This application relates generally to wearable technology and virtual-reality technology, including but not limited to a strap system for a head-mounted display.
Virtual-reality head-mounted displays have wide applications in various fields, including engineering design, medical surgery practice, military simulated practice, and video gaming. For example, a user wears a virtual-reality head-mounted display integrated with audio headphones while playing video games so that the user can have an interactive experience in an immersive virtual environment.
However, it may be difficult for a user to properly adjust and comfortably wear the head-mounted displays and the integrated audio systems using the existing technology, which may negatively affect the user's experience.
In accordance with some embodiments, a strap system for a head-mounted display includes a rigid segment and a latching subsystem coupled to the rigid segment. The rigid segment has opposite first and second sides. The rigid segment couples to the head-mounted display from the first side. The latching subsystem couples to the second side of the rigid segment. The latching subsystem includes a plate including a pair of slots to respectively receive a pair of posts protruding from a detachable audio system. The latching subsystem also includes a pair of latches to latch to grooves in the pair of posts. Each latch of the pair of latches includes an opening that overlaps a respective slot of the pair of slots. The opening receives a respective post of the pair of posts.
In accordance with some embodiments, a head-mounted display system includes a head-mounted display, a strap system for mounting the head-mounted display on the user's head, and a detachable audio subsystem. The strap system includes a semi-rigid segment to conform to a portion of the user's head, and a rigid segment connected to the semi-rigid segment. The rigid segment includes a first side to couple to the head-mounted display and a second side opposite to the first side. The strap system also includes a latching subsystem coupled to the second side of the rigid segment. The detachable audio subsystem includes a speaker and a coupling subsystem including a pair of posts to couple to the latching subsystem. Each post of the pair of posts has a groove. The latching subsystem includes a plate including a pair of slots to respectively receive the pair of posts, and a pair of latches to latch to the grooves in the pair of posts. Each latch of the pair of latches includes an opening that overlaps a respective slot of the pair of slots. The opening receives a respective post of the pair of posts.
In accordance with some embodiments, a latching system for coupling an audio system to a head-mounted display includes a plate including a pair of slots to respectively receive a pair of posts protruding from the audio system, and a pair of latches to latch to grooves in the pair of posts. Each latch of the pair of latches includes an opening that overlaps a respective slot of the pair of slots. The opening receives a respective post of the pair of posts. Each latch of the pair of latches includes a pair of members and a serpentine spring. The pair of members join at a first end and are unconnected at a second end to define the opening. The serpentine spring is coupled to the first end of the pair of members.
Various advantages of the present application are apparent in light of the descriptions below.
For a better understanding of the various described embodiments, reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with the following drawings. Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures and description.
Reference will now be made to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the various described embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the various described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known systems, methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.
It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first segment could be termed a second segment, and, similarly, a second segment could be termed a first segment, without departing from the scope of the various described embodiments. The first segment and the second segment are both segments, but they are not the same segment.
The terminology used in the description of the various embodiments described herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The strap system 120 is used for mounting the head-mounted display 110 on a user's head. In the example of
In some embodiments, the strap 120 comprises a single and continuous semi-rigid segment 140 including two arc portions, and each arc portion is to extend from above a user's ears to below the user's occipital lobe to conform to a portion of the user's head. Alternatively, the strap 120 may comprise two separate and symmetric semi-rigid segments each including an arc portion.
In some embodiments, the rigid segments 130 and 150 are respectively connected to the semi-rigid segment 140. The rigid segments 130 and 150 are also respectively coupled to the head-mounted display 110 and positioned on respective sides of the user's head to extend along the lateral dimension (e.g., the Z dimension in
In some embodiments, the strap 120 comprises a back piece 160 coupled with the semi-rigid segment 140 to rest against the back of the user's head (e.g., around the user's occipital lobe).
In some embodiments, the strap 120 comprises a top strap 170 coupled to the back piece 160 and the head-mounted display 110 to adjustably conform to the top of the user's head when the user is wearing the head-mounted display.
