BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a structure of a related headphone;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are side views of a structure of a related headphone including a slider case;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a headphone according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the headphone;
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a sliding mechanism of a slider of the headphone;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the sliding mechanism of the slider;
FIG. 7 is a front view of a cord form;
FIGS. 8A and 8B are a vertical sectional view and an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the cord form in the slider;
FIGS. 9A and 9B are side views of a main portion of a structure, showing sliding of the slider;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a main portion of a sliding mechanism of a slider according to a modification including a sliding pawl;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the sliding pawl;
FIGS. 12A and 12B are front views of a main portion of a structure according to a modification including a sliding mechanism including three cylindrical members;
FIG. 13 is a front view of a headphone according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a main portion of a sliding mechanism of a slider of the headphone;
FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged side views illustrating sliding of the slider;
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a main portion of a sliding mechanism according to a modification; and
FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view of the main portion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The invention of the application will hereunder be described with reference to illustrated embodiments. First, a first embodiment will be described. FIGS. 3 and 4 show an entire structure of a headphone according to the first embodiment. The headphone includes a pair of left and right housings 15. Baffle plates are mounted in the housings 15 so as to close the entrances of the housings 15. Drive units including small speakers are mounted to inner sides of the respective baffle plates. When signal electric current passes through voice coils of the drive units, sound is reproduced on the basis of the same principle as that of a speaker. The housings 15 are rotatably connected to respective hangers 16, and are mounted to a headband 17 through the respective hangers 16. Ear pads 18 are mounted to inner peripheral portions of the respective housings 15.
Here, adjusting mechanisms for adjusting the positions of the housings 15 and the headband 17 relative to each other are provided. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the adjusting mechanisms include slidably supporting portions 20 mounted to respective ends of the headband 17, and slidably support sliders 22 at slide holes 21 of the respective slidably supporting portions 20. The sliders 22 are rotatably supported at the upper ends of the respective hangers 16, which rotatably support the housings 15, by rotating bearings 23.
Curled portions 28 of a cord 27, disposed in a holding groove 31 of the headband 17 and used to supply signal electrical current to the drive unit in the right housing 15 through the left housing 15, are spirally accommodated and held in the sliders 22. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the cord 27 has the curled portions 28 near respective ends thereof. The curled portions 28 are spirally accommodated in the sliders 22. As shown in FIG. 8, rotating cylindrical members 29 are connected to the lower ends of the respective sliders 22, and the sliders 22 are rotatably supported at the rotating cylindrical members 29 by the rotating bearings 23.
Draw-out grooves 30 extending axially in outer surfaces of the sliders 22 are formed in the respective sliders 22, rotatably connected by the rotating bearings 23 at the hangers 16. The cord 27 is drawn out through the draw-out grooves 30. Portions of the cord 27 at the upper sides of the curled portions 28 are drawn out from the sliders 22, and, then, passed into the slidably supporting portions 20, so that they are disposed in the holding groove 31 of the headband 17 (see FIG. 9). Portions of the cord 27, disposed at the lower end sides of the sliders 22 and drawn out from the rotating bearings 23 through the rotating bearings 29, are disposed in holding grooves 32 of the hangers 16.
Accordingly, in the headphone according to the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the cord 27 has the curled portions 28 at the respective ends of the cord 27, and, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the curled portions 28 are spirally accommodated in the left and right sliders 22 so that the curled portions 28 are capable of being stretched and compressed. Therefore, when, as shown in FIG. 9A (which is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 4 when the headband 17 is extended), the sliders 22 are drawn out from the respective slidably supporting portions 20, the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 in the hollow sliders 22 are stretched. In contrast, when the sliders 22 are pushed into the slidably supporting portions 20 at the headband 17, as shown in FIG. 9B (which is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 4 when the headband 17 is contracted), the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 are compressed.
