WO2005096666A1

WO2005096666A1 - Entertainment device

Info

Publication number: WO2005096666A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000486
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mary Toniolo
Original assignee: Awaba Group Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-04-02
Filing date: 2005-04-04
Publication date: 2005-10-13

Abstract

An entertainment device (12) has headphones (14 and 16) and a separate speaker (21) carried by a support (18) and operated so that separate outputs are obtainable from the headphones (14 and 16) and the speaker(21). Sound produced from an audio signal storage medium (26) can be played through either or both headphones (14 and 16) and speaker (21). A microphone (22) provides an audio input source that the user can user to add to pre-recorded audio output, and various modes of combining the sound provide a variety of possible outputs. A video signal viewing screen (33) may also be incorporated into the device.

Description

Entertainment Device Technical Field This invention relates to an entertainment device and relates particularly to a device for producing at least an audio output for entertainment purposes.

Background to the Invention Headphones are commonly used for audio reception, and particularly for listening to music tracks. Generally, headphones are connected to an audio output from a receiver or a disc or tape player, or other data storage device, by means of a connecting electrical cable. However, such a cable restricts the movement of a person wearing the headphones. Further, a cable connecting a device having an audio output to a headphone set is. liable to be snagged by or caught on an adjacent object giving rise to a potentially uncomfortable or painful drag on the headphones. Wireless headphones are commonly known although, to date, such headphones are generally used in conjunction with an inbuilt radio receiver which receives radio signals from a radio signal broadcast. Thus, the person wearing wireless headphones must make a selection from many radio broadcasts, but is unable to personalise the audio reception. It has recently been proposed to use short range wireless connections between a transmitter and a receiver in headphones. Such systems known as "blue tooth" and "wifi" are commonly used with mobile telephone systems and computer systems. However, the range of the transmissions is relatively limited meaning that the headphones are able to be used only in predetermined locations within range of an appropriate transmitter. Further, the listener must pre-program or otherwise preselect particular audio signals to be transmitted to the headphones. Existing headphones are also limited to reproducing pre-recorded or transmitted audio signals. In many instances, a user may wish to contribute to or provide their own audio entertainment. It is, therefore, desirable to provide an entertainment device which incorporates headphones that can be used to listen to any desired audio signal, including music tracks, without the need for connecting cables or wireless transmissions. It is also desirable to provide an entertainment device which enables the user to interact with a pre-recorded audio track. It is also desirable to provide an entertainment device which enables the user to select different modes of operation including listening to pre-recorded audio tracks, interacting with such audio tracks or generating their own audio output. It is also desirable to provide an entertainment device which is relatively simple and compact, is easy to manufacture and to use.

