WO2006107274A1

WO2006107274A1 - A headset with a windable microphone boom

Info

Publication number: WO2006107274A1
Application number: PCT/SG2005/000230
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhenhua Freeman Yu
Original assignee: Simlab Invention & Consultancy Private Limited
Priority date: 2005-04-02
Filing date: 2005-07-13
Publication date: 2006-10-12
Also published as: SG126012A1

Abstract

A headset with a microphone boom (19), which can be coiled or uncoiled to change its effective length, provides the convenience for mobile communication. The microphone boom (19) for a headset can be mechanically or electro-mechanically wound or unwound to conceal the unused part so that the headset becomes more compact for mobile communication. When required, the microphone can be extended to any required length thereby facilitating clear voice reception and transmission. Compared to the existing solution as hinged or rotated fixed length microphone boom/s, this solution makes the headset more compact and handy. Compared to the hands-free headsets used in the current mobile phone market, this solution offers superior voice reception quality.

Description

A headset with a windable microphone boom

Field of invention

The present invention relates to a headset or headphone for communication such as telephoning or broadcasting. More particularly, the present invention relates to a headset or headphone with a boom that is capable of being extended out and retracted back to the headset, earphone, earpiece or headphone body. Examples of headset or headphone apparatus include a headset for mobile communication devices, a headset for mobile phone/s, cordless phone/s, a helmet/spectacle (or other head wearing appliances, etc.) incorporated with headset for communication, a headset for computer, a headset for two-way radio, a headset for AM/FM radio, a headset for Hi-Fi or Karaoke equipments, a headset for voice broadcasting in a meeting, conference, seminar, concert, etc. In the present description, headset, earphone, headphone and earpiece or other device alike are inter-changeable for the purpose simplification.

Background of the invention

A headset used in conjunction for voice communication has many reasons, especially for cordless or wireless communication. With a headset, a user is relieved from holding the appliance close to one's head (ear and/or mouth) to retain user's "hands-free" mode to perform other functions. A headset also brings the earphone and microphone close to a user's head (ear/s and/or mouth) and offer clear audio reception for the transmission. With the fast development of mobile communication technology, which has been extensively used in mobile phones, computer gamming, POP music concert, broadcasting, conferencing, and airplane pilot communications, headsets have been a focus of technology development to provide the convenience for voice communication. The growing concerns and researches indicate the health hazards over mobile phone's radiation in human brains as users often put phone handsets (appliance as the source of electromagnetic radiation) close to their ear/brain. With headsets, the source of radiation is moved away from one's head and thus is considered as the safer way for using mobile phones. In some cases, unlike a presenter in a concert, telephone switchboard operator, telephone marketer, a TV show or a conference, one does not require the microphone to be constantly staying close to one's mouth. In fact, the microphone is only needed to be close to one's mouth at the time of talking. When not in use, the microphone and its supporting boom are preferred to "disappear" so that the normal head movement and viewing will not be affected. For the same reason of convenience, the earphone is also desired to be as small as possible or hidden when not in use. To meet these demands, the current market available headset/headphone are becoming more compact, convenient, light, ergonomic, stylish, which still strives to retain enhanced audio quality, comfort for usage.

Typically, a headset makes the earphone closely attached to one's ear and a boom for extending the microphone close to one's mouth. This conventional solution has been challenged by the fast developing mobile phone technology. Newly presented market available headset products are often without a headband. In stead, they tend to be hooked onto user's auricle for more convenient operation and better mobility (e.g.,

Sony Ericsson HBH-660; Jabra BT800 Bluetooth Headset; Motorola wireless headset HS800 series; etc.). The headsets most-in-demand available in the current market for mobile phones have Bluetooth technology enabled cordless/wireless operation, single ear/auricle attaching/hooking mechanism, more compact with microphone closer to the earphone. This solution inevitably compromises the sound reception quality as more background noise is introduced when microphone is moved further away from the source of the sound, mouth. Besides, one has to speak loud to enable proper reception to the microphone/audio transducer. On the other hand, when microphone moves too close to the earphone, a potential problem of unstable acoustic feedback resonance in the signals arises.

