This invention generally relates to headphones and, more specifically, to a compact foldable headphone with rotatable earphone units.
Commercially available headphones typically comprise a pair of earphones, coupled to one another by a resilient curved band for pressing the earphones against the ears of a user. The resilient band can be a headband type supported by the user's head, and a neckband type that presses down on the rear of the head of the user.
Among the commercially available headband type headphones, a few of them can be folded into a compact form when not in use. Once such headphone, disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 7,172,052 B2, to Hugo Lenhard-Backaus, issued on Feb. 6, 2007, includes a headband and two earpieces each connected to the headband so as to be pivotable about at least two pivot axes. The two pivot axes intersect one another at a point of intersection that is positioned on or near a central axis of the earpiece, respectively. Arms connect the earpieces to the headband, wherein the arms define a first one of the two pivot axes, respectively. A second one of the two pivot axes is fixedly arranged on the headband, respectively. In this way, the earpieces are rotatable about the arms and the arms are rotatable relative to the headband about the second pivot axes. U.S. Pat. No. 7,172,052 B2, is incorporated herein by reference for at least the purpose of giving context to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,896 B2, to James T. Embach, is directed to a headphone structure and storage thereof. The headphone structure concept provided includes headphones with rotatable earphones to provide a slimmer profile for storage. Each of the earphones is rotatable between a use position, in which the earphone is sufficiently positioned for listening use by a person wearing the headband, and a stored position. The headphone may have a first width or dimension when the earphone is in the use position and a second lesser width or dimension when the earphone is in the stored position. U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,896 B2 is incorporated herein by reference for at least the purpose of giving context to the present invention.
However, none of the prior headphones is configured so that the two earphones can be rotated or swiveled to a position away from the user's ear while the headphone is worn by the user. Therefore, there exists a need for a headphone that allows a user to free up or uncover one or both ears without removing the headphone from the user's head for greater artistic freedom and flexibility.
The present invention is defined by the appended claims. This description summarizes some aspects of the present embodiments and should not be used to limit the claims.
The foregoing problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved by a system, method, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention, which provides a headphone having rotatable earphones that can swivel to a position away from the user's ear while the headphone is on the user's head.
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a headphone, which includes a pair of right and left headphone units, a resilient band formed substantially into a U shape to be mounted on a human head, and a pair of arm members. Each of the arm members is rotatably coupled via a pivot joint to an end part of the band and supporting one the headphone units. Each of the pivot joints includes a detent hinge for locking into a plurality of rotational positions an arm member relatively to the corresponding end part of the band. A first rotational position corresponds to the arm member being housed within the internal space formed by the band when the headphone in not mounted on the head. A second rotational position corresponds to the arm member being locked into a rearward facing position with respect to the head when the headphone is mounted on the head.
Other articles of manufacture, features, and advantages of the present invention will be, or will become, apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional articles of manufacture, features, and advantages included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Illustrative and exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below with reference to and in conjunction with the figures.
The present invention is defined by the appended claims. This description summarizes some aspects of the present embodiments and should not be used to limit the claims.
While the present invention may be embodied in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described some exemplary and non-limiting embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.
In this application, the use of the disjunctive is intended to include the conjunctive. The use of definite or indefinite articles is not intended to indicate cardinality. In particular, a reference to “the” object or “a” and “an” object is intended to denote also one of a possible plurality of such objects.
The friction-based adjust mechanism, provided at both ends of the headband 110, is a mechanism for adjusting the size of the headphone 102 so as to adapt to the size of the wearer's head. To that end, the sliding members 114 are formed so as to create a biasing frictional force when they are slid relatively to the headband 110. Before the headphone 102 is fitted onto the wearer's head, each of the extensions 115 can be substantially hidden within the corresponding channel. In this position, the distance between each of the headphone units 104 and the apex of the headband 110 is minimal, thus corresponding to the smallest head size that can comfortably accept or wear the headband 110. When the wearer puts on the headphone 102 by holding the earphone units 104 in his/her hands, he/she can adjust the headphone 102 by simply applying a force slightly greater than the frictional forces exerted by the sliding members 114 onto the channel to slide down the earphone units 104 towards his/her ears.
As shown in
Now referring to
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As stated above, the arm 112 is rotatable about the pivot joint 116 whose axis of rotation is substantially perpendicular to the detent face 122 of the end of the headband 110, which faces the internal space formed by the headband 110. When the headphone 102 is mounted on a wearer's head, the wearer can swivel each of the headphone unit 114 backward or rearward from an ear-covering position to positions away from the wearer's ear. These rearward positions of the headphone unit 104 can be predetermined by judicious locations of the intermediate detents 134i on the detent face 122. As the wearer's head typically falls away to the rear, the bow shape of the arm 112 combined with the pivotable and pad-cushioned features of the earphone unit 104 enables the headphone unit 104 to follow the contour of the wearer's head in a virtually pressure-less manner. Preferably, one of the intermediate detents 134i is positioned substantially centrally between the “all-the-way-up” detent 134u and the “all-the-way-down” detent 134d to lock the arm 112, when swivel backwards, in a substantially perpendicular orientation to the headband 110.
As shown in
Accordingly, the above discussed adjustable headphone 102 can be comfortably worn by the wearer for an extended listening period. This is achieved by headphone units 104, connected to a flexible headband, that automatically adjust, via a couple of pivoting axes, to achieve a comfortable and substantially pressureless precise fitting to the wearer's ear. The headphone units 104 flip-up to the rear of the head to allow for easy monitoring of outside environment by the wearer and for greater artistic freedom and flexibility, and this flip-up of the headphone units 104 is supported by a duo of hinges 118 and 120, detent and friction, which help maintain the headphone units 104 in any desirable rotational position relatively to the headband 110. The dual input/output cable ports 108 enable a daisy-chaining of the headphones 102. In addition, the headphone 102 is preferably constructed from strong yet lightweight aluminum, which help minimize vibrations, thereby minimizing unwanted audio artifacts. The plush cushioned earphone units 104 yield superior sound isolation with maximum comfort and minimal ear fatigue.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without substantially departing from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.
This application is a Non-Provisional Application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/292,159, filed on Jan. 4, 2010 entitled “Headphone” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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