Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Plural or compound reproducers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-07
2003-06-17
Tran, Sinh (Department: 2743)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Plural or compound reproducers
C381S381000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06580800
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an acoustic transducer for reproducing sounds from electric signals outputted by a sound apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to a headphone, which is mounted for use on a user's auricle, and so on.
As the acoustic transducer mounted for use on an user's auricle, conventionally there have been a headphone type acoustic transducer having a headband and an innnerphone type one having no headbands. In the present invention, among the acoustic transducers to be mounted for use on users' auricles, “innerphone” means a type of the acoustic transducer having no headbands, such as the headphones. The innerphone usually comprises a pair of separate parts, each of which is to be mounted on each of the auricles. Each of the parts comprises a housing having a speaker unit and a support for supporting the housing on the auricle.
The headphone comprises housings, each of which has a speaker unit therein, and a headband, which is connected to the housings at both ends thereof. The headband presses the pair of the housings against the pair of the auricles respectively, for example, by an elastic force, under a condition that the headband is put on the top of the user's head, is set around the back part of the head, or is hung under the chin of the user.
Thus, the headphone can comprise the housings of comparatively large size and heavy weight, since the headphone is supported with its headband. Accordingly, the size of the speaker unit put in the housing can be also made large, so the low tones from the speaker unit can be reproduced very well.
Many people, however, do not like to use the headphone, since the user has to put the headband around the head, and thus, the headband disorders the user's hairstyle and makes the feeling of mounting the headphone worse.
Moreover, storing and carrying the headphone are troublesome since the headband has a fairly large size and it increases the total size of the headphone.
An acoustic transducer, wherein the above-mentioned disadvantages of the headphone are relieved to a certain level is, for instance, an innerphone.
Among the conventional innerphones, there are ones whose housing is about a size of a cavity in the center part of the auricle near the earhole, and the others whose housing is about the same size as the auricle.
In the innerphone whose housing is about the size of the cavity of the auricle, the housing is inserted into the cavity of the auricle. Thus, the housing is held stably.
In the innerphone of about the same size as the auricle, the support comprises a hook having a fixed shape, for example, in the letter ‘C’ (C-shape), and a fixed size. The hook touches a constricted part between the head and the auricle, so as to embrace in a C-letter-surrounded space the constricted part; the constricted part being attaching the auricle to a temporal bone of the user's head. Then, the support and the housing cooperatively pinch the auricle. Thus, the comparatively large housing is held on the face of the auricle stably without the type of headband that the headphone has.
The innerphone is generally so small and light, because of having no headbands, that the feeling of mounting the innerphone is better than that of the headphone. In addition, the innerphone requires only a small storage space and is handy for carring.
However, in the type of innerphone with its housing inserted into the cavity of the auricle, the size of the housing cannot be made larger than the cavity in the center part of the auricle near the earhole. Thus, the speaker unit cannot be made larger. Therefore, the low tones reproduced by the innerphone have less dynamism than those reproduced by the headphone.
This disadvantage of the poor quality of the low tones is overcome in the type of innerphone wherein the housing is held by the cooperation of the housing and the support with holding the auricle therebetween.
In this conventional type of innerphone, however, since the hook of the support is only hung on the constricted part of the auricle, the support itself is not always held on the constricted part stably. Accordingly, the feeling of mounting the innerphone is not good. Moreover, since the housing tends to slip off the right position, a gap between the housing and the face of the auricle is liable to be formed. Through this gap, the reproduced sounds from the speaker unit leak out of the ear and the outside noises enter the ear. As a result, in the above-mentioned type of innerphone, quality of the reproduced sounds deteriorates. In addition, in the above-mentioned type of innerphone, the shape of the hook is fixed and cannot be changed. On the other hand, the widths of the constricted parts of the auricles are various among the users. Therefore, in the conventional innerphone with the constant shape and size, there can be a case that the size of the hook does not fit the width of the constricted part of the auricle. In that case, not only the feeling of mounting the innerphone, but also the quality of the reproduced sounds are not good, since the housing is out of the right position.
In addition, in the case of the housing of substantially the same size as the auricle, such as the conventional housings of the headphone and the above-mentioned type innerphone, a face of the housing to contact the face of the auricle is substantially flat. Thus, when mounting such the housing on the auricle, a gap between the flat face and the auricle's face is formed. Through the gap, the reproduced sounds from the speaker unit leak out of the ear and the outer noises enter the ear. Thus, the quality of the reproduced sounds, particularly of the high tones, is not satisfactory enough in the case of the conventional headphone.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to produce an innerphone type acoustic transducer which is put on by pinching a user's auricle between a housing and a support thereof in cooperation, wherein the support itself is held more stably than the conventional transducer. Thus, the acoustic transducer of the present invention has better quality of its reproduced sounds than that of the conventional headphone or the acoustic transducer, without lacking the advantages of the innerphone type, that is, (a) the better feeling of mounting it; (b) the less storage space; and (c) the better portability; than the conventional headphone.
In order to achieve the above object, an acoustic transducer of the present invention comprises
a housing having an electroacoustic transducer;
a support comprising a hook
(a) being for holding a constricted part of an auricle therewith, said constricted part attaching said auricle to the user's temporal bone of head,
(b) having a substantial shape of the letter C (C-shape), and
(c) having means for changing or adjusting a gap between an upper part and a lower part of the C-shape,
said support being for supporting said housing on said auricle by gently-pinching said auricle in cooperation of and between said hook and said housing; and
a connecting member connecting said housing and said support, in the manner that said housing and said support gently pinch said auricle therebetween.
The support of the acoustic transducer is mounted on the constricted part of the auricle stably by the hook. Moreover, the housing and the support are held by the auricle therebetween cooperatingly. In this manner, the acoustic transducer of the present invention is firmly mounted on the auricle. Accordingly, without a headband of the conventional type of headphone, the comparatively large housing is held on the auricle.
The support is mounted by that an upper part and a lower part of the hook in the C-shape embrace the constricted part of the auricle therein. Therefore, in comparison with a conventional case that a single hook in a constant shape is hung on the auricle such as a temple of glasses, the support of this invention is mounted on the auricle more stably.
Moreover, the user changes or adjusts the shape of the in
Kono Kazunori
Mizukami Tatsuto
Suefuji Mikio
Yagi Ryouichi
Yamasaki Takayoshi
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Sheridan Ross PC
Tran Sinh
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