1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an earphone and more particularly, to a water-repellent earphone which can drain moisture quickly to prevent the built-in speaker from damage and enhance the acoustic performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
A regular earphone includes a venthole that is usually located at the rear side of the housing. When a speaker of the earphone emits sound, a venthole and a waterproof ventilative member covering the venthole jointly regulate the inflow and outflow of a gas inside a rear chamber of the earphone, thus reducing the pressure of the gas and affecting the acoustic performance of the earphone particularly for frequency response within low-frequency range.
A conventional earphone, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,872, referring to
Although it is known from the aforesaid patent that the moisture indeed affects the earphone, that patent is devoid of an applicable drainage protocol, so the earphone fails to expel the moisture quickly, after it is soaked in or doused with water, and to enhance the frequency response within the low-frequency range up to what it is before the earphone soaked in or doused with water. For this reason, this conventional earphone needs further improvement.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a water-repellent earphone which can quickly expel moisture to prevent the moisture from entry and damage to a built-in speaker thereof and to boost the frequency response within the low-frequency range.
The foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by the water-repellent earphone formed of a main body and a water-repellent breathable member. The main body includes a receiving space formed therein and a speaker mounted inside the receiving space. The speaker partitions the receiving space to make a rear chamber. The main body includes a drainage tunnel formed therein for communication with a first opening and a second opening, both of which are located on an external surface of the main body. The main body further includes a venthole communicating with the drainage tunnel and the rear chamber. The water-repellent breathable member is formed and located at the venthole.
In light of the structure mentioned above, the drainage tunnel can help the earphone quickly expel the moisture to prevent the moisture from entering the main body of the earphone and from damage to the speaker and to quickly restore the frequency response within the low-frequency range.
Preferably, the first opening, the venthole, and the rear chamber communicate with one another linearly.
Preferably, the drainage tunnel includes a curved portion and a straight portion, both of which communicate with each other and communicate with the first opening and the second opening, respectively.
Structural features and desired effects of the present invention will become more fully understood by reference to a preferred embodiment given hereunder. However, it is to be understood that the embodiment is given by way of illustration only, thus is not limitative of the claim scope of the present invention.
Referring to
The main body 20 is formed of a front cover 21 and a housing 22 connected with the front cover 21. The front cover 21 is provided with a plurality of sound holes 211 for the sound to pass through. Referring to
The housing 22 includes a drainage tunnel 26 formed at a rear side thereof, a first opening 24 formed at a top side thereof, a second opening 25 formed at a bottom side thereof, and a venthole 27 formed therein. The drainage tunnel 26 communicates with the first and second openings 24 and 25. In addition, the drainage tunnel 26 communicates with the rear chamber 231 via the venthole 27 to make a gas inside the rear chamber 231 exhaust through the first opening 24 and/or the second opening 25 via the venthole 27. The drainage tunnel 26 is formed of a curved portion 261 and a straight portion 262 communicating with the curved portion 261. The curved portion 261 and the straight portion 262 are recessed inward from an external rear surface of the housing 22. The curved portion 261 is L-shaped and includes one end communicating with the first opening 24 and a corner portion communicating with the venthole 27 to make the first opening 24 and the venthole 27 communicable with each other linearly. The straight portion 262 communicates with the second opening 25 as shown in
The water-repellent breathable member 30 is formed of a plurality of pores, each of which is smaller than the venthole 27 in diameter, or formed of at least one metallic mesh made of stainless steel or at least one ventilative film made of polyurethane (PU) or polymeric material. The water-repellent breathable member 30 is formed in the venthole 27 for making the gas inside the rear chamber 231 be dissipated outward and meanwhile for preventing external moisture from entering the rear chamber 231, so the earphone 1 can have preferable acoustic performance within low-frequency range.
In operation, when the moisture does not enter the drainage tunnel 26 through the first opening 24, the gas inside the rear chamber 231 can flow out of the earphone 1 from the venthole 27 through the drainage tunnel 26 to properly decrease the pressure of the gas inside the rear chamber 231 and enhance the low-frequency acoustic performance when the speaker 10 makes sound. Since the first opening 24 and the venthole 27 communicate with each other linearly, the gas inside the rear chamber 231 can be easily dissipated.
When it is raining or a user is doing exercise, the rain or perspiration may enter the drainage tunnel 26 through the first opening 24. In the meantime, the water-repellent breathable member 30 can prevent the rain or perspiration from entering the rear chamber 231 and the rain or perspiration can be expelled out of the earphone 1 quickly through the drainage tunnel 26. Thus, the moisture can be prevented from entering the main body 20 of the earphone 1 and from damage to the speaker 10 and the frequency response of the earphone 1 within the low-frequency range can be restored to the gain as it is before the moisture enters the drainage tunnel 26, thus enhancing the acoustic performance of the earphone 1.
It is to be noted that the technical personnel in the art can make a third opening or more openings on the housing 22 to boost the drainage. In addition, the first and second openings 24 and 25 are not necessarily located at the top and bottom sides of the rear end of the housing 22 and can be located at other positions of the housing instead as long as the path between the venthole 27 and the first opening 24 or the second opening 25 makes the gas inside the rear chamber 231 communicable with the outside successfully.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4646872 | Kamon et al. | Mar 1987 | A |
4742887 | Yamagishi | May 1988 | A |
20050077102 | Banter | Apr 2005 | A1 |
20120269375 | Tan | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20140064548 | Chu | Mar 2014 | A1 |
20140072161 | Boyle | Mar 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
59144297 | Aug 1984 | JP |
6-32526 | Apr 1994 | JP |
Entry |
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English machine translation of JP 6-32526 (Kanbe, Yoshiyuki; Electroacoustic Transducer; published Feb. 1983). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150289051 A1 | Oct 2015 | US |