Abstract:
The present invention provides a wired control of an earphone. The wired control includes a ring and a body. The ring defines an elastic material structure and a plurality of rails. The body defines at least one protrusion which is mounted with a plurality of circuit boards, wherein each circuit board is electrically mounted with a switch thereon; the ring is rotatably mounted on the body; and each switch is operable in response either to the elastic material structure being pressed or to the rails of the ring being rotated. When one of the switches is activated by the movement of the ring, the circuit board corresponding to the activated switch generates a trigger signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to earphones and, more particularly, to a wired control of an earphone. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Electronic apparatuses, such as mobile phones, media players, may be controlled by a wired control of an earphone. The wired control of an earphone generally provides a plurality of function keys for touching or pressing to perform functions. However, the function keys can be operated only by touching or pressing, therefore, the limited operation manners are simple and boring. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the wired control of an earphone. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a wired control of an earphone in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of the wired control of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial, perspective view of a body of the wired control of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the body of  FIG. 3  assembled with a ring of the wired control of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a wired control of an earphone in accordance with an embodiment. The wired control  1  is adapted for an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, a media player, and so on. The wired control  1  is connected to the electronic device and the earphone (both not shown) by an earphone line  10 . 
     The wired control  1  includes a ring  20  and a body  30 . The ring  20  can be rotated around the body  30 . The ring  20  provides one or more input signs on its outer circumferential surface, for example, such as that shown in  FIG. 1 , a first sign  40 , a second sign  50 , and a third sign  60 . The second sign  50  is used to prompt a user that a position where the second sign  50  is placed can be touched or pressed, and is assigned an elastic material structure beneath thereof. The first sign  40  is used to prompt the user that the ring  20  can be rotated along a first orientation, such as a clockwise orientation. The third sign  60  is used to prompt the user that the ring  20  can be rotated along a second orientation, such as a counterclockwise. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of the wired control of  FIG. 1 . The ring  20 , substantially wheel-shaped, further defines a through hole  21  and three rails  22 - 24  in its interior. Typically, the through hole  21  is defined in the middle of the ring  20 . One end of each of the rails  22 - 24  is connected to the inner circumferential surface of the ring  20 , and the other end is connected to the outer circumferential surface of the through hole  21 . The body  30  includes a first crust  31 , a second crust  32 , a first body  33 , and a second body  34 . The first crust  31  covers the first body  33  and the second crust  32  covers the second body  34 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , an axis  100  is extended from an end face of the second body  34 . Typically, the axis  100  is extended from the middle of the end face of the second body  34 . The end face of the second body  34  further defines three protrusions thereon. The protrusions are symmetrically around the axis  100  and are separated from each other for a predetermined space, adjacent two of which can hold one of the rails  22 - 24 . In other words, each protrusion is positioned between each two rails. For example, a protrusion  200  is positioned between the rails  22  and  24 , a protrusion  300  is positioned between the rails  22  and  23 , and a protrusion  400  is positioned between the rails  23  and  24 . 
     The protrusion  200  is mounted with a circuit board  210  on its outer surface. The circuit board  210  is electrically mounted with a switch  220  thereon. The protrusion  300  is mounted with a circuit board  310  on its side face, which faces the rail  22 . The circuit board  310  is electrically mounted with a switch  320  thereon. The protrusion  300  is further mounted with a spring clip  330  on its another side face, which faces the rail  23 . The protrusion  400  is mounted with a circuit board  410  on its side face, which faces the rail  24 . The circuit board  410  is electrically mounted with a switch  420  thereon. The protrusion  400  is further mounted with a spring clip  430  on its another side face, which faces the rail  23 . The circuit boards  210 ,  310  and  410  are connected to the electronic device by electrical lines and generate trigger signals to the electronic device in response to user operations, thus, the electronic device performs a function based on the trigger signal. 
     When the axis  100  is engaged with the through hole  21 , and the rail  23  is clamped between the spring clips  330  and  430 , thus, the second body  34  is engaged with the ring  20 , and, the ring  20  can rotate around the axis  100  of the second body  34 . The switch  220  faces the elastic material structure of the second sign  50  on the ring  20 , the switch  320  faces the rail  22 , and the switch  420  faces the rail  24 . 
     When the second sign  50  on the ring  20  is touched or pressed, the switch  220  is touched, and the circuit board  210  connected with the switch  220  generates a trigger signal to the electronic device, thereby the electronic device performs a first function. 
     When the ring  20  is rotated along the first orientation based on the first sign  40 , the rail  22  is rotated along the first orientation and touches the switch  320 , and the circuit board  310  connected with the switch  320  generates a trigger signal to the electronic device, thereby, the electronic device performs a second function. During the first rotation operation, the rail  23  is detached from the spring clip  330  and extruded towards the spring clip  430 , and the spring clip  430  is deformed and generates an elastic force. When the first rotation operation is ended, the rail  23  moves towards the orientation opposite to the first rotation orientation based on the elastic force and the ring  20  resumes to the original state, that is, the rail  23  is clamped between the spring clips  330  and  430 . 
     When the ring  20  is rotated along the second orientation based on the third sign  60 , the rail  24  is rotated along the second orientation and touches the switch  420 , and the circuit board  410  connected with the switch  420  generates a trigger signal to the electronic device, thereby, the electronic device performs a third function. During the second rotation operation, the rail  23  is detached from the spring clip  430  and extruded towards the spring clip  330 , and the spring clip  330  is deformed and generates an elastic force. When the second rotation operation is ended, the rail  23  moves towards the orientation opposite to the second rotation orientation based on the elastic force and the ring  20  resumes to the original state, that is, the rail  23  is clamped between the spring clips  330  and  430 . 
     In another embodiment, a first protrusion is mounted with three circuit boards on its outer face and on its two side faces, respectively, each circuit board is electrically mounted with a switch thereon, a second protrusion is mounted with a first spring clip on its side face and a third protrusion is mounted with a second spring clip on its side face, and both the first spring clip and the second spring clip face the same rail. For example, the protrusion  200  is mounted with the circuit board  210  on its outer face and the circuit boards  310 ,  410  on its two side faces, the circuit boards  210 ,  310 ,  410  are electrically mounted with the switches  220 ,  320 ,  420 , the protrusion  300  is mounted with the spring clip  330  on its side face, the protrusion  400  is mounted with the spring clip  430  on its side face, and both the spring clips  330 ,  430  face the same rail  23 . 
     In yet another embodiment, a first protrusion is mounted with three circuit boards on its outer face and on its two side faces, respectively, each circuit board is electrically mounted with a switch thereon, a second protrusion is mounted with a first spring clip on its side face, which faces a first rail, and a third protrusion is mounted with a second spring clip on its side face, which faces a second rail. For example, the protrusion  200  is mounted with the circuit board  210  on its outer face and the circuit boards  310 ,  410  on its two side faces, the circuit boards  210 ,  310 ,  410  are electrically mounted with the switches  220 ,  320 ,  420 , the protrusion  300  is mounted with the spring clip  330  on its side face, which faces the rail  22 , and the protrusion  400  is mounted with the spring clip  430  on its side face, which faces the rail  24 , thus, no need the rail  23 . 
     It is understood that the disclosure may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure is not to be limited to the details given herein.