HORN DEVICE

Abstract

An electromechanical horn is configured with a body, a sound-generating unit mounted in the body, and a plurality of power source receiving regions for storing at least one removably mounted power source in a storage manner while containing a second power source in an operative manner thereby limiting discontinuity of the operation of the sound-generating unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the inventive assembly will be disclosed in detail in conjunctions with the following, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrate a portable electrical horn configured in accordance with the present disclosure and shown in use during a sports activity;

FIG. 2 is a partially disassembled view of the portable electrical horn of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 an elevational cross-sectional side view of the disclosed portable electrical horn of FIGS. 1 and 2 along section line II-II;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view a battery receiving compartment provided in a lower casing of the disclosed horn at region III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view a battery receiving compartment provided in an upper head region of the disclosed horn at region IV in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an optional operational sequence of one embodiment of the disclosed horn.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments of the invention that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps. The drawings are in simplified form and are not to precise scale. For purposes of convenience and clarity only, directional terms, such as top, bottom, up, down, over, above, and below may be used with respect to the drawings. These and similar directional terms should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. The words “attached,” “connect,” “couple,” and similar terms with their inflectional morphemes do not necessarily denote direct and immediate connections, but also include mechanical and electrical connections through mediate elements or devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates one of numerous applications of an electrical horn 10 used, for example in this instance to signal an emergency signal for a hunter lost in the forest. Alternatively, it will be recognized that horn 10 may be readily programmed to also provide a pre-recorded digital sound to, for example, imitate the sound of a wild turkey so as to attract it. As a consequence horn 10 should be recognized has having both emergency and sporting uses. During non-emergency sports activity (here hunting) a user 100 activates horn 10 generating sound signals at a frequency and pitch generally similar to those made by a wild turkey. The horn 10, however, can be used during sporting events, rescue operations and many other operations requiring generation of differing sound signals.

Referring to FIG. 2, horn 10 is configured with a housing 12 having a handle 14 and a casing 16 extending transversely to one another. The housing 12 may have numerous shapes and dimensions, which are associated with the specificity of the particular horn's application, and is not limited to a generally T-shaped cross-section illustrated in FIG. 2. Preferably, housing 12 is molded as a two-piece unit including halves 11 and 13 which are centered along a longitudinal axis A-A and are detachably coupled to one another by any known fastening means 15 including, for example, screws, bolts, and pins.

The coupling halves 11 and 13 are realized so that the entire housing is substantially water proof thereby allowing for the effective use of horn 10 even under adverse climatic conditions (moisture, dampness, ice, etc.). Each of halves 11, 13 includes respective portions of handle 14 and casing 16. However, it is conceived that housing 12 may be molded as a unitary body. Accordingly, housing 12 is made from light plastic and, due to its configuration and selection of materials, is characterized by a degree of manufacturer or customer selected robustness. A molding technique is not the only one manufacturing possibility for making housing 12 and easily can be substituted by any other suitable technique without departing from the scope of the disclosure of the present invention.

The handle 14 is ergonomically configured to provide user 100 with a comfortable grip and may have a structured surface 18 preventing undesirable motion of the user's hand and horn 10 relative to one another. Preferably, handle 14 is configured to allow the entire length of the user's hand to rest on handle 14 with the hand's finger resting on a push-button trigger 22 which is operative to activate horn 10 in response to a compressing forced applied by the user to button 22. The casing 16, as illustrated, has a generally funnel-shaped body with a distal end 20 that skirts outwards from the casing's main body. In a related design, casing 16 is alternatively configured to function s to concentrate sound in a given direction, although this is not required where a speaker member (noted later) is preferably positioned at the open face.

In accordance with one of many salient features of horn 10, casing 16 and handle 14 are provided with respective means III and IV for receiving and storing power sources. Each of the storing means includes a compartment configured to receive and store a battery, as will be explained below. And each compartment may be optionally and selectably connected to a controlling electrical circuit, or both compartments may be jointly connected in series, and finally only one compartment may be so connected allowing the non-connect compartment to simply store a battery (power source).

The horn 10 may be conveniently suspended to the garment worn by the user. For example, a strap assembly 24 may include a flexible band having one of its ends coupled to the garment and other end 26 provided with a loop. A latch assembly has a bracket operative to reliably engage looped end 26 of the band and a latch 28 attached to the bracket. The latch 28 is operative to have an opening position, in which a safety ring 30 penetrates through the exterior of latch 28 in response to an external force applied by the user to a latch actuator, and a closed position, in which ring 30 and latch 28 are reliably engaged to one another upon ceasing the external force. The ring 30 is also operative to assume an opening position so as to be threaded though a flange 32 formed on housing 12. For example, flange 32 may be provided on the bottom of handle 14, although other locations configured for coupling ring 30 and housing 12 are conceived as well within the scope of the invention. The flange 32 has a through-going opening configured to allow the body of ring 30 to be freely suspended on flange 32 so that ring 30 may pivot and rotate relative to flange 32 in the ring's suspended position.

