Abstract:
A holder to carry portable electronic equipment on the body of a user, include a cord loop adapted for carrying on the body of a user; the cord loop having a support to hold the electronic equipment and a connector adapted to normally maintain the cord loop and disconnect the cord loop the moment it is applied with a larger pulling force than a predetermined force.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to portable electronic equipment such as a radio receiver set, tape recorder, disc player, radiophone or the like, and more particularly to a holder for such portable electronic equipment, designed for use around the neck of a user to use the electronic equipment while being carried on him or her. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Electronic equipment such as a radio receiver, tape recorder, disc player or the like have been designed dramatically compact for easier portability. 
     Usually, such portable electronic equipment is carried in a clothing&#39;s pocket, a bag or by holding in hand. 
     It has been demanded to provide an electronic equipment of this type which a user can carry and use even while the user is moving, for example, while he or she is jogging. 
     To meet the above demand, portable electronic equipment has been proposed which is adapted to be carried stably on a user, for example, by hanging on the neck or the like, not holding in hand, and thus used even during his movement including walking, jogging or the like. 
     The conventional electronic equipment adapted for use by hanging on the neck or the like of a user is provided with a carrying cord loop, for example, which is to be put around the neck. However, such conventional electronic equipment is disadvantageous in that if the cord loop is accidentally caught and pulled by any obstructive thing, a pulling force will be applied directly to the neck portion, possibly causing a danger to the user. For example, while the user is jogging along an avenue or a street lined with trees or the like, the cord loop may possibly be caught by a low hanging branch of a tree or when the user is going to ride on or off a train or electric car, the electronic equipment at the end of the cord loop may possibly be caught between the closing doors. In any case, a pulling force will be applied directly to the user&#39;s neck, possibly causing a fatal danger to him. Although it seems to be an extreme case, it cannot be said to be impossible. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has an object to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art by providing a holder for a portable electronic equipment, adapted for safe carry and use on a user. 
     The present invention has another object to provide a portable electronic equipment holder adapted for carrying by hanging on the neck or any other part of a user&#39;s body as well as for immediate removal from on the user&#39;s body when a greater pulling force than predetermined is applied to the holder, to assure the safety of the user. 
     The present invention has still another object to provide a portable electronic equipment holder adapted to assure a user&#39;s comfort when wearing it around the neck. 
     The above object can be achieved by providing a holder for a portable electronic equipment such as radio receiver, tape recorder, disc player or the like, comprising a necklace-like loop of cords so extended out from the portable electronic equipment as to be put around the neck of a user and which can easily be disconnected and removed from around the neck when applied with a greater pulling force than predetermined. 
     According to the present invention, electric cords including a power line and/or signal line, etc. are incorporated in the cord loop, which contributes to a simple appearance of the cord loop. 
     According to the present invention, an earphone connector is provided as one component of the necklace-like cord loop in a cord connector to locate near the head or ear of a user a leading portion of a connecting cord of a headphone placed on the head or an earphone put into the auricle, which contributes to a reduced length of the earphone cord. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These objects and other objects, features and advantages of the present intention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention applied to a portable radio receiver and portable telephone when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the holder for a portable electronic equipment (radio receiver in this embodiment) according to the present invention, put on the body of a user; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the portable radio receiver holder of the present invention in FIG. 1, not put on the user&#39;s body; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective rear view of the portable radio receiver holder according to the present invention in FIG. 2, one of the necklace-like loop of cords included in the holder being disconnected from the other that is a connector in the cord loop; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cord of the cord loop of the portable radio receiver holder according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the connection of one of the cords included in the necklace-like cord loop to a printed wiring board disposed in the portable radio receiver; 
     FIG. 6 is a partially sectional view of the female connector included in the cord loop to provide a connection between the cords; 
     FIG. 7 is a partially sectional, fragmentary perspective view of the female connector, showing the earphone cord plug going to be connected to the earphone jack provided in the female connector; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the other cord for connection to the male connector; 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the coupler incorporated in the female connector; 
     FIG. 10 is a front view of the coupler in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the cord clip to which the two cords are fitted; 
     FIG. 12 is a front view of the cord clip; 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portable telephone to which the present invention is applied; and 
     FIG. 14 is a second embodiment of the portable radio receiver holder according to the present invention, not put on the user&#39;s body. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The first embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinunder with reference to FIGS. 1 to  12 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 to  3 , the portable electronic equipment is a portable radio receiver unit generally indicated with a reference  1  and designed to receive AM and FM broadcasts. The radio receiver unit  1  incorporates a radio receiver circuit having an AM antenna to receive AM broadcasts, and has a compartment which houses a cell or cells as a power source to drive at least the radio receiver circuit and an earphone through which a received radio broadcast is heard. 