A type of headset disclosed by U.S. Patent No.5850439 introduces a earphone which is inserted into the ear of a user and a microphone attached along the signal wire near user's mouth. Often the user makes use of such a location which is close to one's mouth to clip the microphone, thereby decreasing the voice transmission quality.

The headset disclosed in US Patent No.6097827 has a microphone boom that can slide and rotate. However, the microphone boom disclosed has a fixed length which is obstructive when the user is not talking. The boom with fixed length, though it can be rotated to move away from mouth, is still bulky to be attached to on one's ear.

USD264587S introduces a hinged boom which can be folded/unfolded and reduce the boom/s size for less hindrance. The folded microphone boom still does not offer superior benefit over the current market available headset with short microphone boom, such as

USD494154S gives a design of a headset whose microphone boom can be pivoted to be kept away from face area when not in use. This arrangement still involves a boom with fixed length and is inevitably bulky especially during transportation and for one auricle fixing.

US Patent No.2003/0003969A1 presented a headset with an extendable telescoping arm as the boom for extending and retracting the microphone. The technology illustrated still presents a substantially bulky telescoping arm in retracted mode, which is cumbersome for wearing and operating (extending and retracting). If made with single ear/auricle attaching mechanism, it is likely to require two hands to extend and retract this telescoping arm, as the ear is unlikely to have steady support for it. Compared to today's market available headset for mobile phones which already have short and integrated boom for the microphone, this solution does not offer more compactness with reasonable reception voice quality.

From the understanding of the current headset market and technology, a clear trend of compactness and lightweight for mobile communication devices is realized and it is accompanied by the compromised quality of voice reception quality and volume since the microphone is forced to move away from the mouth. A solution to preserve the current convenience and offer compactness without the compromise of good voice receiving quality and volume is called. Summary of the invention

The aim of this invention is make available a compact, lightweight, convenient headset with good voice reception quality. The compactness, lightweight and convenience are offered by changing the effective length of the microphone boom (19) to suit usage conditions. In another word, a headset with a windable microphone boom (19) shorten its effective length when it is not in use and extending the microphone boom (19) during conversation. The earphone is typically a small piece of speakerphone which "broadcast" the sound to the user's ear/s.

According to one form of the invention, the voice communication devices are appliances for voice communication, a headset for mobile phone/s, cordless phone/s, a helmet/spectacle (or other head wearing appliances, etc.) incorporated with headset for communication, a headset for computer, a headset for two-way radio, a headset for radio, a headset for Hi-Fi or Karaoke equipment, a headset for voice broadcasting in a meeting, conference, seminar, concert, etc. The boom (19) adjustment can be done by either coiling the boom (19) onto a drum (17) as shown in figure 1 & 2 or by rotating the drum (17) to adjust its effective length as shown in figure 7 & 8.

When handset and headset are separated, they can make communication via wires/cables or wireless/cordless means. For an example, the headset has wire/s or cable/s connection for the signal or/and power transmission/s between the appliance and the headset. As the current wired hands-free set for the mobile phone, the electric power and signals are both transmitted to the earpiece via wires (e.g., wired hands-free for Sony-Ericsson T105, Nokia 6100, Sony-Ericsson T630, etc.), which can also be adopted as the preferred embodiment for windable microphone boom (19) enabled headset. Similarly, the headset can also connect to the appliance, such as the mobile phone through wireless means, such as infrared ray or Bluetooth connections. The electric power for the headset can be provided with alkaline battery (23), rechargeable battery (23), etc. The signal, however, can be transmitted via those wireless technology means. It is understood that both the voice signals and the functional signals (on/off mobile phone, extend or retract the boom (19), etc.). Both the wireless and wired connections between the appliance/handset (e.g., the headset, earpiece, etc.) are termed as connecting means.

The headset is not necessarily separated from the handset body. Sometimes, the functions of a handset is integrated with the headset so that the entire appliance rests on ones' head and supported by one or more headband (2) during usage. Either the handset and headset is separated or integrated, the boom (19) can be adjusted by coiling as shown in figure 1 & 2 or be adjusted as shown in figure 7 or 8.

