Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6560346
-
Patent Number
6,560,346
-
Date Filed
Thursday, August 30, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 6, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 381 370
- 381 374
- 381 376
- 381 375
- 381 382
- 381 381
- 381 330
- 381 FOR 149
- 381 FOR 150
- 379 430
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A microphone device having a tube made of an elastic material and a flexible core member having a shape-retaining property located inside the tube.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pipe microphone device preferably used in a so-called headset.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring first to
FIG. 5
, construction of a general headset is explained.
This headset
1
is comprised of a head band
2
, an ear receiver
3
attached to the end of the head band
2
, and a pipe microphone device
4
extended from the ear receiver
3
, and as shown in the drawing, the head band
2
is mounted on the head, and is worn and used with the ear receiver
3
fitted to the ear.
Reference numeral
5
is a cord, and a speaker unit built in the ear receiver
3
and a microphone unit of the pipe microphone device
4
are electrically connected to an acoustic appliance through this cord
5
.
In the pipe microphone device
4
of this headset
1
, a sound collector
8
at the tip end of the pipes
6
corresponds to the mouth of the user, and the voice is taken in from this sound collector
8
, and is guided into the microphone unit built in the ear receiver
3
.
In this pipe microphone device
4
, the pipes
6
is telescopic so that the position of the sound collector
8
may be moved according to the distance from the mouth, that is, the pipes
6
is comprised of a fixed pipe
6
a
extended from the ear receiver
3
, and a slide pipe
6
b
freely inserted in the fixed pipe
6
a
to move in and out, and the length of the pipes
6
is adjusted by sliding the slide pipe
6
b
on the fixed pipe
6
a
, so that the position of the sound collector
8
of the cap
7
attached to the tip end of the slide pipe
6
b
can be moved and adjusted.
The conventional pipe microphone device having such construction has the following problems.
That is, the conventional pipe microphone device is designed to adjust the position of the sound collector only by extending or contracting the pipes, it is difficult to adjust the position of the sound collector to the optimum position corresponding to the mouth position.
The pipe extension mechanism is likely to have trouble in the movable (sliding part) and lacks in reliability, and it requires precision mechanically, and the cost tends to be higher.
It is hence an object of the invention to solve these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the object, the pipe microphone device of the invention comprises a flexible pipe, and a microphone disposed at the base end side of the pipe, in which the sound is taken in from the sound collector at the tip end of the pipe, and is guided into the microphone, and a flexible core member having a shape retaining property is inserted in the pipe.
The pipe microphone device of the invention having such construction is capable of adjusting the position of the sound collector to the optimum position corresponding to the mouth position only by deflecting the pipe freely.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a front view of a headset having a pipe microphone device of the invention;
FIG. 2
is an explanatory diagram of a state of use of the headset in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
shows a first embodiment of pipe microphone device of the invention, in which (A) is a longitudinal sectional view, and (B) is a magnified longitudinal direction in its orthogonal direction;
FIG. 4
shows a second embodiment of pipe microphone device of the invention, in which (A) is a longitudinal sectional view, and (B) is a magnified longitudinal direction in its orthogonal direction; and
FIG. 5
is an explanatory diagram of a prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are described below.
FIG. 1
shows a headset to which a pipe microphone device of the invention is applied.
This headset
11
is comprised of an ear receiver
12
, and a pipe microphone device
13
extended from the ear receiver
12
.
A speaker unit is built in the ear receiver
12
, and an ear pad
14
made of, for example, silicone rubber is attached to the sound release side of the speaker unit, and this ear pad
14
is inserted into an earhole, and the headset
11
is worn.
Reference numeral
15
is a cord, and the speaker unit built in the ear receiver
12
and the microphone unit of the pipe microphone device
13
are electrically connected to the acoustic appliance through this cord
15
.
The state of use of the headset
11
is shown in FIG.
2
.
As shown in the drawing, the headset
11
of the embodiment is worn by inserting the ear pad of the ear receiver
12
into the earhole, and is used in a state of the sound collector
18
of the pipe microphone device
13
being set at a position corresponding to the mouth.
In this headset
11
, the pipe microphone device
13
is designed to adjust the position of the sound collector
18
accurately to the mouth position by freely deflecting a pipe
16
.
