals into two ports provided in the portable audio device. Fixing plug; It characterized in that it further comprises.

The plug surrounds the connection portions of the first and second terminals and the four lines and the branch lines to prevent breakage of the connection portions, and the depth at which the first and second terminals are inserted into the two ports. A mold for fixing; A case surrounding the mold and embodied in a shape that is easy to be gripped by a user; A plurality of fixing means for fixing the mold to the inside of the case; Characterized in that it comprises a.

The plug may include a sheet for covering the plurality of fixing means so that the user does not display the fixing means; It characterized in that it further comprises.

The first and second terminals may be implemented in different sizes.

Accordingly, the balanced audio cable of the present invention is provided with other audio components that receive signals in a balanced manner from a portable audio device having an earphone port for inserting the terminals of the balanced earphones and a balance port for inserting the terminals of the unbalanced earphones. Enable the transmission of sound source signals. Therefore, the user can enjoy high quality music at low cost by using a portable audio device without having an entire audio system composed of a plurality of separate audio components.

1 shows an example of a portable audio device.
2 shows an example for comparing a sound source signal in an unbalanced manner with a sound source signal in a balanced manner.
Fig. 3 shows a noise removing method of the balance method.
4 shows a balanced audio cable according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 shows a plug structure connected to the portable audio device in the balanced audio cable of FIG.

In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In addition, in order to clearly describe the present invention, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and the same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same members.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it may further include other components, without excluding other components unless otherwise stated. In addition, the terms "... unit", "... group", "module", "block", etc. described in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which is hardware or software or hardware. And software in combination.

1 shows an example of a portable audio device.

1 illustrates a configuration of a port of the portable audio device 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the portable audio device 10 includes an earphone port EP, a balanced earphone port BP, and a power port PP. Equipped.

The earphone port EP is a port to which a terminal of a mono or stereo earphone or a headset that most of the portable audio device 10 supports is connected and transmits signals in an unbalanced manner. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that the earphone includes a headset.

The earphone port EP of the portable audio device 10 is generally inserted into a two-pole to four-pole earphone port having a diameter of 3.5 φ. The earphone having a 2-pole terminal is a mono earphone that receives one sound source signal S and a ground signal GND, and converts the received sound source signal S into an audio signal of an audible frequency band that can be heard by the user. Output The earphone having a three-pole terminal is a stereo earphone, and receives two sound source signals SL and SR and a ground signal GND for each of the left and the right so that different sounds are output to both ears of the user. The earphone having a 4-pole terminal has a structure in which a signal for providing a microphone or a remote controller function is added to the signal of the 3-pole earphone. In rare cases earphones with 5-pole terminals are provided for noise cancellation, but are not generally used. The arrangement of each signal according to the number of polarity of the earphone jack is different from each manufacturer because there is no standard currently specified.

In the portable audio device 10, the earphone port EP determines the polarity of the port and the arrangement of the signals in correspondence to the terminals of the designated earphone. That is, the polarity of the port and the earphone must match so that the sound signal can be transmitted normally. However, as described above, the general earphones include a ground signal GND to receive a sound source signal and output a sound signal regardless of the number of polarities. This is because a typical earphone reproduces a sound signal by using a change of the ground signal GND and one sound source signal S, SL, or SR. Here, one sound source signal is called a positive (+) sound source signal.

As described above, a method of transmitting the ground signal GND and the positive (+) sound source signals S, SL, and SR, which are reference signals, is called an unbalanced method and is the most widely used method. The unbalanced method is a signal transmission method that is typically used within a distance of 1 ~ 1.5m because of the large influence of noise depending on the transmission distance.

Meanwhile, the balanced port BP is a port into which a terminal of a balanced armature earphone is inserted to transmit a high-quality sound signal. The BA earphone is a balanced earphone. The balanced earphone is a signal transmission scheme developed to overcome the disadvantage of the unbalanced scheme, which is greatly affected by noise.

2 shows an example for comparing a sound source signal in an unbalanced manner with a sound source signal in a balanced manner, and FIG. 3 shows a noise removal method of a balanced manner.