The winding of the boom is achieved by coiling this flexible boom (19) to a drum (17), whether cylindrical or non-cylindrical, so that the length of the uncoiled part of boom (19) can be changed for the adjustment of distance to the mouth. The effective length for a microphone boom (19) is defined by the uncoiled portion (released portion) to reach user's mouth. In another word, the distance between the end of a microphone (1) to the earpiece housing (27) for the normally exposed portion of a boom (19) is the effective length, or the working length for usage. The coiling of the boom (19) can either achieved by winding onto to a regular shaped drum (17) or into a chamber (41). In the case of storing the "coiled" boom (19) in a chamber, the "coiled" boom (19) can either take randomly crooked shape or regular shape/s (e.g., triangular, oval, square, etc.) by following a groove or grooves inside the chamber (41). Similarly, the drum (17) can take any regular shape/s or their combination thereof. A receiving chamber (41) also performs the function of a drum (17).

The microphone boom (19) can be made of any metallic wire or metallic wire supported. This provides an option to allow the boom (19) to be bent and hold its shape. The materials available include copper or/and aluminum based alloys. Such alloy permits the boom wires or its supporting wires to be held in any shape instantaneously by hand's twisting or bending. This arrangement gives further flexibility for boom (19) bending. However, when this type of boom (19) is untwisted, it is required to experience a straightening process so that it can still be extended to one's mouth in a proper manner. According to a preferred embodiment, the windable boom (19) can reach any desired effective length for usage. This includes the positions as fully withdrawn boom

(19) position, fully extended boom (19) position, or any other intermediate position for various ergonomic distance required. For an example, longer effective distance for adult with longer distance between the mouth and the ear, shorter effective length for children with shorter distance between the mouth and the ear. Any position achieved can be "locked" via the mechanism described in figure 1 & 2, which is very similar to that of the cord winder for a vacuum cleaner. This also means that the effective length of a boom (31) can be user customized at any time. The boom (19) can also be curved in shape to suit one's face profile so that it gets even closer to one's mouth.

The winding of a boom (19), as depicted in figure 1-8 can done via coiled springs, electric motors, or other mechanisms.

The pulling out motion or pushing back mechanism can also be used as a switch mechanism to activate handset or headset so that user can minimize the hand motions for further convenience. This also means that user can trigger the movement of the boom (19) by simply pushing a button on the handset or other activation methods.

A hollow tube which guide the voice signal to the transducer/microphone (1) can also be wound the same as the boom (19) with a microphone (1). When the hollow tube is supported or itself made of resilient material, the same convenience via windable means will be manifested. In the case making extemporaneous profile of the tube, this tube is preferred to be made of flexible material while supported by copper/aluminum based alloys so that it too can hold any shape desired.

Since the drum (17) or receiving chamber (41) offers the function of winding and receiving the boom (19), it can take any regular (e.g., cylindrical) or irregular shape as long as the boom (19) can be effectively kept in order to adjust the effective length. In some cases, winding a boom (19) without a drum (17) or receiving chamber (41) is also possible if the boom (19) can stay in predetermined shape when coiled. The movement of the boom (19) can be dampened or slowed down via friction block (3), a friction hole or a friction strip etc so that it will be gentle and elegant. This also does not exclude the speed control means for the winding motor or coiled springs, or others.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration for the embodiment of a headset with a windable boom in the operation of extending the boom.

Figure 2 displays a headset with a windable boom in the process of coiling the boom.

Figure 3 presents the isometric view of the preferred embodiment for a boom- retracted headset using a coin electric DC motor.

Figure 4 exhibits the side view of the preferred embodiment of a boom- extended headset using an electric motor. Figure 5 expresses preferred embodiment of a headset with a windable boom and headband.

Figure 6 exemplifies the preferred embodiment of a headset with a windable boom and the "coiled" boom has been stored in an irregular form inside a boom collection chamber. Figure 7 introduces an example of changing effective length for the microphone via rotation of the drum where the effective length of the boom is changed. The motion depicted is when the boom is extending.

Figure 8 establish a situation where the boom is retracted via winding drum's rotation.