     The radio receiver unit  1  has provided on the front side of the casing thereof a dial indicator  4  to read a received frequency. The radio receiver unit  1  has also provided on the rear side of the casing thereof a battery compartment lid  2  for access to the battery compartment, a received frequency tuning dial  3 , a sound volume control  5 , an AM/FM band selector  6 , and a power on-off switch  7 . 
     The radio receiver unit  1  is designed at one side portion thereof to retain two cords  11  and  12 . Inside the radio receiver unit  1 , the cords  11  and  12  are fixed together at one pair of ends thereof with a retainer  18  as shown in FIG.  5 . The cords  11  and  12  are led from the radio receiver unit  1  through a hole formed at the one side portion of the radio receiver unit  1 . The other ends of the cords  11  and  12  thus led out are connected to each other by female and male connectors  25  and  41 , respectively. The pair of one cord  11  and female connector  25  and pair of the other cord  12  and male connector  41  form together a necklace-like cord loop generally indicated with a reference  10 A. The necklace-shape cord loop  10 A is used as shown in FIG.  1 . Namely, the user puts the cord loop  10 A around the neck (actually the boundary between the neck and shoulder) from above the head and thus holds the radio receiver unit  1  on his body or in a pocket of his clothing as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The cords  11  and  12  are made of materials sufficiently flexible for the cords  11  and  12  to easily fit the user&#39;s body shape when the cord loop is put around the neck. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the cord  11  comprises three wires  15  as a core, each consisting of a conductor  13  made of copper or the like and a synthetic resin sheath  14  formed on the conductor  13 , a cloth sheath  16  over the three wires  15 , and a water-repellent sheath  17  formed on the cloth sheath  16 . One of the three conductors  13  in the cord  11  is used as a power line for supplying the earphone with a power from a power source (battery or batteries) incorporated in the radio receiver unit  1 , another one is used as a signal line for supplying the earphone with a signal received by the radio receiver unit  1 , and the remaining one is used as an antenna (also as grounding conductor) for receiving FM broadcasts. 
     The cord  12  consists of a plurality of synthetic resin wires, a cloth sheath formed on the wires, and a water-repellent sheath formed on the cloth sheath. 
     As previously mentioned with reference to FIG. 5, the cords  11  and  12  are fixed together at one pair of ends thereof with the retainer  18  inside the radio receiver unit  1 . The retainer  18  is a metal sheet bent to a generally U shape so that its opposite ends overlap each other. A screw hole is formed through the opposite overlapping ends of the retainer  18 . A fixing screw  19  is provided through the screw hole and tightened to secure the ends of the cords  11  and  12  together in the retainer  18 . 
     Each of the conductors  13  of the wires  15  in the cord  11  is led out of the cord  11  and connected electrically and mechanically, by soldering, to a set of corresponding connecting terminals  21  provided on a printed wiring board  20  disposed inside the radio receiver unit  1 . The printed wiring board  20  is adapted to mount thereon electronic devices and the like forming the radio receiver circuit and power circuit. 
     A support sleeve  22  is provided and fixed to an open end of the through-hole formed at one end portion of the radio receiver unit  1 . The cords  11  and  12  are led out through the hole and also the support sleeve  22 . The sleeve  22  thus assures a more positive holding of the radio receiver unit  1  by the cords  11  and  12 . 
     The female connector  25  is made of a flexible material such as soft polyvinyl chloride, elastomer or the like so that it will easily be deformed along the profile of the user&#39;s neck when the cord loop is put around the neck. As shown in FIG. 6, the female connector  25  comprises a pair of arcuate segments  25   a  and  25   b  which form together an elliptic ring. Thus the arcuate segments  25   a  and  25   b  define an elliptic central opening  26  between them when the connector  25  is molded. 
     An earphone (or headphone)  27  is used with the radio receiver to listen to a radio broadcast received by the radio receiver. An earphone cord  28  led from the earphone  27  has an earphone plug  29  connected to an end opposite end thereof to an to which the earphone  27  is connected. The earphone plug  29  is removably connected to an earphone jack  30  provided in one end portion of the female connector  25  at the junction of the arcuate segments  25   a  and  25   b . The female connector  25  has formed in the end portion thereof a hole  31  open at the central opening  26  and in which the earphone plug  29  is to be inserted. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the female connector  25  has also provided in the opposite side of the end portion thereof a bush ring  33  through which the other end of the cord  11  is led into the female connector  25 . Namely, for disposing in a mold for the female connector  25  the earphone jack  30  and the bush ring  33  with the ends of the cord  11  passed through it, they are inserted in place in the mold and then molded by injection of the material of the female connector  25  (inserted molding). The three conductors  13  of the cord  11  are connected to corresponding connection pieces of the earphone jack  30 . 