In FIG. 2, (a) shows an unbalanced scheme, and (b) shows a balanced scheme. As shown in (a) of FIG. 2, the unbalanced scheme used in most existing earphones transmits only the ground signal GND and the positive (+) sound source signal as reference signals. However, the balance method shown in (b) transmits not only the positive (+) source signal and the ground signal (GND), which is a reference signal, but also the negative (-) source signal, which is a reverse phase signal, to the positive (+) source signal. That's the way.

In this balanced method, in which a positive (+) sound source signal and a negative (-) sound source signal are transmitted in pairs, when noise is introduced during signal transmission, the introduced noise is positive (+) sound source signal and negative (-) sound source. It is reflected in the signal in common. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the apparatus receiving the balanced signal subtracts the negative (−) sound signal from the positive (+) sound source signal, the noise signal commonly included in the two sound source signals is removed, and the signal Can increase the size. That is, the sound source signal that is robust against noise can be transmitted.

When a sound source signal is transmitted between a plurality of audio components using a balanced method, a balanced audio cable having an XLR terminal is generally used. The balanced audio cable includes three lines for transmitting positive (+) sound signal, negative (-) sound signal, and ground signal (GND) .If the audio system is stereo, the left and right sound signals are Two balanced audio cables are used. Therefore, six lines are used for two balanced audio cables. In the balanced method, the ground signal GND is used as a reference signal for matching signal levels between audio components that transmit sound source signals through a balanced audio cable.

BA earphones are balanced but do not require a ground signal (GND). This is because the BA earphone reproduces sound by using the difference between the positive sound source signal and the negative sound source signal without having to match the signal level. Therefore, BA earphones that reproduce stereo sound are generally quadrupoles of the light negative sound source signal (R-), the light positive sound source signal (R +), the left positive sound source signal (L +), and the left negative sound source signal (L-). It is composed.

And the balance port BP is comprised with four polarities corresponding to the terminal of BA earphone.

The power port PP receives a power to insert the power cable to supply the portable audio device 10. The power port PP is also configured to correspond to the terminal type of the power cable to be inserted, and the micro USB port is a commonly used terminal.

As described above, the portable audio device BA is generally provided with only a minimum number of ports due to size constraints. Therefore, providing another additional port for connecting the portable audio device with another audio component is not desirable to contradict the purpose of the portable audio device, and a method for maximizing the port currently provided should be devised.

4 shows a balanced audio cable according to an embodiment of the invention.

The balanced audio cable BIC shown in FIG. 4 is an interconnector cable, one terminal of which is connected to a portable audio device and the other terminal of which is connected to an audio component that receives a signal in a balanced manner. The audio component may be a preamplifier, a main amplifier, an integrated amplifier such as an integrated amplifier, or a speaker in which the amplifier is built.

In addition, two XLR terminals (JR and JL) are connected at the other end to realize stereo with one balanced audio cable (BIC). Three pins P1 to P3 are provided at each of the two XLR terminals JR and JL so that a ground signal GND is provided at the first pin P1 and a positive (+) sound source signal is provided at the second pin P2. A negative (-) sound source signal is configured to be mapped to the third pin P3. That is, as described above, six pins necessary for configuring a stereo using an XLR terminal are arranged.

On the other hand, two terminals J1 and J2 are also provided at one end of the balanced audio cable BIC. The first terminal J1 of the two terminals has a structure corresponding to a BA earphone, and has a light negative sound source signal R-, a light positive sound source signal R +, a left positive sound source signal L + and a left negative sound source signal ( It is implemented with 4-pole terminal to receive L-). The order of the four poles of the first terminal J1 may be variously changed in correspondence to the order of the signals of the balance port BP of the portable audio device. However, in the present invention, the first pole of the first terminal J1 may be changed. It is assumed that the light negative sound source signal R-, the light positive sound source signal R +, the left positive sound source signal L +, and the left negative sound source signal L- are sequentially arranged from 4 to 4 poles.

As the first terminal J1 is implemented as a 4-pole terminal corresponding to the terminal structure of the BA earphone, one pole of the first terminal J1 to which the light negative sound source signal R- is applied is the first XLR terminal JR. Line is connected to the third pin (P3) of the second pole, two poles are line connected to the second pin (P3) of the first XLR terminal (JR), three poles are the second pin ( It is line-connected to P2, and a 4 pole is line-connected to the 3rd pin P3 of the 2nd XLR terminal JL. That is, four of the six pins of the two XLR terminals JR and JL are connected to four poles of the first terminal J1 by four lines in the balanced audio cable BIC.