Detailed description of the invention

Preferred embodiments of a headset or headphone with windable boom (19) according to the present invention, and in particular preferred aspects and features thereof, will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompany drawings. A microphone (1) is to be placed close to one's mouth to have clear reception and less ambient interference. For a headphone or headset, this means a device to reach both places of one's mouth and ear/s. Most conventional headsets, which cover those areas with a headband (2) and boom (19) with fixed length, are not suitable for mobile communication. Especially, this long boom (19) with microphone (1) is obstructive when one is not talking with headset on the head. Moreover, it is cumbersome and aesthetically unacceptable with a compact mobile phone. To facilitate mobile communications (e.g., using mobile phones), new models of headsets choose to have integrated short boom (19) to accomplish compactness with the compromised microphone sound receiving quality, such as Motorola wireless headsets HS 810, 820, 801, etc. One of the other major advantages of a headset include privacy, mobility enabled hands-free and good audio transmission quality. Therefore, handset with windable microphone boom is particularly useful for mobile phones.

This invention presented the solution of a windable boom (19) to get both the compactness required by mobile communication and good voice/sound receiving quality.

A headset according to this invention mainly comprises an earphone (25), a headset housing (27), a headband (2) or ear-hook body, a microphone/transducer (1), a boom (19), an electronic circuitry with power source (e.g., battery (23) or other electric energy supply means), and a boom winder mechanism. The boom (19) which holds the microphone (1) at its end is resilient and flexible. This means that the boom (19) can be coiled around the drum (17) and spring back to its original shape, such as straightened or bent/ curved so that the microphone (1) stays close to one's mouth. This can either achieved by choosing resilient rod/wire (e.g., spring steel, signal wires housed by flexible (metal/plastic, etc) hose, "shape memory" alloys based strings/wires/rods, such as titanium-nickel and copper-base alloys, etc.) as the microphone's signal wires or adopting a core of pliant rod/wire braided strands of microphone signal wires.

Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of cellular phone headset in accordance with a preferred embodiment. The thin signal wires made of resilient wires/rods (19) has a microphone (1) attached to its end. Passing through a stopper with friction resistance (3), this boom (19) can be gently extended and retracted by coiling around the drum (17). The drum (17) as shown in figure 1 has teeth (5) at its circumference so that it also becomes a ratchet acted with a catch (7). When the drum (17) spins counter- clockwise, the catch (7) allows the drum (17) to slide through and uncoil/release/extract the boom (19) till its full length. Since the drum (17) can be powered by a coiled/spiral spring motor (not shown) which naturally tends to rotate the drum (17) clockwise by its spring force, one can release the microphone (1) and let the microphone (1) with the boom (19) stopped at any length required since clockwise rotation is designed to be stopped by the catch (7). The catch is held to be constantly coupled together in the teeth of ratchet (17) by a cylindrical spring (13) which stands on a base (15). By transmitted spring force (upwards) via a pivot (9), the catch (7) is held constantly touching the ratchet (17) downwards thus hold the drum (17) stationary. In this arrangement, the boom (19) with a microphone (1) at its end can be pulled to any length user requires and be held there.

When the microphone (1) is not required as the conversation is finished, the boom (19) can be wound back onto the drum (17). According to figure 2, when user depresses the button (11) towards its base (15), which compresses the cylindrical spring (13) via a pivot (9), the catch (7) is detached from the ratchet's teeth (5). As a result, this drum (17) is rotated back clockwise powered by the coiled spring motor till the microphone body (1) is pushed against the stopper (3) with gentle and silent movement over the entire sliding process with the help from friction resistance block (3). In this clockwise rotation, as the user depress the button (11), the catch (7) is taken off the ratchet's teeth (5). Whenever the user releases the button (11), the catch (7) will be spring back onto the teeth of the ratchet (5) and stop boom's (19) movement.

By the arrangement explained according to figure 1 and 2, the length of the boom (19) can be adjusted and held at any suitable length according to user's preference. This whole arrangement can be integrated/hidden into the earphone cap/body/housing so that the whole headphone/headset becomes compact. The boom's coiling/winding and uncoiling/unwinding mechanism is not restricted by mechanical means only. Many equivalent executions can also be realized to roll and unroll the boom (19). Figure 3 and figure 4 give the example of an electric motor powered system.

