Abstract:
An audio system comprises at least one pair of wireless headphones having an active operating mode and an inactive operating mode, the at least one pair of headphones comprising a solid-state audio player, a rechargeable battery, means for connecting to a computer, means for charging the battery, and a motion sensor, wherein the motion sensor detects movement of the headphones and causes headphones to be put into inactive mode when no motion is detected for a certain period of time and causes headphones to be put back into active mode when motion is detected.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an audio system, in particular to an audio system for use both in the home and school environment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Teachers often use audio systems in class as part of a lesson. This may form part of a language lesson, or for younger children, simply an audio story. The whole class is not always involved in the audio activity so often a teacher will use an audio system with headphones for each of the children. 
     Existing audio systems in schools are often mains powered tape players. Those participating in the audio activity listen via a loudspeaker, or wear headphones which are attached by a wire to the audio playback device. Even when using headphones, each child must listen to the same story at the same time. As well as being limited to the location of the device, the headphone wires can become tangled and this presents a hazard in classroom environment 
     Mechanical robustness can be a problem with existing audio systems, especially with systems for use by small children. They may pull at the wire connecting the headphones to the tape player, or drop the headphones for example, causing damage. 
     Battery powered headphones for use with audio systems do exist, but a problem with these, especially with young children, is that children forget to turn them off after use resulting in battery power quickly draining. 
     It would be desirable to provide an improved audio system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One aspect of the invention provides an audio system as specified in Claim  1 . 
     Preferred aspects of the invention are specified in the claims dependent on Claim  1 . 
     The invention provides an improved audio system for use either in a home or school environment. The system uses rechargeable wireless headphones, each with an in-built digital audio player and an automatic on/off control feature so that headphones are automatically switched into a low power mode when not in use. The invention also provides a wireless remote control console for use with multiple sets of headphones. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 1  shows one set of headphones connected to a computer; 
         FIG. 2  shows a screen-shot of the software for use with the audio system; 
         FIG. 3  shows multiple sets of headphones connected to a computer via a base unit; and 
         FIGS. 4   a, b  and  c  each illustrate a remote control console. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The system of the invention is shown in its simplest form in  FIG. 1 . The system comprises a pair of headphones  1 , which are connectable to a personal computer  2  via a cable  3 , for example a standard USB cable. Headphones  1  also comprise a rechargeable battery which is recharged by the computer via the USB cable. An LED indicator light  6  indicates the status headphones  1 . Headphones  1  have an in-built solid state audio player. Solid state audio players use digital audio compression algorithms to compress digital audio files. In this example the audio player is an mp3 player which uses an mp3 compression algorithm. Other compression algorithms are widely available such as wma (windows media audio), aac (advanced audio coding). 
     The computer  2  is provided with software, which provides an interface for downloading audio files stored on computer  2  onto the mp3 player of the headphones  1 . Audio files may be for example children&#39;s stories or listening games. The software also provides an interface to the internet to allow users to purchase and download audio files to computer  2 . A screenshot of the software is shown in  FIG. 2 . Audio files saved on computer  2  are shown on the left hand side  4  of the screen, and audio files transferred to the solid state mp3 player of headphones  1  are shown on the right hand side  5  of the screen. Audio files are transferred from computer  2  to headphones  1  by any appropriate file transfer method, for example ‘dragging and dropping’ the required file from the list on left hand side  4  to right hand side  5 , or clicking on a button which commands the transfer of the required file. 
     Once the batteries are charged and audio files downloaded, headphones  1  are disconnected from computer  2 . A user wears the headphones and listens to the downloaded audio files independently from computer  2 . 
     Headphones  1  have a series of control buttons  7 . These buttons allow the user to play or pause an audio file, skip to the next audio file, and may allow the user to control the volume. Where the system of the invention is to be used by small children, fewer control buttons on each headphone is desirable. In an alternative embodiment, for use with very small children, headphones  1  may have no control buttons at all. 
     Headphones  1  do not have an on/off control button. Instead, headphones  1  have two states of operation, an active mode where audio is played to the user, and an inactive mode or sleep mode where no audio is played. Headphones have an in-built motion sensor and a controller to control switching between these two states. In this example the controller is a micro-processor. 
     When headphones  1  are not in use, for example when they are set down on a table, after a set period of time the headphones will power down into the inactive mode to conserve battery. This period may be, for example, a period of twenty seconds during which no motion is detected. When headphones  1  are picked up again or moved, the motion detector detects this motion and headphones  1  are switched back into active mode. Once back in active mode, the headphones may be configured to rewind the audio track for the period of delay so that play of the audio track is continuous. 
     The motion sensor may be a tilt sensor or a vibration sensor and is very sensitive to movement. Even when a child is sitting still listening to a story, they will continually make slight movements and will not be completely still for the set period of say twenty seconds and the headphones will remain in active mode. 
