GB2381397A

GB2381397A - An ear worn event radio with an antenna in a lanyard

Info

Publication number: GB2381397A
Application number: GB0125721A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nicholas Richard Jame Opperman
Original assignee: SOUND DECISIONS Ltd
Current assignee: SOUND DECISIONS Ltd
Priority date: 2001-10-26
Filing date: 2001-10-26
Publication date: 2003-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 2021-10-26
Also published as: GB0125721D0; GB2381397B

Abstract

A radio receiver (10), particularly for event radio, comprises a housing (12), a hooked element (30) extending from the housing for hanging the housing on a user's ear and rotatable for use on left or right ear, a radio receiver circuit contained in the housing and having an aerial input and a speaker output, and a speaker contained in the housing and connected to the speaker output of the receiver circuit for directing sound at the user's ear when the housing is worn on the user's ear. The receiver also has a lanyard (38) extending from the housing by which the user can hold the receiver and/or hang the receiver around their neck. The lanyard forms or contains an aerial (52,54) connected to the aerial input of the receiver circuit. Accordingly, the radio receiver can be hooked onto the ear, rather than needing to have any part inserted into the ear canal, which many people find uncomfortable or annoying. The housing may be of small size, but is provided with a lanyard to reduce the risk of the receiver being dropped or lost. Importantly, the lanyard provides the aerial for the receiver, enabling a reasonable antenna length to be provided without the necessity for aerial.

Description

TITLE Radio Receivers DESCRIPTION This invention relates to radio receivers particularly, but not exclusively, for"event radio".

Event radio is the radio broadcasting of a commentary or other audio information at an event so that spectators at the event can receive that information. As a result, a spectator can receive expert commentary and information regarding the event they are quite probably paying to watch and is no longer discriminated against when compared to a TV viewer. Some event types lend themselves to event radio more obviously than others, such as : * those where much of the action takes place out of sight of the spectator (e. g. motorsports, three-day eventing, golf, yachting etc.) ; * those where traditional public address is difficult due to ambient noise or distance (e. g. airshows etc.) ; 'those where traditional public address is simply not acceptable (e. g. golf, cricket, snooker etc.) ; * those where the spectators can see the action, but want to know what is going on at associated events (e. g. rugby and football league matches) ; and * those where expensive displays, such as TV monitors or"jumbotrons", are currently available to spectators but without an audio stream (e. g. horse racing, rugby and football league matches etc.).

Event radio is not a new idea-a well-developed broadcast infrastructure industry has grown up in the last ten years-however the spread of radio at events has faltered. Analysis highlights one fundamental reason as the lack of a decent radio receiver designed specifically for use at events.

The receiver should ideally be lightweight, inexpensive and produce high-quality sound.

With advances in electronic technology this is all possible. Assuming that at least part of the receiver is to be worn adjacent the ear, it should ideally be comfortable to wear. The receiver should also ideally be small, but on the other hand not easily lost. In order to produce high-

quality sound, the receiver requires a good strength of received radio signal, which in turn requires a good aerial.

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a radio receiver comprising: a housing; a hooked element extending from the housing for hanging the housing on a user's ear; a radio receiver circuit contained in the housing and having an aerial input and a speaker output ; a speaker contained in the housing and connected to the speaker output of the receiver circuit for directing sound at the user's ear when the housing is worn on the user's ear;

and a lanyard extending from the housing by which the user can hold the receiver and/or hang the receiver around their neck ; wherein the lanyard forms or contains an aerial connected to the aerial input of the receiver circuit.

Accordingly, the radio receiver can be hooked onto the ear, rather than needing to have any part inserted into the ear canal, which many people find uncomfortable or annoying. The housing may be of small size, but is provided with a lanyard to reduce the risk of the receiver being dropped or lost. Importantly, the lanyard provides the aerial for the receiver, enabling a reasonable antenna length to be provided without the necessity for a separate aerial.

The lanyard may be electrically conductive and be electrically connected to the aerial input of the receiver circuit so that the lanyard forms the aerial. However, this may cause noise in the output audio signal. As an alternative, preferably the lanyard comprises a flexible sleeve and the aerial comprises an electrical conductor extending along the inside of the sleeve. In this case, preferably the sleeve is formed as a loop and the electrical conductor extends only partway (for example about half-way) around the loop. Preferably, the sleeve has a flattened crosssection. Preferably, the sleeve is formed of woven material.

The reception frequency of the radio receiver circuit may be preset, avoiding the need for an externally accessible tuning control.

The hooked element is preferably pivoted to the housing for movement between a position in which it extends behind the right ear of the user when the receiver is worn on the right ear and a position in which it extends behind the left ear of the user when the receiver is worn on the left ear.

Preferably, the housing contains a battery for powering the radio receiver circuit and/or an externally adjustable volume control for adjusting the speaker volume.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of providing a commentary or other audio information relating to an event to an audience, comprising: radio broadcasting the commentary or other information on a particular frequency; and providing members of the audience with radio receivers, according to the first aspect of the invention, tuned to that frequency.