     The earphone jack  30  is fixed in the female connector  25  for its hole  31  to be open at the central opening  26 . When the plug  29  of the earphone  27  is inserted into the earphone jack  30 , it will be positioned inside the central opening  26  defined by the pair of the arcuate segments  25   a  and  25   b , as will been seen from FIG.  2 . Therefore, the earphone plug  29  will seldom be caught by, or get into contact with, any other thing, so that it can be securely kept connected to the earphone jack  30 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 to  3 , the earphone  27  connected to the earphone jack  30  via the earphone plug  29  is a headphone with a pair of speaker units  36  and  37 , right and left, provided at opposite ends of a head band  35  which is to be placed on the user&#39;s head. 
     When the earphone plug  29  is connected to the earphone jack  30  with the radio receiver unit  1  set to receive an FM broadcast, the earphone cord  28  to which the plug  29  of the earphone  27  is connected will work with the wires  15  in the cord  11  as FM antennae for receiving FM broadcasts. 
     As seen from FIGS. 3 to  6 , the female connector  25  has provided, in the opposite end portion thereof to the end portion in which the earphone jack  30  is provided, a coupler  42  to which the male connector  41  connected to the other end of the cord  12  is removably connectable. 
     As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the male connector  41  has a base portion  43  in which the other end of the cord  12  is secured. The base portion  43  is molded from a synthetic resin to have a pair of catching projections  44  and  45  formed integrally therewith and whose respective ends are formed as engagement pawls  46  and  47 , respectively. The base portion  43  is further formed to have outer projections  48  and  49  extending outside and along the catching projections  44  and  45 , respectively, and a bridging end wall  50  connecting the ends of the outer projections  48  and  49 . The outer projections  48  and  49  are provided to protect the catching projections  44  and  45  by restraining the catching projections  44  and  45  from being excessively deflected when elastically deflected away from each other. The bridging end wall  50  of the male connector  41  has formed therein a slit  52  in which a retainable or to-be-retained plate-like projection  55  formed inside the coupler  42  is to be introduced and caught between the pair of catching projections  44  and  45 , and a guide recess  53  in which an inserting-direction control projection  56  formed also inside the coupler  42  is to be engaged. Thus, when the male connector  41  is plugged into the coupler  42  of the female connector  25 , it is guided by the projections  55  and  56  of the coupler  42  engaged in its slit  52  and guide recess  53 , respectively. That is to say, the male connector  41  is correctly aligned and positively connected to the coupler  42 , namely, to the female connector  25  because such projections, slit and recess work together to limit the male connector  41  from taking a wrong angular position in relation to the coupler  42 . 
     As seen from FIG. 9, the coupler  42  into which the male connector  41  is to be fitted has a socket  61  formed therein. The above-mentioned retainable projection  55  is formed on the inner side and innermost walls of the socket  61 , extending toward the opening of the socket  61  as shown in FIG.  10 . As mentioned above, the plate-like projection  55  is to be caught between the pair of catching projections  44  and  45  of the male connector  41 . It has formed on the opposite sides thereof and at an intermediate position thereon recesses  62  and  63  in which the pawls formed at the respective ends of the pair of catching projections  44  and  45  are to engage. The remaining thickness D 1  of the projection  55  between the engagement recesses  62  and  63  is slightly larger than a spacing W 1  between the pair of pawls  46  and  47 . Since the retainable plate-like projection  55  is thus formed, the pair of pawls  46  and  47  will securely be pressed in the recesses  62  and  63  under the effect of elastic deflection of the pair of catching projections  44  and  45  when the male connector  41  is plugged into the coupler  42 , namely, when it is connected to the female connector  25 . 
     For easy fixation of the coupler  42  in the female connector  25 , a pair of fin-shaped fixture pieces  64  and  65  is formed around the socket  61 . 
     To mold the coupler  42  in the female connector  25 , it is inserted in place in the mold for the female connector  25  for the socket  61  in the coupler  42  to be open out at the opposite end of the female connector  25  to the end where the earphone jack  30  is from be molded. Thus the coupler  42  is molded integrally in the female connector  25  as shown in FIG.  6 . 
