Telephonic communications – Terminal – Having loudspeaking conversation capability
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-11
2001-03-06
Chiang, Jack (Department: 2742)
Telephonic communications
Terminal
Having loudspeaking conversation capability
C379S430000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06198821
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 87211793, filed Jul. 21, 1998, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an adapter. More particularly, the present invention relates that act as a link between an earphone-microphone and a mobile telephone.
2. Description of Related Art
As wireless communication continues to develop and semiconductor fabrication techniques continue to improve, mobile telephones are becoming more lightweight, compact and multi-functional. In fact, the mobile telephone has become a piece of indispensable communication equipment in our daily lives. However, in some situations, holding a mobile telephone with a hand is inconvenient or even dangerous. For example, using a hand to reach for a mobile telephone while driving a car can be quite hazardous. Therefore, most mobile telephones have a socket for connecting to an external earphone-microphone set.
FIG. 1A
is a schematic drawing of a conventional earphone-microphone set and a mobile telephone.
FIG. 1B
is a circuit diagram showing the electrical connection within the earphone-microphone set as shown in FIG.
1
A.
As shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
, the earphone-microphone set
100
comprises an earphone
120
, a microphone
130
and a plug
110
. The plug is a plug containing three terminals
111
,
112
and
113
. One end of the microphone
130
is connected to the terminal
111
of plug
110
, while the other end of the microphone
130
is connected to the terminal
112
of plug
110
. The plug
110
is made to fit into the socket
13
of a mobile telephone
10
. The socket
13
has internal contacting points (not shown in the Fig.) for connecting with the three corresponding terminals of the plug
110
. Therefore, when the plug
110
is plugged into the socket
13
, the earphone
120
and microphone
130
are connected to the internal circuit of the mobile telephone
10
.
When the earphone-microphone set needs to be used, the user can put the earphone
120
onto one's ear. The microphone
130
is specially positioned so that it is close to the user's mouth when the earphone is plugged into the ear. Hence, the user can use the mobile phone without having to hold it with a hand.
Although the aforementioned conventional earphone-microphone set
100
can provide mobile telephone user with much convenience and safety, the mobile telephone is usually placed somewhere out of sight. For example, most users wear their mobile telephone around their waists. Hence, when there is an incoming call, the user has to grope for the buttons on the telephone panel, and press the correct button before being able to receive the call. This method of receiving calls causes great inconveniences, especially when the user is driving a car, because a user must divert his or her gaze to look for the mobile phone. Consequently, mobile telephone manufacturers have decided to add new functions to the conventional earphone-microphone set.
FIG. 2A
is a sketch of a newer version of conventional earphone-microphone set and a mobile telephone.
FIG. 2B
is a circuit diagram showing electrical connection within the earphone-microphone set as shown in FIG.
2
A.
As shown in
FIGS. 2A and 2B
, the microphone
200
similarly has an earphone
220
, a microphone
230
and a plug
210
. However, an additional call-receiving switch
240
is also installed at a convenient location for picking up incoming calls so that a four-terminal plug
210
is used. The plug
210
has four terminals including
211
,
212
,
213
and
214
. Connection of the terminals to the earphone and microphone is very similar to the aforementioned earphone-microphone set
100
in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
.
In other words, the two ends of the microphone
230
are connected to the terminals
211
and
213
of the plug
210
, respectively. The two ends of the earphone
220
are connected to terminal
212
and terminal
213
of the plug
210
, respectively. The two ends of the call-receiving switch
240
are connected to the terminal
213
and the extra terminal
214
of the plug
210
, respectively. The plug
210
can be plugged into the socket
23
of a mobile telephone
20
. After the plug
210
is plugged into the socket
23
, the four terminals of the plug
210
are connected to the corresponding internal contacting points (not shown) within the mobile telephone
20
.
Hence, the earphone
220
and the microphone
230
are both connected to the internal circuit of the telephone
20
. The mobile telephone
20
has special circuit for detecting any change of state in the switch
240
connected in parallel between terminals
213
and
214
. If the user flips the switch
240
from open to close position, this reflects the user's needs to pick up an incoming call.
Although the second conventional earphone-microphone set
200
is able to pick up incoming calls with ease, the set
200
still does not have a muting function. Therefore, some inconvenience still exists in operation. For example, when a user is communicating with a second person at the other end of a mobile telephone, and if the user also wants to discuss private or confidential matters with a third person nearby and does not want their conversation to be overheard by the second person, the user has to take the earphone-microphone set off the ear and leave it in a far away place.
When the user has finished discussion with the third party, the user has to fetch the earphone-microphone set and put it back on. Moreover, even if the earphone-microphone set is far away from the user, the highly sensitive microphone can still pick up some signals and broadcast to the other side of the mobile telephone. Furthermore, the older type of earphone-microphone set cannot be re-used. If the new call-receiving function on the earphone-microphone set is required, one has to purchase the entire earphone-microphone set. Consequently, not only is money wasted, but the old earphone-microphone sets are also wasted, too.
Hence, in summary, the two types of conventional earphone-microphone sets have the following drawbacks:
1. Without a muting function, using the mobile telephone is inconvenient. It is difficult to prevent the other party on the other side of the mobile telephone to overhear private conversation.
2. Newer functions cannot be added to the old earphone-microphone set. Consequently, a complete earphone-microphone set must to be purchased, and the old earphone-microphone set has to be thrown away. This is a waste of the user's money and resources.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need to provide an adapter for improving the earphone-microphone set operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is to provide an earphone-microphone adapter that links an earphone-microphone set with a mobile telephone. The adapter has a call-receiving switch for receiving incoming calls and a muting switch for mute operation of the earphone-microphone set. Moreover, old earphone-microphone sets can also be re-used by plugging the old set into one end of the adapter.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides an adapter for connecting an earphone-microphone set to a mobile telephone. The earphone-microphone set comprises an earphone, a microphone and a first plug, wherein the plug has a first, a second and a third terminal. The microphone is connected between the first terminal and the third terminal of the first plug, whereas the earphone is connected between the second terminal and the third terminal of the first plug.
The adapter includes a second plug, a socket, a muting switch and a call-receiving switch. The second plug has four terminals including a first, a second, a third and a fourth terminal for connecting with the mobile telephone. The socket has a first contact point, a second contact point and a third c
Chiang Jack
Cotron Corporation
Huang Jiawei
J.C. Patents
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