When the distance between each housing 15 and the headband 17 is adjusted by sliding the corresponding slider 22, the problem that an excessive portion or an insufficient portion results from adjusting the length of the cord 27 can be solved by stretching or compressing each curled portion 28 in the corresponding hollow slider 22. In addition, such a structure can prevent exposure of the cord 27 to the outside when it is being stretched or compressed, so that it can prevent breakage of the cord caused by external shock. Further, even if the cord 27 is sufficiently drawn out, since the spiral forms of the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 are adequately maintained in the respective sliders 22, it is possible to prevent breakage of the cord 27 or the curled portions 28 caused by application of tension on the cord 27 or the curled portions 28.
When listening to music using such a headphone, as mentioned above, the lengths by which the sliders 22 are drawn out from the slidably supporting portions 20 are adjusted, so that the heights of the housings 15 with respect to the headband 17 are adjusted, thereby adjusting the housings 15 to their proper positions. In such a state, the headphone is placed on a head, and signal electrical current is supplied through the cord 27. When the signal electrical current is supplied, the signal electrical current is supplied not only to the drive unit in the left housing 15, but also to the drive unit in the right housing 15, so that the drive units in the respective housings 15 reproduce sound. This makes it possible for a person to, for example, enjoy music.
Next, a modification of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. In this modification, a sliding pawl 36 is disposed in each slidably supporting portion 20 supporting the corresponding slider 22. As shown in FIG. 11, each sliding pawl 36 includes a projection 37 at the top surface thereof, and a projecting portion 38 is formed at one side of each projection 37 so as to project upward therefrom. Each projection 37 has a draw-out hole 39. Each draw-out groove 40, connected to the corresponding draw-out hole 39, opens at a side of the corresponding sliding pawl 36.
Accordingly, the sliding pawls 36 are disposed in the respective slidably supporting portions 20, and the projections 37 of the sliding pawls 36 engage the respective draw-out grooves 30. This results in the projecting portions 38 of the sliding pawls 36 projecting into the respective sliders 22. The sliders 22 are prevented from rotating with respect to the slidably supporting portions 20 by the projections 37 and the projecting portions 38 of the respective sliding pawls 36.
Therefore, according to such a structure, as shown, in particular in FIG. 10, when the sliders 22 are considerably pushed into the slidably supporting portions 20, the projecting portions 38 of the sliding pawls 36 push the upper ends of the spiral portions, accommodated in the sliders 22, of the curled portions 28 of the cord 27. This, in particular, helps compress the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 in the sliders 22, so that the curled portions 28 are effectively compressed. The upper end sides of the cord 27, formed continuously with the curled portions 28, are drawn out sideways through the draw-out grooves 40 from the draw-out holes 39 of the sliding pawls 36, pass into the slidably supporting portions 20, and are disposed in the holding groove 31 of the headband 17.
Next, another modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. In a structure according to the modification, cylindrical members 46 are mounted to respective ends of the headband 17 through connecting portions 48, intermediate cylindrical members 45 (which are one size smaller than the cylindrical members 46) are slidably disposed with respect to the cylindrical members 46, and small cylindrical members 44 are slidably disposed in the cylindrical members 45. Here, the small innermost cylindrical members 44 are rotatably connected to the upper ends of the hangers 16 through the rotating bearings 23.
Accordingly, when the housings 15 are separated from the headband 17 by a large distance, as shown in FIG. 12A, the intermediate cylindrical members 45 are drawn out downward from the large cylindrical members 46, mounted to the headband 17 through the connecting portions 48. Then, also as shown in FIG. 12A, the small cylindrical members 44 at the lower end sides are drawn out from the intermediate cylindrical members 45. Therefore, here, the large outer cylindrical members 46 constitute slidably supporting portions with respect to the intermediate cylindrical members 45, and the intermediate cylindrical members 45 constitute slidably supporting portions with respect to the cylindrical members 44 at the front end sides.
When the housings 15 are disposed close to the headband 17, as shown in FIG. 12B, the small cylindrical members 44 at the lower sides are accommodated in the intermediate cylindrical members 45, and the intermediate cylindrical members 45 are accommodated in the large cylindrical members 46 at the outer sides. Here, relative accommodation amounts of the three types of cylindrical members 44, 45, and 46 are adjusted to make it possible to adjust the heights of the housings 15 with respect to the headband 17 to any heights.
