This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application Serial No. 10-2015-0015501, which was filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Jan. 30, 2015, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to a wearable electronic device that is worn on a neck.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic device may be carried within a user's pocket, a bag and the like, by holding and carrying by hand, or by wearing the device on a predetermined position of the user's body. A wearable device refers to an electronic device that may be worn on various portions of the user's body.
There are various methods of wearing a wearable device on a user's body, which may be simply classified as follows based on a wearing method or a wearing position:
1. Wearing the wearable device on a user's body, such as a wrist, as a watch or band type.
2. Wearing the wearable device around a user's body as a necklace type.
3. Wearing the wearable device on a face in a similar manner to wearing eyeglasses.
4. Wearing the wearable device by putting it on a portion of a user's body, clothing or using a clip.
5. Directly or indirectly attaching the wearable device to a user's body, clothing or belonging.
A wearable device can be conveniently worn on various positions of the user's body, should be convenient to use while it is worn, and should be conveniently carried or stored when it is not worn.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a wearable device that is conveniently carried, conveniently worn, and easily managed when it is not worn.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a wearable device that is configured where respective parts may be separated from/coupled to each other such that various functions are enabled.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a wearable device that is worn by separating a main part from a battery part, wearing the main part and the battery part, and then pulling and wearing ear parts.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a wearable device in which a main part and an assembly part may be separated from/coupled to each other.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a wearable device in which an auxiliary battery is mounted on each part so that power shut off can be prevented when separating the parts.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a wearable device is provided that includes a first function part, a second function part that is integrally coupled to or separated from the first function part, and strings that are connected to the first and second function parts, respectively, to allow the first and second function parts to be worn on a neck.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a wearable device is provided that includes a first function part, a second function part that is integrally coupled to or separated from the first function part, and strings that are connected to the first and second function parts, respectively, to allow the first and second function parts to be worn on a neck. The strings may be provided with earphone parts and a retainer. The strings may be pulled by a length that is sufficient to wear the earphone parts on ears in which the retainer is held by a hand, and the earphone parts may be worn on the ears.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a wearable device is provided that may include a wearable device that includes at least one function part that is worn on a neck using a string. The string may be provided with an earphone part and a retainer, and the earphone part may be worn on an ear by pulling the string while holding the retainer when the wearable device is worn on the neck.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in the drawings and relevant detailed descriptions are provided, various changes may be made and various embodiments may be provided. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific embodiments and should be construed as including all changes and/or equivalents or substitutes included in the ideas and technical scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. In describing the drawings, similar reference numerals are used for similar elements.
The terms “include” or “may include” used in the embodiments of the present disclosure indicate the presence of disclosed corresponding functions, operations, elements, and the like, and do not limit additional one or more functions, operations, elements, and the like. In addition, it should be understood that the terms “include” or “have” used in the embodiments of the present disclosure indicate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or a combination thereof described in the specification, and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or a combination thereof.
The term “or” used in the embodiments of the present disclosure include any and all combinations of words enumerated with it. For example, “A or B” means including A, including B, or including both A and B.
Although the terms such as “first” and “second” used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify various elements of the various embodiments, these terms do not limit the corresponding elements. For example, these terms do not limit an order and/or importance of the corresponding elements. These terms may be used for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another element. For example, a first electronic device and a second electronic device all indicate electronic devices and may indicate different electronic devices. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element without departing from the scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element.
It will be understood that, when an element is mentioned as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, the element may be directly connected or coupled to another element, and there may be an intervening element between the element and another element. On the contrary, it will be understood that, when an element is mentioned as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there is no intervening element between the element and another element.
The terms used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and do not limit various embodiments of the present disclosure. As used herein, singular forms are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All of the terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood by a person of ordinary skill in the related art unless they are defined otherwise. The terms defined in a generally used dictionary should be interpreted as having the same meanings as the contextual meanings of the relevant technology and should not be interpreted as having ideal or exaggerated meanings unless they are clearly defined in the various embodiments.
An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be a device that is equipped with a communication function. For example, the electronic device may include at least one of a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an electronic book reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), an MP3 player, a mobile medical machine, a camera, or a wearable device (for example, a head-mounted-device (HMD) such as electronic glasses, electronic clothing, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an electronic appcessory, electronic tattoos, or a smart watch).
The electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be one or a combination of one or more of the above-mentioned devices. In addition, the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be a flexible device. In addition, it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related art that the electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned devices.