FIG. 3 illustrates the interior of housing 10 configured to receive and store multiple power sources 36 and 40, an optional central processing unit (CPU) 44 operative to control the performance of horn 10 as disclosed below, a sound generating unit generally indicated as 42, and wires 34 coupling all of the component together. The multiple power sources 36 and 40, respectively, can be variously configured, but preferably are typical DC-9V batteries. The batteries 36 and 40 preferably are received in respective compartments III and IV formed within handle 14 and casing 16, as will be explained below. As was noted above, the present invention may be optionally configured to operate with or without central processing unit 44 depending upon manufacturer or user desire. For example, where a reduced cost and circuitry simplification are desired, a simple hard-wired (without CPU) circuit may be provided as will be recognized by those skilled in the art of consumer product electrical design. As an alternative example, where it is desired that a CPU system engage (for example) both power sources simultaneously or in series to manage sound, signal, or power output, a CPU system may be configured to achieve this goal.

The sound generating unit 42 (speaker) typically has a flexible diaphragm (usually made of spring steel or a rigidized plastic or Mylar etc.) and a coil of wire that forms an electromagnet. As well known, horn 10 functions in a manner known to those of skill in the horn arts and generally according to Hooke's Law, which states, “The extension of a spring (here the speaker diaphragm) is directly proportional to the load applied, provided the limit of proportionality is not exceeded.” The flexible diaphragm, if properly designed, oscillates back and forth continuously as long as current is applied. Rapid vibration of the diaphragm displaces air, creating the acoustical output wave. Horns come in an endless variety of notes, or frequencies, and with a CPU controller 44 (containing a pre-recorded signal) may reproduce previously recorded signals, such as animal sounds, warning signals, etc. The note of a horn is determined by the flexibility of the diaphragm; its physical size; the power of the electromagnet; the mass of the diaphragm; mechanical arrangement of the switch contact; size and shape of the horn's housing and a number of other contributing factors. As readily understood by one of ordinary skills in the electrical and audio arts, the frequency may be easily adjusted to generate the desired sound. A software executable by CPU 44 is operative to change the sound in response to the user's selection, which may be realized by an indicator 72 shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3 and coupled to CPU 44. For example, the sound produced by horn 10 may be chosen from the sound of animals selected from the group including, but not limited to, a hen, bull, horse, sheep, rooster, frog, dog, duck, cat, wild turkey. Similarly, a software executable by CPU 44 may regulate the duration and rate of the generated sound.

Referring to FIG. 4, a bottom 46 of handle 14 has compartment III configured to receive battery 36 that can be slid into compartment III to a mounting position in which a gasket 47 reliably engages the poles of the battery. To reliably secure battery 36 in the mounting position, a shutter 48 is configured to releasably close the opening of compartment III and retain the battery within the compartment. Upon manually inserting battery 36, shutter 48 is juxtaposed with the opening of compartment III and then pushed thereinto so that, when shutter 48 reaches its closed position, the outer surface of the shutter lies flush with the outer surface of handle's bottom 46. The body of shutter 48 has a window 50 provided with a biased locking unit 52 which is configured with a bent distal or inner end resiliently urging against the inner side surface of compartment III. As a consequence, shutter 48 is frictionally engaged with handle 14 and can be disengaged upon applying an external pulling force sufficient to overcome a friction force generated by the distal end of locking unit 52 for displacement of shutter 48 from compartment III. To prevent uncontrollable displacement of shutter 48 into compartment II, the latter has a stop surface 49 abutting and extending complementary to a surface 51 of shutter 48 in the shutter's closing position. Preferably, but not necessarily, battery 36 mounted to handle 14 is a primary power source.