A first embodiment of the pipe microphone device is shown in FIG.
3
.
In the diagram, (A) is a longitudinal sectional view of the pipe microphone device, and (B) is a magnified sectional view in a direction orthogonal thereto.
The pipe
16
of the pipe microphone device
13
is flexible, its material is a soft resin material such as vinyl chloride and silicone.
The length of the pipe
16
is about 10 to 15 cm, the outside diameter is about 3.0 to 5.0 mm, and the inside diameter is about 2.0 to 4.0 mm.
A microphone unit
17
is disposed at the base end side of the pipe
16
, and a cap
19
having a sound collector
18
is attached to the tip end side, and the voice is taken in from the sound collector
18
of the cap
19
, and is guided into the microphone unit
17
.
The base end side of the pipe
16
is incorporated into the ear receiver
12
of the headset
11
including the microphone unit
17
.
A flexible core member
20
having shape retaining property is built in the pipe
16
of the pipe microphone device
11
. The flexible core member
20
is a wire of about 0.5 to 1.0 mm in diameter made of plastic metal such as aluminum, zinc or copper, and it is inserted in the hollow space of the pipe
16
almost in its overall length.
In this embodiment, in particular, one end of the flexible core member
20
is fitted to the cap
19
, and other end is fitted to a protrusion
21
disposed at the base end side of the pipe
16
, and the cap
19
is held so that the cap
19
may not slip off the pipe
16
.
In the pipe microphone device
13
having such construction, the position of the sound collector
18
may be adjusted to the optimum position corresponding to the mouth accurately by freely deflecting the pipe
16
, and in this state, therefore, the shape of the pipe
16
is maintained by the shape retaining property (plasticity) of the flexible core member
20
.
Accordingly, with this pipe microphone device
13
, the voice release from the mouth can be taken in securely.
This pipe microphone device
13
is simple in costruction, that is, not having complicated costruction, trouble hardly occurs, and a high reliability is assured. Further, since the costruction is simple, it can be presented at light weight and low cost.
In this pipe microphone device
13
, moreover, since the flexible core member
20
is also used for preventing slip-out of the cap
19
having the sound collector
18
attached to the tip end side of the pipe
16
, no extra means for preventing slip-out of the cap
19
is needed, and the costruction is further simplified.
FIG. 4
shows a second embodiment of the pipe microphone device
13
.
In the diagram, (A) is a longitudinal sectional view of the pipe microphone device, and (B) is a magnified sectional view in a direction orthogonal thereto.
In the second embodiment, the same parts as in the first embodiment are identified with same reference numerals and their description is omitted.
In the foregoing first embodiment, the flexible core member
20
is passed in the hollow space in the pipe
16
, but in the second embodiment, the flexible core member
20
is buried in the pipe
16
and passed therethrough.
That is, in the pipe microphone device
11
of the second embodiment, a pipe part
22
for flexible core member is formed integrally with the pipe
16
, and the flexible core member
20
is buried through this pipe part
22
.
In the pipe microphone device of the second embodiment having such construction, in addition to the advantageous effects of the first embodiment, since the flexible core member
20
is buried in the pipe
16
and passed therethrough, the flexible core member
20
does not have any adverse effect on the sound passing through the pipe
16
, so that the sound can be taken in more accurately.
Embodiments of the invention are illustrated herein, but it must be noted, however, that the invention is not limited to these embodiments alone.
The pipe microphone device of the invention is applied not only to the headset as described in the embodiments, but also to, for example, a helmet or cap.
Having described preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and that various changes and modifications could be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A pipe microphone device comprising:a flexible pipe; a microphone arranged inside the pipe at a base end thereof; a cap mounted over a tip end of the pipe and having a sound collector aperture formed therein, wherein sound is received by the sound collector aperture and is guided into the microphone; and a flexible core member having a shape-retaining property is inserted into the pipe and one end thereof is captured at the base end of the pipe, wherein said flexible core member has an element at an opposite end to retain the cap on the tip end of the pipe.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2000-265765 |
Sep 2000 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
2485405 |
Olney et al. |
Oct 1949 |
A |
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2070956 |
Dec 1992 |
CA |
1377237 |
Dec 1974 |
GB |