According to figure 3, an earphone cap (muffle, headphone or headset cap) (27) houses the major components inside its compartment/body. Similar to the example given in figure 1 and figure 2, the cap holds loudspeaker/earphone/speakerphone (25) for listening, supporting springs (13), a fixed pivot (33), buttons (29 & 31), insert stopper (35), a gear (37), a coin electric motor (21), a flexible boom (19) and a microphone (1) outside/inside the headphone cap (27). When one wants to retract the microphone (1) by winding the boom (19) to the drum coupled gear (37), he/she can press the button (29) so that the insert stopper (35) move off/release the notch/slot of the gear (37) and allow the gear (37) to revolve. In this case, the gear (37) revolves counter-clockwise and coils the boom (19) to its drum (37) by a coin electric motor (21) and a battery (23). The electric power can be supplied via any electric energy storage or generating means such as battery, solar panel, and active carbon based capacitor etc. The required electric motor (21) is preferred to be so small that it can be installed into the cap of an earphone (27) and powerful enough to rotate the reel/drum/spool/pulley (37) with the boom (19), such as coin motors. According to the figure 3, the button (29) depressed will electrically initiates the gear-coupled motor (21) to turn round counter clockwise (PCBs & wiring not shown). In the case with earphone, the friction to damp the microphone movement can also be executed by friction strip/s, a friction block (3), a friction hole in the cap as the friction block is incorporated with the cap.

Similar to the mechanical arrangement shown in figure 1 & figure 2, the side view of this windable boom headset/earphone/headphone shows that it can release the boom (19) to any required length within full length to suit any comfortable distance for voice communication. According to figure 4, one can press the button (31) to transmit the motion by pulling the insert stopper (35) off the notch/teeth of the gear (37) via the pivot (33). This action releases the locking of the gear-coupled drum (37) and permits it to spin. When the button (31) is pushed down, the electric motor (21) is also activated to swivel clockwise so that the boom (19) is extended outside the earphone cap (27) and the boom (19) is back to its original straight form. The extending and retracting movement of the boom (19) can be activated and deactivated at any time depending either button (29 & 31) is triggered. When there is no button forced down, the insert stopper (35) will hold the gear coupled drum (37) at its present location by default. In the case of communication, an user can use the button to realize an comfortable boom length for talking. The full length of extension for the boom (19) is only limited by its own available length while the full retraction of the boom is limited by the headphone cap (27) pushing against the microphone. The headphone cap (27) can also include the function of resistance block for boom's gentle sliding. Based on the principle explained above, one can also choose to have a single button with bi-stable position or software in microprocessor/s (IC chips) to accomplish boom (19) coiling and uncoiling.

The winding and unwinding movement for the microphone boom can also be executed by other possible equivalent means. Normal machine elements, such as rack & pinion, power/motion transmission screw threads, shaft/spool/axels, various types of chains, steelflex, waldron, hydraulic, pneumatic powered elements, etc are all possible replacement for the preferred embodiments.

The winding and unwinding of a microphone boom can be executed both/either automatically and/or semi-automatically. For an example, one can use a hand to pull out the boom and stop the microphone at the any position via a ratchet (5) based mechanism. For the same headset, one can also choose to release the stopper (7) to retrieve the microphone boom (19) via a coiled spring propelled drum (17) as shown in figure 1.

As for mobile phones, Bluetooth becomes more and more popular. Bluetooth technology is used in a growing number of consumer electronics products, and its goal is always the same - providing wireless data connections. Bluetooth technology allows one to use hands-free accessories without the hassle of wires. It uses a 2.4GHz connection and doesn't require cables or an infrared connection. With Bluetooth wireless headsets, one can talk can talk up to 10 metres away from your wireless phone. In addition, there's no line of sight required between the handset/phone and Bluetooth headset. Bluetooth's benefits go beyond wireless headsets, as some Bluetooth-equipped wireless phones allow one to transfer data between a phone with a PC or PDA without worrying about wires.

In a preferred embodiment with wireless technology such as Bluetooth, the extension and retraction of a boom (19) can be activated via Bluetooth. This is to say that one can trigger the motion of unwinding/winding of the boom (19) by pressing a button on the handset/appliance, such as a hand phone (mobile phone). With such as arrangement, one can truly execute hands-free operation without the need to hold the headset. According to the same principle, the activation can be started via voice or other non-contact (non-touch) activation methods, such as, RPID activation, NFC (near field communication technology) activation, etc.

