Abstract:
A combined computer mouse and speaker device includes two major devices: a mouse device and a speaker device. The speaker device may include one woofer/midrange and a pair of tweeters. Because the size of the woofer/midrange is relatively large, the woofer/midrange is preferably located at the rear portion of the combined computer mouse and speaker device. The pair of tweeters is preferably located on each side of the woofer/midrange.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a combined computer mouse and speaker device and, more particularly, to a combined computer mouse and speaker device for a portable computer.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Many portable computers (such as notebook computers or tablet computers) have one or more speakers; however, all portable computers have very strict thickness limitations, which also places limits on the design of the speaker. Usually, the speakers in a portable computer are tweeters, as woofer/midrange speakers require larger amounts of space, which is not suitable for a portable computer.  
         [0005]     In order to improve the audio quality of a portable computer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,260 discloses a portable computer with rotatable speakers; another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,053, discloses a portable computer with speakers located at different positions.  
         [0006]     Both above-mentioned improvements concern various computer housing designs, but they are unable to solve the problem related to woofers. Therefore, the user must buy additional speakers for better audio quality, and this is very inconvenient when traveling.  
         [0007]     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a combined mouse device and speaker device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     A main objective of the present invention is to provide a speaker device for a computer, and the speaker device is combined with the mouse device.  
         [0009]     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a portable speaker device, and, more particularly, for a portable computer. Therefore, the users only need one device for mouse device and speaker device.  
         [0010]     In order to achieve the above-mention objectives, the combined computer mouse and speaker device includes two major devices: a mouse device device and a speaker device. The speaker device may include one woofer/midrange and a pair of tweeters. Because the size of the woofer/midrange is relatively large, the woofer/midrange is preferably located at the rear portion of the combined computer mouse and speaker device. The pair of tweeters are preferably located on each side of the woofer/midrange.  
         [0011]     The combined computer mouse and speaker device only needs one transmission cable, which can be a typical USB transmission cable.  
         [0012]     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional schematic drawing of a first embodiment of the combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a combined computer mouse and speaker device of the present invention being connected to a computer.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a perspective drawing of a second embodiment of a combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a perspective drawing of second embodiment of a combined computer mouse and speaker device, which shows a covering with an aperture opened.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a top view of a third embodiment of a combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional schematic drawing of a fourth embodiment of a combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram of a circuit structure for the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment.  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a block diagram of the combined computer mouse and speaker device being connected to different connectors.  
         [0022]      FIG. 10  is another block diagram of the combined computer mouse and speaker device being connected to different connectors. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0023]     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  for the first embodiment of the present invention. A combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  has a shape typical of computer mice. The combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  comprises a mouse device  20  and a speaker device  30 .  
         [0024]     The mouse device  20  includes a mechanism that provides the functionality of a standard computer mouse (such as mouse buttons  21 ) and an electronic device  22  (which is a typical computer mouse circuit, and may include a USB control circuit to support USB transmission standards). Since the mouse device  20  is well-known technology, it requires no further description; it should be noted that the mouse device  20  may also be a roller mouse device or an optical mouse device etc.  
         [0025]     The speaker device  30  includes a woofer/midrange speaker  31 , and two tweeters  32 ,  33  in the first embodiment. The speaker device  30  also includes some simple circuits  35  (which can be designed to be disposed on the same circuit board as the electronic device  22 ), such as an amplifier or USB control circuit. Since the speaker device  30  is well-known technology, it requires no further description. However, the meaning of the woofer/midrange speaker  31  in this embodiment is defined as a speaker which is able to provide audio frequencies that are lower than the audio frequencies provided by the two tweeters  32 ,  33 .  