     When the male connector  41  integrally fixed to the free end of the cord  12  is plugged into the coupler  42  provided in the female connector  25 , the cords  11  and  12  form together a necklace-like cord loop  10 A as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     For connecting the cord  12  to the female connector  25 , the male connector  41  at the end of the cord  12  is plugged into the socket  61  of the coupler  42 . For this connection, the male connector  41  is positioned so that the plate-like projection  55  and inserting-direction control projection  56  of the coupler  42  are engaged in the slit  52  and guide recess  53 , respectively, and then fitted into the socket  61  of the coupler  42 . As the male connector  41  is further inserted into the coupler  42  after the projections  55  and  56  are engaged in the slit  52  and recess  53 , respectively, the male connector  41  is inserted while the pair of catching projections  44  and  55  is being elastically deflected away from each other by the projection  55 , until the end face of the base portion  43  of the male connector  41  abuts the open end of the socket  61  of the coupler. Then, the pair of pawls  46  and  47  is engaged in the engagement recesses  62  and  63 , respectively under the effect of elastic deflection of the pair of catching projections  44  and  45 . Thus the male connector  41  is engaged in the coupler  42  with a predetermined force of retention. 
     By plugging the male connector  41  into the coupler  42  of the female connector  25  as in the above, the cords  11  and  12  are coupled to each other to form a cord loop. When any of the cords  11  and  12  is pulled with a large force, the male connector  41  will be disengaged from the coupler  42  of the connector  25  and thus the cords  11  and  12  be uncoupled from each other. Therefore, even if any of the cords  11  and  12  and radio receiver unit  1  is applied with such a large pulling force while the cord loop  10 A is being used around the user&#39;s neck, the male connector  41  is released from the coupler  42  and the cords  11  and  12  are uncoupled from each other. It is possible to avoid a danger that the user&#39;s neck will be fastened by the cord loop  10 A. Hence, the holder can be used very safely. 
     As mentioned above, the male connector  41  is engaged in the coupler  42  with the predetermined force of retention owing to the retention of the projection  55  by the pair of catching projections  44  and  45 . Therefore, when the male connector  41  is disengaged from the coupler  42  due to a large pulling force applied to the cord loop (cord  11  or  12 ) or radio receiver unit  1 , the pawls  46  and  47  are disengaged from the recesses  62  and  63  while the pair of catching projections  44  and  45  is elastically deflected away from each other. Therefore, the male connector  41  and coupler  42  may not possibly be damaged. For forming the cord loop again, the male connector  41  is plugged into the coupler  42  of the female connector  25  to thus couple the cords  11  and  12 . 
     Furthermore, a clip  71  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided to retain the cords  11  and  12  extending from the radio receiver unit  1 . The clip  71  is used to attach the flexible cords  11  and  12  to a part of the user&#39;s clothing or the like, thereby permitting the user to stably hold the radio receiver unit  1  on the user&#39;s body. The clip  71  is made of an elastically deformable synthetic resin. It includes a base  72  formed to have a generally U shape and a cord retainer  73  as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The base  72  of the clip  71  thus includes a pair of arms  72   a  and  72   b  forming together the generally U shape. Projections  74  are formed on the inner surface of each of the arms  72   a  and  72   b  and at the end portions thereof. The projections  74  on both the arms  72   a  and  72   b  cooperate together to prevent the clip  71  from easily slipping off a part of the user&#39;s clothing where the clip  71  is attached. 
     As shown in FIG. 12, the cord retainer  73  is provided outside one ( 72   a ) of the arms  72   a  and  72   b  of the clip base  72 . It includes a piece  73   a  rising from the outer surface of the arm  72   a , and a cord retaining piece  73   b  formed at the top of the rising piece  73   a  and extending orthogonally to the extending direction of the base  72 . The cord retaining piece  73   b  is curved toward the rising piece  73   a  as shown. The rising piece  73   a  is concaved semi-circularly on either side face thereof (at  75  and  76 ) to retain the cord. The radius of these semi-circular concavities  75  and  76  is slightly smaller than that of the cords  11  and  12  for the purpose of securely retaining the cords  11  and  12 . 
     The clip  71  thus constructed is used as follows. The cords  11  and  12  are fitted at the intermediate portions thereof into the semi-circular concavities  75  and  76 . As shown in FIG. 1, the clip  71  is attached to a part of the user&#39;s clothing, for example, a pocket, by pinching it between the arms  72   a  and  72   b  of the clip base  72 . Thus the cords  11  and  12  can be fixed to the user&#39;s clothing, thereby permitting the user to stably hold on the user&#39;s body the radio receiver unit  1  supported at the end of the cords  11  and  12 . 
     Since the cords  11  and  12  are fitted in the semi-circular concavities  75  and  76 , the clip  71  may be easily slid along the cords  11  and  12  in the direction of arrow A or B to a desired position as shown in FIG.  2 . Therefore, the cords  11  and  12  can be fixed at a desired position on the user&#39;s clothing by sliding the clip  71  along the cords  11  and  12 . 