However, only the first terminal J1 may not correspond to two pins of the ground signal GND among the six pins of the two XLR terminals JR and JL. BA earphones do not require a ground signal (GND) because they simply amplify the positive source signal and the negative source signal to output the sound signal, but when connected to other audio components, the positive source signal and the negative source signal The ground signal GND is required as a reference signal to match the signal level of the signal.

The balanced audio cable BIC of the present invention further includes a second terminal J2 at one end as shown in FIG. The second terminal J2 is implemented in a structure corresponding to the earphone terminal. As described above, since the earphone port EP into which the earphone terminal is inserted, an unbalance method is applied, at least one positive sound source signal and a ground signal GND are essentially included. The second terminal J2 receives the ground signal GND from the earphone port EP and the first of the two XLR terminals JR and JL by a line branched into two inside the balanced audio cable BIC. It passes to pin P1, respectively. The balanced audio cable BIC is configured to branch the ground signal GND received through the second terminal J2 to be transmitted to the first pin P1 of each of the two XLR terminals JR and JL. The ground signal GND, which is not transmitted by the first terminal J1, may be transmitted to the two XLR terminals JR and JL through the second terminal J2. As a result, it is configured to transmit a signal corresponding to each of the six pins P1 to P3 of the two XLR terminals JR and JL.

Therefore, the balanced audio cable BIC according to the present invention has the earphone port EP and the balanced port BP even if a port is not separately added to the portable audio device 10 including the earphone port EP and the balance port BP. The light negative sound source signal R-, the light positive sound source signal R +, the left positive sound source signal L + and the left negative sound source signal L- using the two terminals J1 and J2 inserted in the And five signals of the ground signal GND may be transmitted, and signals corresponding to six pins P1 to P3 of the two XLR terminals JR and JL may be transmitted. That is, the portable audio device 10 may be electrically connected to another audio component that receives the balance signal through the XLR terminal, thereby transmitting the sound source signal in a balanced manner.

FIG. 5 shows a plug structure connected to the portable audio device in the balanced audio cable of FIG.

In FIG. 5, (a) shows the cross section of the plug FG.

The balanced audio cable BIC of FIG. 4 uses two terminals J1 and J2 inserted into the earphone port EP and the balance port BP even though no port is added to the portable audio device 10. It is possible to transmit a signal corresponding to each of the six pins P1 to P3 of the XLR terminals JR and JL. However, since two terminals J1 and J2 are provided at one end of the balanced audio cable BIC, the user may connect the two terminals J1 and J2 of the balanced audio cable BIC to the ports EP and BP of the portable audio device. ) May be cumbersome when inserted or removed individually. In particular, when the two terminals J1 and J2 are removed from the earphone port EP and the balance port BP, the tension force applied by the user causes a line inside the balanced audio cable BIC or the terminals J1 and J2. ) And the line is more likely to break. Accordingly, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the two terminals J1 and J2 are configured as plugs FG, so that the user can simultaneously insert or remove the two terminals J1 and J2.

In Fig. 5, the plug FG surrounds the connection portions of the line and the two terminals J1 and J2 inserted into the earphone port EP and the balance port BP, so as to connect the terminals J1 and J2 to the line. In order to prevent the breakage of the case (MD) and the mold (MD) for fixing the insertion depth of the two terminals (J1, J2) and the mold (MD) is implemented in a shape that is easy to grip the user It may include a plurality of fixing means (SW) for fixing in the case (CS). In addition, the plug FG may further include a sheet SH for covering the plurality of fixing means so as not to be visible to the user from the outside.

Herein, the mold MD may be formed of a material having elasticity so that a force such as a tensile force applied to the connection portions of the terminals J1 and J2 and the line may be dispersed. For example, the mold MD may be formed of urethane. And a plurality of fixing means may be implemented by, for example, a screw (Screw).

(B) of FIG. 5 shows the shape of the mold MD in detail.