In some embodiments, various electrical connection mechanisms (e.g., flat flexible circuits and/or electric cables) are used in the head-mounted display system 100 to provide power management, signal transmission, and/or other functionalities to the head-mounted display 110 and the detachable audio subsystem 200. For example, the head-mounted display 110 is integrated with the detachable audio subsystem 200 using suitable electrical connection mechanisms to provide both visual and audio virtual-reality experiences to the user.
Various embodiments of the strap system 120 and the head-mounted display system 100 are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/603,335 (Attorney Docket No. 010235-01-5016-US), filed on Jan. 22, 2015, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/681,001 (Attorney Docket No. 010235-01-5028-US), filed on Apr. 7, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The speaker 210 may be an on-ear headphone speaker, an around-ear headphone speaker, an over-ear headphone speaker, an in-ear headphone speaker, an earbud speaker, or any other suitable style of speaker.
As shown in
The strap connector 230 includes a side 232 coupled to the arm 220 and a side 234 coupled to the coupling subsystem 240, and the side 232 and the side 234 are opposite to each other along the X dimension as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the latching subsystem 300 is a component of the strap 120 (e.g., the rigid segment 150) that is fixedly connected to the strap 120. Alternatively, the latching subsystem 300 is coupled to the strap 120 using any suitable structure; once coupled, the latching subsystem 300 may be considered part of the strap 120.
In some embodiments, the base 242 is a circular boss. The base 242 includes a side 241 engaged with the side 234 of the strap connector 230 and a side 243 opposite to the side 241. The posts 250 extend from the side 243 of the base 242 to insert into the latching subsystem 300.
In some embodiments, the spring 244 contacts the side 243 of the base 240, to detach the detachable audio system 240 from the latching subsystem 300 when the pair of posts 250 decouple from the latching subsystem 300 (e.g., from a pair of latches as discussed in
In some embodiments, each post 250 includes an end 251 inserted into a respective opening (not shown) in the base 242. Each post 250 also includes an end 252 opposite to the end 251 to couple to the latching subsystem 300. The end 252 includes a tip 254 to be inserted into an opening of the latching subsystem 300. The end 252 also includes a groove 256 to engage with concave edges of a latch in the latching subsystem 300.
In some embodiments, the latch 320 is identical to the latch 340 or a mirror image of the latch 340. The latch 340 includes a pair of members 344 joined at an end 343 and unconnected at an end 345. The members 344 define an opening 342 to receive the post 250. For example as shown in
Similarly, the latch 320 includes a pair of members 324 joined at an end 323 and unconnected at an end 325. The members 324 define an opening 322 to receive the post 250. For example as shown in
In some embodiments, the openings 342 and 322 narrow at a neck that forms the end of the concave edge portions and then widen again (e.g., to a width equal to or greater than the width of the slots 312 and 313). As shown in
In some embodiments, the latch 340 includes a serpentine spring 350 coupled to the pair of members 344. For example, the serpentine spring 350 is disposed next to the pair of members 344 such that at least a portion of the serpentine spring 350 is parallel to the length of the pair of members 344 as shown in
In some embodiments when the latches 320 and 340 are in initial states (e.g., relaxed states), the widths of the openings 342 and 322 are respectively narrower than the groove diameters of the posts 250. When the tips 254 are inserted into corresponding openings 342 and 322, the openings 342 and 322 widen to accept the posts 250 and the edges 351 and 331 latch onto the grooves 256 of the pair of posts 250.
In some embodiments, the latch 340 includes a portion 346 coupled between the end 343 of the pair of members 344 and an end 352 of the serpentine spring 350. The portion 346 includes an aperture 347. Similarly, the latch 320 includes a portion 326 coupled between the end 323 of the pair of members 324 and an end 332 of the serpentine spring 330. The portion 326 includes an aperture 327.