Turning to FIG. 5, compartment IV is provided in a proximal end 54 of casing 16 and configured to receive spare battery 40. The opening of compartment IV cuts into one of the opposite edges of casing 16 and terminates at a distance from the other end. When battery 40 is slid into compartment IV to its desired mounting position, a shutter 56 closes the opening and secures the batter in the desired position. The shutter 56 has a generally U-shaped cross-section including a central bottom portion 64 which is provided with the inner surface which abuts the opposing surface of battery 40 in the closing position of the shutter. Two angled flanks 66 and 68 bound central portion 64 and have respective coplanar inner surfaces offset from the inner surface of central portion 64 so that when shutter 56 closes the opening of compartment IV, the outer surfaces of flanks 66 and 68 lie flush with the surrounding outer surface of casing 16 while central portion 56 is sunk. The desired closing position of shutter 56 is further ensured by a guide channel 70 recessed in the floor of compartment IV and configured to slidably receive a fin (not shown for the purposes of clarity, but well understood by one of ordinary skills in the mechanical arts) which is provided on the inner surface of flank 68 and extends beyond flank 68. During installation of shutter 56, it is initially slightly slanted to have an arm 62, which is provided on the inner surface of flange 66, to abut the floor of the compartment. Then shutter 56 is brought substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the opening of compartment IV so as to have the fin received in channel 70. Further, shutter 56 is pushed inwards to assume the desired closing position. To secure shutter 56 in the desired closing position, it has a locking unit 58 configured similarly to locking unit 50 of shutter 48 (FIG. 4). Accordingly, an inner end 60 of locking unit 58 is resiliently biased against the opposing surface of compartment IV in the desired closing position of shutter 56. To open shutter 56, an external force may be applied to locking unit 58 so as to pull it with a force sufficient to overcome a biasing force of inner end 60 of locking unit 58 directed against the inner surface of casing 16.

In one optional example of actual operation, the user presses switch 22 (FIG. 3), which can be configured as a pushbutton or toggle switch, and at that moment the electrical contact allows current flow to a relay, which in turn furnishes current to the horn's electromagnet attracting a diaphragm of sound-generating unit 42. As a consequence, the diaphragm flexes to its mechanical limit and disengages the contact, which stops current flow to the electromagnet. The diaphragm is released to travel back past neutral position closing the switch again, and thereby pulling the diaphragm back, setting up an even oscillation.

Referring to FIG. 6 in addition to FIG. 3, in response to activating switch 22 (FIG. 3) during a step 80, a software executable by optionally-included CPU 22 may determine the power/life status of a currently working battery, for example, battery 36 (FIG. 4) as illustrated by a step 82. Among a variety of monitoring techniques, CPU 44 may, for example, include a software for tracking and storing the actual life of the battery, i.e., the time during which the battery has been actually powering horn 10. If the stored reference value has been reached, a software executable by CPU 44 may automatically switch battery 36 to battery 40 (FIG. 5). One of ordinary skills in the electrical arts will readily realize a simple battery-switching circuit actuated by CPU 44 in response to a signal indicating that the resources of battery 36 have been already depleted or soon to be depleted. Having determined that battery 36 is to be replaced, a software executable by CPU 44 actuates spare battery 40 as illustrated by a step 86.

The horn 10 may be operated under different climatic conditions. One of the important climatic conditions that may critically affect the active life of the battery is temperatures. If horn 10 is used at normal temperatures, as indicated by a step 90, batteries 36 and 40 would typically operate longer than under the elevated temperatures. The CPU 44 may, for example, execute a software which is operative not only track the actual working hours of the battery, but also an ambient temperature. If the battery operates under adverse climatic condition as indicated by a step 94, the software may adjust the expected actual life of the battery and rather shorten it, if the temperatures have been detected to be higher than a certain reference value for a predetermined period of time.

Having ensured that horn 10 is properly powered, a software executed by CPU 44 further may adjust a note, frequency and/or duration of a sound signal in response to the user's selection, as illustrated by a step 84. Finally, when horn 10 is ready to operate, software executed by CPU 44 actuates sound generating unit 42 to produce the desired sound.

One of ordinary skills in the electrical arts of course will readily understand that the actual life of batteries can be monitored in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the user may always either switch the batteries manually by operating a manual switch. Alternatively, only one compartment III and IV (FIG. 2) may be configured to provide electrical connection between the battery and the rest of the horn's components. In this case, the user would have to manually replace a dead battery but would be reassured that the un-used/stored battery would include remaining power for emergency use. Although horn 10 is preferably made from plastic, other materials, such as metal, can be successfully utilized.

It shall be additionally recognized that power source 36 may be optionally employed as a re-chargeable power source that is either removably retained in body 14 or may be fixably engaged therewith without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Where a manufacturer employs the option of incorporating a rechargeable battery/power source, it shall be recognized that horn 10 may be equipped with a recharging mechanism of those types known to those of skill in the art of rechargeable consumer electronics.

In the claims, means- or step-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described or suggested herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. Thus, for example, although a nail, a screw, and a bolt may not be structural equivalents in that a nail relies on friction between a wooden part and a cylindrical surface, a screw's helical surface positively engages the wooden part, and a bolt's head and nut compress opposite sides of a wooden part, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail, a screw, and a bolt may be readily understood by those skilled in the art as equivalent structures.