Hereinafter, an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. The term “user” used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure may refer to a person who uses the electronic device or a device that uses the electronic device (for example, an artificial intelligence electronic device).
The wearable device may be a neck mount type wearable device in view of its position as worn on a user's body. In particular, the wearable device may be a type to be worn by putting it around the neck using strings w1 to w4. In addition, the wearable device may provide a new wearing method in which a first function part 10 and a second function part 11, which form the main body of the wearable device, are separated from each other to place the wearable device on the neck, and then third function parts 13R and 13L are pulled and worn.
For the convenience of description of the present disclosure, the first function part 10 will be referred to as a main part, the second function part 11 will be referred to as a battery part, and the third function parts 13L and 13R will be referred to as earphone parts. The terms refer to function parts, which form the main body, for the convenience of description, and the definitions of the technical terms that refer to the first, second and third function parts may be changed depending on various types of wearable devices. For example, when the main part is provided with a display, the main part may be referred to as a display part, and when a camera module is mounted on the battery part, the battery part may be referred to as a camera part.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the wearable device may include a main part 10 and a battery part 11, which may be physically coupled to and separated from each other, strings w1, w2 and w3, w4, each of which is connected to the main part 10 and battery part 11 to allow the main part 10 and battery part 11 to be worn on a neck and earphone parts 13R and 13L, which are connected to the strings w1 to w4.
The main part 10 and the battery part 11 may include coupling structures that can be physically coupled to each other and can maintain the coupled state. The coupling structures will be described in detail below. The main part 10 and the battery part 11 are bodies that are classified based on the functions thereof. The main part 10 and the battery part 11 may be referred to as a first function part and a second function part, respectively, or may be referred to as a first module (main module) and a second module (battery module).
The main part 10 may be connected to one earphone 13R by a first string w1, w2, and the battery part 11 may be connected to another earphone 13L by a second string w3, w4. In other words, one end of the first string w1, w2 may be fixed to the main part 10, and the other end may be fixed to one earphone 13R. In addition, one end of the second string w3, w4 may be fixed to the battery part 11, and the other end may be fixed to the other earphone 13L. Each of the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 may be maintained in a pulled state by a retainer 14. Detailed descriptions on the retainer 14 that maintains the pulled states of the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 will be made below. The first string w1, w2 may function to physically and electrically connect the main part 10 and one earphone 13R to each other, and the second strings w3, w4 may function to physically and electrically connect the battery part 11 and the other earphone 13L to each other. In addition, the entire length of each of the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 is not changed, and the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 may have equal or similar lengths.
The main function of the retainer 14 is to maintain the pulled state of the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4. However, an additional function of the retainer 14 is to maintain the length of the first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 to be the same as or similar to each other.
The first and second strings w1, w2 and w3, w4 include first and second string portions w1 and w2 and third and fourth string portions w3 and w4, respectively. By using the retainer 14, the first and second strings portions w1 and w2 and the third and fourth string portions w3 and w4 may be movable.
The first string portion w1 may be a string portion that exists between the main part 10 and the retainer 14, and the second string portion w2 may be a string portion that exists between the retainer 14 and one earphone 13R. The third string portion w3 may be a string portion that exists between the battery part 11 and the retainer 14, and the fourth string portion w4 may be a string portion that exists between the retainer 14 and another earphone 13L. The length of each of the first and second string portions w1 and w2 may be changed depending on whether each of the first and second string portions w1 and w2 is pulled while fixing the retainer 14. The length of each of the third and fourth string portions w3 and w4 may also be changed depending on whether each of the third and fourth string portions w3 and w4 is pulled while fixing the relative position of the retainer 14. Arrows 1 to 4, which are indicated in the drawing, represent directions in which the strings may be pulled.
The first string portion w1 may be provided with a sound device such as a speaker 15a. When the speaker 15a is not provided on the first string portion w1, the speaker 15a may be mounted on the main part 10 or the battery part 11. The third string portion w2 may be provided with a sound device such as a microphone 15b. When the speaker 15b is not provided on the third string portion w3, the microphone 15b may be mounted on the main part 10 or the battery part 11. In addition, the wearable device may be provided with a volume adjustment key. In particular, the volume adjustment key may be provided on any of the first to fourth string portions w1 to w4. When the volume adjustment key is not provided on the first to fourth string portions w1 to w4, the volume adjustment key may be mounted on the main part 10 or the battery part 11.