Summary of the Invention According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an entertainment device comprising audio headphone means to enable the user to hear reproduced sound, support means to support the headphone means on the head of a user, separate speaker means carried by the support means and spaced from the headphone means, sound reproducing means to generate sound in the headphone means and/or speaker means from an audio signal transmitted from an audio signal storage means, a microphone carried by the support means, and switch means to switch between a plurality of predetermined operating modes which include listening to pre-recorded sound stored in said audio signal storage means and generating sound using the microphone and speaker. The headphone means may comprise a pair of headphones which include shells to engage with or fit over the ears of a user. Alternatively, the headphone means may comprise pods, ear pieces adapted to engage within an ear, or any other form of sound transducer whereby a user is able to selectively listen to pre-recorded or predetermined sound signals. The support means is preferably a headband which carries the headphone means at each end thereof. In one form of the invention, the headband has at least one loud speaker, or similar sound reproducing device, attached thereto, preferably approximately midway between the pair of headphones. The switch means may be mounted on the speaker means, the support means or the headphone means, as appropriate. In another embodiment, the switch is connected to the audio signal storage means, the support, headphones or speaker means by an electrical switch cable. In a preferred embodiment, the switch has a plurality of switch positions to switch between operating modes as desired by the user. The operating modes can further include a mode whereby pre-recorded sound is played through both headphone means and the speaker, and/or a mode whereby pre-recorded sound is played through the speaker and the headphone means and the microphone is also able to be used to generate audio output from the speaker. In preferred forms of the invention, the audio signal storage means comprises a cartridge, memory chip or other similar device containing one or more audio recordings to be played through the headphones. In one embodiment, the signal storage device is preferably removably housed within a socket in one of the headphones. Preferably, the signal storage means is able to be removed and replaced from the socket without removing the device from the head of the wearer. One or more volume controls may also be incorporated into the entertainment device to control output volume of the headphones and/or speaker and/or the balance therebetween. Power for operating the device is preferably provided by electrical batteries housed within the device, such as within the support, the speaker housing or within headphone housings. In a modified form of the invention, the signal storage means may be adapted to record sound from the microphone. Such recorded sound can then be replayed either through the headphones or the speaker, or both. In a further modification, the entertainment device may include a video screen to display dance steps or other video material, h one form, the video screen is a translucent, flip down screen, and the signal storage means stores video and audio signals to be reproduced by the video screen and headphones, respectively. hi order that the invention is more readily understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of an entertainment device in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of the electrical components of the device of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a view of another embodiment of an entertainment device having visual and audio reproduction.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, an entertainment device 12 is illustrated which comprises a pair of headphones 14 and 16 mounted on opposite ends of a supporting head band 18. The arms of the head band 18 are telescopically extendable to enable the device 12 to be used by users of different ages ranging from young children to adults. Each headphone 14 and 16 includes an audio transducer, or ear phone 19 to convert electrical signals into audio sound within the human hearing range. The ear phones 19 may take any suitable form commonly known in the art, including ear pieces and pods which engage within the ear, or which engage bone structure of the skull adjacent the ear. The headphone structures and/or ear pieces or pods usable with embodiments of the invention are generally known in the art and will not need to be described further. In addition to the headphones 14 and 16, the head band 18 carries a loud speaker 21 within a speaker housing 15. The housing 15 of this embodiment also includes a compartment 17 to contain electrical batteries (not shown) for providing electrical power to the device 12. A microphone 22 is mounted to one of the headphones 16 by an adjustable microphone stalk 23 whereby the microphone 22 may be positioned as desired relative to the user. The housing for the headphone 14 has a socket 24 to receive an audio cartridge or chip 26, or other form of data memory, on which is stored, preferably magnetically, one or more pre-recorded audio tracks, such as a music track or a dance instruction track or any other desired audio signal. A plurality of cartridges or chips 26 may be provided in association with the device 12 and the cartridges or chips can be replaced in the socket 24 to change from one track to another. Alternatively, each cartridge, chip or memory device 26 may store a plurality of tracks which can be heard sequentially or selected with appropriate track selection means. The storage cartridge or chip 26 may take any suitable form known in the art. Thus, the cartridge or chip may comprise read only memory, read and writable memory, recorded disc or tape, or any other suitable storage medium. A volume control 27 is carried by the headphone 14 while a mode switch 28 is mounted on the other headphone 16, adjacent the microphone stalk 23. In use, and referring to Figure 2, a cartridge or chip 26 is placed in the socket 24 in which is located a reader 29 adapted to read the pre-recorded signals contained in the cartridge or chip 26. The mode switch 28 is actuated from an "off position to one of the selectable operating modes, as detailed hereafter. Power from the battery 31 enables signals to be transferred from the reader 29 to either or both of the headphones 14 and 16, in mono or stereo format, or to the speaker 21, or to any desirable combination. The microphone 22 may either be permanently activated while the device is in an active mode, or it may be switchable, using the mode switch 28, or a separate microphone switch (not shown), to add sound from the microphone 22 to the sound emanating from the headphones 14 and 16 resulting from the pre-recorded sound on the chip or cartridge 26. Thus, in a first mode, sound from the reader 29 is heard only through the headphones 14 and 16. hi a second mode, the sound is heard only through the speaker 21. In a third mode, the sound from the reader 29 is heard through both the headphones 14 and 16 and the speaker 21, and in other operating modes, the microphone 22 may used to either add sound to that from the reader 29 or to produce sound independently from the speaker 21 without combining with sound from the reader 29. All possible combinations of operating modes are included within the scope of the invention. In a modified form of the invention, an audio signal from the microphone is fed to the reader 29 along path 32, the reader being also able to write to the cartridge or chip 26 so as to record sounds from the microphone 22 thereon. Such recorded sounds can then be replayed as desired. It is preferred that each cartridge or chip 26 comprises a single song or tune such as may be associated with a dance routine or the like. Dance instruction may also be included within the sound reproduced from the cartridge or chip 26. Referring to Figure 3, in a second embodiment the device includes a video screen 33 that receives and displays video output from the cartridge or chip 26 that contains pre-recorded video and audio data for reproduction. The screen may take several forms, including a display screen such as an active matrix liquid crystal display or a passive matrix display, similar to those used with note book computers or the like. In another form, the screen may be a projection screen that displays an image projected thereon by a small projector integrated into the head band 18 or the speaker housing 15. The screen may be fixed relative to the head band 18 or it may be movable between a raised, in-operative position and a lowered, operative position, as shown in Fig. 3. The device of the invention enables a user to wear the headphones to listen to a desired audio track and, by using the in-built microphone, to add their own voice to the audio which may feed through the headphones or the separate speaker, or both, as desired. The various modes of operation include a mode where the user can combine their voice with the audio sound, with the total output being played through the speaker. In a different mode, only the user's voice will be heard from the speaker. In another mode, the combination will be played through the headphones and speaker. Such operating modes encourage involvement between the user and the audio sound. The device is able to be used for training, such as dance training as a sequence of dance steps may be incorporated as part of the audio output. When the video output is incorporated, more advanced dance training is able to be carried out using pre-recorded images illustrating the appropriate steps.