In some embodiments, the latches 320 and 340 are disposed over the plate 310 and coupled to the plate 310 such that the serpentine springs 330 and 350 overlap each other. Additionally, the opening 342 of the latch 340 overlaps the slot 312 of the plate 310, and the opening 322 of the latch 320 overlaps the slot 313 of the plate 310.
In some embodiments, the base 360 is elongated. As shown in
In some embodiments, the cover 370 is elongated. The cover 370 is coupled to the base 360 and the pair of latches 320 and 340 to cover the overlapped serpentine springs 330 and 350. The spacer 380 is located between the cover 370 and the pair of latches 320 and 340 to cover the overlapped serpentine springs 330 and 350.
In some embodiments, the cover 370 includes a pair of projections 372 and 376 opposite to each other as shown in
In some embodiments as shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments as shown in
Referring to
In order to decouple the detachable audio subsystem 200 from the strap 120, the user can slide the detachable audio subsystem 200 along the Z dimension to slide the posts 250 from the openings 342 and 322 towards the wider apertures 395 and 396. As the audio subsystem 200 slides, the grooves 256 of the posts 250 force the members 344 and 324 to widen. When the posts 250 slide into the apertures 395 and 396, because the width of the apertures 395 and 396 are equal to or greater than the tips 254 of the posts 250, the posts 250 can be pulled out from the apertures 395 and 396 freely to decouple the detachable audio subsystem 200 from the strap 120.
For example, when the posts 250 slide into the apertures 395 and 396, the spring 244 automatically releases from a compressed state at the length d1 to a greater length d2. Simultaneously, the base 242 moves along X dimension away from the spacer 246, thereby removing the posts 250 away from the latching system 300 to decouple the coupling subsystem 240 from the latching subsystem 300. The length d2 can be a natural length (i.e., unstretched and uncompressed) of the spring 244, or a length longer than the compressed length d1 and shorter than the natural length of the spring 244.
Reversibly, the coupling subsystem 240 can couple to the latching subsystem 300 by pressing the tips of the posts 250 into the openings 342 and 322 of the latches 340 and 320. The openings 342 and 322 are widened to accommodate the tips of the posts 250 until the concave edges 351 and 331 latch to the grooves 256 of the posts 250. During this coupling process, the spring 244 is compressed from the length d2 to the length d1, and the base 242 gets in contact with the spacer 246.
In some embodiments, the coupling subsystem 240 and the latching subsystem 300 comprise suitable electrical connection mechanism(s) to provide power management and/or signal transmission between the speaker 210 and the head-mounted display 110. For example, after the posts 250 are inserted and latched to the openings 342 and 322 of the latches 340 and 320, the tips 254 of the posts 250 may contact the base 360 and transmit electric signals from/to the base 360. The base 360 is further electrically connected to the strap 120 (e.g., the rigid segment 150) of the head-mounted display system 100.
In some embodiments, the one or more components of the latching subsystem 300 are made of materials such as stainless steel, acetal copolymer, other polymers and other metals.
Combined with the coupling subsystem 240, the latching subsystem 300 can be used for attaching the speaker 210 to the strap 120, and detaching the speaker 210 from the strap 120 of the head-mounted display 110. The latching subsystem 300 and the coupling subsystem 240 enable the speaker 210 to be removed from the user's ear without taking off the strap 120 and head-mounted display 110.
In some embodiments, the audio subsystem 200 offers multiple degrees of freedom to adjust the position of the speaker 210 to fit different users. The adjustments with multiple degrees of freedom include, but are not limited to, pivoting inward and outward relative to the user's ear, rotating within a vertical plane, and sliding upward and downward to adjust the height of the speaker 210. Various embodiments of the multiple degrees of freedom and related structures are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/627,639.
The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the claims to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles underlying the claims and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best use the embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular uses contemplated.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/749,410, filed Jun. 24, 2015, entitled “Strap System for Head-Mounted Displays”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/174,359, filed on Jun. 11, 2015, entitled “Strap System for Head-Mounted Displays,” which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62174359 | Jun 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14749410 | Jun 2015 | US |
Child | 15583943 | US |