     In a school environment, the teacher is likely to have more than one set of headphones  1  for use with the pupils during lessons.  FIG. 3  shows a base unit  8  that can be used to recharge the batteries of a number of sets of headphones  1  simultaneously. In the present example the base unit  8  is used to recharge four sets of headphones  1  simultaneously. Base unit  8  connects to the mains power to recharge headphones  1 . Base unit  8  is also connectable to a personal computer  13 , for example via a USB cable, to enable audio files to be transferred to each set of headphones  1 . Headphones  1  connect with connectors  11  and  12  on base unit  8  via equivalent connectors  9  and  10  on the underside of the headband of headphones  1 . Connectors  11  enable the batteries of headphones  1  to be recharged and connectors  12  connect the mp3 player of headphones  1  to computer  13 . Computer  13  is provided with software as previously described. The software has the option of transferring identical audio files to all headphones, or separate files to each set of headphones  1 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, batteries of headphones  1  may be charged wirelessly using electromagnetic induction. Audio files may be downloaded onto headphones  1  by wireless transmission, for example this may be via infrared or radio frequency transmission or electromagnetic coupling. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4   a, b  and  c , in a school environment a teacher may also wish to use a remote control console  14   a, b  or  c  in order to remotely control a set of headphones  1 . Remote control of the headphones is achieved by wireless transmission from remote console  14   a, b  or  c  to headphones  1 . Wireless transmission may be performed using infrared or radio frequency, means. 
     Consoles  14   a, b  and  c  each comprise a wireless transmitter, for example a radio frequency transmitter. Headphones  1  for use with console  14   a, b  or  c  additionally comprise a wireless receiver, for example a radio frequency receiver. Consoles  14   a, b  or  c  are each powered by rechargeable batteries. The batteries may be recharged in base unit  8  by placing the console in pocket  18 . Connector  19  on the console connects with an equivalent connector within pocket  18  on base unit  8  to enable the console to be recharged. 
     In its simplest form, as shown in  FIG. 4   a , console  14   a  comprises playback controls  16  which allow the teacher to play or pause a track, to stop a track, to reset or select first track and to skip to the next audio track. 
     In a further embodiment, shown in  FIG. 4   b , console  14   b  comprises a display screen  15  in addition to playback controls  16 . Two-way communication between console  14   b  and headphones  1  allows information from the headphones to be displayed on display screen  15  of console  14   b . Information displayed may include a list of the available audio files saved on headphones  1 ; the time elapsed of the track that is playing; or an indicator of the battery life of individual headphones  1 . To allow two-way communication headphones  1  additionally comprise a wireless transmitter, for example a radio frequency transmitter, and console  14   b  comprises a wireless receiver, for example a radio frequency receiver. 
     In a further embodiment, shown in  FIG. 4   c , console  14   c  has an in-built solid state audio player, for example an mp3 player and a loud speaker  17  in addition to the features described in relation to console  14   b . This gives a teacher the option to play audio files through speaker  17  for group listening. In this embodiment, console  14   c  is also connectable to a computer  13  to enable audio files to be downloaded from computer  13  to the mp3 player of console  14   c  via the software interface. Console  14   c  connects to computer  13  is via base unit  8 . Connector  20  on console  14   c  connects with an equivalent connector within pocket  18  on base unit  8  to allow programming of the audio player. In an alternative embodiment console  14   c  connects to computer  13  via wireless transmission. 
     In a further embodiment of the invention the console  14   c  includes a microphone  21  through which an audio signal generated by a user of the console  14   c  may be recorded. The sound signal is recorded to the console  14   c  and may be uploaded to the computer and stored as sound files by the computer software when the console  14   c  is connected to the computer  13 . 
     Use of any of consoles  14   a  to  c  is not limited to a classroom. Consoles and headphones are battery powered and may be used anywhere, for example outside in the playground. 
     Headphones  1  may be configured to work in either ‘local’ mode, whereby each set of headphones  1  function independently of console  14  and each child may listen to a different story. Alternatively they may be configured to work in ‘console’ mode, whereby each set of headphones  1  is controlled by console  14  and each child listens to the same story. The mode of operation may be set by a switch on each pair of headphones  1 , or in an alternative embodiment, the mode of operation may be selected as an option through the computer software when headphones are connected to computer  13 . The computer software may be arranged to provide a function to switch off the control buttons  7  of the headphones. This allows incorrect use of the buttons  7  to be prevented. As children are apt to fiddle with the buttons  7  the ability to disable them is perceived as an advantage. 
     The audio system of the invention is suitable for both use in a home environment and use in a school environment. 
     It is envisaged that the software of the system will initially include a number of audio files. Teachers or home users may then purchase further audio files by downloading from an internet site, or purchasing additional files on a CD-ROM for example. It is also envisaged that schools may be able to ‘rent’ audio files for a certain period of time from an online audio file library. 
     In an alternative embodiment of the invention, users may subscribe to an online database, and the computer software automatically connects to the internet to download new files. When headphones  1  are connected to the user&#39;s computer via the software interface, these new files are automatically transferred to the headphones. 
     It will be appreciated that the system of the invention is not limited to use with young children, and maybe configured for use for example with music audio files, or audio files for use in language lessons for older children.