The specific features described herein may be used in some embodiments, but not in others, without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth. Many additional modifications are intended in the foregoing disclosure, and it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art of electrical consumer product design that in some instances some features of the invention will be employed in the absence of a corresponding use of other features. The illustrative examples therefore do not define or limit the metes and bounds of the invention and the legal protection is afforded by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A horn comprising: a body;a sound generating unit in the body;at least two means for storing at least one electrical power source in the body;at least one of the at least two means for storing being operatively engagable with at least one electrical power source upon an assembly therewith to power the sound generating unit, andwherein the body is configured with a handle extending along a first direction and a casing extending along a second direction away from the first direction, at least one of the at least two means for storing being mounted in the handle and another of the at least two means for releasably storing being mounted to the casing, thereby enabling an enhanced electrical power source storage capability of said horn.

2. A horn, according to claim 1, wherein: each of said at least two means for storing being means for releasably storing said external electrical power source.

3. A horn, according to claim 2, further comprising: at least one means for actuating said sound generating unit upon said assembly therewith to said external electrical power source, andsaid at least one means for actuating being at least one of a trigger mechanism for completing an electrical circuit between the sound generating unit and the at least one electrical power source upon said assembly therewith, and a combination of said triggering mechanism with a central processing unit for completing said electrical circuit upon an activation of said triggering mechanism.

4. A horn, according to claim 3, wherein: said at least one means for actuating being said trigger mechanism in combination with said central processing unit, whereby said central processing unit enables a functional control of said sound generating unit thereby improving a user capability.

5. A horn, according to claim 3, wherein: at least a second means for storing including a respective second electrical power source.

6. A horn, according to claim 5, further comprising: means for operably engaging said respective second electrical power source within said at least second means for storing with said at least one means for actuating said sound generating unit, whereby said horn is operative from at least two separately stored electrical power sources

7. A horn comprising: a body;a sound generating unit in the body; anda plurality of electrical power sources removably mounted to the body within respective storage locations and operative to selectively power the sound generating unit.

8. The horn of claim 7, wherein the body is configured with a handle extending along a first direction and a casing extending along a second direction away from said first direction, at least one of the plurality of power sources being mounted to the handle and another power source being mounted to the casing and spaced from the at least one power source.

9. The horn of claim 8, wherein the body has two compartments provided in the handle and casing respectively, the compartments being configured to receive the respective power sources.

10. The horn of claim 9, wherein one of the compartments opens into a bottom of the handle and the other compartment opens into a proximal end of the casing so as to provide access to the compartments from outside for insertion and removal of the respective power sources.

11. The horn of claim 10, further comprising first and second shutters removably mountable to the body so as to close the respective compartments and secure the respective power sources in the compartments.

12. The horn of claim 7, further comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) mounted in the body and coupled to the plurality of power sources and to the sound generating unit, the CPU executing software operative to selectively couple the plurality of power sources to the sound generating unit to prevent discontinuity of an operation of the sound generating unit when a resource of one of the plurality of power sources reaches a predetermined value.

13. The horn of claim 12, wherein the reference value corresponds to an active life of the power source, the software executable by the CPU being operative to monitor and determine an ambient temperature and adjust the reference value upon determining the ambient temperature.

14. The horn of claim 13, wherein the software executable by the CPU is operative to actuate the sound generating unit so that the sound generating unit is enabled to selectively generate a plurality of sounds imitating sounds of respective various animals in response to an input by a user.

15. The horn of claim 14, wherein the body is configured with: a suspension unit operative to couple the body to a user controlled item, the suspension unit having a flexible member and being operable to detachably engage the suspension unit to the body thereby enabling a secure attachment and detachment of said horn upon a user desire.

16. A horn comprising: a body;a sound generating unit in the body;a plurality of electrical power source storage regions in the body; andan electrical control circuit mounted in the body and enabling electrical current flow from at least one external power source stored within at least one of the plurality of electrical power source storage regions to the sound generating unit upon an actuation thereof; to provide a continuous power supply to the sound generating unit during said actuation.

17. The horn of claim 16, wherein: the body has a substantially T-shaped cross-section and is provided with two spaced apart interior compartments as respective storage regions each configured to releasably receive a respective one of the external powers sources.

18. The horn of claim 17, further comparing: a switch operable by a user and displaceably mounted to the body to enable said actuation thereof and displaceable between an operative on- and off-position, wherein the electrical control circuit is electrically connected to the plurality of the power sources and to the sound generating unit upon displacing the switch to the on-position.

19. The horn of claim 18, further comprising: first and second shutters removably mountable to the body so as to close respective electrical power source storage regions in the body and secure the respective power sources therein.

20. The horn of claim 19, further comprising: a suspension unit operative to couple the body to an external user controlled item, the suspension unit being detachably engagable with at least one of the body and the user controlled item thereby enabling a secure attachment and detachment of said horn upon a user desire.