         [0026]     The mouse device  20  and the speaker device  30  are both placed in a common housing  40 , which might be composed of a plurality of housings. In the first embodiment, the woofer/midrange speaker  31 , and the two tweeters  32 ,  33 , are exposed at the surface of the common housing  40 . Since the speakers  31 ,  32 ,  33  are exposed, three grilles  31   g ,  32   g ,  33   g  may be provided to cover the speakers  31 ,  32 ,  33 . The woofer/midrange speaker  31  is placed at the rear portion of the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10 , since the mouse buttons  21  and the other electronic devices are place towards the front of the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10 , and the woofer/midrange speaker  31  requires a larger space. The combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  has a larger space towards the back to accommodate the woofer/midrange speaker  31 . The two tweeters  32 ,  33  should be separated from each other, such as by being placed along two sides of the woofer/midrange speaker  31  to create a stereophonic effect.  
         [0027]     An speaker switch  39  (such as a slide or a roller) is electrically connected to the circuit  35 , and the speaker switch  39  can also be a volume adjustment switch  391 , so the user can adjust volume of the speaker device  30 .  
         [0028]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 . The combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  of the present invention is connected to a computer  90  via a transmission cable  11 . In the first embodiment, the transmission cable  11  is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector  12 . Because of the characteristics of the USB standard, the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  requires only one transmission cable.  
         [0029]     Please refer to a second embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 4 . In order to protect or provide decoration for the speakers  31 ,  32 ,  33 , a covering  42  with a plurality of apertures  421  can be placed over the speakers  31 ,  32 ,  33 , so that the grilles  31   g ,  32   g ,  33   g  are not necessarily required.  
         [0030]     Please refer to  FIG. 5 . The covering  42  further comprises a pivot mechanism  422  so that the covering  42  can be lifted and opened; when the user is not using the mouse, the speakers  31 ,  32 ,  33  can then provide a better audio experience. However, the covering  42  doesn&#39;t need to be provided a pivoting design, as the audio can still pass through the plurality of apertures  421 .  
         [0031]     Please refer to  FIG. 6  for a third embodiment of the present invention. The two tweeters  32 ,  33  are placed in front of the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10 , but the two tweeters  32 ,  33  are pivoted onto the common housing  40  via a pivot mechanism  34 , so that the two tweeters  32 ,  33  can be in either an opened state  82  or a closed state  81 . In the opened state  82 , the two tweeters  32 ,  33  are rotated towards the rear end of the mouse  10  so that the user is provided better audio quality. A concave  45  can be separately placed next to the two tweeters  32 ,  33 , so the user can more easily pull out the two tweeters  32 ,  33 . Many mechanisms may be used for opening the two tweeters  32 ,  33  such as by providing a spring and a catch (not shown) or other similar mechanisms as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,260.  
         [0032]     Please refer to  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional schematic drawing of a fourth embodiment of the combined computer mouse and speaker device according to the present invention. The woofer/midrange speaker  31  is placed in the rear of the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10 , and faces down. An opening  46  is placed at the bottom of the common housing  40  so that the audio from the woofer/midrange speaker  31  can be clearly heard.  
         [0033]     Please refer to  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the circuit structure of the first to fourth embodiments. The control circuits of the mouse device  20  and the speaker device  30  are both connected to a USB hub  13  (two connecting ports); therefore, only one transmission cable  11  and one USB connector  12  are required. As the USB mouse is very common device, and as the USB standard supports audio devices, no further description is required.  
         [0034]     Please refer to  FIG. 9 . The control circuits of the mouse device  20  and the speaker device  30  are separately connected to the transmission cables  11   a ,  11   b  and the USB connectors  12   a ,  12   b , so that a USB hub is not required. Although, a defect has a more complicated cable layout, each device can obtain more power from the computer, and in particular the speakers.  
         [0035]     Please refer to  FIG. 10 . The mouse device  20  is connected to the computer via a mouse connector  17  (which is usually is a PS/2 connector or an RS232 connector). The speaker device  30  is connected to an audio card in the computer via a traditional audio connector  18 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 8  to  FIG. 10  are used to illustrate particular examples of how the combined computer mouse and speaker device  10  may be connected to the computer. However, many other methods are available, such as wireless transmission protocols (like the Bluetooth technology).  
         [0037]     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.