A windable boom (19) in principle does not exclude the application for holding a display screen at its end. In the application for extending or retracting a screen or some other device and the like, a windable boom (19) or retractable boom (19) by other means, such as telescoping arms, hinged arms are also useful applications. Similarly, boom with earphone to be extended to one's ear can use prescribed mechanism too. In summary, windable or extendable boom (19) provides significant convenience and compactness for communication based on the explained technology.

A windable boom (19) as a preferred embodiment does not prevent other equivalent solutions. One can introduce a substantially non-circular/non-cylindrical

"drum", such as a substantially rectangular bar or oval drum (17), to coil the microphone boom (19). Irregular winding without the help of a drum (17) can also be achieved.

According to one of the preferred embodiment shown in figure 6, the resilient microphone boom (19) is wound/folded without a drum (17). According the diagram figure 6, the boom (19) is pulled back into a boom collection chamber (41) and folded/wound into an irregular form. Although a boom collection chamber (41) with certain guiding groove/s can be better in keeping the boom (19), it is also feasible to adopt irregular winding/folding mechanism for thin resilient boom (19), especially when the boom is made of "shape memory" metal alloy/s.

The microphone performs the function of transform the sound as mechanical vibration to electrical signals - audio signals. This function is performed as acoustic transducer/s. However, the same function can also be realized by a boom (19) made of tube to channel voice/sound to a transducer/microphone (1) located inside the headset housing (27). This technology is revealed by patent US6778676B2. For the sake of reduce bulkiness by making this sound tube boom (19) windable, which is the same function of coiling a microphone supporting wires/rods, the windable (microphone) can be achieved.

Figure 7 & 8 gives another example of rotated drum (27) for changing the effective length of a boom (19). In this arrangement, the boom (19) changes its effective length without bending. With some wire connections in side the housing (27), signal still can be transmitted to the earphone or handset. The moving of the boom (19) can be achieved by rack & pinion or others.

The examples are specific embodiments set forth herein are for illustrative purpose only and are not intended to limit the scope of present invention. Additional variation and modification with the scope of the claimed invention will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings set forth herein.

Claims

1. A headset for the use in association with at least one voice communication device comprising: at least one microphone or transducer for sound input; at least one ear phone for listening; at least one microphone boom either separated or integrated with the headset housing characterized in that the microphone boom can be wound into a regular or irregular shape to adjust its effective length for providing more than one position with respect to the mouth and ear of the headset user.

2. A headset for the use in association with at least one voice communication device comprising: at least one microphone or transducer for sound input; at least one ear phone for listening; at least one microphone boom either separated or integrated with the headset housing characterized in that the microphone boom can be adjusted for its effective length by coupled drum's rotation for providing more than one position with respect to the mouth and ear of the headset user.

3. The headset as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the headset has connecting or/and communicating means for the headset to receive and send signals with the voice communication device.

4. The headset as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the headset is integrated with the voice communication device.

5. The headset according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the headset has at least one cord or wire connection mean/s with the voice communication device.

6. The headset according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the headset has cordless or wireless connection or/and communicating mean/s with the voice communication device.

7. The headset as claimed according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the voice communication device and/or headset is mobile or portable.

8. The headset as claimed according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the voice communication device and/or headset is a mobile phone.

9. The headset as claimed according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the boom can also be adjusted and/or held in desired profile extemporaneously.

10. The headset as claimed according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the microphone boom can be locked at any desired effective length.

11. The headset as claimed according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the microphone boom can be wound and unwound by mechanical means to achieve effective length.

12. The headset as claimed according to any one of the claims 1-9, characterized in that the microphone boom can be wound and unwound by electro-mechanical means to achieve effective length.

13. The headset as claimed according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the activation or deactivation of the headset or/and communication device can be achieved by the motion of extending or retracting microphone boom.

14. A headset according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the boom is made of constructed or a hollow pipe for channeling audio signal to a transducer for communication.

15. A headset according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the boom's movement is regulated by at least one speed regulation means.