JP2000224684A - headphone - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To enable a large-diameter driver unit to be attached to an ear by a simple operation without using a headband. SOLUTION: A driver unit 2 and an ear hanging arm 3 curved along the backside of an ear shell Y, and a connecting arm 23, 33 extended from each of them, a hinge preferably having spring biasing means. 4 through 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to headphones.
More specifically, the present invention relates to headphones that can be worn on the ears of a listener independently of each other without using a headband.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Headphones are a type of speaker that is directly worn on the ears of a listener, and are roughly divided into, for example, closed headphones that are worn so as to cover the entire ear, and a pair of ears. There is an inner ear type which is used by being attached so as to sandwich the driver unit between the driver unit and the tragus.

[0003]

Both have advantages and disadvantages. That is, the inner-ear headphones are evaluated for the convenience of being able to be worn without using a headband, but the size of the driver unit is limited, so that sound quality cannot be denied to some extent.

On the other hand, in a closed type headphone, a realistic sound can be heard by a large-diameter driver unit that covers the entire ear. On the other hand, the driver unit is supported by a headband. Therefore, there is a problem in terms of wearability such as compression of the head.

[0005] Recently, a head band has been proposed in which the head band is turned toward the back of the head or passed under the chin to reduce the feeling of pressure on the head. Cannot be stored small when carrying or storing. In addition, fold the headband in two or three
Some of them are folded, but the operation is not only troublesome, but the cost can not be denied.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a large-diameter driver unit with a simple operation without using a headband. Another object of the present invention is to provide a headphone that can be worn on an ear.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a driver unit having an electroacoustic transducer for converting an electric signal into an audio signal, the driver unit having a size covering substantially the entire surface of the earring, It is characterized by comprising an ear hanging arm curved along the back side, and a hinge for connecting the driver unit and the ear hanging arm to be freely opened and closed.

[0008] According to this configuration, since the ear shell can be worn by sandwiching the ear shell between the large-diameter driver unit and the ear-hook holder, a headband is not required, and headphones having both good wearability and sound quality can be obtained. .

In the present invention, the ear hanging arm is preferably thick at a lower portion between the ear shell and the temporal region, and is thinned from an upper portion to a front portion. Optimum fitting feeling can be obtained.

[0010] Preferably, the hinge is provided with biasing means for biasing the driver unit and the ear hook arm relatively in the closing direction so as to sandwich the ear shell. This is another feature of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, the urging means is a resiliently deformable leaf spring. One end of the leaf spring is fixed to the first support unit on the driver unit side, and the other end is fixed to the second support unit on the ear arm side.

[0012] The present invention is further characterized by further comprising an auxiliary arm which holds the ear shell between the ear hook arm and the driver unit so that the driver unit can be kept open. According to this, the surround effect can be enjoyed by setting the driver unit away from the ear (open state).

[0013]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a headphone 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention as a pair for a right ear and a left ear. Each headphone 1 has the same configuration except that it is symmetric.

The headphone 1 includes a driver unit 2 having substantially the same size as the ear ring surface of the listener, an ear arm 3 having a curved shape along the back of the ear shell, a driver unit 2 and an ear arm. 3 and a hinge 4 for opening and closing the hinge 3.

The driver unit 2 has a half-egg-shaped case 21 having an opening on the surface facing the earring surface. Although not shown, the case 21 has an inside for converting an electric signal into a voice signal. A small speaker (electro-acoustic transducer) is built in.

An ear pad 22 made of a sound-permeable elastic material such as urethane foam resin is provided on the opening side of the case 21. In this embodiment, the ear pad 22 is formed so as to cover the entire opening surface of the case 21.

The case 21 has a vertically long elliptical shape in a side view, and the short-axis end of the case 21 (case 2 in FIG. 1).
A connecting arm 23 which is one arm of the hinge 4 is provided at the rear part of the hinge 4.

The ear hanging arm 3 is located between the back side of the ear cuff and the temporal region (for example, a portion where the earpiece of the vine of the eyeglasses is hung).
A frame 31 curved along is provided, and the frame 31 is covered with a cushion material 32 made of a foamed resin having appropriate elasticity. This ear hanging arm 3
A connection arm 33 which is the other arm of the hinge 4 also extends from substantially the center of the frame 31 on the side.

The ear hanging arm 3 is thick at the lower side between the ear shell and the temporal region and is thinner from the upper part to the front part so as to obtain an optimum fitting feeling.
In this case, the frame 31 itself may have such a shape, or the frame 31 may have a constant thickness, and the cushion material 32 may have such a shape.

Next, the structure of the hinge 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A shows a state in which the hinge 4 is opened.
FIG. 2B shows a state in which the hinge 4 is closed. According to this, the hinge 4 is connected to the connecting arm 2 on the driver unit 2 side.
3 and a connecting arm 33 on the side of the ear hanging arm 3 as its constituent elements.

The end of the connecting arm 33 on the side of the ear hanging arm 3 is forked (see FIG. 1), and a hinge shaft 34 is provided between them. On the other hand, the end of the connecting arm 23 on the driver unit 2 side is connected to the connecting arm 33.
The engaging piece 24 is inserted into the forked portion of the side, and the engaging piece 24 is formed with a fitting groove 25 that is rotatably fitted to the hinge shaft 34.

Further, the hinge 4 is provided with a biasing means for biasing the driver unit 2 and the ear hanging arm 3 in a closing direction or an opening direction at a predetermined opening angle. In this embodiment, an arc-shaped leaf spring 5 is used as the urging means.