When the mold MD is made of an elastic material such as urethane, the strength is low, and thus, the mold MD may be damaged by the fixing means SW. In this case, the thickness of the mold MD may be formed as a whole, but this may cause an unnecessary cost increase. Thus, as shown in FIG. Damage of MD) can be prevented.

In addition, in FIG. 5, the first terminal J1 and the second terminal J2 have different sizes. In order for the balanced audio cable BIC of the present invention to normally transmit a signal, the first terminal J1 is inserted into the balance port BP of the portable audio device 10, and the second terminal J2 is connected to the earphone port EP. ) Must be inserted. However, when the first terminal J1 and the second terminal J2 are implemented in the same size, the first terminal J1 and the second terminal J2 may be inserted into the wrong port due to a mistake or a mistake of the user. . In order to prevent such a problem, the balanced audio cable BIC of the present invention has the sizes of the first terminal J1 and the second terminal J2 different from each other. For example, the first terminal J1 may be implemented with a diameter of 2.5 φ, and the second terminal J2 may be implemented with a diameter of φ. The balance port BP and the earphone port EP of the portable audio device 10 may also be implemented in different sizes corresponding to the sizes of the two terminals J1 and J2.

If the sizes of the two terminals J1 and J2 are different from each other, even if a user tries to insert each terminal into a wrong port by mistake, one terminal is not inserted due to the difference in size, thereby preventing malfunction.

The method according to the invention can be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, and the like, and also include a carrier wave (for example, transmission through the Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible.

Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims (9)

In a balanced audio cable,
A first terminal provided at one end of the balanced audio cable and implemented in the form of a 4-pole terminal inserted into a balance port of the portable audio device to receive four signals from the portable audio device;
A second terminal disposed in parallel with the first terminal at one end of the balanced audio cable and inserted into an earphone port of the portable audio device to receive a ground signal from the portable audio device;
A first XLR terminal provided at the other end of the balanced audio cable and having three pins respectively corresponding to two of the four signals applied to the first terminal and a ground signal applied to the second terminal;
Three pins disposed in parallel with the first XLR terminal at the other end of the balanced audio cable and respectively corresponding to the remaining two signals among the four signals applied to the first terminal and the ground signal applied to the second terminal. A second XLR terminal having a; And
Four lines electrically connecting the four poles of the first terminal and the corresponding two pins of the three pins of each of the first and second XLR terminals and the ground signal applied through the second terminal branch the first signal. And a branch line having a branch line for transmitting to the remaining one of three pins of each of the second XLR terminals. Balanced audio cable including. The method of claim 1, wherein the first terminal is
And the four poles receive a light negative sound source signal, a light positive sound source signal, a left positive sound source signal, and a left negative sound source signal in accordance with the structure of the balance port of the portable audio device. 3. The terminal of claim 2, wherein the first XLR terminal is
And a light positive sound source signal and a light negative sound source signal of the ground signal applied to the second terminal and the four sound source signals applied to the first terminal are applied through the cable. 3. The terminal of claim 2, wherein the second XLR terminal is
And a left positive sound source signal and a left negative sound source signal of the ground signal applied to the second terminal and the four sound source signals applied to the first terminal are applied through the cable. The balanced audio cable according to claim 2, wherein the light positive sound source signal and the light negative sound source signal are opposite signals to each other, and the left positive sound source signal and the left negative sound source signal are opposite signals to each other. The method of claim 1, wherein the balanced audio cable
A plug fixing one end of the first and second terminals, the four lines, and the branch line to simultaneously insert or remove the first and second terminals into two ports of the portable audio device; Balanced audio cable further comprises. The method of claim 6, wherein the plug
In order to prevent breakage of the connection portion by wrapping the connection portions of the first and second terminals and the four lines and the branch lines, and to fix the depth at which the first and second terminals are inserted into the two ports. Mold;
A case surrounding the mold and embodied in a shape that is easy to be gripped by a user; And
A plurality of fixing means for fixing the mold to the inside of the case; Balanced audio cable comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein the plug is
A sheet for covering the plurality of fixing means so as not to be displayed to a user; Balanced audio cable further comprises. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second terminals are
Balanced audio cable, characterized in that implemented in different sizes.

Images