Patent Grant
8597061
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an earphone plug, and more particularly to an earphone plug that is applicable to both system specifications of Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) by using a mechanical member to alternately switch signal interfaces of the plug.
2. Related Art
Currently an earphone is one of the indispensable parts for portable electronic products (such as, a mobile phone, a MP3 player, and a PDA). The earphone includes an earphone plug adapted to receive electronic signals, and a loudspeaker adapted to convert the electronic signals into acoustic signals. In recent years, with the rapid popularization of the mobile phone, if a user intends to use the hand-free handset function of the mobile phone, a microphone is required to add to the earphone, so as to achieve the purposes of safety and convenience in communication. Currently, the most common earphone plugs may be divided into a three-electrode mode and a four-electrode mode. The three-electrode mode is mainly used in a monophonic earphone and the four-electrode mode is applicable to a stereophonic earphone. Each electrode on the terminal of the earphone is a signal interface, which can interactively transmit electronic signals with an electronic product through the earphone jack connected with the electronic product.
However, except for the above OMTP system, the signal interfaces A1, A2, A3, A4 of the earphone plug currently still can be configured in another manner, that is, the signal interface A1 transmits the left channel signals; the signal interface A2 transmits the right channel signals; the signal interface A3 transmits the grounding signals, and the signal interface A4 transmits the microphone signals. The configuration manner belongs to an AT&T system.
The above two system configurations are still prevalent in the earphone jacks and earphone plugs of many mobile phones. Thus, if a consumer inserts an earphone plug of the OMTP system into an earphone jack of the AT&T system, some sounds are eliminated, that is, the function cannot be fully performed. Thus, for the user, the safest is to use the accompanying earphone provided by the mobile phone manufacturer. However, in fact, the users always hope that their earphones can be applicable to different mobile phones; in other words, the earphones can be applicable to different system specifications. That is, no matter what type of earphone jack is encountered, the earphone plug can insert into without degrading functional performances, such as music transmission and voice transmission functions.
Thus, in order to meet the requirement of the user that a single part should be applicable to multiple products, it is necessary to improve the conventional design of the earphone plug.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an earphone plug applicable to different system specifications, in which signal interfaces of the earphone plug are alternately switched by rotating a structural member on the plug so as to be applicable to both OMTP and AT&T system specifications.
To achieve the above objectives, an earphone plug applicable to different system specifications according to the present invention comprises a terminal and a switch device. The terminal has a plurality of signal interfaces thereon that are respectively adapted to transmit signals. The switch device is combined with the terminal, and has a first conductor and a second conductor thereon. When the switch device is switched between a first mode and a second mode, the first conductor and the second conductor alternately contact with two of the signal interfaces.
To achieve the above objectives, in the earphone plug applicable to different system specifications according to the present invention, the signal interfaces of the terminal are respectively adapted to transmit left channel signals, right channel signals, microphone signals, and grounding signals. The first conductor and the second conductor alternately contact with the two signal interfaces responsible for transmitting the microphone signals and the grounding signals, and allow the signal interfaces on the terminal to transmit signals in a different order. Thus, the earphone plug is applicable to both system specifications of OMTP and AT&T.
Compared with the prior art, the earphone plug according to the present invention takes advantage of the two conductors of the switch device disposed on the terminal which alternately contact with two signal interfaces and allow the signal interfaces on the terminal to transmit signals in a different order. Thus, the earphone plug is compatible with earphone jacks of both OMTP and AT&T systems and applicable to mobile phones with different systems, so that functions such as music transmission and voice transmission can be effectively performed.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
An earphone plug applicable to different system specifications according to preferred embodiments of the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to relevant drawings.
Referring to
As shown in
In the drawings, the terminal 20 has a group of external signal interfaces and a group of internal signal interfaces. The external signal interfaces include a first signal interface 21, a second signal interface 22, a third signal interface 23, and a fourth signal interface 24; and the internal signal interfaces may include a first signal interface 25, a second signal interface 26, a third signal interface 27, and a fourth signal interface 28. The above signal interfaces are isolated with each other by an insulation area 29. It should be noted that in the internal structure of the terminal 20, the first signal interface 21 of the external signal interfaces is electrically connected to the first signal interface 25 of the internal signal interfaces, and other external interfaces and internal interfaces are correspondingly connected to each other.