Moreover, during such an adjustment, the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 are spirally accommodated in the innermost cylindrical members 44 so as to be capable of being stretched and compressed. Further, as is clear from FIGS. 12A and 12B, since the stretching and compression amounts of the curled portions 28 are properly set in accordance with the relative extending and contracting amounts of the three types of cylindrical members 44 to 46, the length of the cord 27 is thereby adjusted. In addition, here, the cord 27 is not exposed to the outside.
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15. In this embodiment, instead of the sliders 22 including hollow cylindrical members, U-shaped sliders 52 are used to adjust the distances of a headband 17 from respective housings 15. Upper-end bent portions of the sliders 52 are slidably supported in slide holes 21 of slidably supporting portions 20, connected to respective ends of the headband 17, and two lower-end portions of each slider 52 are bent towards each other to form bent portions 53. As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, such bent portions 53 are inserted in bearing ribs 54 at the upper ends of hangers 16, so that the lower ends of the sliders 52 are rotatably connected to the upper ends of the respective hangers 16. Such a structure can achieve functions comparable to those of the rotational connection structure according to the first embodiment.
Each curled portion 28 of a cord 27 for transmitting a signal between the left and right housings 15 is spirally wound upon an outer peripheral surface of one of the rods making up each slider 52. Here, the curled portions 28 of the cord 27 can be stretched and compressed at the sliders 52.
As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, each portion of the cord 27 at the upper end side of the corresponding curled portion 28 is stopped by a pair of stopping pins 57 and a pair of projecting portions 58, formed in the corresponding slidably supporting portion 20. The ends of the cord 27, which are stopped by the stopping pins 57 and the projecting portions 58, are drawn out upward, and are held in a holding groove 60 of the headband 17. In contrast, each portion of the cord 27 at the lower end side of the corresponding curled portion 28 is drawn out from the bent portions 53 at the respective sides of the corresponding slider 52, and is disposed in a holding groove 32, formed inside the corresponding hanger 16.
In such a structure described above, when the heights of the housings 15 with respect to the headband 17 are adjusted, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the sliders 52 are moved with respect to the slidably supporting portions 20. Here, at one of the rods making up each slider 52, each curled portion 28 of the cord 27 is compressed as shown in FIG. 15A, or is stretched as shown in FIG. 15B. Therefore, the length of the cord 27, which is based on the movement of each slider 22, can be absorbed by stretching and compressing each curled portion 28. Even during the stretching and compression of each curled portion 28, each curled portion 28 of the cord 27 does not project to the outside by a large amount, or is not pulled so as to be tensioned more than is necessary. Therefore, breakage of the cord 27 is prevented from occurring.
FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate a modification of the above-described embodiment. Here, instead of the sliders 52 that are bent into U shapes, sliders 22 including relatively large cylindrical members like those according to the first embodiment are used. In addition, each curled portion 28 of the cord 27 is wound upon the corresponding slider 22. Here, the portions of the cord 27 at the upper end sides of the curled portions 28 are drawn out to guide grooves 63 of the slidably supporting portions 20. In contrast, the portions of the cord 27 at the lower end sides of the curled portions 28 pass through the rotating bearings 23 and are disposed in the holding grooves 32 formed inside the respective hangers 16.
Even in such a structure, when performing stretching/compression adjustments in the height direction on the housings 15 with respect to the headband 17, the curled portions 28 of the cord 27, wound upon the sliders 22, are stretched and compressed, so that the height of the cord 27 is adjusted. Therefore, even in this modification, it is possible to provide operational advantages that are the same are those of the above-described embodiment.
Although, the invention of the application is described with reference to the illustrated embodiments, the invention of the application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, so that various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical ideas of the invention of the application. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the design of the structure in which the sliders and the slidably supporting portions are combined can be varied in various ways.
Patent Application
20080056525