     As having been described in the foregoing, the holder for portable radio receiver unit according to the present invention comprises the cords  11  and  12  which can be connected to each other to form the necklace-like cord loop  10 A by plugging the male connector  41 , fixed to the end of the cord  12  led from the radio receiver unit  1 , into the coupler  42  provided in the female connector  25  connected integrally to the end of the cord  11  led from the radio receiver unit  1 . The necklace-like cord loop  10 A is used around the neck of a user. Since the clip  71  retains the cords  11  and  12  to a part of the user&#39;s clothing as mentioned above, the cords  11  and  12  and the radio receiver unit  1  can be attached on the user&#39;s body. Namely, the user can hold the radio receiver unit  1  stably on his body. 
     When the necklace-like cord loop  10 A put around the neck of a user is pulled with a large force, for example, when the cord  11  or  12  or the radio receiver unit  1  is caught and pulled by any obstructive thing, the male connector  41  will be disengaged from the coupler  42  of the female connector  25  and thus the cords  11  and  12  will be uncoupled from each other. Thus, the large pulling force will not be exerted on the user&#39;s neck. Namely, the holder can be used around the user&#39;s neck very safely. 
     In the first embodiment having been described in the foregoing, the earphone is a headphone type having a head band. However, the present invention may of course use a so-called inner type earphone whose speaker unit is inserted directly into the auricle. 
     Also, the present invention may be applied to a portable tape recorder, disc player, portable telephone, transceiver or the like as well as to the radio receiver as having been described in the foregoing. 
     Here, a variant of the present invention applied to a portable telephone will be described herebelow with reference to FIG.  13 . 
     In FIG. 13, the same or similar parts as in FIGS. 1 to  12  are indicated with same or similar reference numerals and will not be described any more. 
     Referring to FIG. 13, the portable telephone to which the present invention is applied is generally illustrated with a reference  101 . It incorporates a handset necessary to construct the portable telephone unit  101 . A microphone  102  being a speech transmitter is provided in the middle of the cord  11 . It is connected to the wire  15  including the conductors  13  forming together the cord  11 . The earphone  27  connected by the connecting plug  29  to the earphone jack  30  provided in the connector  25  is used as a speech receiver. Note that the conductors led from the telephone unit  101  to the microphone  102  must include power and signal lines for the microphone and thus must be more than  3  in number. 
     The holder used with such a telephone set can also be safely used on the user&#39;s body as having been aforementioned. 
     The aforementioned embodiments of the present invention use the necklace-like cord loop  10 A. 
     Furthermore, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinunder with reference to FIG.  14 . Note that FIG. 14 corresponds to FIG.  2 . Same or similar parts as in FIG. 12 will be indicated with same or similar reference numerals and will not be described any more. In this embodiment, the earphone  27 , and cords  11  and  12  are connected to form a cord loop  10 B. The user uses on this body this holder with the earphone  27  set on his head. Both the connectors  25  and  41  forming together the loop connector are provided in the cord  12  connected between the radio receiver unit  1  and earphone  27 . The cord  11  connected between the radio receiver unit  1  and earphone  27  has a plurality of conductors  13  including power and signal lines, etc. The conductors  13  are led through the speaker unit  36  and head band  35  and connected to the speaker unit  37 . When the earphone  27  is set on the user&#39;s head and the radio receiver unit  1  is put in a pocket, for example, of the user&#39;s clothing, the connectors  25  and  41  will be positioned on the user&#39;s chest. The second embodiment also shows the same effect as the first embodiment. 
     As having been described in the foregoing, the cords of the portable electronic equipment holder according to the present invention are coupled to each other to form a cord loop. Since the portable electronic equipment can thus be carried on a user with the cord loop placed on his body, the user can use the electronic equipment while he is moving his body, such as during walking, jogging or the like, without holding the electronic equipment in hand. 
     If a large pulling force is applied to any of the cords or the electronic equipment to which the cords are connected while the electronic equipment is being used on the user&#39;s body, the cord loop is disconnected and automatically removed from the user&#39;s body, so that no large shock will be applied to the user. Hence, the holder can thus be used very safely. 
     Since the cord led from the electronic equipment incorporates the conductors including the power and signal lines, the number of exposed wires led from the electronic equipment can be reduced and thus the electronic equipment carried on the user&#39;s body can be used while the user is less bothered with such exposed wires. The portable electronic equipment holder according to the present invention can assure a user&#39;s comfort when wearing it around the neck or any other body portion.