Patent Application
20200204898
N/A
Portable electronic devices are commonly used in public spaces and carried with a person throughout a day. The ability to engage with the audio of a personal device privately for the entire day is important. Providing additional charge to private audio earphones allows a user to continue using small, convenient devices throughout the day without introducing large batteries to the earphones.
However, maintaining the small form factor of convenient earphones requires pairing the earphones to yet another electronic device, increasing the number of electronic devices. Further, a user may desire to use the earphones with a variety of devices and to provide audio commands to a variety of devices, complicating the user's experience and limiting the convenience of the earphones.
In some embodiments, an electronic device for charging earphones includes a housing, a processor, a power supply, a wireless communication device, and a hardware storage device in data communication with the processor. The housing is configured to couple with the earphones. The power supply is in electrical communication with the processor and with an electrical contact to provide electrical communication with earphones. The wireless communication device is in data communication with the processor and configured to be in wireless data communication with the earphones. The hardware storage device is in data communication with the processor.
In some embodiments, an electronic communication system includes an earphone and an electronic device for charging the earphone. The earphone includes a microphone, a first wireless communication device, and a speaker. The electronic device for charging the earphone includes a housing, a processor, a battery, a second wireless communication device, and a hardware storage device. The housing has a port into which the earphone may dock. The battery is in electrical communication with the processor and with an electrical contact to provide electrical communication with earphones when docked. The second wireless communication device is in data communication with the processor and configured to be in wireless data communication with the earphones. The hardware storage device is in data communication with the processor.
In some embodiments, an electronic device for charging earphones includes a housing, a processor, a battery, a first wireless communication device, a second wireless communication device, and a hardware storage device in data communication with the processor. The housing is configured to couple with the earphones. The battery is in electrical communication with the processor and with an electrical contact to provide electrical communication with earphones. The first wireless communication device is in data communication with the processor and configured to be in wireless data communication with the earphones. The second wireless communication device is in data communication with the processor and configured to provide data communication between the electronic device and a data network. The hardware storage device is in data communication with the processor.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of such embodiments. The features and advantages of such embodiments may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims or may be learned by the practice of such embodiments as set forth hereinafter.
In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other features of the disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. For better understanding, the like elements have been designated by like reference numbers throughout the various accompanying figures. While some of the drawings may be schematic or exaggerated representations of concepts, at least some of the drawings may be drawn to scale. Understanding that the drawings depict some example embodiments, the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
This disclosure generally relates to devices, systems, and methods for providing audio communications in a portable device. More specifically, the present disclosure relates the use of earphones with a supplemental charging case having data connectivity. The charging case provides a data connection through wired or wireless communication with another electronic device or data network. The data connection allows the earphones to provide audio notifications or communications without another computing device. In some embodiments, the charging case has a data connection to the earphones to provide information. In other embodiments, a microphone and/or speaker of the earphones is usable while the earphones are docked to the charging case.
The housing 110 may include a case electrical contact 114. The case electrical contact 114 may contact and provide an electrical communication with an earphone electrical contact 116 positioned on the earphone 102. The electrical communication through the case electrical contact 114 and the earphone electrical contact 116 may allow the case 104 to provide electrical power to the earphones 102. In some embodiments, the case 104 may include a power supply to power the earphones 102 while the earphones 102 are docked in the ports 112 of the case 104. In other embodiments, the case 104 includes a power supply to charge a battery of the earphones 102, such that the earphones 102 can operate when not docked in the ports 112 of the case 104. In some embodiments, the power supply is a battery. In other embodiments, the power supply is a wired power supply that may draw electricity from another source, such as an electrical outlet.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In some embodiments, a system 300 includes data communication between the earphones 302 and the case 304, as shown in
The hardware storage device 428 may be any platen-based storage device, solid-state storage device, or other non-transitory or long-term storage device. The hardware storage device 428 may have instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor 424 cause the processor 424 to perform any of the methods or techniques described herein.
In some embodiments, the case 504 includes a second case communication device 522-2. For example, the first case communication device 522-1 may pair with or otherwise provide communication with the earphones, as described in relation to
In some embodiments, the external electronic device 530 may additionally be connected to the internet or another data network and relay information from the data network through the external electronic device 530 to the case 504. In some examples, the external electronic device 530 may be a smartphone; a tablet personal computer (PC); a laptop PC; a desktop PC; a network server; a network router; a wearable electronic device, such as a smartwatch, head-mounted device, wrist-mounted device, or other wearable device; or other electronic devices containing at least one communication device through which the case 504 may communicate.
In some embodiments, the case 504 may optionally have one or more audio components 532 to supplement the audio components of the earphones. For example, the case 504 may relay information to the earphones through the first case communication device 522-1 while the earphones are worn by a user. However, when the earphones are docked with the case 504 and being charged via the electrical contact 514 in the housing 510, the user may be unable to receive audio information from or provide audio information to the earphones.
One or more audio components 532 in the case 504 allows the case 504 provide or receive audio information without relaying the information through the earphones. For example, the audio component 532 in the case 504 may include a microphone, a speaker, or both. The user may have the option, therefore, of receiving audio information from a speaker in the case 504 when the user receives a text message (e.g., MMS message, SMS message, or other text-based messaging service), voice call (e.g., a cellular voice call or a voice over IP or “VOIP” call), email, or other communication from the external computing device 530 or data network. However, in some cases, the user may desire to receive the audio information privately. The user may undock the earphones from the case 504 and use the speakers of the earphones to listen to the audio information without concern for other individuals listening. In such examples, the case 504 may include a microphone, but no speakers.
