Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Electro-acoustic audio transducer – Plural or compound reproducers
Reissue Patent
1998-03-03
2001-10-02
Le, Huyen (Department: 2743)
Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices
Electro-acoustic audio transducer
Plural or compound reproducers
C381S370000, C381S373000
Reissue Patent
active
RE037398
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headphone and more particularly to a headphone provided with a housing containing a drive unit and adapted to reproduce sound by means of the drive unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
The headphone is used for personally enjoying reproduced sound of music and the like. Such headphones are generally divided into two types: open-air type and closed type.
The headphone of the open-air type has a permeable ear pad and has the housing containing the drive unit and provided with a through hole formed therein. Therefore, when a listener wears the headphone to listen to a reproduced sound, the sound produced within the housing easily leaks out and also sound from the outside can be heard by the listener. While the headphone of the open-air type has acoustic transmissibility between inside and outside the housing and, hence, it allows the sound to be heard as a natural sound, the sound is greatly attenuated in the low-pitched sound range below f0 (the lowest resonance frequency) and tends to lack the low-pitched sound component.
On the other hand, the closed type headphone has the housing containing the drive unit closed and has the ear pad keeping sound from leaking out. Although a rich sound characteristic in the low-pitched sound range can be obtained from the closed type, it is difficult to obtain a natural sound from this type.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a headphone capable of obtaining both the merit of the open-air type headphone introducing the external sound therein thereby providing a refreshing sound and the merit of the closed type headphone having a rich sound characteristic extended over the low-pitched sound range.
A headphone according to the present invention is structured such that a window hole is formed in the housing containing a drive unit and the window hole is covered with a diaphragm, so that the external sound is transmissible through the window hole, and hence a listener putting on this headphone can hear the external sound while the reproduced sound in the low-pitched sound range below f0 is not attenuated. Thus, the listener can perceive a refreshing and natural sound.
Further, since the window hole is adapted to be shut when necessary, the headphone can be used also as that of closed type by shutting the window hole.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3661225 (1972-05-01), Anderson
patent: 3798393 (1974-03-01), Gorike
patent: 4005278 (1977-01-01), Gorike
patent: 4027116 (1977-05-01), Nakamura
patent: 4041256 (1977-08-01), Ohta et al.
patent: 4160135 (1979-07-01), Gorike
patent: 4742887 (1988-05-01), Yamagishi
patent: 4924502 (1990-05-01), Allen et al.
patent: 4958697 (1990-09-01), Moody
patent: 5208868 (1993-05-01), Sapiejewski
patent: 2547925 (1976-05-01), None
patent: 2908326 (1979-09-01), None
Le Huyen
Maioli Jay H.
Sony Corporation
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