Patent Application
20050265573
In a wireless communication network, there may be a plurality of mobile terminals or devices. Such devices may be carried by a user, attached to the user (e.g., by a belt hook, etc.), attached to a user's vehicle (e.g., a forklift, etc.), etc. Depending on the tasks which the user is performing, the user may want to use the mobile device in a hands free manner. A feature which facilitates the use of a mobile device in a hands free mode is the use of an ear phone or headset with the mobile unit. However, standard ear phones have problems because they tend to disconnect from the mobile device and plugging an earphone jack into the mobile device may decrease the industrial rating of the device because the earphone jack does not meet the same standards of ruggedness as the entire device.
Described is an earphone jack, comprising an attachment assembly including a pin connector for insertion into an earpiece receptacle of a mobile unit, a cord, a portion of the cord being molded to the attachment assembly, the cord being conductively connected to the pin connector and an earphone connecter coupled to the cord.
In addition, a mobile computing device, comprising a housing to contain the computing components of the mobile computing device, the housing including a earpiece receptacle, an attachment assembly including a pin connector for insertion into the earpiece receptacle, a cord molded to the attachment assembly, the cord being conductively connected to the pin connector and an earphone connecter coupled to the cord.
Furthermore, an attachment assembly for an earphone jack, comprising a pin connector to insert into a earpiece receptacle of a mobile unit and a connection assembly to semi-permanently couple the attachment assembly to a housing of the mobile unit, wherein, when the attachment assembly is coupled to the housing, an area of attachment is sealed from penetration of environmental contaminants.
The present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals.
The mobile units 20-26 may be any type of mobile computing or processor based device that are adapted to operate in the system 1. The access point 10 may be, for example, a router, switch or bridge that connects the wireless and wired networks. Those of skill in the art will understand that the system 1 is only exemplary and is simply used to place the exemplary embodiments of the present invention in context. The present invention is to be implemented on the mobile units of the system 1 and the configuration of the wireless communications network for which the mobile units are deployed is not relevant to the present invention.
As described previously, a problem with connecting earpieces to mobile units is that they become easily detached from the mobile unit. The exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a fixed mounted earpiece jack which prevents the earpiece jack from becoming detached from the mobile unit. This allows a user of the mobile unit to use the mobile unit in a hands free manner without the worry of the earpiece jack becoming disconnected from the mobile unit and the user losing audio.
The cord 105 conducts the audio signal from the mobile unit to an earphone (not shown). The earphone is connected to the earphone jack 100 via the earphone connector 120. The earphone may be plugged into the earphone connector 120 such that the earphone is detachably connected. Since the earphone jack 100 of the present invention is a fixed mounted earphone jack that is semi-permanently attached to the mobile unit, e.g., the earphone jack 100 is detachable by unscrewing the screws placed through screw holes 114 and 116, the earphone connector 120 may include a break-away or quick release connector such that the earphone may be released for safety purposes.
This view of the attachment assembly 110 shows the opposite side of the screw holes 114 and 116, a fitted molded portion 117 and a pin connector 118. As described above, the attachment assembly 110 may be connected to the mobile unit using screws attached through the screw holes 114 and 116. The fitted molded portion 117 will be described in greater detail below, but is used to fit within a recessed portion of the mobile unit.
The pin connector 118 fits into an earpiece receptacle on the mobile unit. A standard earpiece receptacle on a mobile unit is a cylindrical female recess made of a conducting material. The pin connector 118 is a cylindrical male conductor (or other shape) which fits into the female recess of the mobile unit. The pin connector 118 is conductively connected to the cord 105 within the attachment assembly 110. Thus, the pin connector 118 conducts the signal from the mobile unit to the cord 105.
The fixed mounted earphone jack 100 may be connected to the mobile unit by inserting the pin connector 118 into the earpiece receptacle 155. The pin connector 118 may be sized to cause some compression on the pin connector when inserted into the earpiece receptacle 155 to establish electrical contact between the conducting surfaces. The screw holes 114 and 116 of the earphone jack 100 are also lined up with the screw holes in the housing of the mobile unit 150 corresponding to the screw holes 162 and 164 of the door 160. Screws are then used to semi-permanently attach the attachment assembly 110 to the mobile unit 150.
The door 160 may be removed from the mobile unit 150 because the earphone jack 100 will also perform the function of the door, e.g., holding the compact flash card in place, covering the recess, etc. As described above, the earphone jack 100 may include the fitted molded portion 117 which may also fit into the recess in the mobile unit to provide a secure fitting and to seal any gaps which could lead to dust, water, etc. penetrating into the recess of the mobile unit.
Those of skill in the art will understand that the exemplary earphone jack 100 is shown as molded in the shape of the end of the exemplary mobile unit 150. Different embodiments of an attachment assembly of an earphone jack according to the present invention may have various shapes based on the mobile unit to which the earphone jack will be attached. Thus, the attachment assembly may be molded or formed to follow a contour of the mobile unit to which it is attached. Furthermore, the attachment assembly may assume a shape based on the functionality of covering recesses or other openings in the mobile unit in order for the mobile unit to achieve a desired industrial rating.
Referring back to
To further this goal, the attachment assembly 110 may also include a gasket material which is interposed between the attachment assembly 110 and the housing of the mobile unit 150 to protect from any contaminants penetrating between the attachment assembly 110 and the mobile unit 150.
In addition, there may be other manners of attaching the earphone jack to the mobile unit. In the above described example, the mobile unit had threaded screw holes which were used to attach the earphone jack. Other mobile units may have threaded screw holes in different locations which can be used for attachment. The attachment assembly may be altered accordingly to provide for screw holes at various locations.
The mobile unit 250 includes an earpiece receptacle 252 and a set of clips 254 and 256. The pin connector 218 fits into the earpiece receptacle 252. The button 222 is pressed causing the clips 224 and 226 to fan out as shown in
The mobile unit 350 includes an earpiece receptacle 352 and a recess area 355. The recess area 355 may be any recess used for the attachment of peripheral devices to the mobile unit 350, such as the recess described above for the placement of the compact flash card. The pin connector 318 fits into the earpiece receptacle 352. The button 322 is pressed causing the clips 324 and 326 to move toward each other as shown in
The above provided several examples of manners by which the earphone jack of the present invention may be semi-permanently attached to a mobile unit. However, those of skill in the art will understand that there are numerous other manners of semi-permanently attaching a earphone jack according to the present invention to a mobile unit.
The present invention has been described with the reference to the above exemplary embodiments. One skilled in the art would understand that the present invention may also be successfully implemented if modified. Accordingly, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broadest spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings, accordingly, should be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.