The above third signal interface 27 of the internal signal interfaces has a conduction area 271 and an insulation area 272 thereon, and the fourth signal area 28 also has a conduction area 281 and an insulation area 282 thereon. As the insulation areas 272 and 282 are added, the conduction areas 271 and 281 become smaller. According to an interlacing design of the insulation areas 272 and 282, the conduction areas 271 and 281 are also interlaced.
In the drawings, the first conductor 31 of the switch device 30 further includes a first pin 311 and a second pin 312; the second conductor 32 also includes a third pin 321 and a fourth pin 322. The first pin 311 and the third pin 321 correspondingly contact against the third signal interface 27 of the terminal 20; the second pin 312 and the fourth pin 322 correspondingly contact against the fourth signal interface 28 of the terminal 20.
In the drawings, the wire assembly 40 has four wires which are electrically connected to the first signal interfaces 21 (25), the second signal interfaces 22 (26), the first conductor 31, and the second conductor 32 respectively.
In the drawings, one end of the internal module 50 wraps the internal signal interfaces of the terminal 20, and the other end is provided for the wire assembly 40 to pass through to be electrically connected to the terminal 20. An opening 51 is disposed on the part of the internal module 50 wrapping the terminal 20, and thus the third signal interface 27 and the fourth signal interface 28 of the internal signal interfaces are exposed. When the ring-shaped switch device 30 is sleeved on the internal module 50, the first conductor 31 and the second conductor 32 may contact with the third signal interface 27 and the fourth signal interface 28 through the opening 51.
In the drawings, the external module 60 and the switch sleeve 70 are sleeved on the internal module 50 from opposite sides. The wire assembly 40 extends from the end of the external module 60, and the switch sleeve 70 is combined with the switch device 30 when being sleeved on the internal module 50. A reference point 61, such as a notch or a mark, is disposed on the external module 60, and a first mode mark 71 and a second mode mark 72 are marked on the switch sleeve 70. For example, when the first mode mark 71 is OMTP and the second mode mark 72 is AT&T. If the switch sleeve 70 is rotated to correspond the mark “OMTP” to the reference point 61, the earphone plug 100 is in the first mode, that is, the earphone plug is applicable to the OMTP system; and if the switch sleeve 70 is rotated to correspond the mark “AT&T” to the reference point 61, the earphone plug 100 is in the second mode, that is, the earphone plug is applicable to the AT&T system.
Referring to
In the OMTP mode according to
In this mode, the first pin 311 of the first conductor 31 contacts with the conduction area 271 of the third signal interface 27, the second pin 312 contacts with the insulation area 282 of the fourth signal interface 28, the third pin 321 of the second conductor 32 contacts with the insulation area 272 of the third signal interface 27, and the fourth pin 322 contacts with the conduction area 281 of the fourth signal interface 28. Therefore, the first signal interface 21, the second signal interface 22, the third signal interface 23, and the fourth signal interface 24 in the external signal interfaces are respectively provided for transmitting the left channel signals, the right channel signals, the microphone signals, and the grounding signals, and thus the earphone plug is applicable to products of the OMTP system.
If the switch sleeve 70 is rotated to the position as shown in
To sum up, the earphone plug applicable to different system specifications according to the present invention designs interlaced conduction areas and insulation areas on the signal interfaces on the terminal that are responsible for transmitting the microphone signals and the grounding signals, and combines with the switch device to extend the two conductors for interlaced contact and conduction on the interlaced conduction areas and insulation areas, so that the third signal interface and the fourth signal interface in the external signal interfaces of the terminal are enabled to transmit different signals in different modes. Thus, a mode-switching effect is achieved, and the earphone plug is compatible with both the OMTP system and the AT&T system and applicable to the mobile phones with different systems, so that functions such as music transmission and voice transmission can be effectively performed.
The above descriptions should only be regarded as examples and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any equivalent modifications or variations to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention should all be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6979231 | Shinohara | Dec 2005 | B2 |
| 7618294 | Lin et al. | Nov 2009 | B1 |
| 20110026755 | Wu et al. | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| 20120128169 | Tung et al. | May 2012 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120178296 A1 | Jul 2012 | US |