One end of the leaf spring 5 is hooked on a support shaft 26 erected on the connecting arm 23 side. Also,
The other end of the leaf spring 5 is hooked on a support shaft 35 erected on the connecting arm 33 side.

For example, when the driver unit 2 is rotated while the ear arm 3 is fixed, the leaf spring sets a dead center position when the support shafts 26 and 35 and the hinge shaft 34 are on the same straight line. The driver unit 2 is urged in the opposite direction.

That is, when the driver unit 2 is rotated counterclockwise from the dead center position in FIG.
As shown in (a), the driver unit 2 is urged against the ear hanging arm 3 in the opening direction.

On the other hand, when the driver unit 2 is rotated clockwise from the dead center position, as shown in FIG. (Approaching direction).

The headphone 1 is used with the hinge 4 attached to the back of the ear shell Y of the head H, as shown in the use state diagrams of FIGS. First,
With the driver unit 2 open as in the left ear in FIG. 3, the ear hook arm 3 is hooked on the back side of the ear shell Y.

Next, the driver unit 2 is folded toward the ear canal Y side. As a result, the headphones 1 sandwich the ear shell Y between the ear hanging arm 3 and the driver unit 2 and are self-held by the ear shell Y. This sandwiched state is shown on the right ear side.

Since the headphones 1 are held by the ear shells Y in a state of being biased by the leaf springs 5, they do not shift even when a slight vibration is applied, such as during walking. In addition, since there is no headband as in the related art, there is no need to give a feeling of pressure to the head or disturb the hairstyle.

As shown in FIG. 5, a stopper 30 is provided at the lower end of the ear hook arm 3 so as to abut on the lower base of the ear shell Y so that the headphone 1
There is no possibility that the user will inadvertently rotate along the earplug Y.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be described. The headphone 1a has an auxiliary arm 6 that is held by the ear shell Y between the driver unit 2 and the ear hook arm 3 in addition to connecting the driver unit 2 and the ear hook arm 3 with the hinge 4. Have been.

The auxiliary arm 6 is preferably made of an elastic piece having an appropriate spring resilience, and has a shape along the outer periphery of the earring, that is, a shape similar to the ear hanging arm 3.
In this embodiment, the auxiliary arm 6 is fixedly attached to the connecting arm 32 at a predetermined angle so that the ear shell Y can be sandwiched between the auxiliary arm 6 and the ear hanging arm 3.

To put the headphones 1a on the ears,
Push the gap between the ear arm 3 and the auxiliary arm 6
An ear shell Y may be inserted between them. This allows the headphones 1a to be held by the ear shell Y even with only the ear hanging arm 3 and the auxiliary arm 6, so that the headphone 1a can be used even when the driver unit 2 is open as shown in FIG.
You can also enjoy the surround effect.

In this embodiment, the auxiliary arm 6 has a similar shape to the ear hanging arm 3, but is not limited to this. Further, although the auxiliary arm 6 is fixedly attached to the connecting arm 32 of the ear hanging arm 3, the auxiliary arm 6 may be attached to the connecting arm 32 using a hinge similar to the hinge 4 described above.

In each of the above embodiments, the hinge 4 of the headphone 1 (1a) is located on the back side of the ear shell Y. However, as shown in FIGS. Or on the front side of the ear canal Y, and such an embodiment is also included in the present invention.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By connecting a driver unit formed to a size that covers almost the entire surface of the earring and an ear hook arm curved along the back side of the earring via a hinge so as to be openable and closable,
A headphone is provided that allows a large-diameter driver unit to be worn on the ear without using a headband and with a simple operation.

Further, the ear shell is sandwiched between the ear hook arm and
By additionally providing an auxiliary arm that can be self-supported in the ear shell, the driver unit can be mounted even when the driver unit is kept open away from the ear, and according to this, the surround effect can also be enjoyed. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a headphone according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a configuration of a hinge used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the headphones of the present invention are mounted on the head.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the headphones of the present invention are mounted on the head.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a positional relationship between an ear shell and an ear hanging arm.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which the headphones according to the second embodiment of the present invention are mounted on ear shells.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which a hinge is provided at an upper part in the headphones of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state in which a hinge is provided at a front part in the headphones of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a Headphones 2 Driver unit 3 Ear hanging arm 4 Hinge 5 Leaf spring 6 Auxiliary arm H Head Y Ear shell

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A driver unit having an electroacoustic transducer for converting an electric signal into an audio signal, the driver unit having a size covering substantially the entire surface of an earring, and an ear curved along the back side of the earring. A headphone comprising: a hanging arm; and a hinge that connects the driver unit and the ear hanging arm to be freely opened and closed. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the ear hanging arm is thicker at a lower portion between the ear shell and the temporal region, and is thinner from an upper portion to a front portion. headphone. 3. The hinge according to claim 1, further comprising: urging means for urging the driver unit and the ear hook arm relatively in the closing direction so as to sandwich the ear shell. The headphones according to claim 1. 4. The urging means comprises an elastically deformable leaf spring, one end of which is fixed to the first support portion on the driver unit side, and the other end of which is formed on the ear support arm side. The headphones according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the headphones are fixed to the two support portions. 5. An ear shell is sandwiched between said ear hanging arm and said ear hanging arm,
The headphone according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an auxiliary arm capable of holding the driver unit in an open state.