In yet other embodiments, a system 600 leverages the audio components of the earphones 602 when the earphones 602 are docked, as shown in
In such embodiments, the data connection between the earphones 602 and the case 604 allows the microphone 608 to transmit audio information or audio commands to the case 604. In some embodiments, the case 604 may then transmit the audio information or audio commands to an external computing device or data network.
In some embodiments, the speaker 706 and microphone 708 of the earphone 702 are positioned on opposite sides of the case 704 when docked in the case 704, such as shown in
Still other embodiments of a system 800 have a case speaker 838 and/or a case microphone 840 positioned in the case 804 (such as described in relation to
For example, if the batteries in the earphones 802 deplete, the case speaker 838 and/or a case microphone 840 may be used as backup audio components. In another examples, the user may move the earphones 802 and case 804 away from one another beyond the range of the earphone communication device and the case communication device (e.g., earphone wireless communication device 320 and the case wireless communication device 322 described in relation to
In some embodiments, an earphone 802 has a button, switch, touch-sensing surface, or other input device 841 positioned on a surface of the earphone. The input device 841 may be exposed while the earphone 802 is docked in the case 804, allowing the user to provide physical commands to the system 800 by touching, moving, or clicking the input device 841.
The method further includes directing data from the earphone to a processor of the charging case via the data connection at 946. For example, a user may speak into a microphone of the earphone and the earphone may transmit that audio information from the earphone to the charging case via the data connection. A case communication device can then transmit the data to the processor located in the charging case. In some embodiments, the processor stores the audio information in a hardware storage device. In other embodiments, the processor further transmits the audio information to an external computing device. In yet other embodiments, the processor evaluates the audio information to search for any recognized audio commands that may instruct the processor to execute additional tasks.
For example,
The audio information is transmitted from the microphone to a processor of the charging case. The method 1048 further includes recognizing at least one audio command in the audio information at 1052. For example, the audio information may contain an initialization command that the processor recognizes. The initialization command can then be followed by an additional audio command to instruct the processor to perform a task. An example initialization command may be “Hey [device],” which prompts the processor to accept the next piece of audio information as an audio command, and the audio command may be “send a text message.” Such an audio command may allow dictation of a text message. Other example audio commands include instructing the processor to place a voice call, send an email, read an email, read a text message, record a voice memo, or create a calendar event.
After recognizing at least one audio command, the method further includes accessing an external computing device 1054 and executing at least one task on the external computing device at 1056. In some embodiments, accessing the external computing device and executing a task on the external computing device include communicating with a paired smartphone, where the smartphone performs the task (such as sending a text message, email, or voice call). In other embodiments, accessing the external computing device and executing a task on the external computing device includes communicating with a data network and, through the data network, sending instructions to execute a task associated with the audio command on an external computing device.
In some embodiments, the charging case 1104 may translate audio commands from a user to instructions that are recognized by the external computing device 1130. For example, the charging case 1104 may receive an audio command to send an email. The same audio command may not be recognized by the external computing device 1130. The charging case 1104 may process the audio command and transmit instructions in a format recognized by the external computing device 1130. This may allow the user to provide audio commands to external computing devices 1130 that would not otherwise be controllable by audio commands provided directly (or through the earphones 1102) to the external computing device 1130. In at least one example, a cloud-based computer may be unable to recognize an audio command of “Hey [device], send an email,” while the charging case 1104 may interpret that audio command for the cloud-based computer and send instructions to the cloud-based computer.
In another example, the data network 1158 may provide data communication to a plurality of external computing devices with different functionality. The charging case 1104 may recognize a known set of audio commands, simplifying the experience for a user, and may direct instructions to a variety of external computing devices based on the nature of the instructions. In a particular example, a charging case 1104 may be in data communication with a smartphone. A first audio command may instruct the smartphone to place a voice call. A second audio command may instruct a cloud-based computer to create a calendar event on a calendar stored on the cloud-based storage. In both cases, the user only need to interact with the system 1100 of the earphones 1102 and/or the charging case 1104.
One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. These described embodiments are examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual embodiment may be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, as in any engineering or design project, numerous embodiment-specific decisions will be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one embodiment to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements in the preceding descriptions. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. For example, any element described in relation to an embodiment herein may be combinable with any element of any other embodiment described herein. Numbers, percentages, ratios, or other values stated herein are intended to include that value, and also other values that are “about” or “approximately” the stated value, as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art encompassed by embodiments of the present disclosure. A stated value should therefore be interpreted broadly enough to encompass values that are at least close enough to the stated value to perform a desired function or achieve a desired result. The stated values include at least the variation to be expected in a suitable manufacturing or production process, and may include values that are within 5%, within 1%, within 0.1%, or within 0.01% of a stated value.
A person having ordinary skill in the art should realize in view of the present disclosure that equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made to embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Equivalent constructions, including functional “means-plus-function” clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function, including both structural equivalents that operate in the same manner, and equivalent structures that provide the same function. It is the express intention of the applicant not to invoke means-plus-function or other functional claiming for any claim except for those in which the words ‘means for’ appear together with an associated function. Each addition, deletion, and modification to the embodiments that falls within the meaning and scope of the claims is to be embraced by the claims.
The terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” as used herein represent an amount close to the stated amount that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of a stated amount. Further, it should be understood that any directions or reference frames in the preceding description are merely relative directions or movements. For example, any references to “up” and “down” or “above” or “below” are merely descriptive of the relative position or movement of the related elements.
The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