A wearing method will be described below with reference to
Hereinafter, descriptions will be made on configurations of respective parts that form a main body according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Referring to
The main part 10 is formed in a coin shape to have an outer surface 100, an inner surface 101, and an outer peripheral surface 102. The battery part 11 is formed in a coin shape to have an outer surface 111, an inner surface 110, and an outer peripheral surface 112. The main part 10 is equipped with a display 106 or a touch screen panel (TSP) on the outer surface 100, and is provided with an insertion hole 108 on the outer peripheral surface 102, into which an earphone may be plugged. The inner surface 101 of the main part is arranged such that a connecting terminal (see
Referring to
Referring to
Connecting structures between the main part 10 and the battery part 11 may include the connecting connectors c1 and c2, respectively. The main part 10 may include the first connecting connector c1, and the battery part 11 may include the second connector c2 that may be connected to the first connecting connector c1 and may maintain the connected state. The structure of first connecting connector c1 may be, for example, a pogo pin. A pogo pin usually takes the form of a slender cylinder containing spring-loaded pins The first connecting connector c1 may include a plurality of connecting terminals. Each of the connecting terminals is supported by an elastic body to retract into or protrude from the main body of the first connecting connector. The second connecting connector c2 may be arranged such that a connecting surface is exposed to the inner surface 110 of the battery part.
The main part 10 may include one or more first magnetic bodies m1 and m2, and the battery part 11 may include one or more second magnetic bodies m3 and m4. The first magnetic bodies m1 and m2 and the second magnetic bodies m3 and m4 may be configured to have different polarities. A coupling force may be provided between the main part 10 and the battery part 11 and the coupled state thereof may be maintained by a pulling force (attraction) that is generated between the first magnetic bodies m1 and m2 and the second magnetic bodies m3 and m4, which may be forcibly separated from each other.
Referring to
In addition, the home button causes a main home screen to be displayed on the display 106. For example, when the home button is touched in the state where a home screen, which is different from the main home screen, or the menu screen is displayed on the display 106, the main home screen may be displayed on the display 106. In addition, when the home button is touched while the applications are executed and displayed the display 106, the main home screen may be displayed on the display 106. In addition, the home button may be used in order to cause the display 106 to display the most recently used application or a task manager.
The menu button provides a connection menu that may be used on the TSP. The connection menu may include a widget addition menu, a background screen change menu, a retrieve menu, an edition menu, an environment setting menu, and the like. The back button may cause the screen, which was executed just prior to the currently executed screen, to be displayed, or may cause the most recently used application to be terminated.
Referring to
Since the configurations of the main part 20 and the battery part 21 are the same as those of the main part 10 and the battery part 11 as illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Subsequently, when it is desired to put the earphone parts 13l and 13r on the ears, the earphone parts 13l and 13r may be pulled by a predetermined length with reference to the retainer 14, and then the earphone parts 13l and 13r may be worn on the ears to be used.
In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the wearable device may be equipped with a battery in each of the battery part or the additional function part and may also be equipped with a battery in the main part in order to prevent the product from being damaged by cut-off of power even if the parts are separated from each other.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the wearable device can be conveniently worn on the neck of the user's body, and is convenient when worn. Further, the wearable device may be conveniently carried or stored when the wearable device is not worn. In addition, the wearable device has a structure that is capable of changing functions or expanding functions.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, at least part of the apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented by using instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium in the form of a programming module. When the instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors may perform a function corresponding to the instructions. The computer-readable storage medium may be a memory, for example. At least part of the programming module may be implemented (for example, executed) by using the processor. At least part of the programming module may include a module, a program, a routine, sets of instructions, a process, and the like for performing one or more functions.
Examples of a computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as Compact Disc Read Only Memories (CD-ROMs) and Digital Versatile Disc (DVDs), magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and hardware devices such as Read Only Memories (ROMs), Random Access Memories (RAMs) and flash memories that are configured to store and execute program commands (for example, the programming module). Examples of the program commands include machine language codes created by a compiler and high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer by using an interpreter. The above-described hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules for performing operations of various embodiments of the present disclosure, and vice versa.
A module or programming module according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may include one or more of the above-described elements, may omit some elements, or may further include additional elements. The operations performed by the module, the programming module, or the other elements according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed serially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically. In addition, some operations may be performed in a different order or may omitted, and additional operations may be added.
While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is defined not by the detailed description of the disclosure but by the appended claims and their equivalents and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2015-0015501 | Jan 2015 | KR | national |