In a preferred implementation of the method, the broadcast is provided by a short-range radio transmitter at or in the vicinity of the site of the event to members of the audience at or in the vicinity of the site of the event.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure I is a front view of a radio receiver; Figure 2 is a side view of the radio receiver of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged sectioned view of the lanyard/aerial of the radio receiver of Figures I and 2, taken along the section line 3-3 shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a block circuit diagram of the radio receiver of Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, a radio receiver 10 has a generally cylindrical housing 12 containing a radio receiver circuit 14 with a preset reception frequency, and also a battery 16, volume control 18 and speaker 20. The front face 22 of the housing 12, which in use faces the user's ear, is perforated and the speaker is mounted behind the front face 22. The front face 22 may have a foam covering 24, shown in phantom lines in Figure 2, to make the receiver 10 more comfortable. The rear face 26 of the housing is plain and may bear a logo, advertising slogan, etc. In the case of a"disposable"receiver, the rear face 26 may integral with, or permanently affixed to the remainder of the housing 12. In the case of a"serviceable"receiver, the rear face 26 may be removable to allow replacement of the battery 16, adjustment of the reception frequency of the receiver circuit 14, changing of the logo or slogan, etc.

An integral cranked arm 28 extends upwardly and forwardly from the top of the housing 12, and a hooked element 30 is pivotally connected about a vertical axis 32 by its upper end to the distal end of the arm 28. As seen in Figure 1, the hooked element 30 curves downwardly and around to the right, and is in a position to hook behind the right ear of the user when the receiver 10 is worn on the right ear. The hooked element 30 can be pivoted about the axis 32 to

the left side, as viewed in Figure 1, so that it curves downwardly and around to the left, and is in a position to hook behind the left ear of the user when the receiver 10 is worn on the left ear.

The volume control 18 has an adjustment knob 34 that protrudes from the one side of the housing 12. The volume control 18 may be combined with an on-off switch for the radio receiver circuit 14 operable by the adjustment knob 34. Alternatively, in the case of a disposable receiver, an on-off switch may be omitted.

An integral attachment bracket 36 is formed on the bottom of the housing 12, and a flexible lanyard 38 is attached to the bracket. The lanyard 38 is formed from a flattened sleeve of woven material having a first run 40 extending upwardly from a crimped ferrule 42 to the bracket 36, a second run 44 extending downwardly from the bracket 36 through the ferrule 42 to the distal end 46 of the lanyard 38, and a third run 48 extending upwardly from the distal end 46 back to the ferrule 42. The lanyard 38 is of sufficient length that it can be placed over the user's head and worn around their neck. It may also be used, of course, to carry the receiver 10 by hand.

The receiver circuit 14 is connected to a single-dipole, thin, insulated, flexible wire aerial 50. From the circuit 14, the aerial 50 extends out of the housing 12 though a hole in the bottom of the housing 12 and has a portion 52 bridging a gap between the housing 12 and the lanyard 38. The aerial 50 then passes through a hole in the wall of the lanyard 38 in the vicinity of the bracket 36 and has a portion 54 that extends along the inside of the second run 44 of the lanyard 38 to a distal end of the aerial 50 adjacent the distal end 46 of the lanyard 38.

In a modification to the receiver 10, the aerial 50 may be of loop form, with the aerial wire extending all the way around the lanyard 38 and back to the circuit 14. Additionally or alternatively, the aerial 50 may include a matching circuit having a ferrite rod or loop that is disposed in the n) jain body of the housing 12 and/or is embedded in the cranked arm 28 and/or is contained in an additional part of the housing 12.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many other modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A radio receiver comprising: a housing ; a hooked element extending from the housing for hanging the housing on a user's ear; a radio receiver circuit contained in the housing and having an aerial input and a speaker output ; a speaker contained in the housing and connected to the speaker output of the receiver circuit for directing sound at the user's ear when the housing is worn on the user's ear ; and a lanyard extending from the housing by which the user can hold the receiver and/or hang the receiver around their neck; wherein the lanyard forms or contains an aerial connected to the aerial input of the receiver circuit.

2. A radio receiver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lanyard is electrically conductive and is electrically connected to the aerial input of the receiver circuit so that the lanyard forms the aerial.

3. A radio receiver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lanyard comprises a flexible sleeve and the aerial comprises an electrical conductor extending along the inside of the sleeve.

4. A radio receiver as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sleeve is formed as a loop and the electrical conductor extends only part-way around the loop.

5. A radio receiver as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the sleeve has a flattened crosssection.

6. A radio receiver as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the sleeve is formed of woven material.

7. A radio receiver as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reception frequency of the radio receiver circuit is preset.

8. A radio receiver as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hooked element is pivoted to the housing for movement between a position in which it extends behind the right ear of the user when the receiver is worn on the right ear and a position in which it extends behind the left ear of the user when the receiver is worn on the left ear.

9. A radio receiver as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing contains a battery for powering the radio receiver circuit.

10. A radio receiver as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing contains an externally adjustable volume control for adjusting the speaker volume.

11. A radio receiver substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

12. A method of providing a commentary or other audio information relating to an event to an audience, comprising: radio broadcasting the commentary or other information on a particular frequency; and providing members of the audience with radio receivers, as claimed in any preceding claim, tuned to that frequency.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the broadcast is provided by a short-range radio transmitter at or in the vicinity of the site of the event to members of the audience at or in the vicinity of the site of the event.

14. A method of providing a commentary or other audio information relating to an event to an audience, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.