Claims

1 An entertainment device including audio headphone means to enable the user to hear reproduced sound, support means to support the headphone means on the head of a user, separate speaker means carried by the support means and spaced from the headphone means, sound reproducing means to generate sound in the headphone means and/or speaker means from an audio signal transmitted from an audio signal storage means, a microphone carried by the support means, and switch means to switch between a plurality of predetermined operating modes which include listening to pre- recorded sound stored in said audio signal storage means and generating sound using the microphone and speaker.

2. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the headphone means comprises a pair of headphones which include shells to engage with or fit over the ears of a user.

3. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the headphone means comprises pods or other forms of ear pieces adapted to engage within an ear of a user.

4. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the support means is a headband which carries the headphone means at each end thereof.

5. An entertainment device according to claim 4 wherein the headband has at least one loud speaker or other similar sound reproducing device integral or attached thereto.

6. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the switch means is mounted on one of the headphone means and the sound reproducing means is integrated with the other of the headphone means.

7. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the switch has a plurality of switch positions to switch between operating modes as desired by the user and including: sound from the sound reproducing means is heard only through the headphones; sound is heard only through the speaker means; sound from the sound reproducing means is heard through both the headphones and the speaker means; the microphone is used to add sound to that from the sound reproducing means; the microphone is used to produce sound from the speaker means with sound from the sound reproducing means being heard only from the headphones.

8. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the signal storage means comprises a cartridge, memory chip or other data storage device which contains one or more audio tracks, phrases or other recordings to be played through the headphones.

9. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the signal storage device is removably housed within a socket in one of the headphones that forms part of the sound reproducing means, the signal storage device being able to be replaced without removal of the device from the head of the user.

10. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein one or more volume controls are incorporated into the device to enable regulation of the output volume through the headphones and speaker means

11. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein electrical batteries are housed within the speaker means.

12. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein the signal storage means is able to record sound from the microphone.

13. An entertainment device according to claim 12 wherein sound recorded from the microphone can then be replayed either through the headphones or the speaker, or both.

14. An entertainment device according to claim 1 wherein a video screen is mounted to the support to display video images such as dance steps or other video material in addition to the audio output.

15. An entertainment device according to claim 14 wherein the screen is an active matrix liquid crystal display.

16. An entertainment device according to claim 14 wherein the screen is a passive matrix display.

16. An entertainment device according to claim 14 wherein the screen is a projection screen that displays an image projected thereon by a small projector integrated into the support or the speaker means.

17. An entertainment device according to claim 14 wherein the screen is movable relative to the support between a raised, in-operative position and a lowered, operative position.